Money, Meet Mouth

BREAKFAST: 10am, 2 pancakes, 4 pieces bacon, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
I had 4 pancakes on my plate, and as I was working into the 2nd one, realized I really didn't need to eat the other 2. Thinking of my mini-rant yesterday about global food shortages and a new American perspective on food, I've been wondering how I can put my money where my mouth is (figuratively and literally.) As for these pancakes, "Damn, this is enough pancake to serve 2...or have a 2nd meal!" So I plopped the two in a freezer bag and into the ice chest it went. It'll make an easy lighter breakfast later in the week, or a non-sweet snack at some point. It's from scratch, all organic with fresh milk, whole wheat, unrefined sugar etc etc, how insane would of it been to trash them.

LUNCH: 12:30, half a pastrami sandwich, half order of fries, pickles, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Easily could of eaten a whole sandwich and whole order of fries, but would of felt icky after. Everyone around me was packing in loads more, but the bacon and 2 pancakes were still with me.

DINNER: 7pm, shrimp in garlic sauce with black beans and yellow rice, spinach salad, water, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Ordered in on a quiet Saturday eve.

First Superhippy Bread, Now GRANOLA!!

ADDENDA:

The short bread has the illusion of being low sugar (1 cup butter, 2 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup powdered sugar) but I had the worst insomnia last night, up till 2:30am. I suspect it was the late short bread.... had a carb-heavy lunch, aim for a high-protein dinner, try to have a sweets-free day....

The evening today brought a serious round of sugar-craving.

BREAKFAST: 10am, apple granola with good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Found this new brand of granola during my trip to WholeFoods yesterday, looked like it may be developed for adult tastes, rather than the cloyingly sweet and industrial tasting stuff I've had in the past. Pretty good, tasted pleasantly oaty, and just subtly sweet. I guess I should go out and get some Birkenstocks?

LUNCH: 1pm, 3 samosas, brown rice, cold pumpkin noodles, cucumber salad, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5

Midtown lunch at Green Symphony with the HVS.

PM SNACK: 6pm, spinach salad with organic Italian dressing, 1 bowl

DINNER: pork chops in mushroom gravy with roasted broccoli, water, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Started marinating a pork chop yesterday that I split the long way (olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper), browned the hell out of it, then made a simple gravy in the pan by boiling up some sherry, vegetable broth, more garlic and a large pinch of flour for about 10 minutes. Used the Good Eats recipe for the broccoli. Didn't really pay much attention to amounts, just kind of threw stuff together. The gravy needs work, it was a little too thin in texture and flavor, and I should of sauteed the mushrooms and garlic before deglazing with sherry, but it was still a nice compliment to the juicy meat with a crisp brown layer.

While I was cooking, NPR radio had a story about the crap economy and how health tends to improve in bad times because people work less, do more exercise and cook at home more versus going out to restaurants. This pork chop meal wasn't quite restaurant quality, but it was definitely a step in the right direction - and the cost of the food was less than $10....

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, veggie booty, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Sugar cravings kind of blurring with hunger, so grabbed a non-sweet snack...

Freezer to Tummy

ADDENDA:
Slept like a brick again last night, 11 hours of blissful deep sleep. Met with Ilsa, her main advice is to eat less n' do more if I want to continue to lose weight. She asked me how I'm doing with the sweets, it occurred to me I couldn't remember the last time I had a sweets-free day (other than today). I need to finish tagging these entries then I'll know...

BREAKFAST: 10:15am, good yogurt with honey and vanilla, .5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Limited myself to 1/3 of the container instead of the usual 1/2.

LUNCH: 1pm, pork tonkatsu with curry sauce, white rice, pickle, cabbage, 4 pork dumplings, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Midtown lunch by the old offices with a friend. Meal came with a cup of miso soup, but skipped it, as it's a salt trap I don't need. Still enough food.

PM SNACK: 7pm, half a homemade calzone, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Dragging this thing out with me all day, had to eat it or throw it out. The crust went a bit stale but the innards were well preserved.

DINNER: 9pm, homemade mac n' cheese, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Outta the freezer, into mah tummy. After microwaving, it was a bit frightening the amount of grease that I poured off the plate into the sink. Still, yummy in mah tummy!

Will today be a sugar-fast by default?

