Cooking

Me n' Edles went to Wholefoods in the morning to collect what was needed for the evening meal, and I sample some prepared foods as I hadn't had a real breakfast, bleah. My friend V came over around noon and we prepped the evening meal, as well as bang out a tray of special brownies.

D & has new gal (which he is moving to Portland for) came over for dinner. Started with thick cut heirloom tomatoes and vidalia onion, served with a tomato-based "steak" sauce that replicated Peter Luger's. The entree was fresh linguine with a pistachio pesto, and the pesto came out much better than the first attempt (which ended in a cream sauce), but still needed work -- perhaps more oil. That was served with a side of green beans, quickly blanched than sauteed with garlic, olive oil, wine and a little lemon. For dessert was a citrus-almond pound cake and a little green tea ice cream. It was pretty good, though I should of used cake flour for a slightly lighter finished product.

The day flew by, though the hour I spent with Edie in the park in the morning was pure pleasure. During cooking, she was either napping or mostly amusing herself in the safety of her room, with breaks to come out and get some huggin'.

The fam & I are decamping to the Northfork of Long Island this weekend, so this blog will go dark until Monday, which will have a short recap. Until then, my 1.2 readers!!

AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9:30am, 2 small pancakes, a chicken sausage, a lame shrimp summer roll, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM NIBBLING: 1-4pm, a little tomato & onion, a little pasta and pesto, a little ice cream, water
Didn't really eat lunch, but sampled the dishes I was making for dinner.

DINNER: 7pm, fresh pasta with pistachio pesto, sauteed green beans, tomato & onion with steak sauce, pound cake, a little green tea ice cream, 2 glasses wine, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

I love food.

Slapped on the rain suit and road over the bridge to work -- sheeting rain all morning, without pause. These slow days are more tiring than fast days.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, watermelon, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5
LUNCH: 11:15am, turkey & cheese sandwich, chocolate chop cookie, Manhattan Special, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
To break up the monotony of a sheeting-rain day at the resto, I popped out to the local fancy bakery and picked up a killer sammich -- fresh semolina roll, nice creamy french stinky cheese, some sort of herbed mayo, fragrant red onion. The cookie was huge and chocolaty. Ah, food, I love you!

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, meatball
New batch made, had to test.

LUNCH 2: 3:15pm, piece of calzone, 1/2 a pint of beer
No customers, but a pair of regulars who eat for free came in, so I shared a meal with them while we chatted in the empty restaurant. Did not need the beer, but felt like the friendly thing to do.

PM SNACK: 6pm, small slice of pizza, sprite, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 8:30pm, a little salad, a little artichoke, a couple of squares of Sicilian, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 10:15pm, special cookie
No comment.

Smiley Happy

Edie woke up about an hour after I got home last night, I fed her a half bottle of milk while snuggling on the couch, but I think it woke her up more, rather than get her back to sleep when she's with her momma. I can't say I minded too much, as I missed her all day. I turned off the lights in the living room and watched Mad Men with her, hoping the drone of the tv would get her down, but after it was over, she wanted to get off my chest and run around the living room a bit -- B woke up around this time and was not amused with our 1am TV party. I brought Edles back to bedroom to relax on my tummy, it was a long evening.

Woke up tired, but woke up to Edie slamming her tummy into my head and giggling wildly, so that ain't too bad. The weather is overcast, and after the rain killing business yesterday, didn't expect too much different today. Slow days at the resto are hard to get through sometimes, but it helps to know I have a comfy home with a smiley happy wife and a smiley happy Edie.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9:15am, 2 banana pancakes, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 1:30pm, 3 slices white bacon & onion Sicilian, sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5pm, cranberry lime soda
DINNER: 10pm, 2 slices pizza, sprite, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 11:30pm, multigrain tortilla chips with salsa, .25 bowl, hunger 4.5

Plant!

I saw "Inception" yesterday, so it should be of no surprise to anyone that I had a freaky dream last night. I was working, running home to sleep and play with Edie, trying to wine and dine my wife and ride my bike, too, and in the process my chest hair started really growing thick and tangled and Robin Williams-esque. I had a wound, small and round and right in between my pectorals, but because of the excessive chest hair, I forgot about it -- I just assumed it would scab up and go away.

So months later, after running around busy with life, I decided my chest hair needed some grooming -- not cutting, just some combing and washing to get the detritus out. And low and behold, where my wound was is...a plant!! A vine-like plant growing out of the wound, camouflaged by my salt-and-pepper chest hair!! Thick at the root, thin and pointy and woven into the hair all around, and basil-like small leaves sticking out here and there, Swampthing like. I freaked out and pulled the thing out by the root, immediately relieved I found it before it attacked my internal organs, but worried it would grow back.

