Cracking 3000

231--->229.8--->225.4


Went down by over 4 pounds this last month. Looking at the pattern of my weight since recording it month to month, this is the time of year I go down a little, but it comes back in the fall. Still, I lifted weights this morning, completing my regular 2x a week despite skipping the holiday on Monday and being too sick/tired/busy Tuesday. It's heartening that I really do feel good when I finish, in a similar way to how I feel better when I finish a long bike ride.

I'm not sure (yet) how many calories I need to take in per day to maintain my weight or to lose weight at a healthy rate, but I 'm pretty sure that going over 3000 is not ideal. Looking at what I ate today, it was mostly pretty healthy, and the unhealthy stuff was in relatively small quantities. (And if I had a sugared soda instead of diet, I could have easily piled on 300-500 more.) Huh.

THE COUNT: 3,015

AM SNACK: 6:45am, iced green tea, 45 cal


BREAKFAST: 10am, hardcore oatmeal, banana, 340 cal


LUNCH: noon, sardine & avocado on wholewheat toast, momma salad with ranch, 2 ears boiled corn with butter, water, 1070 cal
Huh, so that's what eating 1000 calories feels like. Felt good, full, comfortable, satiated. Surprisingly, the one tablespoon of dressing had the same number of calories as the cup and a half of carrot, cucumber, red pepper and onion.

PM SNACK: 2:45pm, bag of Fritos, 160 cal 


SCHOOL SNACK: 4:30pm, mouthful of brownie batter, ??? Cal
It was a substantial taste, as we were cleaning a huge pot and there was a lot to lick. 200.

DINNER: 6:30pm, Swedish meatballs & mashed potatoes, gravy, fries, a little salad, diet Pepsi, 1,200 cal
Got stuck at Ikea as the line was slow and had to stick around another 40 minutes to wait for the ferry. The cafeteria seduced me because....they listed calorie counts, he he. Hungry, ordered fries (330) to go along with the meal. Surprised how many calories. Satisfying, even if I skipped the overly sweet lingon berry mush.

Buzz Buzz on one beer

B took Milli Mil to the doc this morning, so after I got Edles to school, got laundry in and did food shopping.

Forgot to mention that I lifted weights yesterday. I was feeling a bit run down but kinda unthinkingly knew if I lifted, I'd feel better after...and I did! Thought I was only going to lift once this week, but will try to fit another 45 minute session in tomorrow, should be fine as I'm only a little sore today.

THE COUNT: +/- 2500 cal

AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea, 45 cal

BREAKFAST: 10am, smoothie, 330 cal
Probably not EXACTLY 330, as my frozen fruit mix is personally done, but I got the count from a commercial brand of mixed frozen fruit.

AM SNACK: 11:45am, popcorn, 440 cal


LUNCH: 12:45pm, 2 stouffer's french bread pizza, 840 cal
Huh. Guess I could have probably done 1.

SCHOOL DINNER: 6:30pm, random bites of pizza, 12oz soda (140cal), ??? cal
Didn't eat that much, gonna say 500cal all in.

EVENING SNORT: 8:30pm, can of 21st Amendment Bitter American beer, 130 cal
Stopped by Malt & Mold on the way home from school, the proprietor invited me in for a beer and a chat.

EVENING SNACK: 9:15pm, watermelon, 220 cal

Count Norbert

Woke up at 5am feeling a bit ill, got it together by 9am. Something didn't sit right, perhaps last night's pizza?

Speaking of that pizza, it got me thinking. I'll be shaking up this blog in a bit, but there are certain things I think I should start now in the roll up. Yesterday, I ate pretty healthily, homemade reasonable breakfast, a vegetable-laden vegetarian lunch, dinner with a small piece of broiled fish, brown rice and a lot of vegetables. Despite that, I was very, very hungry come 8pm or so, craving sugar. The frozen pizza hit the spot and squelched my appetite. I needed more calories, not sugar.

How many calories do I need? Reporting estimated "bowls" to consider how much I actually eat is, among other things, ineffective in tracking quantity, a.k.a. calories. So instead of bowls, I'm going to report calories as best I can. It may take a month or two to get to the point where I can account for all calories through the day, but it's an evolving process, I guess.

