A mellow day. Mil & I got out the door around 10 to visit K in Park Slope. We took a nice walk around Prospect Park in the sunny wind -- I actually saw a whole lot of park I've never seen before. Stopped by a much better than it should have been Thai restaurant on 5th Ave before heading home.
Got a pint of cream on the way home. Inoculated it with a tablespoon of buttermilk and left it out overnight, to have cream fraiche for the pancakes tomorrow morning...
TODAY'S COOKING:
Iced Tea: Had the last pint of the old batch this morning, made another couple of gallons (5oz of tea steeped in a gallon of simmered water spiked with 1/4 cup sugar, just turned off heat, 5 minutes then left to cool to room temp before hitting the chill box.) It occurred to me that I've been buying green tea randomly and sometimes I really like it sometimes it's a bit too woody and hard. The Houjicha that I'm using right now is pretty good, right in the middle of woody, flowery and just nice n' greeny.
AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea
AM SNACK: 10am, granola bar
AM SNACK: 11:15am, slice of date nut bread, handful of raw almonds, hot tea
LUNCH: 2:30pm, Thai salad, fried tofu, string beans and pork in a curry with sticky rice, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 8pm, baby carrots with carrot dressing, potato chips, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, peanuts & chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Saturday, February 25
Friday, February 24
Gryadon, Anais & Roo
Last day of Edie's school's winter break! Joined B & his two similarly aged chillun' for a bus ride to the far west side to visit the Children's Museum of Art. Definitely a different crowd -- the kid's names were Graydon, Lulu, Anais, Roo and Honere, among others. Seriously.
Slow walk home with two sleeping bebes, spent the afternoon making dressing and keeping on top of the tots. When grandma arrived around 5, I got a quick weight lifting session in. This time Edie didn't try to get on my back, but still did a few downward-facing dog poses while I did push ups.
I did detect something in the Chinese food, but it might have been natural umami rather than MSG -- if they added MSG, it was a lot more subtle. After eating much more MSG elsewhere, I can can say with certainty that whatever it is that makes Chinese food make people sleepy, it ain't MSG. I crawled into bed and passed out around 10pm. Children: Better than MSG for sleep.
Considering color coding my entries again. Looking at today, everything until dinner is green, everything after is red, he he.
TODAY'S COOKING:
Carrot dressing: Used this recipe again, despite thinking I can improve it -- thing is, I had all the ingredients on hand, why not just use it up? Made a triple batch, used my stored caramelized onions in replace of the 1.5 raw onions I didn't have, shouldn't hurt it at all. Unless it spoils, this should guide my spinach and momma salads for the next week or two.
BREAKFAST: 7:45am, iced green tea, hardcore oatmeal, banana, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Actually set the oatmeal up last night, simmered for a minute and put in the fridge until this morning.
PM SNACK: 12:15pm, 2 homemade granola bars, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Walking home from the far west side, glad I had this in my pocket to keep my hunger in check. Was tempted by various food trucks and restaurants, particularly when both babies were asleep, but figured we'd be ordering in food with my momma-in-law, so best keep it on the healthy tip....
LUNCH: 1:45pm, whole wheat pasta with homemade sauce and a little parm, baby carrots with carrot ginger dressing, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Eating for 1, Edie already taken care of, so I measured out 4 oz -- twice the recommended portion size on the box. It was a good moderately large entree portion in my eyes, how 1/4 of this could be a USDA portion boggles my mind. With the carrots, this was a satisfying lunch but I could have eaten twice as much just from habit.
DINNER: 6:15pm, curry beef over veg fried rice, shrimp toast, a spring roll, 2 cans of Sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
This seems to be becoming a tradition - a good tradition - of some sinful but convenient delivery food with grandma and the whole family. Once a week, I can deal, Tom Cruise style. Though I probably
EVENING SNACK: 7pm, wonton soup, a little veg lo mein, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 9pm, peanuts & chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Slow walk home with two sleeping bebes, spent the afternoon making dressing and keeping on top of the tots. When grandma arrived around 5, I got a quick weight lifting session in. This time Edie didn't try to get on my back, but still did a few downward-facing dog poses while I did push ups.