ADDENDA:
Forgot my apple n' cheese this morning, and am out of bananas. I wonder how my sugar-lust will go today. Didn't pack lunch as have social obligations for lunch.

BREAKFAST: 7am, toasted wholewheat bagel with a thin shmear of organic cream cheese, hunger 3/5
Spent the morning chopping salad to open the pizza-freakout tomorrow...

AM WATERING: 10am, 24 oz still

BP 10:45am: 128/83

LUNCH: 12:30pm, chicken tonkatsu with curry sauce over rice, hunger 4/5
Asked for pork, but it was a little dry, tasted a little plain, the meat was a little whiter than usual, and rather than homogeneously thick, got thicker at one end. I was half way through when I realized it wasn't pork! Didn't ask for a new dish because I ate so much already, felt silly.

PM WATERING: 2:30pm, 24 oz still

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, 2 potato samosas, small amount of pumpkin noodles, hunger 4/5
Hungry, don't want to be starving and obsessing about chocolate when I see Ilsa!

DINNER: 8pm, green salad, sauteed shrimp in parsley sauce over long grain brown jasmine rice, hunger 4/5
Good home cooked dinner, the shrimp came out a little too boiled instead of sauteed due to not clearing the ice off them before dumping in the wok. I gotta work on that.

EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, 3 oz dark chocolate, hunger 3/5
Wasn't craving it, but I cooked the custard that is the basis of the chocolate gelato. Of the 7 oz bar, 4oz went into the recipe and rather then sticking my fingers in and sampling as I went along, I just ate the left over chocolate. Kept me up till 1am.

PCW (Pounds of Chocolate Per Week)

ADDENDA:
This dessert fast thing was kind of a weird shock to the system, and my minor illness at the end of it a small revelation. I sure feel healthier than I did since starting to consult with Ilsa and write this blog. Where do I go from here?

Do I want this to become a blog about discovering cooking, or a blog about losing weight and keeping it off? Does that have to be incompatible? Maybe I should work up some weekly stats about how many meals I made or prepared myself, and how many were eaten out? Fruit vs. dessert intake? Pounds of chocolate per week?

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, organic chex with good milk, banana, hunger 3/5

AM WATERING: 9:45am, 24 oz still

BP 10am: 133/102
Weird because of recent illness? First time I had a really high BP measurement at the docs was after an illness.

PM WATERING: Noon, 24 oz still

LUNCH: 12:15pm, veg Indian combo plate with rice, hunger 4/5
Spicy mouth, thought about getting dessert, as I CAN if I want to, but decided against it, got cheese n' apple with me. Probably get a meaty thing towards the end of the day to get me through the class tonight.

PM SNACK: 3:15pm, apple & onion edamer raw milk cheese, hunger 3/5

LUNCH #2: 4:30pm, lamb on pita, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8:30pm, cup of bitter greens liquid, coleslaw with plum-mustard dressing, aduki squash stew, long grain brown rice with parsley garlic sauce, sauteed kale with mushrooms, 2 jelly almond torte cookies, hunger 4/5
Cooking class was a demonstration of preparation of all these vegan dishes, flashes of interest but mostly boring and silly. I don't need a demonstration how to cook rice (especially since I now own a rice cooker!) During the class, I was thinking of going out to get hot dogs & tater tots, an old favorite meal I haven't indulged in in quite a while. The first thing I tried was the liquid from the kale she was cooking. Very bitter, at first I was 'yuuuuk!' but then, I don't know, I just kind if LIKED it's differentness and drank the whole cup. The food was a bit dorky in a 70s vegan kind of way, but other than the stew (too much ginger), it was all quite delicious and I plan to make the parsley sauce for rice tonight....to compliment some PORK, yo!

I think I will experiment with the kale/escarole/spinach thing, sauteing with mushrooms n' stuff. The only concern I had about the food is she really did not go light on the salt. It was sea-salt, but still.

EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, veggie booty, hunger 4/5
Something tells me this is a newly emerging habit that Ilsa will not be fond of.

Dessert-Fast, Day 6 (Or: How does a dessert-fast die?)

ADDENDA:
After the farmer's market, set out to Coney Island on road bike, but by the time I got to Prospect Park, I was just chilled to the core so set back home for a total of 15 miles.

B has a family birthday brunch thing, we're bringing....the good donuts. Oh, how does a dessert-fast die?! Like this, my friends, like this.....

