Edie the Destroyer

Edie, Destroyer of Computers: As I was typing away on the couch this morning on the laptop, Edie stands herself up between my legs, reached to the top of the screen and yanks backwards with all her weight --- CRACK! The spin of the laptop snaps, the screen falls back and the colors go all blinky and crazy. An hour later at the computer repair shop and $700 lighter, the true cost of a baby becomes apparent... but she was so gosh darn cute while she was destroying!

Ate reasonably most of the day, lifted some weights, a friend with baby came over and I fried up the rest of the latkes. In the early evening I took off on bike to Coney. Before I left, I was getting hungry and craved sugar, flourless chocolate cake was taunting me but took a detour to grapes. By the time I got to Coney, I realized I was REALLY hungry, the kind of hunger that would make me bonk if I didn't eat something a bit heavier. So Nathan's beckoned with a hot dog, something I would eat (2x as much) casually just a year ago, now I considered it. Tastes great, well made despite being fast food. The signage has calorie counts -- the dog is about 300 calories. A large chili cheese fries is about 1900 calories. Weird. 

Hunger really let loose when I got home, went freezer fishing and ate three once-a-week items in combo, oy. Very satisfying, though.

AM SNACK: 6:30am, iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 8am, wholewheat buttermilk waffle, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 12:15pm, large green salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2pm, latkes with apple sauce, iced mint green tea, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 3:45pm, grapes, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK:6:15pm, hotdog, clif bar, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 8:30pm, hot unsweetened green tea

PM SNACK:9:45pm, smoothie pop

DINNER: 10pm, homemade beef chili over fresh pasta with cheddar, flourless chocolate cake, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Bourginon

I made (and ate) a complex dinner, with lots of help from my friend MAP, for 7 people, and while it was very rich food, two things saved me: I served very modest portions (a few people wanted seconds, which was nice), and I ate very lightly all day, which was easy because the food was quite laborious.

MAP came over around noon, and we immediately started on Julia Child's famous beef bourginon, which is basically just cheap beef cubes braised in stock and wine. We had to brown bacon lardons, cube some bottom round and brown it all in the bacon fat a few cubes at at time, then brown the veg, then bake it all in a coating of flour and seasoning to get some crust going, then cover it in wine and stock with herbs and aromatics, then bake it covered for 3 hours, while braising pearl onions separately, sauteing white mushrooms separately, and after the braise, separating the braising liquid, defatting, reducing, and tossing everything back together. While all that was happening, we dashed out latkes and apple sauce, a flourless chocolate cake, and most interestingly, mint linguine.

I never made mint linguine, but thought in terms of lamb with mint sauce -- the vegetal character of mint in a savory dish really sets off a heavy red meat, and there are few red meats heavier than braised stew meat. Using the same method as spinach pasta, I blended eggs with mint leaves until there were no more leaves, and incorporated it into AP flour as I always do. The final product was pleasingly minty in a laid-back way, and really sang nice high harmony to the bourginon's deep bass-profundo chorus of flavors. The beef it self was a little dry and stringy (should of stopped at 2.5 hours, but we went out to get Edie on a swing and ended up cooking 3.25 hours, oy)

Peeps seemed to like the food, many bottles of wine consumed, Edie slept like a, well, baby. I hope I have more casual mid-week dinner parties like this as Edie gets older, so she sees how adults enjoy each other's companies, mediated by no more than good food and a few drinks.

AM SNACK: 8:45am, iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 10:45am, brown rice spicy shrimp nori roll, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2:30pm, sardine sandwich on demihippy bread, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, mini latkes with spiced apple sauce, beef bouginon over mint pasta, chocolate plate including macarons, truffles and flourless chocolate cake, 2 glasses of wine, shot of amaretto, 1.75 bowl hunger 4/5

Happy happy joy joy!

Edie & I attended a baby swim class at a local indoor pool, one that I did not know about that is literally a 5 minute walk away from our door, but hidden in the depth of public housing. Surprisingly well maintained, clean, and almost entirely run and used by Asian peeps. Odd. I had a moment of concern, but literally 5 seconds after Edie hit the water, she was all smiles and happy happy joy joy!

