Workworkworkwork

Busy day at the resto. Had to be in early to let plumbers in, so a second night of not enough sleep. Looking forward to my 4 day weekend!

AM SNACK: 7:30am, handful of chocolate covered espresso beans, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 10:15am, six ham and moz crostini, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Improvised breakfast, much nicer and lighter than a potato-studded garbage plate.
AM SNACK: 11am, cranberry lime soda
LUNCH: 3:15pm, 2 slices cheeseless Sicilian with clams and shrimp, sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, sprite, medicinal brownie

EVENING SNACK: 11:30pm, 2 burgers & fries, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
No comment.

Surprisingly Thick

Had a hard time getting to sleep after rocking really hard at the restaurant. When the night is so active and constantly pounding, getting home and winding down is difficult. It's kind of like the end of a 100 mile bike ride, but instead of being drained, energy is still pouring out. Tried to go down at 1:30, but sleep didn't reach me until 3 or so.

BREAKFAST: 8:15am, smoothie, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
After yesterday's guilty garbage plate, I was determined to buck up. The good yogurt, a banana, acai juice, frozen blueberries, mango and cherries, freshly ground flax, a pinch of homemade vanilla extract and a pinch of salt. Surprisingly thick and very tasty.

AM SNACK: 8:45am, handful of chocolate covered espresso beans
Needed a kick to get on the bike and do work chores before hitting the resto.

AM SNACK: 11:30am, slice of egg pizza, cranberry lime soda
A cook was playing around and basically poured well-beaten eggs over a raw shell with onions and bacon, finishing with pepper. Pretty good omelet pizza, though needs a little dairy to lighten it up a bit.

LUNCH: 2pm, meatballs, black cherry soda, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Black cherry soda is too sweet, and is a bit medicinal tasting.

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, bite of milk chocolate
DINNER: 6pm, 3 slices of cheeseless shrimp and clam pie, sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 11pm, cranberry lime soda
EVENING SNACK: 12:30am, multigrain chips and salsa, the good yogurt with honey, vanilla and peanuts, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Morbid Potatoes

Strange feeling this morning. Got a short but good quality sleep, but woke up a little too late and ended up not eating anything before leaving for work (note to self: set alarm for 8am on workdays, as B and Edie are too good at not waking me up as of late!) I had a cook make me a plate of potatoes and and various pizza toppings -- not exactly a vegan green salad with extra fiber flakes.

I was sitting, looking over some work paperwork, and felt guilty -- Edie is still a baby, but someday she will be the adult and will need to care for me, as I cared for my parents. The choices I make in life will to a certain extent determine what happens then. My mom smoked most of her life, even after a cancer scare when I was a teenager, and eventually succumbed to it. My dad always had a wicked sweet tooth, and eventually his body was run-down by ongoing adult-onset diabetes. Looking back at the scheme of things. How will it end for me, in regards to how it will effect Edie?

Both my parents had a certain amount of guilt themselves about getting ill at the end -- they didn't express it directly, but when people are in such a weakened state, they are not hard to read. In particular, my mom expressed in private to a good friend and coworker of hers (who after she passed the friend expressed to me) is that my mom felt really bad that I had to deal with her illness and eminent passing so soon after dad -- she knew what was coming, and felt bad that she was "doing" this to me. I wish she had said that to me directly, so I could of helped wipe any guilt she had away, that whatever I was doing for her then, she had done for me 10x as much by bringing me into the world and supporting me emotionally, financially, culturally, education-wise and all those other things good parents just do without having to read a handbook.

Are these garbage plates threatening my health, and therefore threatening the timing and ease of my passing? I could only wish that I'm healthy until the day I pass away in my sleep, with a will and detailed pre-paid instructions on where to dispose of my hopefully not-too-fat body! Weird, slightly morbid thoughts in a restaurant over a plate of potatoes.


AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
AM SNACK: 10am, 2 corn tortillas with a little cheese
BREAKFAST: 11am, potatoes with vegetables and sausage, Manhattan Special, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 4pm, 1 slice of cheeseless shrimp & clam pie, cranberry lime soda, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 6pm, 1 stuffed artichoke


HAZE: 7-11pm, a couple of sodas


EVENING SNACK: midnight, multigrain tortilla chips and salsa

Glory

Attended a going-away party for T. at the restaurant, my friend, cooking partner and coworker. It was a good vibe, and lots of the 'special' pastries we've made over the past month or so were consumed. I left by 12:30 due to having to be back by 10 same day, but when I made my escape I was given a round of applause for the treats and I took multiple bows. I guess I must be in it for the glory, because the cash has yet to start rolling in, he he.


AM SNACK: 9:30am, fistful of chocolate covered coffee beans


BREAKFAST: 10:45am, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese and sable, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 4pm, a few slices of eh pizza, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 8:30pm, chicken sandwich, 2 slices Sicilian, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING NIBBLES: 11-12:30pm, 1/2 beer, a few chips, a few pieces of chocolate, water

Heat

Up at 5, out by 6:45, picked up E, rode to the SI Ferry and did a 50 mile loop around the island in the blazing heat. I usually do longer 80-100 mile rides at this point in the season, but this heat is just out of control. On the way home we rolled into the New Amsterdam Market under the FDR by Wall Street, I picked up a few bottles of interesting cider. Spent the afternoon napping and hanging with the fam, then out to meet some friends in Williamsburg for a quick drink. A tiring but good day.

By the way, Edie says, "sz``````````````````````````````````".


AM SNACK: 6am, iced green tea, fistful of chocolate covered espresso beans


BREAKFAST: 6:45am, banana


AM SNACK: 8:15am, chocolate donut


BIKE SNACK: 9:30am, gatorade, small bag of potato chips


BIKE SNACK: 10:45am, gatorade, small bag of corn chips


LUNCH: 11:45am, 6" veggie burger sub, lots of ice water, .75 bowl


PM SNORT: 1pm, about 1/3 of a pint of beer


PM SNACK: 3:45am, large green salad

DINNER: 5pm, lomein & shrimp toast, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNORT: 8:30pm, pint of cider, a few bites of savory bread, .75 bowl, hunger 3/5

Pretty cool day

Did a big food shop in the morning, made grilled cheese and brownies for C and baby Autumn in the afternoon, took Edie out to a park to play before dinner. Watched a DVD with B in the evening. A pretty cool day.


AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9:30am, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese and sable, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 1:30pm, grilled cheese with aged gouda, 12-grain wholewheat bread, and  quinoa salad, 2 freshly baked brownies, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 8pm, sauteed shrimp and string beans, sticky rice, chicken satay, Thai dumplings, water, 2 brownies, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Summer Eating

Slept fitfully the night before, and met the day with a lot of plans -- Edie swim class at 9:30, playgroup at 10, a little food shopping after, then T came over to cook. After Edie got down, I whipped out a quinoa salad whose dorky recipe B had forwarded to me, with adjustments. Red quinoa, cooked in veg stock, doubled jalapeno, seasoned with vanilla sugar, came out pretty slammin'. I pretty much made it for B, but also served it for lunch, so me & T could focus on a bunch of "special" items -- mini almond tarts, mini vanilla blueberry tarts, and a sheet of brownies. I guess it was for the best I couldn't scarf down anything!

Went out to dinner with Y & her boyfriend in the evening, went to a Middle Eastern place in Fort Greene, near where I went to high school. A friendly, chill night. Summer eating.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea


LUNCH: 1:30pm, seared scallops, quinoa salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 7:30pm, mezze plate with hummus, baba, grape leaves & spinach, a "pitza" with ground lamb, mint tea, water, semolina cake, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Workworkworkwork pt 3

Got to bed around 2am and my lovely wife gently woke me up at 8:45am. I guess this is why people get married -- even though I'm all tired and achy and still overheated from 13 hours in an unairconditioned restaurant the day before, being woken up by her gentle voice is just...nice. Sometimes when I don't communicate enough, she accuses me of treating her like a "roomie" instead of a "wifey" or a "luvvah", but she doesn't realize that if I ever had a roomie like her, there would be no need to ever get married!! The only thing better after being woken up was B dropping Edie into bed with me, all smiles and crawls, and her jumping on my head.

AM SNACK: 8:45am, iced green tea
The latest batch has the sweetness on the nose (3/4 cup sugar for about 3 liter bottles of tea) but don't like the flavor -- "Himalayan" green tea, tastes musky in a not particularly attractive way.

