My dog decided to eat a bottle of ibuprofen on Friday. This brilliant decision led to me cleaning up diarrhea as I panic-cried into the phone while the vet told me to get him to the emergency clinic IMMEDIATELY.

Needless to say, it’s been quite the weekend.

For those of you that don’t know me, my dog is my everything. To the point that it might be borderline unhealthy. I usually choose my dog over going out and making friends, and I make sure that my schedule fits around his walks.

What can I say? I owe this dog my sanity.

When I suffered a broken heart, long runs and cuddle sessions with the hound restored me. I filled my emptiness with this 70 pound beast. He’s lived in a cabin in the woods, on a cramped col-de-sac in Seattle, and now he lives with me in a tiny house in Austin, TX.

This dog has been places, my companion on any and all adventures.

If you don’t have a dog, you might not understand. That’s okay. Just imagine something in your life that is always there. Imagine something that gives your heart happiness no matter what. Imagine that being fragile and at risk, and you’ll know the panic and horror that is in my heart and brain right now.

Two days later and he’s still in the vet. Seeing him in his kennel, hooked up to IV tubes and looking at me like, “you’re getting me out of here, right?”, broke my heart. He has to be constantly hooked up to fluids so his kidneys don’t fail. Boy oh boy… that damn dog of mine.

Fingers crossed he’ll be okay, and tomorrow morning I will pick up my wiggling body of warmth and I can snuggle him so hard that he’ll squirm just so he can breathe.

Positive thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

This kind of nonsense requires soup. A warm, rich, sweet soup. Thank heavens for My New Roots and her perfectly timed recipe.

Coconut Soup

From My New Roots

• 2 cans coconut milk
• 10 cilantro roots
• 6-7 stalks lemongrass
• 3 shallots
• 2-4 thai chilies
• 50 g of galangal root
• 50 g coconut sugar
• 12 kaffir lime leaves
• handful of white button mushrooms, sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic
• juice of 3 limes
• 3 Tbsp. tamari
• about 1 cup of water

I was surprised at how easy it was to find all of these ingredients. The original recipe called for fish sauce, which I didn’t use (surprise, surprise). I also cut out the sugar (because I’m not eating sugar right now, I’m on a cleanse, remember?) but I left it in the recipe because I’m sure it will make it even more delicious.

First things first, get your chopping done. Wash the cilantro well, remove the upper portion of the stems and set aside for garnish. Cut the lemongrass off where the white base portion ends and discard the tops. Pound the lemongrass until they’re cracked and open. Slice the shallots. Peel and cut the galangal into chunks and pound it until it releases a little liquid. Tear the lime leaves into smaller pieces. Slice the mushrooms. Peel and smash the garlic.

Next, heat the coconut milk, cilantro roots, lemongrass, shallots, chili, galangal, sugar (if using), lime leaves and garlic in a medium saucepan. You’ll want to bring everything to a gentle simmer and cook for about 15 minutes with a lid on.

Then you’ll strain the soup through a sieve into another saucepan. Discard the solids. Add the sliced mushrooms, limejuice, tamari and water until you’ve got a consistency you want. You want the soup to be light, but still creamy. Bring the soup up to a lite simmer again just enough to cook the mushrooms. Don’t boil the soup. Season to taste and serve with cilantro leaves, extra lime and thinly sliced lime leaves. I served mine over brown rice, and it was DELICIOUS