AM SNACK: 8am, iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, wholewheat buttermilk waffle, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 11:15am, grilled cheese on demi hippy bread, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Haven't made grilled cheese in a while, not a light dish but definitely makes life taste good. good raw milk cheese, hearty whole grain bread.

PM SNACKING: 4-6:30pm, bits of pizza and pizza ingredients, a couple of juice drinks, a can of seltzer, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Made pizza with the class, we served about 50 people. Funny, as we did this class it kinda reminded me just how deep my knowledge of the pizza making process is compared to someone who knows nothing. When the kid's pizza started sticking to their boards when trying to get the pies in the oven, I would pick up an edge and blow, making a little air wave under the raw pie. They thought that was cool. Now that I think about it, yeah, that is kinda cool!

DINNER: 7:30pm, small portion of lasagna and half a meatball, soda, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Not my choice, this is a new menu item at the restaurant I needed to try, to write a menu description...

EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, multigrain tortilla chips with salsa, a little homemade granola, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Smoothie Ice Cream Experiment

Once I shook off the morning haze and got some smoothie in my, I did some weights and exercises -- my reps on push ups and sit ups are already improved. Still ridiculously low numbers, but nice to see any progress.

After a little book reading with Edie and lunch with a mom friend, got in the cooking groove and popped out a dinner for 4. After, spent pretty much the entire evening making beef stock (a 6 hour simmer time on top of 45 minutes of roasting bones) and preparing for tomorrow's class, my visit to the restaurant, and anticipating me n' Edies first swim class!

AM SNACK: 8am, iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 9am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
The smoothie pops I've been freezing with the excess have been good, but unless I lick it, I bite into large ice crystals that are unappealing in the mouth. So as an experiment, I ran today's excess through the ice cream maker -- whipping air into it as it froze, preventing large crystals and adding air to the volume. It seemed to work, but I only got two pops out of it -- so much was wasted getting stuck to the barrel's walls.

LUNCH: 12:15pm, half a porcetta pizza, 2 cured sardines on crusty bread, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
At Pulino's with a mom after the library baby event. Fortunately, she suggested the sardine app, a big green code. I am not red-lining the pizza despite it having pork on it because a) it was a relatively small amount on a small amount of pizza and b) it was a house cured whole-meat product, not a scary industrial dry sausage or something.

DINNER: 5:15pm, homemade mushroom ravioli with tomato sauce, roasted asparagus and portobello mushrooms, green salad with whole wheat croutons, 2 macarons, 4 truffles 1 glass wine, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
A nice dinner with another couple in the 'hood with baby. 7 ravioli, 5 spears of asparagus, very moderate portions in my book. The croutons, made from whole wheat and toasted in the oven with butter and salt, really made the otherwise ordinary salad pop.

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, homemade granola, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 9:45pm, multigrain tortilla chips with salsa, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

I GOTS FEETS!!

I was surprisingly sore in the legs from my ride yesterday -- that's good, that means my body is getting up to 100-mile abilities again. It was a slow 80 and dizzy at the end, but the next one will be stronger.

Me n' Edles went out to the BK to visit C and her 2 month old, then hit up the food market and spent the late afternoon and evening cooking. Made chicken stock (and shmaltz), salad for the week, dinner for myself, then macarons for the dinner party we're having tomorrow eve.

This was my third attempt at macarons -- the first was clownish, the second was better but still a bit amateur. This time I used proper professional food dye gel, not the liquid drops you get at a supermarket. Also, the kitchen was quite warm when drying out the batter after piping. Plus I cracked the oven open while baking to encourage drying. I gots the feet that make 'em look professional! Wooo!

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

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

LUNCH: 12 noon, mozzarella panini, small portion of fries, half a brownie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
There goes the first desert of the week!! Out to lunch with C and her baby, she wanted to share a desert, seemed unfriendly to say no.

