I ate Diana's Churrito.

I road my bike to Nyack this morning for the first time this season. It's about 33 miles one way, and a good point to stop, eat, enjoy the Hudson River and turn back. I've always gotten a few items from a small deli, then gone to a public park by the water to pic-nic it and enjoy the view.

The little deli and grocery store I used to hit up is not there anymore. It was run by an old Irish American family who must of run it at least since the 70s. Up the street there is a large old brick building with a sign for a "Chef's Market" prepared-food emporium coming soon. Across the way, a twee health food store. I had to ride a few blocks off the main drag to the crummier part of the neighborhood to find an honest, plain deli....except that almost all the food in it was Spanish! Everyone in the place spoke Spanish, too. I ordered a standard turkey on a roll from the deli counter, and poked around....everything was brands I never heard of, kinda neat. I got some Diana Churritos (Cheetos made in El Salvador) and a bottle of Maneragua (imported from Mexico, bottled in Texas), basically a tonic water, seltzer with salts. I loved the fact that the new real working class is taking over the deli business, but it bums me out that in the nice part of town, affordable simple food has been pushed out in favor of a rather pretentious food emporium.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, glass of iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, vegan blueberry waffle, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
There is fruit in this, and it's more than half whole-wheat, but there is so much oil in this thing that I just can't bring myself to making this a green-labelled food.

LUNCH: 12:45pm, 3/4 of a turkey on a roll sandwich, 20oz Gatorade, a bag of cheese-curls, a few sips of tonic water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Lunch from a bodega and eaten by the water in Nyack, mid-bike ride.

PM SNACK: 3:45pm, clif bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
A little powerup in the last 5 miles of the ride, felt right.

DINNER: 6:30pm, big green salad, shrimp & stringbeans with brown rice, fried wontons, mint chip ice cream, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5
I was very tempted to finish the ice cream last night, but since I ended on a fruit-note and wasn't particularly hungry, I resisted....so I could indulge and finish it after my bike ride!

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, 4 graham crackers with the good peanut butter, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Bike ride munchies.

Snickleconference 2010

Edie was up at all hours last night, so I was up at 8 with way too few hours of sleep. The few crunches and push ups I did yesterday left me sore in my midsection, which is 1) bad because I'm so weak but 2) good because it takes very little to get to the sore point you want from a good strength-building workout. Will ride tomorrow, will refocus on the weight training on Monday.

My new batch of iced tea is sweeter than previous, but still good. The HVS and Gooshgirl came over around 11am for Snickle Conference 2010, and I had them assemble some granola, and the batter for vegan blueberry waffles. The waffles were surprisingly good, though a bit heavier than the egg n' milk version.

AM SNACK: 8am, glass of iced mint green tea

AM SNACK: 10am, banana

SNICKLE BRUNCH: 12:15pm, bowl of hot granola and dead organic milk, 1 heavy vegan blueberry waffle, seltzer, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 4:15pm, shrimp fried rice, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5pm, glass of iced mint green tea

DINNER: 8:30pm, chicken breast, meatballs in peas, bean stew, roast potatoes, white rice, babaganoush, tomato salad, green salad, mushroom pate, cucumber salad, matzoh, glass of wine, water, a little bit of fruit, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Nice sabbath dinner in the 'hood with some momfriends. Serious cooking, good food. Resisted the chocolate plate (kosher for passover, blech!) and had a few pieces of pineapple and kiwi.

It's a whole new month!

I weighed in at 234.6 this morning, pretty much the same as a month ago. Not disappointed, pretty much what I expected. Over the past month, I've altered my eating habits to adhere a bit to Alton Brown's loose set of rules, and I have had results -- I feel a little clearer, a little bit more energy, and I suspect I've been eating a bit more -- of good, nutritiously dense food (hello sardine sandwich!) and less calorie-dense nutritionally empty food (hello 2x daily dessert!) The bottom line: for anything to change, something has got to change. Not to get all zen n' shit on you.

The weight thing is something to focus on a little now. Input is relatively simple, just eat a bit less. Hopefully the nutritionally powerful foods I'm taking in will make it easier to cut back a little on caloric intake.

