ADDENDA:
Nice ride today with my friend Erikka, about 60 miles. From Prospect Park to the Verazanno, around to Coney Island, down to the Rockaways and Breezy Point, back over through Broad Channel and back through East New York and a lot of sketchy neighborhoods.
I introduced Erikka to cycling years ago, and now she's a much stronger, faster rider than me. I took my fully-geared roadbike and she road fixed single-speed, and still moved faster than me with more energy by the end. It was fun to ride a little outside my comfort zone, though it was probably a little slow for her.
Hot day, weirdly summer-like. Drank over 150 oz. of water through out the ride.
BREAKFAST: 7:30am, half a good organic dark chocolate bar with salt-free peanut butter, hunger 3/5
Hang-over sweets desire from the night before.
SNACK #1: 9:15am, 1 and a half good donuts from the local shop, hunger 4/5
Imported the donuts to Brooklyn to help us start off right.
SNACK #2: 10:30, handful of cheese fries from Nathans, hunger 3/5
Erikka needed to eat at Coney, so she went to Nathans and got cheese fries and a huuuge diet coke. As she smoked her cigarette, I thought it cool that despite our radically different approaches to eating (not to mention bike nutrition), we're pretty much BFFs.
SNACK #3: Noon, handful of saltless wholewheat pretzels, hunger 3/5
LUNCH: 1:30pm, BLT on whole wheat bagel, small side of macaroni salad, water, bite of breaded chicken cutlet, swig of diet coke, hunger 3/5
Erikka was chowing down on an overstuffed chicken cutlet sandwich, so I had a bite. It was OK, but it reconfirmed my taste opinion that chicken is pointless. She was on her 2nd huge diet coke, which made me think that only 3 months or so ago I'd totally be there with her, enjoying a bottle with her. So I had some of hers, swished it around my mouth and grimaced. It was pleasantly sweet, but over-carbonated and tasted so acidy. Yik! I guess I could relearn to like this stuff....but why would I want to?
DINNER: 6pm, breaded shrimp with yellow rice and black beans, mofungo with spicy red sauce, full bottle of pelegrino
Ordered in from the local Spanish restaurant, heavy but suited the mood perfectly. Mofungo is so weird but so yummy - it's mashed plantains with lots of garlic and pork skin. VERY heavy. Lots of mofungo left over, good for dinner tomorrow... Kind of want sweet, but none in the house.
EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, about half a large box of Entemann's chocolate chip cookies, water.
Went out and got some. I need to stock some frozen cookie dough so to avoid eating boxed stuff in the future.
I think I should have an 8pm sweets curfew...
Sunday, October 7
Saturday, October 6
Saturday and trying to get things done
BREAKFAST: 6:45am, yogurt with raw cashews, hunger 3/5
LUNCH: 12:15pm, 3 pancakes and low sodium bacon, hunger 4/5
Made new batch of mix, used the unprocessed succanat as the sweetener, weird, but good.
PM SNACK: 3:30pm, small amount of gelato, hunger 3/5
DINNER: 5:30pm, tofu and mungbean pancake appetizers, pumpkin noodle, grilled todok and asparagus with multi grain rice, water, hunger 4/5
Vegan Korean food with B&T. Skipped dessert because T won't eat any after 6pm. Between the meal starting before 6 AND a weekend, I think T should indulged, but I think Ilsa may of already inoculated her against my sinful ways....so me & B skipped desert too.
EVENING SNACK: 11pm, 2 pieces whole wheat toast with hummus, bowl of organic cornflakes with good milk, hunger 4/5
Hungry and desiring sweets, but didn't want to stay up.
LUNCH: 12:15pm, 3 pancakes and low sodium bacon, hunger 4/5
Made new batch of mix, used the unprocessed succanat as the sweetener, weird, but good.
PM SNACK: 3:30pm, small amount of gelato, hunger 3/5
DINNER: 5:30pm, tofu and mungbean pancake appetizers, pumpkin noodle, grilled todok and asparagus with multi grain rice, water, hunger 4/5
Vegan Korean food with B&T. Skipped dessert because T won't eat any after 6pm. Between the meal starting before 6 AND a weekend, I think T should indulged, but I think Ilsa may of already inoculated her against my sinful ways....so me & B skipped desert too.
EVENING SNACK: 11pm, 2 pieces whole wheat toast with hummus, bowl of organic cornflakes with good milk, hunger 4/5
Hungry and desiring sweets, but didn't want to stay up.
Friday, October 5
G-Rated Porno at the Yoga Studio
ADDENDA:Had my first encounter with a yoga class last night. Feel fine today. Reminds me when I started cycling. I bought a road bike, spent over $1500 on the bike and gear. I remember coming home from my first ride, couldn't of been more than 20 miles, and felt horrible - my back was killing me from the new position on the bike, the thin wheels made it feel like I was rolling over ice, my thighs were burning and could not cool down. I felt weak and awkward and the last thing I wanted to do was get back on this bike. I was waaaay out of my comfort zone.
Last night's yoga class was barely out of my comfort zone, but when it wasn't, the comfortzone was left in the dust. The corpse pose was just laying there, some of the tree poses just seemed like stretches from high school gym.
On the other hand, holding the downward dog tore into my abdominals and the child pose where I had my head on the floor hurt my head crazily. Felt very inflexible and tight, and by the end realized this yoga thing was like cycling hard and changing my diet, in that I was only going to get out of it what I put in.
The teacher having us repeat the names of the poses was a bit creepy, and her going around in the dark, while we were all lying on the floor, massaging each pupil's feet with smelly oil was like a scene out of a G-rated gangbang porno. Of the hour and half, it was 70 minutes o f not feeling much and not getting it, and 20 minutes of awkward pain.
But it was kinda cool to stand on a block and do the Jethro Tull pose, just needed a flute... I don't know. I'm definitely gonna stick with the 3 remaining intro classes, maybe it'll smooth out like the bike riding did, and god (or vishnu or ganesh or whoever them yoga peeps pray to) knows I need some cross training to balance out the kinds of exercise I get (which is 95% biking, 5% walking).
He he. Last night I told Tamar she put a Yoga Hex on me when I started hiccupping. She said, "You better not name your blog entry that!" And she said I sometimes say/write things that I don't mean 100%, but put out there to cause a stir. So I dedicate today's blog entry to Tamar. So there!
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, good oatmeal, hunger 3/5
LUNCH: 1:15pm, lamb over rice, chocolate ice cream cone, hunger 4/5
Lunch with Danny. Very spicy. Felt the need to indulge, ice cream cone went down really easy. I was almost hoping for it to be unappealing with it's conventional milk and not very chocolately flavor, BUT it was damn good and creamy and cold.
PM SNACK: 3pm, large piece of really good chocolate cake, hunger 3/5
Birthday for the boss lady in the office. Too good to pass up.
DINNER: 7:30pm, two grilled kielbasa sandwiches, 1 grilled potato pirogi, on good bread with a little kraut, half a beer, 2 pints of water, hunger 3/5
Backyard birthday party in Queens w/ B's friends. Not healthy food, but enjoyable, WAY too salty. I used to like this kind of sausage but it just tasted too briny, like it was vaguely pickles in a not-good way. After adding a little kraut to hopefully change the flavor....ugh. That was dumb.
Road the tandem with B, ran into other friends of her on the way home. The whole night was a good vibe. Glad she's my wife, I'd certainly be a blubbering (and blubbery) mess with out her.
Thursday, October 4
Noodlelove!
ADDENDA:
I'm on the last pages of Animal Vegetable Miracle....I'm worried, we're entering the winter....nothing I like is in season in the winter!! If I shop seasonally, my green salad will be a mere shell of it's former self. I gotta get a list of what is in season when, then maybe try to be more open minded on trying new veg and fruit. OK, OK, I'm 36 years old and my parents have past away, but finally I'm ready to eat all that creepy healthy stuff they tried to train me to like all those years ago...
BREAKFAST: 7:30am, yogurt with raw cashews and a dash of honey and vanilla, hunger 3/5
AM SNACK: 9:30am, 24 oz still water
LUNCH #1: 1:30pm, spaghetti noodles with barely any dressing, hunger 4/5
Oh lordy, those noodles were good. Didn't really need anything on them, the noodles themselves were a perfect texture, nice firm bite, just so....noodely. After I finished them, I patted myself on the back (hope no one saw!) This bring your-lunch-to-work ain't so bad, if I just have good left-overs on hand...
To think that B almost washed her soapy hands over them when they were resting in the sink, sniff sniff!
LUNCH #2: 4:30pm, fresh peanut butter on superhippy bread, hunger 4/5
Starting to feel nervous about yoga tonight. Damn, if only I didn't make Tamar take that bikeride....
DINNER: 8:45pm, 3 vegetable dumplings, half a vegan scallion pancake, Singapore-styled curry rice noodles, basil mooshoo rolls, water, hunger 4/5
Dinner at Zen Palate with B & T after my first experience with yoga. Still digesting the experience, will try to express my feelings tomorrow. Feel...weird about it. Weirdly familiar.
EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, medium hunk of good dark chocolate, hunger 3/5
Occurred to me when I got home, I had no sweets the entire day. Briefly considered making today my first sweets-free day in recorded Noah-history, but then thought, "I just did yoga - I deserve chocolate!!" Not helping me fall asleep, though...
I'm on the last pages of Animal Vegetable Miracle....I'm worried, we're entering the winter....nothing I like is in season in the winter!! If I shop seasonally, my green salad will be a mere shell of it's former self. I gotta get a list of what is in season when, then maybe try to be more open minded on trying new veg and fruit. OK, OK, I'm 36 years old and my parents have past away, but finally I'm ready to eat all that creepy healthy stuff they tried to train me to like all those years ago...
BREAKFAST: 7:30am, yogurt with raw cashews and a dash of honey and vanilla, hunger 3/5
AM SNACK: 9:30am, 24 oz still water
LUNCH #1: 1:30pm, spaghetti noodles with barely any dressing, hunger 4/5
Oh lordy, those noodles were good. Didn't really need anything on them, the noodles themselves were a perfect texture, nice firm bite, just so....noodely. After I finished them, I patted myself on the back (hope no one saw!) This bring your-lunch-to-work ain't so bad, if I just have good left-overs on hand...
To think that B almost washed her soapy hands over them when they were resting in the sink, sniff sniff!
LUNCH #2: 4:30pm, fresh peanut butter on superhippy bread, hunger 4/5
Starting to feel nervous about yoga tonight. Damn, if only I didn't make Tamar take that bikeride....
DINNER: 8:45pm, 3 vegetable dumplings, half a vegan scallion pancake, Singapore-styled curry rice noodles, basil mooshoo rolls, water, hunger 4/5
Dinner at Zen Palate with B & T after my first experience with yoga. Still digesting the experience, will try to express my feelings tomorrow. Feel...weird about it. Weirdly familiar.
EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, medium hunk of good dark chocolate, hunger 3/5
Occurred to me when I got home, I had no sweets the entire day. Briefly considered making today my first sweets-free day in recorded Noah-history, but then thought, "I just did yoga - I deserve chocolate!!" Not helping me fall asleep, though...
Wednesday, October 3
Stringbeans of My Father
ADDENDA:
As I was preparing dinner last night, I popped a raw string bean in my mouth and the taste-memories came flooding in. The bean tasted really fresh, and it's flavor really took over my mouth in a good way. I remembered walking around the supermarket with my dad, and he'd grab a bunch of the string beans and start munching on them as we walked through the market - he'd give me some, too. This was slightly unnerving, as we hadn't payed for them. I know the few times my mom came with us, this really annoyed her. But it was fun, it was something I was doing with my dad.
Usually with guests, my dad would steam string beans until their color popped, and put butter and salt on them. I never liked them, but I never really tried them, either.
BREAKFAST: 8am, conventional cornflakes with the good milk, hunger 3/5
Bought this milk at the farmers market directly from the producer instead of Wholefoods. It came in a thick glass bottle with a $1 redemption - they reuse their bottles - that's REAL recycling!
AM SNACK: 10am, 24 oz still water
LUNCH: 12:15pm, chickpeas, black lentils, spinach w/paneer, basmanti rice, nan bread, lettuce and onions, a few spoons of yogurt sauce, hunger 4/5
Got hungry early. Decided to aim for 2 packed lunches a week to start with, as I felt a little overwhelmed to begin. Start slow.
Spiciness made me desire sweets, but I waited. Desire went away, but now it's 2 hours later and I'm tired and feeling the urge for sugar again, but I'm not hungry at all....
PM SNACK: 4pm, 2 sesame pretzel sticks, hunger 4/5
From Tamar's stash, way too salty, but good. These minus the salt would rule the world.
DINNER: 8:30pm, small salad, fresh pasta with a little sauce, stirfried brocolli, mushroom and onion, apple crisp with homemade whipcream, 1 glass wine, an extra serving of apple crisp.
Had Keliy (our wedding photographer) over to deliver the pics, figured make a nice celebatory night and cook, too. Used a lot of wedding gifts through out the meal, plates, pots, wine. Especially the pasta making attachments to the mixer - it helped me make the pasta in half the time (still took an hour) but it came out so much better, firmer to the bite.
Not feeling gelato, so bought a cup of heavy cream and whipped it in the mixer with a bit of vanilla and honey, was really good, though next time I'll use less honey and vanilla. Weird texture, nothing like the chemically stuff that comes out of a can. But very delicious.
As I was preparing dinner last night, I popped a raw string bean in my mouth and the taste-memories came flooding in. The bean tasted really fresh, and it's flavor really took over my mouth in a good way. I remembered walking around the supermarket with my dad, and he'd grab a bunch of the string beans and start munching on them as we walked through the market - he'd give me some, too. This was slightly unnerving, as we hadn't payed for them. I know the few times my mom came with us, this really annoyed her. But it was fun, it was something I was doing with my dad.