I did detect something in the Chinese food, but it might have been natural umami rather than MSG -- if they added MSG, it was a lot more subtle. After eating much more MSG elsewhere, I can can say with certainty that whatever it is that makes Chinese food make people sleepy, it ain't MSG. I crawled into bed and passed out around 10pm. Children: Better than MSG for sleep.
Considering color coding my entries again. Looking at today, everything until dinner is green, everything after is red, he he.
TODAY'S COOKING:
Carrot dressing: Used this recipe again, despite thinking I can improve it -- thing is, I had all the ingredients on hand, why not just use it up? Made a triple batch, used my stored caramelized onions in replace of the 1.5 raw onions I didn't have, shouldn't hurt it at all. Unless it spoils, this should guide my spinach and momma salads for the next week or two.
BREAKFAST: 7:45am, iced green tea, hardcore oatmeal, banana, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Actually set the oatmeal up last night, simmered for a minute and put in the fridge until this morning.
PM SNACK: 12:15pm, 2 homemade granola bars, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Walking home from the far west side, glad I had this in my pocket to keep my hunger in check. Was tempted by various food trucks and restaurants, particularly when both babies were asleep, but figured we'd be ordering in food with my momma-in-law, so best keep it on the healthy tip....
LUNCH: 1:45pm, whole wheat pasta with homemade sauce and a little parm, baby carrots with carrot ginger dressing, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Eating for 1, Edie already taken care of, so I measured out 4 oz -- twice the recommended portion size on the box. It was a good moderately large entree portion in my eyes, how 1/4 of this could be a USDA portion boggles my mind. With the carrots, this was a satisfying lunch but I could have eaten twice as much just from habit.
DINNER: 6:15pm, curry beef over veg fried rice, shrimp toast, a spring roll, 2 cans of Sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
This seems to be becoming a tradition - a good tradition - of some sinful but convenient delivery food with grandma and the whole family. Once a week, I can deal, Tom Cruise style. Though I probably
EVENING SNACK: 7pm, wonton soup, a little veg lo mein, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 9pm, peanuts & chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Thursday, February 23
Just add an orange is all?!
The only two breakfasts in my repertoire which are super healthy is the hardcore oatmeal and the smoothie -- everything else needs rethinking. Googled "healthy breakfast options"this morning and came up with these scary top 10 lists published by dumb wimmin's magazines. A McDonald's Egg McMuffin with the top thrown out, and the addition of a friggin orange - seriously yo? Today's breakfast, Greek yogurt, is helped along with the almonds -- perhaps I should consider reducing or replacing the honey with fresh fruit.... I should also make the time to bake my own hardcore multi whole grain bagels...
Got out the door with the 2 tater tots around 9:30 and went to Brooklyn to visit C and her 2 yr old Autumn. C is great, we are of similar minds on a lot of things, and we both thought nothing would be more fun than making lunch -- pizza from scratch. We made a quick dough soon after I arrived to give it time to rise for an hour, and topped it with various simple stuff out of the fridge. Not gourmet or blog-worthy, but still better (and definitely healthier) than 85% of the store bought frozen pizzas out there. We rolled out to a playground in the afternoon, and popped into a cafe for tea and cake before we headed back home.
Both kiddles asleep when I got off the train, popped in the local market and picked up a quart of good buttermilk for pancakes this weekend and a nice piece of scrod for dinner.
AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9am, yogurt with honey, vanilla and almonds, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 12:30pm, homemade whole wheat pizza, half glass of black cherry soda, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3pm, chocolate cupcake, green tea, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6:30pm, broiled scrod with butter and old bay seasoning, brown rice, spinach salad with slivered almonds and carrot tofu ginger dressing, pint of grenadine soda, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Brought home a solid 2/3 lb piece of fish. That's around 11 oz, about twice the recommended portion, but I wanted to eat a big dinner to hopefully cut down on cravings. Last night was an exception because I know the slow creep of calorie deficit that a long bike ride can bring (I should strategize for that in the future, rather than depend on chips!)
