Eating Our Way Through Minor Holidays
Well, we made it through the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day! Let’s start with Super Bowl Sunday… I always get excited about the Super Bowl and plan a special meal to go with it. Here’s a picture from last night: In the middle are fries with this recipe for best vegan cheese sauce and caramelized onions, and on the ends are the toppings for our burgers. I had a Dr. Praeger’s veggie burger, because I like my burgers to be mushy and taste like beans and vegetables. My husband had an Impossible burger because he likes his burgers to taste meat-y. We enjoyed this meal, and the first quarter of the game, and then I remembered what I don’t like about the Super Bowl… It’s a major sporting event on a SUNDAY NIGHT, where there’s work and school the next day. I became aware of dirty dishes in the sink, water bottles to be washed, school clothes to get ready… I ended up semi-watching the rest of the game while doing dishes and laundry, knowing that Monday would be an early morning. THEREFORE, I propose we move the Super Bowl to Saturday! I mean, why not? We would all enjoy it much more. “Super Bowl Saturday” has a nice ring to it- we could get used to it. Moving on to Valentine’s Day…. honestly, I’m glad it’s over. Valentine’s Day is always slightly depressing to me. For a while I couldn’t figure out why- it’s not like I’m afraid I won’t get any Valentines. As a matter of fact, I’ve had some nice Valentine’s Days. So what’s the deal? I grew up in the midwest and suffered from SAD every winter, although I didn’t know what it was then. I just knew I had a problem with depression, which went in cycles. Anyway, after so many years of being depressed on February 14th (and every other day in February, and January, and March) I think it’s just ingrained in my mind that it’s a depressing day. I know… it doesn’t make any sense . Now that I live in Florida, February is one of our best months. But those mental patterns are strong. I rallied and mailed a care package to my son, and made a heart-shaped cake for my daughter and husband. My daughter likes vanilla and my husband likes chocolate, so I did a layer of each. This wasn’t a big deal, since I had to bake the layers separately anyway- I only have one heart-shaped cake pan (obviously- who would have more than one of those?) A couple weeks ago I picked this up from Trader Joe’s: It made a great, easy dinner. Heart-shaped pasta, sauce from a jar, and roasted vegetables. Valentine’s Day dinner! And in case you’re wondering, I didn’t eat the cake because I don’t eat sugar. But don’t worry! My husband got me these: Zero sugar, vegan, sweetened with erythritol and stevia. They are SO GOOD! So we all had a nice Valentine’s Day, and… phew. It’s over. Who’s with me on switching the Super Bowl to Saturday? Can we start a petition? Did you eat anything special for Valentine’s Day?