Fast food. There I said it.

OK, so for my two followers, it's been a while. But this blog is back in business. Has to be. I keep cooking and have no one to share it with - and what is the use of cooking if you can't share your food with someone?

For those of you that know me, the last month has been all about convenience eating for me. Fast food quickly. And it had better be easy to fix because I have no brain cells left. So into the pantry and freezer I dove. You didn't think I was going to actually eat fast food, did you?

First up was vegan menudo.

If you have never heard of menudo, don't worry - you will never want it after reading this. It's basically tripe (cow's stomach lining) cut up and simmered in a chili pepper broth for about 12 hours. Makes your house smell extra good. Then throw in some hominy and onion and oregano and you have yourself one tasty breakfast. Hungry yet? OK, maybe not. But I grew up eating this stuff. And it was goooood. A true testament to the Old School Mexican ways that nothing should go to waste. Nothing. You should see the meat case at a Mexican grocery store. There's a homeschool lesson for you.....

But it was good. Not because of the tripe. I threw that out every time. But the flavor, the textures and the comfort of broth were very nice together. It was by accident that I stumbled on a way to make menudo vegetarian, and immediately I recognized the taste as something I have been missing. I had veg broth in the pantry, canned garbanzo beans, pumpkin seeds, purple cabbage and onion, and dried oregano. Well, 3 minutes later, there you have it. Fast food. Real food from real ingredients. Quickly. I lived on this for several days. Very clean eating, very earthy taste.

Comfort in a bowl. For me anyways. I told my mom to tell me dad, who was in the hospital, that I was eating veg menudo in his honor. He passed away about a day later. He had made some menudo in December, and I hope my mom got to enjoy it for the last time. Some traditions I will carry on, just in a different way.

Sometimes it's not the main ingredients that we miss, but all the sides and condiments that make a dish. Or the memories that make us eat something, crave something. And when we find it again, it tastes all the better.

Thanks for the smells dad.