PM SNACK: 1:30pm, glass of black cherry soda

DINNER: 8pm, large green salad, sauteed red pepper & garlic chicken sausage, roasted asparagus, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Simple asparagus -- tossed with a little olive oil and salt, put on a baking sheet and baked at 350 for 10 minutes. The tips were slightly brown, crisp but slightly soft, nice.

EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, multigrain tortilla chips and salsa, bits of macaron cookies, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Unfortunately, the lack of a starch or carb left me awfully hungry as the evening went on.

Ride

Last week on my bike ride, I ate cheesy corn puffs that were imported from South America. On today's bike ride, I came across another bag of savory chips, this one proudly made in New York. How the packaging proclaims the potato stick as some sort of symbolic NY snack is beyond me.

After yesterday's heavy desserts, had a hard time falling asleep. Got to bed around 1, was up at 5:30am and out on the bike by 6:30. Was supposed to ride with others, but they all punked out, but I needed to ride -- if not today, the next ride will be Friday. What's 4.5 but a number?

Approached the bike-eating a little differently. Small things a few hours apart, a few spiked with caffeine. Worked pretty well, got me through without any lags until the last few miles of the 80 mile trek. A podcast I listened to during the ride proclaimed that the human brain is only about 2% of the body's weight, but consumes about 20% of it's energy. By the end of this ride I could believe it, I felt drunk and slow....in a good, expended way.

I originally planned a homemade pasta and beef chili dinner, but after the last few eating days I had, that will just have to wait until the end of next week!

AM SNACK: 5:30am, iced mint green tea

AM SNACK: 6:30am, chocolate donut

AM SNACK: 8:30am, caffeinated cliff bar

AM SNACK: 10:30am, small bag of dipsy doodle corn chips, 20oz of Gatorade

LUNCH: 1pm, turkey on whole wheat bread with let, tom, on & roasted red peppers, potato sticks, a Manhattan Special, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 5:15pm, shrimp and string beans over brown rice, steamed vegetable dumplings, shrimp toast, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, smoothie pop

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, small amount of homemade granola

Cheeky

The day was centered around having lunch with some friends at Pulino's, then having a date with B in the evening, involving dinner out at a restaurant. Lunch included an afogato, a scoop of gelato in a shot of espresso. The espresso was cooled, so the gelato didn't melt too fast, causing me to drink a little of the minimally sweetened stuff before the ice cream really hit it.... hmmmm. I think I like espresso. I've never really drank coffee (or smoked cigarettes) because I was bummed by my mom's addictive behavior, but I think I may have to reconsider a good cup of espresso. Manhattan Special snuck in, but now it seems too sweet, acidy and carbonated.

Definitely ate a little too much, and ate a little too much at dinner, but in both cases it was sharing such pleasure with who I was eating with, it seemed wrong to eat less. I ordered beef cheeks at dinner, an extremely tough, gristly piece of meet that when slow braised properly in beef stock becomes amazingly tender and flavorful -- this was the first time I've had it since c-school, and made me sorry my wife is attempting vegetarianism, as this is the kind of dish that kind of encapsulates how good an extreme "beefy" flavor can be.

I gotta get on the wagon, eating-wise.

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, organic cheerios with organic dead milk, glass of iced mint green tea, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 11:30am, a pizza's worth of pizza, a little smoked sable, a little fennel salad, lemoncello cocktail, water, afogato, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4.5

DINNER: 6pm, braised beef cheek with potato and polenta chips, eggplant parm, various chocolate things, bread, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Pizza Della Tazza

Woke up with my buttocks sore -- the lunges of my work outs of the day before definitely felt. I originally hoped to work out 4 times a week, but allowing myself to fully recover seems it will be more like 2x a week. Are buns of steel too far off?

I had 2 pints of beer the night before and not enough sleep, and with the rain outside, the day was mellow. Put away laundry, cleaned up the house a bit, took a walk with Edie for some chores in the hood.

