Living alone.

I have a glut of photos that I haven’t posted, and with a few big things coming up (like a vegan meet-up on Saturday and Andy coming home on Sunday) I want to clear them out.

I know I’m not really living single or anything, merely spending a month by myself. But, it has been good because I’ve never ever lived alone. I went from home to the uni dorms at 17, then back home for six months after I finished uni, and then I moved straight in with Andy when I moved to Australia two years ago. So this month has been a complete change for me, and although I’ve been a bit lonely, I have really enjoyed some aspects of it.

Here are a few of the things I’ve loved about living alone:

+sleeping in the middle of the bed.
+being the sole object of Nacho’s affection.
+cutting recipes in half and still having enough for lunch the next day.
+less weekly groceries (less expensive and not so much to carry home).
+watching the same movie repeatedly (Andy gets bored, and we don’t always have the same taste in movies. Looking for Alibrandi and Amelie were on repeat this month, usually it’s The Royal Tenenbaums or The Life Aquatic).
+getting work done in the evenings.
+eating whatever I want, whenever I want, with no worries about pleasing someone else. Like all this food…

Turmeric rice, sweet potato mashed with brown sugar and coconut cream, and ‘Black Eyed Peas Dhal’ from Alternative Vegan (p. 126), with added coconut cream. The dhal was really great, and tasted smoky, deep and different. I would make this for guests.

Borlotti bean patties, based on ‘Chickpea Cutlets’ from Veganomicon (recipe here) but made with Italian-tasting things (like basil, oregano, and balsamic vinegar), served with ‘Spiced Potatoes’ from La Dolce Vegan (p. 191).

A very quick but somehow very satisfying dinner—dry fried tofu triangles and raw capsicum with a sauce made from peanut butter, sweet chilli sauce, and soy sauce.

Quick dinners usually lead to no leftovers for lunch the next day, so on those days I had to get creative. This lunch was a Granny Smith apple (a variety which originated in Australia, for a bit of trivia), carrot sticks, a bagel and banana bread. The bagel and banana bread were both made about a month ago, but I stuck them in the freezer (after slicing, in the case of the bread) and have been snacking on them ever since.

Mini-crustless chickpea flour quiches, based on SusanV’s tofu quiche recipe. I was working on the logic of the great-ness of Kumudha’s Indian Vegan Omelette, but what works on the stovetop isn’t quite as great in baked form. These were a bit heavy, but still pretty good.

Soba noodles tossed with hoisin sauce, served with ‘Sautéed Cabbage with Mustard Seed’ from the Pythagoras chapter of Famous Vegetarians & their favourite recipes (p. 8). The cabbage turned out surprisingly sweet and delicious.

Even with all the good things about living alone, I think it’s obvious that I’m really looking forward to having Andy come back!