BREAKFAST: 11:15am, cucumbers, red onoins, grape tomatoes & olives, Manhattan Special, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Not perfect, but a healthier start to the day at the restaurant.

PM SNACK: 12:30pm, snippet of bread, snippet of smoked chicken, water
PM SNACK: 1:30pm, snippet of bacon
LUNCH: 2:45pm, 2 slice of clam & shrimp pizza, ginger ale, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 10:15, special cookie

DINNER: 11pm, 2 burgers, fries, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
No comment

Workworkworkwork pt 2

Got home close to midnight last night, was able to get to bed by 1:30 without any big issues -- riding 80 miles in the heat the day before probably helped. When I woke to what I thought was B nudging me like an octopus (but it was only Rufus D. Cat), I found a very smiley Ediebird in the hallway as my beautiful wife showered her beautiful self. I was quite tired, but full of an optimism I haven't felt in a while. Things are just....good. Not great, but pretty darn good. Here's to appreciating the moment -- good health, a happy family, a safe secure roof over our heads, enough food to eat, a great neighborhood full of new friends and new friend's babies, and a set of bicycles to get us around!!

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, organic cheerios with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Out of tea. Made a batch this morning, but needs a day to cool.

AM SNACK: 11:15am, Manhattan Special
Should I start a coffee habit? This would be great, if it wasn't so damn sweet. I should of eaten some dark chocolate covered espresso beans this morning, they're less sweet despite being chocolate.

PM SNACK: 12:30pm, snippet of bread

PM SNACK: 1:15pm, cranberry lime soda
LUNCH: 2pm, 2 slices sicilian, meatballs, sprite, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 9pm, 2 slices cheeseless seafood pizza, cranberry lime soda
EVENING SNACK: midnight, multigrain tortilla chips and salsa, water, chocolate peanutbutter, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Workworkworkwork

Woke up at 8 after a blissful 9 hour sleep. Had to rush a bit to get it together before the nanny arrived, putting my mess away from yesterday's ride. Felt tired in a good way. Didn't realize how hungry I was before I was about to step out, ate a banana while Edie watched me. She said, "aaah!" with an outstretched arm, to which I replied with a little piece of banana. I brought it to her face and she opened her mouth and stretched forward to eat it, incredibly sweet and cute. She's using her feminine wiles to mack me out of my own breakfast!!

Restaurant was pretty slow until 8pm, then all action until 10pm. Not a balanced day, but ended up pretty much not eating a dinner, though lots of water.













AM SNACK: 8:15am, blueberry iced green tea
AM SNACK: 9:15am, banana

BREAKFAST: 11:30am, potatoes with vegetables and sausage, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Had a cook make me a plate of pizza toppings over potatoes, good n' heavy, definitely feeling hunger residual from yesterday.

PM SNACK: 12:30pm, Manhattan Special
LUNCH: 3:15pm, 2 slices white with mushroom and spinach, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 6pm, small amount of white rice, green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Kitchen guys brought in a rice cooker, made some nice sticky white rice with olive oil, parsley and salt. Really nice.

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, cranberrry lime soda

DONUTS!

Up at 3:30am to catch a bus to Highland, NY, to ride the Hudson Valley. It was a supported ride, meaning...DONUTS! Too sleepy to eat something proper at home, and the donuts just kept on coming through the first half of the ride. It was very sunny and warm, and the route was surprisingly hilly -- not big hills, but constantly rolling up and down. Even though I was drinking massive quantities of water from the camelback sack on my back, the first symptom of dehydration struck midday -- a tight stomach, lack of appetite, and water, despite being, well, water, tastes a bit strong and vaguely slick. But to avoid further symptoms (headache, lack of focus, extreme tiredness) I kept on drinking.

Midway I decided to abandon the 100 mile route and ended up doing 80 for the day, quite enough between the heat and the hills."Lagom" -- enough is as good as a feast. Burgers presented themselves at the end of the ride, and at home I did not get too hungry, but when I did I realized all I had to make quick were hotdogs and frozen pizzas. I gotta restock in terms of quick and healthy stuff. I would of been just as good with a hunk of watermelon last night than with a hotdog.

AM SNACK: 4am, 10 chocolate coved coffee beans
AM SNACK: 5:15am. 3 donuts, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 7:30am, 1 donut, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5
LUNCH: 11am, 2 donuts, 4 pieces olive focaccia, gatorade, water, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 2:30pm, 2 hot oreos, water
PM SNACK 3:30pm, 1 slice apple pie, water, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5pm, 2 burgers, piece of corn, lemonade, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 7pm, 1 beer, 1 small bag of potato chips
EVENING SNACK: 9pm, hotdog, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Dream

Had the oddest dreams about a nuclear bomb going off in NJ, and the only way for me to save the tristate area from assured destruction was to pedal a bike from my house to the site with some sort of anti-nuclear fluid. My bike got a flat and everyone died. I woke up, went to the bathroom, then got back to sleep.

I woke up at 4:30 because I need to be up at 4am tomorrow to get out for a century ride about 80 miles north. I picked up some chocolate covered coffee beans, a potential tool for the bike, so I tried them this morning to see how my body reacted. Tasty, though not as strong as I thought they'd be.

AM SNACK: 4:45am, 10 dark chocolate covered coffee beans


AM SNACK: 7am, granola with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 11:15am, grilled grapefruit, sable, snappea salad, margarita pizza, pomodorini pizza, nutella pizza, cinnamon & butter pizza, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 3:30-6pm, a little slow roasted pork, a few chips, a few bits of cheese, 1 glass of sangria, water, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 8:45pm, beef lomein, shrimp toast, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Chill.

A chill Friday. Woke up a little early, stayed indoors out of the heat with the Edles while B went out on her lady-date. Lazily grazing around the kitchen, stopped by my local slice joint on the way to pick up a package. I spend three days in an overheated pizzeria, yet when I have time, I find myself in another unairconditioned pizzeria for a snack.

Went to the movies with D, and went to a spectacular Yemeni restaurant after whose specialty is lamb. Very lamby, very fresh, very good. 


BREAKFAST: 7am, blueberry iced green tea, granola with organic dead milk, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 1pm, squash risotto, multigrain tortilla chips with salsa, watermelon, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 3pm, slice of streetza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 7:30pm, lamb & rice, salad, soup, flat bread, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Feeding Frenzy at the Freezer

Good unwinding day after three hot, hot days in an unairconditioned restaurant with unhappy customers, unhappy staff and a sweaty bottom. Woke up refreshed from magical sleep, off to do Edie things, cooked some nice dishes with T, took myself out to dinner, got the food shopping done, and had a feeding frenzy with B...

AM SNACK: 8:30am, blueberry iced green tea

AM SNACK: 9:15am, banana
Rushed out with Edie to get to swim class, then play group drop in.


PM SNACK: 12pm, good yogurt with honey, vanilla and peanuts, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 3pm, crab fritter, squash risotto, pickled burdock, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
T came over and we did some free-form cooking. Basically spiked a crab salad with a bit of flour and baking powder, stiffened it in the fridge and rolled some scoops in panko before deep frying in lard & peanut oil. Risotto was standard c-school method with some sauteed zucinni and squashes thrown in. We also made some crazy-ass magical butter cookies, but it won't be soon that I taste those.


DINNER: 6:30pm, 2 hotdogs, fries, pickles, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
On the way to WF, stopped by Katz's for dinner. Really the only meal of the week that is not at the restaurant and I got to consume by myself. Very peaceful, despite being in a loud, crowded dining room. Usually only eat 1 dog, but I found myself still hungry after finishing.



EVENING SNACK: 9pm, 1/3 of a pint of Ben & Jerries, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
I wasn't planning on eating this, but once B found it, she started wildly scooping it into her mouth. So I joined her, racing to get some into my own mouth before it was done. Basically, we stood in front of the open freezer with the pint and snarled while in a frenzy. Good thing Edie was asleep. I bought it because it was a new flavor -- Milk & Cookies, which was basically a lame overly sweet cookies n' cream with chocolate chip cookie dough. I'm tempted to make my OWN cookie dough ice cream, and it will be SO much better.

