Sick and Tired and Almost Done

We've been sick. I came down with a miserable cold last week and Charlie started to feel it this weekend. Luke has escaped it thus far. If there is anything to be thankful for, it's that.

As you all know, when you're sick you want comfort. A comfortable bed, a comfortable blanket, a comfortable temperature in the house. And of course it goes without saying that a person nursing off sickness wants comfort food. I did the best I could do within the confines of our diet. I came up with chicken noodle soup with the first carrots of the season, onions from last fall and some frozen chicken and stock. It seems like every meal lately spans the seasons; something from last fall combined with the first something of this spring.

We've been jonesin' for some baked goods. I've talked about what I'd miss most on the all local diet and I had hypothesized about what that might be. But if you ask me what I'm missing lately I'm likely to answer "chocolate cake" or "muffins" or "cookies." So in an attempt to make some true comfort food, I went on a quest for a cookie recipe that used no sugar. I found a fabulous oatmeal cookie recipe that calls for honey. Here it is:
1 c. honey
1 egg
3/4 c. butter
1 tsp vanilla
3 c. oats
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
Heat oven to 375 F; Beat butter, honey, egg, vanilla; add remaining combined ingredients; bake 12-15 minutes. I think these would be great with some cinnamon, maybe some raisins, maybe some walnuts. But that's for another time. The cookies turned out to be such a fabulous antidote to the physical malady, as well as the low mood that has started to plague our meals.

One week to go and we're feeling utterly deprived. I've made so much squash soup I can't imagine ever eating it again unless there's nothing else left on the planet. We hadn't been to the grocery store in weeks when we made a trip to WinCo a few days ago. We walked dazed through the aisles and both commented on the massive amount of food available to everyone but us. Self-imposed exile. We also commented on the sheer anonymity of the food. Who knows where it's been? Most of the vegetables in the frozen food section have seen more of the world than both of us put together.

During that visit to the grocery we agreed that we need to start thinking about which parts of this diet we'll keep after Lent is over and which parts we'll ditch like a hot potato. I'll write more about it later on in the week, after I have put more thought into it.