ADDENDA:
Went into the Institute of Culinary Education for a uniform fitting. As I was trying on the jacket, got a tingle up my spine, felt really exciting, like when I was selecting gear for my cross-country bike trip. One week from tomorrow, it begins, along with a refurnished blog....
Weigh 231 again this week. I guess I should start thinking in terms of how I'm going to actually lose weight while going to culinary school.
BREAKFAST: 9:45am, granola with good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 2/5
LUNCH: 11:30am, shackburger, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5
A visit to the grave, so to speak. Visited B early in the day to take care of some chores, then we wandered into Madison Square Park, where the line to the Shake Shack was only 3-deep. Wasn't particularly hungry, but it was something interesting to do - for you non-NYers, Shake Shack is a fancy burger stand in a public park run by a famous restaurateur, and the burgers are supposedly some of the best in the city. I had a plain burger months ago there, and was extremely underwhelmed. After seeing that picture of the kid shoving the burger in his face like it was going to solve all his problems, I thought hell, what if I'm wrong, what if I'M the crazy one and a good burger really is some sort of good thing.
The shackburger comes on a plain toasted McDonalds-like bun, with lettuce, tomato, crappy American cheese, bacon and mayo (which I don't like, but appreciate it's ability as a barrier to keep the bun from going all soggy), and the meat was tough but juicy, over salted and after eating it, felt greasy all over. Nope, not a good thing. Good thing I only ate one. I don't know what would of happened if I ate fries and a shake with it, eeeeeee.... nope, I will never become a burger connoisseur....I'm a pizza man, through and through.
PM SNACK: 1:15pm. 1.5 homemade power bars, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5:30pm, small amount of undressed spinach salad, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5
B said she left a serving of salad behind....a serving for a 3 foot midget Buddhist on a hunger strike... she gone done become plum insane!
DINNER #1: 6pm, 1 piece lasagna with tomato sauce, small cup of almond ice cream 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Had 2 pieces of Dinnerfest lasagna left, but thought it's a bit of a large serving - I should be eating larger lunches and smaller dinners, not the other way around. So I had only one, then found the remnants of Dinnerfest ice cream in the freezer - B said it "might not be good anymore", so when I checked I saw what she meant - she had eaten all but a few scraping from the side of the Tupperware! I guess no good for me, but just fine for her! Nutty! Yet I still love her...
DINNER #2: 7:45pm, 2 pancakes, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Two left over pancakes from the weekend out of the freezer - damn, the microwave is a great thing.
EVENING SNACK: 12am, boca burger on whole wheat, popcorn, 1.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Just got so hungry, couldn't think straight.
Monday, April 14
Sunday, April 13
Cradle to Grave, in Food Signs
ADDENDA:In the door to a pre-school, a cute sign announces the early programming of 'snacks' into a child's regime. It's healthy (yogurt, muffins, toast, fruit salad, p&j sandwiches), it's for sharing, it's so wholesome.
Elsewhere, the bat-shit insane eyes of a department store catalog model stuffing a burger in his mouth somehow connected itself to the previous sign in my mind. Somehow, as some grow up and get older and fatter, they go bat-shit insane and start stuffing burgers down our gobs for a 'snack' - 24 hours a day.
BREAKFAST: 10:15am, waffle and home fries, water, 1.5 bowls, hunger 3/5
Rolled over to East River Cafe with B, sat at a table facing the window to the street like I used to with my mom, sometimes with my dad and a bunch of times after he passed. It's definitely comforting, that sort of continuity, because we certainly ain't going for the food! The waffle is soggy on one side, the home fries are pedestrian. Since I had bacon (and pastrami) yesterday, it was easy to skip the over-salty industrial bacon here.
LUNCH: 2pm, spinach salad, 'butt-crazy' rice, 1.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Through some interesting ingredients into the rice cooker with the brown basmanti and water - diced red onion, diced elephant garlic, freeze-dried chives, freeze-dried porcini, sea salt, good butter. It came out so good that Betsy asked me to name it. The first thing that came to my mind is 'butt-crazy', hmmmm....
PM SNACK: 3:45pm, slice o' streetza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
In Brooklyn, about to head for a bar for a friend's b-day thing, didn't want to have too empty a stomach. The pizza was surprisingly flavorless, but the crisp texture of the crust against the hot oil of the sauce and the gooeyness of the cheese almost made up for it.
PM DRINK: 4pm, 1 pint beer
A scary assortment of kiddy sweets were spread out, pixie sticks, pop rocks, tootsie rolls, yards of licorice. Yick!!
DINNER: 7pm, crusty bread and butter, .5 glass wine, lemon chicken soup, poached shrimp over slaw, hanger steak with grits, chocolate tart, a few bites of olive oil cake, mint herbal tea, water, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Nice meal amongst some of my best friends at ICI in Fort Greene, another birthday dinner in my honor, I think the 3rd this year, makes me feel a little embarrassed but in the end it was an honest expression of luv from my friends, I guess. Kinda like a much more cultured and adult version of Wednesday snack sharing time...
Saturday, April 12
Money, Meet Mouth
BREAKFAST: 10am, 2 pancakes, 4 pieces bacon, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
I had 4 pancakes on my plate, and as I was working into the 2nd one, realized I really didn't need to eat the other 2. Thinking of my mini-rant yesterday about global food shortages and a new American perspective on food, I've been wondering how I can put my money where my mouth is (figuratively and literally.) As for these pancakes, "Damn, this is enough pancake to serve 2...or have a 2nd meal!" So I plopped the two in a freezer bag and into the ice chest it went. It'll make an easy lighter breakfast later in the week, or a non-sweet snack at some point. It's from scratch, all organic with fresh milk, whole wheat, unrefined sugar etc etc, how insane would of it been to trash them.
LUNCH: 12:30, half a pastrami sandwich, half order of fries, pickles, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Easily could of eaten a whole sandwich and whole order of fries, but would of felt icky after. Everyone around me was packing in loads more, but the bacon and 2 pancakes were still with me.
DINNER: 7pm, shrimp in garlic sauce with black beans and yellow rice, spinach salad, water, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Ordered in on a quiet Saturday eve.
I had 4 pancakes on my plate, and as I was working into the 2nd one, realized I really didn't need to eat the other 2. Thinking of my mini-rant yesterday about global food shortages and a new American perspective on food, I've been wondering how I can put my money where my mouth is (figuratively and literally.) As for these pancakes, "Damn, this is enough pancake to serve 2...or have a 2nd meal!" So I plopped the two in a freezer bag and into the ice chest it went. It'll make an easy lighter breakfast later in the week, or a non-sweet snack at some point. It's from scratch, all organic with fresh milk, whole wheat, unrefined sugar etc etc, how insane would of it been to trash them.
LUNCH: 12:30, half a pastrami sandwich, half order of fries, pickles, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Easily could of eaten a whole sandwich and whole order of fries, but would of felt icky after. Everyone around me was packing in loads more, but the bacon and 2 pancakes were still with me.
DINNER: 7pm, shrimp in garlic sauce with black beans and yellow rice, spinach salad, water, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Ordered in on a quiet Saturday eve.
Friday, April 11
Poet's Walk
ADDENDA:
I've for a long time thought a lot of problems in this country could be solved if food wasn't so cheap. Now with the crap economy, we're on the verge of seeing food prices rise, I'm afraid more problems will be created world wide than solved locally, with food-riots in places where people already spend more than 50% of their incomes on getting fed. Yes, we'll eat out less, eat small portions and maybe not eat so wastefully, but must that be accompanied by people in other places starving? It makes me ill at ease, especially when I'm at the markets buying up the finest ingredients possible.
BREAKFAST: 9:30am, good yogurt with cashews, honey, and vanilla, 1 banana, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 1pm, lamb on pita, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
After spending a few hours wrapping up a project in the offices, grabbed a lamb pita from the good vendor, with the real lamb and hand-made condiments. Sat in Central Park at the Poet's Walk while eating it and making phone calls. I used to sit here with my father every time we came to the park together, sit and read, be quiet, usually between a movie, museum or opera and a meal.
Soon after my father died, I dreamed that I came to this spot and he was there, elderly but in good health and able to walk on his own. We sat, and he apologized for dying, and said he already missed me and mom horrendously, and he thanked me and my mom for being so good to him in his last few years, when yes, we could of dumped him in a home but every effort was (successfully) made to allow him to spend his last months living in his own home. He said to look after myself and my mother, and then we hugged. As I squeezed him, I closed my eyes and -poof- out of my arms he dissipated like smoke. I woke up from that dream feeling a bit more settled about it, and I was happy I got to see him again. I've had a few dreams over the years where I've spoken with my parents, all conscious that they are dead.
I pedalled over to the Whitney to check out the Biennial, but the line was wrapped around the block. I was looking forward to checking out the Edward Hoppers, as he was my father's favorite painter and we would sit and stare at them together every time we were there.
PM SNACK: 2:15pm, shrimp summer roll, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Picked up ingredients for a dinner with B at WF, got this to hold me over till then.
PM SNACK: 5pm, shortbread, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Cooking up a storm, got hungry. Better to have sweets now than before bed.
DINNER: 7pm, spinach salad, a couple of raviolis, lasagna, half glass of white wine, water, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
I made cheese & vegetable ravioli from scratch, which Betsy had, while I had the Dinnerfest meaty lasagna. The ravioli was good - fresh egg dough, the filling made up of ricotta, fresh moz, parm, spinach, sauteed & diced portabellos, chives, shallots, sun dried tomatoes, nutmeg, eggs, salt and pepper. I lightly sauteed the raviolis in olive oil, elephant garlic, more chives, white wine and lemon juice, came out really interesting (in a good way). Made enough raviolis to cover a couple of counter tops, drying a little before I bag them for the freezer. B tucked into chocolate soy ice cream, but I resisted...
PM SNACK: 9pm, veggie booty, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 11pm, chocolate soy ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Serious sugar cravings, made me very cranky. I gave in.
I've for a long time thought a lot of problems in this country could be solved if food wasn't so cheap. Now with the crap economy, we're on the verge of seeing food prices rise, I'm afraid more problems will be created world wide than solved locally, with food-riots in places where people already spend more than 50% of their incomes on getting fed. Yes, we'll eat out less, eat small portions and maybe not eat so wastefully, but must that be accompanied by people in other places starving? It makes me ill at ease, especially when I'm at the markets buying up the finest ingredients possible.
BREAKFAST: 9:30am, good yogurt with cashews, honey, and vanilla, 1 banana, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 1pm, lamb on pita, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
After spending a few hours wrapping up a project in the offices, grabbed a lamb pita from the good vendor, with the real lamb and hand-made condiments. Sat in Central Park at the Poet's Walk while eating it and making phone calls. I used to sit here with my father every time we came to the park together, sit and read, be quiet, usually between a movie, museum or opera and a meal.
Soon after my father died, I dreamed that I came to this spot and he was there, elderly but in good health and able to walk on his own. We sat, and he apologized for dying, and said he already missed me and mom horrendously, and he thanked me and my mom for being so good to him in his last few years, when yes, we could of dumped him in a home but every effort was (successfully) made to allow him to spend his last months living in his own home. He said to look after myself and my mother, and then we hugged. As I squeezed him, I closed my eyes and -poof- out of my arms he dissipated like smoke. I woke up from that dream feeling a bit more settled about it, and I was happy I got to see him again. I've had a few dreams over the years where I've spoken with my parents, all conscious that they are dead.
I pedalled over to the Whitney to check out the Biennial, but the line was wrapped around the block. I was looking forward to checking out the Edward Hoppers, as he was my father's favorite painter and we would sit and stare at them together every time we were there.
