Day 9: A Great Sandwich

Sorry for missing my post yesterday.  Except for an amazing sandwich and a good choice at Starbucks, it was an uninspired day. 

I was still reeling a bit from my VegFest experience when I awoke yesterday.  But after awhile, I was feeling better.  Breakfast was my favorite Trader Joe's corn flakes (surprising low in sugar), with dried strawberries, sunflower seeds and ginger chips, served with unsweetened almond milk. After breakfast, we walked up to the pharmacy to pick up a few things.  The walk was damp and chilly, and there was a Starbucks next to the pharmacy, so we wanted something hot to drink.

Coffee is NOT my drink.  I barely like the smell of it and I absolutely hate the taste of it.  Hot chocolate has always been my hot beverage of choice.  But now, milk and sugar both are off the list.  What is a girl to do?  I have a very limited sense of smell, so hot tea tastes exactly like hot water, which is not really a great flavor experience.  So, I steeled myself to go order a tall hot chocolate.  When I got in line, I remembered that they used to have hot cider.  Hooray!  I was saved from myself by a healthier option on the menu.  Yay, Starbucks.  Later in the day I remembered they also sell a Tazo orange tea, which would have been an even better option, as the citrus is something I can taste.  Next time.

OK, so back to the house and the amazing sandwich!  I bought a medium sized eggplant at the Olympia market on Saturday, and we used that as a base for a roasted vegetable sandwich.  Usually, these sandwiches are made with melted mozzarella and tomato sauce, but we're off the cheese and out of sauce.  We forged ahead anyway.  (By we, in this instance, I mean Brian.)
 
Brian sliced eggplant, onion and bell pepper into 3/4 inch slices, placed them in a roasting pan, drizzled them with olive oil, turned them over and drizzled them again. Next he halved a handful of cherry tomatoes and added them to the pan.  Finally, he ground a little black pepper over everything and placed in a 400 degree oven for about an hour. When he pulled them out of the oven the vegetables were soft and just tinging brown on the edges. As they cooled, Brian took some Italian bread with whole garlic cloves in it, and pan fried it in a bit of olive oil on the stove.  He then assembled the sandwiches and served lunch.  WOW!  Those were some DELICIOUS sandwiches.  If we were thinking, we'd have served them with a side salad, but they were quite filling on their own. 

After that, the rest of the day was anticlimactic.  I had a cookie (OK, it was really half of two cookies, but they were really big and way over the size limit - not a good choice) mid-afternoon, a small popcorn at the movie theater (saw The Family... not great, not awful), and late in the evening had a PB&J. The sugar thing is really tough.  Fruit is really wonderful, but not quite the same as a cookie.  Ah, well.