This is exactly the kind of thing that gets stuck in my craw and I won’t let it go because I am that old fart who won’t put a 4 ft. tall piece of metal in the trash. Dear readers, I am the insane person who spent an hour of her life tracking down Type S replacement mop heads online and bought 10 of them, shipped directly to the nuthouse.

For months I have been searching for the Type S mop head which means I’ve been swabbing the wood floors with a stanky sponge for some time now. You need to understand that there is nothing wrong with this mop except that I couldn’t find a new spongie for it. It is the mop I use not for sentimental reasons but because it is not broken. Historically, the aforementioned Type S mop head spongie would get gross and I’d replace it. The mop is blue and metal and has hinges. It’s a fucking mop. It shouldn’t be so hard.

For months I looked, staunchly refusing to throw out a perfectly good mop just because it’s not new enough or cool enough. Finally I sat down, I researched, I found the mop heads. I am no less crazy but the floors feel cleaner already.

I make this black eyed pea dip often. It’s a crowd pleaser and extra bonus: it’s vegan. I’m often asked for the recipe. Now I can send a link instead of typing it up each time.

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This makes 2 cups, easy to double or triple the recipe. I use a bit
less less oil when making a double recipe. It’s best made in advance
but is still good thrown together and eaten.

Cowboy Caviar

1 15 oz. can black eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/4 cup finely chopped red sweet pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 TB vegetable oil
2 TB cider vinegar
2 fresh jalepenos, seeded and chopped
Cracked black pepper
Dash of salt if needed

Combine ingredients. Cover and chill overnight. Serve with tortilla chips or crackers.

I’ve been doing a cleanse. I haven’t written about it because “Let me tell you about this cleanse” is second to “You won’t believe the dream I had last night” on the list of things people don’t want to hear about.

It’s this cleanse. You know, this one. Conscious eating. And I feel pretty dang good. I’ve eaten vegan for the past two weeks as well as abstained from sugar/gluten/caffeine/alcohol/artificial sweeteners. I am more aware of everything I eat.

Luckily I’ve gotten through it without many cravings. It was difficult sometimes, not because I disliked the food I ate (in fact there are vegetables I still haven’t eaten) but because breaking habits is hard. There were days when I was exhausted and couldn’t try to fix that with some simple carbs and coffee. But I didn’t have a late-afternoon crash either.

If this is the kind of thing you’d like to do, I think you should try it. I’m listening to my body more, giving it food for energy but not lacking energy when I’m done eating. Buying a few vegan cookbooks helped me, especially Veganomicon because it includes gluten-free recipes. The vegetarianism was a good lesson and I feel like I’ve reset my tolerance for how much meat I should eat — a lot less.

As for the gluten thing, yeah, I do feel better and I think not eating gluten is a major factor. So I’m going to lay off a lot of flours and bread products. Once I found out I could eat wheat again, I wanted to eat it. Daily. And it makes me feel sluggish, I’m certain.

All that said, I’m looking forward to eating a poached egg. And drinking an Amstel Light. But for now mmm hummus!