Sausage Party!

Slept well, but tried to wake up at 6am, as I need to be up by 5 for the NYC Century tomorrow. Got out of bed at 7, worried that I'm still sore from the concentrated, heavier lifting I did on Thursday, particularly the inner back of my thighs from the dead-lift squats.

Had people over for brunch, good time. Had 2 other Edie-aged kids and one micro-baby over. Made me look forward to having another curly head in the house.

TODAY'S COOKING:
Sausage & Pancakes: Went ahead and used 50% more buttermilk in my recipe, liked how it worked. Maybe do 100% more next time. The breakfast sausage sat in the fridge over night, and it made all the difference -- I realized that since c-school, I've always made and cooked sausage in one go -- it's sooo much nicer to let it sit in the ice box over night, the flavors really come together and make something more than the sum of it's parts. I cooked them in small, 1 tablespoon bite-size patties, simply so they'd cook faster, and it's always fun to eat nuggetized food.

Vanilla Ice Cream: Very happy with how this batch came out. Even though I do this recipe over and over again, sometimes it comes out pretty good, but every once in a while, it comes out A++. The custard has

BRUNCH: 10:30am, buttermilk pancakes, sausage patties, apple betsy & vanilla ice cream, 1 mimosa, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Sausage party!

DINNER: 5pm, 2 slices pizza with olives, mushroom and onion, water, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, slice of veg pizza, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Apple Betsy

Edie did not nap yesterday, which would make one think that that would mean she would sleep extra deep and long over night, but she was up for a few hours in the middle of the night and inconsolable. At one point I tried to relieve B, but Edie wasn't having it. Oy. Edie had a nice nap today, so hopefully this evening will be different.


TODAY'S COOKING
Breakfast Sausage: Kinda winged it. 3 lbs of pork butt and a little less than a pound of fat back, ground twice, and mixed with equal parts fresh sage and marjoram, some salt, brown sugar, fresh black pepper. Gonna be the star of tomorrow's sausage party brunch, as two other couples are coming over, one with a 2 yr old boy and a freshly born boy, the other with a 2 yr old boy and a boy about to be born.


Apple Betty: Rather than do the apple crisp recipe I've done a thousand times, went with this one. Used up many many pounds of CSA apples that have been accumulating. Not sure how this is that different than a crisp, except for maybe a bit more butter and orange juice instead of lemon. I suspect B might devour this before we can share it with others, I'll have to rename it Apple Betsy.

Creme Anglais: Whipped up the standard vanilla ice cream custard in the evening while Edie ate dinner because apple pie-like stuff needs good vanilla ice cream. Used 5 vanilla beans this time.

BREAKFAST 1: 8am, brown rice crispies with organic dead mik, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

BREAKFAST 2: 8:45am, rice noodles with fishball, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
I left the building this time when Edie went to school for two hours this morning. I checked out the local diner, but didn't feel like pancakes. Walked to the corner where Canal Street starts where there is always vendors, and I found a line on the pushcart I've gotten rice noodles and lotus wraps for lunch before. Judging from all the Chinese people lining up for this stuff, I guess it must be more of  a breakfast food than a lunch. Makes sense, the rice noodles are gentle on the stomach but filling.

LUNCH: 1:30pm, large green salad, falafel balls and hummus, 1 slice of multgrain toast with funky CSA cheese, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 5pm, chocolate cake donut, green tea donut, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
From Donut Plant down the block. Green Tea is a new flavor, not my favorite. I get what they're going for, but the best green tea is very mild, but also unsweetened -- a donut by definition is sweet, so they should of chosen a stronger version of green tea. It kinda tasted like a plain donut with a slight hint of green tea.

DINNER: 7:45pm, 2 homemade bean burritos, multigrain tortilla chips, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENNG SNACK: 10pm, apple betsy, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Wah!

Sh@tnuts

Conked out before midnight last night, woke to a happy Edie a little after 7. Today Edie did 2 hours of school, and I waited in the hall, feeling nervous while I heard various Edie-sound alikes crying and shouting. As it turns out, Edie did not cry at all, she was very participatory and happy, and the teacher gave me the go-ahead to drop her off and leave for the 2 hour session tomorrow. Good news!


BREAKFAST: 8am, toasted pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 1pm, sardine & avocado on whole grain toast, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Haven't had this in too long. So good, so simple, the kind of food a fancy pants chef would make for himself at home.