Workworkworkwork pt 3 (A fart to break my heart)

Last night was a bit rough. I was starting to wind down around 12:30 when Edie woke up crying like crazy, sitting up in her crib in the dark. I picked her up, patted her back and she let out the cutest little fart, a fart to break my heart. It smelled like diapers!

We ended up snuggling on the couch for an hour, but when I tried to get her down, she was up with a shout again and B had to come in and take over. -wah!-

Restaurant was sloooow in the afternoon, due to busted aircondioning and hot temps. I sent a lot of staff home, and in the evening, it was just me, T (easily the best server & manager we got) and an overcaffeinated Russian busser, and oddly enough we had a wave around 7:30 where the restaurant filled up pretty quickly to about 3/4 full. In any other combo of staff, this would be potentially crushing, but instead it was a lot of fun, all pistons pumping, and peeps was gettin' SERVED, yo. The day ended up on a high, literally and figuratively.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, blueberry iced green tea, granola with organic dead milk, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 1pm, 1 meatball, 3 small slices of sicilian with artichoke, mushroom and onion, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 6pm, green salad, 1 meatball, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Meatballs are hard to resist in the restaurant when they're fresh out of the oven.
PM SNACK: 7:15pm, small amount of chocolate ice cream
PM SNACK: 9pm, cranberry lime soda, .25 bowl, hunger ?/5

PM SNACK: 10pm, special shortbread
DINNER: 11:15pm, 2 burgers, fries, .75 bowl, hunger ?/5
No comment

Workworkworkwork pt 2

A reasonable eating day for a work shift in the resto. No airconditioning and a steamy day didn't help my appetite, either.


BREAKFAST: 7:30am, good yogurt with honey, vanilla & cashews, blueberry iced green tea, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 12:30, a few bits of bread, Manhattan Special


LUNCH: 1:30pm, shrimp and clam cheeseless pizza, soda, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 7pm, green salad, meatball app, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Workworkworkwork

Day started on the wrong foot, with a 7am wake up yell from the ladies in the house. Got to work with notes that the air conditioning was not working properly, and small little stresses from 10 other little issues that all added up to "urgh!" But as the day went on, things worked out, it got hot but not too hot, and the restaurant got busy enough to not worry about things and just focus on the tasks at hand.

Didn't eat much today, due to the heat and the business, and didn't get hungry when I got home either. I did drink several pints of water through the day, starting in the morning when I decided a Manhattan Special might give me more of a headache than a kick.


AM SNACK: 7am, blueberry iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9am, toasted wholewheat bagel with cream cheese, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 1:30pm, 4 slices Sicilian pizza


PM SNACK: 4pm, cranberry lime soda


EVENING SNACK: 11pm, a few slices of cold pizza, .75 bowl, hunger ?/5

Grassiness

Spent the morning at a friend of B's, and ended up skipping breakfast, a very bad thing. I tried to make up for it by eating a supercharged lunch, but I ended up going for a very underpowered and cut-short bike ride in the afternoon.

Dinner made of freshly defrosted shrimp and old leftovers from a much fancier meal weeks ago were good, but the HVS's company in Edie's wind-down time was the perfect cap to the weekend.


AM SNACK: 8:30am, pint of iced blueberry green tea
Surprisingly tart. Not sweet at all -- very mildly sweet. Very blue in color, almost like a red wine. I almost recoiled at first, but as I worked down the glass I found the tart berry flavor really complimenting the grassiness of the green tea. Did I really just sound that pretentious?

LUNCH: 12:30pm, sardine & avocado on multigrain bread, pita chips, granola, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
B's pita chips look like they're all healthy n' stuff, but looking at the ingredients, it's basically the nutritional equivalent of a potato chip, with a little less oil. They include wholewheat flour as an ingredient, but its so far down on the list, to be negligible.

DINNER: 5:45pm, shrimp and pasta in pistachio pesto cream sauce, chocolate tofutti, chocolate ruggelah, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Almost all green...

Woke up too late to get in a ride before the rain hit, so I did chores -- laundry, a light shop, WD40 a door, try to add a rack to B's bike. I made green tea for the week. Tired of mint syrup, and last week it was a little too weak over all. I had blueberry syrup on hand, so I threw in a cup after steeping. Hmmm, iced blueberry green tea, hope it works. While Edie napped and B calmed down from her frenzied morning of rearranging then unrearranging furniture, I knocked out a batch of granola in advance of a visit from the HVS tomorrow...

Kinda skipped lunch by accident, due to getting Edie ready to get up and go out to visit the in laws and friends of B. We took care of some shopping shores on the bike ride to Chelsea, and when we got there, I was quite ravenous. My brother-in-law had a lot of diet sodas in his fridge, so I opted for a beer -- alcohol's flavor is so much more interesting than artificially flavored overly-sweet sodas. 


AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 10am, organic wholegrain cheerios with good unhomogenized milk, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 1pm, watermelon, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5 


LINNER: 4:30pm, shrimp peanut curry with sticky rice, chicken satay, shrimp summer rolls, 1 beer, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 7pm, small bowl of granola, quart of water, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 9pm, large piece of friendship bread, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Desiring sweets, found this in the back of the fridge. Sweets once a week?! I don't know if that's a realistic goal. Maybe stay in the yellow for three times a week? Three is sure less than 8+...

Blueberry syrup stains like a mofo

An odd eating day. B went out in the morning to have some time to herself, and my eating just went sideways. Right before our monthly cleaning guy arrived, I decided to quickly make a mess and churn some ice cream. After packing it, I had a good few spoonfuls left that didn't need to go to waste so I acted as human garbage can.

Once Edles woke up, I needed to get out of there and we biked over to veg dim sum. I ordered 4 dishes, but left over about 1/2 of 2 of them -- I just wasn't hungry. In the afternoon, thirsty and desiring something sweet, I mixed my new blueberry syrup with carbonated water and was surprised how authentically soda-like it was. The lime gave it the acidy kick, the blueberry juice gave a nice purplish foam.

By dinner time, I was thinking of ordering something in, but realized I've been ordering in every night this past week. Not good. I ate some green salad and felt full, but not satisfied. Due to an unscheduled nap, I was up until all hours but restrained myself to (mostly) healthful snacks.


AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea


AM SNACK: 10am, cookies n' cream ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: noon, vegetarian dim sum including mashed taro treasure boxes, mixed gluten, fried wontons and lotus lead sticky rice, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 3pm, glass of blueberry soda, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5


PM SNACK 5:30pm, cookies n' cream ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6:30pm, large green salad, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, multigrain tortilla chips with salsa, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, multrigrain bread with hummus, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Cookin' with Edles

Edie napped through swim class, but when she woke, we hopped on the bike and made a full hour of a playdate drop in at the local community center. We ran a few chores, then in for the day on this hot day. I chopped green salad, made a chickpea dish for B (haven't toasted spices like this since c-school), cooked down some blueberry syrup with some intense blueberries from last week, then made a simple Cream Anglais custard to make cookies n' cream ice cream tomorrow with.

Funny, I feel like I've been lazy on the cooking -- lunch was a leftover, salad and a few ears of boiled corn, and dinner was ordered in. Yet, I did a lot of cookin'.  And Edie entertained herself in her high chair, and then at my feet. I can't wait until she wants to participate. Oh, the cooking we'll do!

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, wholewheat pancake, iced green tea, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 1pm, wonton soup, 2 ears corn, large green salad, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 4pm, multigrain tortilla chips & salsa, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6:30pm, chirashi sushi, gyoza, shumai, seaweed salad, oreo-style cookies, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Ride in the Heat

I woke up feeling rested and well. C the Nanny came at 9, and I got out by 9:30. Starting next week, I'll be working a third day on Wednesday, but today...I rode.

I had to get out despite the heat. I went to Nyack and back, though my original plan was for an additional 20 miles. Due to 100 degree temps, I rode slow, stopped frequently for water and snacks, and generally just enjoyed the scenery and my head space. I got home around 6 and felt very out of it -- probably dehydration, despite going through a 70 oz bladder of water...3 times!

Picked myself up and went food shopping, didn't feel like moving but if I put it off, tomorrow would be very difficult with the other things I hope to get done...

