Nanny-up

An interesting day. Starting next Tuesday, I'll be working a 12 hour shift supervising the restaurant, so El came over to nanny -- a test day, so to speak. El has worked with B's family for ever, nannying many of B's cousins who are now in their 20s. So off I went to the movies -- my stomach was a bit nervous from leaving Edles alone with someone other than B, but as I rode my bike over to the theater, realized I needed to get something in.

I got home in the mid afternoon, and spent some time frying the latke mix I made yesterday, for a pot luck the food coop I'm involved in was holding.

I lifted weights in the morning -- I felt like I needed to do something, because the time I spent at the movies, I could have gotten a good bike ride in, but I was feeling too uneasy about Edles to really enjoy that. I changed up the routine, and by evening I started feeling sore in a whole new bunch of muscles, which is good.

AM SNACK: 9:30am, mint iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 11am, sushi, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Picked it up from a refrigerator case of an Asian market. Ick, too cold and some of the fish was just wrong. Sat lack a block in my stomach.

LUNCH: 3pm, a bunch of mini latkes, large green salad, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
As I was frying off 10 lbs of mix to make latkes, I realized I had to eat something other than the delicious fatty carb cakes to be reasonable, so I ate salad as I spend a good 90 minutes frying.

DINNER: 7:30-9pm, "friendship" bread, mini spinach pies, a few vegetable sticks, apple juice, seltzer, a few latkes, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Noshing at the food coop potluck. "Friendship" bread is really cake that uses a sourdough starter contributed from said friend....I got myself a starter, gonna funktify some myself in 10 days....

Back

Hello, everybody. Had a good weekend upstate in the Woodstock area. Highlights of my eating was Saturday night's dinner -- a whole bunch of little appetizers at the wedding reception. I find at many of these kinds of events, the appetizers are enough and then you eat a whole extra meal that is considered the formal dinner. I was on Edie duty, so after getting my dinner-sized portion of appetizers, it was time for me n' Edles to get to bed.

Sunday I road up and down the Hudson and ate not-totally-nutritious energy food, but it was a good time. Today, I found myself scrounging for food for lunch, settled on a bagel due to a lack of anything else in reach that was convenient to eat before getting out with Edie to go food shopping. On the way back grabbed a knish on Delancey, chose spinach as it's a littler greenery, no?

Dinner was some simple fish filets baked with old bay seasoning and butter, and brown rice cooked pilaf style with a whole mess of stuff thrown in to give it some funk -- vegetable stock, dried morels, coconut, chili powder. I also made some red chard but badly oversalted it to the point of not being edible, oh well.

BREAKFAST: 9am, organic chex with dead organic milk, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12 noon, bagel with cream cheese, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH pt 2: 2:30pm, spinach knish, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6:30pm, baked sole & brown rice, large green salad, chocolate with peanut butter, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Weigh-in

The bad news is I chugged a full bottle of mint green iced tea last night and found myself up until around 4 in the morning -- I guess it really DOES have caffeine in it!

The good news is I weighed myself this morning before breakfast and came in at 229.4 -- about five pounds lighter than a month ago. I credit three factors, in no particular order:

• The new eating regimen, even if I faltered a little this past month. The goal is expand the repertoire this month -- the challenge is to not over eat when I'm working as GM at the restaurant for one full day a week starting in a couple of weeks.
• The weight lifting twice a week. I started at struggling to do five push ups, and now I'm struggling to do 10 push ups. I already developed a new routine to do this month focusing on non-bike muscles. I feel more toned.
• The bike riding. I've been doing 60-100 miles a week this past month, and while it's been matched with calorie intake, my stamina and aerobic health has definitely felt a boost. Going to do the first century of the season this month.

That is all. Will restart reportage of what goes down my neck Monday...

Ah pizza, you rascal!

Fell asleep yesterday while doing the laundry after the bike ride, so spent the morning slogging through that chore. We got out of the house and zipped over to BK to visit C and her tiny lil' Autumn. By the time I was taking the train home, I realized I hadn't really eaten lunch and was starving. Stuffed down a bad slice of streetza, and when we got home, ordered a proper pizza with the wifey. Ahhhh, pizza!

Tomorrow, we go upstate for the weekend for a wedding. This blog will go silent until Monday, though tomorrow morning I will weigh in and give some thoughts about the last month and the coming month, in terms of diet and goals...

