People really live like this by choice?

Ugg, do people really get by just on ordering in food? This is giving me a new appreciation of what cooking does for me. Hopefully the kitchen will be back in operation late in the week...

BREAKFAST: 9am, iced green tea, brown rice crispies with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH 1: 12:45pm, pumpernickel bagel and cream cheese with 2 pickles, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH 2: 2:30pm, shrimp saag with rice and roti, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 5pm, dark chocolate bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, eggplant hero, salad, onion rings, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

40

Happy birthday to me. Forty. The age John Lennon was assassinated. I guess my Beatles days are far behind me, he he. My Yoko sure can be uppity, though, he he.

Being that the kitchen is out of sorts, me n' Edie went to the diner on the block and had a greezy breakfast, reminiscent of my parents. Stayed indoors until workers came, took care of chores on the outside. After B got home, took off to yoga and had the most wonderful time with T -- unfortunately for her, no one else showed but fortunately for me, we had a 1-on-1 birthday yoga session!

Picked up ice cream from Lulu's on the way home and had a nice chill pizza & salad with B before bed. A low-key day.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9:45am, blt on rye, french fries, diet coke, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 1:30pm, buttermilk waffle, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, half a pint of ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


SNICKLESNACK: 7:15pm, half a lame vegan cupcake thing


DINNER: 8:30pm, pizza, Cesar salad, vegan mint chip ice cream, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Takin' Care of Business

Lifted weights early, then took Edie to a playgroup -- on Mondays it's mellow with a few dads, but this was full bore Mommy & Nanny central, maybe 10 other kids. Edie was fine with it, very cool. Chores right after then Edie to nap around noon. Took care of business and went off to school in the early afternoon.

School was the sauce class, highlighted by the beschamel needed for mac n' cheese. This is the 4th time I'm teaching, and I gotta say, this group is definitely the best yet -- they're actually PAYING ATTENTION to my lecture portion, and seem to be investing themselves in the food we're cooking. It's surprisingly gratifying. It makes me wish my dad was around, who was a college professor most of his career, to bounce that off him.

AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea


LUNCH: 12pm, 6" veggie burger sub on wholewheat, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Went for a Subway sub for lunch, as the kitchen is not operational. Could have done worse I suppose.

SCHOOL FOOD: 6pm, a couple small pieces of chimichuri flank steak, some mac n' cheese, a little spinach, a small cup of coca cola, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 8pm, brown rice California roll, seaweed salad, chocolate cake, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10pm, small ramekin of goldfish

Nutz

C, who looks after Edles on some days, brought me some roasted mixed nuts that impressed her -- buttered, fresh rosemary, spicy cayenne kick, nice selection of cashews, pecans, walnuts, almonds. Reminded me how good and how easy something like this is to make, as long as you start off with raw nuts -- double roasting a nut will make it chalky and bitter.

AM SNACK: 9am, iced green tea

AM SNACK: 11am roasted mixed nuts

LUNCH: 12:30pm, 4 slices superthin pizza 8oz sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6pm, shrimp with coconut curry, a little chicken with satay sauce, sticky rice, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Tired of the same pizza. Ordered in from Rice, food was pretty meh.

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, burgers, fries, donuts, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
No Comment.

Tuesday (Work)

Moderately busy day at work, glad to be out of a house under construction.

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


LUNCH: 12:15pm, 3 slices superthin pizza with onion and garlic, 8oz sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


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


DINNER: 6pm, meatballs & bread, 1 slice salad pizza, cranberry lime soda, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, house special mei fun, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Munday

Monday work postponed due to poor weather. Being that Edie was covered but too miserable out to ride, I reverted back to college and planted myself in a theater for two movies, followed by a cheapo meal.


BREAKFAST: 8:45am, iced green tea, wholewheat banana walnut muffin, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

BRUNCH: 11:30am, 3 veg samosas with chickpeas and spinach, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


LINNER: 4:15pm,  hijiki soy patty, large spinach salad with carrot dressing, cold sesame noodles, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 4:45pm, 1 short bread cookie, 1 chocolate madeline

PM SNACK: 7pm, chocolate chips, sesame crackers & peanuts, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 9pm, hot dog, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Spring Sprung

Can't wait for the house to be put back together, better than before, but in reality that won't be for another two weeks or so. Took Edie out for a nice walk in the morning, and in the afternoon we hopped on bike and met up with some non-baby friends in Brooklyn for some hanging out. Partially reassembled the bedroom when I got home, already looks better than before despite the dust and clutter.