I baked up some cupcakes for my friend MAP's event, Cupcake Camp, basically a cupcake exchange on steroids at a local bar. Doing a sweet thing would be...excessive, so I went in the savory direction. Cupcakes have been trendy for a while, and my own preference for pizza has been trendy, so I thought to jam the two food trend together, however awkward. Using this buttermilk corn muffin as a base, I added minced fresh oregano & basil, a dash of red pepper, threw in the egg yolks, and a large fist of grated parm. When in the cup, I inserted a small piece of browned hot Italian sausage, then topped with a small piece of moz, drizzled some tomato sauce on top of the cheese, then baked. Once cooled, used a star-tip to pipe some ricotta (smoothed with a little heavy cream and olive oil) to add a florette, and topped with half a grape tomato.

I went to the event, but a) it was super crowded in a small space and b) it was way more sugar than any body should eat in one sitting. I purposefully ate dinner right before going, so resisting the siren's call wasn't too difficult.

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

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese and sable, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12:30pm, whole wheat matzo farfel, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5pm, 2 pizza-cupcakes, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6pm, shrimp, sauteed spinach, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 7pm, 1 tiny 1-bite chocolate cupcake

EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, homemade granola, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Haggis ain't all that

Did a weight regimen in the morning, made some good waffles, ate pizza in Union Square with a friend, and went out to a Scottish restaurant with bunch of peeps for dinner. Haggis ain't all that, minerally like a blood sausage, gritty in a good way from oats. The Beef Wellington I ate was surprisingly good, makes me want to go out and braise something, but if I'm trying to keep red meat to once a week, that may have to wait. Dinner involved carousing, which involved 2 beers, which was a bit too much for me, but considering my company all downed 4+, I guess that's restraint, right?

AM SNACK: 7:15am, glass of mint iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, 2 wholewheat buttermilk waffles, 3 slices bacon, quart o' water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Experimented with the waffles again, replacing whole milk with buttermilk, keeping wholewheat pasty flour and light brown sugar. Damn if it just didn't get a bit better. This was almost restaurant quality, if I can only tame the persnickety caste-iron...

LUNCH: 1pm, low-cheese pizza, seltzer, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5pm, 1 slice demi hippy bread with hummus, some granola, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8pm, Beef Wellington, a few cockles, a little lamb sausage roll, a few pieces of cured meat, a spoonful of haggis, 2 pints of beer, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Amazing jumping cookies!

Slept for 13 hours, it just snuck up on me. Still a little sore from the weight work out on Monday, but tomorrow should be ready for another lifting session. Took it easy and stayed in and played with the Edie until Yomomma arrived around 1, then took off to teach. We prepared a very rich risotto, and my supervisor supplied unusually good chocolate chip cookies which jumped down my throat.

But despite that cave, I did avoid drinking soda at school and eating pizza and sodas at the restaurant after. I was hoping the risotto would get me through, but found myself scavenging in the kitchen in the evening. I need to reup on my snacks, to get me more in the green zone...

AM SNACK: 8am, glass of iced mint green tea
I made a batch of mint syrup yesterday, and I noticed something weird about it this morning -- it had recrystallized in the plastic container!! I knew this was possible, but I never saw it happen before. I guess I need to reheat it, but I wonder if that will effect the mint flavor...

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

LUNCH: Noon, herring on demihippy bread with avocado, flax corn chips with salsa, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, cranberry lime seltzer

DINNER: 5pm, sausage fennel risotto, 3 chocolate chip cookies, lime seltzer, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, flax corn chips with salsa, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, Ritz cracker-like crackers with good peanut butter, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Worn out

Only got 6 hours of sleep last night. First thing after breakfast, hauled ass to the supermarket with Edles strapped to me. Once I got home, between getting stuff away and dealing with Edie, pretty much took off again to meet Y for lunch in Chinatown. When I was coming home from that, started to realize just how tired I was. I decided to skip Food Coop business, which is a good thing -- I fell asleep at around 7pm on the couch, transferred myself to bed at 8, and would not wake until B needed to split at 8 the next morning...