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

PM SNACK: noon, banana bread, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 4pm, slice of pizza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 5:30, Cesar salad, mushroom and onion pizza, 1.75 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, mint iced green tea

Old Standby

After yesterday's sweets n' meats blow out, definitely went into the day looking to go for the green. Almost did, but a ride to Coney with a friend went into the red, and when I got home I was so blown out, I fell back on an old standby...

BREAKFAST: 8:45am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Almost forgot about these. As I'm drinking, I'm thinking, DAMN, this is delicious! Ripe banana, acai juice, good yogurt, fresh ground flax, frozen mango, cherries and blueberries, a dash of salt.

LUNCH: 12:15pm, 2 sammiches of sardines in mustard on demihippy bread, large green salad, a pickle, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 3:45pm, freshly baked banana bread, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Creamed a stick of butter with a stick of good quality butter. Added 5 super ripe bananas and 2 whole eggs. Then the scrapings of a vanilla bean, a teaspoon of baking powder, a pinch of sea salt. Took it off the mixer and folded in 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour, poured into a grease loaf pan, baked for an hour at 350. Came out close to perfect, though maybe still a little too sweet. Next time will do 1/4 cup of brown sugar....

PM SNACK: 6:45pm, hotdog, small amount of fries, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
At Coney Island with a friend, who was also eating this.

DINNER: 9pm, shrimp fried rice, shrimp eggroll, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Picked this on the way home from the ride, just starving and tired and wanted to eat fast and simple.

High Green, High Red

I made sure to eat in the greenzone in the morning, because the afternoon I taught a class on pastry, which I knew would involve eating a lot of sweets, followed by a visit to the restaurant, which I know would involve eating something sinful.

Brief parental bragging: Edie & I wet to the swim class in the neighborhood this morning. There were 3 other babies. Edie was all grins, arm flapping and D-smiles, the teacher kept using her as the model because she wouldn't fret when taken from me, and was just the bomb-diggety all around. I've said it before, I'll say it again -- she is the the Rufus of babies. (Rufus is my wonder cat....)

BREAKFAST: 8:15am, whole wheat waffle, smoothie pop, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: noon, large green salad, a few flax tortilla chips, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACKING: 4-5:30pm, various bites of all sorts of chocolate, a few chocolate chip cookie, a couple of freshly fried donuts, cup of milk, seltzer, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6:45pm, stuffed pepper, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
A meaty non-menu item from the hands of L.

EVENING SNACK: 11:15pm, flax tortilla chips with salsa, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Cheesecake logic

Not a good eating day, with the exception of a meal taken with the HVS. Looking back, I think the stress of B not feeling well and having to run around with Edie to a play date (working around her nap and eating schedule) effected my eating for the worse. And it didn't help having tons of cheesecake lying around the house...

AM SNACK: 8:15am, iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 9am, a slice and half of cheesecake, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
I wasn't intending this to be breakfast, but I realized I was going to bring the cupcake cheesecakes to a play date and I hadn't actually tried one yet. And another cheesecake I was slicing and packing -- 3 containers, 5 slices each, but the cake yielded 16 pieces. Can't let that piece sit all by it's lonesome!

AM SNACK: 11:30am, a few pieces of lavash cracker

PM SNACK: 1:30pm, a few slices of cured meats, a cookie

LUNCH: 2:30pm, 5 pork n' chive dumplings

PM SNACK: 4pm, popcorn

SNICKLEDINNER: 6:15pm, quinoa salad with string beans, 2 pieces of cheesecake, 1.25 bowl

Many sweets made, none eaten!

Another day split in three. In the morning arranged the house while Edie napped then did the food market thing. My friend T.M. came over and we cooked -- first a round of olive oil granola, then a special batch of chocolate chip cookies (minus the chocolate chips, plus a "special" ingredient supplied by TM to "flavor" the butter in the cookies) and a series of NY-style cheesecakes. The granola is for the HVS tomorrow, my share of the cookies went into the freezer for friends, and the cheesecakes will be distributed somehow, as little down my neck as possible.

When B got home, I made salad and ate it, felt lazy and we ordered a pizza from our local 2boots. Not horrendous, not great either.

AM SNACK: 8:45am, glass of iced mint green tea
Not happy with this batch. Need to make it stronger.