Usually with guests, my dad would steam string beans until their color popped, and put butter and salt on them. I never liked them, but I never really tried them, either.
BREAKFAST: 8am, conventional cornflakes with the good milk, hunger 3/5
Bought this milk at the farmers market directly from the producer instead of Wholefoods. It came in a thick glass bottle with a $1 redemption - they reuse their bottles - that's REAL recycling!
AM SNACK: 10am, 24 oz still water
LUNCH: 12:15pm, chickpeas, black lentils, spinach w/paneer, basmanti rice, nan bread, lettuce and onions, a few spoons of yogurt sauce, hunger 4/5
Got hungry early. Decided to aim for 2 packed lunches a week to start with, as I felt a little overwhelmed to begin. Start slow.
Spiciness made me desire sweets, but I waited. Desire went away, but now it's 2 hours later and I'm tired and feeling the urge for sugar again, but I'm not hungry at all....
PM SNACK: 4pm, 2 sesame pretzel sticks, hunger 4/5
From Tamar's stash, way too salty, but good. These minus the salt would rule the world.
DINNER: 8:30pm, small salad, fresh pasta with a little sauce, stirfried brocolli, mushroom and onion, apple crisp with homemade whipcream, 1 glass wine, an extra serving of apple crisp.
Had Keliy (our wedding photographer) over to deliver the pics, figured make a nice celebatory night and cook, too. Used a lot of wedding gifts through out the meal, plates, pots, wine. Especially the pasta making attachments to the mixer - it helped me make the pasta in half the time (still took an hour) but it came out so much better, firmer to the bite.
Not feeling gelato, so bought a cup of heavy cream and whipped it in the mixer with a bit of vanilla and honey, was really good, though next time I'll use less honey and vanilla. Weird texture, nothing like the chemically stuff that comes out of a can. But very delicious.
Tuesday, October 2
I've Got an Icecream Maker, and I'm Gonna Use It!
ADDENDA:
Remembered to pack lunch today. I assembled two discordant items that wouldn't be very good together but are yummy separate, but then I figured, duh, I can have 2 small meals instead of one big one....
Just got the ice cream maker attachment for the mixer this morning. Gonna be a goooood tiiiime!!! (Doing a little crack-head dance) And just bought this mini freezer online today. Reminds me, I gotta get a more accurate blood pressure monitor.
Gonna be filled with home made hummus, tomato sauce, ice cream, sorbet and sinful gelato....all locked away from prying Betsys!
BREAKFAST: 8am, toasted onion bagel with hummus, hunger 3/5
AM SNACK: 10am, 24 oz still water
LUNCH #1: 12:15pm, container of whole wheat pasta with smoked scallops, hunger 4/5
Frozen from last week, held up exceptionally well, a lot fresher tasting than I thought it would. This take-your-lunch-to-work-often thing may turn out for the best, yet.
LUNCH #2: 3:15, 3/4 of a superhippy bread & fresh peanut butter sammich, hunger 4/5
Almost fell asleep in the prior meeting. Gave 1/4 to T. Really helped wake me up, considering there is no sugar or caffiene in it, and a ridiculous amount of superhippy fiber and seeds in it.
DINNER: 8pm, green salad, smoked pork chop, roasted fingerling potatoes, wok-seared stringbeans with mushroom and garlic, apple crisp with dulche de leche gelato, 1 glass wine, hunger 4/5
Cooked for my friend Erikka, as Betsy was away with her gals. Most of the ingredients from the farmers market. Thinking of Ilsa, added some veg to off set the (ridiculously tiny, cute) potatoes. Never quite made potatoes or string beans like, came out OK, almost good. Erikka cleared her plate, and had 2nds of the taters, so it couldn't of been too bad!
Remembered to pack lunch today. I assembled two discordant items that wouldn't be very good together but are yummy separate, but then I figured, duh, I can have 2 small meals instead of one big one....
Just got the ice cream maker attachment for the mixer this morning. Gonna be a goooood tiiiime!!! (Doing a little crack-head dance) And just bought this mini freezer online today. Reminds me, I gotta get a more accurate blood pressure monitor.
Gonna be filled with home made hummus, tomato sauce, ice cream, sorbet and sinful gelato....all locked away from prying Betsys!
BREAKFAST: 8am, toasted onion bagel with hummus, hunger 3/5
AM SNACK: 10am, 24 oz still water
LUNCH #1: 12:15pm, container of whole wheat pasta with smoked scallops, hunger 4/5
Frozen from last week, held up exceptionally well, a lot fresher tasting than I thought it would. This take-your-lunch-to-work-often thing may turn out for the best, yet.
LUNCH #2: 3:15, 3/4 of a superhippy bread & fresh peanut butter sammich, hunger 4/5
Almost fell asleep in the prior meeting. Gave 1/4 to T. Really helped wake me up, considering there is no sugar or caffiene in it, and a ridiculous amount of superhippy fiber and seeds in it.
DINNER: 8pm, green salad, smoked pork chop, roasted fingerling potatoes, wok-seared stringbeans with mushroom and garlic, apple crisp with dulche de leche gelato, 1 glass wine, hunger 4/5
Cooked for my friend Erikka, as Betsy was away with her gals. Most of the ingredients from the farmers market. Thinking of Ilsa, added some veg to off set the (ridiculously tiny, cute) potatoes. Never quite made potatoes or string beans like, came out OK, almost good. Erikka cleared her plate, and had 2nds of the taters, so it couldn't of been too bad!
Monday, October 1
My Mom's Laterday Peasoup
ADDENDA:
Forgot to pack lunch. So much for starting with my best foot forward. Me and B struggled (and failed) to get our old couch out of the house this morning, she's staying home to accept delivery of a new one. Maybe we can just place the new one directly on top of the old?
Slept for 10 hours last night. Again had very odd dreams. I was on the sidewalk in Tribeca, and Robert Deniro was driving a large pastel-colored car with Florida plates on the sidewalk coming towards me. I run up onto a wrought-iron fire escape, and watch Deniro cross the street and go into a tight alley. The building he entered the side of all of a sudden transforms from an ugly brick tenement to a modern glass-fronted luxury apartment. I notice on the fire escapes around me are Mafioso holding guns, pointing at each other, and I realise I need to get out of there quickly. Huh.
BREAKFAST: 7:30am, yogurt with raw cashews, dirt pill, 500mg Vitamin C, hunger 3/5
Throat feels a little scratchy. People at work have been getting nose and throat infections that they need anti-biotics for. So I popped a vitamin C in hopes of heading off something more serious.
AM SNACK: 9:30am, 24 oz still water
LUNCH: 2pm, half a pastrami sandwich, peasoup, water, 2 pickles, non-mayo slaw, hunger 4/5
I needed to sit and be quiet, work is good but a bit intense right now. Salt be damned, sat down at Juniors, on the last pages of Animal Vegetable Miracle (I'm a slow reader). Rather than the usual matzoh-ball, I ordered the hopefully less-salty peasoup.....
.....and remembered. After my dad died, in the process of my mom getting over her grief, cooked a little. She made herself peasoup from canned peas. She mentioned it a few times in passing, that she made pea soup again because it was good. The few times I was over her place, she offered me soup, but I wasn't hungry and turned her down.
I think I tried not to acknowledge or even think about her peasoup because it was such a new concept - my mom cooking. It scared me. Things had really changed for her. She was not a woman who cooked, not for any lack of skill or desire (though she had neither), but because she was a life-long career woman who had other things to do. Her job and her kids took up her time, and she took more pleasure from laundry and cleaning than from any sort of food prep. My mom cooking for herself - she now had time - her husband AND her career were both over. She filled in this gaping void with peasoup. I felt so bad for her, so bad for myself, I didn't know how to acknowledge it.
I wonder how her peasoup was. I regret not trying it.
PM SNACK: 5:30pm, 2 potato samosa, hunger 4/5
About to go to Wholefoods before home to cook, didn't want to be too hungry while at the market. From Green Symphony.
DINNER: 8pm, tofu stirfry with basmanti brown rice, small green salad, 1 glass white wine, fresh apple crumble and dulche de leche gelato, hunger 4/5
Haven't made a stirfry in a while, this one had broccoli, portabellas, and kick ass farmers market German garlic and baby onions. Threw in good olive oil, a dash of sesame oil, a dash of soy sauce, some white pepper, quickly wokked it at high heat for 2 minutes until the broccoli was glowing bright green and WOW! it actually tasted kick-ass, not greasy and the flavors of each veg popping. Even the bland tofu got seared with the oils and soy and garlic to really compliment the dish.
Betsy was home today and finished the apple crumble (!), so I made another, this time adjusting the recipe to my taste, and it also came out kick ass. Some meals I feel like an ignoramus, but this meal I wish a whole bunch of friends were here to enjoy it too. Good thing I have Betsy to eat it with.
EVENING SNACK: 10:45, pretzel with fresh peanut butter, hunger 4/5
Craving sweet, but this'll do. Ground the peanut butter from a machine in Whole foods, so I know it ain't nuttin' but peaz n' nuts. These pretzels kick ass, everyone I've given them to agree. I should buy a few bags and spread the love....
Forgot to pack lunch. So much for starting with my best foot forward. Me and B struggled (and failed) to get our old couch out of the house this morning, she's staying home to accept delivery of a new one. Maybe we can just place the new one directly on top of the old?
Slept for 10 hours last night. Again had very odd dreams. I was on the sidewalk in Tribeca, and Robert Deniro was driving a large pastel-colored car with Florida plates on the sidewalk coming towards me. I run up onto a wrought-iron fire escape, and watch Deniro cross the street and go into a tight alley. The building he entered the side of all of a sudden transforms from an ugly brick tenement to a modern glass-fronted luxury apartment. I notice on the fire escapes around me are Mafioso holding guns, pointing at each other, and I realise I need to get out of there quickly. Huh.
BREAKFAST: 7:30am, yogurt with raw cashews, dirt pill, 500mg Vitamin C, hunger 3/5
Throat feels a little scratchy. People at work have been getting nose and throat infections that they need anti-biotics for. So I popped a vitamin C in hopes of heading off something more serious.
AM SNACK: 9:30am, 24 oz still water
LUNCH: 2pm, half a pastrami sandwich, peasoup, water, 2 pickles, non-mayo slaw, hunger 4/5
I needed to sit and be quiet, work is good but a bit intense right now. Salt be damned, sat down at Juniors, on the last pages of Animal Vegetable Miracle (I'm a slow reader). Rather than the usual matzoh-ball, I ordered the hopefully less-salty peasoup.....
.....and remembered. After my dad died, in the process of my mom getting over her grief, cooked a little. She made herself peasoup from canned peas. She mentioned it a few times in passing, that she made pea soup again because it was good. The few times I was over her place, she offered me soup, but I wasn't hungry and turned her down.
I think I tried not to acknowledge or even think about her peasoup because it was such a new concept - my mom cooking. It scared me. Things had really changed for her. She was not a woman who cooked, not for any lack of skill or desire (though she had neither), but because she was a life-long career woman who had other things to do. Her job and her kids took up her time, and she took more pleasure from laundry and cleaning than from any sort of food prep. My mom cooking for herself - she now had time - her husband AND her career were both over. She filled in this gaping void with peasoup. I felt so bad for her, so bad for myself, I didn't know how to acknowledge it.
I wonder how her peasoup was. I regret not trying it.
PM SNACK: 5:30pm, 2 potato samosa, hunger 4/5
About to go to Wholefoods before home to cook, didn't want to be too hungry while at the market. From Green Symphony.
DINNER: 8pm, tofu stirfry with basmanti brown rice, small green salad, 1 glass white wine, fresh apple crumble and dulche de leche gelato, hunger 4/5
Haven't made a stirfry in a while, this one had broccoli, portabellas, and kick ass farmers market German garlic and baby onions. Threw in good olive oil, a dash of sesame oil, a dash of soy sauce, some white pepper, quickly wokked it at high heat for 2 minutes until the broccoli was glowing bright green and WOW! it actually tasted kick-ass, not greasy and the flavors of each veg popping. Even the bland tofu got seared with the oils and soy and garlic to really compliment the dish.
Betsy was home today and finished the apple crumble (!), so I made another, this time adjusting the recipe to my taste, and it also came out kick ass. Some meals I feel like an ignoramus, but this meal I wish a whole bunch of friends were here to enjoy it too. Good thing I have Betsy to eat it with.
EVENING SNACK: 10:45, pretzel with fresh peanut butter, hunger 4/5
Craving sweet, but this'll do. Ground the peanut butter from a machine in Whole foods, so I know it ain't nuttin' but peaz n' nuts. These pretzels kick ass, everyone I've given them to agree. I should buy a few bags and spread the love....
Sunday, September 30
Krazy Korean Soup
ADDENDA:
Went on a 50 mile slow ride with my coworker and friend Choi, who hasn't ridden a bike since childhood. He's in good shape, so he took the hills of Old River Road with grace, but between the crappy bike I put him on and his inexperience, it was a bit slow. We went up Manhattan to the GWB, took the hilly Old River Road north 10 miles, then back via 9W to Fort Lee for lunch, before going home.
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, yogurt with raw cashews, hunger 3/5
POWER SNACK: 1:30pm, 5 unsalted whole wheat pretzels, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 3pm, kimchi beef tofu soup, white rice, weird pickled Korean things, hunger 4/5
Me n' Choi went to the Soft Tofu Restaurant on Main Street in Fort Lee. The menu has about 10 different kinds of tofu soup and that's it. I had mine with kimchi and beef, and the beef were just small little bits, like a condiment. The soup itself was red and fiery, and pleasingly sour - a taste not found too often in American cooking. Choi showed me how one is supposed to crack and drop a raw egg into the soup when you get it, it thickens the soup. My natural aversion to eggs prevented me, but looking back, I should of just gone with it and hoped for the best - maybe next time.
