That's the brakes

I got hit with two major whammies this week. First, my home computer which has been on life support for the past 2 months is now toast. I have a call in to a friend who works with computers to see if there is any way possible the hard drive can be saved. I hope so, because I certainly can't afford a new one at the moment.

And, after 2 round trips to Kentucky and Indiana over Christmas, my brakes went out. Completely. It’s a miracle I made it home in one piece. When the Midas mechanic called me over to show me what was left of my rear brakes, they were literally crumbling in his hand. $600. And I need new tires too, but that was another $500 and will have to wait.

So, you may not be hearing from me for a while as I need to sort things out and recover. Just wanted to let you all know what was up. I hope you all have very happy New Years. Stay safe out there!!

Black Bean Chili

2 15 oz. cans diced tomatos, with juice
2 15 oz. cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 11 oz. can Mexicorn, drained
5 green onions, sliced
3 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. cinnamon sugar
1/2 tsp. minced garlic

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low heat for 4 hours. Serve with tortilla chips.

This is a very mild chili, as Noelle's tummy can't handle anything too spicy. This was pushing the envelope, really. I added a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of shredded cheese on top of hers.

It was just the thing for a night in which the wind chill hit 25 below zero with winds at 40 mph.

Merry Christmas to you and all your families!!!

Eggless Cooking

If you’ve ever wanted to bake something but had no eggs in the house, or if you have someone in your family with an egg allergy, you should check out a website I recently found called Madhuram’s Eggless Cooking.

Although I am not vegan, I do like to keep my egg and dairy use to a minimum. We don’t drink milk and we don’t eat eggs, other than in baked goods, because it’s nearly impossible to do otherwise. Now vehement vegans everywhere will argue that point, but a busy single mom on a limited budget doesn’t have the time or money to hunt all over town for vegan bread.

The only time I ever buy eggs is when they are called for in a recipe, and then the least number I can buy at the grocery is 4. There are no chicken farmers here in suburbia that I can get a single egg from, and neighbors would quickly tire of me bumming their eggs. So I will typically use one or two eggs out of the carton and give the rest to the family next door, who I know can use them. Ditto with milk.

I know you can often substitute applesauce in some foods, but not all, as eggs serve different purposes in different recipes. And I am not very comfortable changing ingredients in recipes without knowing what I’m doing.

So I appreciated finding Madhuram’s Eggless Cooking site. Very colorful photos and a wide variety of dishes. The author is Indian so lots of great Indian recipes as well. Note that the site is not vegan – many recipes call for lots of cream and butter. So I think it primarily caters to those with egg allergies. Or, people like me who don’t want to pay an arm and leg for a carton of eggs when I only need one. :-)

Hello, Winter. Back so soon?

It’s not just the lack of sunshine that gets to me, although that definitely doesn’t help. It’s that I have always been abnormally susceptible to the cold for some reason. I never enjoyed sledding or building snowmen like most children because the brutal cold winter air is literally like torture on my skin. I admit it, I’m a total pansy. And it’s gotten worse as I’ve gotten older, despite weighing much more than I used to. In February and March, when winter is at its worst here, I have to wrap my legs in heating pads when I get home from work just to be able to feel them again. I’m jealous of women who get hot flashes.

In the summer, I get annoyed with people who turn up the air conditioner until a place is a meat locker. Honestly, people start running the AC once it reaches 80 outside! 80 is probably the optimum temp for me. The blood in my veins is finally starting to thaw out at 80. These same people think I’m nuts for turning on the heat when it reaches 34 outside! Am I really THAT out of whack? How cold does it have to get before you turn the heat on? And what do you keep it set at?

I installed a programmable thermostat a couple of months ago. Well, um, okay, I had a boy install it for me….. seriously, you don’t want me messing with electrical wiring, folks. Anyway. I have it set at 70 from 6 – 8 a.m. when we’re getting ready for work and school, down to 62 from 8 - 4, up to 68 at 4 when Noelle gets home, and at 70 from 9:30 – 10 just to get the bedrooms warmed up before bedtime. Then back to 68 overnight.

I also shrink-wrapped all my windows and hung thermal-backed drapes in my bedroom (the coldest room, of course!) to cut down on energy usage. I’m really hoping that all of these measures will help reduce my heating bill, which was absolutely outrageous last winter.

Even with all of this, I wear silk long johns, sweats, and two pairs of socks around the house, and I’m able to just stay above the “miserable” range. I used to think I must be anemic, given that I have been a vegetarian since I was 13. But I now have my blood tested every year and my iron is fine. Probably because I’m cognizant of the fact that I need to eat more iron-rich foods, being a veggie. So I don’t know what my problem is. All I know is that I am counting the days until April.