Funny, when we served the final meal at my class this evening, I cut the cheesecake we made into 32 slices -- close to the recommended serving. The kids whined a little about how small the pieces were, and all served double portions for themselves. Hmmm.

THE COUNT: +/-2035

AM SNACK: 8:45am, iced green tea, pint, 45 calories
For some reason when I made new tea last night, I added 1/2 cup of sugar per gallon instead of 1/4. Too sweet. Not undrinkable canned ice tea sweet, but too sweet. Green tea is zero calories, but .5oz of sugar adds the cals.

LUNCH: 11:45am, PB&J on whole wheat toast, momma salad with ranch, water, 670 calories
Easy to forget how many calories in dressing, how little in cucumber.

SCHOOL DINNER: 6:30pm, fried shrimp, baked ziti, asparagus, cheesecake, can of coke (145cal), ?? cal
I kept my portions at a reasonable amount, but the ziti was definitely 6-8oz, not the recommended 2. Fried shrimp was nibbled on for 30 minutes, so who knows. I'd estimate, including the coke, 1000 or so calories.


EVENING SNACK: 9:15pm, peanuts & chocolate chips, 330 calories

Son, get some teeth

While out and about with Mil today, went to Maoz and got a "Falafel Salad Box" -- a container with a 5 fried balls and a meager garnish of iceberg -- but then filled up from their salad bar. Tabouli, onion relish, roasted peppers, Israeli salad and a few other little things made the bowl overflow and topped with a healthy squirt of tahini. I know it's set up so I feel like I'm getting my $9 worth, but I know if I did the math if I made this at home this plate would be about $3. Still, a healthy vegetable-heavy vegetarian meal eaten in Union Square, with Mil pushed to one side while strapped to me, which didn't stop him from trying to eat what I was eating. Son, get some teeth, then we'll talk

TODAY'S COOKING
Banana Pancakes: T came over in the morning with Lil' EO, and we cooked up some good pancakes together. Added a cup of sour cream to the standard c-school recipe, came out tender, highly-risen and tasty.

AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9:45am, 2 banana pancakes, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 12:30pm, falafel salad box, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


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


DINNER: 6:30pm, broiled cod, curry brown rice, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Broiled the cod for 10 minutes on high, came out a bit tough, edible but overcooked. I have a 3 lb bag of frozen fillets, so next time will cut back to 7 minutes.


EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, frozen pizza, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Hmmmm.

Memorial Day Eating

I intended to lift weights, but the fam went to visit friends in Brooklyn in the morning, I fell asleep in the afternoon for  nice nap, then J came over and we got the laundry done together and took Edles out for dinner at a local joint. I've decided not to beat myself up about the poor eating and lack of exercise today, it was a national holiday with quality family & friend time, and will be back on the lifting for my normal second lift later in the week.

BREAKFAST: 8am, iced green tea, brown rice crispies with organic dead milk, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: noon, shrimp burrito, guac & chips, 1 beer, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 2:30pm, ice cream cone, .5 bowl,  hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6:30pm, no-cheese eggplant hero, house salad, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 8pm, ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Eat through a ride

Road the bike to Seaside Heights today, about 85 miles total. Tried to avoid having meals, but have a lot of snacks -- it worked. I wasn't hungry or thirsty the whole day, and when I got home I threw down 2 slices that were lying around, but felt pretty in control after that -- a little watermelon easily finished me. Able to cook some sweet stuff and almost none went down my throat -- if I was in calorie deficit, that bowl of watermelon would have been a bowl of ice cream.

TODAY'S COOKING
Vanilla Ice Cream & Strawberry Compote: The host whose party we're going to tomorrow asked for "strawberry vanilla" ice cream, a combo I do not like, so I made the strawberry element as a topping rather than as a mix-in. Took 2/3 pf a pint of a strawberries and mashed and cooked them with some sugar and rum. Once juiced well-released, made smooth in a food processor and added in the other 1/3, finely sliced. Vanilla ice cream came out well.

