Simple Day

Cooked up large quantities of food today, for a baby-shower I'm cohosting at a friend's house tomorrow. Went to Wholefoods in the morning, then B split for a bookclub while Edie watched me work in the kitchen. B came home in the late afternoon as I was finishing up, I ordered in some dinner, and got to bed early. And that was the day that was!

BREAKFAST: 9:15am, organic cheerios with organic dead milk, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

DAY OF SNACKING: 12-5pm, cheese cubes, bits of mac n' cheese, Israeli cous cous, some potato nick, water, 1.25 bowl hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7:30pm, roti canai, pad thai, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5Simplke

Mothers

I did a quick shop in the hood while doing the laundry. I stopped into the kosher bakery on my block, and picked up some potato nick and ruggelah. There was an old man beside me ordering, had to be in his 80s and a life-long Lower East Sider. Hearing aide, tweed sports coat, wool flat-cap, thick glasses, hunched a bit. He opened an old thick wallet to get his money out, and in the plastic part which holds cards and IDs, on the top facing out was a photograph.

It was a photograph of an old smiling woman wearing a house-coat/mumu kind of thing, pointy cat-eye glasses, gray hair tied back and piled on top of her head, and an ornate curtain behind her. She was smiling broadly, which seemed to accentuate the globular nature of her Eastern European nose. The picture looked faded, the colors turning black and white, probably taken in the mid to late 60s. At first I thought this was his wife, but the picture was too old for a person in it looking that old....it must of been his mother. It made me really sad for a moment -- is this old man hanging on that closely to a memory of his dear departed mom? I think of my mom daily -- it's hard not to when you have an infant that shares her name -- but that picture both made me miss my mom and made me thank goodness that we had appropriate bounderies when she was alive. I mean, dude. It's your mom. Get over it!

Saw "2012" this evening. Question: If all the wealthy people in the world were to get into arks to save themselves from massive floods, and they were to take 2 of every animal like they did in the biblical story, and THEN you crammed 10s of 1000s of extra people who weren't planned for onto said ark, after a month at sea don't you think most of those animals would get eaten? That the ark would be kinda like Superdome II? Stupid Hollywood blockbusters.

BREAKFAST: 9:15am, good yogurt with homemade vanilla extract, honey, cashews, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
My vanilla extract tastes different than the store bought stuff, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Is it more vanilla-y? Less boozy? It sure looks different, like a liquidy milk chocolate rather than watery black coffee.

LUNCH: 1:30pm, hot dog, potato nick, some chocolate rugellah, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
D from SI and her 2 year old A came over for a visit, I offered either homemade pasta with spinach and shrimp or this lunch, this lunch was much more 2-year-old friendly. I saw first hand what "Terrible 2s" mean, I wonder if Edie will ever be like that. Totally cute but really exhausting to even watch. Like watching a really long special-effects driven disaster movie...

DINNER: 10pm, 2 sices sausage pizza, salad, 1 beer, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Out at Patsy's after a movie with friends. Not my idea, but enjoyed it. In the basement, going to the bathroom, saw a large stack of #10 cans of roasted peppers. Lazy bums!

Baby Brain

Didn't do much today other than spend a lot of time on the couch snuggled with Edie. Attempted to go to yoga, but between leaving my metrocard behind and misreading the time of the class, was a bit of a farce. Still, it was good to be out in the bracing cold without concern whether the lil' bebe is uncomfortable or at risk of getting sick n' wot not.

BREAKFAST: 9am, organic cheerios with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11:30am, 2 lotus leaf wraps, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Picked these up from a street vendor on the walk over to the supermarket, little pockets of saucy pork surrounded by fragrant sticky rice. Each piece is $1.10, and the vendor offered to sell me a cold bag of 10 for $8.50. Mmmmm, I could eat those all day, and I don't think I need that much mystery meat in my life. Maybe I should try to make these at home, using good meat.

PM SNACK: 3pm, popcorn, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5
Stomach is feeling weirdly unhungry. Maybe it's because I'm spending the day indoors staying still with lovely Edles snuggled up on me? Used good butter and sea salt to make this popcorn I pucked up at the farmer's market.

DINNER: 6:30pm, slice of streetza, large chocolate chip cookie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Was supposed to be yogaing at this time, but got the time wrong so I hung out until the HVS was done.

SNICKLESNACK: 8pm, pea soup, glass of cider, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
I served myself the bacony version while HVS had the appropriately vegan version, along with the rice n' beans. Why am I not hungrier?

Ovaries

Spent the morning at the restaurant, then off to Union Square to pick up some stuff for the baby shower I'm cohosting Sunday. In the evening, Me, B & Edles trekked out to Brooklyn for the Corduroy Appreciation Club Grand Meeting. E was the only baby there -- there was another child, maybe 3 or 4, but that was the daughter of the president. Nice/Weird being at a gathering of non-baby folk.

I tried to pull back on the eating today, but I just stayed hungry. I ate a hot dog and rice at home before leaving, thinking that might be it for the day, but my stomach had different ideas. Is it the weather? The season? My ovaries?

BREAKFAST: 9am, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11:30am, Manhattan Special, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
It tasted too sweet today. Huh, I wonder if it's me or inconsistency in the product.


LUNCH: 1pm, half a medium pizza, cream soda, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 5:15pm, hot dog with kraut, mushroom rice pilaf, a swig of cider, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 7pm, half a falafel sandwich, .33 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNORT: 7:45pm, glass of red wine

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, 2 small churros, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, 2 pancakes, small quantity of potato chips, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Maintenance dose

BREAKFAST: 9am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 10:45pm, 1 cold potato samosa, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Picked up some ingredients at Wholefoods, felt a little nippy. Not very good.