Though the dressing isn't there, it's easily the best of the bunch so far. The white bean dip was too gritty, the babaganoush too non-descript, the curry carrot dip too pasty. Contemplating how to refine -- perhaps replace tofu with tahini? Cook carrots before blending to make smoother?
Add vanilla extract to my grenadine syrup, gave a nice cream soda undertone to the proceedings.
EVENING SNACK: 8pm, potato chips, .25 bowl
EVENING SNACK: 9pm, chocolate chips and peanuts, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Got out the door with the 2 tater tots around 9:30 and went to Brooklyn to visit C and her 2 yr old Autumn. C is great, we are of similar minds on a lot of things, and we both thought nothing would be more fun than making lunch -- pizza from scratch. We made a quick dough soon after I arrived to give it time to rise for an hour, and topped it with various simple stuff out of the fridge. Not gourmet or blog-worthy, but still better (and definitely healthier) than 85% of the store bought frozen pizzas out there. We rolled out to a playground in the afternoon, and popped into a cafe for tea and cake before we headed back home.
Both kiddles asleep when I got off the train, popped in the local market and picked up a quart of good buttermilk for pancakes this weekend and a nice piece of scrod for dinner.
AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9am, yogurt with honey, vanilla and almonds, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 12:30pm, homemade whole wheat pizza, half glass of black cherry soda, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3pm, chocolate cupcake, green tea, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6:30pm, broiled scrod with butter and old bay seasoning, brown rice, spinach salad with slivered almonds and carrot tofu ginger dressing, pint of grenadine soda, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Brought home a solid 2/3 lb piece of fish. That's around 11 oz, about twice the recommended portion, but I wanted to eat a big dinner to hopefully cut down on cravings. Last night was an exception because I know the slow creep of calorie deficit that a long bike ride can bring (I should strategize for that in the future, rather than depend on chips!)
Though the dressing isn't there, it's easily the best of the bunch so far. The white bean dip was too gritty, the babaganoush too non-descript, the curry carrot dip too pasty. Contemplating how to refine -- perhaps replace tofu with tahini? Cook carrots before blending to make smoother?
Add vanilla extract to my grenadine syrup, gave a nice cream soda undertone to the proceedings.
EVENING SNACK: 8pm, potato chips, .25 bowl
EVENING SNACK: 9pm, chocolate chips and peanuts, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Wednesday, February 22
Early Summer in mid-February
Woke up to various children at 6:30am, good thing I put myself down at 10 or I'd have a problem f'sure. Pleasantly sore in the chest and shoulders, undoubtedly partially due to Edie crawling on my back as I did push ups.
This morning we hosted a playdate for classmates and friends who are also out of school because of the winter break. I served up the broc-cheddar knishes (quartered), juice boxes and a pitcher of lime rickey, as well as some grapes and the momma salad (composed a bit, not just a jumble.)It went well, it was a lot mellower than it could have been.
Being that I do not have to teach this week, when the sitter came, I got spandexed up and road out to Coney -- it was in the mid 50s and sunny, very odd for mid February. Felt a lot stronger than I thought I'd be for being off the bike so long, the weights must be helping.
Got home and started cooking, forgot to eat spinach salad! D'oh!
AM SNACK: 7am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 8:15am, 2 whole wheat waffles, banana, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACKING 10-12:30pm: baby carrots, a cookie, a broc cheddar knish, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 1pm, lentils over white rice, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
A parent contributed this lentil stew and white rice, not very child-accessible but when everyone had left and I found myself hungry and harried with cleaning, there it was -- that's why she brought it, not for the guests, but for the host, he he. I'm not gonna critique such a thoughtful house gift, but it did make me want to reimagine it....