AM SNACK: 6:45am, iced green tea


AM SNACK: 7:30am, watermelon, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


BIKE SNACK: 8:15am, 2 donuts, churro, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


BIKE SNACK: 11:45am, 32 oz gatorade


BIKE SNACK 1pm, pizza slice, diet coke, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


BIKE SNACK: 2:30pm, bag of munchos, slurpie, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


BIKE SNACK: 4:45pm, suspiciously bad burger, fries, ice cream cone, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 7:30pm, 2 slices pizza, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 9pm, watermelon, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Cooking, Waterin' & Ballet

Woke up with a cough, but feeling a little better, cough not as coughy as the last few days. Got my regularly scheduled weights in before T and her bebe came over. We baked cookies for her people, and we also made pasta from scratch, before heading out with bebes for bebestuff.

Picked up Edie after school and went to our coop's big playground, where the water feature was on for the first time this season. After five minutes of Edie pleading with her eyes to allow her to get wet, I got her down to her diaper and she was running, running, running for a solid hour in and out of the spray.

Met up with MAP in the evening for some ballet at the Met. MAP is great n' all, but I look forward to going to the Met with my wifey sooner than later....

TODAY'S COOKING
Vanilla Ice Cream Custard: Before T showed up, I quickly whipped off a batch of triple vanilla bean custard to make ice cream tomorrow, because Sunday we are going to a start-of-summer party in the 'hood.
Spinach Pasta: Experimental -- why not make whole wheat pasta instead of buying it? 3.5 cups whole wheat flour, 6 eggs, 1/2 cup spinach. Cooked and chilled spinach, blended it with eggs to smooth. Made dough, rested for an hour. Rolled out in machine. Dough was a little weak on the gluten side, broke when got really long. Too moist too, had to hang each noodle on a pasta rack to keep from sticking. In the end, tasted good, slightly gritty, but not as bad as I thought it would be.

AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 9am, brown rice crispies & organic dead milk, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Measured out a 30 gram "single serving" of cereal, way too little, so poured 60 and it looked reasonable. A single serving of milk was 1 cup, which was too much. Hmmmm.

LUNCH 1: noon, spinach pasta with shrimp and homemade sauce, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH 2: 2:30pm, 6" veggie burger sandwich, sunchips, diet coke, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
From the materials provided, I  estimate this meal at 600 calories, relatively low for fastfood. Hmmm


EVENING SNORT: 6:30pm, glass of proseccco


DINNER: 8:45pm, 2 slices of pizza, sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Hungry Man

Chilled with Mil in the morning, got laundry done, taught in the afternoon, food shopped in the evening, fed my childhood nostalgia in the evening.

AM SNACK: 8:15am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9:15am, hardcore oatmeal, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: noon, 2 hot dogs with mustard & caramelized onion, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


SCHOOL SNACK: 3:30pm, 3oz of various snack chips, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Tiny one ounce packs of chips have 110 calories -- wow.

SCHOOL SNACK: 6pm, farro & sausage, 10oz coca cola, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 9:30pm, Hungry Man Salisbury Steak Frozen Dinner, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Picked up something different at the super market, something comforting from my childhood. Definitely not as good as I remember. Potatoes were clearly reconstituted from dry, the microwave-baked brownie was oddly cake-like. I never ate the string beans as a kid, but I ate them now, and they were over-cooked and oddly sweet. Why are they in so much liquid? The Salisbury steaks were kinda rubbery and overly sweet too, but they had this really appealing grilled flavor I distinctly remember from childhood. The Salisbury steaks I made for a dinner party a few months ago were ridiculously superior.

B b'd and moaned at me this morning after finding the container in the trash. I had to explain to her that a) it was fun and mindful,  not a chore or mindless, b) it was 1/3 the calories of a box of donuts that give me the same comfort and c) just because your not pregnant doesn't mean you shouldn't be barefoot and quiet! (that's husband jokes for ya)

Rice Rice Baby

Rough night, I'm still coughing a lot and the other three aren't sleeping that great, either. Taught culinary this afternoon, made pastry -- donuts and cookies and cheesecakes, oh my! Out of fresh veg at home, still wangled an ok dinner.

