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I had to make George some chicken tonight, and that made this night difficult. I made him chicken, partly to use it up and get it out of the house, and also partly because he swears he doesn’t like cottage cheese loaf. I say he’s never tried MY cottage cheese loaf, but he insists it’s ANY cottage cheese loaf. Anyway, I made a garlic and OJ chicken, which smelled uh-mazing. It was torture watching him eat it.

However, the upside was that I made G try the cottage cheese loaf and he liked it! He was actually embarrassed because he really did like it, and he’d told me it sucked for so long.

Lynn’s Cottage Cheese Loaf
1 stick butter, melted
1 large onion, quartered
1/2 c. walnuts
5 eggs
24 oz. cottage cheese (small or large curd, as you like)
3 tsp. McKay’s chicken seasoning
fresh ground pepper to taste (I like lots)
8 oz. or so of Special K cereal

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the blender or food processor, combine onion, walnuts, eggs and butter and puree until smooth and foamy. Pour into a large bowl and add cottage cheese and seasoning and stir well. Add Special K and mix until combined. Pour entire mixture into a greased or sprayed 9”x12” baking pan. Bake for 1 hour, uncovered, until set. Serves 8, and is great with baked potatoes and a big green salad.

Okay, most people who didn’t grow up vegetarian aren’t going to leap at the chance to stir up this recipe. It’s one of those scary home recipes that people outside the our family don’t like if they know what’s in it. It’s an old potluck recipe circa 1984 that my mom brought home and kept. It grew to be one of our family’s favorites. And, if you’ve been veg for a while and consider yourself brave, you might be ready to try it. This loaf draws flavor from walnuts, onions and a special chicken seasoning, plus it looks homemade — which I don’t consider a drawback.

With the exemption of some leftover bacon and non-tempting cold cuts for G's lunches, our refrigerator is now meat-free. Since George will still maintain his lunchtime sandwich habits, he's allowed to keep his slices cold. I am not the least bit torn about giving up those salty slices, which I only ate when desperate. He likes the over-preserved sliced meats, not the slow-roasted slabs of fresh, chemical-free birds done on-site.

What I ate today. . . .
I woke up to a piece of toast w/ peanut butter and a tall chai. Then I ate three slices of cheddar cheese, my leftover TOG fettuccine, a double tall white mocha with peppermint, then dinner of a baked potato with butter & RF sour cream, a big square of cottage cheese loaf and several strips of baked carrots.