Self-care week

It has been a relaxing and wonderful couple of days here. We got some much needed rain, and I got a much needed massage. I am sore as hell today, since my massage therapist was really giving my knotty bits (har har) a real pummeling with her tiny fists and elbows. How can something that hurts so much still feel so brain-meltingly awesome? And how does someone so small have so much meat-tenderizing power in her arms?

On Monday night, after several recommendations from different people, Kevin and I went to a restaurant downtown for a nice dinner out. Since I took the leap and made the transition toward a plant-based diet, we haven't eaten out much, so this was a testing of the waters as much as it was a treat. The restaurant we chose has a vegan menu available, so I really wanted to give it a try and thankfully I was not disappointed. We shared an appetizer and so opted for the bruschetta off the vegan menu, and it was incredible. Fresh tomatoes, basil, onions & olives, extra virgin olive oil infused with garlic, served on what looked like a jumbo English muffin. Whatever it was, it was so tasty that I could have eaten another order of it. And I was so hungry when it came, I totally forgot to take a picture of it! Worst. Blogger. Ever.

The menu is your consolation prize, bitches.

For our main courses, we both ordered pasta dishes: Kevin had the wild mushroom fettuccine with a white wine cream sauce and parmesan, while I had the vegan penne course with peppers, olives, asparagus, arugula, gremolata, topped with their made-in-house cashew parm. It was astounding how good it was.

Who knew cashews were so versatile?

Something else I did on Monday was make a bunch of appointments for the rest of the week. Rather than jam a bunch of stuff all into one day, I decided to space things out. Next weekend (August 5th to be precise) I am standing in my best friend's wedding, and since I currently look like a disheveled pile of laundry, I decided it was time to get my hair freshened up and my nails done. So, today I have an appointment to go get my hair done, tomorrow I have an appointment to get my nails done, and Friday I have an appointment with my doctor to get a pap smear. That one is less for the wedding and more for the obvious reasons one gets a pap. A friend of mine mused, upon hearing of the order of my plans, "Jesus, you really go all out for your gyno, don't you?". Naturally, my reply was "It's the only way I can get anyone to look at my snatch."

Seriously, though.

Unrelated to medical procedures, I tried another recipe for breakfast from oh she glows the other day. The southwest tofu scramble. I must say, it was quite filling, and a very tasty substitute for scrambled eggs. It was so filling, I could not finish my portion so I refrigerated part of it and reheated it yesterday morning for breakfast, adding in extra spinach, peppers, spices and some of our leftover chili. Talk about a satisfying meal! I was full till supper time.

Good thing it tasted and smelled nicer than it appears.

I wish you could smell this picture.

The real show stopper of yesterday was not the massage, or the leftover tofu scrambler, the hilarious conversation about what I need to do to get the doctor to tend to my twat, or even the birthday party we attended for a neighbour last night. No, the real show stopper of yesterday was that Kevin cooked supper, and made a concerted effort to bring it as close to vegan as he possibly could. Since we are still eating down the fridge, I told him to go ahead with his use of the actual butter we had in there when he asked what was needed as a substitute if he wanted to make Butter Chicken. So, he used the butter but, instead of cream, he opted for coconut cream. And while he cooked chicken breasts for himself, he sauteed some tandoori spiced tofu for me and made the sauce separate from both. As a side dish, he also made Spiced Coconut Mushrooms, and the end result of all his hard work was stunning. I think I could eat it every day and not get sick of it.

The stench of onions permeating our house and clothes, though... that is another story. I hope my hairstylist doesn't think I reek today. I can't tell if I do or not. Fingers crossed!