AM SNACK: 7:45am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9am, BLT on white toast, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Out to breakfast with B.

LUNCH: noon, PB&J on whole wheat, water .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


SCHOOL SNACK: 5:30pm, 2 fried donuts, 2 chocolate chip cookies, cup of milk, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 9pm, broiled sole, curry brown rice, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Fried the brown rice in butter, tossed in a tablespoon of curry powder, dash of salt, a fistful of caramelized onion and a few bay leaves. Cooked up nice simmering for about 30 minutes. Missing a certain something, not sure what.

Hong Kong not for me

Still feeling sick, stuffy nose, sore throat, head achey, but better. Lifted weights in the morning.

AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 10:15am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 12:30pm, rice noodles & fishball, Hong Kong lotus leaf wrap, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Got lunch at the Chinese cart at the corner of Canal & Essex. She was out of the usual small lotus leaf wraps I get, which have a small amount of minced, soy-heavy pork in the middle of the sticky rice, so I got some other wrap she had. This one was larger and held together with string. Same sticky rice, but it quickly got different as I ate through it. Rice changed in texture and turned yellow. The middle was a sloid piece of pork with a healthy piece of fat attached to it. I realized there was an egg in there that was steamed to cook into the rice and....I didn't like it. I did eat about half of it, but was just too eggy for my taste.

DINNER: 6:30pm, whole wheat pasta with spinach, shrimp and homemade sauce, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10pm, chocolate chips & almonds, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Knishin'

B woke up early and took Mil to an appointment, while I got up around 7:15, showered, made Edie's lunch, woke her up and fed her breakfast, got dressed, got Edie dressed, collected our stuff and got Edie on the big bike and got her to school on time in the rain. Got home and just went to work. Momma-in-law and B came back with the baby and spent some time, which was very helpful in letting me focus, and when they split, knishes were in the oven and I was already winding down in anticipation of picking up Edles.

Still feel ill -- headache, stuffy nose, sore throat -- but pushing it out of my head and focusing on getting the project done somehow made my whole being feel better. Rallying for a palpable goal which has a very real result -- a whole mess o' knishes.

TODAY'S COOKING
Knishes: Boiled potatoes, mixed potato onion and spinach roasted garlic fillings. Cooked up a huge pot of kasha onion filling. Before leaving to pick up Edie, cooked off 36 potato and 36 spinach, got the kitchen in sane order. After we got home out of the rain, cooked off 36 kasha knishes and a couple dozen sweet knishes.

Got a gallon each of each potato-based filling and two large runs of dough in the mini-freezer, so hopefully when i need to make another 100 pieces, they'll defrost well and there will be little drama and wasted time in pumping that out. (Kasha filling in quantity only takes 20 minutes in two stove-top pans, not a big ordeal of peeling and boiled and milling potatoes.)

AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9am, banana, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Just breathed in the banana without even a thought.


LUNCH: 11:45am, Stouffer's French bread pizzas, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 5pm, a few spoonfuls of sweet knish filling


DINNER: 6:30pm, 2 slices of streetza, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, 1 cheese knish, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 11pm, almonds & chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Too sick to ride, too healthy not to knish

Got to bed around 8pm, set the alarm for 3:30am. Got up around 3 to use the bathroom, had a thumping headache, stuffy nose, sore-r throat and aches all over. So I turned off the alarm and slept in until 9:30. Woke up to perfect weather, wish it was raining, but I'm signed up for another Montauk Century in June, so hopefully things will work in my favor then. Annoyingly, about an hour after waking, felt a lot better, undoubtedly because of the 13 1/2 hours of sleep.

Wish I was riding, but glad to be able to get a leg up up on the knishing day tomorrow. Momma-in-Law came over and the Wreckin' Crew went out to visit events in the neighborhood while I hunkered down and did mise for my day of knishing tomorrow.

