A good day of shopping in the morning, cooking with my friend DJ from Cali in the afternoon, a walk to the swings with Edie after, then more friends over in the evening for a nice mid-week dinner.
Tomorrow, the family & I leave for Portland, Maine, to attend the wedding of the friend who actually introduced us. I guess this time is as good as any to pause and relax. To all 2 of my faithful readers, I'll resume writing on Monday, and weigh-in then, too.
TODAY'S COOKING
Gnocchi: Made gnocchi in c-school, but these were better. The thing is being strict about very little moisture in the dough -- baking the potatoes instead of boiling them, and peeling them and chopping them up when they come out of the oven to let out a lot of steam. From there, some flour, a little egg, minimal mixing then off to rolling tubes, chopping, indenting & rolling with a fork, boiled for less than 2 minutes. Light, fluffy. I had some problems with my home's plumbing which caused the gas to be shut off for a few hours, and the result was the potatoes were a little underbaked, so there was slight lumpy/grittiness to the gnocchi, but not enough to make it bad -- I'd be disappointed in a restaurant, but a good first try for home cooking.
Babka: Have done this recipe many times now, this time we just did two really big babkas, lowered the temp to 325 from the go, and let them bake for about 90 minutes. Came out pretty good.
BREAKFAST: 9am, watermelon, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 11am, brown rice California roll, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 11:30am, ritz crackers with freshly ground peanut butter, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 3:30pm, kraft dinner with sauteed veg, water, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6:30pm, moz & heirloom tomatoes with olive oil and balsamic, gnocchi with tomato sauce, sauteed spinach, babka & orange sorbet, 2 glasses of wine, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, small bowl of potato chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Wednesday, August 31
Tuesday, August 30
Unhappy Meal
Needed a day outside. Did not sleep much, but managed to get out with Edie on the bike (with stroller attached) and pedalled over to the Prospect Park Zoo. Felt nicely sore from yesterday's workout, but not out of control like last week. Spent a solid 2 hours before taking a walk into the neighborhood bordering the east side of the park -- yick. Just fastfood.
So I hit up McD's with Edie. I got myself my usual 2 tiny hamburgers with fries, this time with diet coke because I was sleepy. While in there, Edie looked at me and asked, "Pizza?" because I guess the only time I've ever gone for fast food with Edie has been to indie pizza joints! I got her a "happy meal", something I've never bought before. Food wise, it was 4 chicken mcnuggets, a bag of peeled apple slices, 2 packets of corn syrup dressed up like "caramel dip", and 8oz of 1% milk. Packaging wise, it had a toy "twinkle toes" shoe on a key chain that lit up (brought to us by Sketchers, collect them all), stickers advertising the shoes, and a box that on one side had a McD logo, one side had a "I love apples with caramel!" thingy, one side for girls that was basically an ad for Sketcher's Twinkle Toes shoes, and one side for boys with some sort of Nickelodeon cartoon thing. Ick.
By the time we got back to the park, Edie fell asleep, and I corrected the "happy meal". I ate the nuggets, threw away the caramel stuff and all the packaging, and placed the milk on the ice that came with my soda to keep it cold until Edie woke up. Jeez. I read through all the packaging. Despite the diet coke, I ate about 50% of fat and salt for the day, and 40% of my calories. Edie's food would have been about 20% of all of that....FOR AN ADULT. Damn. 20% for a 180 lb adult is like 120% for a 30 lb Edie!
TODAY'S COOKING:
Kraft Dinner with Sauteed Veg: I guess this is my version of that horrible "Semi-Homemade" show. Caramelized a boat load of onions for a few hours, added sliced mushrooms and a couple of peppers from the CSA. Substituted butter and whole milk for margarine and skim in the kraft dinner, and gave the whole mix a solid grind of black pepper and a shot of siracha hot sauce. Really good, though the peppers gave a weird crunchy texture. Unfortunately too spicy for Edie & B, will cut back on that next time.
BREAKFAST: 8:45am, organic whole grain cheerios with organic dead milk, banana, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: noon, 2 hamburgers, fries, 4 chicken nuggets, diet coke, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3:30pm, watermelon, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6pm, kraft dinner with veg, handful of baby carrots, large chocolate chip cookie, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Unsurprisingly, this meal prevented me from desiring sweets in the evening.
So I hit up McD's with Edie. I got myself my usual 2 tiny hamburgers with fries, this time with diet coke because I was sleepy. While in there, Edie looked at me and asked, "Pizza?" because I guess the only time I've ever gone for fast food with Edie has been to indie pizza joints! I got her a "happy meal", something I've never bought before. Food wise, it was 4 chicken mcnuggets, a bag of peeled apple slices, 2 packets of corn syrup dressed up like "caramel dip", and 8oz of 1% milk. Packaging wise, it had a toy "twinkle toes" shoe on a key chain that lit up (brought to us by Sketchers, collect them all), stickers advertising the shoes, and a box that on one side had a McD logo, one side had a "I love apples with caramel!" thingy, one side for girls that was basically an ad for Sketcher's Twinkle Toes shoes, and one side for boys with some sort of Nickelodeon cartoon thing. Ick.
By the time we got back to the park, Edie fell asleep, and I corrected the "happy meal". I ate the nuggets, threw away the caramel stuff and all the packaging, and placed the milk on the ice that came with my soda to keep it cold until Edie woke up. Jeez. I read through all the packaging. Despite the diet coke, I ate about 50% of fat and salt for the day, and 40% of my calories. Edie's food would have been about 20% of all of that....FOR AN ADULT. Damn. 20% for a 180 lb adult is like 120% for a 30 lb Edie!
