I be MoFoin’
October 30, 2010 | 2 Comments »
I’ve decided to participate in Vegan MoFo after all. I didn’t think I would this year. For many reasons. The main reason being my ‘illness’. For those of you who haven’t heard me rant about this, today is your lucky day. About two years ago I choked on an evil mushroom. I haven’t been the same ever since. Now whenever I eat my entire body tenses up and I end up choking. Long story short, doctors have tested and tested and can’t find anything medically wrong. I along with tons of other people suffer from something known as dysphagia. I’m stuck with it and have to learn to live with it. I know I participated in Vegan MoFo last year WHILE suffering from this illness, but the problem wasn’t as bad then. Now? It’s gotten much worse. Back then I only choked on solids. Now I find myself choking on liquids as well as my own saliva. I know. Awesome.
Some foods are harder to eat than others. Foods that contain some sort of skin (yep, everything a vegan eats) usually have to be sliced VERY thin or peeled. Otherwise I’ll have a very hard time getting it down. I don’t always have a problem with beans though. Although sometimes a piece of skin will get stuck in my throat and I’ll fall over and start twitching until I realize a big gulp of water will fix me. Ok, so I’m kidding about the twitching. But it really is a project to sit at the table and enjoy a meal. It was something I always took for granted. It came so easy to me. My how things have changed.
There are a few other things that stood in my way. I’ve since moved to the middle of nowhere. I literally have to cook every single thing I consume. St. Louis is about 45-60 minutes away and I can always find some delicious vegan grub there, but the commute isn’t always possible. I don’t always have 3 or 4 hours to spare. It’s not like back in Jersey where I can hop on a bus and be in New York City in 15 minutes and make it back home before sunset. I sure do miss those days. Anyway, I might love to cook, but there are times that I want to be pampered and cooked for. My husband doesn’t cook much of his own food let alone preparing me a vegan meal. So there are times that I’ll eat nothing more than a bowl of Cream of Wheat or oatmeal or sometimes nothing at all. Doesn’t make for an interesting blog post, does it?
There’s also the fact that I’m now working and Ethan is in school now so I help him with his homework and studies. I’m much busier this time around. But last year I was preparing for a move halfway across the country while participating so that kind of evens things out. In the end I decided to suck it up and stop being a baby and have some fun. I think having a reason to cook will motivate me to try harder. Yes, things have changed… a lot. But sitting at the table sulking over some Cream of Wheat is no way to live.
I think I mentioned this last year too, but I figured I’d warn you all again. I’m not much of a recipe creator as I am a recipe follower. I do experiment a little here and there and sometimes end up with something that works for me. When that happens I’ll gladly share my ‘recipe’ with you. I’ll try to bring you something a little different. I don’t have a theme or anything, but I’ll focus on work-arounds for my illness and living situation. I will overcome this. This might just be the month that happens.