As we were being served the soup, a large earthen bowl of rice was delivered, and they spooned two smaller bowls of rice out of it. There was rice remaining in the large earthen bowl, to which they added hot water. Choi told me that the water loosens the crispy slightly-toasted bits at the bottom and flavors the water. This watery rice is a popular snack! I tried it, and indeed the vaguely burnt rice gave a nice nutty tang to the starchy water, and the rice itself was surprisingly both soft and crisp.
This meal, however, was a big salt bomb.
PM SNACK: 5pm, small piece of apple crumble, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6:30pm, half a salami pizza, large piece of apple crumble, large piece of dark chocolate, hunger 4/5
Went on a 50 mile slow ride with my coworker and friend Choi, who hasn't ridden a bike since childhood. He's in good shape, so he took the hills of Old River Road with grace, but between the crappy bike I put him on and his inexperience, it was a bit slow. We went up Manhattan to the GWB, took the hilly Old River Road north 10 miles, then back via 9W to Fort Lee for lunch, before going home.
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, yogurt with raw cashews, hunger 3/5
POWER SNACK: 1:30pm, 5 unsalted whole wheat pretzels, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 3pm, kimchi beef tofu soup, white rice, weird pickled Korean things, hunger 4/5
Me n' Choi went to the Soft Tofu Restaurant on Main Street in Fort Lee. The menu has about 10 different kinds of tofu soup and that's it. I had mine with kimchi and beef, and the beef were just small little bits, like a condiment. The soup itself was red and fiery, and pleasingly sour - a taste not found too often in American cooking. Choi showed me how one is supposed to crack and drop a raw egg into the soup when you get it, it thickens the soup. My natural aversion to eggs prevented me, but looking back, I should of just gone with it and hoped for the best - maybe next time.
As we were being served the soup, a large earthen bowl of rice was delivered, and they spooned two smaller bowls of rice out of it. There was rice remaining in the large earthen bowl, to which they added hot water. Choi told me that the water loosens the crispy slightly-toasted bits at the bottom and flavors the water. This watery rice is a popular snack! I tried it, and indeed the vaguely burnt rice gave a nice nutty tang to the starchy water, and the rice itself was surprisingly both soft and crisp.
This meal, however, was a big salt bomb.
PM SNACK: 5pm, small piece of apple crumble, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6:30pm, half a salami pizza, large piece of apple crumble, large piece of dark chocolate, hunger 4/5
Saturday, September 29
Pizza of My Mother
piADDENDA:
Planned to ride today, but after hitting up the Union Square market at 8am, realized I needed to chill and take care of chores at home. Made a big salad, and an apple crumble for the first time.
BREAKFAST: 6:45am, 3 large pancakes, 5 pieces low-sodium bacon, dirtpill, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 11am, whole foods cookie, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 2pm, large fresh salad, 2 slices local pizza, hunger 4/5
Walked across the street and brought home 2 slices from my local. In my mom's lasts days, she and her sister ordered a pizza from this place a few times. I'd come over and eat up 5 slices.,, what they'd have Left. Not very good pizza, but it's the pizza of my mother.
PM SNACK: 4pm, large piece home made apple crumble, hunger 3/5
Craving sweets again! I made this today, from fresh apples from this morning's farmer's market and all organic ingredients, simple to make. Betsy sent me the recipe before she split this weekend to see her dad, I thought I make it for her to surprise her. I meant only to have a little piece, but I was shocked by how good it was, a whole 'nuther piece jumped up and lept down my throat!
DINNER: 8pm, lots of brerad, mozzeralla caprese salad, rigatoni with fresh tomato and cheese, one half glass of wine, one half of an over-sized gin&tonic., hunger 3/5
Went up to Westchester to celebrate an old friend's birthday. Restaurant was kind of awful, but didn't say anything as didn't want to be the snotty city guy amongst the local down-staters...
Wen to a bar right after, by a train station. I ordered a G&T to be sociable, and the damn thing came filled to the top in a 16oz cup! WTF?
Planned to ride today, but after hitting up the Union Square market at 8am, realized I needed to chill and take care of chores at home. Made a big salad, and an apple crumble for the first time.
BREAKFAST: 6:45am, 3 large pancakes, 5 pieces low-sodium bacon, dirtpill, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 11am, whole foods cookie, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 2pm, large fresh salad, 2 slices local pizza, hunger 4/5
Walked across the street and brought home 2 slices from my local. In my mom's lasts days, she and her sister ordered a pizza from this place a few times. I'd come over and eat up 5 slices.,, what they'd have Left. Not very good pizza, but it's the pizza of my mother.
PM SNACK: 4pm, large piece home made apple crumble, hunger 3/5
Craving sweets again! I made this today, from fresh apples from this morning's farmer's market and all organic ingredients, simple to make. Betsy sent me the recipe before she split this weekend to see her dad, I thought I make it for her to surprise her. I meant only to have a little piece, but I was shocked by how good it was, a whole 'nuther piece jumped up and lept down my throat!
DINNER: 8pm, lots of brerad, mozzeralla caprese salad, rigatoni with fresh tomato and cheese, one half glass of wine, one half of an over-sized gin&tonic., hunger 3/5
Went up to Westchester to celebrate an old friend's birthday. Restaurant was kind of awful, but didn't say anything as didn't want to be the snotty city guy amongst the local down-staters...
Wen to a bar right after, by a train station. I ordered a G&T to be sociable, and the damn thing came filled to the top in a 16oz cup! WTF?
Friday, September 28
In Jail, Waiting for My Parents
ADDENDA:
Got to sleep early, Betsy-style, last night again and again had some weird dreams. I was with my dad, he was in his later years, we were out shopping at the greenmarket, we were arm in arm as he needed me for balance (he hated using a cane, I was happy to be one for him.) This had happened before, though I wasn't very conscious of the greenmarket, I just thought it was my dad being a "cheapo", as my mom would say. In my dream, I asked my dad where my mom was. In real life, it was very common for me and my dad to go out together alone, because my mom was still working full time, and while she enjoyed it, when she was home she just wanted to vegetate.
Well, I asked my dad where my mom was and he said, "In jail." My mom never had anything to do with the criminal life, and I was quite upset. He didn't tell me why, but the next thing I know I'm on a long trip to a maximum security prison somewhere far away.
Had to go through several layers of security, wait in a crowded room with 100s of other folks, mostly poor and minorities. To pass the time, I started reading the New Yorker, which tends to have extremely long and involved articles. I look up, a lot of time had passed, and the waiting room was empty. I go to the front and tell the guard I'd like to see my mom now. She replies that visitors are only allowed once an hour on the half hour, and the time now was 5 o'clock, so I'd have to wait longer.
And that's all I remember. I guess I always felt the likelihood of my mom ever dying was about equal to her going to prison - just about nil. Part of me doesn't believe she's dead, just unexplainably missing, and I'm just waiting for her to come back to me.
When I was walking cross town yesterday looking for something different for lunch, passed a Brazilian steakhouse. I remember my dad raving about the tons of meat they serve you in a place like that - some of his chemistry professor buddies took him there, he went back with mom. I never went to that kind of restaurant - for the last 4-5 years of my dad's life, I was mostly non-dairy vegetarian (it was his illness that drove me to the comfort of bacon).
Why was I vegetarian for so long? (I'd say vegan, but that would confuse me with people who abstain from ALL animal products for ethical reasons, I just didn't eat it) I would have to say it was to feel the control over my own diet that I didn't have growing up. It was a clear directive - NO animal product in any form - it simplified the choices available. For me, didn't make it healthier or tastier - potato chips are vegan, and vegan pancakes taste like cardboard - though in intervening years I've experienced much better vegan dining (thanks T!)
Even before and after my flings without animal products, I ate a lot of sugar-free fat-free fakey foods. Diet coke, sugar-free Italian ices, skim milk, margarine (actually, that has all the fat and none of the flavor, WTF?), a general fear of whole animal food - cook it? Eat it? YIKES! I'm moving away from that fear. Yeah, the food supply is fucked by capitalism, red meat full of hormones and grains unnatural to the animal - but other peeps are catching up, and better tasting, healthier stuff IS here in NYC, I just gotta go get it. In terms of control, that fear controls ME. I would rather control that fear, and widen the variety of health-giving foods in my day-to-day routine. But I babble.
More super-hippy lunches. Less corporate sub shop lunches...
BREAKFAST: 6:30am, conventional cornflakes with good milk, hunger 3/5
BREAKFAST #2: 9am, toasted onion bagel with conventional hummus, hunger 4/5
Betsy woke up early because she's going away to see her dad this weekend. After my dream, I kinda didn't want to go back to sleep. Got a lot of chores done, but they left me hungry before work.
AM SNACK: 10am, 24 oz still water
BP 11:45am: 121/88
Researching more accurate blood pressure monitoring. All seem to agree an arm cuff is more accuraqte than the wrist cuff I've been using...but this is also interesting (from the Mayo Clinic's site):
Not too hungry but Erikka was. This was so damn good. This Japanese noodle place has a line infront of it every day, mostly with Japanese people, and it's easy to taste why.
PM SNACK: 3pm, two apple danishes, hunger 3/5
OK, today is a weird eating day, hands down. Craved sugar, went downstairs hoping to get something healthy-ish. Chocolate stuff looked too intense, ordered an apple Danish. Being it's Friday, they're looking to unload stock and gave me two. Thinking, urg, I'll give one away. Ate the first one....surprisingly not very sweet, in a good way. Then the second one stood up, attacked my face and jumped down my throat....
Feeling very full but not sick, or sugar-jumpy....yet.
ADDENDA: It's 4pm, and I got a headache! Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me...
PM SNACK: 6:45pm, half a soapy beer
DINNER: 8pm, seitan satay, samosa, vegan jap chae, water, 1 cookie, hunger 2/5
From the danish binge to the beer, wasn't hungry, but it was Friday night out with T, so the food was more entertainment than nourishment. Wild Ginger was surprisingly good, if the Jap Chae was too spicey. Wandered to Wholefoods for dessert. I bought 2 cookies, while T bought 1...after eating one, it occurred to me why did I buy 2? One cookie always seemed like too little....but it was more than enough.
Got to sleep early, Betsy-style, last night again and again had some weird dreams. I was with my dad, he was in his later years, we were out shopping at the greenmarket, we were arm in arm as he needed me for balance (he hated using a cane, I was happy to be one for him.) This had happened before, though I wasn't very conscious of the greenmarket, I just thought it was my dad being a "cheapo", as my mom would say. In my dream, I asked my dad where my mom was. In real life, it was very common for me and my dad to go out together alone, because my mom was still working full time, and while she enjoyed it, when she was home she just wanted to vegetate.
Well, I asked my dad where my mom was and he said, "In jail." My mom never had anything to do with the criminal life, and I was quite upset. He didn't tell me why, but the next thing I know I'm on a long trip to a maximum security prison somewhere far away.
Had to go through several layers of security, wait in a crowded room with 100s of other folks, mostly poor and minorities. To pass the time, I started reading the New Yorker, which tends to have extremely long and involved articles. I look up, a lot of time had passed, and the waiting room was empty. I go to the front and tell the guard I'd like to see my mom now. She replies that visitors are only allowed once an hour on the half hour, and the time now was 5 o'clock, so I'd have to wait longer.
And that's all I remember. I guess I always felt the likelihood of my mom ever dying was about equal to her going to prison - just about nil. Part of me doesn't believe she's dead, just unexplainably missing, and I'm just waiting for her to come back to me.
When I was walking cross town yesterday looking for something different for lunch, passed a Brazilian steakhouse. I remember my dad raving about the tons of meat they serve you in a place like that - some of his chemistry professor buddies took him there, he went back with mom. I never went to that kind of restaurant - for the last 4-5 years of my dad's life, I was mostly non-dairy vegetarian (it was his illness that drove me to the comfort of bacon).
Why was I vegetarian for so long? (I'd say vegan, but that would confuse me with people who abstain from ALL animal products for ethical reasons, I just didn't eat it) I would have to say it was to feel the control over my own diet that I didn't have growing up. It was a clear directive - NO animal product in any form - it simplified the choices available. For me, didn't make it healthier or tastier - potato chips are vegan, and vegan pancakes taste like cardboard - though in intervening years I've experienced much better vegan dining (thanks T!)
Even before and after my flings without animal products, I ate a lot of sugar-free fat-free fakey foods. Diet coke, sugar-free Italian ices, skim milk, margarine (actually, that has all the fat and none of the flavor, WTF?), a general fear of whole animal food - cook it? Eat it? YIKES! I'm moving away from that fear. Yeah, the food supply is fucked by capitalism, red meat full of hormones and grains unnatural to the animal - but other peeps are catching up, and better tasting, healthier stuff IS here in NYC, I just gotta go get it. In terms of control, that fear controls ME. I would rather control that fear, and widen the variety of health-giving foods in my day-to-day routine. But I babble.
More super-hippy lunches. Less corporate sub shop lunches...
BREAKFAST: 6:30am, conventional cornflakes with good milk, hunger 3/5
BREAKFAST #2: 9am, toasted onion bagel with conventional hummus, hunger 4/5
Betsy woke up early because she's going away to see her dad this weekend. After my dream, I kinda didn't want to go back to sleep. Got a lot of chores done, but they left me hungry before work.
AM SNACK: 10am, 24 oz still water
BP 11:45am: 121/88
Researching more accurate blood pressure monitoring. All seem to agree an arm cuff is more accuraqte than the wrist cuff I've been using...but this is also interesting (from the Mayo Clinic's site):
Your blood pressure at home is usually slightly lower than it is in a medical office, typically by a measurement of about five points. For instance, a reading at home of 135/85 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) is about the same as 140/90 mm Hg at the doctor's office.LUNCH: 12:45pm, pork tonkatsu with curry and rice, miso soup, hunger 3/5
Not too hungry but Erikka was. This was so damn good. This Japanese noodle place has a line infront of it every day, mostly with Japanese people, and it's easy to taste why.