BIKE SNACK: 3pm, granola bar, water
BIKE SNACK: 4pm, small bag of funions, 16oz of gatorade, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
I used to like Funions when I was 8 or 9 years old. The crappy bodega I stopped at to refuel didn't have corn chips, and this was a small quarter bag, so why not. The first thing I noticed when crunching on the first one was the overwhelming taste of....MSG. Hah! I almost wish I never tasted straight, unadorned MSG, now it jumps out at me like the pink elephant you're not supposed to imagine.
DINNER: 6:15pm, whole wheat spaghetti with homemade sauce, roasted brussel sprouts, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Surprising how normal the whole wheat pasta tastes. It looks brown and grainy uncooked, but looked relatively white cooked. Taste-wise, I didn't taste much difference, especially when coated with sauce, but the bite was slightly different. Despite cooking it a minute past al dente, it still had a slightly crumbly element to the bite. Not enough to make it not-good, but different. Gotta stock up.
This round of sauce also is pretty good, definitely elevated by the cup of wine thrown into the aromatics and reduced.
EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, potato chips
EVENING SNACK: 9pm, a small handful of cookies
EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, more potato chips
Calorie deficit from the day's ride.
This morning we hosted a playdate for classmates and friends who are also out of school because of the winter break. I served up the broc-cheddar knishes (quartered), juice boxes and a pitcher of lime rickey, as well as some grapes and the momma salad (composed a bit, not just a jumble.)It went well, it was a lot mellower than it could have been.
Being that I do not have to teach this week, when the sitter came, I got spandexed up and road out to Coney -- it was in the mid 50s and sunny, very odd for mid February. Felt a lot stronger than I thought I'd be for being off the bike so long, the weights must be helping.
Got home and started cooking, forgot to eat spinach salad! D'oh!
AM SNACK: 7am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 8:15am, 2 whole wheat waffles, banana, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACKING 10-12:30pm: baby carrots, a cookie, a broc cheddar knish, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 1pm, lentils over white rice, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
A parent contributed this lentil stew and white rice, not very child-accessible but when everyone had left and I found myself hungry and harried with cleaning, there it was -- that's why she brought it, not for the guests, but for the host, he he. I'm not gonna critique such a thoughtful house gift, but it did make me want to reimagine it....
BIKE SNACK: 3pm, granola bar, water
BIKE SNACK: 4pm, small bag of funions, 16oz of gatorade, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
I used to like Funions when I was 8 or 9 years old. The crappy bodega I stopped at to refuel didn't have corn chips, and this was a small quarter bag, so why not. The first thing I noticed when crunching on the first one was the overwhelming taste of....MSG. Hah! I almost wish I never tasted straight, unadorned MSG, now it jumps out at me like the pink elephant you're not supposed to imagine.
DINNER: 6:15pm, whole wheat spaghetti with homemade sauce, roasted brussel sprouts, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Surprising how normal the whole wheat pasta tastes. It looks brown and grainy uncooked, but looked relatively white cooked. Taste-wise, I didn't taste much difference, especially when coated with sauce, but the bite was slightly different. Despite cooking it a minute past al dente, it still had a slightly crumbly element to the bite. Not enough to make it not-good, but different. Gotta stock up.
This round of sauce also is pretty good, definitely elevated by the cup of wine thrown into the aromatics and reduced.
EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, potato chips
EVENING SNACK: 9pm, a small handful of cookies
EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, more potato chips
Calorie deficit from the day's ride.
Tuesday, February 21
Terr-ifibling
Edie is off from school this week due to the President's Day holiday. B had off from work yesterday, but today it was me vs. the Terr(ific?)(ible?)(ifying?) Two. Once B left, I set up the weights, put Mil in a bumbo in his crib, and let Edie free range. She immediately gravitated to imitating me, first doing some stretches. Then when I started doing push ups, she crawled on to my back. Instead of doing my usual 20, I squeaked out about 10 with 30 pounds squirming on my back. Surprisingly, got through my routine smoothly. Edie thought my weight lifting was some sort of dance party, and insisted on listening to "Gotta Get Up" by Nillson over and over again while I worked out -- it actually helped. Mil remained chill, my exercises entertained Edie.