That was basically it. What did the plant symbolize? The bigger picture? Losing the forest for the trees? Maybe I need to eat more salad... After hanging out with my father-in-law, my mind has been going back more to my parents lately, maybe that could have something to do with it, but usually when they are on my mind, they make direct appearances in my dreams, not abstract things growing from my corpus...

It occurred to me this morning that because I'm on a 40-hr 3-day schedule, my Monday is actually my Monday and half of Tuesday. And my Tuesday is a sliver of Tuesday and all of Wednesday. And my Wednesday is Thursday and Friday all rolled into one.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, organic wholegrain cheerios with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
 
AM SNACK: 10:45am, 3 bites of cheap pastries,  a Manhattan Special, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
 
PM SNACK: 12:45pm, green house salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
 
LUNCH: 1:30pm, 3 slices white Sicilian with bacon and onion, cranberry lime soda, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
 A new combination, voted pretty delicious by the staff.

LUNCH 2: 4:45pm, meatball appetizer, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
 
PM SNACK: 6:45pm, apple juice

PM SNACK: 9pm, sprite

DINNER: 11pm, 5 pork dumplings, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Pancake School

It seems like such a long time since culinary school. Bike riding was cancelled today due to rain, so I hung out in the house until my father in law came over. I made banana pancakes from scratch, and all sorts of memories of what I learned came back to me.

• When wet goes into dry, mix minimally to avoid toughness i.e. gluten. Whisking is a no no
• When the banana side of the pancake goes down, wait until you smell the sugars of the banana caramelizing. There is no point to making banana pancakes until this happens
• A fish spatula is ideal for lifting sticky things out of a fry pan like, say, caramelized bananas -- it ain't just for fish.
• A cooling rack is essential if you plan to store these -- if left on a solid surface while hot, condensation will collect and you will have a permanently mushy pancake

One thing I forgot:

• One your comfortable, experiment with the recipe. It ain't the Bible.

I should of jazzed it up with vanilla bean and cinnamon, added extra eggs, supplanted some milk with cream and maybe even a subtle dash of hot pepper or hot sauce to add that little round note.

AM SNACK: 8:45am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 11am, homemade banana pancakes, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Ate them as they came out of the pan. The ones that were a little too dark went into my maw, so the nicest ones are saved for B & Edles.

PM SNACK: 2pm, seltzer, "small" popcorn, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
That popcorn had 320 calories, according to the listing at the theater...

DINNER: 6pm, beef carpacio, shrimp scampi, canolli, pepper soup, water, bread, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Out with El at a nice restaurant, excellent quality but small portions...he he.


EVENING SNACK: 9pm, scallion pancake, 3 pork dumplings, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Left over from the reign of the father in law.

Stress 2

Took the father-in-law out on the bike, for Summer Streets, then took him on the SI Ferry before meeting up with B & Edles for dim sum. Very stressful. Again, a pretty horrible eating day. Tomorrow should be better.


AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9:15am, donut


LUNCH: 2pm, dim sum, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 5pm, ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 9pm, green salad, eggplant hero, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Stress

Got to bed around 9:30, woke up 8:30 feeling refreshed and caught up. Spent the day with the family and the father-in-law, running around, exhausting. The stress of it lead to a very poor eating day.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea


AM SNACK: 10:30am, 2 donuts


LUNCH: 3pm, fish & chips, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 7pm, beef lomein, shrimp eggroll, water, ice cream, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Damn good dinner

Woke up after about 5 hours of sleep feeling great but tired -- four day weekend! Edie! Edie! Edie! Edie & I went to a play group at the local community center to show off her new walking skills, and we played mock-telephone for a solid 30 minutes. We came home, and Yomomma met us so she could take Edie while I ran chores.

I found myself inordinately hungry, probably due to lack of sleep -- I know interrupted sleeping can mess with blood sugar. So I went to my favorite cheapo dumpling place and ordered a fried rice along with the dumplings -- I was the only white person in the shop, and their fried rice is definitely different in style than a take out place, really good. I got home from running errands around 2, and me and Edie immediately went to a local mom's apartment for a playdate with about 8 others -- kids a-poppin'. Though I wanted to save my appetite for the evening, I could not help but late a few cookies jump down my throat.