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

BREAKFAST: 9:15am, good yogurt with agave, vanilla and raw cashews, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH pt 1: 12:30pm, large green salad, flax corn chips with salsa, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH pt 2: 2pm, crab-pork dumplings, spicy string beans, sauteed shrimp with vegetables, a little white rice, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 4pm, left over shrimp and string beans, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, freshly baked banana bread, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Wholewheat flour, extra bananas. Despite the butter and eggs, this is definitely in the green zone.

Monday, with strengths and weaknesses

I had some crazy idea that being it's Monday, I'd try for an all-green day, but the social meal of the day knocked me out with sweets and alcohol.

Did my first whole weight-work out this morning, felt a little feeble but it was fun with the music and the Edie observing from her crib. Improvised a potato salad with stuff laying around the kitchen, then attended a baby's birthday party. Edie was feeling awfully clingy, crying every time I put her down for the first hour, but she loosened up. Good thing I love holding her! Afterwards met up with B and walked home, rode out to Coney and back. Feel good.

AM SNACK: 9am, glass of iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 10:30am, crispy brown rice cereal with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AFTERNOON TASTING: 12:30pm, bites of potato salad
Made a batch of potato salad for a kiddie party attending this afternoon, using stuff laying around the house. Bag of red bliss mini potatoes, egg yolks & olive oil with some mustard powder to make mayo, fresh rosemary, parsley, carrot and celery, salt, Worcestershire, some hot pepper, voila, potato salad...

PM SNACK: 1:30pm, large green salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 3pm, 2 wedges of eggplant and zucchini hero, bits of industrial potato salad, macaroni salad and some of my own potato salad, 1 brownie, 1 piece of carrot-cream cheese cake, 1 glass wine, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
At a 1 year-old's birthday party. They had a several feet of vegetarian hero and some bland sides, to which my potato salad sat with. Funny, the industrial potato salad was bone-white and was simply potato slices in loose white mayonaisy blandness. My potato salad was a rich yellow color (from the yolks in my mayo), studded with crunchy bits, herbs and the loose red skins coming off the quartered potatoes.

DINNER: 9pm, baked ocean perch, sofrito brown rice & beans, smoothie pop, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Got a frozen fillet of perch, sprinkled a bunch of old bay seasoning and wacked it in the oven -- before c-school, I'd be too intimidated to just cook a simple piece of fish without instructions, now it seems ridiculously easy.

Peeps, fneh!

An enjoyable, though not healthy, eating day. Out to brunch with a friend at Schillers, out to dinner with a bunch of B's friends at Otto. Dinner was in honor of Easter, and marsh mellow peeps were passed around -- the first time I've ever had one. Very...unremarkable. Thank goodness that tomorrow is a brand new week, wipe the slate and try to do better.

AM SNACK: 9am, banana, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

BRUNCH: 10:30am, bagel with cream cheese and lox, side of sausage, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11:45am, chocolate donut, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 5pm, bread, a peep, various seafood antipasti, various slices of pizza, gelato, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

I ate Diana's Churrito.

I road my bike to Nyack this morning for the first time this season. It's about 33 miles one way, and a good point to stop, eat, enjoy the Hudson River and turn back. I've always gotten a few items from a small deli, then gone to a public park by the water to pic-nic it and enjoy the view.

The little deli and grocery store I used to hit up is not there anymore. It was run by an old Irish American family who must of run it at least since the 70s. Up the street there is a large old brick building with a sign for a "Chef's Market" prepared-food emporium coming soon. Across the way, a twee health food store. I had to ride a few blocks off the main drag to the crummier part of the neighborhood to find an honest, plain deli....except that almost all the food in it was Spanish! Everyone in the place spoke Spanish, too. I ordered a standard turkey on a roll from the deli counter, and poked around....everything was brands I never heard of, kinda neat. I got some Diana Churritos (Cheetos made in El Salvador) and a bottle of Maneragua (imported from Mexico, bottled in Texas), basically a tonic water, seltzer with salts. I loved the fact that the new real working class is taking over the deli business, but it bums me out that in the nice part of town, affordable simple food has been pushed out in favor of a rather pretentious food emporium.