TODAY'S COOKING
Knish prep: About as much as you can do with out making actual knishes. Made four double batches of dough, two to be frozen to be used weeks down the line (hopefully the quality will be good, TBD).  Diced and caramelized 30 lbs of onions,  down into 10 lbs. Made dough & filling for cheese knishes, but got tired in the evening and B was busy cleaning up, so didn't cook any off.

AM DRUGGING: 9:30am, 2 ibuprofin, 1 Vitamin C tablet


AM SNACK: 9:45am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 10:30am. pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


AM SNACK: 11:45am, groom cookie, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
We had bride & groom butter cookies for take-away at the bridal shower yesterday, never got around to eating one. Surprisingly edible!


LUNCH: 3pm, momma salad, multigrain tortilla chips, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 7:45pm, Singapore rice noodles, roti canai, slice of rejected chocolate hazelnut cheese knish, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Bridal Shower

Woke at 4:30am -- got to bed around 10, woke up once to feed Milli around midnight. Throat a little sore, worried it might become worse if I'm not careful. I woke up so early because I need to be up at 3:30 tomorrow to get out for a Montauk Century.

MAP came over in the afternoon, she decorated while I got the food together. Had about 20 people over, got a lot of compliments on the food. It was a good time, though definitely something I'd rather not do more than once or twice a decade, he he.

The Fearsome Family came home just as things were wrapping up, was nice to see Edles absorb all the attention from a stack of drunk ladies. I wound down quickly and got to bed around 8pm, thanks to the cooperation and efforts of my ever lovin' B.

AM SNACK: 4:45am, iced green tea, Vitamin C pill


BREAKFAST: 5:15am, 4 pancakes, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Outta the freezer, into my mouf.

AM SNACK: 10:45am, homemade granola bar, small piece of watermelon, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 12:15pm, 2 pocket pies, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Stopped in at the Hester St Fair, a table doing savory and sweet mini pie. Savories very much like cornish pasties. One was curry potato, other was a trippy beet/horseradish. Kinda inspirational for my knishing.

PM BRIDAL SHOWER SNACKS: 2-5pm, a few mini fried potato knishes, 2 lamb tziki sliders, a few mini cheesecakes, a shrimp summer roll, 2 glasses of cava, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6:30pm, cold fried mini knishes, some left over whole wheat pasta, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Got a bunch of carbs in for the ride I'll be powering through tomorrow.

Cookin'

Woke up at 6, helped B put the house back together, as she had friend's with kids over for dinner last night and they ran wild (in a good way.) Got Edie to school, and when I got home at 8:45, it was non-stop cooking and Mil-ing until around 2, where it was quick cleaning then out of the door to pick up Edie. Upon reflection, I'm surprised how much I got done -pats self on back-, I just hate being late, or just on time, for that matter.

TODAY'S COOKING
Hosting a bridal shower for E tomorrow, no one I'm gonna serve trucked in food or sumtin'. On top of the mini cheese cakes I made earlier in the week, there is also...


Crudite & Baba Ganoush: Made a bunch of veg into sticks, made a simple baba with an eggplant. A sop to vegans, I suppose.

Shrimp Summer Rolls: Made these for Edie's first birthday a few years ago. Still had the rice skins and rice noodles in the cupboard. Boiled some shrimp, shocked it, wrapped it up with some red pepper, carrot, cucumber, green leaf lettuce and mint. Made a peanut dipping sauce with peanut butter, brown sugar, rice wine, miso, soy sauce and fresh ginger.

Chicken Liver Deviled Eggs: Hard boiled a dozen eggs. Cooked off a half pound of chicken livers, then caramelized onions in the rendered fat, deglazed with white wine, finished with cream and lemon juice. Blended the sauce, onion and liver with the yellows. Will pipe the mix into the whites before service tomorrow.

Lamb Slider (prep): Ground a half pound of fat back with a pound of lamb. Mixed with fresh garlic, salt, pepper. Made a simple tziki sauce with the good yogurt, fresh garlic, minced cucumber, olive oil, salt and lemon juice. Will fry off the meat patties right before people are here, put on an open faced brioche base, top with a dollop of sauce.