BREAKFAST: 9am, banana, iced green tea, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: noon, pumpernickel bagel with butter and veg, Gatorade, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 2:30pm, chocolate muffin, Gatorade, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6:30pm, pork & broccoli with fried rice, egg roll, shrimp toast, water, bad vanilla ice cream, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5

Workworkworkwork pt 2

After Monday's holiday crush, most of the day at the restaurant was quiet and relaxed, interupted by the need to look after a few newbie staffers. The 100+ degree heat outside made the restaurant extra pleasant to be in (chillers on full blast at 70) and in the evening, all those not wanting to cook in the heat came out, and ordered delivery.

In the past month, I've been having issues getting to sleep after work. After the buzz of getting into the final homestretch, rushing to close up while still being accurate on a handful of things (accounting for the money, supervising the front of house, supervising the back of house, monitoring the last customers, etc etc) and getting home, the last thing my body wants to do is sleep. It wants to jump up and down and holler.

When I was kitchen manager, before Edie came into our lives, I remember with fondness going for bike rides with fellow employees after work. You start out around 11pm, do a loop around Manhattan, catch dinner at Veselka at 4:30am, go home and collapse. All is right. But with a baby (and a wifey who is crabby if she feels she is not getting the support she deserves with said baby), it's not really an option on a regular basis anymore. My lack of sleep and wired-ness has been really messing with the rest of the week. By the time my sleep is back to normal, it's time to do the two-a-week again. And this coming week it'll now be 3-a-week. Though I intended only to go back to work part time, this is now going to be 40 hours a week smooshed into 3 days.

The NY Times dining section ran an interesting article on the influence of chef culture on some of the more out-there casual food offering a few months ago. It got me thinking. Alcohol messes with my sleep. I've taken sleeping-drugs, usually when I'm sick, and while they work, usually the next night I'm sleepless. Now "herb", there is something. Weed has never made me fall asleep, but what if I was already tired?

Before 35, I was able to count the number of times I had been under the influence of "the other tobacco" on three fingers. I don't smoke anything, and the whole hippy culture is a huge turn off. In recent years, experiments in the kitchen have yielded some interesting results. Because I rarely indulge, I have a bit of a collection of 'special' baked goods in the freezer. As with anyone wary of "drugs", I had only indulged with people, pre-planned, to help make fun things more fun. Basically, the same way alcohol is treated.

But this is different than alcohol, as any legalization advocate will tell you. I decided to eat a piece of special shortbread (very mild) at the end of my shift and try to get to bed before 4am. Ate it at 11, got home around 12, helped B with a minor Edie poop-emergency involving changing sheets, ate a little dinner and was in bed asleep by 12:15.

I was woken around 7:30 by the ladies of the house up and about, and I felt...fine. Not under the influence. Clearheaded, well slept, ready. I was not going to even mention it on these pages if it didn't go well, but I think this experiment is worth replicating. It has the potential to greatly improve the quality of my life while working these hours.

BREAKFAST: 7am, toasted wholewheat bagel with creamcheese and sable, iced green tea, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 1pm, spinach salad, meatballs, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 5pm, seafood pizza, soda, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, special shortbread


EVENING MEAL: 12 midnight, 2 hamburgers, fries, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
No comment.

Workworkworkwork

Restaurant was extremely busy on this Monday of a three day holiday weekend. I'd like to think because of my amazing managerial skills and fortitude that everything went without a hitch, but I lucked out with some top-rank coworkers who really showed me how it's done.

It was a 13 hour day that kind of passed by in a blink, featuring an appearance by B & Edie & Yomomma. Food was eaten here and there. I suspect tomorrow will be a different thing.

BREAKFAST: 7am, iced green tea, 1 wholewheat cinnamon pancake, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


WORK DAZE: 11am-11pm, 3 or so slices of pizza, 2 or 3 sodas, 1 beer, a couple snippets of bread, 1 bowl, hunger ?/5


EVENING WATERING: 1am, a quart

July 4

On this July 4th Sunday, the original plan was to get out of the house around 4am on bike, but I didn't feel right when I woke, and due to the extreme heat I stayed in doors and on the couch. Extreme lazy eating. 

BREAKFAST: 5am, iced green tea, organic whole grain cheerios with organic dead milk, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: noon, Stouffer's French Bread pizzas, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 5pm, ice cream & cookies, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

Uneven eating day

BREAKFAST: 8am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Forgot to add yogurt, so it came out too sweet and too thin.


AM SNACK: 11am, 2 donuts, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


AM SNACK: 11:45am, bite of a lobster roll


PM SNACK: 1:30pm, tortilla chips and salsa, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 4pm, chocolate ice cream street cone, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 7pm, chicken enchiladas with ranchero mole, chips and guac, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Ordered from a local Mexican place with surprisingly good moles. Need to order around the menu more.

Pancakes of My Father

A pleasant day on the bike with Edles -- in the morning running chores and visiting the HVS for a nice lunch, in the afternoon riding the new East River Park promenade and hitting the swings and slides with B.

AM SNACK: 7:15am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9:30am, wholewheat banana pancakes, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
I made these from scratch, using about 2/3 whole wheat flour and 1/3 AP. Wish I had buttermilk on hand to kick it up a notch. Edie ate a few little bites of pancake, she seemed to really dig it.

My dad would make pancakes for me and my brother when we were kids, usually on a weekend, usually as my mom stayed in bed (she wouldn't sleep in -- she would lay in bed in her housecoat and smoke cigarettes while watching TV.) The pancakes were from a mix, usually involving having to add oil, milk and eggs. Which is nuts, really -- basically you add all the wet ingredients that you have to mix in a from-scratch effort, while the dry elements are pre-mixed for you, only with lots of chemicals like anti-caking agents, preservatives, artificial flavors (to get that "butter" taste), and so on. I really wish my dad was around to see me feed Edie a little bit of good pancake. Not to compete, or to even show him something, just so he would know that I'm building on the platform that he set for me.

Maybe I need to get a TV in the bedroom, and get Betsy smoking?

SNICKLELUNCH: 1:15pm, vegan Cesar salad, vegan raw falafel & tabouli, vegan raw mint sundae, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6:30pm, Singapore chow mei fun, wonton soup, shrimp toast, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Restart

230.6 ---> 227.4

In the morning's weigh-in, I'm about three pounds lighter than last month, which is statistically insignificant -- that could be attributed to water weight, how full my lower digestive system is, etc etc. But to be honest, I do feel good, and I attribute it to two things:

My biking season is now pretty much in full season. I did two centuries last month, and they both went well, and I'm going to hopefully do a few in July. The other thing is I'm working two days a week, and I think just psychologically it's doing me good. Despite that it's essentially long grueling hours, kinda dirty (I smell like oregano when I come home) and certainly not what I want to do with the rest of my life, it IS good experience, a stepping stone, I feel useful, it is a large responsibility being the manager of a restaurant, it's probably only for the busy season, it gets me out of the house, Edie is learning to be flexible. And I'm going to start 3 days a week in a few weeks.

I still need to work out how to eat better while at work. I've fallen off the train a little bit, but I'm rededicating myself today to try to cut out sugar & alcohol more than one a week, and amp up the whole grains, fruit and other wholesome foods.

BREAKFAST: 9:15am, toasted bagel with cream cheese and sable, iced green tea, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
The bagel was just onion, but the new bagels from yesterday's shop are whole wheat. This latest batch of tea is a bit weak, but I got the sweetness right -- 3/4 cup of sugar to a gallon, rather than a full cup.


LUNCH: 1:30pm, large green salad, 1 crab cake, watermelon, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
A left over crab cake from yesterday, whose main ingredient other than good quality crab was whole wheat bread crumbs.

DINNER: 6:15pm, shrimp in yellow curry with sticky rice, chicken sate, chive dumpling, vegetable summer roll, water, chocolate babka, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Ordered in Thai with B & Yomomma.

Happy Day

Happy day with my baby! After her nap, we hauled off to Wholefoods on a new bus route that goes straight there (I'm lucky that I'm in one of the few neighborhoods that actually gained a route from the recent MTA cuts.)

Er came over and I made a nice lunch, depending more on skill confidence than a recipe -- and it came out pretty good, which was particularly satisfying.

What is NOT satisfying is the babka I bought to serve to Er was pretty much uncontrollably devoured by my wife in the evening. Are these the habits we're going to demonstrate to Edie? Not eat enough during the day to satisfy our energy needs then gorge on crappy quality calories in the evening? Boooo!