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, whole wheat waffle, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Broke it and toasted it, far superior than the microwave floppiness.

LUNCH: 2pm, beouf bourginon over mint pasta, seltzer, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Pasta and red meat on the first day of the week, but it was a very reasonable portion.

DINNER PT. 1: 6:15pm, large green salad, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER PT. 2: 6:45pm, 3 slices of 2boots pizza, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Out of sorts

Despite about 9 hours of sleep, felt very out of sorts today -- still not enough sleep, and the rainy weather did not help. Couldn't really eat in the morning. Went to a tour of an abandoned train tunnel under Atlantic Ave with a friend's b-day crew, then met up with B&E at her lunch thing at a bar -- good homecooked food, and I was starving.

Felt run-down and under the gun (in a good way) in the evening to finish up some school-related things, got everything done, but ordered in some Japanese comfort food. A new week starts, and next weekend I weigh in to see if anything has happened...

AM SNACK: 9am, a few snips of lavash cracker, water

AM SNACK: 11am, handful of almonds

LUNCH: 1:30pm, pulled pork, mac n' cheese, coleslaw, 1/2 a beer, 1.5 bowl

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, a few snippets of cheese and lavash, a sip of wine

DINNER: 9pm, sushi, tempura, shrimp shumai, green salad, water, small hunk of chocolate, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

A day so Red I won't even mark it up

Put myself to bed at 10:30pm, but could not get to sleep. Had some left over soup, didn't help. Fell asleep after 3am, up about 5 to go riding with E & D. A series of snacks kept my body moving for 50 miles before hitting home. Felt OK, not as sore from the weight lifting the day before as I had been recently, suggests I should hit it a little harder this week.

B had a friend's family over, we served some fish I've been curing for a couple of days, and a 3 part dessert including the coffee cake me n' MAP made, went down well. Found hunger coming back and ate large dinner and snack.

AM SNACK: 12:30am, wonton soup, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 5:30am, iced mint green tea

AM SNACK: 6:30am, 2 donuts, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 8am, bottle of Gatorade

AM SNACK: 11am, cliff bar

LUNCH: 1:30pm, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese and home-cured wild king salmon, pickles, iced mint green tea, a little homemade coffee cake with homemade ice creams, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 5:30pm, homemade chili and homemade pasta, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, whole wheat waffle, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Lifting

Lifted weights in the morning, lifted lasagna into my face in the afternoon. Feeling lazy and decadent in the evening and ordered in Chinese while watching a DVD with B.

AM SNACK: 8:15am, iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 10am, organic whole grain chex with whole raw milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12:30pm, spinach lasagna, 2 pieces of bread, Manhattan Special, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
At the restaurant, needed to eat the lasagna because it is a new menu item I had to give feedback on. As drinking the Manhattan Special, thinking about how overpoweringly sweet it is, and maybe at the age of 39 I should move up to actually drinking coffee. Starting with unsweetened, black espresso.

PM SNACK: 5pm, pickle, a few multigrain tortilla chips and salsa, a few pieces of lavash crackers, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8pm, shrimp and broccoli in garlic sauce with pork fried rice, egg roll, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

A Day in 3 Acts

Spent the morning retrieving my computer and doing some food shopping, spent the afternoon with my friend MAP making pad thai and a coffee cake for a brunch this Sunday, spent the evening riding my bike out to Coney, with a nice 30 minute interruption to have a meeting of the minds with the HVS.

Edie's fever broke last night, and today you wouldn't even know she was sick, all smiles and banging on things.

AM SNACK: 7:45am, iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, organic wholegrain cheerios with whole raw milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2pm, homemade shrimp pad thai, freshly baked coffee cake muffin, 2 small scoops of ice cream, seltzer, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 8pm, clif bar

DINNER: 9:45pm, homemade vegetarian pad thai, small green salad, water, .5 bowl
Oddly not hungry after a ride out to Coney. It was a slow ride, not feeling 100%

Raw

Edie was feverish last night, and that kinda informed my eating day today. With only time to throw back some tea, I got Edles to the doctor, where she was diagnosed with an ear infection. When asked if she was allergic to any medications, I had to reply, "I don't know, she's never had any medications other than tylenol." A prescription for liquid antibiotics and we were off. 