PM SNACK: 3pm, two apple danishes, hunger 3/5
OK, today is a weird eating day, hands down. Craved sugar, went downstairs hoping to get something healthy-ish. Chocolate stuff looked too intense, ordered an apple Danish. Being it's Friday, they're looking to unload stock and gave me two. Thinking, urg, I'll give one away. Ate the first one....surprisingly not very sweet, in a good way. Then the second one stood up, attacked my face and jumped down my throat....
Feeling very full but not sick, or sugar-jumpy....yet.
ADDENDA: It's 4pm, and I got a headache! Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me...
PM SNACK: 6:45pm, half a soapy beer
DINNER: 8pm, seitan satay, samosa, vegan jap chae, water, 1 cookie, hunger 2/5
From the danish binge to the beer, wasn't hungry, but it was Friday night out with T, so the food was more entertainment than nourishment. Wild Ginger was surprisingly good, if the Jap Chae was too spicey. Wandered to Wholefoods for dessert. I bought 2 cookies, while T bought 1...after eating one, it occurred to me why did I buy 2? One cookie always seemed like too little....but it was more than enough.
Thursday, September 27
Check
ADDENDA:
Had a meeting with Ilsa last night and with my MD this morning. Funny, a whole lot of medicalization and concern for a person who isn't sick. This morning, my blood pressure was measured at 134/86, a disappointingly high number. A few minutes later, my blood pressure cuff told me 126/84. I think I need to invest in a monitoring device whose main feature is accuracy, not convenience. Also took a blood sample, if my LDL cholesterol is any different than last time (slightly elevated), I'll be getting a call on Tuesday.
My MD's advice was simple on the face of it: eat less salt and lose weight. He stressed that for naturally elevated blood pressure, outside of drugs, it's weight loss that'll have the most meaningful effect for a pudgy dude like me.
Meeting with Ilsa went well, helping me refocus on goals and what I'm doing. What AM I doing? This whole blog thing is a bit of whipping post for myself to stay focused and disciplined. I am tempted to eat that extra desert or wolf down that plate of fries, a little voice saying oh just one time, it's no big deal, but my fingers say, "HA! Do that and you must confess your sins to the internets!!" It's a method of control. Ilsa thinks I wouldn't suffer from easing up a bit, maybe I'm better off and knowledgeable than I think. Like with the MD, easier said than done. The more I learn, the more I feel that there's even more I don't know! I'm the smartest dummy in the room!
More specifically, starting next week I'm going to push the envelope a bit more and try to pack lunch 3 times a week or so. That'll probably eliminate a large part of the salt and conventional food in my regular diet. And again Ilsa focused on my parents - I find it hard to talk about them without getting melancholy, I just miss them so much. More I think about it, the more I realize some of my bad eating habits were unintentionally (and sometimes intentionally!) set up by them. I'm sure my mom would of loved to argue with me that everything she did was perfect and that I'm crazy. But she'd say it in a semi-funny way, leaving the door open to suggestion. Forceful, but flexible. Probably that's why she was such an excellent executive for most of her career.
Finally, I think I just might go ahead and buy a locking mini-freezer. I could use the extra space to keep extra cold to deep-store home made stuff like spag sauce and hummus. But mainly, I can keep the gelato out of B's hands! I think it's a bit weird and controlling, but Ilsa sees the flipside, me helping B out.
BREAKFAST: 7:30am, yogurt with peanuts and a little honey, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 9:30am, 24 oz flat water
LUNCH #1: 1pm, 6" turkey/swiss on whole wheat from Subway, hunger 4/5
Walked across town to look at clothes, wanted to eat something different, but so many long lines. Hadn't had subway in a long time. Looking at the ads, the 'healthy meal' combo involved diet coke and tasteless baked chips, yuuuuk. Used to like this food, now the turkey tasted almost unpleasantly salty.
It also occured to me that duuuh, I can make a kick-ass tasty sandwich at home and bring it to work. Superhippy bread, pesto-marinated thin-sliced tofu, mmmmm.....
LUNCH #2: 3pm, 2 potato samosa, sweet potato noodles, ginger tofu, hunger 4/5
On Tamar and Ilsa's recommendation, I took the effort to check out Green Symphony on 43rd off 7th, snuggled next to the old NY Times building. I heard an interesting interview with an economist who said he allowed economic theory to help him eat better. Restaurants on main drags with higher rents depend on volume, while those on side streets depend on the quality of their food and experience to create repeat customers. Well, Green Symphony is clearly the later.
It's a very small health-food shop near the heart of Times Square, clearly there for the people who work there and need an alternative to the McDonalds and Ben & Jerry's that is just a few doors away on 7th. I trawled through the hot and cold food bars, impressed at the number of organic dishes. Too much chicken - I'd much rather eat organic beef or pork than chicken. Too much fear of the red and other-white meat! Still, this carb-heavy snack was satisfying, and look forward to trying some of the more vegetable-oriented stuff on the two bars...
PM SNACK: 5:15pm, 4 oz of Sprite from the dispenser, hunger 3/5
Walking by the office kitchenette, a sprig of curiosity -will I still like soda? Not the fake diet stuff, but full sugar. Took a big swig of sprite...tasted a little like acidy lysol, lemony fresh. Burning acidy aftertaste all the way down my gullet, 5 minutes later could still feel it in my stomach. Overpoweringly cloying and sweet. Wow. Nasty.
PM SNACK: 6:30pm, 1 chocolate chip cookie, hunger 4/5
They were giving away freebies at Wholefoods! I was hungry! It jumped down my throat!
DINNER: 8pm, smoked scallops in a butter/wine/green onion sauce over whole wheat pasta, a large portion of cinnamon gelato, 1 glass white wine, water
An experimental meal, came out nice, but not restaurant-ready. I was originally thinking scallops and bacon, but these looked interesting. Unfortunately, I should of remembered B doesn't like smoked fish, and scallop and bacon does not equal a smoked scallop in her book. Oh well, live and learn, I will please my overly-complimentary wife yet!! (She will yell and moan that is was great, because she's a sweety, but bottom line is I goofed!)
I froze two meal-sized portions of the pasta, for lunches the next few weeks....
Had a meeting with Ilsa last night and with my MD this morning. Funny, a whole lot of medicalization and concern for a person who isn't sick. This morning, my blood pressure was measured at 134/86, a disappointingly high number. A few minutes later, my blood pressure cuff told me 126/84. I think I need to invest in a monitoring device whose main feature is accuracy, not convenience. Also took a blood sample, if my LDL cholesterol is any different than last time (slightly elevated), I'll be getting a call on Tuesday.
My MD's advice was simple on the face of it: eat less salt and lose weight. He stressed that for naturally elevated blood pressure, outside of drugs, it's weight loss that'll have the most meaningful effect for a pudgy dude like me.
Meeting with Ilsa went well, helping me refocus on goals and what I'm doing. What AM I doing? This whole blog thing is a bit of whipping post for myself to stay focused and disciplined. I am tempted to eat that extra desert or wolf down that plate of fries, a little voice saying oh just one time, it's no big deal, but my fingers say, "HA! Do that and you must confess your sins to the internets!!" It's a method of control. Ilsa thinks I wouldn't suffer from easing up a bit, maybe I'm better off and knowledgeable than I think. Like with the MD, easier said than done. The more I learn, the more I feel that there's even more I don't know! I'm the smartest dummy in the room!
More specifically, starting next week I'm going to push the envelope a bit more and try to pack lunch 3 times a week or so. That'll probably eliminate a large part of the salt and conventional food in my regular diet. And again Ilsa focused on my parents - I find it hard to talk about them without getting melancholy, I just miss them so much. More I think about it, the more I realize some of my bad eating habits were unintentionally (and sometimes intentionally!) set up by them. I'm sure my mom would of loved to argue with me that everything she did was perfect and that I'm crazy. But she'd say it in a semi-funny way, leaving the door open to suggestion. Forceful, but flexible. Probably that's why she was such an excellent executive for most of her career.
Finally, I think I just might go ahead and buy a locking mini-freezer. I could use the extra space to keep extra cold to deep-store home made stuff like spag sauce and hummus. But mainly, I can keep the gelato out of B's hands! I think it's a bit weird and controlling, but Ilsa sees the flipside, me helping B out.
BREAKFAST: 7:30am, yogurt with peanuts and a little honey, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 9:30am, 24 oz flat water
LUNCH #1: 1pm, 6" turkey/swiss on whole wheat from Subway, hunger 4/5
Walked across town to look at clothes, wanted to eat something different, but so many long lines. Hadn't had subway in a long time. Looking at the ads, the 'healthy meal' combo involved diet coke and tasteless baked chips, yuuuuk. Used to like this food, now the turkey tasted almost unpleasantly salty.
It also occured to me that duuuh, I can make a kick-ass tasty sandwich at home and bring it to work. Superhippy bread, pesto-marinated thin-sliced tofu, mmmmm.....
LUNCH #2: 3pm, 2 potato samosa, sweet potato noodles, ginger tofu, hunger 4/5
On Tamar and Ilsa's recommendation, I took the effort to check out Green Symphony on 43rd off 7th, snuggled next to the old NY Times building. I heard an interesting interview with an economist who said he allowed economic theory to help him eat better. Restaurants on main drags with higher rents depend on volume, while those on side streets depend on the quality of their food and experience to create repeat customers. Well, Green Symphony is clearly the later.
It's a very small health-food shop near the heart of Times Square, clearly there for the people who work there and need an alternative to the McDonalds and Ben & Jerry's that is just a few doors away on 7th. I trawled through the hot and cold food bars, impressed at the number of organic dishes. Too much chicken - I'd much rather eat organic beef or pork than chicken. Too much fear of the red and other-white meat! Still, this carb-heavy snack was satisfying, and look forward to trying some of the more vegetable-oriented stuff on the two bars...
PM SNACK: 5:15pm, 4 oz of Sprite from the dispenser, hunger 3/5
Walking by the office kitchenette, a sprig of curiosity -will I still like soda? Not the fake diet stuff, but full sugar. Took a big swig of sprite...tasted a little like acidy lysol, lemony fresh. Burning acidy aftertaste all the way down my gullet, 5 minutes later could still feel it in my stomach. Overpoweringly cloying and sweet. Wow. Nasty.
PM SNACK: 6:30pm, 1 chocolate chip cookie, hunger 4/5
They were giving away freebies at Wholefoods! I was hungry! It jumped down my throat!
DINNER: 8pm, smoked scallops in a butter/wine/green onion sauce over whole wheat pasta, a large portion of cinnamon gelato, 1 glass white wine, water
An experimental meal, came out nice, but not restaurant-ready. I was originally thinking scallops and bacon, but these looked interesting. Unfortunately, I should of remembered B doesn't like smoked fish, and scallop and bacon does not equal a smoked scallop in her book. Oh well, live and learn, I will please my overly-complimentary wife yet!! (She will yell and moan that is was great, because she's a sweety, but bottom line is I goofed!)
I froze two meal-sized portions of the pasta, for lunches the next few weeks....
Wednesday, September 26
Dreams
ADDENDA:
Slept really well last night, 9 hours. Ate a whole container of cookies last night, about 9 cookies. Looking at it, I thought it was maybe 2 servings. Looking at the label....EACH cookie was one serving! WTF!
Crazy dreams, don't know how to put it. Rather than the dream being Noah-centric, I was like a disemobodied camera following around this female black office worker (kinda like how Woody Allen has people act in his stead) working in the pre-9/11 World Trade Center. Even though it hasn't happened yet, she 'remembers' the disaster and bolts for the stairwell. Most of the dream was just her running down flight after flight of stairs, pondering whether she should pause and question her sanity...
I suspect this is work related somehow....but could be food/weight related too....
BREAKFAST: 8am, decadent oatmeal, hunger 4/5
Half whole milk, half water, small pat of good butter, cinamon, vanilla, I forgot sweetner! And I could tell the difference - that half teaspoon of sugar doesn't make it sweet, but it makes the oatmeal just taste.....rounder, fuller.
AM SNACK: 9:30am, 24 oz still water
LUNCH #1: 12:30pm, potatoes a la noah, organic celery and carrot sticks, hummus, hunger 4/5
Potatoes better as cold leftovers. Brought 'em to work in the borg-box.
BP 1pm, 124/79
PM SNACK: 1:45pm, large M&M cookie, hunger 3/5
Had serious cravings for sugar, haven't had a craving like that in a while. Maybe related to lack of protein in lunch? Something to do with what potatoes do to me?
PM SNACK: 5pm, bag of Robert's Smart Puffs, hunger 4/5
Too late for lunch #2, as dinner is a few hours away, but don't want to be hungry for my appointment with Ilsa, or I might start fantasizing outloud to her about what I wanna eat....right....NOW! He he.
DINNER: 7:30pm, fried catfish poboy with a little slaw and rice, vesuvius cake, water, hunger 4/5
Was hoping to eat unhealthy after seeing Ilsa, only really succeeded in an extra sweet today. Me n' Yana went to Chat n' Chew on 16th Street, the fish sandwich was alright, but it came with fries, so I requested rice and beans....which was just yellow rice with a side of bland vegetable chili. Too salty. The cake, which was supposed to be 3 kinds of chocolate and cheese cake was kinda lame, most of the chocolate was a mousse and the cakey and cheesey bits tasted kinda fakey.
Slept really well last night, 9 hours. Ate a whole container of cookies last night, about 9 cookies. Looking at it, I thought it was maybe 2 servings. Looking at the label....EACH cookie was one serving! WTF!