BREAKFAST: 8am, iced green tea, whole grain cheerios with organic dead milk, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2:15pm, 2 crab cake sandwiches, stirfried sugarsnap peas, chocolate babka, 1 beer, water, 1.75 bowl, hunger 4/5
I don't know if I ever did a crabcake in c-school, but the idea and method is pretty straightforward. 8oz of good jumbo lump crab, 4 eggs, a bunch of wholewheat panko crumbs, a dollop of mayo, a handful of minced onion and celery, mustard powder, Old Bay seasoning and a few drops of tabasco. Mixed up, set in the fridge for about 30 minutes to come together, pan fried in peanut oil. Really tasty, and have ideas how it can be better next time.

PM SNACK: 6pm, "small" cherry icee, 1.5 bowl, hunger 3/5
At the movies with E&D, got a small drink, ended up being about a quart. During the previews there was an ad for a new show called "Huge" about fat people at a fat camp. Too many movie theater snacks, no doubt.

Workin' It

A shift at the restaurant screams by when it's busy, and it feels 3x longer when it's slow: today's 13 hour haul was earth-shatteringly grindingly oppressive.Not that I'm complaining -- gazing at pics and little video clips of Edie being smiley and wonderful really made the day tolerable. So THAT'S why we have babies. I think the only thing more entertaining would be to have little video snippets of all my friends as babies. These are things we think about when working the long haul.

BREAKFAST: 8am, iced green tea, good yogurt with almonds, honey and vanilla, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: noon, skillet mess, Manhattan Special, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Into the caste iron skillet went fennel sausage, roasted potatoes, mushrooms, onions, peppers, a little bacon, minced olives & garlic, and mushed all about. Filling, and not pizza.

PM SNACK: 4pm, 3 small Sicilian slices, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

POST WORK MEAL: midnight, two small burgers, fries, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
No comment.

All together reasonable

Woke up after a total of 16 hours sleep, felt pretty good. Went out with B&E to the local cafe for breakfast, stopping by the gourmet donut shop for a snack. Entertained in the late afternoon -- when couples with young babies get together, 4:30 is an all together reasonable dinner time!

Two really heavy meals, no need for a third.

AM SNACK: 2am, half a pint of ice cream, brown rice crispies with organic dead milk, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


BREAKFAST: 8:30am, blueberry pancakes, home fries, bacon, water, donut, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LINNER: 4:30pm, watermelon-feta salad, cheese & vegetable ravioli in a pistachio-lemon cream sauce, mint-chocolate ganache ice cream, 1 glass of white wine, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Went all out to entertain a local couple with a baby, one of which I've worked with on the Food Coop and have hung out with plenty. I used this recipe for the watermelon, and was very happy how it came out. I made a pesto with basil, freshly roasted pistachios, lemon zest, walnut oil and asagio cheese, but I did not like it, so I added cream and more zest, and with salt it was the right balance of nutty/creamy/cheesy/zesty. A heavy but summery sauce.

Water downed

The mega sleep I got this weekend left me all perky and go-go-go for the restaurant today. Edie was a bit cry-y this morning, a whiney cry that is not too common -- I suspect it's teething.

During the day, I made sure to down 2 or three pints of water. Too much access to sugardrinks!

BREAKFAST: 8am, iced green tea, organic cheerios with organic dead milk, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
We now feed Edie cow's milk, so I always have full-pasteurized organic milk on hand. I'd feed her the unhomogenized stuff, but if it sits in her bottle, it separates too fast. I'm afraid she'd drink the cream then reject the skim!

PM SNACK: noon, 2 slices cheeseless seafood pizza, Manhattan Special, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 2:30pm, half portion of meatballs, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5pm, green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 6pm, 2 slices Sicilian pizza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 7:30pm, fried pepperoni tortilla, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
The South American fellows in the kitchen cook these up, they bring in tortillas then use toppings out of the pizza bar to fill them, then pan fry them in caste iron in the pizza oven. Tasty, but greezy.

Munchy

Set out to Coney Island with D, and we tested some 'special' shortbread I made a few days ago. By the time we got to Sheepshead Bay for lunch, we were munchy and happy. Then we road the Cyclone roller coaster, rode back to Prospect Park and lazed about the lake for  while, then I went home. I showered, ate some ice cream, then fell asleep around 4pm...woke up at 1:30am for a snack, back down around 3 and up at 8....about 16 hours of sleep. Never quite caught up after the early week restaurant...

BREAKFAST: 8am, iced green tea, multigrain tortilla chips with salsa, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


AM SNACK: 10am, special shortbread


LUNCH: 11:30am, oysters, shrimp over pasta, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 3pm, half a pint of ice cream

Family Friends

A couple, friends of my parents, came over. My mom met them when I was going to preschool with their sons, and they were characters in their lives for pretty much the rest of their lives, from me and their sons going to each others birthdays and playdates, summering together, up until my dad retired and visiting them where they moved in Michigan. They were in town visiting their son, who moved to Brooklyn.

It was nice seeing them, having Betsy here some stories about my parents and me as a kid. It wasn't depressing at all, it was like my parents were going to arrive any minute, they were walking from their apartment a few blocks away, and I just had to entertain until they got there.


AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 10:30am, ricotta pancakes with banana, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 12:45pm, bottle of gatorade


PM SNACK: 3:30pm, ear of grilled corn


DINNER: 5:45pm, assorted slices of homemade pizza, a little fruit salad, scoop of homemade mint chocolate ganache ice cream, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Healthy-ish

A nice day with the Edles. We road the bike to Madison Square Park to hand with some parental friends at a music event, then met El for lunch in the hood. We did some chores via bike then home. Got laundry done, B came home and I went out food shopping. I was hungry, and it's bad to do food shopping hungry, so I indulged in some healthy-ish fast food at Subway.


BREAKFAST: 8am, iced green tea, multigrain tortilla chips with salsa, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 12:30pm, grilled octopus, chickpea fritters, pasta with lemon pistachio pesto, chocolate gelato, bread, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, foot long veggie burger sub, potato chips, soda, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Special short bread

Mellow day of unwinding after two 13 hour shifts. Took Edie out to swim class in the morning, then T came over and we made summer rolls together. We also made special shortbread, with green food dye to mark it as special, though I'll be waiting for the right occasion to indulge.

B was out late at her book club, and I was lazy and ordered an old vegetarian standby from my less-meaty days. Edie was happy and hungry, and pretty much conked out after burning brightly for a few hours.

BREAKFAST: 7am, iced green tea, organic wholegrain chex with dead milk, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH 1: 11am, sardine & avocado on wholewheat bread, 2 pickles, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH 2: 4pm, shrimp summer rolls with lime-nam pla dipping sauce, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH 3: 6pm, more shrimp summer rolls, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 8:30pm, large salad, eggplant parm hero, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Workworkworkwork pt 2

The 'rant was deadly slow today, which is much harder to deal with than a fast restaurant. A little bit like a counselor at summer camp on a rainy day, I had to work to find stuff to keep the staff occupied, mostly cleaning, sidework, extended lunch breaks and a little bit of looking the other way, but keeping conscious of no lines being crossed.

Started having the guys make off-menu stuff for me, not the healthiest (yet) but it's evolving.

BREAKFAST: 7am, iced green tea, toasted bagel with cream cheese, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: noon, potatoes, sausage & vegetables, Manhattan Special.75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 4pm, shrimp & clam cheeseless pizza, 1.5 meatballs, sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 7pm, chocolate ice cream, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 11:30pm, watermelon, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Workworkworkwork

We've extended the hours at the 'rant, so now it's 13 hour shifts. Quite busy for a Monday, fell pretty easily into the haze -- key to making the time fly. I made a point of drinking three pints of water toward the end, which I credit to curbing my desire for Chinese food in the evening.


BREAKFAST: 7:30am, iced green tea, fistful of almonds, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


RESTAURANT HAZE: 12-11:30pm, meatballs, slices of pizza, small glass of beer, a couple of sodas, a few pints of water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 12:30am, whole grain tortilla chips and salsa, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 2am, watermelon, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Poppa's Day

A mellow father's day. Woke up after a refreshing 9 hours, ran out and did a food shop. C & T and baby Autumn came over for lunch and hanging out. B & Edles & I did a mini bike ride in the hood ending in swings with neighborhood friends. Food delivery and TV before sleep. Tomorrow we start fresh.