Output has to be greater than input for weight loss. Yoga doesn't fit right now, as it requires a stiff schedule, very limited availability due to Edie, and requires leaving the house -- all three make it something to do later. Biking is tricky right now -- until Edie can join me on a bike in June, the schedule is restricted, and it requires me to leave the house. I've started a regimen of about 100 miles a week (30 to Coney one weekday eve, one 70+ ride on a weekend) -- once B starts having Fridays off and Edles can join me during the week, this is going to help, but not enough.

I'm going to to start a 4-day a week regimen of weights. I have a pair of dumb bells from my teen years and a folding weight bench. I did a few push ups and sit ups this morning -- holy crap, I'm tight and weak! Then did a few basic lifts with light weights, and realized I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I stopped, and went to the computer and researched a bike-friendly routine using the equipment I have. Going to play with it some more tomorrow, then start in earnest Monday, doing the regimen Mon-Tues mornings, and Thurs-Fri mornings.

AM SNACK: 8:15am, iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 9:45am, homemade granola with organic dead milk, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2:30pm, freshly made mushroom ravioli with a little tomato sauce, a small glass of beer, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
My friend MAP came over and we made ravioli (and some spaghetti) from scratch, a lotta fun. As something that is limited to once a week, this small supply means when I DO eat that once a week pasta, it's the best pasta possible.

PM SNACK: 6:30pm, clif bar
Road out to Coney Island, this helped even me out and get me through.

DINNER: 8:30pm, pizza, a bit of green salad, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Met up with a few people post-ride at a new pizzeria in Greenpoint. We got three medium pies for the four of us, just enough food. Fortunately they didn't have their liquor license yet, so I didn't go into the red with another beer...

EVENING WATERING: 10:30pm, quart

After?

Edie is better, but not 100%, so I cancelled a playdate with my friend C and her iddy biddy baby, on the slight chance of giving said baby a cold. Went by the resto and had an unhealthy snack, wandered around Brooklyn and hit up B's old hood, then went home and did baby stuff until B got home. I took myself out to dinner on the way to grocery shopping, and was torn between pork-chive dumplings from a little hole in the wall, and a big slice of non-wheat vegan pizza. Eventually, my mind got to, "Well, how will you feel AFTER you eat" rather than the pleasure from the act of eating, and I steered myself toward the pizza. As you can see above, not your average streetza, it fits much better into the rules of 4...

Tomorrow, a weigh-in, a reflection, a revision of plan...

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, glass of iced mint green tea, large hunk of banana bread, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11:30am, small piece of mole tamale, black cherry soda, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2:30pm, falafel sandwich, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 6pm, ramekin of roasted ginger almonds, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, slice of "zen" "pizza", 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, frozen smoothie pop, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Sederz

Edie still has a runny nose, but seems to be doing really well. For a sick baby, she sure is a pleasure. We made our way to the upper east side for a seder of B's family. A lot of the food was catered from a local diner (turkey that kinda gets powdery when chewed), but some homemade haroset was pretty groovy, and my farfel and ice cream were pretty popular.

I brought a stash of the macaroons I made a few weeks back, but once defrosted, they were so delicate and easily smashed, they didn't get presented. Every time I went into the kitchen for whatever, I grabbed a few and ate them -- reminded me of when my mom brought me chocolate chip cookies on visiting day of my first summer-camp summer, and I ate them until I was sick because I didn't want to share them. Macarons were yummy, but I think freezing and defrosting allowed moisture into the cookies...

Farfel, haroset, macaroons, gefilte fish, matzoh ball soup....y'know, with all the trendiness of narrow concept restaurants (meat ball shop, peanut butter sandwich shop, etc), I wonder how cool it would be to have a restaurant that just served...Passover food all year. Only take reservations for Pesach. He he he. "Sederz" "Elijah's" or "Jeroosalem"!

AM SNACK: 8am, glass of iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, whole wheat waffle, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Delicious, last one in the freezer. Maybe my next batch should take it to the next level, adding fruit and maybe olive oil instead of butter....

AM SNACK: 10:30am, spoonful of homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream
For tonight's seder. Used three bunches of mint instead of 2, and a drop of green food dye, just to make the brain think it mintier...

NOON SNACK: noon, small amount of matzo farfel, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2pm, herring & avocado sandwich on whole wheat, mini carrots, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Even though the can of kippered herring said one serving, I only used half for one sandwich, rather than make 2 sandwiches. The new month is soon to be here, no weight feels lost, thinking of changes to make...

