sleep work sleep

I've been back at work this week.

During my leave, I was getting a good amount of sleep - about 8 hours a day. But it was mostly between 4am and 1pm. Only near 4am does my brain start sounding an internal alarm: "OMG, it's almost daybreak; I really need to go to bed now." I tried to adjust my bedtime backwards, but there was always something that made me want or need to stay up later.

This week, my wake time was set to 7am, in order for me to be at work by 9:30am. I tried to be in bed by 11pm, but failed by about 2 hours each night. So I averaged about 6 hours of sleep. Except for last night: I really tried to get to bed on time, and was only half an hour late (I blame it on the squirrel with the camera). Also, I got up half an hour later as I had worked late the prior evening.

Not getting enough sleep gives me a low level headache at work. Still had it today in spite of one night's good rest.

buy / don't buy

Note to self (Buy/Try): TCBY has vegan non-dairy frozen yogurt. Several flavors, in fact: almond nog, chocolate almond, coconut, vanilla almond.


Note to self (Don't Buy): Target has a "Simply Balanced" brand of vegan meatless chicken/turkey in the freezer section. I was pleasantly surprised when I came across it, and bought 2 flavors - smoky chipotle (chicken) and mushroom miso (turkey). The first one I microwaved, and it was very unpalatable. The 2nd one I pan-fried, and it was ok (because I like most anything that has a crispy/chewy fried exterior and is vegan), but still not very good. So don't buy this brand again.

The few reviews I've seen praising the product all mention the Korean Barbeque flavor. So maybe that one is better. But it's probably not worth me trying, as I suspect the base product is the same for all the flavors, and only the sauce packet is different.

By the way, for anyone else reading this, the above is an anomaly. Most other vegan meat substitutes available taste very good to me. For example, Gardein, Kroger's "Simple Truth" brand, Beyond Meat, and Tofurky. That's why I was rather surprised about how bad the "Simply Balanced" one was in comparison.

doc martin! mole

They snuck in a new season of Doc Martin without me being aware of it. Now I'm already behind on the first 3 episodes.

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A jar of Mexican mole sauce, which my mom gave me, has been sitting in the back of my cupboard for several years. I wasn't sure what to cook with it, and since the main ingredient is chili peppers, I was afraid it would be too spicy for me. I envisioned it being as spicy as some of those Indian spice pastes in jars.

But today I finally cooked with it, using the guidelines posted by user mexicanjl on this chowhound page. I used a can of diced tomatoes as I didn't have any tomato puree. I cooked some vegan chicken strips, poured the sauce over them, and had pasta along with it. The mole is nowhere near as spicy as I was afraid of. It tastes more like paprika to me than hot peppers.

The empty mole jar has a smooth rim and can even be used as a drinking glass.