Today is the first day of Spring, and boy I can't wait to officially begin spring cleaning!

TODAY'S COOKING:
Banana Walnut Muffins: Double batch, as there will be no cooking for the next 5-10 days, depending on how the kitchen work goes. As before, adjusted this recipe with 100% whole wheat flour, an extra 2 eggs, creamed the butter and sugar, then added the bananas, eggs and real vanilla bean. Upped salt by 1/3, chopped walnut to large pebbles. Topped each with a crumble of brown sugar right before hitting the oven. Came out pretty good, will help me be a little healthy through the week, if they last that long!

BREAKFAST: 4:30am, a couple of freshly baked banana walnut muffins, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


AM SNACK: 9am, small piece of semi sweet chocolate


LUNCH: noon, pasta with sauce and parm, glass of grape juice, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
I don't keep grape juice in the house, but we got a bunch of Purim bags from the religious neighbors dropped on our door (Edie-fans), so there it was.


PM SNACK: 6pm, 2 banana walnut muffins, .5 bowl, hunger 4/ 5

DINNER: 7pm, eggplant hero, green salad, water, 1.25 bow, hunger 4/5

Better than drugs

Woke up naturally at 6:30, got on the bike at 7:15 and made my way out to Little Neck Bay and Whitestone via Flushing Meadow. A little cold, but wonderful to be out in the world. Had a fantastic afternoon out with the gals, culminating in buying new shoes for babies and eating some great food, followed by vegan cashew-based ice cream at Lula's on the way home.

My body was hungry and tired in a way that only a long bike ride can give, much better than any sleeping pill or drug.


BREAKFAST: 7am, iced green tea, brown rice crispies with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


BIKE SNACK: 10:30am, 20oz Gatorade, small bag of corn chips, 3 small chocolate chip cookies, half a "beef stick", .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 12:30pm, 2 White castle burgers, 2 pickles, health salad, 2 cheese hamantashen, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH pt 2: 2:30pm, 2 homemade black bean burritos with a little fresh guacamole, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5 


DINNER: 5pm, bulgogi & rice, kimchi pancake, veg dumplings, water, vegan chocolate ice cream. 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Get 'er dun

A lot going on in the house with three men working, a dishwasher delivery, a bed delivery, a guy came to measure for stone, etc etc. But everything got done by the time Edles napped, and being that it was over 70 degrees out, we got the heck out of the house and I fed her lunch in a vest pocket park around the corner.

Once she got it in, we rolled over to our local play park and Edie ran around for an hour before we slowly made it back home. It was nice to hand off to B a bit, and I ordered in.

Next week, I may not be able to cook in my kitchen for a full 7-10 days, hmmmm.

AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Banana, milk, yogurt, grapes, cherries, mango, blueberries, vanilla, ground flax, pinch of salt.

LUNCH: 12:30pm, 2 fish sticks, tatertots, pickles, healthsalad, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 5pm, piece of semisweet chocolate


DINNER: 8pm, pepper steak, salad, spring roll, wonton soup, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Mah fsss!

Good day. Went out to the park with Edles while men worked in my apartment. Over to school in the afternoon for a relatively successful teaching session (Cesar salad with grilled chicken and fresh croutons, a bound shrimp salad with fresh mayo, vegetable soup with stock made last week). Rode over to WF after for a few things, and picked up some premade stuff as I didn't want to cook anymore today, and the place is under construction on top of that.

Edie put together her first two words unprompted ("Hi Papa" doesn't count, as she was just mimicking what she heard.) She's been saying "more" a lot, and calls goldfish crackers "fssss". Over breakfast, she held out an empty container that had goldfish and instead of just saying more ("mah!"), she said "mah fsss!" Yeah, I'm proud.


AM SNACK: 8am, ice green tea


BREAKFAST: 9am, brown rice crispies with organic dead milk, half a waffle, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: noon, 4 white castle burgers, health salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


SCHOOL SNACK: 2:45pm, chocolate covered pretzels, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


SCHOOL TASTINGS: 3:15 - 7pm, bits of 10 cheeses, a few shrimp, many tastes of student mayonnaise, freshly baked croutons, vegetable soup, grilled chicken breast, .25 bowl, hunger ?/5


DINNER: 8:30pm, brown rice California roll, shrimp summer roll, chocolate cake, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Work Work

Had a hard time falling asleep, little niggly things about family, work and the renovation starting today just bouncing around my head. Woke up a bit early to run out to do some chores to help get ready for the men working in the house today.

