Grr. Some of you may have heard about yesterday's disaster on the 405 (Los Angeles freeway near LAX airport). A truck overturned and traffic was absolutely abominable in the area ALL day!!!! Needless to say, my commute was unpleasant, in both directions. Alhtough certainly not as unpleasant as the poor truck driver who perished in the accident.

I don't really deal all that well with traffic issues. I've been driving this same route for a long time and know exactly how long (to the minute) it is supposed to take me, and when my commute goes long, I start getting antsy. Jane is always threatening to take the clock out of my car so I'll be less frustrated. I'm not sure if that would be a larger benefit to me or to her!

At any rate, I love my wife. Since this is not a blog about marriage, I won't be writing about the times I don't totally love my wife or how difficult marriage can be... Not that ours is a bad marriage, but every marriage can be trying at times. On the positive side, there are moments that make you never want to be single again. Last night was one of them.

I finally arrived home after 1 hour and 16 minutes to find Jane hard at work in the kitchen. Apparently, after seeing the traffic report, she realized I wouldn't be getting home at a reasonable hour. So she made one of my favorites, the spanikopita recipe from Real Food Daily Cookbook. It was just as good as last time. But Jane made a few minor alterations. Mainly, she forgot the leeks, so she used maui onions instead. Personally, I couldn't tell the difference and it was just as yummy as last time! And what a treat to come home to!

And for dessert, because I was so cranky, Jane whipped up a quick batch of muffins. This time she put in wheatberries for added crunch and the fruit was gooseberries. (Huh?) So, the muffins are crunchy and tart. I think they are very good, but Jane doesn't care for them that much. Also, she's still working on perfecting the basic muffin recipe... When she's happy with it, she's promised to post it for you all.

Oh, and Happy Halloween!

Next week I go to the doctor for my annual physical. I had my blood drawn yesterday. Jane and I are very curious what my blood-work will reveal. I don't have any real health issues, but over the past years my cholesterol and blood pressure have crept up a bit; call it middle age. Reading all the wonderful things I have come across about vegan dieting have led me to hope that both of those numbers will be a bit lower this visit. I'll keep you posted on that.

We do have to figure out if we should ask the doctor to test for anything specific for our subsequent visit... Can they determine if you are getting enough protein, calcium, etc? Are these easy blood tests? I know that an iron deficiency will show up and that is another one of those things vegans need to be cognizant of, but I am concerned about the calcium thing. Jane is having us take a calcium supplement, so we're probably covered, but we need to do a bit more research. And omega-3s? Life was so much easier when we were consuming dairy products.

I've been spending some time at the Vegetarian Resource Group website where they have basic nutritional information. It's by no means comprehensive, but they provide you with broad strokes information on what you might be missing by eating vegan, and the nutrient content for sample foods.

Who knew eating could require so much attention to detail? Sheesh!

It's Halloween time. Fortunately, we live on a hill that doesn't get a lot of trick-or-treating traffic, so we won't be tempted by the Halloween goodies.

In the past, we have purchased chocolate goodies to hand out; and to eat ourselves, if we're being honest here! We'd always thought about buying healthier treats to give the kids, pretzels or raisins, but what kid wants those? We remembered when we were trick-or-treaters, those treats were among the least eaten of all our collected loot. We wanted to hand out treats that were appreciated.

This year, we face a dilemma. If we buy the chocolate that we have in the past, how will we pass by the bowl without having a piece or two? And does it actually matter if we do eat some of it? Of course it does! We're vegans now.

But I'm not going to spend $20 for a few pieces of vegan candy to hand out to people who eat McDonald's regularly... So it looks like we'll be giving out pretzels and raisins this year.

First off, let me apologize to anyone I may have offended with that statement, but when I was growing up in New York it was common "knowledge" that British Cuisine was an oxymoron. Bangers and Mash, Salisbury steak, Toad-in-the-Hole, Steak and Kidney Pie; none of these are particularly appealing to me, and so I had written off British Cuisine as something that I wouldn't partake of.I have recently changed my mind about that. While I can't say that any of the dishes listed above could ever entice me to give up my vegan life, I have stumbled across a few cooking shows that have caused me to re-think my ideas on British Cuisine.

In my recent pre-vegan days, Nigella Lawson always had something tempting to offer on her TV show, Nigella Feasts; not to mention her sensual treatment of food. Her show always made me want to eat something. There are a few things I remember seeing her prepare which could be easily converted for the vegan diet, and some that were vegan. Nigella's website (link above) has a recipe index, but it appears the recipes are submitted by visitors to the site. I haven't gotten my hands on any of her cookbooks, so I can't discuss whether her recipes cook up well. But everything looks enticing.

Yesterday I caught a program called "You Are What You Eat" on the BBC network. There is some considerable discussion on the web as to whether Gillian McKeith is legitimate... her science is suspect and she seems to be a snake oil peddler. BUT, the show is entertaining and inspiring. It starts with "Dr." McKeith secretly watching the client for a week or so, then piling up what they've eaten for a week. It's absolutely astonishing to see what people will put in their mouths. Then she barks at her clients and teaches them a bit about nutrition. And they live happily ever after by the end of the show.

I'm not sure that it's something I would watch regularly, but it did inspire me to do some googling, and this link is what inspired me to write this post. I spent considerable time on this site, it's clean and well designed and very informative.

And finally, they have vegan recipes (just click on the vegan option). So, who says the Brits can't cook?