LUNCH: 12:15pm, tomato soup, half a salami and tallegio sandwich, a piece of bread, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
After a baby book reading group, grabbed lunch with a couple of the muthahs. Sandwich was surprisingly tame, was expecting a bigger flavor.

PM SNACK: 1:45pm, a bite of white bean dip, a square of cookie crumble, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5
At the playdate drop in, would be rude not to try the organizer's homemade snacks.

PM SNACK: 3:15pm, slice of streetza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER PT 1: 5pm, large green salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
I knew I was going to be downtown and would probably be unhealthy, so got this in as an appetizer before leaving.

EVENING SNORT: 6:15pm, 1/4 pint of a Guinness
I was surprised to find my wife didn't know I didn't like Guiness. I don't mind stouts, but Guinness never seemed to balance the bitter/smooth for me.

DINNER PT 2: 7pm, shrimp empanada, McDonalds "Medium" Fries, small plate of tuna rolls, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
As B enjoyed a reading by a friend a a bar, me n' Edie enjoyed the warm weather between the tall buildings of the financial district. Lots of fast food. Stopped in three joints to complete this meal. Always amazed by the size of McD's fries. What they call a medium was my childhood's extra-large. And yeah, when I finished them, I craved more.

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, ice cream cone, small quantity of chocolate chip cookies, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
As Edie slept in the carrier, I swung by a drugstore before going home. I did not want a repeat of last night. This was like a maintenance dose of heroin for a junky, not enough to get me high, just enough to curb the cravings and get a good night sleep.

Evil Snack

B went out with friends this evening, so Edie's welfare was really on me today. After having a go at a few bottles of milk and formula, I decided to feed her some rice cereal around 4pm. Extra thick I prepared it, to see if a) she liked it that way, b) if it would cut down on the mess, c) if it would make any difference with her level of satiation. Definitely positives on A and B, C harder to tell. She definitely enjoyed the paste-like rice cereal, panting excitedly between little baby spoonfuls. Ridiculous!

I spent the day knocking out laundry, food shopping and cooking. Bleah pancakes in the morning, and 3 large pots of double-strength chicken stock all afternoon. This is a key ingredient in making the Israeli cous cous grain salad for a baby shower this weekend, as well as proper stuffing for the 200+ people me and my students will be feeding on Thanksgiving. Stock-making is a time-consuming and messy task, and I just don't have that extra day with the kids to just do this step, so I'm knocking it out at home with Edles at my side.

After dinner, had the biggest craving for sugar, but resisted -- I had to, as there are no sweets in the house, and Edie just got to bed, and there is no way I'm either waking Edie or leaving the house with her alone, just to get a sugar fix. Thank goodness I ain't a junkie.

BREAKFAST: 10am, buttermilk pancakes, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
While the laundry was in process and Edie was in a happy state, I dug up a random buttermilk pancake recipe and went for it. Made a lot, enough for another 3 breakfasts in the freezer. However, did not like how they come out. There was a 1 to 2 dry to liquid ratio, and while the result was very tender and moist, even the very-cooked ones tasted on the verge of being mushy/raw. Very filling.

PM SNACK: 1:30pm, glass of apple cider, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Cider season is here again. Gotta constrain myself -- this stuff has just about as many calories as corn-syrup-laden soda.

LUNCH: 3:30pm, large green salad, small quantity of potato chips, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, seared pork loin, mushroom rice pilaf, a large swig of apple cider, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5 Mushroom pilaf came out ok, just ok. Sauteed long grain brown rice in butter, along with some minced dried mushroom and shallots. Salted it, added chicken stock from the last batch, and cooked slowly covered until soft. Not enough salt, mushroom flavor fell flat. The pork rocked, though. Cut the loin into cubes, salted, then made the pan super hot with chicken fat in it. After resting the meat, I found I had cooked it just as I liked it. Crispy seared crust on the outside, juicy with a hint of pink at the middle. Pat myself on the back for that one.

EVENING SNACK: 9:15pm, the good yogurt with extra honey, homemade vanilla extract and cashews, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
I thought the sugar craving would fade as dinner worked into my system, but it just got worse. This breakfast became a good after-dinner sniggidysnack.

EVIL SNACK: 12-1am, potatochips, pancake
Not so much hungry but craving fat, craving salt. Very odd. Am I pregnant?

Hello old friend

Odd eating day. Woke up late and had to rush off with Edie to Grand Central. Got a commuter muffin in the station, a big ungainly thing that was more like a corny cake thing than a muffin. Went up to Tarrytown to hang with J, ended up spending all our time by the river enjoying the weather that there was no time for lunch. Me n' Edles ate again in Grand Central, stopping by the 2boots booth I used to lunch at often when I worked up there. A big vegan slice of spinachy goodness down, rocketed home and left again to go purchase the old bike I road cross country on.

I'm not the biggest hoarder of material goods, but when I picked up this bike and started riding it down the west side drive, it was like being reunited with your best friend you went to high school with, you haven't seen them since graduating, and he/she just moved into your neighborhood after living overseas all this time. When you start speaking, all the time rolls back and it's like your back in high school, having the time of your life. This bike, this bike...I'm not about to go cross country again, but come spring, I'm going to drop out for a couple of days and do an overnight to Albany on it....

Got home, ordered in pizza with the B and the E, was a good night.

BREAKFAST: 9:45am, big-ass corn muffin, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 1:30pm, kitkat bar, hunger 3/5

LUNCH: 2:45pm, cheeseless earth mother pizza, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, half a large pizza, Caesar salad, 4 pieces of short bread, water, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5