Made a smoothie and shared it with Edles, Mil soon went to nap and I got some laundry put away while Edie watched TV, got granola made and in the oven, took care of dishes, put stuff away as Edie scattered them about. Made myself and Edie lunch. Things got a little tense as we waited for the sitter, but once Mil was covered and we got on the bike to the train museum to play with Edie's favorite friend, all was well.
Got to bed at 10, blown out. This week is gonna be not the easiest.
TODAY'S COOKING:
Granola: Another batch with the idea of making bars in mind. Made a bigger batch, 6 cups of oats, 3 cups of nuts including cashews, slivered almonds, pepitas, and for the first time, raw sunflower seed kernels. 4oz of dried shredded unsweetened coconut by weight (came to almost 2 cups by volume, double the original recipe, ha) Half cup of maple syrup, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of olive oil, tablespoon of vanilla, heaping 1/2 teaspoons of cardamom and cinnamon, teaspoon of salt. Baked at 325 for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to promote even browning. 1/2 cup of chopped dried cherries mixed in once cooled.
AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9:30am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
I was busy bouncing Mil and feeding Edie a waffle to notice how long I let the smoothie blend for, perhaps 3 or 4 times longer than usual -- it actually cut down on the raspberry nit problem almost completely. Either that, or the raspberries floated to the top of the fruit bag and I'm working my way down it.
LUNCH: 11:30am, sardine & avocado on whole grain toast, health salad, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Edie running around, Mil strapped to me, somehow got lunch down...
PM SNACK: 12:30pm, handful of whole grain pretzels, liter of water
PM SNACK: 4pm, homemade granola bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6pm, baby spinach with slivered almonds and carrot dressing, 2 slices of streetza, Jamaican beef patty, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Brought in dinner, as was too hungry and blown out from the day to cook. On a whim, got a beef patty from the pizza place, haven't had one in quite a while. I used to love these, and quickly discovered if I had more than one in a sitting I'd feel sick. The crust is nice, flaky, savory. But the filling is weird, a loose smooth meat paste of indeterminate origin. It says beef, but really, it could be any meat that has been cooked for days and mixed with a very distinct spice combo. I had beef patties in Jamaica and the fillings are much more....distinct. I guess like pizza, this is a "NY style" beef patty.
EVENING SNACK: 8pm: raw almonds & chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Made a smoothie and shared it with Edles, Mil soon went to nap and I got some laundry put away while Edie watched TV, got granola made and in the oven, took care of dishes, put stuff away as Edie scattered them about. Made myself and Edie lunch. Things got a little tense as we waited for the sitter, but once Mil was covered and we got on the bike to the train museum to play with Edie's favorite friend, all was well.
Got to bed at 10, blown out. This week is gonna be not the easiest.
TODAY'S COOKING:
Granola: Another batch with the idea of making bars in mind. Made a bigger batch, 6 cups of oats, 3 cups of nuts including cashews, slivered almonds, pepitas, and for the first time, raw sunflower seed kernels. 4oz of dried shredded unsweetened coconut by weight (came to almost 2 cups by volume, double the original recipe, ha) Half cup of maple syrup, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of olive oil, tablespoon of vanilla, heaping 1/2 teaspoons of cardamom and cinnamon, teaspoon of salt. Baked at 325 for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to promote even browning. 1/2 cup of chopped dried cherries mixed in once cooled.
AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9:30am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
I was busy bouncing Mil and feeding Edie a waffle to notice how long I let the smoothie blend for, perhaps 3 or 4 times longer than usual -- it actually cut down on the raspberry nit problem almost completely. Either that, or the raspberries floated to the top of the fruit bag and I'm working my way down it.
LUNCH: 11:30am, sardine & avocado on whole grain toast, health salad, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Edie running around, Mil strapped to me, somehow got lunch down...
