Schemes

Hey. You all who saw me spaz out last semester. This is it. I'm done.

Right now, I'm in bed with a book. That's right. I'm reading. It's "The Poisonwood Bible," if you are curious. And it's amazing, by the way.

I'm making time for reading now. Because I'm effin' tired of stressing my stomach into knots and my food into farts. Check out the schedule above. This is my new plan.

Does it sound like news to anyone? It's not. It's the normal person's workday, invented by non-other than Benjamin Franklin. It's the schedule picture posted above. That's from his diary.

I love Benjamin Franklin.

I haven't operated on a normal person's schedule in years. Blame waitressing. Blame being in school for over ten years. Blame being a foodie and wanting to get to the market before all the crazy office people get out of work. Whatever.

What ended up happening was what you saw last semester - stress, disorganization, misery. I'm tired of being a child, stumbling around the house in oversized grownup shoes. I'm kicking them off and climbing this mountain of papers. And when I reach the top, I'm letting my freak flag fly.

So yeah, I'm calming down a bit. That's the first part of my plan. The next is pretty drastic.

I'm changing the way I eat. AGAIN.

If I don't have time to cook, I ain't cooking. At some meals, I'm eating more raw foods. At others, I'm eating more processed foods. On days when I have too much to do, I'M GOING TO EAT OUT!!!!! Basically, I'm going to stop worrying so much about what I eat. Because if it's going to cause me stress, it's going to make me sick, no matter what it is. Animal. Vegetable. Whateveral.

The diet will stay the same: vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, with minimal soy and corn. However, if faced with the choice to eat gluten or go hungry? I'll take a little gluten for the team. Right now, it's more important for me to de-stress and manage.

Friday is the designated wine-and-cooking day. Every Friday, I'll prep for the upcoming week. Here's the first thing I made.

Allow me to be a little arrogant for a sec. I totally invented this recipe! One lonely night in Boston, I started throwing flour and crap together in a bowl. Whatever I did came out great. Seriously. My mom eats it. Those of you who read this blog regularly know, she's picky as a six year old when it comes to healthy food. But this bread, she likes.

Winter Breakfast Bread

2 cups flour

1 & 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup - 1 cup maple syrup or agave

2 eggs or 1/4 cup tapioca starch

2 Tablespoons soaked flax seed meal

1 Tablespoon soaked chia seeds

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon salt

Sift the dry ingredients first. Then mix in the wets. Pour into a oiled pan and bake at 375 for an hour.

The key to veganizing this is the tapioca starch. I think you can get the bread to stick together without the flax and chia. But who would want to miss out on that nutritional goodness? Subbing the tapioca starch for the eggs does make it dense. Be sure to punch it into the toaster for a few minutes before eating.

Any kind of flour works, except for chickpea flour. This particular loaf was made with dark buckwheat. I've also made it with a mix of brown rice and millet flours. Before I was gluten free, I made it with wheat.

Whether you veganize or free it from the gluten or not, I hope you try it and I hope you lurve it! It's sure made my mornings a lot easier.