Crazy dreams, don't know how to put it. Rather than the dream being Noah-centric, I was like a disemobodied camera following around this female black office worker (kinda like how Woody Allen has people act in his stead) working in the pre-9/11 World Trade Center. Even though it hasn't happened yet, she 'remembers' the disaster and bolts for the stairwell. Most of the dream was just her running down flight after flight of stairs, pondering whether she should pause and question her sanity...
I suspect this is work related somehow....but could be food/weight related too....
BREAKFAST: 8am, decadent oatmeal, hunger 4/5
Half whole milk, half water, small pat of good butter, cinamon, vanilla, I forgot sweetner! And I could tell the difference - that half teaspoon of sugar doesn't make it sweet, but it makes the oatmeal just taste.....rounder, fuller.
AM SNACK: 9:30am, 24 oz still water
LUNCH #1: 12:30pm, potatoes a la noah, organic celery and carrot sticks, hummus, hunger 4/5
Potatoes better as cold leftovers. Brought 'em to work in the borg-box.
BP 1pm, 124/79
PM SNACK: 1:45pm, large M&M cookie, hunger 3/5
Had serious cravings for sugar, haven't had a craving like that in a while. Maybe related to lack of protein in lunch? Something to do with what potatoes do to me?
PM SNACK: 5pm, bag of Robert's Smart Puffs, hunger 4/5
Too late for lunch #2, as dinner is a few hours away, but don't want to be hungry for my appointment with Ilsa, or I might start fantasizing outloud to her about what I wanna eat....right....NOW! He he.
DINNER: 7:30pm, fried catfish poboy with a little slaw and rice, vesuvius cake, water, hunger 4/5
Was hoping to eat unhealthy after seeing Ilsa, only really succeeded in an extra sweet today. Me n' Yana went to Chat n' Chew on 16th Street, the fish sandwich was alright, but it came with fries, so I requested rice and beans....which was just yellow rice with a side of bland vegetable chili. Too salty. The cake, which was supposed to be 3 kinds of chocolate and cheese cake was kinda lame, most of the chocolate was a mousse and the cakey and cheesey bits tasted kinda fakey.
Tuesday, September 25
Couch Potato - Potato = Miracle Diet!
ADDENDA:
Read an interesting article about how not only does exercising not promote weight loss, but that the idea that it should is a recent phenomenon. It tells me what I already know - if I ride my ass off all day, yes, I burn maybe 4x more calories than I do in a normal day, but I also find myself in a food frenzy where I eat at least 4x more. The article insinuates that if you sit around and do nothing, it's a lot easier to eat less calories than you expend.
So I guess couch potatoism minus the potato chips may be the diet craze of the future!
BREAKFAST: 8am, superhippy bread with wholefoods-branded hummus, dirtpill, hunger 2/5
Not particularly hungry after last night's late-night yogurt explosion, but figured it would be bad not to eat. The superhippy bread really is worth the $9 for the half loaf - it has a pleasing density, lots of different cracked seeds and grains give it an interesting texture, a faintly sour-dough flavor keeps it spritely without being salty.
BP 9:30am, 130/84
AM SNACK: 9:30am, 24 oz still water
LUNCH #1: 11:45am, 2 slices sesame pork w/ "lo mein", hunger 4/5
The corporate caf just reopened, and like with lipstick on a pig, it's the same old same old (crappy food, surly service) with a new look. Such crap food, and such small portions!
LUNCH #2: 4:15pm, falafel pita from the lamb guy, hunger 4.5/5
Back to back meetings til 4, felt faint. Last meeting I was day dreaming about wholefoods, what I'm going to make myself for dinner, as Betsy is otherwise engaged this evening....SHRIMP! If I liked berries, I'd make a shrimp n' berries dish, he he.
DINNER: 8pm, green salad, 1 lb of wild caught shrimp a la Noah, roasted organic red jacket potatoes also a la Noah, 8 oz of chocolate butter cookies, seltzer, hunger 4/5
When I say "a la Noah", it means I made it up as I went along because I didn't have the pressure of having to please another person. Shrimp was great, satisfying that I chose it from an array of 4 different kinds (this one looked the freshest), took a solid 20 minutes to peel and devein all of them. Potatoes came out surprisingly well, but I wonder how healthy potatoes are in general...
Read an interesting article about how not only does exercising not promote weight loss, but that the idea that it should is a recent phenomenon. It tells me what I already know - if I ride my ass off all day, yes, I burn maybe 4x more calories than I do in a normal day, but I also find myself in a food frenzy where I eat at least 4x more. The article insinuates that if you sit around and do nothing, it's a lot easier to eat less calories than you expend.
So I guess couch potatoism minus the potato chips may be the diet craze of the future!
BREAKFAST: 8am, superhippy bread with wholefoods-branded hummus, dirtpill, hunger 2/5
Not particularly hungry after last night's late-night yogurt explosion, but figured it would be bad not to eat. The superhippy bread really is worth the $9 for the half loaf - it has a pleasing density, lots of different cracked seeds and grains give it an interesting texture, a faintly sour-dough flavor keeps it spritely without being salty.
BP 9:30am, 130/84
AM SNACK: 9:30am, 24 oz still water
LUNCH #1: 11:45am, 2 slices sesame pork w/ "lo mein", hunger 4/5
The corporate caf just reopened, and like with lipstick on a pig, it's the same old same old (crappy food, surly service) with a new look. Such crap food, and such small portions!
LUNCH #2: 4:15pm, falafel pita from the lamb guy, hunger 4.5/5
Back to back meetings til 4, felt faint. Last meeting I was day dreaming about wholefoods, what I'm going to make myself for dinner, as Betsy is otherwise engaged this evening....SHRIMP! If I liked berries, I'd make a shrimp n' berries dish, he he.
DINNER: 8pm, green salad, 1 lb of wild caught shrimp a la Noah, roasted organic red jacket potatoes also a la Noah, 8 oz of chocolate butter cookies, seltzer, hunger 4/5
When I say "a la Noah", it means I made it up as I went along because I didn't have the pressure of having to please another person. Shrimp was great, satisfying that I chose it from an array of 4 different kinds (this one looked the freshest), took a solid 20 minutes to peel and devein all of them. Potatoes came out surprisingly well, but I wonder how healthy potatoes are in general...
Monday, September 24
Anxiety
ADDENDA:
After my shower, Betsy suggested I step on the scale. She's been complimenting me left and right all weekend about how good I look. Me, I feel good, but haven't noticed any changes in my body. Stepped on the scale, 230, pretty much the same as it's been for the past 10 years.
Turned on the TV, it was a paid infomercial on the Food Channel. Chunky woman blubbering how when she got on a rollercoaster with her kid, she was too fat for the bar to come down over her big belly. But with this program, she never had to go the gym and she never had to starve blah blah blah.
Felt anxious. I want to lose weight, but I'm comfortable in my skin and how my body works. I fit in the rollercoaster! But I also want to be healthy, and losing weight will help control blood pressure, if not now then in the future. I don't want to be in this crazy vain body-conscious circus, but I want to feel like I can be free of worry.
I was a chubby kid. My mom gave me a hard (but loving) time about it, and I went through a couple of phases in life where I lost a lot of weight, felt good about it, but eventually my body adjusted to the lowered calories, I got discouraged, and fell into old habits within a year or so. I know I can lose a good 20lbs and keep it off for 9-12 months, but then what?
BREAKFAST: 7:45am, toasted whole wheat bagel with good butter and fancy smoked salmon, dirtpill, hunger 3/5
Got this overpriced Charlie Trotter-branded citrus-flavored salmon, cured with sea salt instead of the usual. As I was eating it, found I didn't like it that much and thought if I'm going to experiment with foods to expand my palate, it SHOULD be friggin' low salt! Just don't want to get bored....
BP 8:15am 126/85
AM SNACK: 9:15am, 24 oz still water
LUNCH #1: Noon, 2 small cool slices of crappy pizza, hunger 4/5
Meetins 11am-3pm straight, though a middle meeting provided pizza. Not very good, but got me through without falling apart.
LUNCH #2: 3:15p, fried whiting on whole wheat, 4 unadorned falafel balls, hunger 3/5
Weird, wasn't too hungry but once I ate the sandwich, got very hungry and got the balls. Got them as an appetizer rather than a sandwich, could taste it alone. Surprisingly salty.
On the first Tenacious D album, there is a skit where the two guys go to a drive in window of a generic fast food place. The gag is that while Jack Black is ordering almost the entire menu, at the same time he is ranting that he is on a diet - ordering stuff like a large cola - half regular and half diet, 3 small orders of fries because their small and not large. And of course, the fillet-of-fish sandwich, because, as he exclaims, "Because it's FISH! It's healthy!".
The whiting sandwich was yummy, but between the grease, the breading, the questionable origins of the fish and the nutrient-light tomato and lettuce, the term 'healthy' would be stretching it...
PM SNACK: 5pm, 24 oz still water
DINNER: 7:30pm, spinach gnocchi with homemade tomato sauce and grated cheese, big green salad, big square of dark chocolate with peanut butter, a little seltzer
EVENING SNACK: 11:30pm, full portion of yogurt with peanuts, honey and drop of vanilla extract, hunger 4/5
When I realized how hungry I was, I knew I did not eat enough for dinner. In the past at this point I would start binging, starting with the sweets, with the idea that sugar would kill be hunger, but it wouldn't do it fast enough so I'd continue to eat.
I knew I'd have to blog about my sins, so I just ate a (reeeeally) early breakfast, and 2 minutes after I wanted more, but 10 minutes later I started to feel contented and sleepy. Hmmm.
After my shower, Betsy suggested I step on the scale. She's been complimenting me left and right all weekend about how good I look. Me, I feel good, but haven't noticed any changes in my body. Stepped on the scale, 230, pretty much the same as it's been for the past 10 years.
Turned on the TV, it was a paid infomercial on the Food Channel. Chunky woman blubbering how when she got on a rollercoaster with her kid, she was too fat for the bar to come down over her big belly. But with this program, she never had to go the gym and she never had to starve blah blah blah.
Felt anxious. I want to lose weight, but I'm comfortable in my skin and how my body works. I fit in the rollercoaster! But I also want to be healthy, and losing weight will help control blood pressure, if not now then in the future. I don't want to be in this crazy vain body-conscious circus, but I want to feel like I can be free of worry.
I was a chubby kid. My mom gave me a hard (but loving) time about it, and I went through a couple of phases in life where I lost a lot of weight, felt good about it, but eventually my body adjusted to the lowered calories, I got discouraged, and fell into old habits within a year or so. I know I can lose a good 20lbs and keep it off for 9-12 months, but then what?
BREAKFAST: 7:45am, toasted whole wheat bagel with good butter and fancy smoked salmon, dirtpill, hunger 3/5
Got this overpriced Charlie Trotter-branded citrus-flavored salmon, cured with sea salt instead of the usual. As I was eating it, found I didn't like it that much and thought if I'm going to experiment with foods to expand my palate, it SHOULD be friggin' low salt! Just don't want to get bored....
BP 8:15am 126/85
AM SNACK: 9:15am, 24 oz still water
LUNCH #1: Noon, 2 small cool slices of crappy pizza, hunger 4/5
Meetins 11am-3pm straight, though a middle meeting provided pizza. Not very good, but got me through without falling apart.
LUNCH #2: 3:15p, fried whiting on whole wheat, 4 unadorned falafel balls, hunger 3/5
Weird, wasn't too hungry but once I ate the sandwich, got very hungry and got the balls. Got them as an appetizer rather than a sandwich, could taste it alone. Surprisingly salty.
On the first Tenacious D album, there is a skit where the two guys go to a drive in window of a generic fast food place. The gag is that while Jack Black is ordering almost the entire menu, at the same time he is ranting that he is on a diet - ordering stuff like a large cola - half regular and half diet, 3 small orders of fries because their small and not large. And of course, the fillet-of-fish sandwich, because, as he exclaims, "Because it's FISH! It's healthy!".
The whiting sandwich was yummy, but between the grease, the breading, the questionable origins of the fish and the nutrient-light tomato and lettuce, the term 'healthy' would be stretching it...
PM SNACK: 5pm, 24 oz still water
DINNER: 7:30pm, spinach gnocchi with homemade tomato sauce and grated cheese, big green salad, big square of dark chocolate with peanut butter, a little seltzer
EVENING SNACK: 11:30pm, full portion of yogurt with peanuts, honey and drop of vanilla extract, hunger 4/5
When I realized how hungry I was, I knew I did not eat enough for dinner. In the past at this point I would start binging, starting with the sweets, with the idea that sugar would kill be hunger, but it wouldn't do it fast enough so I'd continue to eat.
I knew I'd have to blog about my sins, so I just ate a (reeeeally) early breakfast, and 2 minutes after I wanted more, but 10 minutes later I started to feel contented and sleepy. Hmmm.
Sunday, September 23
Sundays with Betsy
ADDENDA:
Because of riding, didn't get to hit up the greenmarket in Union Square. Went to the local greenmarket this morning, pretty scarce, but did buy more local honey for yogurt, the upcoming oatmeal season and a future tofu pie. Bought ingredients for a full salad at Wholefoods, mostly organic.
The check-out kid asked if the romaine lettuce was green-lettuce, fair enough question. Then he asked me if the celery was asparagus! When he rang up the $4/lb shallot as a yellow cooking onion ($.99/lb) I didn't correct him... maybe I'm not as unknowlegable about food than I thought....
Spent the day with my wife, was really nice. We pedalled over to Brooklyn for brunch walked my friend back to her house and found ourselves on the edge of Prospect Park. We grinded up a wooded hill, found a spot to read the Sunday Times for a while, then pedalled out of the park through Clinton Hill to the Williamsburg Bridge. All evening I de-jewelcased my record collection into little plastic sleeves while she did work, it was very comfortable. (However, I only got through about 1/10th of my collection, oy....)
BREAKFAST: 6:45am, yogurt with honey and peanuts, hunger 4/5
Left over hunger from yesterday's exertion.
