Wednesday, January 26, 2011

sick day + food (+ simple recipe)

I always hated sick days when I was a kid. Guilt complex + double the work once I got back to school. And invariably that guilt would have me convinced about halfway through the morning that I didn't feel sick anymore! I should have gone to school! I'm such a lazy bugger and now I'm going to be punished with make-up assignments!

Ugh. I still hate sick days. I still feel guilty taking them. But instead of double the work when I get back, it's double the guilt when I'm on sick leave: because someone else is having to pick up my workload while I'm away. *great*

sick food?
And then we come to this question I've had ever since I started doing Weight Watchers ... when I'm sick, do I stay within my points allotment? I've always answered "heck no! Eat the food that soothes you until you're better!"

But, honestly ... this time I don't *want* to forgo my healthy habits because of some pesky sore throat. And in fact, aren't all the good-for-me foods the ones I should be feeding my sick self anyway? Oranges, tomatoes, chicken broth, eggs, beans, ...

So that whole earlier notion of "eat what you want to feel good" was really feeding whatever self-pity I had for being sick. Self-pity is not hunger! In fact, self-pity should *probably* be starved until it meets a terrible, slow, painful death.

So *there.* One irrational excuse for a poor diet, destroyed. Only fifteen-hundred-and-sixty-two left.

veggie rice bowl (3 PointsPlus)
I'm a girl of simple tastes. I'm excited to get to know my spice rack, but in the meantime I'm pretty happy with a little salt thrown on sauteed vegetables. When I got home from work last night (feeling sick sick sick), I wanted something super filling but super healthy. And that's how came to be this bowl o' food (it's a big one!). ... I think I'll make it for lunch, too.

a handful of each of the following, chopped (for 0 PointsPlus each)
  red bell pepper
  celery
  red onion
  mushrooms
1 small clove garlic, diced ... 0 pp
4 oz. [1/2 c] chicken broth ... 0 pp
4 oz. [3/4 c] white rice, pre-cooked (we had leftovers) ... 3 pp


Do your thing on the stovetop. Salt and saute the veggies to your liking, throw in the garlic near the end and cook until aromatic, toss in the rice and broth and cook until the liquid has reduced a little and the rice is bloated with brothy goodness. Salt again to taste and enjoy!

(PS: We just bought course sea salt for the first time and I love it for finishing dishes. Just sayin',)

(PPS: If you'd like to suggest spices for me to try in future veggie rice bowls, I'd love to get your ideas! Friends have put me on the curry/cumin track. Also, oregano and thyme. Are there more?!)

4 comments:

  1. Awwww, I love my little over-achiever! I don't know anyone else who would work themselves into such a guilty frenzy over a sick day...except my husband...okay never mind.

    Personally, I used to enjoy a good sick day if I wasn't puking and I had supplies and TV, but unfortunately, as a mom, sick days just mean you have to do your regular job while feeling like death and trying to keep away from your child so s/he doesn't get sick.

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  2. Meg, I'm gonna have to keep you around, what with all this "over-achiever" talk. You *know* I consider myself one lazy-a-- mother-f-----.

    And yeah, how exactly *does* it work to do your mama job when, on a sick day, it's really part of your job to *not* be mama? Conundrums never cease.

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  3. Don't forget the Latin classics: Adobo, sofrito and sazón. Kroger sells them!

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  4. Oh yes!! We have sazon already. Do you know that I haven't ventured to use it beyond the pinto bean recipe my dad gave us? And I've cooked with adobo before, but not sofrito! I *do* know I love the smell of all those spices heated on the stovetop ...

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