BREAKFAST: 8am, iced green tea, organic chex with good milk, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 2pm, vegetable sticks with a little hummus, homemade pizza, a little ice cream, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 7pm, sushi & shashimi, tempura, shumai, green salad, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Montaukin'

A day on the bike, 100 miles from Babylon to Montauk, an organized ride with 1000 others. Rest stops had food, which I ate from. A lot of carbs and refined sugar, but it got me through. I wonder if I would of moved faster if I stuck with more complex carbs and less simple. Something to experiment next time. But that pie was heavenly. I would of wolfed a third slice, if they didn't run out of apple pie!

Got home quite blown out, but found the energy to whip up some Pasta a la Norbert.


AM SNACK: 3:15am, iced green tea

BIKE SNACK: 4:15am, banana, 2 pieces pound cake, 1 slice wholewheat bread with nutella

BIKE SNACK: 6:30am, 2 pieces pound cake

BIKE SNACK: 8am, Gatorade, a few bites of chocolate


BIKE LUNCH: 10am, watermelon, hummus in wholewheat pita, a few bites of chocolate

BIKE SNACK: noon, 2 slices apple pie, graham crackers with PB&J, Gatorade, bites of chocolate

BIKE SNACK: 2:30pm, burger, pasta, coconut water, water, a few bites of chocolate


DINNER: 8pm, homemade pasta with wine & butter sauce, leftover wonton soup, big bowl of cherries, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5

Ediemorning

Woke up early to get ready for tomorrow's Montauk Century. Let B sleep in, took Edie out for a 5:30am walk, the local diner was still closed so we went to the local playground, we were the only peeps there. Serious quality time -- me & Edie were the only people alive on the Lower East Side! Me and Edie vs. the world!!

Looking back at what I ate today, oy. Next week got to refocus on the color system, and perhaps a big ol' salad.

AM SNACK: 3:15am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 6:15am, BLT on rye, homefries, diet coke, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Took Edie out to the greasy spoon around the corner, where I used to go with my parents in later years. I had a diet coke in their honor, with a slice of lemon just like my dad liked. I try not to go on and on about it in this blog, but I miss them every day, though in a happier way, wishing they could see all the neat stuff Edie does and is becoming. Edie was a little resistant to the bottle of milk and wedges of cheese I brought down for her, but she gobbled up the greasy homefries from my fingers like it was the best thing since sliced bread. Ridiculously cute! OH, if only my parents could see!

LUNCH: 2:30pm, half a pork sandwich, fries, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Out in the West Village via bikes with my family. Heavenly, except for the mediocre sandwich. Travelling by 2 wheels as a family unit brings another layer of depth my my cycling career. Doesn't hurt that B just got a proper bicycle.

DINNER: 6pm, shrimp and broccoli with pork fried rice, egg roll, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Usually wait until AFTER a big ride to eat like this, but was feeling it.

Day of the Shortbread

The shortbread I made yesterday kept on jumping down my throat, bad shortbread!! Good thing it's all gone now, except for a dozen pieces set aside to compete in a bake-off in B's office. Good shortbread!

Took Edie to a play group at the local community center in the morning, we road the bike over the Manhattan Bridge and visted the resto in the afternoon. A short nap made the afternoon a bit cranky and we had to skip E's bday party, hopefully she'll appreciate that my daughter's safety and comfort kinda comes before all else...

BREAKFAST: 7am, iced green tea, organic wholegrain cheerios with the good unhomogenized milk, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


AM SNACK: 8:45am, piece of chocolate coated shortbread


LUNCH: 11:30am, rice noodles with curry sauce and fishballs, 2 lotus leaf wraps with pork, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 1:30pm, piece of chocolate coated shortbread

DINNER: 6:30pm, beef taquitos, shrimp burrito, 3 pieces chocolate coated shortbread, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5
Ordered in from a local Mexican place I've passed many times but never actually ate from. I heard from peeps that it's good, and indeed it was better than the more gringo-friendly places I've had, though I think I ordered wrong, like a gringo. I think I need to explore their menu a bit, get out of the gringo comfort zone...

Raviolios

The nanny may not of fed Edie enough yesterday, as she woke up hollering only an hour after I finally got to bed. It's not the nanny's fault, it just seems Edie becomes more resistant to food when fed by other people. Woke up again at 7, felt tired but energized by the last 2 days. E came over to cook, we knocked out some short bread and raviolis. I used bok choi from my CSA share to turn the dough green, and made a filling of sauteed kale & garlic scapes from the CSA, as well as onion, ricotta and parm, with nutmeg, paprika and cayenne and salt.

When B came home, she was hungry so I whipped up some raviolis for us. I made myself a dish of 10 pieces, and felt very unsatisfied after eating, so ate another ten. Then a heavy (albeit homemade) dessert after.


BREAKFAST: 7:30am, iced green tea, bagel with cream cheese and sable, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 1pm, sardine & avocado on wholewheat multigrain bread, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6:15pm, freshly made homemade cheese & chard ravioli in oil and grated cheese, 2 pieces of freshly baked shortbread and triple chocolate ice cream, 1.75 bowl, hunger 4/5

Wooooork

Long day at the 'rant.

AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 8:30am, good yogurt with honey, vanilla and almonds, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11:30am, handful of bacon
When freshly cooked bacon comes out of the oven, it's hard not t o test it to make sure it's, you know, suitable for consumption.

PM SNACK: 12:30pm, vanilla soda, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 4pm, spinach lasagna, cranberry lime soda, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
The lasagna at the restaurant was sitting around too long, so we served it to the staff. Not particularly good, but filling.

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, Manhattan Special, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5


EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, ginger ale

Contemplating work meals

Busy enough at the restaurant to get into a haze, but not busy enough to be stressful. Being I don't get breaks, maybe I should either bring food or prepare my own food while there? This may evolve over the summer, I predict. The restaurant only has a 550 degree oven to cook in, may have work around that...

BREAKFAST: 8am, organic whole grain chex with industrial milk, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


RESTAURANT HAZE: 11am-10pm, including 4 pieces of pizza, a few spoonfuls of potatoes, 1 Manhattan Special, 1 sprite, a green salad, some water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 11pm, beef lomein, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Starving by the time I got home. Fortunately, I didn't get to bed until 1am, which means my digestive system was almost done with this by the time I went down.

My girls like to party all the time

I pooped out around 8:30pm yesterday, due to the 3:30am wake up and the bike ride, then the task of hand rolling over 150 summerrolls. I woke up around 8, definitely got enough sleep. I mixed three gallons of Arnold Palmers (half mint green tea, half lemon aide, then spiked each gallon with 2 cups of simple syrup, 1.5 cups of limoncello and 1 cup of gin -- surprisingly delicious!)

After going out for a few bags of ice, it was all action -- setting up in the park behind our building, then greeting our guests. We had positive RSVPS for about 60 adults and 20 babies, and maybe 3/4 showed up, which was still a lot of people. Weather reports shouted rain, but like on our wedding, lucked out with perfect weather -- sun with clouds, high 70s, and no rain for the time everyone was congregating. I thought I might of made too much food, but all 3 gallons of cocktails went, only 1 dinky avocado summer roll remained, and the triple chocolate ice cream I made was vanquished.

The party started at 12, and was full on by 12:30. It started to wind down around 2, and packed up and went indoors around 3, just as the clouds seem to gather. All in all, a wonderful and perfect party. It would of been better if the HVS was there (the avocado rolls and peanut dipping sauce was vegan), but I guess perfection will have to wait.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese and sable, 1 bowl


PARTY EATS: 11:30am-3pm, a few cups of Arnold Palmers, summer rolls, a couple of cupcakes, a few chocolate chip cookies, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6pm, shrimp curry with rice, samosa, naan, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Early Ride

Rode early, so I could have a good part of the day to prep for Edie's party. Unfortunately, the bike had technical issues and got home early.


BREAKFAST: 4am, cake, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


BIKE SNACK: 7am, gatorade, shrimp chips


BIKE SNACK: 8:30am, watermelon


LUNCH: 1pm, burger, fries, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 3-4pm, a few summer rolls


DINNER: 6pm, large green salad, cupcake, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Surprise surprise

Errands during the day, hosting a surprise party for Betsy in the evening.