AM SNACK: 10am, banana, hunger 4/5
Forgot about these. Flecked with black, perfectly sweet and firm. Does this count as a sweet? I guess in competition with gelato, donuts and cookies, Ilsa would say "No"....
AM SNACK: 10:45am, 2 pieces whole wheat toast with hummus, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 1:30pm, 2 huge pieces of french toast slathered with nutella in the middle, bacon, small glass of OJ, a few sips of tea, water, hunger 4/5
Brooklyn brunch with friends, this dish came with a side of syrup, a side of dulche de leche, and caramelized banana on top. The chocolate inside already made it ridiculously sweet and deserty, who the hell would want all the other sweets on top of that? Yuk!! Real meal or no, this was definitely the sweets for the day.
PM SNACK: 5pm, 2 pints of water
DINNER: 8pm, 1 spinach knish with mustard, one small frozen pizza, hunger 4/5
Freezer fishin'. Unlike the past, this frozen pizza has been sitting around for a full month - usually, they'd disappear at a rapid rate. Wasn't very good, in fact was quite crappy, and this was a fancy expensive gourmet brand that I used a pizza stone to get the crust cripsy/chewy. I gotta make my own...
EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, 2 large squares dark chocolate, hunger 3/5
Sweet craving. Eh, it's Sunday, a little indulgence won't kill me.
Because of riding, didn't get to hit up the greenmarket in Union Square. Went to the local greenmarket this morning, pretty scarce, but did buy more local honey for yogurt, the upcoming oatmeal season and a future tofu pie. Bought ingredients for a full salad at Wholefoods, mostly organic.
The check-out kid asked if the romaine lettuce was green-lettuce, fair enough question. Then he asked me if the celery was asparagus! When he rang up the $4/lb shallot as a yellow cooking onion ($.99/lb) I didn't correct him... maybe I'm not as unknowlegable about food than I thought....
Spent the day with my wife, was really nice. We pedalled over to Brooklyn for brunch walked my friend back to her house and found ourselves on the edge of Prospect Park. We grinded up a wooded hill, found a spot to read the Sunday Times for a while, then pedalled out of the park through Clinton Hill to the Williamsburg Bridge. All evening I de-jewelcased my record collection into little plastic sleeves while she did work, it was very comfortable. (However, I only got through about 1/10th of my collection, oy....)
BREAKFAST: 6:45am, yogurt with honey and peanuts, hunger 4/5
Left over hunger from yesterday's exertion.
AM SNACK: 10am, banana, hunger 4/5
Forgot about these. Flecked with black, perfectly sweet and firm. Does this count as a sweet? I guess in competition with gelato, donuts and cookies, Ilsa would say "No"....
AM SNACK: 10:45am, 2 pieces whole wheat toast with hummus, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 1:30pm, 2 huge pieces of french toast slathered with nutella in the middle, bacon, small glass of OJ, a few sips of tea, water, hunger 4/5
Brooklyn brunch with friends, this dish came with a side of syrup, a side of dulche de leche, and caramelized banana on top. The chocolate inside already made it ridiculously sweet and deserty, who the hell would want all the other sweets on top of that? Yuk!! Real meal or no, this was definitely the sweets for the day.
PM SNACK: 5pm, 2 pints of water
DINNER: 8pm, 1 spinach knish with mustard, one small frozen pizza, hunger 4/5
Freezer fishin'. Unlike the past, this frozen pizza has been sitting around for a full month - usually, they'd disappear at a rapid rate. Wasn't very good, in fact was quite crappy, and this was a fancy expensive gourmet brand that I used a pizza stone to get the crust cripsy/chewy. I gotta make my own...
EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, 2 large squares dark chocolate, hunger 3/5
Sweet craving. Eh, it's Sunday, a little indulgence won't kill me.
Saturday, September 22
Ride Down the Joisey Shaw
ADDENDA:
A nice relaxing Saturday. Woke at 6:15, made myself a hearty breakfast, hopped on the bike, picked up some kick-ass organic local donuts and pedalled down to Pier 11 to catcht the 8:15am fast ferry to Stoney Point. Road 30 miles down the shore and 30 miles back, the way back a lot quicker so I could make the 3:15 and miss the rain... which poured over me the last 15 miles.
A 2 hour wait for the next ferry, long straight flat pieces of road, and buckets of rain is good motivator to sprint and push your legs to the point of pain (in a good way).
BREAKFAST: 6:45am, 3 substantial pancakes, seltzer, hunger 3/5
AM SNACK: 8:45, 2 donuts, hunger 3/5
Watching the Verezanno peel by over my head, both ends invisible because of fog....time for a donut!
AM SNACK: 11:45, 4 whole wheat pretzels, small amount of gatorade, hunger 2/5
Halfway mark. Monmouth County public park, lots of surfers in full gear everywhere. Seagulls, fishing boats zipping around, to think I was home only a few hours ago...
PM SNACK: 12:45 'medium' cherry ice, hunger 3/5
From a concession's stand on the board walk at Asbury Park. In NYC, the 'regular' is a little paper cup with one small scoop. This was a gargantuan 3-scooper, bright neon red and weirdly overly sweet - corn syrup in FULL effect. Huh. I've had this quality of ice before, never tasted so totally cloying and fake. But my body just absorbed the sugar, and the rush propelled me into the rain....
PM SNACK: 2:15, 2 wholewheat pretzels, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 4:45, 4 pieces whole wheat bread with hummus, handful of carrots and cucumber, hunger 4/5
Betsy prepped a nice spread for me when I got home, which allowed me to cook for an hour without goin' nuts.
DINNER: 6pm, 2 smoked pork chops with mushroom & onion, basmanti brown rice, seltzer, hunger 4/5
Pork chops, non nitrate, from last week's farmer's market. Oh. My. Gawd. I got to have some friends over and serve this.
A nice relaxing Saturday. Woke at 6:15, made myself a hearty breakfast, hopped on the bike, picked up some kick-ass organic local donuts and pedalled down to Pier 11 to catcht the 8:15am fast ferry to Stoney Point. Road 30 miles down the shore and 30 miles back, the way back a lot quicker so I could make the 3:15 and miss the rain... which poured over me the last 15 miles.
A 2 hour wait for the next ferry, long straight flat pieces of road, and buckets of rain is good motivator to sprint and push your legs to the point of pain (in a good way).
BREAKFAST: 6:45am, 3 substantial pancakes, seltzer, hunger 3/5
AM SNACK: 8:45, 2 donuts, hunger 3/5
Watching the Verezanno peel by over my head, both ends invisible because of fog....time for a donut!
AM SNACK: 11:45, 4 whole wheat pretzels, small amount of gatorade, hunger 2/5
Halfway mark. Monmouth County public park, lots of surfers in full gear everywhere. Seagulls, fishing boats zipping around, to think I was home only a few hours ago...
PM SNACK: 12:45 'medium' cherry ice, hunger 3/5
From a concession's stand on the board walk at Asbury Park. In NYC, the 'regular' is a little paper cup with one small scoop. This was a gargantuan 3-scooper, bright neon red and weirdly overly sweet - corn syrup in FULL effect. Huh. I've had this quality of ice before, never tasted so totally cloying and fake. But my body just absorbed the sugar, and the rush propelled me into the rain....
PM SNACK: 2:15, 2 wholewheat pretzels, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 4:45, 4 pieces whole wheat bread with hummus, handful of carrots and cucumber, hunger 4/5
Betsy prepped a nice spread for me when I got home, which allowed me to cook for an hour without goin' nuts.
DINNER: 6pm, 2 smoked pork chops with mushroom & onion, basmanti brown rice, seltzer, hunger 4/5
Pork chops, non nitrate, from last week's farmer's market. Oh. My. Gawd. I got to have some friends over and serve this.
Friday, September 21
Color Me Pagan
ADDENDA:
Betsy is a bit concerned about not honoring the Yom Kippur holiday, while I'm used to pretty much ignoring it all together, save for taking work off (which my mom insisted on.) Being I'm coming off a honeymoon vacation, I don't feel comfortable taking more time off.
Listening to NPR on my pedal to work this morning, I heard a story about how the hardliners in Iran are rewriting history books to diminish and ignore the greatness of the pre-Islamic Persian empire. Them Persians were friendly to Judeo-Christian things, had their own Zoroastrianism and Paganism, too. Ah, Paganism - from the little I know about it, it sounds like it was the ideal (and first) religion. Worship the land, sun, nature, fertility. Respect to those people and things who produce (and reproduce) the very basics of life. Of course, back then people died at the average age of 32 and didn't have chocolate. Still, if I were to give it all up and live on a family farm, I'd probably read up on Paganism to see how it could help me run the farm better.
A lot of dumb holidays have very smart Pagan roots, easter and halloween based on harvest fesitvals, Xmas on the winter solstice etc. Women demonized as witches in the switch from matriarchy to patriarchy. Crazy cat lady's cats literally demonized as familiars....hrumph, poor kitties!
BREAKFAST: 7am, good yogurt with peanuts and a dash of honey, superhippy bread with good butter, dirtpill, hunger 3/5
AM SNACK: 9:15am, 24 oz still water
LUNCH: 1pm, megasoy burrito with black beans, chips and salsa, small cup of Ben & Jerry's chocolate therapy, hunger 4/5
I occasionally go to Burritoville, maybe once a month, always eat the exact same thing, ever since I was a vegan many years ago. This burrito has soy cheese and sour cream, tempeh for meat, whole wheat wrapper, brown rice. The salsa that I had with the chips, though....ICK! It tasted soooo salty! Is this just this batch? Or did I not notice before? I'll go there in a month or so, and if it's so salty again, never again...
Figuring I'll be waking early to ride tomorrow, would eat my desert now rather than with dinner. Also, no pressure on B to snarf sweets with me. Ben & Jerry's pisses me the f#ck off - instead of small, medium and large, they have kid, small and large. How about 'normal', 'don't care' and 'superfatass'? You KNOW the smallest serving now was a large 30-40 years ago. Yeah, I ordered a 'kid' size, f#ck you, Ben & Jerry's!
PM SNACK: 2:30pm, 24 oz still water
Thirsty, lunch made me thirsty. Maybe because of the salty salsa?
PM SNACK: 6pm, popcorn, hunger 4/5
Movie with B, not totally desirous of the popcorn but wanted to share with her. Oddly enough, I got the 'medium', which seemed kinda small, particularly for $5. But the large was stupid, but still smaller than what I remember as a kid....Betsy got a headache after it, I was fine.
DINNER: 8:30pm, bulgogi, vegetable dumplings, kimchi pajun, white rice, weird slightly sweet cinnamon after-dinner non-alcholic drink, hunger 4/5
Had the traditional bulgogi, as I haven't eaten proper beef in a while. Eh, should of got the pork. Dok Suni (on 1st near 7th) is really good, Korean food that caters a bit more to round-eyed devils than some of the places on 32nd Street....
Betsy is a bit concerned about not honoring the Yom Kippur holiday, while I'm used to pretty much ignoring it all together, save for taking work off (which my mom insisted on.) Being I'm coming off a honeymoon vacation, I don't feel comfortable taking more time off.
Listening to NPR on my pedal to work this morning, I heard a story about how the hardliners in Iran are rewriting history books to diminish and ignore the greatness of the pre-Islamic Persian empire. Them Persians were friendly to Judeo-Christian things, had their own Zoroastrianism and Paganism, too. Ah, Paganism - from the little I know about it, it sounds like it was the ideal (and first) religion. Worship the land, sun, nature, fertility. Respect to those people and things who produce (and reproduce) the very basics of life. Of course, back then people died at the average age of 32 and didn't have chocolate. Still, if I were to give it all up and live on a family farm, I'd probably read up on Paganism to see how it could help me run the farm better.
A lot of dumb holidays have very smart Pagan roots, easter and halloween based on harvest fesitvals, Xmas on the winter solstice etc. Women demonized as witches in the switch from matriarchy to patriarchy. Crazy cat lady's cats literally demonized as familiars....hrumph, poor kitties!
BREAKFAST: 7am, good yogurt with peanuts and a dash of honey, superhippy bread with good butter, dirtpill, hunger 3/5
AM SNACK: 9:15am, 24 oz still water
LUNCH: 1pm, megasoy burrito with black beans, chips and salsa, small cup of Ben & Jerry's chocolate therapy, hunger 4/5
I occasionally go to Burritoville, maybe once a month, always eat the exact same thing, ever since I was a vegan many years ago. This burrito has soy cheese and sour cream, tempeh for meat, whole wheat wrapper, brown rice. The salsa that I had with the chips, though....ICK! It tasted soooo salty! Is this just this batch? Or did I not notice before? I'll go there in a month or so, and if it's so salty again, never again...
Figuring I'll be waking early to ride tomorrow, would eat my desert now rather than with dinner. Also, no pressure on B to snarf sweets with me. Ben & Jerry's pisses me the f#ck off - instead of small, medium and large, they have kid, small and large. How about 'normal', 'don't care' and 'superfatass'? You KNOW the smallest serving now was a large 30-40 years ago. Yeah, I ordered a 'kid' size, f#ck you, Ben & Jerry's!PM SNACK: 2:30pm, 24 oz still water
Thirsty, lunch made me thirsty. Maybe because of the salty salsa?
PM SNACK: 6pm, popcorn, hunger 4/5
Movie with B, not totally desirous of the popcorn but wanted to share with her. Oddly enough, I got the 'medium', which seemed kinda small, particularly for $5. But the large was stupid, but still smaller than what I remember as a kid....Betsy got a headache after it, I was fine.
DINNER: 8:30pm, bulgogi, vegetable dumplings, kimchi pajun, white rice, weird slightly sweet cinnamon after-dinner non-alcholic drink, hunger 4/5
Had the traditional bulgogi, as I haven't eaten proper beef in a while. Eh, should of got the pork. Dok Suni (on 1st near 7th) is really good, Korean food that caters a bit more to round-eyed devils than some of the places on 32nd Street....