PM SNACK: 12:30pm, handful of whole grain pretzels, liter of water
PM SNACK: 4pm, homemade granola bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6pm, baby spinach with slivered almonds and carrot dressing, 2 slices of streetza, Jamaican beef patty, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Brought in dinner, as was too hungry and blown out from the day to cook. On a whim, got a beef patty from the pizza place, haven't had one in quite a while. I used to love these, and quickly discovered if I had more than one in a sitting I'd feel sick. The crust is nice, flaky, savory. But the filling is weird, a loose smooth meat paste of indeterminate origin. It says beef, but really, it could be any meat that has been cooked for days and mixed with a very distinct spice combo. I had beef patties in Jamaica and the fillings are much more....distinct. I guess like pizza, this is a "NY style" beef patty.
EVENING SNACK: 8pm: raw almonds & chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Monday, February 20
Presidential Cooking
Alarm went off at 6 in the middle of some dream I was enjoying, so I turned it off and woke up at 8 to a toddler jumping up and down on my back, shouting "HOP ON POP!" Dr. Seuss, we need a word.
B was off from work today, so I bundled up Edie and we did a tour of the local supermarket. After getting stuff in, I started to cook, not letting up until after 3pm.
TODAY'S COOKING
Tomato Sauce: Softened two large diced onions in olive oil, tossed in 2 shredded carrots and one bunch of fresh thyme, simmered 10 min until very fragrant. 5 cloves of garlic crushed, 1 cup of white wine, full boil until very reduced. 4 cans of freshly milled whole tomatoes, one bunch of basil, chopped, salt.
Considered tossing in some MSG, but decided against it -- there was so much good stuff happening here, why risk it. When my dad would add his "secret" ingredient to his vat of home cooked sauce (a jar of store bought stuff), I wonder if it was the traces of MSG in that jar that made the difference....
Carrot Dressing: Looking for something to make straight raw spinach appealing, it ocurred to me the original reason I LIKE raw spinach was the salad at Dojo... They make a house-made carrot dressing that is pretty special. So I googled, and found this recipe, but after eating it with lunch, it's missing something. I only used it because it was the top google hit, I think the recipes that use tahini might be a little closer. Still, this was pretty good, except that the yield was a meager cup or so.
Broccoli Cheddar Knishes: As Edie is off this week, I'm hosting a playdate on Wedneday. This being Edie's favorite knish and I had a log of left over dough from last week, I made a couple dozen.
Momma Salad & Health Salad: Not gonna have a lot of free time to cook and prep this week, so just tossed these off to have on hand.
AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 11am, hardcore oatmeal, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 2pm, baby spinach & slivered almonds with carrot dressing, 2 kasha knishes
DINNER: 6:15pm, 12" veggie burger on whole wheat hero, cool ranch doritos, sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Stopped by Subway with Mil strapped to me sleeping, an evening walk to Whole Foods. I picked up the "Cool Ranch" Doritos because I remembered it had that distinct umami taste that I now know to be MSG. I used to think there must be some dehydrated buttermilk in there or something. I looked at the ingredients, and low and behold, once you get through corn and oils and sugars, the primary flavorant, before any cheese, buttermilk or herb or spice, is MSG. Well, there ya go. Tasting the chip, instead of tasting cool or ranchy or buttermilky, all I tasted was MSG. Ick. I did not finish the bag.
EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, chocolate chips & almonds, water, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
B was off from work today, so I bundled up Edie and we did a tour of the local supermarket. After getting stuff in, I started to cook, not letting up until after 3pm.
TODAY'S COOKING
Tomato Sauce: Softened two large diced onions in olive oil, tossed in 2 shredded carrots and one bunch of fresh thyme, simmered 10 min until very fragrant. 5 cloves of garlic crushed, 1 cup of white wine, full boil until very reduced. 4 cans of freshly milled whole tomatoes, one bunch of basil, chopped, salt.
Considered tossing in some MSG, but decided against it -- there was so much good stuff happening here, why risk it. When my dad would add his "secret" ingredient to his vat of home cooked sauce (a jar of store bought stuff), I wonder if it was the traces of MSG in that jar that made the difference....