Rainy on the way to work, the new bike controls like a charm. Between the Big Dummy's wide tires, long wheel base, non-locking disc brakes and nice heft (along with the front fender I just installed), it rode in the rain like it was made for it.

BREAKFAST: 8:15am, iced green tea, the good yogurt with honey, vanilla and cashews, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12:15pm, 4 slices superthin pizza with mushroom and onion, 8 oz sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3pm, meatball
PM SNACK: 5pm, green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 6pm, large arancini, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 8pm, small glass of apple juice


DINNER: 10:30pm, tatertots, cheesefilled coffee cake, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
No comment.

Work Work

Busy in the resto, didn't eat too bad considering. The season has begun.

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

LUNCH: 12:45pm, 2 slices superthin pizza, 8oz sprite, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5pm, Manhattan Special
Very busy in the shop, needed it once the lunch crowd ended.

PM SNACK: 6:30pm, green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 7:30, 1 slice salad pizza, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 10pm, house special fried rice, 3 cheese hamantashen, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Monday Monday

My last Monday at home for a while, next week starts three days a week at the resto. Took Edie to the Dads-only play group, ran around and completed a few chores, then home for her nap. Edie was a bit cranky after lunch, so we hopped on the bike together for the first time this season and went down to the fancy playground by South Street Seaport. Only one other parent and kid there, but Edie had a fantastic time running around and going up and down a set of steps. When I got home, B was there to take over the E while I banged out a bunch of hamantashen. Went to bed early.

TODAY'S COOKING
Hamantashen:  Had left over prune and cheese fillings, had to use them or toss them. I forgot that the cheese filling loosened the cookies, and I went heavier to use it up, so they all came undone. Still delicious, but not transportable or servable -- I'll just have to eat them over the next few days. Considered making a yeast cookie instead of the creamed-butter version, but the directions called for a chill over-night, which would make it more delicious, but I just wanted to knock 'em out quick.

AM SNACK: 8:45am, iced green tea

LUNCH: 12:30pm, black beans & cheddar, health salad & 2 pickles, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Health salad and 3/4 sour pickles are a fantastic combo. The beans and cheese left over from my burrito session yesterday went in my mouf today -- I should of let the beans simmer without a cover for a bit to tighten them up, a little bit loose and watery, but good flavor regardless.

PM SNACK: 6:30pm, handful of cheese hamantashen


DINNER: 7:45pm, pad thai, mixed dumplings, tiny spring roll, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Ordered from the new place uptown. The Pad Thai was HORRIBLE, underdressed, noodles too stiff, and about twice the quantity it should be. The Chinese stuff, though, was still a class above the local take out. They have Japanese stuff on their menu too, but I guess I'll just stick to the Chinese stuff.

Waffles & Burritos & Sauternes OH MY!

Went to Home Depot looking for various things needed for the upcoming fixes to the apartment, but everything was just straight-up wrong there. Found exactly the right stuff on Amazon, and paid a whole lot extra to have everything delivered early in the week. Worth it, if I'm going to be staring at this stuff for potentially many years to come.

Banged out some good cooking, took Edie for along walk and play in the park behind the building, and met up with a friend and old colleague from the resto to talk about the future. Over all a good but tiring day, and it doesn't help that we lost an hour!

TODAY'S COOKING
Buttermilk waffles: Had some left over buttermilk from the cheddar chive biscuits, so rather than do pancakes, broke out ye olde caste iron waffle iron and pumped out a double batch. Edie love 'em.


Burritos: Long cooked black beans yesterday with sofrito, onion, bell pepper and assorted seasonings and salt. And I banged out a big batch of guacamole (mushed together avocado, minced cilantro, raw grated onion, lemon juice, salt) Today, cooked a cup of long grain brown rice, gathered a bunch of whole wheat tortillas, and grated a block of mild cheddar and assembled away. One broke open and ended up in my mouth, pretty good, a definite improvement over the last batch.

AM SNACK: 9am, iced green tea

LUNCH: 2pm, 2 waffles, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

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


DINNER:7:30pm, chicken soup, pasta with pork ragu, broccolini, a little gnocchi, 1 glass wine, a little ice cream, a little carrot cake, half glass of sauternes, fizzy water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Bike Season has begun

First ride of the season yo!! Woke up early-ish, caffeinated then got the hell out, rode out to Coney Island on this windy, brisk day. Ran into a few parent friends on the way out, ran into a school friend in Bay Ridge, just a wonderful early start to Spring. Did chores via bike in the afternoon, then out to a nice Korean dinner and a movie with E, who I haven't had one-on-one "girl time" with in way too long. Good day.