PM SNACK: 4:45pm, 2 crappy dunkin donuts, 1 chocolate-chocolate chip vegan ice cream cone, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Thought if I had a sugary snack in the afternoon before dinner, maybe I could avoid a sugar snack in the evening and that could help me get to sleep earlier. Regret the dunkin donuts -- each was only a dollar compared to the $3 for my local, but ohmahgawd they had no taste. Horrible. Lula's vegan scoop shop was between the donuts and home, so I got a cone to make up for it. Funny, even though it's vegan and not as full-bodied or boldly flavored than the real stuff, it's still 5x more satisfying than crappy dunkin shitnuts.

DINNER: 7pm, BBQ ribs, pork fried rice, egg roll, wonton soup, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Was going to have salad and falafel, but just had a craving for Chinese.

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, chocolate chips
Hoped to avoid any sweets, but something called me to them. On the positive side, only had a very small handful and it did me fine.

Hazey

Did not sleep well at all, probably due to a 2 hour nap in the middle of the day yesterday. Edie did well at school this morning. In a haze, I got her an Egg McMuffin, of which she ate a good half of it.


TODAY'S COOKING
Falafel: When we got home from Edie getting her flu booster, I fried up a whole lotta falafel. I made the mix yesterday, but was too tired to remember to write it down! It was the c-school recipe, though I went more by feel than by measure. I added a whole lotta whole wheat flour to the mix to get it firm enough, and let it sit overnight. This time I dredged the balls in flour before deep frying them in peanut oil, came out looking a little nicer but not a big difference in texture or taste. These are great meals/snacks to have around in the freezer.

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, chocolate covered coffee beans, water, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


AM SNACK: 11am, the bottom bun of an egg mcmuffin


LUNCH: 1pm, breaded tilapia, heath salad, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7:30pm, large green salad,  falafels, hummus, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 9pm, peanuts & chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 11pm, nutella and pumpernickel pretzels, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Early Up

Woke up early and attended an hour of preschool with Edie -- eventually she'll be on her own for 4 hours every morning, but this is the break-in process. Didn't eat before I left, and foraged for eats while Edie snacked away. She ended up eating a huge portion of the mac n' cheese, a very kid friendly food.

I think the good iced green tea is going to make a come back, if I am going to be waking at 7:15 every morning from now on.

BRUNCH: 10:45am, slice of cold pizza, kraft mac n' cheese, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, potato knish, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 8:30pm, large green salad, multigrain tortilla chips, hot dog, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10pm, peanuts & chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Weighty thoughts

I've noticed my triceps have grown stronger, bigger and harder than any other muscle since starting a more disciplined weight regimen over the winter. I think it's because of forcing myself to to push ups -- I now do 25 to a set (10 was the most I could do when I was 17) -- I suspect because of my large girth, it is like pushing a weight much bigger than for my other lifts. So today was an experiment -- instead of doing 10 reps on each muscle, I did only 5, but with between 10 and 20% more weight. It definitely hurt more, and it was quicker. If I'm appropriately sore tomorrow, this may be the way to go for quicker 2x a week lifts.


BREAKFAST: 10:30am, half a slice of pizza, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Tired, dazed. Left the house at 9am with Edie for the playground without eating anything. We came home to collect the bike to go food shopping, stuffed this down just so I wouldn't be too hungry while shopping.

LUNCH: 2:15pm, fresh onion bagel with cream cheese and home-cured salmon, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5 

PM SNACK: 5:45pm, chocolate cakey bites, a few random cookies, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
At the parent's reception for Edie's preschool.

DINNER 1: 9pm, breaded shrimp, large bowl of health salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, peanuts & chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER 2: 10:30pm, 2 bean burritos, multigrain tortilla chips, water

9/11

Went to a 2 year old's party in the morning, fell asleep on the couch in the early afternoon, B's family came over and we ordered in pizza and watched 9/11 anniversary coverage. I remember being stuck at Newark Airport, calling my parents and having a hard time with jammed phone lines. A lot has changed since then, we're all 10 years older. Crappy eating day.

BRUNCH: 10:30am, bagel with cream cheese, half a chocolate muffin, small piece of birthday cake, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LINNER: 4pm, 3 slices of pizza, brownie, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5