PM SNACK: 2:15pm, shrimp summer roll, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Picked up ingredients for a dinner with B at WF, got this to hold me over till then.
PM SNACK: 5pm, shortbread, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Cooking up a storm, got hungry. Better to have sweets now than before bed.
DINNER: 7pm, spinach salad, a couple of raviolis, lasagna, half glass of white wine, water, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
I made cheese & vegetable ravioli from scratch, which Betsy had, while I had the Dinnerfest meaty lasagna. The ravioli was good - fresh egg dough, the filling made up of ricotta, fresh moz, parm, spinach, sauteed & diced portabellos, chives, shallots, sun dried tomatoes, nutmeg, eggs, salt and pepper. I lightly sauteed the raviolis in olive oil, elephant garlic, more chives, white wine and lemon juice, came out really interesting (in a good way). Made enough raviolis to cover a couple of counter tops, drying a little before I bag them for the freezer. B tucked into chocolate soy ice cream, but I resisted...
PM SNACK: 9pm, veggie booty, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 11pm, chocolate soy ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Serious sugar cravings, made me very cranky. I gave in.
Thursday, April 10
Bicycle: Taste Enhancer
ADDENDA:
My last mountain bike ride late fall ended with an exploded rear derailleur. Today I subwayed it up to the Bronx, got to the trail head buried in Van Cordlandt Park around 10am, soon after caught a flat. Realizing I forgot my bike pass for Metro North Rail, didn't want to risk going up to Croton then having another mechanical breakdown and having to spring for a $100 cab ride. Ended up reading the newspaper in Inwood Hill Park and when I got up, the rear deflated again - needed to be taken apart, studied, and perhaps a new tire or tuning of the spokes. Wait a sec, this is a FOOD blog, not a bike blog, sorry....
The awesomely great mid-70s weather should of raised my mood, but between the pre-leaf nude trees and the suspect mechanics of my bike, just felt depressed. The last time I was chilling on a bike at Inwood Hill was a few summers ago, depressed about my parents passing. Weird how I ended up at the same bench, thoughts swirling about the future, the past. Was hungrier than I thought when I scarfed my two homemade power bars. Riding is a great taste-enhancer.
BREAKFAST: 8am, organic corn flakes with good milk, banana, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 11:30am, two homemade power bars, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Surprisingly yummy. The granola and nuts gave the bar a pleasant heft and dryness - the last round were a bit too moist to the point of sogginess.
LINNER (DUNCH!): 4pm, mixed gluten, mashed taro treasure boxes, mini sticky rice in lotus leaves, spring roll, mock shrimp in rice dough, water, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
A late lunch at Vegetarian Dim Sum to cheer me up. Forgot how heavy this food is - 2 bowls felt like 5. Everything is very starchy, and greasy (in a good way) to boot. Still, unlike the typical Chinese take-away brick, doesn't leave me feeling like I just hit myself in the head and stomach with a hammer.
PM SNACK: 9:30pm, chocolate soy ice cream with 2 pieces shortbread, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5
Just felt like I needed to treat myself nicely. Funny how a sugary indulgence is synonymous with self-love.
My last mountain bike ride late fall ended with an exploded rear derailleur. Today I subwayed it up to the Bronx, got to the trail head buried in Van Cordlandt Park around 10am, soon after caught a flat. Realizing I forgot my bike pass for Metro North Rail, didn't want to risk going up to Croton then having another mechanical breakdown and having to spring for a $100 cab ride. Ended up reading the newspaper in Inwood Hill Park and when I got up, the rear deflated again - needed to be taken apart, studied, and perhaps a new tire or tuning of the spokes. Wait a sec, this is a FOOD blog, not a bike blog, sorry....
The awesomely great mid-70s weather should of raised my mood, but between the pre-leaf nude trees and the suspect mechanics of my bike, just felt depressed. The last time I was chilling on a bike at Inwood Hill was a few summers ago, depressed about my parents passing. Weird how I ended up at the same bench, thoughts swirling about the future, the past. Was hungrier than I thought when I scarfed my two homemade power bars. Riding is a great taste-enhancer.
BREAKFAST: 8am, organic corn flakes with good milk, banana, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 11:30am, two homemade power bars, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Surprisingly yummy. The granola and nuts gave the bar a pleasant heft and dryness - the last round were a bit too moist to the point of sogginess.
LINNER (DUNCH!): 4pm, mixed gluten, mashed taro treasure boxes, mini sticky rice in lotus leaves, spring roll, mock shrimp in rice dough, water, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
A late lunch at Vegetarian Dim Sum to cheer me up. Forgot how heavy this food is - 2 bowls felt like 5. Everything is very starchy, and greasy (in a good way) to boot. Still, unlike the typical Chinese take-away brick, doesn't leave me feeling like I just hit myself in the head and stomach with a hammer.
PM SNACK: 9:30pm, chocolate soy ice cream with 2 pieces shortbread, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5
Just felt like I needed to treat myself nicely. Funny how a sugary indulgence is synonymous with self-love.
Wednesday, April 9
Goin' Further With Granola
ADDENDA:
Went to a late morning yoga class, the teacher was a bit of a babbler (in a good way), she caught my ear when she started talking about food - how the "vibrations" of the person preparing it affects the "vibration" of the food itself - why home cooked food by a loved one is better than industrial slop prepped by an underpaid wage slave - and how saying a prayer over food can be a small corrective measure. I think the closer the relationship you have with your food and it's preparer is key to eating better, though I'd worry more about the sources of the ingredients and the care put into it, no matter how it's shaking or buzzing or whatnot.
Tomorrow is going to be a beautiful day, so I baked up some power bars this afternoon for an extended bike ride on the mountain bike up to Croton. Threw in some granola, chopped up cashews and lots of chocolate chips in. In yesterday's post about granola, my friend Reeve responded with a warning about the high glycemic index of granola. I went back and looked at the ingredients of Feed Granola, and it was interesting. Yes, the first 3 ingredients are all organic whole grains, but following there are 4 different sweeteners, from agave to brown sugar - I bet all together, it would be the #1 ingredient. So when I was in the farmers market today, I picked up a less-packaged, more boldly hippyesque package of granola, which of about 12 ingredients, only honey was the sweetener, and 3rd from last, before salt and canola oil.
BREAKFAST: 9am, organic cheerios with good milk, half a banana, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Despite the veggie booty, went to sleep a little hungry and woke up with an appetite.
LUNCH: 12:45pm, grilled tempeh, hijiki, kasha, curry lentil soup, water, 1.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Went to the cafe at the yoga school after a beginner's vinyasa class, really good clean tasting vegan food that doesn't taste like dirt. The HVS would be proud!
PM SNACK: 5pm, baby spinach salad with ranch dressing, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 7pm, homemade lasagne with sauteed portobello, homemade soy ice cream and homemade shortbread, seltzer, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Busted out the last major leftover from Dinnerfest, easily the best dish I made. The pasta is incredibly unctuous, the meat ragu is wonderfully textured and really has a round pork/veal/beef taste, and the spinach-infused ricotta kinda binds the two with a middle-ground texture (and a few chewy shards of the bufalla moz doesn't hurt!) I topped it with some old homemade pizza sauce in the back of the fridge and threw on some diced grilled portobello, which had to be used or tossed.
Made the soy ice cream on the fly, know B will appreciate it's presence in the fridge.
Went to a late morning yoga class, the teacher was a bit of a babbler (in a good way), she caught my ear when she started talking about food - how the "vibrations" of the person preparing it affects the "vibration" of the food itself - why home cooked food by a loved one is better than industrial slop prepped by an underpaid wage slave - and how saying a prayer over food can be a small corrective measure. I think the closer the relationship you have with your food and it's preparer is key to eating better, though I'd worry more about the sources of the ingredients and the care put into it, no matter how it's shaking or buzzing or whatnot.
Tomorrow is going to be a beautiful day, so I baked up some power bars this afternoon for an extended bike ride on the mountain bike up to Croton. Threw in some granola, chopped up cashews and lots of chocolate chips in. In yesterday's post about granola, my friend Reeve responded with a warning about the high glycemic index of granola. I went back and looked at the ingredients of Feed Granola, and it was interesting. Yes, the first 3 ingredients are all organic whole grains, but following there are 4 different sweeteners, from agave to brown sugar - I bet all together, it would be the #1 ingredient. So when I was in the farmers market today, I picked up a less-packaged, more boldly hippyesque package of granola, which of about 12 ingredients, only honey was the sweetener, and 3rd from last, before salt and canola oil.
BREAKFAST: 9am, organic cheerios with good milk, half a banana, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Despite the veggie booty, went to sleep a little hungry and woke up with an appetite.
LUNCH: 12:45pm, grilled tempeh, hijiki, kasha, curry lentil soup, water, 1.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Went to the cafe at the yoga school after a beginner's vinyasa class, really good clean tasting vegan food that doesn't taste like dirt. The HVS would be proud!
PM SNACK: 5pm, baby spinach salad with ranch dressing, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 7pm, homemade lasagne with sauteed portobello, homemade soy ice cream and homemade shortbread, seltzer, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Busted out the last major leftover from Dinnerfest, easily the best dish I made. The pasta is incredibly unctuous, the meat ragu is wonderfully textured and really has a round pork/veal/beef taste, and the spinach-infused ricotta kinda binds the two with a middle-ground texture (and a few chewy shards of the bufalla moz doesn't hurt!) I topped it with some old homemade pizza sauce in the back of the fridge and threw on some diced grilled portobello, which had to be used or tossed.
Made the soy ice cream on the fly, know B will appreciate it's presence in the fridge.
Tuesday, April 8
First Superhippy Bread, Now GRANOLA!!
ADDENDA:
The short bread has the illusion of being low sugar (1 cup butter, 2 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup powdered sugar) but I had the worst insomnia last night, up till 2:30am. I suspect it was the late short bread.... had a carb-heavy lunch, aim for a high-protein dinner, try to have a sweets-free day....
The evening today brought a serious round of sugar-craving.
BREAKFAST: 10am, apple granola with good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Found this new brand of granola during my trip to WholeFoods yesterday, looked like it may be developed for adult tastes, rather than the cloyingly sweet and industrial tasting stuff I've had in the past. Pretty good, tasted pleasantly oaty, and just subtly sweet. I guess I should go out and get some Birkenstocks?
The evening today brought a serious round of sugar-craving.
BREAKFAST: 10am, apple granola with good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Found this new brand of granola during my trip to WholeFoods yesterday, looked like it may be developed for adult tastes, rather than the cloyingly sweet and industrial tasting stuff I've had in the past. Pretty good, tasted pleasantly oaty, and just subtly sweet. I guess I should go out and get some Birkenstocks?
LUNCH: 1pm, 3 samosas, brown rice, cold pumpkin noodles, cucumber salad, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Midtown lunch at Green Symphony with the HVS.
PM SNACK: 6pm, spinach salad with organic Italian dressing, 1 bowl
DINNER: pork chops in mushroom gravy with
roasted broccoli, water, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Started marinating a pork chop yesterday that I split the long way (olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper), browned the hell out of it, then made a simple gravy in the pan by boiling up some sherry, vegetable broth, more garlic and a large pinch of flour for about 10 minutes. Used the Good Eats recipe for the broccoli. Didn't really pay much attention to amounts, just kind of threw stuff together. The gravy needs work, it was a little too thin in texture and flavor, and I should of sauteed the mushrooms and garlic before deglazing with sherry, but it was still a nice compliment to the juicy meat with a crisp brown layer.