BREAKFAST: 7am, whole wheat bagel with good butter, hunger 3/5

LUNCH #1: 11am, reheated plate of fresh pasta with a little sauce, hunger 4/5
Could really go for a dessert. Will hold off.

PM SNACK: 1pm, slice of pizza, hunger 4/5
From the local.

PM SNACK: 1:45pm, banana, hunger 4/5
Headache. Could it be sugar-related?

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, 3 saltless whole wheat pretzels, hunger 4/5
Still headachey. Must just be a little just plain sick.

DINNER: 6:30pm, bread, veg bruschetta, interesting sampling of funky & nonfunky cheeses, a little salami, polenta-like dumplings with mushrooms and melted cheese, 1 glass prosecco, water, hunger 4/5
Dinner at a shmancy Italian place. Felt tired and fuzzy headed throughout with B and her friends, not my finest hour. Really enjoyed the different flavors of the cheeses, some stinky and soft, some mild and hard, but cut nicely with the sweetness of the prosecco. Some dessert was passed around and shared by most, but I was so not interested. (and it wasn't chocolate anyway!)

Dessert-Fast, Day 5 (Or: It may be all in my head)

ADDENDA:
So here is day 5, and I'm fine. As I pedalled to work this morning, feeling my body wake up to a brisk (but mellow) effort, I realized my physical state was fine all week. Cutting out my daily dessert was more of a challenge to my sense of entitlement than any sort of physical addiction, though I sense a bit of that too. That said, I think I will go for the Ilsa-recommended 7 days....if my sense of entitlement is anything, it's strongest on the weekends when I'm off and trying to relax.

BREAKFAST: 7:45am, good pancakes and good non-nitrate bacon from the farmers market, a banana, hunger 3.5/5
Didn't feel like waiting for the weekend. Gonna try to take it easy this weekend, as Thanksgiving will be upon us soon.

AM WATERING: 9:45am, 24 oz still
I like how carbonated water has become a treat that makes it special at home.

BP 10am: 122/85

LUNCH: 1:15pm, shrimp curry with daal and jasmine white rice, small piece of naan, a few lentil crackers, water, hunger 4/5
OK food, good company.

PM DRUGGING: 4pm, 2 extra strength tylenol, hunger 1/5
Have a headache that has been brewing slowly all day, nose is stuffy, not hungry for the apple n' cheese I brought to work at all...

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, apple & one small piece of cheese, hunger 3/5
Didn't want to feel desperate for dinner later.

DINNER: 7:30pm, steak au poive w/ fries and salad, shrimp cocktail, water, hunger 4/5
B & I went to a nice French bistro in the 'hood. Indulged in the previously forbidden fries because I felt the need to reward myself for being dessert-free for 5 days. Fries were just OK, nothing special. About 3/4 of the way through the meal, I started looking forward to dessert before I remembered, oh, I'm not having dessert. The dessert menu looked good, too!

Dessert-Fast, Day 4 (Or: Whoever Invented Chocolate is a Friggin' Genius)

ADDENDA:
Last night I swung by the market to restock on apples and bananas. I also picked up a very expensive bag of organic, raw, de-shelled cocoa beans. This morning me and B tried them. Neither of us were able to keep it in our mouths for more than 10-15 seconds before spitting them out. It definitely had a lot of layers of taste to it. A prominent note in the background was definitely the dark chocolate flavor I know and love. But the foreground was this massive, loud bitter explosion which is like two calloused hands gripping your jaw and upper lip and pulling them as far apart as possible, in hopes of making you spit it out.

Some South American dude thousands of years ago was sitting around chewing on these things, probably spitting them out but thinking, hmmm, that flavor in the back of my mouth, that's kind of nice. Maybe if I grind it up, add some sweetener to mellow the bitter, and add some milk to smooth out the mouth feel, I just might have something.....and his name....Irving P. Chocolateberg.

Ilsa asked for a full 7 day sweet fast, I've been telling myself 5 days. It's not over yet, but I remember when I kicked a caffeine addiction in my 20s, the first 3 days were the worst. Maybe I will go for 7 days. I do know I'm not going to break it with a donut from Donut Plant - I want to break it with something I made. I think I need to make chocolate gelato...