Fried Cocktail Knishes (prep): Made a single batch of dough, boiled up 5 lbs of potatoes, came out with about 30 pieces, though if I was more efficient about it, probably could of pushed 40 out of the batch. Will deep fry them tomorrow as people show up

AM SNACK: 6:30am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 7:45am, toasted onion bagel with cream cheese, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


AM NIBBLE: 11am, summer roll


AM SNACK: 11:30am, 7oz ginger ale


LUNCH: 1pm, momma salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 2pm, wedge of cheesecake, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Needed the space in the fridge, he he.

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, watermelon, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Oddly enough, Edie asked to go to the supermarket and get watermelon after class, totally unprovoked. I doubt she remembers gorging on watermelon last summer, that was 1/3 of her life ago. Watermelon itself was kinda phneh, to early in the season.

DINNER: 6:15pm, whole wheat pasta with homemade sauce and school made meatballs, roasted brussel sprouts, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 9pm, 3.5 oz of ginger ale

That Bubble

Got it locked down in the morning: cooking, laundry, weights, lesson plans, Milli-care. Taught in the afternoon, the student whose mom died yesterday wandered through while I was setting up. I told him I heard, and I was sorry, but he didn't want to talk about it, we chatted about food for 10 minutes before I had to start and he had to split. I guess the relief from the immense mourning he must be feeling right now was something I could provide for him. I remember being in that bubble, it's a shitty place to be, the kind of place that makes you feel glad you only have 2 parents to lose. Eesh.

TODAY'S COOKING:
Tomato Sauce: Ran out a week ago, found 2 or 3 times that I was craving it. So I got it on early in the AM to be ready for lunch. 2 diced onions to soft, added three grated carrots, cooked for another 5. Added fresh oregano and thyme, gave another 3 minutes. Added 5 mashed cloves of garlic and a cup of horrible super-sweet kosher "Cream Niagara" which was given to us over Purim. Cooked off the wine, added four milled cans of whole tomato. Brought to simmer, added a chopped bunch of basil, and 3 parm and romano rinds. After an hour of simmering, looked nice and thick, took out the remnants of the rinds and salted to taste.

AM SNACK: 6:45am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9:15am, hardcore oatmeal, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: noon, whole wheat spag with fresh sauce, 3 school made meatballs and small momma salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 1pm, large piece of homemade cheesecake, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Should of had smaller or skipped it, but from when I woke up from 6:30am, been zooming from cooking sauce, doing laundry, lifting weights, making catering menus & class lessons AND looking after Milli. Oddly enough, ate this while watching the HBO doc, "Weight of the Nation". Eesh.

SCHOOL SNACK: 6pm, a little flank steak, a little sauteed spinach, some mac n' cheese, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, bag of Milano cookies, 1.25 bowl, huger 4/5
Double eesh. Needed comfort.

Mom flashes before my eyes.

One of my student's mom has been very sick for the duration of the semester, stomach cancer. He was out last week, and popped up again today. He was in early, so I got him to work caramelizing onions for the knishes, and chatted while I set up the kitchen. After some chit chat about food, I asked him how his mom was doing, and he said that was why he wasn't here last week, that it's not going well. I spoke to him a little about how it was when my mom was with cancer, and that it's not easy for anyone, whether your 17 like him or in my mid 30s when it happened to me.

Alas, while the class was starting, his advisor came in and and whispered something to him, he went blank in a shocked-look kind of way, and was escorted out. I only know this kid by the 3-4 hours a week we've been spending together for the last few months, but in that moment the whole memory of finding out my mom died flashed before my eyes. Very hard to compartmentalize as I'm trying to do a concise 2-minute lecture on the human history of the dumpling.

AM SNACK: 7:45am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9:15am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Made a double batch to make little frozen pops for Edles. She has been going cah-razy for "purple ice cream" lately, so much so that she eats two in the morning then wants more at night, though we do not allow her sugary things in the eve. Make me happy, as it's not THAT sweet, and there is a fair amount of nutrition, fiber, water, vitamins and good stuff to go with that slight sugar dose she's getting.