While I was cooking, NPR radio had a story about the crap economy and how health tends to improve in bad times because people work less, do more exercise and cook at home more versus going out to restaurants. This pork chop meal wasn't quite restaurant quality, but it was definitely a step in the right direction - and the cost of the food was less than $10....
EVENING SNACK: 11pm, veggie booty, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Sugar cravings kind of blurring with hunger, so grabbed a non-sweet snack...
PM SNACK: 6pm, spinach salad with organic Italian dressing, 1 bowl
DINNER: pork chops in mushroom gravy with
roasted broccoli, water, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5Started marinating a pork chop yesterday that I split the long way (olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper), browned the hell out of it, then made a simple gravy in the pan by boiling up some sherry, vegetable broth, more garlic and a large pinch of flour for about 10 minutes. Used the Good Eats recipe for the broccoli. Didn't really pay much attention to amounts, just kind of threw stuff together. The gravy needs work, it was a little too thin in texture and flavor, and I should of sauteed the mushrooms and garlic before deglazing with sherry, but it was still a nice compliment to the juicy meat with a crisp brown layer.
While I was cooking, NPR radio had a story about the crap economy and how health tends to improve in bad times because people work less, do more exercise and cook at home more versus going out to restaurants. This pork chop meal wasn't quite restaurant quality, but it was definitely a step in the right direction - and the cost of the food was less than $10....
EVENING SNACK: 11pm, veggie booty, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Sugar cravings kind of blurring with hunger, so grabbed a non-sweet snack...
Monday, April 7
"Results Not Typical"
ADDENDA:
I will be starting Culinary School in a few weeks. My work search has come up with a bunch of freelance projects, but no regular gig. I think I'm going to slightly change up this blog - I will still record everything I eat and my feelings around it, but will also focus on the experience of being a culinary student, one who is doing it mid-life rather than as an inexperienced high school graduate. Feel free to email me ideas for a new title! "Kulinary Kicks"? "Konstantly Kooking"? "Kitchen Krazed Klassroom"? Hmmmm....
Weight this morning 230, I suspect I didn't drink enough water. My blood pressure is 131/88, which is a little high, but average for me.
I'm working on the computer and the Food Network is on in the background. The TV commercials are blowing my mind - a show about crappy diner food is sponsored by a stool softener. Queen Latifah blagging some weight loss pill, bragging how much she lost while a small "RESULTS NOT TYPICAL" appears in the corner. Menopause hormone replacement meds during a biography of Julia Child. Yes, we all want to be free...from the need to poop and being a fat-ass!
BREAKFAST: 9am, apple, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5
LUNCH: 1:15pm, shrimp curry with jasmine rice, a couple pieces of nan, onion bahji with chutney, poppadom, water, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Midtown lunch with Erikka after taking a meeting in the office. Food was a bit eh, but was really good company - funny how that makes most food more enjoyable.
PM WATERING: 3:30pm, 24 oz freshly made seltzer
Just blew threw almost 2 c-notes at Whole Foods, with about 12 plastic bags full of groceries hanging off of all ends of the bicycle.
DINNER PT 1: 6:30pm, baby spinach salad, lots of shards of shortbread, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Made a variation of the baby spinach salad with red bell pepper, radishes, scallion, cuce, carrots and left out the red onion and roasted nuts.
Wanted to use up some old whole wheat pastry flour, so whipped up a batch of short bread while doing laundry. I threw in some vanilla flavoring (which I got by accident - extract is suspended in alcohol, this stuff is in glycerin - not as flavorful) which seemed to alter the dough. Despite refrigerating for 30 minutes, the dough refused to keep any shape and ended up being shapeless flat blobs on the baking pans. Coming out of the oven, they took a wonderful light-brown sheen. On the one hand, they are extremely crumbly and fragile and I ate maybe a half bowl of short bread by picking up the pieces. On the other hand, the short bread is unexpectedly light in the mouth and the good butter I used pleasantly coats the mouth without being overly greasy. I stuck with the recipe's call for confectioner's sugar, but next time I think I'll experiment with brown sugar, get a more caramelized thing going.
I guess I chomped up the beginning and end of a big dinner, maybe I should just skip the middle, see how I feel in a few hours....
DINNER PT 2: 9:30pm, boca burger with pickles on whole wheat toast, 4 pieces of vegetable nori roll, a small handful of short bread, 1.5 bowls, 12 oz seltzer, hunger 4/5
Hunger came knocking, ate more shortbread to cut it off.
I will be starting Culinary School in a few weeks. My work search has come up with a bunch of freelance projects, but no regular gig. I think I'm going to slightly change up this blog - I will still record everything I eat and my feelings around it, but will also focus on the experience of being a culinary student, one who is doing it mid-life rather than as an inexperienced high school graduate. Feel free to email me ideas for a new title! "Kulinary Kicks"? "Konstantly Kooking"? "Kitchen Krazed Klassroom"? Hmmmm....
Weight this morning 230, I suspect I didn't drink enough water. My blood pressure is 131/88, which is a little high, but average for me.
I'm working on the computer and the Food Network is on in the background. The TV commercials are blowing my mind - a show about crappy diner food is sponsored by a stool softener. Queen Latifah blagging some weight loss pill, bragging how much she lost while a small "RESULTS NOT TYPICAL" appears in the corner. Menopause hormone replacement meds during a biography of Julia Child. Yes, we all want to be free...from the need to poop and being a fat-ass!
BREAKFAST: 9am, apple, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5
LUNCH: 1:15pm, shrimp curry with jasmine rice, a couple pieces of nan, onion bahji with chutney, poppadom, water, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Midtown lunch with Erikka after taking a meeting in the office. Food was a bit eh, but was really good company - funny how that makes most food more enjoyable.
PM WATERING: 3:30pm, 24 oz freshly made seltzer
Just blew threw almost 2 c-notes at Whole Foods, with about 12 plastic bags full of groceries hanging off of all ends of the bicycle.
DINNER PT 1: 6:30pm, baby spinach salad, lots of shards of shortbread, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Made a variation of the baby spinach salad with red bell pepper, radishes, scallion, cuce, carrots and left out the red onion and roasted nuts.
Wanted to use up some old whole wheat pastry flour, so whipped up a batch of short bread while doing laundry. I threw in some vanilla flavoring (which I got by accident - extract is suspended in alcohol, this stuff is in glycerin - not as flavorful) which seemed to alter the dough. Despite refrigerating for 30 minutes, the dough refused to keep any shape and ended up being shapeless flat blobs on the baking pans. Coming out of the oven, they took a wonderful light-brown sheen. On the one hand, they are extremely crumbly and fragile and I ate maybe a half bowl of short bread by picking up the pieces. On the other hand, the short bread is unexpectedly light in the mouth and the good butter I used pleasantly coats the mouth without being overly greasy. I stuck with the recipe's call for confectioner's sugar, but next time I think I'll experiment with brown sugar, get a more caramelized thing going.
I guess I chomped up the beginning and end of a big dinner, maybe I should just skip the middle, see how I feel in a few hours....
DINNER PT 2: 9:30pm, boca burger with pickles on whole wheat toast, 4 pieces of vegetable nori roll, a small handful of short bread, 1.5 bowls, 12 oz seltzer, hunger 4/5
Hunger came knocking, ate more shortbread to cut it off.
Sunday, April 6
I really need to hit the grocery...
BREAKFAST: 10:15am, 4 pancakes, 1.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
B sleeping, feeling pleasantly hungry. The good milk is slightly spoiled, so I used 3/4 instead of a cup with a cup of mix and an egg. I through in some cinnamon and vanilla to help mask the milk. The pancakes came out shockingly light and fluffy, and the slight tang of the milk was a wonderful new dimension.
LUNCH: 1:45pm. small green salad with carrot dressing, shumai, tempura, california roll & 4 pieces of sushi, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Sleepy day indoors with B, ordered in Japanese. Was tempted to order Chinese, but B threw a mini-hissy fit at me, which I guess was appropriate.
PM SNACK: 4:30pm, a couple of small bites of cheese, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5:30pm, popcorn, water, 1.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
At the movies, too salty.
DINNER: 7:30pm, hummus with mushroom stew, stuffed grape leaves, falafel, health salad, a few olives, whole wheat pita, water, vegan brownie, a few bites of vegan cinnimon chocolate cake, hunger 4/5
Went to Hummus Place with B and the HVS after the movies, really yummy, then to Atlas for vegan treats. Had a much smaller brownie this time, as the sugar headache of the last piece of cake I had there was fresh in my mind.
B sleeping, feeling pleasantly hungry. The good milk is slightly spoiled, so I used 3/4 instead of a cup with a cup of mix and an egg. I through in some cinnamon and vanilla to help mask the milk. The pancakes came out shockingly light and fluffy, and the slight tang of the milk was a wonderful new dimension.
LUNCH: 1:45pm. small green salad with carrot dressing, shumai, tempura, california roll & 4 pieces of sushi, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Sleepy day indoors with B, ordered in Japanese. Was tempted to order Chinese, but B threw a mini-hissy fit at me, which I guess was appropriate.
PM SNACK: 4:30pm, a couple of small bites of cheese, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5:30pm, popcorn, water, 1.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
At the movies, too salty.
DINNER: 7:30pm, hummus with mushroom stew, stuffed grape leaves, falafel, health salad, a few olives, whole wheat pita, water, vegan brownie, a few bites of vegan cinnimon chocolate cake, hunger 4/5
Went to Hummus Place with B and the HVS after the movies, really yummy, then to Atlas for vegan treats. Had a much smaller brownie this time, as the sugar headache of the last piece of cake I had there was fresh in my mind.
Saturday, April 5
Sad Salad
ADDENDA:
Spent the day riding a desk, banging out a business presentation at the old office. 10 hour day went by in a flash, interrupted by bleah food. Good thing I brought a snack...BREAKFAST: 9am, good yogurt with honey and vanilla, banana, .75 bowl, hunger 3/5
PM SNACK: 12:30pm, apple & funky cheese, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 1:15pm, turkey sandwich on kaiser, small handful of fries, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
From a crappy midtown deli, on the company as I'm working freelance in the office today. Funny, it was easy to resist gorging on the fries.DINNER: 7:15pm, eggplant parm with spag, small green salad, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Again dinner in the office, ordered from who knows where. The salad was a bit sad.
EVENING SNACK: 10pm, homemade almond ice cream, .5 bowls, hunger 4/5
After spending the day working in the office, felt the need for a treat.
Friday, April 4
Duck, Duck, DUCK!
ADDENDA:
Only road about 26 miles yesterday, with a few hours break in the middle at the Bronx Zoo, but it was enough. Slept like a brick last night, a solid 9.5 hours of sleep. Spent the rainy day indoors at home, working up a freelance project, sending out 10s of resumes. Me and B are going to a dinner party of a friend of hers tonight, and she casually mentions this afternoon that we are to bring dessert....but it's ok, we'll buy cupcakes. No way I'm bringing store-bought stuff to a dinner party where someone is cooking, so I made the only thing I could with the ingredients I had laying around the house, an apple crisp.
I really need to hit the supermarket hard - I'm still living off of dinnerfest leftovers!
BREAKFAST: 9:30am, organic chex with good millk, small apple muffin, .75 bowl, hunger 2/5
Woke up around 8, but stomach still felt full from the night before. Muffin was given as a going-away treat from Craft.
LUNCH: 2pm, homemade mac & cheese, seltzer, 2 bowls, hunger 3/5
In the mood for something lighter, but this was in the fridge.