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


LUNCH: 11:15am, kipper & avocado and oatmeal bread, large green salad, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, cubes of cheddar, a few crackers, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6:30pm, bass with potato, pork ribs, 1 beer, 1 slice of cake, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Happy Birthday, Edie!

It was a year ago today that Edie was born. What a year! She's PERFECT!! I never would of thought a baby would just be so mackin'-ass cool, but she is. Started the day with a birthday cupcake, pulled back with a smoothie, went out to midtown to visit L and had mediocre Indian food, then lost it again with some left-over ice cream from a birthday last week. Finished the day with some comfort, and watching TV with B. A good day.


AM SNACK 1: 6:45am, chocolate cupcake


AM SNACK 2: 8am, iced mint green tea


BREAKFAST: 10am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Banana, grapes, mango, blueberries, cherries, acai juice, the good yogurt, vanilla, salt, ground flax.

LUNCH: 12:45pm, chicken tikka masala, saag paneer, rice, naan, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 5:30pm, chocolate-mess ice cream, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 10pm, Stouffers Frenchbread pizzas, small green salad, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Cooking & Catching Up

Spent the morning at the supermarket with Edie, then MAP came over and we made summerrolls together. Once she left, I made a couple dozen chocolate cupcakes, substituting milk for cream. They came out very tender and moist, much better than I thought they would. I made a simple buttercream frosting, which also came out really well, and before I knew it, I had three cupcakes for dinner instead of the salad I made in the morning.

I put myself to bed around 9, finally catching up on the sleep I missed the past two nights.

AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced mint green tea


BREAKFAST: 10am, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese and smoked sable, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 1pm, shrimp summerrolls with lime fishsauce dipping sauce, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 4pm, 4 more summer rolls, .5 bowl

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, 3 chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

Workworkworkwork pt 2

Slower day at the restaurant, though I was a bit tired through out. As the head person at the job, I don't get a break, so am limited to what is available to eat in the restaurant,. For lunch I had a cook make me a pizza off the menu, which if up to me would be on the menu: from the bottom, crust, olive oil, chopped clams and garlic, pecorino romano, shrimp, oregano. Pretty good.

BREAKFAST: 7am, mint green iced tea, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


AM SNACK: 11:30am,  Manhattan Special, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 3pm, 2 slices cheeseless seafood pizza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 10pm, 3 slices square pizza, soda, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Workworkworkwork

We thought the first official Monday of the restaurant would be a bit sleepy, but between a lot of business and being a little understaffed, I found myself "managing", which really means "serving-bussing-hosting-bartending-cashiering-etc" in a situation like that. A lot of fun, but didn't have time to really eat.  Tomorrow the 2nd half of my work week.

BREAKFAST: 8am, iced mint green tea, organic cheerios with organic dead milk, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


WORK HAZE: 10:30am-11:30pm, 2 slices of pizza, 1 soda, 1 Manhattan Special, 1 beer, 1 big beer, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4.5

Ride Day

Rode the bike 85 miles, to Seaside Heights, NJ, via a ferry that dropped me off in Sandy Hook. Hot & humid, no rain. The lunch options were limited, as Seaside Heights is a low-rent amusement boardwalk kind of town.


BREAKFAST: 7am, whole wheat waffle. mint iced green tea, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


BIKE SNACK: 10am, Entemann's apple pie, corn chips, Gatorade, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 1:30pm, meatball hero, diet coke. 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


BIKE SNACK: 5:15pm, cliff bar


BIKE SNACK: 6pm, 2 small bags of potato chips

DINNER: 9pm, shrimp fried rice, shrimp toast, bbq spareribs, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Sippin' on Syrup

Spent the morning making obscene chocolate ice cream -- ice cream spiked with espresso, then mixed in chunks of fresh brownies, ganache and a stripe of chocolate syrup. The three of us biked over to Tompkins Square Park, for the birthday party of a friend's 1 yr old, then spent the rest of the day trying to relax at home.

AM SNACK: 9-11pm, bits of chocolate brownie, chocolate ganache, chocolate ice cream, chocolate syrup


LUNCH: 12:30, 3 slices of pizza, water


PM SNACK: 3:30pm, iced mint green tea


DINNER: 7:30pm, sushi, tempura, shumai, water, glass of chocolate milk, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Chocolate syrup is super easy to make, just make simple syrup, then add 50% cocoa, a tablespoon of corn syrup, a teaspoon of vanilla and a pinch of salt. Whisk and bottle. Much better than chemical-tasting bottled stuff.

A lot

I ate a lot today, and I suspect part of it is due to my poor sleep patterns this past week. I have to focus on that this week. That, and knocking some more red out.


AM SNACK: 8am, iced mint green tea


BREAKFAST: 8:30am, brown rice cereal with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


AM SNACK: 9:30am, 2 donuts, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 12:30pm, 12 oz of grape apple juice


LUNCH: 2pm, sardines & avocado on oatmeal wholewheat bread, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 7pm, California rolls & kimchi pancakes, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 7:45pm, popcorn & sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 10:30pm, katsu curry rice, 1 beer, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

I forgot breakfast, bad me!

A tired day, but wonderful because Edie was strapped to me for a lot of it. Visited the South Bronx food coop, did a bunch of chores in the neighborhood, and went out for some deeply mediocre pizza on the UES with a friend in the evening. Got laundry done just before passing out.

AM SNACK: 6:30am, iced mint green tea
This latest batch of tea is using actual mint-green tea bags, which has dried mint leaves IN the  leaf mix. VERY minty. Not sure if I like it or not yet. And makes me think I should try brewing with fresh mint leaves instead of making mint simple syrup...



LUNCH: 11:45pm, street falafel, grape soda, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
The South Bronx has some pretty horrible food options. I got this from a large food truck, and it was surprisingly bad.



PM SNACK: 4:30pm, large piece of watermelon

PM SNACK: 6pm, large green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 7:30pm, multigrain tortilla chips & salsa, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 9:15pm, pizza, 1 beer, shrimp scampi, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Ooo! I'm a parent!

Not enough sleep last night after winding down from the restaurant, but Edie is a good motivation to cut through the haze. Got a lot done in the morning, picked up a late CSA package of veg, prepped for class, fed Edie and got her down, fixed a flat on the commuter bike, dealt with a little food coop issue. Was planning to lift some weights, but I closed my eyes for a minute while Edie z'd and all of a sudden an hour was gone -- my first "ooo I'm a working parent!" moment.

Last class of the semester with the kids, rocked out a good meal for about 25 mouths, went really well, good vibes. Not the healthiest food by my standards, but certainly healthier by theirs.


BREAKFAST: 8:45pm, iced mint green tea, organic wholegrain cheerios with banana, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11:30am, small block of dark chocolate


PM NIBBLES: 2pm-6pm, bits of tastes of everything leading up to dinner


DINNER: 6:15pm, sausage lasagna, lemon string beans, shrimp pesto & sausage marinara and 3 cheese pizzettes, banana pudding cup, triple chocolate mousse cake, sweet tea, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 45


EVENING SNORT: 8pm, small cup of beer

Weigh-in

After getting to bed around 12, I woke at 4 and could not get back to sleep -- running myself ragged for about 12 hours at the restaurant was a charge, but it's also like a natural caffeine. I imagine I'll crash tonight after I get home.

I weighed in at 230.6, about a pound heavier than last month. Surprised, but not disappointed. I FEEL stronger, people say I look thinner, my weight training is increasing, my clothes fit a little looser -- I assume I've lost some fat, but gained some denser muscle.

Today was hard, under slept and in a slow restaurant. More sweets went down than I would of liked, but needed it to keep some sharpness.

BREAKFAST 1: 5am, large glass of iced mint green tea, whole wheat waffle

BREAKFAST 2: 8:15am, quinoa & chickpea salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2pm, pizza, Manhattan Special, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5pm, cranberry lime soda


DINNER: 7pm, green salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 11pm, slice of friendship bread, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Haze

At the restaurant on Memorial Day, we were slammed and I was helping behind the bar. No time to eat or even think about eating. My monthly weigh-in is tomorrow, this may skew it a little...