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

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, vegan blueberry waffle, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
There is fruit in this, and it's more than half whole-wheat, but there is so much oil in this thing that I just can't bring myself to making this a green-labelled food.

LUNCH: 12:45pm, 3/4 of a turkey on a roll sandwich, 20oz Gatorade, a bag of cheese-curls, a few sips of tonic water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Lunch from a bodega and eaten by the water in Nyack, mid-bike ride.

PM SNACK: 3:45pm, clif bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
A little powerup in the last 5 miles of the ride, felt right.

DINNER: 6:30pm, big green salad, shrimp & stringbeans with brown rice, fried wontons, mint chip ice cream, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5
I was very tempted to finish the ice cream last night, but since I ended on a fruit-note and wasn't particularly hungry, I resisted....so I could indulge and finish it after my bike ride!

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, 4 graham crackers with the good peanut butter, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Bike ride munchies.

Snickleconference 2010

Edie was up at all hours last night, so I was up at 8 with way too few hours of sleep. The few crunches and push ups I did yesterday left me sore in my midsection, which is 1) bad because I'm so weak but 2) good because it takes very little to get to the sore point you want from a good strength-building workout. Will ride tomorrow, will refocus on the weight training on Monday.

My new batch of iced tea is sweeter than previous, but still good. The HVS and Gooshgirl came over around 11am for Snickle Conference 2010, and I had them assemble some granola, and the batter for vegan blueberry waffles. The waffles were surprisingly good, though a bit heavier than the egg n' milk version.

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

AM SNACK: 10am, banana

SNICKLE BRUNCH: 12:15pm, bowl of hot granola and dead organic milk, 1 heavy vegan blueberry waffle, seltzer, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 4:15pm, shrimp fried rice, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5pm, glass of iced mint green tea

DINNER: 8:30pm, chicken breast, meatballs in peas, bean stew, roast potatoes, white rice, babaganoush, tomato salad, green salad, mushroom pate, cucumber salad, matzoh, glass of wine, water, a little bit of fruit, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Nice sabbath dinner in the 'hood with some momfriends. Serious cooking, good food. Resisted the chocolate plate (kosher for passover, blech!) and had a few pieces of pineapple and kiwi.

It's a whole new month!

I weighed in at 234.6 this morning, pretty much the same as a month ago. Not disappointed, pretty much what I expected. Over the past month, I've altered my eating habits to adhere a bit to Alton Brown's loose set of rules, and I have had results -- I feel a little clearer, a little bit more energy, and I suspect I've been eating a bit more -- of good, nutritiously dense food (hello sardine sandwich!) and less calorie-dense nutritionally empty food (hello 2x daily dessert!) The bottom line: for anything to change, something has got to change. Not to get all zen n' shit on you.

The weight thing is something to focus on a little now. Input is relatively simple, just eat a bit less. Hopefully the nutritionally powerful foods I'm taking in will make it easier to cut back a little on caloric intake.

Output has to be greater than input for weight loss. Yoga doesn't fit right now, as it requires a stiff schedule, very limited availability due to Edie, and requires leaving the house -- all three make it something to do later. Biking is tricky right now -- until Edie can join me on a bike in June, the schedule is restricted, and it requires me to leave the house. I've started a regimen of about 100 miles a week (30 to Coney one weekday eve, one 70+ ride on a weekend) -- once B starts having Fridays off and Edles can join me during the week, this is going to help, but not enough.

I'm going to to start a 4-day a week regimen of weights. I have a pair of dumb bells from my teen years and a folding weight bench. I did a few push ups and sit ups this morning -- holy crap, I'm tight and weak! Then did a few basic lifts with light weights, and realized I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I stopped, and went to the computer and researched a bike-friendly routine using the equipment I have. Going to play with it some more tomorrow, then start in earnest Monday, doing the regimen Mon-Tues mornings, and Thurs-Fri mornings.