LUNCH: noon, PB&J on sourdough, momma salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

SCHOOL SNACK: 6:30pm, beef empanadas, Jamaican festival dumplings, shrimp shumai, potato knishes, sprite, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Fun Dumpling class at school, food came out good, fun teaching knishes.

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, homemade cheesecake, leftover lomain, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

Salty Soup to be served with....Saltines?!

Up a little after 5, B had to go to the doc (everything is fine, just a regular thing) and it hit me harder than I expected -- cancelled plans, stayed in doors and hung on to my focus -- got some cooking done, and watched after Milli, but I found myself paralyzed by a hazy feeling and feeling run down. Unsurprisingly, a cold sore chose to pop up on my lower lip. Lazily ordered in dinner, but it was nice to sit down with the fam, and I put myself in bed around 8:30.

Saw a reference to this article somewhere yesterday, a mathematical equation designed to answer how many calories need to be reduced to lose weight. In a nutshell, 100 cal less a day will result in 10 lbs lost in THREE YEARS. Assuming no cheating, a constant 100 cal less. There are a lot of buts (no pun! no pun!), as heavier people will have a harder/longer time reaching a new stasis than lighter people. It's interesting, and kinda says what some of us already know through osmosis -- if your fat, it's hard to lose it, and even harder to keep it off. Unlike all the products that promise perfect, fast results for a fee, this feels like the truth -- real results will be a LONG time in coming, with a LOT of struggle. I feel like I've shifted my diet to a certain extent in the last 5 months, but this tells me I shouldn't be discouraged by my total lack of weight loss -- it's a multi-year, cumulative thing.

TODAY'S COOKING
Mini cheesecakes: Sweets always hold the best, so this is the first thing I'm making for E's bridal shower, which I am hosting in house. Most of the cooking will happen Friday, and that-which-must-be-freshest on Saturday, as the gathering starts at 2pm. My first attempt, I burned all the graham crusts and had to start over -- a full size might take 10 minutes, but a mini needs no more than a minute. Adjusted all cooking times downwards on the fly, hopefully they'll turn out -- I won't know until I have them chilled. Also making a 6" cheesecake with the overage...

AM SNACK: 5:45am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 6:30am, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


AM SNACK: 9:30am, spoonfuls of cheesecake batter

AM SNACK: 10:30am, cheese knish, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 12:45pm, chicken soup with pastina and TVP, 7oz ginger ale, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Betsy brought home a quart of clear chicken soup, so I heated it with some tiny pasta shapes and a handful of dried textured vegetable protein. I put in some water, too, and it was STILL too salty. Damn, who would eat this with a saltine cracker?

DINNER: 6pm, shrimp & broc, pork fried rice, egg roll, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 8pm, almonds & chocolate chips, water, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Laundry & Knishing

Tried to watch TV last night, but fell asleep during Louis C.K.'s special -- either he's not as funny as I remember, or I was ass-tired. After riding to Poughkeepsie on Saturday, I woke up at 6 to cover the baby and make pancakes, and it caught up with me last night. Slept from 9:30 to 7, as good as it gets when you have 2 kids under the age of 3!

Lifted weights, though still felt some after-effects from Saturday's ride. Got some knishing in, on top of doing laundry and the usual Monday chores.


TODAY'S COOKING
Knishes: Spent the morning, while the bebe slept, cooking off the last of the raw ingredients from the last big cook session, plus two loaves of cheese knishes, which may be going up for sale soon too.

AM SNACK: 7:45am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9:30am, hardcore oatmeal, banana, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Used just a heavy pinch of salt, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 a teaspoon. Now bordering on bland. Hmmmm.

LUNCH: noon, broc cheddar knish, spoonfuls of chocolate cheese filling and vanilla cheese filling, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Didn't particularly want a broc ched knish, but I needed to eat it to make sure it tasted right.

PM SNACK: 2pm, momma salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 2:45pm, chorizo empanada, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6:30pm, Stouffers French bread pizzas, 15 oz ginger ale, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, multigrain tortilla chips with horrible salsa, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Had to throw away the jarred salsa, just too nasty to eat.

