Toronto Critical Mass took over the Gardiner Expressway.  I wish I could have been part of that ride.

Tonight, I’m treating myself to gazpacho. Most of the ingredients are from the market, at the most Ontario grown.

4 large tomatoes, peeled
1 red bell pepper
1 english cucumber
1 handful of chopped cilantro
5-6 fresh basil leaves
1 handful of chopped scallions (or red onion)
3 garlic cloves
1/4 olive oil
1/4 cup of white wine vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
salt, pepper

(optional stuffs: tabasco sauce, other fresh herbs, avocados, parsley)

Half the pepper and half the cucumber are finely chopped and set aside in a large bowl. Everything else goes in the blender. You can chop up the tomatoes and veggies coarsely if you like. Blend until smooth. Add the liquids to the big bowl and mix the peppers and cucumbers together. Season to taste. Cover, and chill in the fridge for about an hour for the flavours to blend in. Waiting is important for delicious gazpacho.

I think a lot of recipes call for tomato juice to thin the concoction and add more flavour. Honestly, I don’t think it needs it. If you want it less chunky, forget chopping anything and put all of it in the blender and set to liquify. If you want more liquid, add water. If you want to bother, you can even strain the pulp, though I wouldn’t because all that stuff is healthy. If you wanted more flavour, add more herbs. Yum, cilantro!

So I get headaches when I don’t get my daily fix of caffeine. Also, I don’t feel rested after a full night of sleep. I figured it was time to get myself off of caffeine. I started today, which was kind of a bad time because my weekend was sort of exhausting. We started the weekend with a housewarming party for a co-worker in Oakville. She has an awesome place, and the snacks were plentiful and delicious. I spent the weekend in Toronto, with the boy and friends, shopping, drinking too much coffee, some wine, lots of sugary stuff. Not exactly outright hedonism but it was fun for a while.

When I got back home, the litter box needed changing, the plants needed watering, and over the course of a weekend it seemed that the weeds had just gone nuts. I have a headache from not getting enough sleep, and quite possibly from skipping my morning coffee. I did need to have a Hershey Almond chocolate bar or else I would have been completely useless. The chocolate bar perked me up a bit, and I was able to continue working through the day. I still have a headache, but for the most part, I’ve been so good about food.

I’m going to make myself an asian spinach salad. A big one. And veg out in front of the telly. I’m going to attempt to eat raw foods for the most part, if I can. I’m hoping by the end of this week, my brain will be back on track. I’ll be honest though… quitting caffeine might be just as hard as quitting smoking was for me.

Tomatoes went into their individual pots last week. I picked 3 of the Romas and 2 of the cherries. I think these should be enough for the veggie patch I plotted out for them.

I named the romas after my sister’s family. The cherry tomatoes are named for me and my boyfriend.

The cherry tomatoes (Sweet 100), are in recycled plastic pots from the herb plants I bought earlier.

Sometime this week, the cucumbers, lettuces and carrots are going into the ground. I would have done it today but it was really cold out.