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, organic cornflakes with good milk, banana, hunger 3/5
Noticed the cornflakes are sweetened with 'concentrated grape juice'. I guess that's a step up from high-fructose corn syrup, and the total amount per serving is 3g (as opposed to 24g of straight carbs) but still - juicing a fruit then concentrating it sounds like refined sugar to me. I feel like I may of cheated? I guess I'll let Ilsa be the referee in this call.

AM WATERING: 10am, 24 oz still
Got to work late due to rain, then rushed into meetings. Will take BP later today.

LUNCH: 12:30pm, super hippy peanut butter sammich, large green salad with organic ranch dressing, hunger 4/5
The new WF-brand organic ranch dressing is a bit too vinegary for my taste. I really need to find/make a dressing I like.

BP 2:30pm: 139/85
Have a slight headache, and had to remove a lot of clothing to get a reading without an error.

PM SNACK: 3pm, funky-ass raw milk cheese and a tart, crisp apple, hunger 4/5
This snack made my headache go away. I picked up 2 random apples at WF yesterday, both conventional but locally grown. My first thought in biting into it was, "Mamajama!!" which gave me pause, as that is something I would never actually say. It was crisp and tart and thoroughly wonderful. The cheese I picked up last night, a weird Swiss I never heard of, was a bit like moldy old sneakers, but an incredible flavor when cut with the apple.

Ew, I just smelled my fingers, they smell like there were somewhere REALLY unspeakable...

PM SNACK: 5pm, 1 sesame pretzel stick, 2 potato samosa & a little cucumber dill salad, hunger 4/5
Making fresh pasta tonight, which takes time, don't want to be starving when I get home. Got an extra samosa for the Hungry Vegan Society, who recently has been commanded off her sympathy sugar fast by Ilsa. In protest, I ate one of the HVS's salty pretzel sticks. Between the writer's strike and the stagehand strike picketing outside my offices, maybe we should start a dessert strike? I keed, I keed...

DINNER: 8:30pm, large bowl of fresh homemade whole wheat pasta with homemade sauce with grated parm and cubed buffala moz, 2 pickles, water, hunger 4/5
Experimented with a 'hard white' whole wheat flour, the pasta came out good - not too wholewheaty tasting. Noticed the organic eggs I'm using are 'rich in Omega 3' - in the class I took, the lecturer took some time to explain anti-oxidants and the significance of Omega 3 vs Omega 6 fatty acids in cancer research. I still don't quite get it, but I do know Omega 3 is (supposedly) good. I'm sure at some point research will contradict it.

PM SNACK: 10:30pm, 2 slices Patsy's pizza with pepperoni, glass of wine, hunger 4/5
My house guest cousin rolled in late, then shortly after Betsy showed up bearing much pizza. I was kinda hungry/craving sugar while Iddo ate his pasta and I sipped a glass of red wine (which did seem to curb my sugar lust), then B showed up with a box o' 'za, and it was all over.

Dessert-Fast, Day 3 (Or: An Apple a Day Keeps the Sugar Lust at Bay)

ADDENDA:
Brought an apple and the remainder of raw edamer for a snack, though it's not officially a bring-your-lunch-to-work day, it's just too yummy. The refined sugar fast is going fine, though I think of the white bread bun I ate with my burger last night - isn't refined flour very close to refined sugar? I guess I really shouldn't over think these conundrums until after this fast and see what I'm feeling.

Tonight I'm having dinner with Yana, and we traditionally very much appreciate desserts when we're together. I guess the social part of this fast will be the least comfortable...

BREAKFAST: 7:15am, good yogurt with raw cashews, vanilla and dash of local honey, hunger 3/5
Felt good this morning. Sometimes I feel icky after eating a burger the night before. I think my GI tract is just stronger and healthier.

AM SNACK: 9:15am, banana, hunger 3/5
Almost forgot. Not desiring fruit or sugar, but like with a long bike ride, preventative measures go a hell of a long way.

AM WATERING: 9:45am, 24 oz still

BP 10:30am: 125/83
Boo ya!!

LUNCH: 1:15pm, Ethiopian vegetarian combo + one small beef sambosa, hunger 4/5
Rode bike over to Meskerem on 47h, really good. Never had their version of a samosa, was really good n' small. Third day in a row I've desired chopped beef. Huh. I wonder if that means something.