Bike Hangover

Up at 6 to a pushy baby, took care of him while making pancakes and cleaning up the kitchen -- it's mother's day, so that was the least I could do, allowing B an extra hour of sleep. I was contemplating breakfast in bed for her, but she was up before I was finished cooking off the pancakes -- oh well, next year I'll enlist Edie as my server-monkey and have HER deliver a breakfast in bed!

I don't drink much, and when I do it's usual a drink (singular), so I don't have much cause to complain about how my hangovers are getting worse as I get older. However, I blew myself out in the best way possible yesterday riding my bike to Poughkeepsie. I lost focus (the beginning stage of bonking) close to the end which got me lost and added an addition 7-8 miles. I woke up this morning with the equivalent of a cyclist's hangover -- ached all over, certain joints worse than others, hungry and dehydrated despite having plenty of food and water last night. The main difference is my head -- mind clear, feeling optimistic, body aching in a way that it'll be a little stronger when it recovers.

Hair of the dog: road up to the UES with Edie on the big bike to grandma's house to celebrate mother's day with family. Funny, made a big cheesecake for Mother's Day but it remains at rest in my mother-in-law's freezer, as we never went back to gorge on it. Oh when shall this cheesecake pop up in our lives again?

DJ came over at the last minute for dinner last night, he's visiting briefly from California, we ordered in and had a good time with Edles...

TODAY'S COOKING
Pancakes: Only had some milk, but a lot of other dairy on hand, so I filled it out with heavy cream and sour cream. The acids of the sour cream reacted with the baking soda and baking powder to make a very leavened pancake, almost a cross between pancake and biscuit -- though moist and tender, not dry and crumbly like a biscuit or scone.

AM SNACK: 6:45am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 8am, 3 pancakes, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12:15pm, gyro on pita, fries, Greek salad, diet coke, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 1:15pm, ice cream cone, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6:30pm, pad thai, fried tofu, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 8pm, pint of chocolate ice cream, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Funny, I got a brand that's made locally, but it was surprisingly not that great. It was better than a Ben & Jerries because it didn't have that cloying sweetness or artificial aftertaste produced by stabilizers, BUT it was a very weak flavor compared to what I make at home.

A Perfect Mealtime

Woke up at 4, out the door by 4:30, too early for the local donut shop to be open. Road up with good energy to Poughkeepsie, total day's mileage about 94 -- a test to make sure I'm road-worthy for next week's first century of the season, to Montauk.

Consciously tried to eat every 3 hours or so, even if not hungry, definitely part of what kept me energized until the last 5 miles, when I ran out of water (I was constantly drinking out of an 80oz Camelback, refilled partially at various stops) and I lost focus and got a little lost, he he. Still made the 2:40pm train like planned, which was satisfying.

BREAKFAST: 4:15am, good yogurt with honey & peanuts, iced green tea, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


BIKE SNACK: 7:30am, whole wheat bagel with cream cheese & veg, 20oz gatorade, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


BIKE SNACK: 10am, chocolate chip cookies, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


BIKE SNACK: 10:30am, cheese puffs, 20oz gatorade, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


BIKE SNACK: 11:30am, falafel on baguette with ruburb salsa, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Stopped in Boscobel, right outside of Cold Spring, a a cute little Hudson Valley farmer's market. Kinda weird, because it seemed like 99% of the attendants arrived by car. No sidewalks, lots of cars, I was the only bike, even. Mostly produce and candles and meats n' stuff, but one local fancy resto was doing some sort of outreach with a couple of high-falutin' sandwiches. This one had nicely spiced flat falafel patties on a crusty, chewy baguette with fresh mayo, a chunky bittersweet rhubarb salsa and dark micro greens -- a pretty ballsy spin on a falafel sandwich with a lot of soul. Other than the cars, eating this sandwich with water from my back on a wooden bench on a sunny lawn overlooking the Hudson was a pretty perfect meal.


BIKE SNACK: 2:45pm, black & white cookie, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 5:30pm, chicken burrito with whole wheat tortilla, chips & guac, water, 1.75 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, brown rice crispies with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10:15pm, 8oz Sprite