But between the Paxil withdrawal (heart palpitations, serious sleep deprivation over the last several weeks) and the allergies (congestion, sneezing, burning eyes and face, headache for two days now), plus the fact that I’m sticking to Weight Watchers very carefully and even added exercise with no evidence of weight loss, I’m feeling pretty all-around awful. Hating my life right now, feeling very sorry for myself, not seeing relief in my future. It’s bad, very bad. One of the wondrous things Paxil can do for you is induce suicidal thoughts, and I’d say that’s probably what’s happening. Pretty much ruins your whole day. I would never, ever, ever kill myself, but it sure would be a lot easier to ignore the stupid thoughts if I’d been getting more than 4-6 hours interrupted sleep a night for the last month and a half. I think I’m priming myself to join that class action suit against Glaxo-SmithKline.
Garden Views
The vegetable garden has pretty much been a bust, first garden here, horrible weather, not much dedication to gardening on my part, but we’ve had a few interesting sights.
This was supposed to be zucchini. As soon as it started to grow like a cucumber vine instead of a zucchini bush, I knew we had something not-zucchini. They’re long squash, and quite tasty except for the tough skin:

The tomatoes have also been largely unproductive, unless you’re a chipmunk or a pill bug, but this big ugly brute was right tasty:

Now, back in Bloomfield, where I had a busy, thriving garden, I begged for one of these guys to feast on the veggie parasites – even paid for egg cases that never hatched. Here’s our visitor doing a Superman impersonation:

There you have it – the sum total of the excitement in the vegetable garden all season long.
Lentils and Bulghur/Simple Syrian Salad
I got this from Madhur Jaffrey’s “World Vegetarian” and fixed it up to our family’s taste. There’s a store in Montclair, NJ, called “Spice It Up” (973-744-3344) that has a Berber Spice that we adore more than any of the Berber Spice recipes I’ve found online. They’re very nice about shipping, and if you call them, order some of their Paradise Fig while you’re at it. We can hardly imagine eating salmon anymore without Paradise Fig seasoning. Anyway. . .
* Exported from MasterCook *
Lentils and Bulghur
Recipe By :
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :
Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
——– ———— ——————————–
2 onions — sliced thin
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup dried lentils
3 1/2 cups water
1 cup bulghur
3 teaspoons Berber Spice Mix
Cook the onions in the olive oil until they are browned and crispy. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels
Add lentils and water to the pot, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 30 minutes.
Add bulghur and Berber Spice Mix to the lentils, bring to a boil again. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the mixture sit, covered, for another 10 minutes.
Serve with Simple Syrian Salad.
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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 422 Calories; 15g Fat (29.7% calories from fat); 18g Protein; 59g Carbohydrate; 22g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 19mg Sodium. Exchanges: 3 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 1 Vegetable; 2 1/2 Fat.
Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
* Exported from MasterCook *
Simple Syrian Salad
Recipe By :
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Salads, Dressings
Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
——– ———— ——————————–
1 english cucumber — quartered and sliced
2 tomatoes — diced
2 medium onion — halved and sliced
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried mint flakes
Toss the cucumber and tomatoes with the salt, then add the lemon juice and mint and stir to mix. Let sit for about 30 minutes at room temperature and serve
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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 47 Calories; trace Fat (4.9% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 541mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 0 Fat.
NOTES : 47 calories, 3 grams fiber, no fat – but it counts as no points for Weight Watchers.
Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0