PM SNACK: 5:45pm, handful of pistachios, .25 bowls, hunger 4/5
DINNER APPETIZERS: 8pm, variety of cheeses, crackers, roasted pepper, cocktail shrimp, 1 beer, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 10:30pm, braised duck, slice of fresh moz with tomato and basil, asparagus, apple crumble, sip of grappa, water, 1 bowl, hunger 2/5
Dinner party where dinner was served too late. The duck was ok, but it reminded me of my mother's 'puke chicken', so I just couldn't appreciate it. Everyone said they loved the crisp I brought, who knows what they REALLY thought, he he.
Only road about 26 miles yesterday, with a few hours break in the middle at the Bronx Zoo, but it was enough. Slept like a brick last night, a solid 9.5 hours of sleep. Spent the rainy day indoors at home, working up a freelance project, sending out 10s of resumes. Me and B are going to a dinner party of a friend of hers tonight, and she casually mentions this afternoon that we are to bring dessert....but it's ok, we'll buy cupcakes. No way I'm bringing store-bought stuff to a dinner party where someone is cooking, so I made the only thing I could with the ingredients I had laying around the house, an apple crisp.
I really need to hit the supermarket hard - I'm still living off of dinnerfest leftovers!
BREAKFAST: 9:30am, organic chex with good millk, small apple muffin, .75 bowl, hunger 2/5
Woke up around 8, but stomach still felt full from the night before. Muffin was given as a going-away treat from Craft.
LUNCH: 2pm, homemade mac & cheese, seltzer, 2 bowls, hunger 3/5
In the mood for something lighter, but this was in the fridge.
PM SNACK: 5:45pm, handful of pistachios, .25 bowls, hunger 4/5
DINNER APPETIZERS: 8pm, variety of cheeses, crackers, roasted pepper, cocktail shrimp, 1 beer, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 10:30pm, braised duck, slice of fresh moz with tomato and basil, asparagus, apple crumble, sip of grappa, water, 1 bowl, hunger 2/5
Dinner party where dinner was served too late. The duck was ok, but it reminded me of my mother's 'puke chicken', so I just couldn't appreciate it. Everyone said they loved the crisp I brought, who knows what they REALLY thought, he he.
Thursday, April 3
Donut, Interrupted
ADDENDA:
Heading out on a bike ride around 11am, my first thought was, "Let's go get a donut!" My neighborhood shop, the Doughnut Plant, has some of the best artisan donuts in the entire city. Previously, I would 'balance' my healthy activities with indulgences in unhealthy habits. Looking back, that's kinda retarded - I want to cancel out my healthy activities?! Donuts, like other ornate sweets, alcohol, magical brownies, 5 course meals etc should be saved for special ocassions with friends, not a semi-regular bike ride.
So I paused and munched down an apple to help me get going.
BREAKFAST: 7:15am, good yogurt with honey and vanilla, banana, .75 bowl, hunger 3/5
AM SNACK: 11am, apple, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM-PM WATERING: 11-3pm, 20 oz water, 15 oz water/gatoraide mix
Brought along my camelback as well as a bottle of half purple gatoraide and half water - still haven't found a healthier satisfying replacement for this chemical brew.
PM SNACK: 1:30pm, bag of chips, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Stomach not ready for lunch, but hungry.
PM SNACK: 3:30pm, homemade powerbar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5:45, boca burger on superhippy bread with pickles, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
After ride, home to change quickly, but I was uncomfortably hungry, so I had to eat something.
DINNER: 6:30, 3 pieces of good bread with butter, duck confit amuse bouche, appetizer of crispy 'bacon' pork fatback with apple dressing, lamb loin, roasted onions, a couple of brussel sprouts, garlic risotto, weird mushrooms, 1.5 glasses prosecco, water, chocolate tart, meyer lemon beinets, 3.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Dinner with B & a friend at Craft, probably my favorite NYC fine-dining establishment. I misordered by getting the bacon appetizer, which on an near-empty, hungry stomach, kind of made me feel all greasy and coated on the inside, I would of done better to of started with a raw fish.
Heading out on a bike ride around 11am, my first thought was, "Let's go get a donut!" My neighborhood shop, the Doughnut Plant, has some of the best artisan donuts in the entire city. Previously, I would 'balance' my healthy activities with indulgences in unhealthy habits. Looking back, that's kinda retarded - I want to cancel out my healthy activities?! Donuts, like other ornate sweets, alcohol, magical brownies, 5 course meals etc should be saved for special ocassions with friends, not a semi-regular bike ride.
So I paused and munched down an apple to help me get going.
BREAKFAST: 7:15am, good yogurt with honey and vanilla, banana, .75 bowl, hunger 3/5
AM SNACK: 11am, apple, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM-PM WATERING: 11-3pm, 20 oz water, 15 oz water/gatoraide mix
Brought along my camelback as well as a bottle of half purple gatoraide and half water - still haven't found a healthier satisfying replacement for this chemical brew.
PM SNACK: 1:30pm, bag of chips, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Stomach not ready for lunch, but hungry.
PM SNACK: 3:30pm, homemade powerbar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5:45, boca burger on superhippy bread with pickles, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
After ride, home to change quickly, but I was uncomfortably hungry, so I had to eat something.
DINNER: 6:30, 3 pieces of good bread with butter, duck confit amuse bouche, appetizer of crispy 'bacon' pork fatback with apple dressing, lamb loin, roasted onions, a couple of brussel sprouts, garlic risotto, weird mushrooms, 1.5 glasses prosecco, water, chocolate tart, meyer lemon beinets, 3.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Dinner with B & a friend at Craft, probably my favorite NYC fine-dining establishment. I misordered by getting the bacon appetizer, which on an near-empty, hungry stomach, kind of made me feel all greasy and coated on the inside, I would of done better to of started with a raw fish.
Wednesday, April 2
Sorry, but gyro meat is not 'lamb'
ADDENDA:
Third night in a row I've slept 10+ hours. Is this a reaction to a week of sick sleeplessness or am I depressed? Thinking about Ilsa's advice, eating less. How to go about it in a structured way that'll not drive me nuts? Bigger lunch, smaller dinner is an idea. Even if I cook something extravegant and complicated, to still be able eat just a bowl or two....I'm hopeful.
BREAKFAST: 10:15am, organic cheerios with good milk, banana, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5
LUNCH: 1pm, moz panini with salad, water, 2 bowls, hunger 3/5
Lunch out in midtown with the HVS and ChoiBoy.
DINNER: 6:30pm, lamb gyro on pita, grape soda, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5
Riding uptown after yoga to my mother-in-laws, not looking forward to the meal she was serving, and feeling extremely hungry from yoga. So I stopped at a random vendor and after eating it, regretted it. It said lamb, but the meat was processed and salty gyro - makes me appreciate the guy I used to go to in midtown who did the real deal.
EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, small amount of salad, string beans, cookies, a couple of chocolates, water, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5
Ate around the salmon, hardboiled eggs and cold potatoes.
Third night in a row I've slept 10+ hours. Is this a reaction to a week of sick sleeplessness or am I depressed? Thinking about Ilsa's advice, eating less. How to go about it in a structured way that'll not drive me nuts? Bigger lunch, smaller dinner is an idea. Even if I cook something extravegant and complicated, to still be able eat just a bowl or two....I'm hopeful.
BREAKFAST: 10:15am, organic cheerios with good milk, banana, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5
LUNCH: 1pm, moz panini with salad, water, 2 bowls, hunger 3/5
Lunch out in midtown with the HVS and ChoiBoy.
DINNER: 6:30pm, lamb gyro on pita, grape soda, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5
Riding uptown after yoga to my mother-in-laws, not looking forward to the meal she was serving, and feeling extremely hungry from yoga. So I stopped at a random vendor and after eating it, regretted it. It said lamb, but the meat was processed and salty gyro - makes me appreciate the guy I used to go to in midtown who did the real deal.
EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, small amount of salad, string beans, cookies, a couple of chocolates, water, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5
Ate around the salmon, hardboiled eggs and cold potatoes.
Tuesday, April 1
Freezer to Tummy
ADDENDA:
Slept like a brick again last night, 11 hours of blissful deep sleep. Met with Ilsa, her main advice is to eat less n' do more if I want to continue to lose weight. She asked me how I'm doing with the sweets, it occurred to me I couldn't remember the last time I had a sweets-free day (other than today). I need to finish tagging these entries then I'll know...
BREAKFAST: 10:15am, good yogurt with honey and vanilla, .5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Limited myself to 1/3 of the container instead of the usual 1/2.
LUNCH: 1pm, pork tonkatsu with curry sauce, white rice, pickle, cabbage, 4 pork dumplings, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Midtown lunch by the old offices with a friend. Meal came with a cup of miso soup, but skipped it, as it's a salt trap I don't need. Still enough food.
PM SNACK: 7pm, half a homemade calzone, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Dragging this thing out with me all day, had to eat it or throw it out. The crust went a bit stale but the innards were well preserved.
DINNER: 9pm, homemade mac n' cheese, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Outta the freezer, into mah tummy. After microwaving, it was a bit frightening the amount of grease that I poured off the plate into the sink. Still, yummy in mah tummy!
Slept like a brick again last night, 11 hours of blissful deep sleep. Met with Ilsa, her main advice is to eat less n' do more if I want to continue to lose weight. She asked me how I'm doing with the sweets, it occurred to me I couldn't remember the last time I had a sweets-free day (other than today). I need to finish tagging these entries then I'll know...
BREAKFAST: 10:15am, good yogurt with honey and vanilla, .5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Limited myself to 1/3 of the container instead of the usual 1/2.
LUNCH: 1pm, pork tonkatsu with curry sauce, white rice, pickle, cabbage, 4 pork dumplings, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Midtown lunch by the old offices with a friend. Meal came with a cup of miso soup, but skipped it, as it's a salt trap I don't need. Still enough food.
PM SNACK: 7pm, half a homemade calzone, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Dragging this thing out with me all day, had to eat it or throw it out. The crust went a bit stale but the innards were well preserved.
DINNER: 9pm, homemade mac n' cheese, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Outta the freezer, into mah tummy. After microwaving, it was a bit frightening the amount of grease that I poured off the plate into the sink. Still, yummy in mah tummy!
Monday, March 31
Don't Go to Remedy Diner, It Sucks!
ADDENDA:
Slept like a brick last night, solid 11 hours of sleep, first full sleep in a week, feel good. Before eating, hopped on the scale, and the scale says 232, huh. Looking forward to getting a bit more active this week, a bike ride, a yoga class, hopefully an interview or two, some kissin' on my B, some good cookin', some good eatin'...
BP 11:15am: 136/101
Not happy with that number. Got to watch this closely for the next few days.
BRUNCH: Noon, left over clam pie, grape soda, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
The pie reheated excellently in the oven, really made me appreciate how I could never make this at home for two reasons - one, the clams, despite being a day old, still tasted fresher than anything out of a can. Two, the coal-char on the bottom of the pie gives a certain mildly bitter taste to the crusty part of the crust that is such a great contrast to the sweeter chewier parts.
PM SNACK: 6:30pm, baby spinach salad with oo&v, roasted cashews, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 7:15pm, banana, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Trying to hold out for when I meet up with B later this eve.
DINNER: 8:45pm, small green salad, 1 piece of whole wheat bread, sauted shrimp in wine sauce over yellow rice and peas, vegan peanutbutter cheesecake, water, 2.5 bowls
Me and B went to a new spot in our hood, Remedy Diner on Houston, and man, did it suck. Beside the cheesy decor and the bad service, the food was kind of badly cooked and came out of the kitchen not as described on the menu. And expensive to boot! We scooted over to Atlas for vegan treats to make up for the lackluster meal, which I now regret because I got a thumping headache from the sugar. Gonna drink some water...