When I got home, my friend E swung by and delivered me a gallon of raw milk and some fine, fine donuts, so that was an unintentional breakfast. Just taking care of Edie, feeding her, getting everything together for school, it was a bit discombobulating and ended up having more tea instead of lunch.

In school, we had meat-day, with sauteed pork chops and meat balls, annotated with sweets. Oy. I think I may have a little bit of what Edie has, though I checked my temp and there is no fever. 

I cancelled a social engagement and came home after school, wouldn't be fair to stick B home alone with a sick baby, after she worked many more hours than me all day (and got considerably less sleep the night before.)  But Edie went down, B went down, and I toiled in the kitchen making a new supply of iced tea, churned unflavored (sweet cream?) raw milk ice cream, and made a round of whole wheat waffles featuring said milk. Productivey goodness!

The raw milk is weird and delicious -- it reminds me of buttermilk, minus the cultured tang. It's thick and creamy and smooth, with a strong fresh dairy flavor. The ice cream is going to be intense in a very subtle way.

AM SNACK: 8:45am, iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 11:15am, chocolate donut, glass of raw milk

PM SNACK: 1:30pm, iced mint green tea

PM SNACK: 3pm, handful of chocolate pretzels

DINNER: 6:30pm, 2 meat balls, a little spagetti & red sauce, a few cups of lemonaide, seltzer, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, whole wheat raw milk waffle, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Incongruous Stew

Mellow start to the day, surprisingly sore from the weight lifting yesterday. Tried to stay with the green today, but going out to the playdate drop in at the local community center put it to the test -- got a slice of pizza on the way over, and the leader once again served up some desert (though this time with some incongruous lentil stew.) 

Dinner was hearty, but left me craving deserts. Tomorrow's school will bring lots of meat, both beef and pork, and Thursday is a cooking day with MAP, which may involve ice cream...

AM SNACK: 8:15am, iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 9:15am, granola with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 1:15pm, 1 slice streetza, .75 bowl, hunger 3/5

PM SNACK: 2:15pm,  lentil & tomato stew, 2 chocochip oatmeal cookies, 1 jam square, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 6:15pm, green salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8:30pm, grilled chicken breast, spinach & mushrooms, quinoa salad, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, whole wheat banana bread, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Green Day

Going for the green! Betsy left out the Veganomicon cook book with a note pointing me to a quinoa salad -- a very simple thing of cooked quinoa (I cooked it in a vegetarian "chicken" broth just for shits n' giggles), black beans, fresh diced mango, cilantro, red pepper, scallion, red wine vinegar and grapeseed oil, and a dash of salt of course. I was starving when I got home from the markets, so I made the dish, but the quinoa was still cooking and the beans go in last to prevent breaking, so I used what was basically a mango-cilantro salsa on a sardine sandwich. And MAN was it good. Hot dolly it was good!

Dinner was a piece of frozen fish dredged in some overly-salty commercial cornmeal mix (I will make it myself from now on) and sauteed spinach and mushrooms -- not the greatest dinner, but filling.

Looking back, the banana bread is on the edge of being a dessert, with brown sugar and butter. BUT it is also banana and whole wheat flour (and freshly homemade), so I'll give myself a pass this time. I wonder how long I'll stay in the green tomorrow?

AM SNACK: 8:15am, iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 10:45am, the good yogurt with honey, vanilla and almonds, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 1:30pm, a saltless wholewheat pretzel

LUNCH: 4pm, sardine and mango salsa sandwich on demihippy bread, a large bowl of quinoa salad, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8:30pm, cornmeal encrusted baked ocean perch with sauteed spinach & mushrooms, green salad, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, freshly baked whole wheat banana bread, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, multigrain tortilla chips with salsa, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Sore n' happy

I was planning to wake up early and do another ride, to try to get 100 miles in for the week (because of the weather, only got 60ish in at this point), but when I woke around 8 I felt pleasantly sore, some from my weights in my chest and upper back, but mainly in my thighs and calves -- that's great news, I beat myself up good and steady yesterday morning, and will come out the stronger for it. Today I rest. And make ice cream...

Had a friend's 1 yr old b-day, monkey theme, so made "Chunky Monkey" ice cream -- blended a bunch of ripe bananas into creme Anglais, made a sheet of chocolate ganache with banana liqueur, and roasted and candied walnuts with a nice cinnamon syrup. All together, pretty rich and intense. 

