I was lucky to be born a healthy kid: good ticker, straight legs (well, one knee a little knocked-in), excellent vision, but in a certain department I was lacking in quality genetics, and am still lacking: The Teeth. My own little scourge. As a child, they grew in all crooked, or conversely didn't want to fall out (double sets on the bottom front row, yanked before I could terrify my classmates with my shark-ness). I got braces, and had them for SIX YEARS to straighten out the graveyard. I actually love crooked teeth on others, always have. But my own were not so... pleasing to the eye.
Can you see what's starting to happen here? Yikes.
A friend of mine once had the theory that the youngest child (I was the baby out of 4 tots) gets all the 'leftover' genes, with mixed results. I got: bad teeth (everyone else = perfecto), hazel eyes (weird), TOWERING HEIGHT (I'm 5'5", an Amazon in this family's land of 5'0" women!), and a penchant for loud guitars. I can't complain too much. This week has been a challenge, however. The Olde Wisdom Tooth is poking its cranky little head out again, ripping through my gum tissue, and it shouldn't be a big deal, but it is. Today, I came to the bottom of a 500-count bottle of ibuprofen. Holy crap. Where did it all go? Can't really concentrate, no painting, blah blah blah. Just a painful little hot poker, crabbing at my face all day long, causing a feeling that my lower jaw might explode. Never got the wisdom teeth taken out, didn't have the money, and they didn't appear until my mid-20's. But I'm starting to go here again:
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No. No sad cat.
What to do? Give in, get it yanked? I'm sure if I wait a couple of weeks it will get better! Ha. Ha ha. Take it away, Ian + company. In the meantime, I'll just stay doped up on the ibuprofen, and eat Soft Foods. Tonight's Soft Food: Pasta and Cashew 'Cheese', with cherry tomatoes, green olives and albacore. Recipe to follow!
Here's the recipe for the Cashew Cheese, everything else is up to you. If you are a weirdo like me and actually LIKE rice pasta, go for this one or the TJ's fusilli (not the penne.. mushy/gross).
1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water for an hour or two
8 oz silken or soft tofu
2-3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup nutritional yeast, or more to taste
salt or Bragg's aminos
splash of cider vinegar
Drain the cashews and throw all the ingredients together into an old yogurt tub or some other vessel. Use an immersion blender to pulverize until smooth, add some more water until you achieve your preferred consistency. Add to cooked/drained pasta, stir in 'fixins', bake in casserole dish at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Douse liberally with Tabasco and enjoy!
