Perogathon!

Puzzle me this, Batman: If you eat diet cheese and drink diet milk, but go bat shit crazy when confronted with ice cream and snarf as much of it as possible as quickly as possible, wouldn't it make sense to perhaps try moderating small amounts of full-fat dairy in your diet (like, say, a bit of cream in Butternut Squash soup) on a regular basis instead of binging on it whenever confronted with a sweet snack? Well? Hmmm?


TODAY'S COOKING
Butternut Squash Soup: While waiting for the first batch of perogie dough to set in the fridge, knocked this out for B and her mom and bro, who were coming over for lunch. Sauteed an onion, garlic, sauteed an apple with it, added the cubed peeled squash and covered with vegetable broth. Simmered to soft, blended, seasoned with salt, cinnamon and cayenne. Put it back on the simmer to thicken up. The three of them snarfed the whole thing before I got to have any! I guess it was good.


Chocolate Hazelnut Ice Cream: Wowzers, this came out kinda perfect. Smooth and silky, mildly chocolaty so the hazelnut really works a nice bass tone of savory nuttiness.

Spinach/Kraut/Kasha/Potato/Cheese Perogies: I've been eating perogies my entire life, but never actually made them. I got a recipe for the dough and cheese filling from my friend K, who grew up in a Polish household (the other 4 fillings I just winged, based on my schooling.)

Spinach was sauteed with olive oil, garlic, caramelized onion and a dash of cayenne. Kraut was store-bought, then fried in a dry pan with a bit of the oily caramelized onions until it turned color and got really dry - tasted surprisingly mild. Kasha was cooked with chicken stock, salted to taste. Potato was simple red potatoes skinned and boiled, passed through a ricer, seasoned with shredded Gouda, salt and pepper. The cheese filling was something to behold, so delicious. Farmer's cheese, eggs, raw grated onion, sour cream, salt, pepper, so incredibly punchy and grabbing, the best of the bunch.

The dough was very rich, no water, just egg, sour cream and butter for liquids. It was a very stiff dough, and even though I made a double batch, I quickly realized I needed much more dough to cut out enough 2" rounds. Ended up making another triple batch, about 150 two-bite dumplings. About half are coming with me to the stupidbowl party, the other half will be for giveaway and eating on for the next few weeks. Pretty much spent the whole day rolling, filling, pinching with fork tines, boiling, shocking, drying, freezing.


AM SNACK: 10:15am, iced green tea


AM SNACK: 11:30am, a spoonful of chocolate hazelnut ice cream


PM SNACKING: 12noon-6pm, various failed perogies, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Whenever they'd open up, I'd open up and gobble them down. A bit watery, but quite good.


DINNER: 8pm, hot dog with fried kraut and whole wheat potatonik, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Just too tired of cooking all day to make anything more involved.

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, cashews and chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Breakfast forlorn

Forgot to eat anything for breakfast, just felt tight in the stomach and busy working on the ice cream, the potatoes, looking after Edles, etc.

TODAY'S COOKING
Chocolate Hazelnut icecream custard: Looking for a flavor to compliment a a friend's chocolate cake. Very mildly chocolatey, very hazelnutty, lik Nutella gone ice cream....
Potato filling: For tomorrow's perogiathon. Riced potatoes, a bit of gouda, salt, black pepper, that's it.

PM SNACK: 12:30pm, 2 small burgers from freezer, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 2pm, bowl of health salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5pm, pistachios, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6:30pm, vegetarian Ethiopian food, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 9pm, peanut butter & chocolate chips

It had to go down

Went to supermarket in the morning, cooked in the afternoon. Took Edie to the doc for a booster shot, and B took her home. I planned to go to yoga, had my yoga bag and everything, but after an hour of burning up time at a Barnes & Noble, I realized my muscles were achy from lifting weights in the morning, I was hungry despite the late lunch, and I felt a bit woozy from a lack of sleep. I was in bed and asleep by 9:30, fneh.

TODAY'S COOKING
Green Salad: Reload for the week.
Health Salad: For Sooperbowl Sunday, though I made a double batch because it's so damn healthy. From the 2nd Ave Deli cookbook, it's the slaw they put out for every table, raw cabbage and a few bits of veg marinated in vinegar, sugar and a little salt and pepper, super simple and super delicious.
Four perogie fillings (cheese, spinach, kasha, kraut): The first step in making a relatively involved dish for sooperbowl.


AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 10:15am, brown rice California roll, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 3pm, green salad, hot dog with mustard, kraut and caramelized onions, homemade wholewheat potatonik, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5 
Wasn't quite planning on a hot dog, but I was caramelizing onions for the perogies, and had kraut on hand, so it was an opportunity to have a properly dressed hot dog. And I had the homemade potatonik on hand, which is my go-to side for a hotdog, so it had to go down!!