AM SNACK: 8am, iced mint green tea


BREAKFAST: 8:30am, organic whole grain cheerios with organic dead milk, banana, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

RESTAURANT HAZE: 10:30-10:30, including small wedge of pizza, small serving of pasta, ear of corn, 1 soda, water, apple juice, ? bowl, ? hunger

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, small shrimp fried rice, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Family Day

Carred it up to Peekskill to visit my parents, hang out with my brother and his many many offspring and have a hike to a reservoir. Home by 5:30, a calm evening prepping for class on Wednesday and other chores.

AM SNACK: 8am, mint iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, latkes, pork sausage, blueberry cinnamon muffins, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 12:30, half a turkey sandwich, potato chips, chocolate chip cookies, seltzer, 1 bowl, hunger 45
From the local grocery store. The turkey just tasted industrial, tossed the other half into the woods.

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, Earth mother pizza, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Whole wheat crust, no cheese, a pile of vegetables and greens.

DINNER: 8:15pm, pad thai, shrimp rolls, big green salad, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Poughkeepsie

A simple day. Woke up at 3:45am. Got on the bike at 5am. Got to Bear Mountain around 10am, Cold Spring around noon, and Poughkeepsie at 2:30.  Cold Spring welcomed me with a farmer's market, which seemed very active, but a) everyone there had arrived by car and b) other than tamales, there was just bread and vegetables to be purchased. So I had tamales, and they were wonderful.

Got home, felt blown out and happy, ate a whole mess of food, and was soon asleep.


AM SNACK: 4am, large glass of mint iced green tea


BIKE SNACK: 7:30am, caffeinated clif bar


BIKE SNACK: 9am, corn chips & Gatorade


BIKE SNACK: 10am, more corn chips


BIKE LUNCH: 12pm, 2 beef tamales, watermelon salsa, brownie, Gatorade


BIKE SNACK: 4pm, clif bar


DINNER: 6:30pm, large green salad, Chinese brick featuring shrimp with broccoli, pork fried rice, egg roll, steamed vegetable dumplings, chocolate ice cream, water, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5

Return of the Wafflizer

Woke up at 4, decided to stay up to assist in getting out of the house on the bike tomorrow morning. After about an hour of chilling in front of the TV, made salad, mango coleslaw, quinoa salad with chickpeas and caramelized onions and wholewheat waffles.

I only ate one waffle, so by the time me and the gals went out to meet people for lunch, I was so hungry I had to get some donuts at my local gourmet donut spot.  Dinner was made up of some left over meat from class that would of been a shame to go to waste, on hearty bread with some of the morning's quinoa. balanced with some home made ice cream. Green n' red!

AM SNACK: 4am, iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, wholewheat waffle, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 10:45am, 2 donuts, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 11:15, pizza, asparagus, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 5:30pm, large green salad, steak sandwich on whole wheat oatmeal bread, quinoa salad, chocolate ice cream, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Around

Good day. Went to a playdate drop in for older babies and youngest kids with Edie, and she just loved it. Hung out with Y in Brooklyn, and got laundry and food shopping done in the early afternoon and evening.

The leader of the playdate said that I look skinnier than the last time she saw me, about a month ago. Makes me look forward to the weigh-in coming this week...

AM SNACK: 8am, large iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 8:45am, good yogurt with honey, vanilla and mixed roasted nuts, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH pt 1: 11:30am, fishball & rice noodle, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Hungry after playdate drop in. On walk to East Broadway subway, picked this up at my Chinese cart. I meant to get the small but ordered the medium, and got a pint of food.

LUNCH pt 2: 1:45pm, chicken salad on croissant with greens, cup of chicken vegetable soup, small chocolate cupcake, lemonade, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, hotdog, fries, pickles, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
On the way to WF for a foodshop in the rain while B got Edles to sleep. Spur of the moment, not healthy, but flavorful and very NY. Lots of fat tourists.

Recharged

When I woke up at 8 after 6 hours of sleep, I thought I'd be drained but I soon felt pretty good -- yesterday at the restaurant was exhausting, but good & fun. The first week we were slammed and it was too busy and almost out of control, last week in rained and was deathly boring, but yesterday it was rolling busy, a few empty spots but mostly just challenging enough.

So when I woke up this morning, I fit in the second round of weights this week, then took Edie to the pool for some fun splashing about, then hung out with another neighborhood dad and his baby. Lunch, shower, yomomma came to take care of the Edles, then off to school to teach. Steak n' greens, a little sweets, not perfectly healthy but not bad.

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

AM SNACK: 9:15am, banana

BRUNCH: 11:15am, large green salad, French onion soup, half a bagel with cream cheese and home-cured salmon, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Beefy French Onion soup just gotta be green -- in the fridge, the soup turned to jelly without any fat on top -- meaning it's all good protein collagen, and no fat, saturated or otherwise. Plus the wholewheat croutes don't hurt. I gotta make another batch of beef stock, this is was just too good.

DINNER: 6pm, chimichurri flank steak and collard greens, a hunk of chocolate, a few spoonfuls of vanilla-rum pudding, a glass of lemonade, seltzer, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Pizza world

Spent the day at the restaurant. Gotta eat more before getting locked into pizza world...

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

BRUNCH: noon, 3 pieces of Sicilian pizza, Manhatan Special, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5pm, green salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8pm, 2 slices of pizza, small soda, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING WATERING: 11pm, quart of water

Fruity

This day flew by, odd for a day where I had "nothing" planned. MAP was supposed to come over to cook, but had to pull out due to work obligations. Between making a proper breakfast and lunch and dinner for 3, handling the Edles with feedings, naps and a walk-about, taking care of a few work-related things, there really was no down-time until after dinner.

Avoided alcohol & sweets today, though between the smoothie in the morning, cherries in the afternoon and watermelon in the evening, that definitely did something to cut my cravings.

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

BREAKFAST: 10:15am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Acai juice, Greek yogurt, banana, frozen mango, blueberry and cherries, freshly ground flax, pimch of salt, pinch of vanilla. Tart but good.

AM SNACK: 11:45am, one shrimp summer roll with peanut sauce
Testing. Sauce needs to be sweeter.

PM SNACK: 12:30pm, one vegetable summer toll with peanut sauce
Testing. Sauce is now sweet enough.

LUNCH: 1:15pm, French onion soup, large green salad, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
An epic home lunch. Caramelized onions last night while B watched Lawzt. Heated in pan, deglazed with a little red wine, through in the 2 cups of beef stock I made for Boof Borgeenon a month or so ago, simmered for an hour. Fried whole wheat oat bread in butter, laid gruyere on top when flipped. Salted soup. Cut croutes into triangles and topped. Goooood.

PM SNACK: 3:15pm, bowl of cherries, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Funny how cherries don't really taste anything like "cherry" flavoring. Maybe a distant relation, cousin three times removed.

SNICKLEDINNER: 5:45pm, shrimp summer rolls with mango coleslaw, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, mulitgrain cornchips with salsa, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Drunk single people love babies and beer in the afternoon.

Woke up pleasantly sore from yesterday's ride, in the upper thighs and lower abdomen, probably from climbing up part of Storm King. A cousin and his family came over, who I don't see often enough, and a 2nd cousin I never met before but we discovered each other on Facebook. I cured some fish, but went lazy and bought bagels, took the muffins outta the freezer and presented my ice tea like it was made for them. I was surprised how much they dug it, lots of compliments and suggestions of trying to market it.

This latest batch of ice cream came out much better, smooth and chocolaty though very much a "milk chocolate" flavor. The custard itself was frustratingly thick, like pudding, and getting aerated in the barrel was a bit difficult. When I make it again with mix-ins, it's gonna be some kitchen drama up in here!

Some residual hunger from yesterday. Between the emotional impact of seeing relatives from my side of my nuclear family to getting out for a walk with Edie into a bar for a beer with drunken friends (drunk single people LOVE babies in the afternoon), it was all a bit much. And the month is quickly coming to an end, gotta get back into the green starting tomorrow.

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

BREAKFAST: 10am, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese and home-cured salmon, pickle, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11am, about a scoop of homemade chocolate ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5

PM DRINK: 3:30pm, pint of beer

LUNCH: 4pm, slice of 'zen' pizza, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Though pizza is usually neutral or red, this vegan spelt-crust thing full of green tea-infused tofu and vegetables is designed to be in the green zone.

EVENING SNACK: 7:15pm, large slice of watermelon, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, breakfast sausage patties, mini latkes, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 11:30pm, handful of minimuffins, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5