PM WATERING: 2:30pm, 24 oz still

PM SNACK: 5pm, apple & edamer, hunger 3.5/5
Was I hungry? Was I craving sugar? Not sure, but this resolved it. Apple was a bit mushier than I like, but the cheese helped me through it.

DINNER: 7:30pm, plate o' sushi, shrimp tempura appetizer, water, herbal tea, hunger 4/5
Hung out at Yana's house, no desert on offer, thankfully.

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, half a bag of veggie booty, hunger 4/5
Just hungry. A small amount of chocolate or a cookie would quiet me, but thinking about it, not really craving sugar, just something to munch on and take the edge off. The veggie booty is mostly empty-ish carb calories, but no sugar. First time it really tasted salty to me, and indeed I ate around 500mg of salt. Eesh.

Dessert-Fast, Day 2 (Or: Cheesy Apple!!)

ADDENDA:
So had the first of two "cooking" classes at the Natural Gourmet Institute last night. Unfortunately, it was a 3.5 hour lecture on the basics of how to eat healthy - pretty much everything I've been reading about in various books for the past few years. Still, there were a few things that were good to hear again - like how easy it is to over-buy at the farmers market then let it sit all week at home till it becomes inedible or much less nutritious. So when I got home last night after 10, I set up a bunch of fingerlings with mushroom, onion and dried tofu to bake on a timer while I slept.

She did mention controlling the effects of food on bloodsugar (from where all sugar-lust comes) and how she has a weakness for dark chocolate (snooort!). She mentioned how cocoa-nibs are an excellent snack - hmmmm.....I can have a refined sugar-fast AND eat chocolate?! I think I need to go and investigate ASAP.

So far so good. No sugar-lust yesterday, undoubtedly satiated by the fruit. Kinda looking at this like it's a 100-mile bike ride. Once you've started, no point in worrying if your up to it or not. The first half should be easy. And be aware of what your feeling at all times, as a little pain now will be a huge friggin' deal-breaker a few miles down the line.

BREAKFAST: 8am, toasted sesame bagel with cream cheese and gravelox, seltzer, banana, hunger 3/5

AM WATERING: 9:45, 24 oz still

BP 10am: 126/88

PM SNACK: 12:30pm, apple and a few small pieces of raw edamer cheese, hunger 4/5
Oh my. Oh oh my. -arm flap-. I think this is a breakthrough. Oh oh oh my. I refrigerated the apple, and it was much more crisp (why does B like them at room temp?) and delicious. After that, I immediately ate some small slices of raw-milk edamer cheese I picked up at the farmers market. Wow, I never quite appreciated cheese like I'm feelin' on this. And the combo with the apple....next time I will eat them together, bite for bite.

LUNCH: 1:30pm, roasted potatoes with mushroom, onion and tofu, green salad with carrot dressing, hunger 4/5
Potatoes were just eh today, too much oil and too much lemon juice. However, as an experiment I put in whole cloves of garlic and they came out all creamy and nicely garlicky.

PM SNACK: 4:45pm, 2 samosas and a little brown rice with veg curry, hunger 4/5
Felt hungry ever since lunch, but not in a sugar-lust way.

DINNER: 6:30pm, bacon cheese burger and onion rings, water, hunger 4/5
Quick dinner at an indie fast food spot before a show at BAM with sympathetic refined-sugar faster the Hungry Vegan Society. Not a huge fan of burgers or suspicious chopped meat, but if I am to live in this world, once in a blue moon is not gonna kill me.

Dessert-Fast, Day 1 (Or: Ain't Got No Chocolove for Ya, Son)

ADDENDA:
Found half a "Chocolove" bar in my bag this morning, nestled with the apple I packed this morning for a sugar-fix this afternoon. Due to a sympathy sugar-fast from the Hungry Vegan Society, the chocolate as been donated to the tens of Hungry Designers in the office.

Tonight is the first of two basic cooking classes I'm taking. I hope irony doesn't bite me in the ass and have us cook up chocolate bars or something...

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, good yogurt with raw nits, honey and vanilla, 3/4 of a banana, hunger 3/5

AM WATERING: 9:15am, 24 oz still

BP 9:45am: 137/84
Took it after working for 30 minutes, it's an intense Monday morning. Maybe a little dehydrated?

PM SNACK: 12:30pm, apple, hunger 4/5
Meetings preventing me from going to get food, this is all I had with me. Not as crisp I hoped.