EVENING WATERING: 10:15pm, 24 oz still
Slept like a brick last night, solid 11 hours of sleep, first full sleep in a week, feel good. Before eating, hopped on the scale, and the scale says 232, huh. Looking forward to getting a bit more active this week, a bike ride, a yoga class, hopefully an interview or two, some kissin' on my B, some good cookin', some good eatin'...
BP 11:15am: 136/101
Not happy with that number. Got to watch this closely for the next few days.
BRUNCH: Noon, left over clam pie, grape soda, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
The pie reheated excellently in the oven, really made me appreciate how I could never make this at home for two reasons - one, the clams, despite being a day old, still tasted fresher than anything out of a can. Two, the coal-char on the bottom of the pie gives a certain mildly bitter taste to the crusty part of the crust that is such a great contrast to the sweeter chewier parts.
PM SNACK: 6:30pm, baby spinach salad with oo&v, roasted cashews, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 7:15pm, banana, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Trying to hold out for when I meet up with B later this eve.
DINNER: 8:45pm, small green salad, 1 piece of whole wheat bread, sauted shrimp in wine sauce over yellow rice and peas, vegan peanutbutter cheesecake, water, 2.5 bowls
Me and B went to a new spot in our hood, Remedy Diner on Houston, and man, did it suck. Beside the cheesy decor and the bad service, the food was kind of badly cooked and came out of the kitchen not as described on the menu. And expensive to boot! We scooted over to Atlas for vegan treats to make up for the lackluster meal, which I now regret because I got a thumping headache from the sugar. Gonna drink some water...
EVENING WATERING: 10:15pm, 24 oz still
Sunday, March 30
A Day Trip to New Haven for Clam Pie
ADDENDA:Woke up still in the thrall of brownie-ness, which pretty much lasted mildly and pleasantly through to the afternoon. Went with B and 5 others to Frank Pepe's in New Haven for clam pizza, was a whole mess of fun. I abstained, but the others sampled my brownies and agreed soon enough that they were quite magical.
First day I felt 100%, glad I didn't have to cancel all my birthday festivities.
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, organic raisin bran with good milk. .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 9:15am, small piece of calzone, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 10:45am, large chocolate chip cookie, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 2:15pm, large amount of clam pie and assorted cheesy/meaty slices, 1 pint beer, water, 3 bowls, hunger 4/5
PM WATERING: 4:30pm, 20 oz still
DINNER: 7:30pm, homemade almond ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Saturday, March 29
Fried Chicken, Cheese Steaks, Pizzas, ice cream....and Brownies
ADDENDA:Well enough to take the bus to Union Square for the farmers market and Wholefoods, then go to deep Brooklyn in the afternoon for lunch. Hopefully next week will be a bit more productive.
BREAKFAST: 9am, apple, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 11:15am, boca burger on sprouted whole wheat with pickles, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 11:45am, a few spoonfuls of chocolate soy ice cream batter, .25 bowls, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 2pm, a few bites of fried chicken, fried shrimp, fried fish, cheese steak, fries, macaroni and cheese, bread roll, coleslaw, sweet potato pie, grape soda, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
For reasons I can not reveal yet, I went deep into South Slope to a non-descript fried chicken joint, bought up a selection of stuff off the menu, and brought it home and tasted everything. All was quite gross, even the chicken was dry - how can a fried food be dry?! Sweet potato pie was surprisingly mild and vaguely cinnimony, and $21 bought enough food to feed 4 people well.
Thought I ate 1 bowl, but the heaviness in my stomach feels like 2. Not the food I should be indulging in so soon after an illness...
DINNER: 8pm, 2/3 of a magical brownie, spinach salad, homemade pizza, homemade chocolate soy ice cream, 1 glass presecco, seltzer, 3 bowls, hunger 4/5
Made pizza for a couple of B's friends, shared a singular brownie with 2 others. Dinner was great, pizza even better than before, and before desert everything went a bit berrrdoing. Had to lie down, should of had 1/4 to 1/2 brownie, fo sho....
Got up a few times during the night feeling berrrdoing, fortunately not the least bit hungry...
Friday, March 28
Anita Gofradump
ADDENDA:
Surprising to say I didn't really leave the house again today, I'm on my way to becoming like the woman who sat on the toilet for 2 years. I got on the bike around 10:30 to go to Wholefoods and less than a block out felt weak, sweaty, wobbly and increasingly tired. I was to cook a vegan pie for the HVS's birthday today and totally blew it, and was gonna test run magical brownies, which will have to wait.
Maybe got 4 hours total of sleep last night, replacing Nyquil with ice cream, probably not the smartest move I've ever made. I do know whenever the first night of no sleep-meds happens, it's rough. Getting ansy, really want to get out of the house and do things and see people. I think Betsy is a little nervous I've been sick because I may be depressed, I think it's on the edge of being the other way round if I don't feel significantly better tomorrow.
AM SNACK: 4am, wholewheat pretzel with peanut butter, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
BREAKFAST: 9:30am, 1 apple, .5 cups, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 12:30p, whole wheat pasta from a box with homemade tomato sauce, 1.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
My pasta is so superior, sniff sniff. Gotta figure out a whole wheat recipe, though.
PM WATERING: 2pmish, 50+ oz of tap
Rereading the blog, I wonder if I'm not drinking enough water.
DINNER: 7:30pm, half a mushroom and onion pizza from Isabellas, water, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
ADDENDA II:
After spending a week on the couch, I found myself doing things like searching 'pizza' on Youtube. This classic Bart Simpson gag at a pizza place was the only vid to make me laugh out loud:
Surprising to say I didn't really leave the house again today, I'm on my way to becoming like the woman who sat on the toilet for 2 years. I got on the bike around 10:30 to go to Wholefoods and less than a block out felt weak, sweaty, wobbly and increasingly tired. I was to cook a vegan pie for the HVS's birthday today and totally blew it, and was gonna test run magical brownies, which will have to wait.
Maybe got 4 hours total of sleep last night, replacing Nyquil with ice cream, probably not the smartest move I've ever made. I do know whenever the first night of no sleep-meds happens, it's rough. Getting ansy, really want to get out of the house and do things and see people. I think Betsy is a little nervous I've been sick because I may be depressed, I think it's on the edge of being the other way round if I don't feel significantly better tomorrow.
AM SNACK: 4am, wholewheat pretzel with peanut butter, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
BREAKFAST: 9:30am, 1 apple, .5 cups, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 12:30p, whole wheat pasta from a box with homemade tomato sauce, 1.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
My pasta is so superior, sniff sniff. Gotta figure out a whole wheat recipe, though.
PM WATERING: 2pmish, 50+ oz of tap
Rereading the blog, I wonder if I'm not drinking enough water.
DINNER: 7:30pm, half a mushroom and onion pizza from Isabellas, water, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
ADDENDA II:
After spending a week on the couch, I found myself doing things like searching 'pizza' on Youtube. This classic Bart Simpson gag at a pizza place was the only vid to make me laugh out loud:
Thursday, March 27
Holistic Nutritionists Are Wicked Overseas!
ADDENDA:
Saw this program today, "You Are What You Eat" on BBC America, which follows a holistic nutritionist around England to her clients, to which she is totally direct and refreshingly brutal in a very English kind of way. Ilsa could definitely do the American version of this show! (Do a search on Youtube to find more parts and episodes.)
Feel better, still took the day indoors, though did some work and puttered around a bit.
BREAKFAST: 9:30am, organic chex with soy milk, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Real milk spoiled, reconfirmed my belief that soy milk is nasty.
LUNCH: 2:15pm, cold sesame noodles, wonton soup, sticky rice & mince bundles, 24 oz water, 3 bowls, hunger 4/5
NOT a Chinese brick, but vegan food ordered in.
DINNER: 6:45pm, vegetarian Ethiopian food, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5
B brought in the food from a local place, unfortunately their quality control has tumbled and we probably won't be eating from there again soon. Good thing I had a heavy lunch.
EVENING SNACK: 10pm, almond ice cream, .5 cup, hunger 4/5
Really craving sugar.
Wednesday, March 26
Day of Rest
ADDENDA:
Slept fitfully, uncomfortable. Postponed another birthday dinner tonight with a friend, and a birthday breakfast, seems I have a lot of good meals out banked! Damn, I love to eat good food. The 'sick' food I've been eating yesterday and today is mostly homemade, it's a good vibe.
I remember in past years when I came out of an illness like this, I'd be really hungry and I'd break the health-enforced fast with a brick of Chinese. Seems kinda self-abusive now, he.
On a side note, I just picked up a small but potentially exciting non-graphics freelance gig that involves....food! It's too early to say more, but when the poop hits the fan, I'll tell ya all about it.
AM WATERING: 2am, 24 oz still
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, chocolate soy icecream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Have homemade ice cream in the fridge, too, but don't think dairy would do me well in this state.
LUNCH: 11:45am, homemade pasta and tomato sauce, 24 oz still water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5 Appetite coming back, feel better but still out of sorts. Skipped the grated cheese.
PM SNACK: 4:30pm, homemade powerbar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 7:30pm, boca burger with pickles on superhippy toast, brown rice, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Not a lot of energy to cook, but throwing rice and vegetable broth in a rice cooker with butter is easy peasy. I was originally supposed to have a birthday dinner with Yana this evening, and the cooker was her wedding gift, so I guess it balances out.
EVENING DRUGGING: 10pm, shot of nyquil
Slept fitfully, uncomfortable. Postponed another birthday dinner tonight with a friend, and a birthday breakfast, seems I have a lot of good meals out banked! Damn, I love to eat good food. The 'sick' food I've been eating yesterday and today is mostly homemade, it's a good vibe.
I remember in past years when I came out of an illness like this, I'd be really hungry and I'd break the health-enforced fast with a brick of Chinese. Seems kinda self-abusive now, he.
On a side note, I just picked up a small but potentially exciting non-graphics freelance gig that involves....food! It's too early to say more, but when the poop hits the fan, I'll tell ya all about it.
AM WATERING: 2am, 24 oz still
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, chocolate soy icecream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Have homemade ice cream in the fridge, too, but don't think dairy would do me well in this state.
LUNCH: 11:45am, homemade pasta and tomato sauce, 24 oz still water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5 Appetite coming back, feel better but still out of sorts. Skipped the grated cheese.
PM SNACK: 4:30pm, homemade powerbar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 7:30pm, boca burger with pickles on superhippy toast, brown rice, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Not a lot of energy to cook, but throwing rice and vegetable broth in a rice cooker with butter is easy peasy. I was originally supposed to have a birthday dinner with Yana this evening, and the cooker was her wedding gift, so I guess it balances out.
EVENING DRUGGING: 10pm, shot of nyquil
Tuesday, March 25
Happy Birthday to Me
ADDENDA:
Did not go to sleep the night before, as I was using the WC regularly on the hour. No appetite, fuzzy head, achy. Too much rich food the past few days, rereading the blog I see that these bouts are set off by high concentrations of rich food...
Did not leave the house, postponed fancy dinner with B....
PM SNACK: 12:45pm, 1 apple, 1 small homemade powerbar, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5:30pm, 1 apple, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 7:30pm, vegetable broth, 2 pieces buttered toast, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM DRUGGING: 9:30pm, shot of NyQuil
Did not go to sleep the night before, as I was using the WC regularly on the hour. No appetite, fuzzy head, achy. Too much rich food the past few days, rereading the blog I see that these bouts are set off by high concentrations of rich food...
Did not leave the house, postponed fancy dinner with B....
