Well. Happy Monday. :) I’m feeling a bit more collected after yesterday’s rage-fueled rant, thanks to the curative powers of The Office and someone cooking dinner for me and Brooklyn 99 and puppy snuggles and a bite of chocolate ice cream.

And mid-day peanut chews.

I’d never had these little nuggets of chewy, chocolatey, peanutty goodness until I moved to Maryland six years ago (!!!) and started my current job. A former coworker (since retired) was known around the office for passing out peanut chews as little edible kudos, producing a handful from a pocket and sharing them with all and sundry. Not only are they accidentally vegan, but they’re also made locally(ish). The flavor is probably not to everyone’s tastes; rather than relying on a traditional caramel for chewiness, they use molasses — an ingredient well documented on this blog as it’s one of my favorites. I dig it, and I dig them.

Anyway, I grabbed a packet of peanut chews from the vending machine today because sometimes you just need a little chocolate to soothe your soul.

(Side note: Although I generally favor chocolate recommended by the FEP list, I just wanted something fast and easily available today. Looks like Goldenberg’s is on the “Cannot recommend but are working on the issues in various ways” list. I’m not perfect.)

An equally delicious thing I ate today was dinner, even though it was ridiculously simple: a huge skillet of cabbage, sautéed with Earth Balance and topped with salt, pepper, and some generous gratings of my precious Violife parm. I also made some spicy pan-sautéed kale with black-eyed peas for protein. I attempted to cook ye olde failed chickwheat by dicing it and lightly frying it, but… instead of getting crispy and edible, it became soft and mushy. Vom-o-rama. Steven kindly took some of the pieces I fished out of my bowl, but even he gave up after a while. I’m really trying not to let my failed chickwheat go to waste, but dang. It’s nasty.

Anyway, the rest of dinner was a delight. All crucifers benefit from high heat and a decent amount of cooking time, in my opinion, and sautéed cabbage is one of my favorites. It’s also a great foil to the salty parmesan. A perfect combination.

We’ve just gotten back from the gym, so hopefully those exercise endorphins will further buoy my mood. :)

(P.S. No update on my catbird friend. I emailed the rehab to check in but haven’t heard back yet. (They specifically requested emails rather than phone calls.) Sigh. Keep those fingers and toes crossed.)