DINNER: 7pm, curry ramen, pork dumplings, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, dark chocolate

Thinking of cooking

NYC was covered in a sheen of ice while it rained down frozen bits of hell. The restaurant was pretty empty most of the day.  Spent some time dreaming of what I'm cooking for a friend's Sooperbowl party on Sunday. Four kinds of vegetarian perogies, 2nd Ave Deli health salad, two things good to have around the house. And the almighty MAP will be baking a chocolate cake, trying to figure out an ice cream that will be a nice counterpoint.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
Only half a glass because it tasted a bit like dish washing liquid.

BREAKFAST: 10:45am, the good oatmeal, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 2pm, 4 slices superthin pizza, 8oz sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5pm, green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 7:15pm, experimental chocolate stromboli, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Second crack. A little bit better, but too thick, raw dough in the middle. Gotta figure out a way to do it with the sizes of dough we are already making.




EVENING SNACK: 11pm, burgers, onions rings, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
No comment.

Weighty thoughts

232 ---> 231.8

So my weight has been static this month, but I do feel better for sure. Though I haven't been really writing about it here for fear of hexing it, I've been weight-training three times a week, with a new set of weights that are much more effective, as it's very easy to change the amount of weight from rep to rep.

My old set was purchased for me by my dad when I was in high school. My dad and I went to the Staten Island Mall for it, and I remember distinctly carrying the box of weights from the store to the car with great effort. I set up an ad-hoc weight bench in my room in Staten Island with a board with a towel stapled to it, resting on two plastic buckets -- it's amazing I didn't do serious harm to myself. I wonder what my dad was thinking when he purchased that set for his son.

Anyway, this weight set has been following me around for over 20 years, and the chrome finish has been chipping off recently -- since I use them in Edie's room with her watching, I didn't like this suspicious material flaking off into her environment.

Now every time I lift, I feel sore in a few different muscle groups, and have one or two days to recover. I've gone from struggling with 4 push ups at the beginning of January to struggling with 8, and hope to struggle with 12 before this month is done.

I guess the plan for the next two months of winter is to keep eating more in the green zone, keep lifting three times a week, and expect more serious weight loss come April when work goes to 3 days a week and distance bike riding can resume.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 10:15am, small amount of the good oatmeal, toasted pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese and sable, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Finally with new doohickies in the cannon, packed a more aggressive breakfast to work. Only had a little bit of the old batch of oatmeal, so made the bagel -- unfortunately, toasted bagel becomes chewy and tough when left in a container for 30 minutes. Gotta rethink this for transport.

LUNCH: 1:15pm, 4 slices superthin pizza with mushrooms and peppers, 8oz Sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3:45pm, green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6pm, 4 small slices of Sicilian, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10pm, cashews & chocolate chips, 3 small buttermilk pancakes, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

A la Noah

Woke up, got Edie to the playgroup where she danced and clapped a little to the leader's song-time a little, a first.  While Edie napped, got some cooking done, lifted weights, etc. A good busy productive day.

TODAY'S COOKING
Iced Tea & Pinhead Oats: Just making more to get through another week, keep me in the green zone.

Buttermilk Pancakes: Holy crap! The NY Times made a big deal of real buttermilk a few weeks ago, so last week I used the usual mass-produced industrial stuff, and this week I got some of this fabled farmer-market buttermilk and had a go with the pancakes. My god, damn, it really makes a huge difference. The previous batch kinda had a sour-creamy tang with a slight undertone of metal, while this batch was neither -- it's flavor was uniquely buttermilky, tangy in a mildly pleasant way. Both batches were ridiculously tender and moist without being even slightly fatty or greasy. Never again, farmer's market butter milk is the only way to go.

Pasta a la Noah: Wagon wheel pasta out of the box. Large saute pan, olive oil and butter, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, a dash of salt, 2 cloves of garlic crushed into right before pasta tossed in. Covered with a generous handful of freshly grated parm. Simple, good.


AM SNACK: 9am, iced green tea


LUNCH: 12:45pm, large green salad, pasta with butter and oil, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 4pm, 5 small buttermilk pancakes, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5 

DINNER: 7pm, half a pizza, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Ordered in with the fam.

Spectacular Edie

Not a great eating day, but a spectacular Edie day. The two of us went around the corner to the greasy spoon I used to go to a lot with my parents, and Edie feasted on bits of bacon and experimented with using a straw with an adult cup of water, rather than the built in straw of her water bottle. B went out to brunch with friends then go to work, so Edie & I ventured by foot and carriage to the ferry to Ikea, had lunch in the very baby-friendly caf there, then made our way back home in time for a baby's b-day at a playroom in the hood. Edie loved the goldfish, though I wonder if they were too salty. Next time at the supermarket, will give a closer look at 'em.


AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9:15am, BLT on rye with mustard, homefries, half a can of diet coke, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 12 noon, Swedish meatballs in gravy, mashed potatoes, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, Greek honey-phillo dough things, goldfish, half a beer, a few slices of spinach-stuffed bread, a small fneh brownie, a small cup of diet pepsi, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 9pm, large green salad, frozen fish stick thingies, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10pm, dark chocolate chips and cashews, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5