Home by 4:30, out on my bike by 5:30 to meet Y for dinner at Daniel. This is the rare 5-star restaurant in NYC, I even took a tour of the place when I was in C-school. It was impressive then, and eating there did not diminish that impression. I suspect they must have 2 people on staff for every customer, crazy. The prices were not cheap, but still, how do they make money?

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


LUNCH: noon, shrimp fried rice, pork dumplings, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 2:30pm, a small handful of homemade chocolate chip cookies, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6pm, a taste of peas three ways, garlic Parmesan focaccia, seared scallops with a chorizo crust, a bite of foi gras over melon, duo of beef (braised short rib and wagu tenderloin) with tomato veloute in a natural jus, a bite of snapper with an avocado preparation, hazelnut sable with milk flavored ice cream, chocolate peanut butter ganache, mini madelines, petite fours, water, 1.75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Dinner at Daniel with Y for her birthday. Pretty fantastic from beginning to end.

Awkward & Geeky

Got to bed around 1, up around 8, felt a little drained. But it's Wednesday, my Friday, and it has seemed to have passed in a hot flash. Tomorrow: EDIE TIME!!

During lunch service a few parents came in with their young children. One mom sat at the bar with her son, maybe 4 or 5 years old. He was skinny as a reed and had the same beady eyes and big nose as his mom, complimented by buck teeth that really tied his face together. Still, he was as cute as a button, in an oversized baseball cap, and a look of love for his mother that was just ridiculous -- like she was his mom, and his best friend and mentor and guide. They played slaps as they waited for their pizza, and when it did come, he took many little bites, finally getting one slice down many minutes after mom finished three. I sure hope puberty is kind to him, as adolescence made him quite awkward and geeky.

And how will Edie be?

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, organic cornflakes with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 12:15pm, 2 slices of clam & shrimp cheeseless pizza, Manhattan Special, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH 2: 4pm, green salad, cup of chocolate ice cream, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 9:30pm, 2 slices Sicilian


EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, 3 special tarts
No comment. At least I avoided evil burgers, as a member of the kitchen crew and I took a nice bike ride after work, and my appetite never came back.

Wine refrain

Got to bed around 2, after a couple of hours of being hypnotized by my new huuuuge television. God bless America, yep.

I had a sip of wine in the afternoon, as a server did not know whether a bottle that had been opened a few days before was still good (it was.) Even though it was only a sip, I continued to taste it for a solid 30 minutes after, and I noticed the taste evolve and get pleasant/funky/interesting before it finally cleared. I guess I could of just had some water or ate something, but I was enjoying it too much. Does that make me an alchie?

Restaurant was busy, time flew, though didn't really eat so when I made some pizzas for the staff at the end of a long day, a few slices just jumped up and ran down my mouth.



BREAKFAST: 8:30am, organic chex with dead milk, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 10:45am, snippet of cinnamon cruller and wholewheat muffin
LUNCH: 12 noon, three slices of Sicilian with sausage, cream soda, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 4:15pm, green salad, chocolate ice cream, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 11pm, 3 slices of Sicilian, a Sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING WATERING: 12:30pm, half a quart of water

In the Tank

After draining myself all day on bike yesterday, I got to bed around 9pm, skipping all the good Sunday night TV watching (thank goodness for a DVR). I woke this morning around 7:45, after more than 10 hours of deep sleep. Edles woke up a few times in the evening, but B handled the situation -- so my renewed vigor and refreshed feeling is pretty much due to her.

Resto was steady and slow due to weather. Just two more days in the tank and I'm free for another 4!


BREAKFAST: 8:30am, good yogurt with honey, vanilla and almonds


AM SNACK: 10:45am, cranberry lime soda


LUNCH: 12pm, shrimp & clam Sicilian, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 1pm, Manhattan Special


DINNER: 6pm, half a meatball, cheeseless shrimp pizza, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 8pm, Sprite, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5

EVENING SNACK: 11:30pm, multigrain tortilla chips & salsa, falafel balls, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5

Ride

Woke up at 4am, got out of the house by 4:45am, rode the bike to Poughkeepsie, 80 miles. Got there by 1:15, with plenty of time to get the 1:40 train home. Between the perfect weather (low 80s, overcaste but dry) and the eating of small amounts multiple times, it was a strong, fun ride without any moments of weakness -- infact, I found myself pushing harder the last ten miles to assure a relaxed amount of time for making the train.

The rest of the day was chillin' with the ladies & Yomomma, we ordered in a pizza then a I did a run for ice cream. I wa out like a light by 9pm.