The good news about winter is that I will be keeping in touch with all of you more, since I will be huddled up inside the house. :-)

**P.S.**

After a whole year of posting, this blog finally has a name. Inspired by the never-ending question that plagues all us vegetarians, particularly during the holiday season: "Where do you get your protein?" Usually asked with a scrunched up, bewildered facial expression. This is my answer. :-)

Update on Noelle

Noelle saw the doctor last night, and he agreed that she most likely has an ulcer. So she will start taking Zantac every day, and be checked again in a month. She has gained 4 pounds back, and has a healthy appetite again. I finally feel like I can exhale… I can’t even begin to tell you how worried I have been about her. It’s such a horrible feeling when your child is that sick, and no one can find what’s wrong.

I have been doing battle with her school, trying to get them to make some simple accommodations to help Noelle with the avalanche of work that she missed all the days she was home sick. Some of you will remember the constant, daily battles I had to fight when she was in elementary school, before she was properly diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. It was absolute hell. Then she was correctly diagnosed, started working with a therapist, and entered Middle School. The Middle School teachers and Intervention Specialists went out of their way to help Noelle and she responded by getting great grades (most of the time), which raised her self confidence, which in turn spawned even better work. Success.

The first half of her freshman year in high school has been like a return to the dark days of elementary school. I honestly thought that once Noelle had her IEP (Individualized Education Plan) in place, we wouldn’t have any problems. But as she moves up in the years, adjustments need to be made to that IEP to meet the present situations. Missing 5 days of school in the past month is a situation that calls for additional intervention, particularly because it resulted in Noelle’s grades in every core subject plummeting to a D.

All of Noelle’s teachers have been accommodating (for the most part) except for her Science teacher. I have been in constant email communication with her Intervention Specialist over the past 4 days, trying to resolve the situation. I’m so tired of having to fight this battle. I shouldn’t have to still be fighting it after all these years. It would be different if Noelle was a slacker who just blew things off. But she works her butt off, literally for hours every night. She wants so badly to be a good student, to please her teachers and get good grades and be successful.

I have to keep being her cheerleader, encouraging her and heaping praise on her, with a big smile and lots of enthusiastic, positive energy. Then duke it out behind the scenes with the powers that be at the school until they get it through their thick skulls. It takes a lot out of a person, and I’m not sure how much more of it I have left in me.

Sign This Petition!!

40MPG.org has the following petition online to be sent automatically to each of your Congressional representatives and the Obama transition team. You type in your name and address, and it does the rest for you. It is imperative that we get this message out. Please sign it today! Link follows below.

“I am writing to you to urge that any loan-guarantee bailout to Detroit automakers should insist that, in exchange for taxpayer dollars, the car manufacturers agree to end their four-year-long legal assault against global warming laws in California and three other states. I also want to see any such aid for car makers precisely targeted so that it is used for the development and delivery of hybrids, clean diesels and other highly fuel-efficient vehicles. The "loan guarantees" the auto industry wants are investments. And since my tax dollars are going to back this up, I want to make sure that these are smart investments. Congress and the Administration should send a clear signal to Detroit that the industry needs to get America off of the current dead-end road of addiction to foreign oil and escalating climate change pollution. We need to make sure that Detroit is building the cars of tomorrow, not the gas-guzzling dinosaurs of yesterday. I agree with President-Elect Barack Obama's statement to the U.S. auto industry that: "The need to drastically change our energy policy is no longer a debatable proposition. It's not a question of whether, but how; not a question of if, but when. For the sake of our security, our economy, our jobs and our planet, the age of oil must end in our time." A total of 15 states have adopted regulations requiring automobile manufacturers to reduce significantly the greenhouse gas emissions of their cars and lights trucks. The U.S. automobile industry has been waging a four-year legal battle against these state emission standards. I don't think it makes sense to give Detroit $25 billion in loan guarantees without insisting that, in exchange, it halt its war on the states' legitimate interest in cleaner, more fuel-efficient vehicles. There are no "free rides" in life. The U.S. auto industry needs to understand that taxpayers are prepared to help them out, but only if Detroit moves away from the mistakes that brought it to the low point it is at today. Please keep me informed about what you do on this topic to protect the interests of myself and other taxpayers.”

http://action.40mpg.org/campaign/bailout?rk=zd4govYqTeIpE