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

BREAKFAST: 9:45am, homemade granola with organic dead milk, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2:30pm, freshly made mushroom ravioli with a little tomato sauce, a small glass of beer, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
My friend MAP came over and we made ravioli (and some spaghetti) from scratch, a lotta fun. As something that is limited to once a week, this small supply means when I DO eat that once a week pasta, it's the best pasta possible.

PM SNACK: 6:30pm, clif bar
Road out to Coney Island, this helped even me out and get me through.

DINNER: 8:30pm, pizza, a bit of green salad, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Met up with a few people post-ride at a new pizzeria in Greenpoint. We got three medium pies for the four of us, just enough food. Fortunately they didn't have their liquor license yet, so I didn't go into the red with another beer...

EVENING WATERING: 10:30pm, quart

After?

Edie is better, but not 100%, so I cancelled a playdate with my friend C and her iddy biddy baby, on the slight chance of giving said baby a cold. Went by the resto and had an unhealthy snack, wandered around Brooklyn and hit up B's old hood, then went home and did baby stuff until B got home. I took myself out to dinner on the way to grocery shopping, and was torn between pork-chive dumplings from a little hole in the wall, and a big slice of non-wheat vegan pizza. Eventually, my mind got to, "Well, how will you feel AFTER you eat" rather than the pleasure from the act of eating, and I steered myself toward the pizza. As you can see above, not your average streetza, it fits much better into the rules of 4...

Tomorrow, a weigh-in, a reflection, a revision of plan...

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, glass of iced mint green tea, large hunk of banana bread, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11:30am, small piece of mole tamale, black cherry soda, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2:30pm, falafel sandwich, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 6pm, ramekin of roasted ginger almonds, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, slice of "zen" "pizza", 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, frozen smoothie pop, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Sederz

Edie still has a runny nose, but seems to be doing really well. For a sick baby, she sure is a pleasure. We made our way to the upper east side for a seder of B's family. A lot of the food was catered from a local diner (turkey that kinda gets powdery when chewed), but some homemade haroset was pretty groovy, and my farfel and ice cream were pretty popular.

I brought a stash of the macaroons I made a few weeks back, but once defrosted, they were so delicate and easily smashed, they didn't get presented. Every time I went into the kitchen for whatever, I grabbed a few and ate them -- reminded me of when my mom brought me chocolate chip cookies on visiting day of my first summer-camp summer, and I ate them until I was sick because I didn't want to share them. Macarons were yummy, but I think freezing and defrosting allowed moisture into the cookies...

Farfel, haroset, macaroons, gefilte fish, matzoh ball soup....y'know, with all the trendiness of narrow concept restaurants (meat ball shop, peanut butter sandwich shop, etc), I wonder how cool it would be to have a restaurant that just served...Passover food all year. Only take reservations for Pesach. He he he. "Sederz" "Elijah's" or "Jeroosalem"!

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

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, whole wheat waffle, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Delicious, last one in the freezer. Maybe my next batch should take it to the next level, adding fruit and maybe olive oil instead of butter....

AM SNACK: 10:30am, spoonful of homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream
For tonight's seder. Used three bunches of mint instead of 2, and a drop of green food dye, just to make the brain think it mintier...

NOON SNACK: noon, small amount of matzo farfel, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2pm, herring & avocado sandwich on whole wheat, mini carrots, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Even though the can of kippered herring said one serving, I only used half for one sandwich, rather than make 2 sandwiches. The new month is soon to be here, no weight feels lost, thinking of changes to make...

SEDER: 8pm, haroset & matzoh, gefilte fish, matzoh ball soup, sliced turkey breast, farfel, sponge cake, mint c-chip ice cream, macaroons, macarons, water, 1.75 bowl, hunger 4/5

Passed Over

Edie was a bit cranky last night and threw up for the first time -- not spit up, but the real deal. She got to sleep late, woke up early and did not follow her usual nap routine. The thermometer were a few degrees hot, not a huuuge fever but enough for us to cancel our trip to deep dark southern NJ to spend the first night of Passover with my cousin and his branch of the family. I'm bummed about it, as this is the one time of the year I get to catch up with them (and it's all about the food, some items which have been made by various home cooks in my family for decades), but that will have to wait a few months.