TODAY'S COOKING:
Kraft Dinner with Sauteed Veg: I guess this is my version of that horrible "Semi-Homemade" show. Caramelized a boat load of onions for a few hours, added sliced mushrooms and a couple of peppers from the CSA. Substituted butter and whole milk for margarine and skim in the kraft dinner, and gave the whole mix a solid grind of black pepper and a shot of siracha hot sauce. Really good, though the peppers gave a weird crunchy texture. Unfortunately too spicy for Edie & B, will cut back on that next time.
BREAKFAST: 8:45am, organic whole grain cheerios with organic dead milk, banana, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: noon, 2 hamburgers, fries, 4 chicken nuggets, diet coke, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3:30pm, watermelon, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6pm, kraft dinner with veg, handful of baby carrots, large chocolate chip cookie, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Unsurprisingly, this meal prevented me from desiring sweets in the evening.
Monday, August 29
Oven back on
Our nanny didn't come today because the subways were still wonky this morning, but I had a good day with Edie. Oven fixed in the morning, went to the local diner while the laundry was in the wash. We road around the 'hood and checked out the fallen tries before nap time. Went out again in the afternoon to the playground by South Street Seaport.
TODAY'S COOKING:
Granola: The oven got fixed in the morning, so gave the refrigerated raw granola the sniff test then baked it for 40 minutes at 300, stirring every 10. Came out nice and golden and smelling like it should. Cut up some dried apple into it at the end.
Utilitarian Spinach: Put a bunch of frozen chopped spinach in the pot, a little water, a shake of powdered onion, a shake of salt, a couple of fresh cloves of minced garlic, a drop of olive oil, heat to low, covered and let cook for about 20 minutes. Pretty good for a no-work spinach.
BREAKFAST: 10:30am, BLT on rye, homefries, diet coke, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 2:30pm, breaded shrimp, cooked spinach, huge piece of watermelon, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Bought this breaded shrimp product as an experiment. 2 lbs for about $15. Unlike the usual freezer section breaded shrimp, this shrimp is raw and the baking both cooks the shrimp and crisps the breading. Precooked reheated shrimp is always tough, and while breading my own shrimp before baking is relatively simple, it involves several moving parts. This is all about convenience without sacrificing TOO much quality. Instructions says 400 for 12 minutes, turning once. It was a bit mushy in the coating, gonna try 450 for 10 minutes next time. If it doesn't improve, it might make sense to just use better quality raw shrimp and process it myself. Gotta think of a simple breading style.
DINNER: 6:45pm, hotdog, potato chips, pickle, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 8pm, peanuts and chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: midnight, orange sorbet, potato chips, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
TODAY'S COOKING:
Granola: The oven got fixed in the morning, so gave the refrigerated raw granola the sniff test then baked it for 40 minutes at 300, stirring every 10. Came out nice and golden and smelling like it should. Cut up some dried apple into it at the end.
Utilitarian Spinach: Put a bunch of frozen chopped spinach in the pot, a little water, a shake of powdered onion, a shake of salt, a couple of fresh cloves of minced garlic, a drop of olive oil, heat to low, covered and let cook for about 20 minutes. Pretty good for a no-work spinach.
BREAKFAST: 10:30am, BLT on rye, homefries, diet coke, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 2:30pm, breaded shrimp, cooked spinach, huge piece of watermelon, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Bought this breaded shrimp product as an experiment. 2 lbs for about $15. Unlike the usual freezer section breaded shrimp, this shrimp is raw and the baking both cooks the shrimp and crisps the breading. Precooked reheated shrimp is always tough, and while breading my own shrimp before baking is relatively simple, it involves several moving parts. This is all about convenience without sacrificing TOO much quality. Instructions says 400 for 12 minutes, turning once. It was a bit mushy in the coating, gonna try 450 for 10 minutes next time. If it doesn't improve, it might make sense to just use better quality raw shrimp and process it myself. Gotta think of a simple breading style.
DINNER: 6:45pm, hotdog, potato chips, pickle, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 8pm, peanuts and chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: midnight, orange sorbet, potato chips, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Sunday, August 28
Bunker Style.
Slothful. The storm started early, around 4am and by the time I woke around 9:30, it was all over, no rain, just a little wind and clouds. Edie slept through the night. We took a walk in the stroller around the hood to see a few downed trees and happy people out, stretching their legs.
Food-wise, still eating in a bunker-style, all carbs and fat and little else. We indulged in ordering in Chinese in the evening to make things easy and help make things feel celebratory. Mind and body definitely feeling the results of it, the same way I feel when travelling abroad for a while and all I want is some fruit and veg and water and little else. I suspect tomorrow, the ship will start to turn back to a better healthier style, though I suspect I'll be on the heavier side for the upcoming weigh-in.
Regardless, the family is healthy, happy and safe.
BREAKFAST: 10am, pancakes, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: noon, potato chips, .5 bowl, hunger 4.5
LUNCH: 1pm, toasted bagel with cream cheese and onion, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 7pm, lomein, shrimp toast, grape soda, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, veg dumplings, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Food-wise, still eating in a bunker-style, all carbs and fat and little else. We indulged in ordering in Chinese in the evening to make things easy and help make things feel celebratory. Mind and body definitely feeling the results of it, the same way I feel when travelling abroad for a while and all I want is some fruit and veg and water and little else. I suspect tomorrow, the ship will start to turn back to a better healthier style, though I suspect I'll be on the heavier side for the upcoming weigh-in.
Regardless, the family is healthy, happy and safe.
BREAKFAST: 10am, pancakes, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: noon, potato chips, .5 bowl, hunger 4.5
LUNCH: 1pm, toasted bagel with cream cheese and onion, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 7pm, lomein, shrimp toast, grape soda, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, veg dumplings, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
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