Today is a snow day so the kids are home. That means I'm having trouble getting a lot of work done--but not so much trouble blogging. I made a Scottish Bannock for breakfast with chocolate chips, modified from the current issue of Mother Earth News. You can find the recipe on my Vegan Serendipity blog. For lunch, I toasted a whole wheat pita and stuffed it with scrambled tofu (with mushrooms, onions, and peppers), yellow tomatoes, and baby greens. Let it snow.

The End of Insanity...and the Beginning of Chickpeas

Finally, my year of insanity is drawing to a close. I wrote four books between the beginning of the summer and now. Yes, four. It's all I've had time to do, between that and travel and yoga classes and finding something good to eat. All the work has kept me from thinking about other things, posting food pictures, writing about my Yoga Journal retreat, even going to yoga the last few weeks when it seemed everything was due at once.

Now, finally, I am done. To celebrate, I soaked (overnight) and then cooked for many hours (in the crockpot) a big bunch of chickpeas. I know, I'm totally out of control.

Maybe that's because I'm not exactly done and I was procrastinating? I still have to edit the page proofs on the Beagle book and add over 5,000 words because the manuscript came up short. I still have to do an extensive author review on the Chakra book, and also on the book about living with animal companions in the most eco-friendly way possible. I am finished with the book I wrote with Bethenny Frankel--all the way finished, and it should be out in a few months. As each book comes out, I'll make an announcement.

In the meantime, I am getting ready to go to Oaxaca, Mexico. Ben, the kids, me, and the Martin family, of the famous Anti-Consumerism wager last year--we got stomped, but we're going to give it another go this January, so stay tuned. Stay tuned also for more about what's to eat in Oaxaca.

Meanwhile, what's to eat in Iowa, with all those chickpeas waiting in the refrigerator so patiently? First,let me just say that it's true that if you cook dried, soaked chickpeas for a long time, they really are smoother and creamier than the canned kind, and since most of the "work" involves you doing something nice, like reading a travel book about Oaxaca, while the beans soak or simmer, it's hard to argue that canned is more convenient. When you soak and cook them yourselves, you don't have to fight with a can opener.

Out of my chickpea bounty, I made a big batch of homemade hummus, which was my dinner last night. I also made chickpea cutlets from the Veganomicon cookbook, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. They are so good, I can't even describe it. And easy, too. I had one for lunch (pictured above): Chickpea cutlet on a sprouted grain bun with soy mayo, mustard, tomatoes, and a lot of pickles. Food is good.

Now, about that yoga practice...