Thursday, September 20
Resistance is Futile
ADDENDA:
I packed lunch based on left overs from last night, in the lunch boxes me n' B bought at the super-cheesy Christmas Tree store on Cape Cod. Looks kinda like a Borg cube, huh? ....if the Borg were delicious tortellini and baby carrots, with a shmeer of hummus.
Tortellini was another food I introduced to my parents, and my mom loved them, called them 'torteloonies' and acted a little goofy when I made them for her.
At the conventional supermarket last night, however, I had a small revelation. One of the reasons I was there was to pick up Sabra hummus, the brand B prefers. She eats hummus with just about everything. (Pasta? Hummus! Salad? Hummus! Potato? Hummus! Bagel? Hummus! Chocolate brownie? Hummus!) I bought an extra tub for the freezer. When I told B of this later, she asked if you could do that to hummus. Of course you can! My dad used to make gallons and freeze enough for a year!....
Duh! I attempted hummus about a year ago, it came out crappy, but I think I was over-reaching - I tried making the tahini from scratch. Twice a year I would take a day with my dad collecting ingredients, then going home and blending them all together, packaging them, then finding space in a freezer to put it all. Back in the late 70s, early 80s, hummus was still a rare specialty item to be found in the small emergent health-food market. We, however, had hummus all most all the time - so common around the house, I took it for granted pretty much until I road cross country last fall and found a striking lack of Hummus from Utah to Illinois.
Maybe not next week, but this winter I'm going to make a massive batch of hummus, poppa-style, have B assist me to blend it to her taste, and have it on hand for B until it's time to make more....
Just registered for the Basics 1 class at the Natural Gourmet Institute based on Ilsa's recommendation. It's jsut two Monday eves in November - if I dig it, will do the other 3 sections of their basics classes. Me n' B looked into yoga, we'll be doing 4 beginners classes every Thursday eve through October...
BREAKFAST: 7:45am, 3 bites of horrible cereal with good milk, whole wheat bagel with hummus, hunger 3/5
As my conventional stuff runs out, I'm switching to healthier alternatives. My rice-crispies died, so I picked up this organic no-salt version, which I tried this morning. I poured in the good whole unhomogenized milk, and took a bite.
You ever hear about how photographers use glue instead of milk when shooting food? Well, this LOOKED like rice-crispies, but I swear it was made of flecks of cardboard. At first I thought it was just slightly stale, then I realized how important salt was to it's flavor - it literally tasted like bland wood pulp. I know at some point in my life I may have to have a salt-free diet, but this is just not palatable. After three bits, I tossed it and ate a bagel. Maybe it's because I wasn't expecting it. I'll give it another shot later, but woo-wee, not what I was expecting to wake up to.
AM SNACK: 9:15am, 24 oz still water
LUNCH: 12:45pm, cold tortellini leftovers, baby carrots and celery, humus, hunger 4/5
I have been assimilated.
PM SNACK: 2:45pm, chocolate chip cookie icecream sandwich, hunger 4/5
Desiring sweets. Not the greatest desert, but it's available. My one-desert for the day, spent before dinner!
ADDENDA: 3:45pm
Got a screaming headache, same kind of front-side headache that I've gotten from food in the past. Definitely the ice cream sandwich. WTF? It's not dairy, it's not sugar...let me pull the wrapper out of the garbage....whoa, about 50 ingredients....maybe its a preservative or additive that's giving me these headaches? Since stressing organic food and lowlighting sweets, these headaches have definitely gone by the way side. Damn. Next time I reach for one of them friggin' icecream sandwiches, I'm gonna think, "remember the headache"....
DINNER: 7-8pm, small amount of left over tortellini, 3 ears of boiled corn w/o butter or salt, 1 whole wheat pretzel w/ no salt peanut butter, 1/2 a Margarita DOC pizza minus the crusts, 1 glass of wine, hunger 4/5
B was late coming home (and for the most part didn't know when she was coming home, despite having made dinner plans with her), so I started grazing over the hour, keeping to reasonable things that wouldn't blow me out.
The pizza (and B shortly after) arrived around 7:45. The last time we ordered a pie, I got horrendously sick so I was paying more attention this time. I ordered from a place closer by, Isabella's Oven and ordered the Margarita DOC - a plain pie with a minimal balance of buffala moz to the sauce and crust. When it arrived, I was happily surprised to see less cheese than I remember - little islands of creamy white in an ocean of red. This is the way to do it!
I remember years ago my mom off-handedly said her favorite pizza place was one on 6th ave around 11th or 12th, a Rays - she used to live near there during her college years when she rebelled and moved out of her parent's place in Brighton Beach (breaking from the tradition then of women living with the 'rents till they got married) I went and tried a slice - not only was there a thick blanket of yellowy oily cheese sitting on tip, but their 'thing' was to throw on free extra cheese before popping it in the oven on every slice. YUCK! It's cool if you love cheese, but if you can love this, you're friggin' retarded. I hoped it wasn't like that in my mom's day.
Wednesday, September 19
Lunchtime Reverie
ADDENDA:
This morning, B expressed concern that big meals at the end of the day may be part of the reason she's put on a little weight this year and sleeps more. I'm not quite sure what to do - my entire life, the last meal of the day is the bigger meal, a chance to relax with cooking/food preparation. With work, the only chances to focus on food is breakfast which is a bit rushed, and dinner after work, which tends to be a few hours before sleep. I don't want to take meals separately from B at the end of the day, it's the time we have to be together with any real quality on a regular basis during the week...
BREAKFAST: 7:15am, yogurt with a squirt of honey and organic unsalted roasted peanuts, dirtpill, hunger 3/5
Nice heavy breakfast. Peanuty goodness, just like I used to eat as a kid growing up under my parent's roof. Only then, the yogurt was sugary sweet.
AM SNACK: 8:45am, 24 oz still water
BP 9am: 132/81
LUNCH: 1pm, Ethiopian vegetarian combo, water, hunger 4/5
Confluences at work too boring to explain here gave me a solid hour and half to take off and chill. So I hopped on my bike and went deep into Hell's Kitchen to go back to the place where my parent's found the food hellish, Meskerem. Before the summer, they were shuttered for health violations, and I only had the cuisine once lately, with B & her mom. This place, on 49th off 10th, is one of the best in the city.
I haven't really focused on this weird plate of food since changing my diet. It was more delicious than I remember it. Some people pray before eating or give thanks - me, I took a photo of the plate on my phone then snarfed it up. (unfortunately, my phone is not allowing me to export the pic). It just tasted fantastic, a cuisine formed in the shadow of 1000s of years of trial and experimentation with limited ingredients.
Having snarfed, I got back on the bike and rolled over to Central Park, eventually settling in on bench by the pond in the SE corner. Headphones rockin' the NPR podcasts, I sat contentedly with a full stomach watching people of all stripes walk by. The sun was shining, the weather comfortably coolish/warmish, wedding ring starting to get familiar on my finger, the big old trees reminding me why it's worth the struggle to live in NYC.
DINNER: 7:30pm, conventional baby carrots and a few greenmarket cucumber pieces, hummus, meat and cheese tortellini with fresh tomato, onion, mushroom, olive oil and good butter, a large serving of malt gelato, hunger 4/5
Cooked up a tortellini dish with random ingredients, after picking up some ingredients at the local Pathmark. I was there more to buy paper goods, deoderant and elusive sabra hummus, realized with all my green-marketing, have kind of left this supermarket.
This morning, B expressed concern that big meals at the end of the day may be part of the reason she's put on a little weight this year and sleeps more. I'm not quite sure what to do - my entire life, the last meal of the day is the bigger meal, a chance to relax with cooking/food preparation. With work, the only chances to focus on food is breakfast which is a bit rushed, and dinner after work, which tends to be a few hours before sleep. I don't want to take meals separately from B at the end of the day, it's the time we have to be together with any real quality on a regular basis during the week...
BREAKFAST: 7:15am, yogurt with a squirt of honey and organic unsalted roasted peanuts, dirtpill, hunger 3/5
Nice heavy breakfast. Peanuty goodness, just like I used to eat as a kid growing up under my parent's roof. Only then, the yogurt was sugary sweet.
AM SNACK: 8:45am, 24 oz still water
BP 9am: 132/81
LUNCH: 1pm, Ethiopian vegetarian combo, water, hunger 4/5
Confluences at work too boring to explain here gave me a solid hour and half to take off and chill. So I hopped on my bike and went deep into Hell's Kitchen to go back to the place where my parent's found the food hellish, Meskerem. Before the summer, they were shuttered for health violations, and I only had the cuisine once lately, with B & her mom. This place, on 49th off 10th, is one of the best in the city.
I haven't really focused on this weird plate of food since changing my diet. It was more delicious than I remember it. Some people pray before eating or give thanks - me, I took a photo of the plate on my phone then snarfed it up. (unfortunately, my phone is not allowing me to export the pic). It just tasted fantastic, a cuisine formed in the shadow of 1000s of years of trial and experimentation with limited ingredients.
Having snarfed, I got back on the bike and rolled over to Central Park, eventually settling in on bench by the pond in the SE corner. Headphones rockin' the NPR podcasts, I sat contentedly with a full stomach watching people of all stripes walk by. The sun was shining, the weather comfortably coolish/warmish, wedding ring starting to get familiar on my finger, the big old trees reminding me why it's worth the struggle to live in NYC.
DINNER: 7:30pm, conventional baby carrots and a few greenmarket cucumber pieces, hummus, meat and cheese tortellini with fresh tomato, onion, mushroom, olive oil and good butter, a large serving of malt gelato, hunger 4/5
Cooked up a tortellini dish with random ingredients, after picking up some ingredients at the local Pathmark. I was there more to buy paper goods, deoderant and elusive sabra hummus, realized with all my green-marketing, have kind of left this supermarket.
Tuesday, September 18
The Bloom is off the Blog
ADDENDA:
I think the newness of changing my diet and keeping this blog is starting to wear off, the same way the newness of a bike ride wears off after 30 miles, then you realize you still have another 70 to go before you can rest. I think this is a good thing, it'll be clearer what my real habits are.
Without giving too much thought, I made a healthy going-away breakfast for Mariko. Mariko was semi-complaining how unlike all the times she spent in my home before, this time there was no stash of potato chips, ice cream or cookies. Huh. Yesterday was almost a desert-free day! And not on purpose, either!
The award ceremony yesterday, held in the lobby of a bank, was bittersweet. It was very-much a community gathering with lots of folk from my mom's Y where she was the executive. Some familiar faces, who I haven't seen since her memorial service, were there and said hello. I got a nice framed certificate for the fund I set up, and had a minute on the mic to tell people how happy my mom would of been to see them all there helping the Y thrive, how she'd compliment the new executive on his hustling, and how her idea of how social justice is measured - by how society treats it's least-privileged and least-able, like children and senior citizens. I was intensely uncomfortable there, the 3 cookies I ate didn't really help me - I think in the past I would of snarfed more of the unlimited cookies.... But Betsy had a wide-beam grin shining on me the whole time, kind of made it worth it.
Today I wore a sweatshirt with an abstract drawing I designed, based on a picture of my mom when she was young and hip in the early 60s. (There is a similar one of my father on the back, with a rather square flat-top from the same period, he he)
BREAKFAST: 7:30am, superhippy bread with good butter, a large dollop of yogurt, 2 crispy pieces of bacon, dirtpill, hunger 3/5
Made the bacon just so it seemed like I cooked something and not just prepared.
BP 9:15am - 129/86
Not perfect, but better than the last measurement. I think stress was elevating it last time. Just completing freelance work, everything is shaking out. I woke up at 6:30 this morning, got to work an hour early, and it feels like a really late starting day!
AM SNACK: Noon, 24 oz still water.
BP 12:15pm - 126/83
Just made an appointment with my MD next Thursday to see if these numbers are legit...and we'll see what all this pork and yogurt is doing to my cholesterol....
LUNCH: 1pm, pork tonkatsu with white rice and curry sauce, side of raw white cabbage and weird pickle bits, water, hunger 4/5
Waiting in line at Sapporo on 49th St (off 7th) with Erikka and Mariko, have avoided this place because of the line but because Mariko is leaving today, we waited. It was well worth it - the breaded pork cutlet was tender and tasty, the Japanese curry was flavorful and the right balance of sweet/salty/spicy and the raw cabbage was a nice palate cleanser. The place is more known for their ramen soup, but those are total salt traps...
After lunch, said a final goodbye to Mariko, then walked back. Started thinking about my Mom, the pleasure I used to get from introducing them to new cuisines in their later years - they spent most of their lives with Chinese food as being as 'exotic' is it got. They love love loved Indian food, though Ethiopian was a bit beyond the pale for them. They liked the cooked Japanese stuff, but thought eating fish raw was uncivilized. It was a bit embarrassing as a snobby snotty teen, but really every time we went out to restaurant together, it was a bit of an event. They didn't grow up with eating at a lot of restaurants, so eating out was special. The ceremony of sitting down with out distraction in a nice room other than your house, being served, given "free" bread (which my mom would embarrassingly wrap up and take home).
Our thing was that after the meal but before desert, we'd all guess how much the bill was (without tip, with tax), and whoever got closest got to pay the bill. My dad was closest EVERY time. I think in my entire life, I only got it closer once, but my dad insisted on paying anyway. I wish I pushed back and paid myself.
DINNER: 8pm, green salad, broiled bay scallops with butter and olive oil, small amount of baked small red-jacket potatos, a few bites of not-fresh corn, half a mini chocolate fudge cake with 2 scoops of malt gelato, 2 glasses of water, hunger 4/5
Went food shopping with B after work, was fun inventing the dinner menu with her on the fly. Let's hope the (non chocolate) gelato sticks around a bit longer, or I may really have to get that locking mini-freezer....