Carrot Dressing: Looking for something to make straight raw spinach appealing, it ocurred to me the original reason I LIKE raw spinach was the salad at Dojo... They make a house-made carrot dressing that is pretty special. So I googled, and found this recipe, but after eating it with lunch, it's missing something. I only used it because it was the top google hit, I think the recipes that use tahini might be a little closer. Still, this was pretty good, except that the yield was a meager cup or so.
Broccoli Cheddar Knishes: As Edie is off this week, I'm hosting a playdate on Wedneday. This being Edie's favorite knish and I had a log of left over dough from last week, I made a couple dozen.
Momma Salad & Health Salad: Not gonna have a lot of free time to cook and prep this week, so just tossed these off to have on hand.
AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 11am, hardcore oatmeal, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 2pm, baby spinach & slivered almonds with carrot dressing, 2 kasha knishes
DINNER: 6:15pm, 12" veggie burger on whole wheat hero, cool ranch doritos, sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Stopped by Subway with Mil strapped to me sleeping, an evening walk to Whole Foods. I picked up the "Cool Ranch" Doritos because I remembered it had that distinct umami taste that I now know to be MSG. I used to think there must be some dehydrated buttermilk in there or something. I looked at the ingredients, and low and behold, once you get through corn and oils and sugars, the primary flavorant, before any cheese, buttermilk or herb or spice, is MSG. Well, there ya go. Tasting the chip, instead of tasting cool or ranchy or buttermilky, all I tasted was MSG. Ick. I did not finish the bag.
EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, chocolate chips & almonds, water, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Sunday, February 19
A Vist to my bruddah, a visit to terrible eating
Rented a car and took the family unit up to Albany to visit my brother and his horde of hotten tots. As expected, my eating was horrible -- too busy getting the car and getting everything in order to feed myself properly, eating a bagel on the road to keep my stomach from chewing itself. We hit a McDonalds drive-thru outside of Albany and chowed in the parking lot, oh so American, I felt vastly underweight. Again, fast food on the thruway home. Weird, I actually feel a bit crappier from the day's eating, I would probably feel even worse tomorrow evening if I stuck to fast food. Looking forward to food shopping tomorrow and having a larder full o' fresh veg, healthy stuff and the like.
AM SNACK: 6:15am, iced green tea
AM SNACK: 9:45am, 1/2 a bagel, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: noon, 2 hamburgers, fries, 3 chicken nuggets, diet coke, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 1:30pm, 1/4 bagel with cream cheese, a cup of apple juice, a cupcake, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 4:45pm, 3/4 of a Pizzeria Uno "Pizza", handful of fries, diet coke, baggie of chocolate chip cookies, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER 2: 9pm, cheese tortellini with tomato, garlic, butter, dried herbs & MSG, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Hungry, but nothing healthy or fresh on hand. So I tossed this dish together, and dossed it with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon MSG to see how it would be. It was that fine line between delicous and weird. As with when I tasted it straight, it left a weird meaty aftertaste for hours afte I had finished. MSG is STRONG. This big dish would probably could have used 1/4 teaspoon of MSG and still been fine.
AM SNACK: 6:15am, iced green tea
AM SNACK: 9:45am, 1/2 a bagel, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: noon, 2 hamburgers, fries, 3 chicken nuggets, diet coke, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 1:30pm, 1/4 bagel with cream cheese, a cup of apple juice, a cupcake, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 4:45pm, 3/4 of a Pizzeria Uno "Pizza", handful of fries, diet coke, baggie of chocolate chip cookies, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER 2: 9pm, cheese tortellini with tomato, garlic, butter, dried herbs & MSG, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Hungry, but nothing healthy or fresh on hand. So I tossed this dish together, and dossed it with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon MSG to see how it would be. It was that fine line between delicous and weird. As with when I tasted it straight, it left a weird meaty aftertaste for hours afte I had finished. MSG is STRONG. This big dish would probably could have used 1/4 teaspoon of MSG and still been fine.
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