SICK BABY

Today's recipe: Eggplant stew

Today the sky is crisp blue, the air is sweet and the temperature will rise to a near 70 degrees. You can’t ask for better weather in November. I live in a state where we actually get to enjoy all four seasons and I take advantage of that by much outdoor activity. Unfortunately, my outdoor activity for today won’t probably consist of more than a front yard mail check. My ten year old woke up with a sore throat and cough- almost unheard of in our home because we try to eat and live so healthy that we never get sick. My friend Christina often mocks me for what I make my family eat: fresh beets, raw yellow peppers, avocado, plums, and an organic hard-boiled egg. (That was actually my breakfast today) While most babies are eating some kind of freeze-dried cereal with hot water poured on top to make it slushy, (isn’t that what astronauts eat?) my one year old was feeding herself homemade applesauce or steel-cut oatmeal. By the time she was old enough to home-school, she preferred eating carrot sticks for her snack over Cheez-its of the same color. Living in South America we were introduced to an even more healthy lifestyle: drinking volcanic water or milk from cows we milked, eating “organic” chicken that was slaughtered minutes earlier right in front of us, walking about 10 miles a day in extremely high elevation (which is great for the lungs), going to bed and rising early each day (which does wonders for the soul). Now we again live surrounded by a culture who eats, sleeps, drives, and does everything too fast. I have a friend whom I visited in Amsterdam a few years back and she and her friends took me to the movies in this grand old theatre; it was gorgeous. After the movie, (an American flick) I did what I grew up doing my whole life: I quickly got up to beat the crowd. Only this time there was no crowd to beat.
“Where are you going?”, she asked.
 “Um…”.
I looked around. I was the only one standing. The credits were almost over and the house lights were on.
“Aren‘t we going for drinks now at that bar you were telling me about?”
Silence.
 “Why are you Americans always in such a rush?” she finally said.
Ouch. I was just called an American in a not-so-good tone.
“In the Netherlands we sit and chat a minute about how we enjoyed the movie. Then we can leave. The bar will still be open.”
How profound. “The bar will still be open” would be my new motto for everything whether it applied or not.  And open the bar was- until 7am the next day! Anyway, back to my baby being sick…I have her still in her pj’s spread out on the couch like an invalid drinking hot lemon ginger tea. Lunch will consist of a stew with tons of garlic in it, good for killing throat germs. Dinner will be something light and dairy/sugar free so that she can sleep well tonight. By tomorrow, if the weather is again this nice and she is germless, we  will go walking on the trails at the Main Street park near our house. Tomorrow is Veterans Day and my husband will be home to walk with us too. If you also have the day off and the desire to stay home and cook, below is my recipe for eggplant stew that serves about 325 people who don‘t really like eggplant but they will try a small portion to avoid hurting your feelings:

1large eggplant cut into chunks
2 large onions diced
Garlic, the more the better for you
1 large can of pureed plum tomatoes
Olive oil, a good hard drizzle
2 cans garbanzo beans
Salt, pepper, parsley flakes
Put all the ingredients in a covered stock pot on medium low for at least 2-3 hours, or a crock pot all day to simmer the flavors together and turn eggplant very mushy. May be garnished with parmesan cheese, sour cream, or croutons