under the weather

 I have a bit of a sore throat today, and I've been feeling very rundown and exhausted.  It finally peaked this morning with a sore throat, fever, and headache.  Unfortunately, this means that I haven't done much cooking.

I've been drinking a lot of tea, and whenever I'm sick, my first instinct is to eat soft foods.  Since I've maxed out on the number of English muffins with pumpkin butter that I've eaten, I decided to make something easy and soft.

I bought this delicata squash from Trader Joe's, and this pretty much met the criteria.  I also barely have an appetite, so eating a whole squash seemed like a doable victory.

First, how gorgeous is this!?  It reminds me of fall.  I sliced it open, which felt impossible while sick, seriously, why are squash so tough to cut!?  I de-seeded it, sprinkled some olive oil, sea salt, and pepper on top and put it in the oven at 450°,  It was super easy.  I also made some Earth Balance mac and cheese (the regular cheddar).  It was definitely better than the white cheddar, but I was too over living to finish it.  I hate being sick.  

I finished the squash though!  Success!  Wanna hear something weird though?  It tasted like buttered movie theater popcorn!  I thought that I was going insane from the fever or my taste buds weren't working from being sick, but nope.  I read online, and apparently, that's a thing.  Delicata squash smell (I couldn't smell anything.  Thanks, nose.) and taste like popcorn.

Vegetables that taste like popcorn.  The world is cool.  Honestly though, it was a earthy sweetness that I really, really, really liked.  Definitely try these!