PM SNACK: 12:45pm, 1 apple, 1 small homemade powerbar, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5:30pm, 1 apple, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 7:30pm, vegetable broth, 2 pieces buttered toast, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM DRUGGING: 9:30pm, shot of NyQuil
Monday, March 24
Junk Food Armageddon
ADDENDA:My first summer at summer camp, we had parent's day right in the middle of the month I was away. It was the very first time I was away from my parents, and I struggled with home-sickness for the first week. I was OK for the second, but then my parents visited.
It was a glorious day, and I cried when they left, probably the first time I ever cried for my parents (I was 10). One thing I remember clearly....most of the other campers were from Long Island, and came from much wealthier homes than I did. The camp fed us 3 squares a day, 'family-style', meaning you could as much as you wanted. No one was in need of food. Regardless, other parents would mail their kids all sorts of junk-food which counselors would collect and put into big plastic barrels to keep the animals out.
But when parent's day came, it was JUNK FOOD ARMAGEDDON. Parents would just bring tons of crap to eat all day, take their kids out off campus into the wilds of Pennsylvania to get 'real food', etc. I don't remember what we ate that day, but I do remember a small blue cooler which had some simple things for a light lunch, probably bread and cheese and fruit. My parents never gave me sweets, so it was a huge treat for my mom to give me a plastic baggie full of chocolate chip cookies she made (undoubtedly the recipe off the back of a Nestle's morsel's bag) before they split. I cried, hugged, it was difficult for the three of us.
That evening, the counselors and staff had all the kids take out the huge amount of junk food crap they received that day and put it on the picnic table in the middle of our bunks. Basically, we were told this has to be eaten now, whatever's left thrown away. I had not eaten a single one of my cookies because I wanted to wait till I was hungry and try to make them last for the 2 weeks I had till I saw my parents again. But, it was share and eat and throw away, and I really didn't want to share or throw away, so I took my bag of cookies and ate the whole thing - all these kids had this horrible store-bought cheesy-poof crap in vast quantities, and all I had was my bag of cookies, a little part of my mom right with me. I distinctly remember eating the whole bag, taking a few steps, and chucking my guts out. Wasn't pleasant, but I was glad those stupid kids didn't get any of my cookies, they wouldn't of appreciated them anyway. Still kinda glad.
(When I did a google image search for 'Junk Food Armageddon', this Hulk Hogan pic came up - he was at the height of his popularity when I was arounf 10....)
Brought my Easter candy to the office today, some others also brought theirs in, and put it on the lunch table for whoever to eat. Kinda like the adult version of the parent's day picnic table.
Weighed myself this morning, perhaps not what one is supposed to do the day after Easter dinner, 234. Though others might be disappointed, losing a pound over a few weeks seems right to me. Still, gotta step it up.
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, 1 fuji apple, .5 bowls, hunger 3/5
Feel like I have a food-hangover, but I need to go into a client's to pop out some work, would be foolish to eat nothing.
LUNCH #1: Noon, tomato soup, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Swung by B's office and we went to lunch together. Not very hungry and just ordered soup, but once I ate it, it went down my throat fast, guess I was hungrier than I thought.
LUNCH #2: 2:15pm, handful of cocktail shrimp, prime rib sandwich on super hippy bread with b&b pickles, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5
Left overs from last night's feast, 20 seconds in the micro and still tender and juicy and yummy. Matched well with the toughness of the superhippy. Tried the Rick's Picks super-expensive pickles, was good, not as cloyingly sweet like industrial bread n' butters, but still, not a big deal, not worth the money. Guess I'm just not a pickle fanatic.
PM SNACK: 5pm, a headless solid dark chocolate bunny, .5 bowls, hunger 4/5
A little bit too much. Threw out the remainder of the Easter sweets.
DINNER: 8pm, 2 little rice balls, 2 little fried olives, spoonful of eggplant parm, 1 meat ball, gnocchi with sausage in a light cream sauce, about 2 teaspoons worth of various chocolates, 1 glass prosecco, water, 2 bowls, hunger 3/5
Birthday dinner for a close friend at a nice local restaurant, really good vibes. Cupcakes were also distributed, showed a rare restraint because after the tiny bits of fancy chocolates, the last thing I wanted was a cupcake.
Sunday, March 23
Eat-ster
ADDENDA: B & I went to deep dark NJ to a friend's family's house for Easter dinner, my first. It's an eating holiday, and there was about 3x more food than necessary for the 7 guests. After a huge spread of appetizers, I got B & her friend out on the 3 rusty bikes in the garage to pedal around the neighborhood for a wee bit, but when we got back were confronted by a gob-smackingly large dinner. It was fun but goyishly weird.
The other day at Grimaldi's Pizza, the server was slow with refilling our water glasses. Around us, almost every person in the place had 20-oz bottles of coke, diet coke and 7-up at their sides. For a hot second I wished I had a bottle of diet coke to wash down the pizza, then it hit me in another hot second - diet coke tastes like battery acid, what I really want is hydration and a palate cleanser, for which either still or sparkling water is ideal. It's the consumer culture, the push to charge me more, which tries to present sodas as the logical choice, when really it's quite insane and unhealthy.
BREAKFAST #1: 8:30am, fuji apple, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
B still asleep, feel 100% better, glad I didn't go out last night. Don't feel like eating, but the slight pangs in my tummy say otherwise. Apple beats caffeine hands down.
BREAKFAST #2: 10am, waffle, bacon, homefries, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Dragged B out to the East Broadway Cafe in our hood, a Polish diner of the old school where I used to go regularly with my parents on weekends. The food was definitely better (and less pretentious) (and a whole lot cheaper) than the place we went to brunch yesterday. Bacon was too salty, given, but sitting in the same seats where I used to sit with mom and pop with B at my side, made any sin of bacon a lot more tolerable.
DINNER: 3-9pm, shrimp cocktail, fritos with various dips including 'caviar pie' and chili cheese goop, bread with sundry dried meats and cheeses, water, prime rib, potato au gratin, asparagus, spinach, salad, chocolate, apple & blueberry pie, vanilla ice cream, weird spicy cookie, short bread, 1 glass wine, 1 glass prosecco, water, 4 bowls, hunger 4/5
So many tchokes on the table, we couldn't find the salt & pepper...
Saturday, March 22
CHEESE ON TOAST!!
ADDENDA:
When ever my godson Elijah has his picture taken, he shouts "CHEESE ON TOAST!", not quite sure why, I guess an adult had him say it once in hopes of making him smile. I guess he may think it's what makes the camera click. Anyway, as an experimental bite before brunch out, I toasted some superhippy bread and melted some cheese on it in the micro, came out pretty damn tasty. Not as tasty (or heavy) as buttery grilled cheese, but definitely a breakfast food I can ad to my menu.
Some insomnia from a crazy sleep day yesterday, but woke up with an appetite and a clearer head. Swung by the farmer's market, bought a jar of bread & butter pickles from Rick's Picks
- a nice condiment for boca burgers. For $8 for a small jar, they better be special ($11 on line!!) The $9 I pay for the superhippy bread confirmed the adage, you get what you pay for. Makes me think I should cook up something cool in my kitchen and sell it at farmer's markets. Power bars? Pancake mix? Homemade ice cream? Hmmmm... maybe when I do the management course at culinary, I'll figure out a business plan to rock out at the farmer's market with some kitchen delights...
BREAKFAST #1: 10:15am, 500mg vitamin C, small piece of toasted superhippy bread with melted raw milk cheese, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5
BREAKFAST #2: 11:15am, 1 large pancake, sausage patty, home fries, water, 1.5 bowls, hunger 3/5
Brunch on 12th St. with B & my cousin. I received three huge puffy wholewheat & cornmeal pancakes, ate one of them. They were dry, tough, surprisingly tasteless and totally inferior to my own pancakes in just about every way. I ordered the sausage because the menu said it was made there - it looked homemade, but tasted industrial, with way too much salt.
PM SNACK: 3pm, fuji apple, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Just bought a bunch of apples, had to eat the one that's been sitting out for a week...still crisp! Yum!
PM SNACK: 5pm, 4 pieces fresh hot wholewheat organic shortbread, 1 scoop homemade chocolate soy ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Made shortbread with Betsy, to bring to a big Easter dinner tomorrow at a goyish friend's family tomorrow. I mixed wholewheat pastry flour with wholewheat all-purpose for a better chunky consistency last time. Gonna try bread flour next time.
DINNER #1: 7pm, 4 small potato pancakes, apple compote, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Made potato pancakes from dinnerfest frozen mix, still pretty damn good despite some purplish colors on the top. Tried to cook up a couple of chunks of pork loin that was in the freezer, but it smelled funky so I chucked it. Not enough food....
DINNER #2: 8:15pm, fresh pasta with tomato sauce and grated cheese, cup of almond icecream, 1.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Left over fresh pasta from dinnerfest was great, I let the pasta dry for 10 minutes before I cut it into noodles, and when it unfroze in boiling water it all come apart nicely, not one ugly ball.
EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, 2 pieces of shortbread with chocolate chips on top, .25 bowls, hunger 3/5
Sugar cravings. Funny how eating more sugar creates cravings for more sugar...
When ever my godson Elijah has his picture taken, he shouts "CHEESE ON TOAST!", not quite sure why, I guess an adult had him say it once in hopes of making him smile. I guess he may think it's what makes the camera click. Anyway, as an experimental bite before brunch out, I toasted some superhippy bread and melted some cheese on it in the micro, came out pretty damn tasty. Not as tasty (or heavy) as buttery grilled cheese, but definitely a breakfast food I can ad to my menu.
Some insomnia from a crazy sleep day yesterday, but woke up with an appetite and a clearer head. Swung by the farmer's market, bought a jar of bread & butter pickles from Rick's Picks
- a nice condiment for boca burgers. For $8 for a small jar, they better be special ($11 on line!!) The $9 I pay for the superhippy bread confirmed the adage, you get what you pay for. Makes me think I should cook up something cool in my kitchen and sell it at farmer's markets. Power bars? Pancake mix? Homemade ice cream? Hmmmm... maybe when I do the management course at culinary, I'll figure out a business plan to rock out at the farmer's market with some kitchen delights...BREAKFAST #1: 10:15am, 500mg vitamin C, small piece of toasted superhippy bread with melted raw milk cheese, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5
BREAKFAST #2: 11:15am, 1 large pancake, sausage patty, home fries, water, 1.5 bowls, hunger 3/5
Brunch on 12th St. with B & my cousin. I received three huge puffy wholewheat & cornmeal pancakes, ate one of them. They were dry, tough, surprisingly tasteless and totally inferior to my own pancakes in just about every way. I ordered the sausage because the menu said it was made there - it looked homemade, but tasted industrial, with way too much salt.
PM SNACK: 3pm, fuji apple, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Just bought a bunch of apples, had to eat the one that's been sitting out for a week...still crisp! Yum!
PM SNACK: 5pm, 4 pieces fresh hot wholewheat organic shortbread, 1 scoop homemade chocolate soy ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Made shortbread with Betsy, to bring to a big Easter dinner tomorrow at a goyish friend's family tomorrow. I mixed wholewheat pastry flour with wholewheat all-purpose for a better chunky consistency last time. Gonna try bread flour next time.
DINNER #1: 7pm, 4 small potato pancakes, apple compote, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Made potato pancakes from dinnerfest frozen mix, still pretty damn good despite some purplish colors on the top. Tried to cook up a couple of chunks of pork loin that was in the freezer, but it smelled funky so I chucked it. Not enough food....
DINNER #2: 8:15pm, fresh pasta with tomato sauce and grated cheese, cup of almond icecream, 1.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Left over fresh pasta from dinnerfest was great, I let the pasta dry for 10 minutes before I cut it into noodles, and when it unfroze in boiling water it all come apart nicely, not one ugly ball.
EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, 2 pieces of shortbread with chocolate chips on top, .25 bowls, hunger 3/5
Sugar cravings. Funny how eating more sugar creates cravings for more sugar...
Friday, March 21
Sick Day
ADDENDA:
Woke up at 10:30, good sleep but physically drained and a remarkable lack of appetite. Slowly came back in the afternoon, hopefully this won't be an extended illness.
Slowly but surely reviewing the contents of this blog, applying labels to each entry (see the list to the lower right.) About a third of the way through, surprised how high sugar cravings are. Where did those cravings go? Am I indulging too much? Perhaps another week's desert fast is in order....
AM DRUGGING: 11am, 500mg vitamin C, pint water
PM SNACK: 2:30pm, homemade powerbar, .25 bowl, hunger 2/5
LUNCH: 3:30pm, 6 potato perogies, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5
Back of the freezer, wacked these in the microwave. Tasted like....all the stale flavors of a freezer. Pasta should be boiled in salted water, but looking at the nutritional info on the package, it already has an obscene amount of salt.
DINNER: 7pm, garlic shrimp with black beans and yellow rice, small cup of almond ice cream, 24 k\oz water, 3.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Well, my appetite is back, if not my energy. Ordered this dish before, but this time it didn't taste quite right.....the yellow rice was too salty, the shrimp's sauce a bit too astringent.
Woke up at 10:30, good sleep but physically drained and a remarkable lack of appetite. Slowly came back in the afternoon, hopefully this won't be an extended illness.
Slowly but surely reviewing the contents of this blog, applying labels to each entry (see the list to the lower right.) About a third of the way through, surprised how high sugar cravings are. Where did those cravings go? Am I indulging too much? Perhaps another week's desert fast is in order....
AM DRUGGING: 11am, 500mg vitamin C, pint water
PM SNACK: 2:30pm, homemade powerbar, .25 bowl, hunger 2/5
LUNCH: 3:30pm, 6 potato perogies, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5
Back of the freezer, wacked these in the microwave. Tasted like....all the stale flavors of a freezer. Pasta should be boiled in salted water, but looking at the nutritional info on the package, it already has an obscene amount of salt.
DINNER: 7pm, garlic shrimp with black beans and yellow rice, small cup of almond ice cream, 24 k\oz water, 3.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Well, my appetite is back, if not my energy. Ordered this dish before, but this time it didn't taste quite right.....the yellow rice was too salty, the shrimp's sauce a bit too astringent.
Thursday, March 20
Emilabar
ADDENDA:
Made these yesterday afternoon, adjusting a recipe that was passed on by Ilsa. I replaced the dried fruits with chopped almonds, organic brown rice crispies, shredded dried apples and dark chocolate chips, and added a shot of almond extract. It's ok, but could be a lot better. The three eggs in the recipe make it overly spongy, I'd like it denser. The rice crispies lost their crispness, not sure how to overcome that. The dried apple bits are too large, gotta chop them finer. The recipe calls for peanut butter, that's a nice note, should up the amount, goes well with the almond extract. Maybe experiment with other extracts on the next batch. Regardless, this should be a good bike-food this season...
I've eaten Cliffbars on the bike for the last 8 or 9 years, I could see a refined recipe taking over. Hmmm, what should I name them? Dude named his bar after his father, Cliff. Emilbars? Emilabar? Emilobar? Sounds a little bit like one of those meal-replacement bricks....
Got home around 5pm, feeling much more tired from the casual ride than I should, so I skipped yoga. Spent some time going through the earlier portions of this blog, tagging things to make them searchable. Noticed I got into my yogurt habit around the time I did a week-long desert-fast, wonder how that's related.
BREAKFAST: 9:30am, boca burger on toasted sprouted wheat with ketchup and red onion, water, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 10am, half a homemade powerbar, hunger 4/5
AM DRUGGING: 11:30am, 500mg Vitamin C
Got a headache, feeling tired and achy. Got 6 hours, disturbed several times by Betsy's repeated alarm. Inner ear a little achy, may be an infection starting.
PM SNACK: 12:30pm, 2 brownies, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Quick snack before a casual bike ride. Needed to finish them.
LUNCH: 3:30pm, sausage and veg pizza, half a small cup of rich hot chocolate, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Took B's cuz and a few of her friends on a bike tour of the tip of Manhattan, then over to Brooklyn Heights with a stop at Grimaldi's. Took a quick walk over to Jacques Torres. Really nice.
PM SNACK: 8pm, 3 halves of small chocolate bunnies, .25 bowls, hunger 2/5
Snacked on a few bits from Jacques Torres with my B. One was white, one was milk and the third dark. Nice contrast, underlines that dark is the yummiest.
DINNER: 9pm, baby carrots with a little ranch, 1 homemade power bar, .75 bowls, hunger 3/5
EVENING SNACK: 1am, small superhippy bread cheese sandwich, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5
To help get to sleep.
Made these yesterday afternoon, adjusting a recipe that was passed on by Ilsa. I replaced the dried fruits with chopped almonds, organic brown rice crispies, shredded dried apples and dark chocolate chips, and added a shot of almond extract. It's ok, but could be a lot better. The three eggs in the recipe make it overly spongy, I'd like it denser. The rice crispies lost their crispness, not sure how to overcome that. The dried apple bits are too large, gotta chop them finer. The recipe calls for peanut butter, that's a nice note, should up the amount, goes well with the almond extract. Maybe experiment with other extracts on the next batch. Regardless, this should be a good bike-food this season...
I've eaten Cliffbars on the bike for the last 8 or 9 years, I could see a refined recipe taking over. Hmmm, what should I name them? Dude named his bar after his father, Cliff. Emilbars? Emilabar? Emilobar? Sounds a little bit like one of those meal-replacement bricks....
Got home around 5pm, feeling much more tired from the casual ride than I should, so I skipped yoga. Spent some time going through the earlier portions of this blog, tagging things to make them searchable. Noticed I got into my yogurt habit around the time I did a week-long desert-fast, wonder how that's related.
BREAKFAST: 9:30am, boca burger on toasted sprouted wheat with ketchup and red onion, water, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 10am, half a homemade powerbar, hunger 4/5
AM DRUGGING: 11:30am, 500mg Vitamin C
Got a headache, feeling tired and achy. Got 6 hours, disturbed several times by Betsy's repeated alarm. Inner ear a little achy, may be an infection starting.
PM SNACK: 12:30pm, 2 brownies, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Quick snack before a casual bike ride. Needed to finish them.
LUNCH: 3:30pm, sausage and veg pizza, half a small cup of rich hot chocolate, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Took B's cuz and a few of her friends on a bike tour of the tip of Manhattan, then over to Brooklyn Heights with a stop at Grimaldi's. Took a quick walk over to Jacques Torres. Really nice.
PM SNACK: 8pm, 3 halves of small chocolate bunnies, .25 bowls, hunger 2/5
Snacked on a few bits from Jacques Torres with my B. One was white, one was milk and the third dark. Nice contrast, underlines that dark is the yummiest.
DINNER: 9pm, baby carrots with a little ranch, 1 homemade power bar, .75 bowls, hunger 3/5
EVENING SNACK: 1am, small superhippy bread cheese sandwich, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5
To help get to sleep.
Wednesday, March 19
Food Crime Then & Now: Iceberg Lettuce & Sausage Sticks
ADDENDA:During the course of the day, I sat down to read my hand-written journal from my cross-country bike trek. I wrote down pretty much everything I ate, the good, the bad, especially the ugly, and a lot of thoughts about my parents, whose passings were still very fresh in my mind. Only once, the two subjects crossed. From my Marshfield, Missouri entry:
Heard a piece on the radio about some local hospital improving their food, choked me up, reminded me of the time my mom was hospitalized, her food, sharing pizza & Chinese food with her, bringing her chocolate. God I miss her.Mom's hospital food was bland and gross, and my mom had no appetite due to the chemo. Still, she would eat bites of the pizza, Chinese & chocolate not because she was hungry, but because it was comforting and it was shared with her son.
The full weight of my mother losing her facilities came to bear due to her bearings in her kitchen. When she started her first course of treatment, they eventually sent her home, and every few days would make her way back to the hospital. I got a call from her one evening at work, a little panicked because she could not remember how to turn off the oven. I immediately left work and rushed to her apartment. When I got there, the oven was off - she had mistaken the clock time on the panel as a temperature. The next day I moved in with her and started making arrangements for home health aides during the day.
My mom was never a good cook, and it was almost a relief that during the time I lived with her, I got to prepare breakfast and dinner (I'd set aside easy stuff to prepare for the aide). I remember one dinner, I was making dried pasta and jarred sauce, and made a simple green salad with most of the stuff I grew up on - carrots, cucumbers, green pepper, celery, onion - and romaine instead of iceberg. I stopped eating iceberg lettuce years before because it tastes like nothing and is nutritionally void. When I served the salad, my mom asked where the iceberg was. I sighed like I was a snotty teenager again, told her this was much healthier, not to mention tastier, and it was HER generation who screwed up our eating habits by making silly stuff like that the standard.
Instead of getting into a raucous (and fun) argument with me about intergenerational food warfare and my silly teenage-like snottiness, she meekly said, "but I like it." I immediately felt horrendously guilty - I knew subconsciously she was dying and these were most likely her last meals (they were), but on the surface I was hoping to introduce her to new things, to things that reflected my way of thinking and seeing things. Suffice to say, for the next month till the end her house saw nothing but iceberg lettuce. I can't eat the stuff today without feeling a little guilty and sad.
Speaking of guilt, sadness, and nutritional corruptness of a generation, today's peeps certainly
aren't guilt-free. Some of us have gotten a lot worse than just iceberg lettuce. I think I ranted about this product early on in this blog, but it's worth repeating. This morning I went to my local Pathmark to pick up bulky sundries like cat litter and toilet paper. I used to shop for my main groceries here before Whole Foods and Fresh Direct started up. After picking up my list, I wandered around a few aisles, where I would find the things that in the past I'd be there to buy. Industrial cereals, yick, diet soda, blech, frozen White Castles, ewww. I seriously considered buying something snackable from the freezer case, and I was also keep an open mind about alternative breakfast foods. Of course, the chocolate chip pancake-wrapped sausage on a stick came into my view and stunned me with all the power that it stunned me with months and months ago.Really, any adult who bought this for their kid should be charged with child abuse. Looking through the freezer case, looking at fat and salt-heavy snacks called "Anytimepertizers", Jesus fuck, are we insane? I understand freedom of choice, but if economic activities that are arguably victimless like drug use and prostitution are illegal, shouldn't there be a class of "food crime"? (Personally, I think prostitution and all drugs should be legal and regulated, and so should so-called 'value-added' food products, but that's a rant for a different kind of blog....)
BREAKFAST: 10am, organic cheerios with good milk, banana, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 1:30pm, homemade mac n' cheese, homemade vanilla ice cream, homemade brownie, homemade seltzer, 3 bowls, hunger 4/5
Boy, I'm stuffed. Three relatively unhealthy foods easily available in large quantities at Pathmark - mac n' cheese, brownies and ice cream, all made from scratch, all simply delicious, even if frozen and in the fridge for a week.
DINNER: 8pm, assorted shared appetizers including beef bone marrow on toast with wine reduction, 1 boiled whole shrimp with touch of cream sauce, artisanel french fries, country pate, misc. vegetables in vinaigrette, saucon sec, mushroom ravioli, chocolate bread pudding, 1 glass wine, herbal tea, water, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Intense meal at Blue Ribbon bakery in honor of Katya's birthday, with B and 3 others. Read a lot about marrow, seen it on TV, felt like I had it before but upon eating it realized, ahhh, actually, I never ate this before. Presented in a cut shank of bone, the inner marrow is fatty and gelatinous, a cross between warm bacon fat and good butter, really rich and tasty and a bit overpowering if not spread thinly enough. Really tasty, awesomely non-vegetarian looking - when you look at it, you know exactly what your eating, unprocessed and unmediated - you're scooping goo out of the bone, near the joint, straight up. Ain't a burger made up of 20 different cows, ain't mystery meat.