BREAKFAST: 8:45am, iced green tea, handful of chocolate covered coffee beans


BIKE SNACK: 11am, bag of corn chips, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 12:45am, health salad, pickles, water .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 3:15pm, pretzels, peanuts and chocolate chips, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6:45pm, bulgogi, pa jeon, bibimbop, kimchi and various little starters, large bottle of beer, 1.75 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 8pm, sprite, chocolate thingies, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Runnin' About

Went out in the morning with the Edles to go food shopping, bought a dish washer while out, bleah. Baby sitter in the eve, me and B went out with another couple to dinner at a really annoying restaurant, then to a Robyn Hitchcock show. Despite the hickups, it was a brilliant evening.

BREAKFAST: 8am, organic wholegrain chex with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


AM SNACK: 11am, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese and sabel, 1  bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6:30pm, couscous with assorted meats, a few bites of tomato salad, water, 2 glasses of wine, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Not a good eating day

Busy day, school teaching, then a few meetings after. Did not eat well.

BRUNCH: 11am, cheddar chive biscuit with sausage gravy, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SCHOOL SNACK: 3pm, a few twix candy bars, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


SCHOOL MEAL: 6:30pm, chicken, mashed potato, chard, sprite, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 9pm, 1 small slice pizza, half a beer, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10pm, 2 small burgers, a small bowl of chocolate chips, peanuts and pretzels, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Unpowered

Slow day at the resto, felt weirdly lethargic. I wonder if it was causal or unrelated. Looking forward to Edie time tomorrow.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, good oatmeal, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 12 noon, 4 slices superthin pizza with shrimp, 8 oz sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 1pm, Manhattan SpecialFeeling groggy and unenergetic. THis didn't help much.

PM SNACK: 5pm, green salad
DINNER: 7:45pm, vegetarian meatballs with thai black rice, 8oz sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, burgers, ice cream, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
No comment.

Artiste

I was distracted by Edie's massive art installation this morning, a piece that covered the walls of her bedroom and hallway, as well as very pieces of random furniture, that I forgot to pack a healthy breakfast.

AM SNACK: 9am, iced green tea
LUNCH: 12:30pm, 4 slices superthin pizza with mushroom, & onion, 8oz sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 4:45pm,green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5:45pm, 2 small slices pizza, .5 bowl hunger 4/5

DINNER: 10:30pm, cheddar chive biscuit with sausage gravy, water, assorted sweets from Milk Bar, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

I feel Spring.

Woke up late, had to get out with Edie to playgroup and sort out her preschool arrangements for next Fall. Got home and lifted weights, then V came over and we cooked up lunch and a bunch of cookies. Edie & I enjoyed the park for an hour before B got home, it was so nice to feel Spring kinda peeking around the corner and knocking on the door. Left overs and TV took me into the night.

TODAY'S COOKING:
Cheddar Chive Biscuits with Sausage Gravy: I eliminated the bacon from this old standby, and they still came out pretty perfect -- didn't hurt that I used full-fat cream-based buttermilk from the farmer's market. I just winged the gravy, as it's one of those things you know what it is -- it's just beschamel with crumbled cooked sausage thrown in, and kicked up a notch with pepper and cayenne. Crumbled and browned a lb of breakfast sausage, then cooked the pork fat with flour to a dark blonde roux. Slowly added a few cups of hot milk until it was the right consistency, tossed the sausage back in, salted, peppered and cayenned to taste, and it was good, dammit!

Prune & Cheese hamantashen: A goof. It's Purim in a few weeks, so what the hey. Got the recipes from the Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. Two fillings, prunes (soaked, ground with walnuts, honey, citrus zest) and cheese (blended farmer's cheese, cream cheese, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla bean, salt), and a simple creamed-style cookie dough set off with a bit of sour cream. Came out pretty good.


BREAKFAST: 9am, good yogurt with honey, peanuts and vanilla, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


AFTERNOON SNACK: 12:15pm, iced green tea

LUNCH: 2:30pm, cheddar chive biscuit with sausage gravy, a handful of prune & cheese hamantashen, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 7:30pm, health salad, mushroom risotto, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5