PM SNACK: 1pm, 8 sesame pretzels, hunger 4/5
Meeting food, too salty. My Chocolove bar was sitting on the meeting table, waiting for someone to adopt it.

LUNCH: 2:30pm, steamed pork dumplings, singapore mei fun (with the eggs picked out), water, hunger 4/5
Skipped the tea, as it's caffeine. Almost instinctively ingested the fortune cookie, but caught myself.

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, bag of crappy 'cheddar' potato chips, hunger 4/5
If I'm about to take a 3 hour cooking class, I gotta eat something. Very limited options close by.

PM SNACK: 6:30pm, carrot sticks, olives, hummus, wassa crackers, hunger 4/5
Think they'd have fancier snack at a cooking school...

DINNER: 10pm, falafel platter, beef empanada, hunger 4/5
After 3.5 hours of talking about food and cooking and health, the last thing I felt like doing was cooking. Falafel platter wasn't enough, so I went across the street and got an empanada. NYC is great!

More stress

ADDENDA:
Yoga was better than the week before. Rather than be ridiculously easy with points of being ridiculously hard, it was more even in it's challenge. Moving from pose to pose, focusing on my in and out breathing almost clicked a few times - I could see myself doing it mindlessly while physically being mindful... The downward dog to plank and back, to a lunge and then standing and pointing my hands up, while measuring my breathe, something just....felt right - a little. It felt mostly awkward, and I felt very tight and inflexible.

Towards the end, we put our legs on the wall above our head, coming down into 'corpse' pose and laid there again in the dark with the 'ommm' music and the teacher went around greasing up our feet. I cleared my mind, but it didn't stay clear for long. The teacher mentioned letting yourself become heavy and join the earth....in 'corpse' pose....I thought of if I were entering the earth from wence I came, I'd be with my parents again....I was on the plains of Kansas, which took me a solid 10 days to bicycle through. It was windy in the grainfields, and the sky was dark, red and angry. There standing in front of me were my parents, standing maybe 20 feet away from me, and them standing a good 5 feet apart from each other. I conversed with them, no greetings, just like it was any other day, told them about my wedding, how well it's going with B, my new inlaws, how hard I'm working at my newish job they never got know about, they told me how they were proud of me as usual, how much they enjoyed following me on my bike trip across the states, how they were fine and were sorry they weren't around.

They were kinda shapeshifting between different ages and hairstyles that I have of them. I remember them as a child when they were in their 30s, as a teen in there 40s, as 20-something in their 50s, 30-something in their 60s. They were not fixed, they were them, only more so.

On a semi-related note, I got to work yesterday morning at 7:30 to try to get a handle on this large, unruly project. After 10 minutes I looked around, confirmed there was no one there, then wept openly, sobbing that I didn't know what the fuck I was doing. I collected myself in a couple of minutes, then charged through what I had to get through to the best of my abilities. (As the day rolled on, I realized I wasn't as lost as I thought.) That was the first time I've cried in sadness/frustration for something other than my parents since my dad died over 3 years ago. Huh.

BREAKFAST: 6:30am, good yogurt with raw cashews and honey, dirtpill, hunger 3/5

LUNCH: 1pm, big falafel sandwich on whole wheat pita, 24 oz still water, hunger 4/5
Took 30 minutes outside, day is intense and things are not resolved, but feel more at peace with it. REALLY looking forward to riding bike tomorrow.

DINNER: 7:15pm, half a bag of veggie booty, roasted curry lamb sausage with mixed fingerling potatoes, onions and mushrooms, hunger 4/5
Despite being dead tired, I cooked up this dish with all ingredients I got at the farmer's market last Saturday (save the olive oil and sea salt), and came out surprisingly good, though I got a clue how to make it better next time. Also whipped up an apple crumble for B's mom and family, who will be coming over to inspect the compound after dinner out tomorrow night...

Funny thing, the project that has been kicking my ass is only starting, but I think I'm somewhere between the ground and my foot in the saddle to pull myself up onto it. Things are good enough that I can put it out of my mind till Monday morning.

ADDENDA:
This may be the first day since the start of this blog that I didn't have desert. Bought gelato and chocolate to go with the apple crumble tomorrow, they're in the locked freezer in the 2nd bedroom, I'm just too beat to motivate....