Tuesday, March 18
Fat Bastard No More
ADDENDA:Went to see Bad Manners last night, an early 80s 2-Tone era British ska band whose leader was renowned as an extremely fat guy. Doug Trendle, a.k.a. Buster Bloodvessel, a.k.a. Fattie, a.k.a. Fat Bastard has many songs in his catalog celebrating being fat, over eating and over drinking. In the late 90s, he sponsored a hotel called Fatty Towers that catered exclusively to obese people - big beds, huge meals, an expectation of little physical exertion....
....So I was pretty surprised when Buster came out on stage looking like a slip of his former self. Hoping he did it through diet, though a google search says otherwise, kinda disappointing. Still gave a great high-energy show, just like he did in his corpulence a decade ago. Of course now he's in his late 40s instead of late 30s. Didn't play a single song I didn't know, most of which I was already intimate with when I was 15. When I was 15, I was about as skinny as Fatty is now. Now I'm more towards the old Fatty size of things. Never thought I'd be fatter than Buster Bloodvessel. Oh, how times have changed!
BREAKFAST: 10:30pm, homemade pancakes and bacon, water, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Woke up late after a good night's sleep, hungrier than usual. Haven't made myself this yummy breakfast in recent memory, really hit the spot. Used the last 5 strips of bacon, I know it was excessive, but sooooo yummy.....if it was the crappy salty industrial kind, probably couldn't of gotten through 2 of them.
LUNCH: 4:30pm, grilled tempe with kasha & marinaed hijiki, cup of spicy lentil soup, water, 1.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Lunch with the HVS at the yoga studio, after another session of back-bending. Surprised how this vegan food tasted so good - reminded me a bit of Angelika's, whose food all kinda tastes like dirt. Unlike 99% of non-fine dining establishments, the portion size was a lot more reasonable than the usual buckets of food we've come to expect.
DINNER: 8pm, shoyu ramen with extra pork, 6 pork dumplings, half a portion of edemame, a small portion of Yana's noodles, a piece of vegan cheese cake topped with brownies, water, 4 bowls, hunger 4/5
A bowl of ramen soup is a large thing, easily fitting more than 2 bowls of food in it. Didn't eat enough all day. Afterwords, we walked to Atlas for desert, which does a zillion different kind of vegan sweets.
Monday, March 17
Weighty Matters
ADDENDA:
A little sore in the arms from hauling Erikka's lifetime of possessions. Rushed out the door this morning a little after 9 for an interview, but not before stepping on the scale - 230 even. That's the first time in budged by more than a pound or two from 235 in in years. I suspect it's just water weight that I haven't gained back from Saturday's ride.
While at WF today, tempted to buy apples but they all seemed vaguely mushy to the touch. Bought brown rice crispies and chocolate morsels to make my own powerbars this week. If I'm gonna burn large amounts of calories on the bike, I guess that's an opportunity to up nutritional value, too. Still haven't found a good replacement for Gatorade...
BREAKFAST: 8:15am, 1 apple, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5
Not enough, still thinking about a new breakfast regime.
LUNCH: 12:30pm, pork chop, brown rice pilaf, large spinach salad, seltzer, 3 bowls, hunger 4/5
Sauteed the pork without marinating it to see how it would be, still good but not as flavorful or tender. Brown rice pilaf left over from dinnerfest was alright, and made a big new baby spinach salad with carrots, cuces, and this time slivers of red onion, dressed with oo&v and some freshly roasted crumbled cashews.
PM SNACK: 4pm, boca burger on sprouted whole wheat with hot sauce, .5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Hungry, desiring sweets, drank some water but didn't stop the hunger. Kinda want to have a sweets-free day.
DINNER: 6pm, chana masala, daal, half a naan, small amount of white rice, 1 potato samosa, water, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Very mediocre Indian food, been on the hot tray too long. Nice to be out with B, though.
EVENING SNACK: 10pm, wholewheat pretzel with good peanutbutter, large handful of shelled pistachios, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Really hungry, desiring sweets. Almost ate ice cream, almost ate some mac n' cheese, but I was trying to eat the minimum to stop me craving.
A little sore in the arms from hauling Erikka's lifetime of possessions. Rushed out the door this morning a little after 9 for an interview, but not before stepping on the scale - 230 even. That's the first time in budged by more than a pound or two from 235 in in years. I suspect it's just water weight that I haven't gained back from Saturday's ride.
While at WF today, tempted to buy apples but they all seemed vaguely mushy to the touch. Bought brown rice crispies and chocolate morsels to make my own powerbars this week. If I'm gonna burn large amounts of calories on the bike, I guess that's an opportunity to up nutritional value, too. Still haven't found a good replacement for Gatorade...
BREAKFAST: 8:15am, 1 apple, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5
Not enough, still thinking about a new breakfast regime.
LUNCH: 12:30pm, pork chop, brown rice pilaf, large spinach salad, seltzer, 3 bowls, hunger 4/5
Sauteed the pork without marinating it to see how it would be, still good but not as flavorful or tender. Brown rice pilaf left over from dinnerfest was alright, and made a big new baby spinach salad with carrots, cuces, and this time slivers of red onion, dressed with oo&v and some freshly roasted crumbled cashews.
PM SNACK: 4pm, boca burger on sprouted whole wheat with hot sauce, .5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Hungry, desiring sweets, drank some water but didn't stop the hunger. Kinda want to have a sweets-free day.
DINNER: 6pm, chana masala, daal, half a naan, small amount of white rice, 1 potato samosa, water, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Very mediocre Indian food, been on the hot tray too long. Nice to be out with B, though.
EVENING SNACK: 10pm, wholewheat pretzel with good peanutbutter, large handful of shelled pistachios, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Really hungry, desiring sweets. Almost ate ice cream, almost ate some mac n' cheese, but I was trying to eat the minimum to stop me craving.
Sunday, March 16
A Moving Experience
ADDENDA:
Spent most of the day driving a large truck and lugging boxes and furniture, helping my good friend Erikka move house. A little sore from yesterday, in a good way, kinda want to get on the bike again as soon as possible and do a 50. And really want to take another back-bending class this week too.
BREAKFAST: 8:15am, apple, .25 bowls, hunger 3/5
Gotta rethink my breakfasts, cut back on the dairy for a while.
AM SNACK: 10am, 2 donuts, .75 bowls, hunger 4/5
Donuts were supplied to the troops to keep them going up and down the combined 5 flights between the two apartments.
PM SNACK: noon, 1 quart gatorade, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Again, quarts were supplied to the troops to keep energy up. Reading the label, surprised that the bottle was indeed 4 servings, but a total of 200 calories. A quart of soda would of been close to twice that.
LUNCH: 3pm, 2 slices of streetza with mushrooms, 1.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Third time, vittles for the troops.
DINNER: 7pm, bowl of baby carrots & cucumber with hummus, small slice of lasagna, brownie & small cup of vanilla ice cream, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Damn, that lasagna was easily the tastiest thing I made over Dinnerfest, save maybe the pork medallions.
Spent most of the day driving a large truck and lugging boxes and furniture, helping my good friend Erikka move house. A little sore from yesterday, in a good way, kinda want to get on the bike again as soon as possible and do a 50. And really want to take another back-bending class this week too.
BREAKFAST: 8:15am, apple, .25 bowls, hunger 3/5
Gotta rethink my breakfasts, cut back on the dairy for a while.
AM SNACK: 10am, 2 donuts, .75 bowls, hunger 4/5
Donuts were supplied to the troops to keep them going up and down the combined 5 flights between the two apartments.
PM SNACK: noon, 1 quart gatorade, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Again, quarts were supplied to the troops to keep energy up. Reading the label, surprised that the bottle was indeed 4 servings, but a total of 200 calories. A quart of soda would of been close to twice that.
LUNCH: 3pm, 2 slices of streetza with mushrooms, 1.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Third time, vittles for the troops.
DINNER: 7pm, bowl of baby carrots & cucumber with hummus, small slice of lasagna, brownie & small cup of vanilla ice cream, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Damn, that lasagna was easily the tastiest thing I made over Dinnerfest, save maybe the pork medallions.
Saturday, March 15
Let's Get Physical
ADDENDA:
Slept horribly last night, couldn't get to bed till 3, think I overdosed on dairy. Woke up at 8 and dragged myself into the kitchen to eat something. Felt like going back to sleep, but also felt crappy. I knew if I did go back to sleep, I'd probably wake up better rested....but still crappy.
So I took off for a 10:30am yoga class, a beginner's back bending class, really enjoyed it. Swung by the farmers market for a few things, then met Betsy in Chinatown for a 45 minute back rub.
Feeling energized, I went home and had a quick plate of lasagna before gearing up head to toe in spandex and biked to Coney Island, stopping at the beach to scarf a sandwich I brought with me. First ride of the season proper. I wore my day-to-day glasses instead of my sun glasses because I just didn't want any barrier between my brain and the sun. Not clever, but it felt right.
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, small portion of good yogurt with honey and almond extract, .5 bowls, hunger 2/5
PM SNACK: 12:15pm, fuji apple, .5 bowls, hunger 4/5
After yoga, as I was in the farmer's market, started to feel a little bit nauseous from having a totally empty stomach and having just done some physical exertion. So I bought a sack o' apples and scarfed one right then and there. Oh my, the crisp sweetness, the juice filling my mouth and running down my throat to soothe my upset tummy, a very superior apple experience.
LUNCH: 1:45pm, lasagna, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 4pm, superhippy peanutbutter sandwich, handful of almonds, 28 oz water, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5
DINNER: 6:30pm, large spinach salad, macaroni n' cheese, brownie with small cup of vanilla icecream, 2.5 bowls
Kind of surprised I didn't eat more.
Slept horribly last night, couldn't get to bed till 3, think I overdosed on dairy. Woke up at 8 and dragged myself into the kitchen to eat something. Felt like going back to sleep, but also felt crappy. I knew if I did go back to sleep, I'd probably wake up better rested....but still crappy.
So I took off for a 10:30am yoga class, a beginner's back bending class, really enjoyed it. Swung by the farmers market for a few things, then met Betsy in Chinatown for a 45 minute back rub.
Feeling energized, I went home and had a quick plate of lasagna before gearing up head to toe in spandex and biked to Coney Island, stopping at the beach to scarf a sandwich I brought with me. First ride of the season proper. I wore my day-to-day glasses instead of my sun glasses because I just didn't want any barrier between my brain and the sun. Not clever, but it felt right.
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, small portion of good yogurt with honey and almond extract, .5 bowls, hunger 2/5
PM SNACK: 12:15pm, fuji apple, .5 bowls, hunger 4/5
After yoga, as I was in the farmer's market, started to feel a little bit nauseous from having a totally empty stomach and having just done some physical exertion. So I bought a sack o' apples and scarfed one right then and there. Oh my, the crisp sweetness, the juice filling my mouth and running down my throat to soothe my upset tummy, a very superior apple experience.
LUNCH: 1:45pm, lasagna, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 4pm, superhippy peanutbutter sandwich, handful of almonds, 28 oz water, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5
DINNER: 6:30pm, large spinach salad, macaroni n' cheese, brownie with small cup of vanilla icecream, 2.5 bowls
Kind of surprised I didn't eat more.
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