AM SNACK: 4:30am, banana


AM SNACK: 6am, caffienated clif bar


AM SNACK: 8am, gatorade, corn chips


AM SNACK: 10am, gatorade, corn chips


LUNCH: 11:15am, california roll, crappy knish, chocolate chip cookies, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 1pm, gatorade


PM SNACK: 1:45pm, chocolate chip cookies


PM SNACK: 4:30pm, shrimp saag & rice, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 5:30pm, cesar salad, mushroom & onion pizza, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 7pm, cookie dough ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

A nice Saturday

We woke up early, got on bikes and met a short stack of friends (also on bikes) at the Brooklyn Bridge. Edie & I cruised up to Central Park with B and the gang via the Summer Streets event, and arrived around 9:30 to lay out a nice picnic on the hill overlooking the toy-boat pond north of 72nd. The nice thing about arriving that early is it's sunny and warm, but not crowded so we could get a prime location and just...relax.

After eating too many donuts, we rolled back down casually home. A nap, an errand to restock sundries, then home to wile the day away with the ladies.

BREAKFAST 1: 7am, organic cornflakes with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


BREAKFAST 2: 9:45am, 1/2 a bagel with cream cheese, 3 donuts, seltzer, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 2:30pm, lobster roll, lame ice cream sandwich, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
I visited the Hester Street Fair in the 'hood while running some chores. They have some interesting, progressive food vendors that I want to support, but they don't have it on lock down yet. The lobster roll was pretty great, but at $14 for 4oz of meat on a meager (but well toasted & buttered) potato roll is a bit pricey. They do a 2oz half for $8, but it's too small. They should have a third, more expensive option that make the first two seem cheap by comparison -- it doesn't need to sell, but it's presence may reduce the sticker shock of the other two options. "Hey, I may be paying $14 for a lobster roll, but at least it ain't $25!) I had an ice cream sandwich of salted caramel ice cream wedged between two thin slabs of brownie -- the brownie was too hard, the ice cream was too soft, and both had nice but under-concentrated flavors.

DINNER: 6:45pm, pakora, shrimp saag with basmanti rice, roti bread, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Fresh Friday

B took Lil' E to a swim class in the morning while I tinkered with the entertainment system. I took myself out to lunch, then spent the rest of the day chillin' and tweaking the system. Over all a productive but relaxed Friday.


BREAKFAST: 9:15am, chocolate babka, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 1pm, vegetarian dim sum including mashed taro treasure boxes, mixed gluten, mock shrimp in rice paper roll, sticky rice wrapped in taro leaf, spring rolls, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
I ordered five dishes, too much for one person as usual. But instead of shoving down as much as possible, I ate until satiated and took about half of the food home. How ingenious of me, thank you very much!


DINNER: 7pm, large green salad, 3 ears of boiled corn, left over veg dim sum, an ounce of good chocolate with peanut butter, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Vegetarian for a day!

If your eating day centers around 1 huge meal, I guess it's better that the meal is as far away from sleep time as possible. Today I received delivery of a new entertainment system, Yomomma came over, and between setting up and running out to do chores and food shopping, I kinda forgot about eating until I started feeling that hungry/nauseous thing where you think you may puke if you don't get something down.

Went to an excellent California-style burrito place on 4th Ave between 13th & 14th. Last time I ate there I remembered everything was excellent, except for the stringy meat, so I went and just skipped any meat....and it was amazing. Between that and falafel for a late night snack, this must of been my first vegetarian day in forever...


AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 10:45am, chocolate babka, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 3pm, blackbean & guac burrito, rootbeer, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 4:30pm, chocolate cheesecake, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 11pm, falafel balls with hummus, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Workworkworkwork pt 3

Slept awfully well last night, out before 12:30 and up after 8. I wonder if it had anything to do with how I ate -- I ate quite heavy, though in smaller amounts in multiple sittings.

Edie said "Papa" a lot clearer and with more enunciation than ever before, it pretty much made my ice cold heart a puddle of warm water this morning. Can't wait for tomorrow, to have some serious Edietime!

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, iced green tea, organic chex with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 10:45am, Manhattan Special
Gave me the jitters, more than usual.

LUNCH: 12:30pm, 1 slice egg & bacon pizza, cranberry lime soda, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
The guys in the kitchen made this pizza, with jalapenos, not to my taste, but nice to see them making what they like, for themselves.