Edie seemed to be in good spirits, despite not having an appetite. Eventually she got down to bed in the mid-evening, but not before really wearing out B, who took the day off to make sure Edie's health was taken care of. All in all, not a day I wish to repeat soon.

BREAKFAST: 8:45am, toasted pumpernickel bagel with sablefish and babaganoush, mint iced green tea, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Made the green tea again last night, this time with half the mint syrup (8 cups of tea to 1/2 cup syrup) and it came out perfectly -- barely sweet, just enough to round off the bitterest notes and leave a hint of mint in it's wake. It really tastes like green tea. I probably couldn't sell this to the mass population, but it rings my bell and is in the daily checklist. The sugar is so minimal I'm comfortable calling this a non-dessert.

AM SNACK: 10am, bits of farfel here and there for adjusting seasoning
Cooked up a mess of stuffing with bits of matzoh called farfel, including onions I caramelized for 4 hours last night, sauteed onion and celery, freshly grated ginger, salt & pepper, and most importantly, lots of chicken fat and good double-strength chicken stock to moisten it, all bound and enriched by a few whole eggs. Made a separate batch with whole wheat farfel for private consumption...

AM SNACK: 11am, glass of iced mint green tea

LUNCH: 1:30pm, 5 pan-seared cornmeal-dredged scallops, collared greens, whole wheat matzo farfel, a little kimchi, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
A healthy well-rounded lunch. Bought a bag of frozen scallops as an experiment, quick-defrosted under water and dredged them in corn meal, corn starch, salt and paprika. Pretty good. Finished the left over collards (seems a bit too juicy, but palatable), a large portion of this morning's farfel (oh my oh my tasty) and some hot fermented cabbage from the back of the fridge.

DINNER: 7pm, deep fried shrimp wrapped in phillo, chicken and vegetables in a spicy sauce over sticky rice, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, ramekin of dark chocolate chips
Technically, the first dessert of the week, -sigh-. I think something about the stress of Edie being under the weather and my wife being a stress-case kind of manifested itself in this great urge to eat chocolate at a totally inappropriate (but quiet and peaceful) time.

Lost Weekend

On Saturday, a bunch of friends joined me and my family on an excursion to Frank Pepe's in Connecticut. I imbibed in a special brownie, a fresh untested batch, and a single brownie (1/15 of the sheet) was a bit too strong. Everything beyond it that day was a lot of fun, but the details are fuzzy.

Felt great and well-rested the next day, took Edie out to breakfast with B worked at home. The fam and I met up with the Hungry Vegan Society uptown to treat her to a birthday snickle. Dinner was taken while caramelizing several pounds of onions for tomorrow's matzo farfel and baking a rather good banana bread. I upped the bananas, the baking soda and the eggs, and lowered the sugar (1/2 cup of brown.) I also used whole wheat pasty flour, which gave a very tender crumb. I would of held off on the bread until tomorrow, but B started devouring the whole loaf, so I had to get some in before it might disappear.

Saturday

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, granola with dead organic milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 10:15am, special brownie

LUNCH: ???pm, a lot of pizza, a beer, water, ??? bowls, hunger ???/5

DINNER: 7pm, skyline chili over sofrito brown rice & beans, .75 bowl, hunger ???/5

Sunday

BREAKFAST: 10am, BLT on whole wheat and a side of homefries, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

SNICKLELUNCH: 2pm, cheddar and gruyere on whole wheat, a few spoonfuls of carrot soup, hummus, babaganoush and tabouleh with assorted breads, most of a large chocolate chip cookie, water, 1.25 bowl

DINNER: 8pm, peanutbutter on 2 slices of demi-hippy bread, roasted brocolli with panko and cheddar, a few thin slices of freshly baked banana bread, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5