No TV or meat

Dan and I are not watching TV for a month. Why? Well, it's on our "100 Things to Do List," the goal is to become a little more productive and a little less lazy in the evenings. Perhaps it will encourage us to be more creative. Who knows. As it is written on the list: "Go one month without TV. See what happens." We started on Monday, right after the World Cup ended. Summer seems like the perfect time for such an experiment. There's no good TV anyway and we shouldn't be wasting good weather sitting on our couch. While the weekdays seemed unusually quiet without our usual "Family Guy," the real test came over the weekend where we really had no plans but to relax and chill. I have to admit, I think we both missed the TV. Dan fell asleep at 10pm on Saturday night, I think, for lack of anything better to do. Maybe after three more weeks, we won't gain anything but rest.

The weekend wasn't a complete sleep in--we did cross off another ethnic food experience on our list by going up to Harlem for some Senegalese food. We went to this place called Le Baobab which was pretty shabby in ambiance. The room was kind of dingy with harsh lighting. There was a strange teller window, as if the space used to be someplace where money was exchanged. However, it DID feel like a hub for Senegalese culture. There were a bunch of African dudes hanging around both inside and out on the sidewalk. Lots of people coming in and out. Everyone seemed to know each other. Some African news playing on the TV. It felt pretty legit.

Dan ordered what looked like a sandy mound of couscous and a red lamb stew. I was planning to order the fish, but they had none left so Dan insisted I get the fowl, which looked like a roast bird and kind of tasted like a tough chicken. It felt like there was no meat, so I spent most of the meal wrestling with the bones. I also tasted some homemade ginger juice and it's probably the first time I have had a drink that tasted spicy. It had a little too much kick for me. But it was a lot of food for cheap.


Outside


Inside

This doesn't have anything to do with Senegalese food but one of the other things on our to-do list is "eat more vegetables," and one way I am instilling this in our household is by having Vegetarian Mondays, which means on Mondays, I won't be eating meat. (Knowing Dan, he'll just go meatless for dinner). Don't get me wrong, Dan and I love to eat meat and I don't think I could give it up completely. But after watching Food Inc and reading Michael Pollan's book, I do want to try eating more thoughtfully and this seems like a nice baby step in the right direction. At this point, it is just an experiment. I have to say my meals on my first Monday were kind of blah, so if anyone has any good vegetarian recipes that you would like to share, please pass them along to me.