Morning Crankies...

I woke up this morning feeling a bit sluggish and tired, as the day has progressed, it's turned into a case of the crankies. I'm not even sure exactly what I'm cranky about, I just feel off. Do you ever get that way? I think it has to do with the lack of sugar. After several starts and stops over the last few weeks, I'm finally on day 4 of a sugar detox, so maybe that's what it is. If that's the case, then from the reading I've done, by tomorrow it should pass. I just have to stay strong today and not cave in to every cell in my body screaming for sugar. As for the rest of my journey, the vegan part, it's going very well. Summer is a great time for me to have dived in, with all the beautiful produce everywhere, and the natural desire to eat lighter, it definitely makes this easier, at least for me. Have I mentioned previously that I also try to limit my intake of processed foods? I think our world has become one in which we depend on all these processed foods, and we wonder why we have become a society of obese, sick, people. The old adage, you are what you eat, really is true, at least that is my belief. On that note, I try to limit as much as possible the processed foods from not only my diet, but that of my grandkids and other half. Limiting mine is easy enough, theirs on the other hand, can be a real battle, but I continue to try. Yesterday I was really craving a sandwich for lunch, but since I don't buy any of those processed veggie meats, I didn't have anything on hand to make one, other than peanut butter, so I decided to try my first ever Chickpea Salad. I can't believe how delicious it is. Here's my finished sandwich, it's on a wheat bun, with lettuce from the garden and a bunch of banana peppers, with the last of my spicy garlic pickle spears.

And here's the recipe:

1 can chickpeas, rinsed
1 stalk celery
1/2 med vidalia onion
1 carrot
2 tbs reduced fat vegenaise
1 tbs spicy southwest mustard
1 tbs relish (I used a homemade zucchini relish)
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Place chickpeas, celery and onion in food processor and pulse until chopped and combined.
2. Place shredding blade on processor and shred carrot into chickpea mixture.
3. Add vegenaise, mustard, relish, salt and pepper and mix together.
4. Chill and devour.

It made quite a bit and I'll be eating this for lunch again today. Dinner last night was a summer squash casserole with a pile of steamed broccoli on the side. I've been eating lots of fruit to stand in for the sweets I would have been eating previously. A bowl full of watermelon, cantaloupe and blueberries is sweet in the best sense of the word. Now I just have to keep busy and keep my mind off the sugar beast and hopefully this will subside.