Used a garlic press on this heirloom garlic I got at Saturday's farmer's market, it was a 'German Red' or something like that. Still a little dirty, roots on the bottom. I noticed a remarkably large amount of liquid squirt out of them when I pressed them, and gave a scalliony less-sharp garlic flavor to the fish....really nice.
EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, one saltless whole wheat pretzel with organic saltless peanutbutter, hunger 3.5/5
Funny thing, when B made the potatos, I knew it would not be enough food for me, so I threw on the corn that has been sitting around since Saturday morning. The corn wasn't really good, and I only had a few bites. When 10:30 rolled around, I was hungry in the way that I knew would interfere with going to sleep. Normally, this would be an ocassion for desert round 2, but that didn't even appeal to me at this moment.
I think the newness of changing my diet and keeping this blog is starting to wear off, the same way the newness of a bike ride wears off after 30 miles, then you realize you still have another 70 to go before you can rest. I think this is a good thing, it'll be clearer what my real habits are.
Without giving too much thought, I made a healthy going-away breakfast for Mariko. Mariko was semi-complaining how unlike all the times she spent in my home before, this time there was no stash of potato chips, ice cream or cookies. Huh. Yesterday was almost a desert-free day! And not on purpose, either!
The award ceremony yesterday, held in the lobby of a bank, was bittersweet. It was very-much a community gathering with lots of folk from my mom's Y where she was the executive. Some familiar faces, who I haven't seen since her memorial service, were there and said hello. I got a nice framed certificate for the fund I set up, and had a minute on the mic to tell people how happy my mom would of been to see them all there helping the Y thrive, how she'd compliment the new executive on his hustling, and how her idea of how social justice is measured - by how society treats it's least-privileged and least-able, like children and senior citizens. I was intensely uncomfortable there, the 3 cookies I ate didn't really help me - I think in the past I would of snarfed more of the unlimited cookies.... But Betsy had a wide-beam grin shining on me the whole time, kind of made it worth it.
Today I wore a sweatshirt with an abstract drawing I designed, based on a picture of my mom when she was young and hip in the early 60s. (There is a similar one of my father on the back, with a rather square flat-top from the same period, he he)BREAKFAST: 7:30am, superhippy bread with good butter, a large dollop of yogurt, 2 crispy pieces of bacon, dirtpill, hunger 3/5
Made the bacon just so it seemed like I cooked something and not just prepared.
BP 9:15am - 129/86
Not perfect, but better than the last measurement. I think stress was elevating it last time. Just completing freelance work, everything is shaking out. I woke up at 6:30 this morning, got to work an hour early, and it feels like a really late starting day!
AM SNACK: Noon, 24 oz still water.
BP 12:15pm - 126/83
Just made an appointment with my MD next Thursday to see if these numbers are legit...and we'll see what all this pork and yogurt is doing to my cholesterol....
LUNCH: 1pm, pork tonkatsu with white rice and curry sauce, side of raw white cabbage and weird pickle bits, water, hunger 4/5
Waiting in line at Sapporo on 49th St (off 7th) with Erikka and Mariko, have avoided this place because of the line but because Mariko is leaving today, we waited. It was well worth it - the breaded pork cutlet was tender and tasty, the Japanese curry was flavorful and the right balance of sweet/salty/spicy and the raw cabbage was a nice palate cleanser. The place is more known for their ramen soup, but those are total salt traps...
After lunch, said a final goodbye to Mariko, then walked back. Started thinking about my Mom, the pleasure I used to get from introducing them to new cuisines in their later years - they spent most of their lives with Chinese food as being as 'exotic' is it got. They love love loved Indian food, though Ethiopian was a bit beyond the pale for them. They liked the cooked Japanese stuff, but thought eating fish raw was uncivilized. It was a bit embarrassing as a snobby snotty teen, but really every time we went out to restaurant together, it was a bit of an event. They didn't grow up with eating at a lot of restaurants, so eating out was special. The ceremony of sitting down with out distraction in a nice room other than your house, being served, given "free" bread (which my mom would embarrassingly wrap up and take home).
Our thing was that after the meal but before desert, we'd all guess how much the bill was (without tip, with tax), and whoever got closest got to pay the bill. My dad was closest EVERY time. I think in my entire life, I only got it closer once, but my dad insisted on paying anyway. I wish I pushed back and paid myself.
DINNER: 8pm, green salad, broiled bay scallops with butter and olive oil, small amount of baked small red-jacket potatos, a few bites of not-fresh corn, half a mini chocolate fudge cake with 2 scoops of malt gelato, 2 glasses of water, hunger 4/5
Went food shopping with B after work, was fun inventing the dinner menu with her on the fly. Let's hope the (non chocolate) gelato sticks around a bit longer, or I may really have to get that locking mini-freezer....
Used a garlic press on this heirloom garlic I got at Saturday's farmer's market, it was a 'German Red' or something like that. Still a little dirty, roots on the bottom. I noticed a remarkably large amount of liquid squirt out of them when I pressed them, and gave a scalliony less-sharp garlic flavor to the fish....really nice.
EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, one saltless whole wheat pretzel with organic saltless peanutbutter, hunger 3.5/5
Funny thing, when B made the potatos, I knew it would not be enough food for me, so I threw on the corn that has been sitting around since Saturday morning. The corn wasn't really good, and I only had a few bites. When 10:30 rolled around, I was hungry in the way that I knew would interfere with going to sleep. Normally, this would be an ocassion for desert round 2, but that didn't even appeal to me at this moment.
Monday, September 17
-stretch-
ADDENDA:
Almost out of dirtpills. Not sure what they've done for me, but I'm quite certain they have not hurt. Last time I took a multivitamin a decade or so ago, the over-the-counter 1000% of everything-pill made me ill after a few weeks, poisoned by an overdose of vitamins. These ones, however, seem to be much gentler.
Tonight I'm heading out to deep dark Brooklyn to accept some sort of award for the living endowment I helped set up in my mom's name. She was the director of a Jewish community out there for many years and was well liked. With the help of the current director (who of course wants to be identified with the previous vey popular leader), I donated money to an endowment that will give scholarships to senior citizens who would otherwise not be able to afford the membership. Not looking forward to this, but I'd feel worse if I didn't go.
BREAKFAST: 6am, super hippy bread with good butter, glass of tap water, dirt pill, hunger 3/5
Gotta get to work early to finish freelance work. Fell asleep around 9pm. A litle sore but not nearly as much as I thought I'd be based on my aches and pains.
Too early for donuts. Not craving them. Huh.
LUNCH: 1:30pm, ricotta gnudi with a zuchinni pesto, 4 pieces bread and olive oil, a sampling of marinated vegetables.
Tamar got me to eat a brussel sprout! And I didn't die!!
PM SNACK: 7pm, 3 mini salmon cakes, 3 cookies, water hunger 4/5
Free food at the awards ceremony. Slim pickin's.
DINNER: 9:30pm, pad thai, spring rolls, water, hunger 4/5
Delivery with B and Mariko, her last night in town. We were all a bit too tired from trudging into deep Brooklyn to go out.
Almost out of dirtpills. Not sure what they've done for me, but I'm quite certain they have not hurt. Last time I took a multivitamin a decade or so ago, the over-the-counter 1000% of everything-pill made me ill after a few weeks, poisoned by an overdose of vitamins. These ones, however, seem to be much gentler.
Tonight I'm heading out to deep dark Brooklyn to accept some sort of award for the living endowment I helped set up in my mom's name. She was the director of a Jewish community out there for many years and was well liked. With the help of the current director (who of course wants to be identified with the previous vey popular leader), I donated money to an endowment that will give scholarships to senior citizens who would otherwise not be able to afford the membership. Not looking forward to this, but I'd feel worse if I didn't go.
BREAKFAST: 6am, super hippy bread with good butter, glass of tap water, dirt pill, hunger 3/5
Gotta get to work early to finish freelance work. Fell asleep around 9pm. A litle sore but not nearly as much as I thought I'd be based on my aches and pains.
Too early for donuts. Not craving them. Huh.
LUNCH: 1:30pm, ricotta gnudi with a zuchinni pesto, 4 pieces bread and olive oil, a sampling of marinated vegetables.
Tamar got me to eat a brussel sprout! And I didn't die!!
PM SNACK: 7pm, 3 mini salmon cakes, 3 cookies, water hunger 4/5
Free food at the awards ceremony. Slim pickin's.
DINNER: 9:30pm, pad thai, spring rolls, water, hunger 4/5
Delivery with B and Mariko, her last night in town. We were all a bit too tired from trudging into deep Brooklyn to go out.
Sunday, September 16
Tomorrow, a Donut!
ADDENDA:
After a passover seder, it is traditional to exclaim, "Next year in Israel!", as the ceremonial dinner is very much about the Jews being caste out of Egypt and wandering for many years. Afer today's bike ride, I found myself exclaiming, "Tomorrow a donut!"
Woke up before 5 to get my gear on and meet up with T in Brooklyn. Getting out of the city was a wonderfully relaxing thing, with so few cars, delayed only by a random press conference blocking access to the GWB. We explored some secondary roads of NJ into Rockland county, wound our way back to the Hudson, then over the Bear Mountan Bridge to Garrison to meet the train.
BREAKFAST: 5:20am, half bagel with butter, a little seltzer, dirtpill hunger 1/5
Not hungry, but gotta get the motor started on something.
POWER SNACK #1: 8:45am, 2 whole wheat saltless pretzels, 1 peanut butter sandwich on whole grain bread, a bit of lemonade-flavored gatoraide, water, hunger 2/5
Not hungry, but I know it's from the riding, not too many calories.
I brought gatoraide on this trip, first time in a while. I experimented with a few healthier powders but couldn't hack the taste. I made a homemade sports drink wit coconut water and honey and water last week, but my bike malfunctioned before I got to the point of tasting it. Unlike last week's ride, if I were to have any kind of digestive stress, I wouldn't be able to end the ride, I'd have to complete no matter how uncomfortable (save for calling a very expense cab to a train).
POWER SNACK #2: 10:45am, 1 whole wheat pretzel, cliff bar, a little gatoraide, water, hunger 2/5
Upper Saddle River, in front of an volunteer ambulance company. Last time I was on this route, I called my mom from here. Infact, every time I had done this route, I called my parents at this spot, about 43 miles in...
POWER SNACK #3: 1pm, 1 whole wheat pretzel, peanut butter sammich, bit of gatoraide, water, hunger 2/5
Feeling a bit rubbery but good, fresh air, trees, gazebos, houses spaced out a bit more.
END SNACK: 3:30pm, chocolate hagendaaz bar, bag of sea salt & vinegar potato chips, a handful of oat cookies, 24 oz water, hunger 5/5
Felt my stomach reviving in the last few miles, anticipation of non-bike food roaring. Not the healthiest snacks, but literally 3x tastier than if I was just sitting in an office.
TRAIN SNACK: 4:30, one pretzel rod, hunger 3/5
Residual hunger - my stomach was full but I know I'd need to eat again soon...
DINNER: 6:30pm, large green salad, large amount of whole wheat pasta with homemade sauce and curry lamb sausage, large amount of water and seltzer, hunger 4/5
No desert! (There was no desert in the house, he he)
After a passover seder, it is traditional to exclaim, "Next year in Israel!", as the ceremonial dinner is very much about the Jews being caste out of Egypt and wandering for many years. Afer today's bike ride, I found myself exclaiming, "Tomorrow a donut!"
Woke up before 5 to get my gear on and meet up with T in Brooklyn. Getting out of the city was a wonderfully relaxing thing, with so few cars, delayed only by a random press conference blocking access to the GWB. We explored some secondary roads of NJ into Rockland county, wound our way back to the Hudson, then over the Bear Mountan Bridge to Garrison to meet the train.
BREAKFAST: 5:20am, half bagel with butter, a little seltzer, dirtpill hunger 1/5
Not hungry, but gotta get the motor started on something.
POWER SNACK #1: 8:45am, 2 whole wheat saltless pretzels, 1 peanut butter sandwich on whole grain bread, a bit of lemonade-flavored gatoraide, water, hunger 2/5
Not hungry, but I know it's from the riding, not too many calories.
I brought gatoraide on this trip, first time in a while. I experimented with a few healthier powders but couldn't hack the taste. I made a homemade sports drink wit coconut water and honey and water last week, but my bike malfunctioned before I got to the point of tasting it. Unlike last week's ride, if I were to have any kind of digestive stress, I wouldn't be able to end the ride, I'd have to complete no matter how uncomfortable (save for calling a very expense cab to a train).
POWER SNACK #2: 10:45am, 1 whole wheat pretzel, cliff bar, a little gatoraide, water, hunger 2/5
Upper Saddle River, in front of an volunteer ambulance company. Last time I was on this route, I called my mom from here. Infact, every time I had done this route, I called my parents at this spot, about 43 miles in...
POWER SNACK #3: 1pm, 1 whole wheat pretzel, peanut butter sammich, bit of gatoraide, water, hunger 2/5
Feeling a bit rubbery but good, fresh air, trees, gazebos, houses spaced out a bit more.
END SNACK: 3:30pm, chocolate hagendaaz bar, bag of sea salt & vinegar potato chips, a handful of oat cookies, 24 oz water, hunger 5/5
Felt my stomach reviving in the last few miles, anticipation of non-bike food roaring. Not the healthiest snacks, but literally 3x tastier than if I was just sitting in an office.
TRAIN SNACK: 4:30, one pretzel rod, hunger 3/5
Residual hunger - my stomach was full but I know I'd need to eat again soon...
DINNER: 6:30pm, large green salad, large amount of whole wheat pasta with homemade sauce and curry lamb sausage, large amount of water and seltzer, hunger 4/5
No desert! (There was no desert in the house, he he)
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