Stuff I Ate: Blackout Edition

I have power! After 4 days with no electricity following a severe windstorm in Memphis last weekend, my power was finally restored last night. And it was like a summer miracle! Man, you don't know how much appreciate your lights and your garbage disposal and your fridge and your washing machine and your Vitamix until they're gone.

The storm last Saturday night knocked out power to nearly 200,000 people in Memphis, many of them in Midtown (where I live) since we're surrounded by lush, old trees. The wind gusts reached 90 mph, and there were — still are — fallen trees everywhere. Trees crushed homes and cars, blocked streets, and took down power lines. And there are still 30,000 people without power as of this writing. But lucky me got power back last night! Woo hoo!

I'm fortunate that I have a gas stove, so I could still cook. And I stashed my fancy vegan meats and ice cream and stuff in a friend's spare fridge/freezer. He never lost power — lucky bastard. But I kept a small cooler at home stashed with leftovers from food I cooked on Saturday, plus some vegan cheese, yogurt, lettuce, and other essentials. Here's a recap of what I ate while the power was out.

You can read all about Sunday's (day 1 without power) eats in my last post. That was race day for the Great American River Run. But on Monday morning, I slept in and fixed some Purple Potato & Brown Rice Ramen with added tofu and green beans. The ramen was a dry package by Lotus Foods, and the tofu had been stashed in my freezer and was starting to thaw. The green beans were fresh from the farmer's market.

Lunch was the rest of the Co-op Tempeh Salad that I made for pre-race eats on Saturday. I had stored the tempeh salad and lettuce in my cooler. Enjoyed on the back porch while reading Wild with some natural light.

I did a ton of things on Monday to fight boredom. It's amazing what you can get done without Netflix/Facebook as a distraction. I mowed my yard, washed my car, and ran a bunch of shopping errands. Fortunately, the stores out east didn't lose power. Also, by some miracle, Imagine Vegan Cafe didn't lose power, so I hit them up for a mid-day Soft Serve Cone, which melted quickly since temps were in the high 80s.

Dinner on Monday and several lunches over the past couple days was my leftover Pesto Pasta with Potatoes & Green Beans, another pre-race meal that I stored in my cooler. Enjoyed here to lantern light so I could read while I ate.

On Monday night, my Facebook friend Alex posted that his power had been turned back on and he asked if anyone needed to borrow his battery-powered fan. I did! So he brought it over. I sat in front of the cool air and enjoyed a glass of merlot before bed. Memphians really came together after this storm, offering those in need fans, water, ice, even their spare bedrooms!

On Tuesday morning, breakfast was a skillet-toasted Whole Wheat Bagel with S'mores and Maple Vanilla Frosting Fluffbutter protein almond butter!

I'd half-expected to be going back to work on Tuesday, but my office lost power as well. So work was canceled. I took that opportunity to pop by my old office at the Memphis Flyer to visit with former co-workers. I also got to work in the kitchen making homemade elderberry syrup using fresh berries harvested from my backyard elderberry bush. They had been in the deep-freezer since last summer, and they'd thawed completely so I knew it was use them or lose them. Now I can take this syrup daily to promote immunity.

People kept asking how my pets were faring in the dark, but they were fine! We keep the house pretty warm anyway. I rarely turn my AC below 78, and the hottest it got inside during the outage was 80 degrees. We were fine in that regard. In fact, the cats loved that my shades were open! Here's Ozzy sunbathing in the dining room window.

My last day without power — Wednesday — started with another toasted bagel, this time topped with avocado, hot sauce, and Everything But the Bagel seasoning. YUM!!!!

I had more pesto pasta at lunch, but by dinner, I was out of leftovers. So I met up with my buds Melissa and Anthony, who also lost power, at Imagine Vegan Cafe. I typically try to order something with vegetables when I eat at Imagine, but when the power is out for 4 days, you stop caring about eating healthily. Only comfort food can soothe that stress! I ordered the BBQ Nachos with seitan BBQ, vegan cheddar, jalapenos, and sour cream.

By the way, I was so excited to eat my nachos that I forgot to take a picture. But I stole this one from my friend Susan's blog, Hungry Memphis. They looked the same!

After dinner, I drove back home to find the power restored! Hallelujah! This morning, I finally got to make a smoothie in my Vitamix. Life is back to normal for me, but sadly, many of my friends are still in the dark. Hoping they get power back soon.