SEDER: 8pm, haroset & matzoh, gefilte fish, matzoh ball soup, sliced turkey breast, farfel, sponge cake, mint c-chip ice cream, macaroons, macarons, water, 1.75 bowl, hunger 4/5

Passed Over

Edie was a bit cranky last night and threw up for the first time -- not spit up, but the real deal. She got to sleep late, woke up early and did not follow her usual nap routine. The thermometer were a few degrees hot, not a huuuge fever but enough for us to cancel our trip to deep dark southern NJ to spend the first night of Passover with my cousin and his branch of the family. I'm bummed about it, as this is the one time of the year I get to catch up with them (and it's all about the food, some items which have been made by various home cooks in my family for decades), but that will have to wait a few months.

Edie seemed to be in good spirits, despite not having an appetite. Eventually she got down to bed in the mid-evening, but not before really wearing out B, who took the day off to make sure Edie's health was taken care of. All in all, not a day I wish to repeat soon.

BREAKFAST: 8:45am, toasted pumpernickel bagel with sablefish and babaganoush, mint iced green tea, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Made the green tea again last night, this time with half the mint syrup (8 cups of tea to 1/2 cup syrup) and it came out perfectly -- barely sweet, just enough to round off the bitterest notes and leave a hint of mint in it's wake. It really tastes like green tea. I probably couldn't sell this to the mass population, but it rings my bell and is in the daily checklist. The sugar is so minimal I'm comfortable calling this a non-dessert.

AM SNACK: 10am, bits of farfel here and there for adjusting seasoning
Cooked up a mess of stuffing with bits of matzoh called farfel, including onions I caramelized for 4 hours last night, sauteed onion and celery, freshly grated ginger, salt & pepper, and most importantly, lots of chicken fat and good double-strength chicken stock to moisten it, all bound and enriched by a few whole eggs. Made a separate batch with whole wheat farfel for private consumption...

AM SNACK: 11am, glass of iced mint green tea

LUNCH: 1:30pm, 5 pan-seared cornmeal-dredged scallops, collared greens, whole wheat matzo farfel, a little kimchi, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
A healthy well-rounded lunch. Bought a bag of frozen scallops as an experiment, quick-defrosted under water and dredged them in corn meal, corn starch, salt and paprika. Pretty good. Finished the left over collards (seems a bit too juicy, but palatable), a large portion of this morning's farfel (oh my oh my tasty) and some hot fermented cabbage from the back of the fridge.

DINNER: 7pm, deep fried shrimp wrapped in phillo, chicken and vegetables in a spicy sauce over sticky rice, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, ramekin of dark chocolate chips
Technically, the first dessert of the week, -sigh-. I think something about the stress of Edie being under the weather and my wife being a stress-case kind of manifested itself in this great urge to eat chocolate at a totally inappropriate (but quiet and peaceful) time.

Lost Weekend

On Saturday, a bunch of friends joined me and my family on an excursion to Frank Pepe's in Connecticut. I imbibed in a special brownie, a fresh untested batch, and a single brownie (1/15 of the sheet) was a bit too strong. Everything beyond it that day was a lot of fun, but the details are fuzzy.

Felt great and well-rested the next day, took Edie out to breakfast with B worked at home. The fam and I met up with the Hungry Vegan Society uptown to treat her to a birthday snickle. Dinner was taken while caramelizing several pounds of onions for tomorrow's matzo farfel and baking a rather good banana bread. I upped the bananas, the baking soda and the eggs, and lowered the sugar (1/2 cup of brown.) I also used whole wheat pasty flour, which gave a very tender crumb. I would of held off on the bread until tomorrow, but B started devouring the whole loaf, so I had to get some in before it might disappear.

Saturday

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, granola with dead organic milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 10:15am, special brownie

LUNCH: ???pm, a lot of pizza, a beer, water, ??? bowls, hunger ???/5

DINNER: 7pm, skyline chili over sofrito brown rice & beans, .75 bowl, hunger ???/5

Sunday

BREAKFAST: 10am, BLT on whole wheat and a side of homefries, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

SNICKLELUNCH: 2pm, cheddar and gruyere on whole wheat, a few spoonfuls of carrot soup, hummus, babaganoush and tabouleh with assorted breads, most of a large chocolate chip cookie, water, 1.25 bowl

DINNER: 8pm, peanutbutter on 2 slices of demi-hippy bread, roasted brocolli with panko and cheddar, a few thin slices of freshly baked banana bread, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5