PM SNACK: 3pm, green salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
We recently reformulated our house salads, as it was pretty not-good before. We replaced the cheaper escarole with a mix of bib, romaine and green leaf, and replaced the simple olive oil & vinegar mix with basically olive oil, vinegar and industrial "Italian dressing" mix, basically dried herbs, sugar, salt, MSG, guar gum and assorted nastiness. It's annoying that L didn't consult me on this, as we could of easily made our own 'mix', based on salt, sugar & dried herbs, left out all the nastiness, AND would of probably tasted better and more noteworthy than this envelope of chemicals manufactured somewhere in a warehouse out there....

PM SNACK: 6pm, 3 meatballs


PM SNACK: 11pm, 3 special mini tarts


DINNER: 12pm, hamburger, fries, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
No comment.

Workworkworkwork pt 2

Could not get to bed last night. Got home around 11:30, yomomma was looking after Edie because B was having a fuzzy-eye checked out late into the night. Between the drama, my energy level cratering to ADD levels and then my body refusing to shut down, not a great night.

But B was loving this morning, despite being cranky, Edie was full of smiles and shouts of joy for the pleasure of being able to waddle around the house, and off to work I went.

BREAKFAST: 8am, iced green tea, waffle, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: noon, 3 slices shrimp & clam cheeseless pizza, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 2:30pm, green salad, roasted potatoes, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3-4pm, bacon, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
We were baking bacon in the 'rant, and I could not stop nibbling on it, making me think my body is really craving something fatty and decadent right now...


PM SNACK: 4pm, small cup of chocolate ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 6:30pm, slice of Sicilian, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING DRINK: 10:15pm, bottle of beer


EVENING SNACK: 11:45pm, 7 falafel balls with humus, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Monday Monday

First night I slept through since first getting sick. I put myself down a little before 11 and woke to the alarm at 7. It's nice to feel normal after feeling like a yo-yo for a solid 9 days.

Edie was all smiles and energy this morning, made it difficult to leave her (and B, who took the day to chill out at home.) Wah!

AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea

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

AM SNACK: 11:30am, Manhattan Special

LUNCH: 12:45pm, 4 slices Sicilian, ginger ale, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 3:15pm, slice of pepperoni and mushroom pizza, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, green salad, apple juice, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 9pm, meatballs, lemonade, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Mellow Sunday

After yesterday's ride let me feeling a little bit too beat up, I tried to take today easy. I still woke up at 3am and could not get back to sleep. I did a run to J&R to pick up some pieces for the impending new entertainment system I'm setting up at the end of the week, and did a supermarket run with Edie in mid-afternoon to help her get into her nap. B took off for the third night in a row to go party and go crazy, while I stayed home and fed & bathed the Edie.

Edie, with her big head of curls, unrefined table manners and absolute joy when practicing her running (!) around the house is nothing but wonderful. Part of me is "oy! this is too much!" and part of me is "I need an army of Edies!"


AM SNACK: 5am, handful of chocolate covered coffee beans


BREAKFAST: 9:30am, granola with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 12:30pm, multigrain tortilla chips with salsa, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 3pm, 7 falafel balls, chocolate babka, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 9pm, garden salad, eggplant hero, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

SWEAT!!

Perhaps foolishly, I woke up with an alarm at 5:30 despite my body allowing me to sleep longer, so I could meet Danny to ride the summerstreets event at 7am. We rode over the GWB and then towards Hoboken, stopping at Matsuwa Marketplace, a huge Japanese supermarket -- huge food court, and a shopping floor as big as a Wholefoods or Pathmark, except ALL Japanese stuff -- not pan-Asian, but JUST Japanese, pretty cool.

I picket up some machta (green tea powder), the secret ingredient to make green tea ice cream, and we had a power breakfast. The food, despite being premade out of a counter, was unassailably fresh and tasty, about a 1000 times better than the stuff you get out of the relatively common Korean bodegas downtown. And I tried "yPocari Sweat", which is basically the Japanese equivalent of Gatorade. If this stuff was a strange dayglo color and packed in a Gatorade bottle, I never would of known. It basically tasted like a flat Fresca -- the ingredients were pretty standard, except for the inclusion of MSG.


BREAKFAST: 6:30am, iced green tea, banana, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


AM SNACK: 9:45am, tuna rice triangle, pork miso don bowl, half a "pocari sweat", bite of donut, bite of red bean donut, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 3pm, Stouffer's frozen pizzas, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8:30pm, pasta with garlic, oil and shrimp, 1bowl, hunger 4/5