Lots of red this week. Tomorrow we wipe the slate clean. Tomorrow I will try to do a first: an all-green code day. Tea, salad, sardines, fruit yes, desert, red meat, booze no....

AM SNACK: 9:45am, iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST 1: 10:30, buttermilk wholewheat waffle, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

BREAKFAST 2: 11:15pm, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2pm, mac n' cheese, a couple of BBQ ribs, a cupcake, a mimosa, a little bit of homemade chunky monkey ice cream, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, iced mint green tea

DINNER: 7:45pm, vegetarian Indian food, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Making the HVS proud

I got to bed around 11:30pm, but when I woke up at 3am, I just knew I would not be going back to sleep: the beef and chocolate were coursing through my veins, and I wanted to ride. I had set the alarm for 5:30am, so it wasn't THAT much earlier. I felt a bit off -- it was humid and a little stuffy in the apartment, a sheen of sweat on my brow. 

I left the house at 4:45am in the moist darkness and did a loop around Manhattan, almost giving up because of tiredness at the northern tip, but pushed through. At the end of the ride, I met up with my friend E in Greenpoint and had breakfast at a usually-crowded hipster joint, but due to the unusualness of both of up and about at such an early hour, it was quite calm.

When arriving back home at precisely 10am, I was just in time for a meeting of the group who are responsible for the composting barrels right outside my building -- I got a key, and am now ready to get on down with the browns and greens! The HVS would be so proud.

B & Edles went to her brother's to hang out with her family, while I promptly passed out at 12:15 for 4 hours. I awoke to their arrival, when I promptly ordered in a pizza and salad from Lombardis. Gawd bless NYC. Green tea helped my resolve not to stuff down any sweets.

I spent the evening making my own version of Chunky Monkey ice cream -- basically my Creme Anglais ice cream custard with 4 ripe bananas blended into it, and a tray of cinnamon candied walnuts and a dish of banana liqueur-spiked dark chocolate ganache that will be cut into cubes, all going to be mixed in. I was happily resisting the urge to eat sweets when Betsy ripped open a box of chocolates I received as a gift and started taking a bite out of each piece. I could not help but sweep up after her, with my mouth! On the negative side, I was eating sweets, but on the positive side, it's part of why I love my wife so much! Hrumph!

BREAKFAST 1: 3:45am, granola with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5

BREAKFAST 2: 8:45am, gravlax with a little cream cheese on a soft roll, bacon, green tea, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 4:15pm, glass of iced mint green tea

DINNER: 5:45pm, pizza with mushroom and onion, Cesar salad, 1.75 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, bites of random chocolates, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 11:45pm, multigrain tortilla chips with salsa, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Edie the Destroyer

Edie, Destroyer of Computers: As I was typing away on the couch this morning on the laptop, Edie stands herself up between my legs, reached to the top of the screen and yanks backwards with all her weight --- CRACK! The spin of the laptop snaps, the screen falls back and the colors go all blinky and crazy. An hour later at the computer repair shop and $700 lighter, the true cost of a baby becomes apparent... but she was so gosh darn cute while she was destroying!

Ate reasonably most of the day, lifted some weights, a friend with baby came over and I fried up the rest of the latkes. In the early evening I took off on bike to Coney. Before I left, I was getting hungry and craved sugar, flourless chocolate cake was taunting me but took a detour to grapes. By the time I got to Coney, I realized I was REALLY hungry, the kind of hunger that would make me bonk if I didn't eat something a bit heavier. So Nathan's beckoned with a hot dog, something I would eat (2x as much) casually just a year ago, now I considered it. Tastes great, well made despite being fast food. The signage has calorie counts -- the dog is about 300 calories. A large chili cheese fries is about 1900 calories. Weird. 

Hunger really let loose when I got home, went freezer fishing and ate three once-a-week items in combo, oy. Very satisfying, though.

AM SNACK: 6:30am, iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 8am, wholewheat buttermilk waffle, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 12:15pm, large green salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2pm, latkes with apple sauce, iced mint green tea, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 3:45pm, grapes, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK:6:15pm, hotdog, clif bar, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 8:30pm, hot unsweetened green tea

PM SNACK:9:45pm, smoothie pop

DINNER: 10pm, homemade beef chili over fresh pasta with cheddar, flourless chocolate cake, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Bourginon

I made (and ate) a complex dinner, with lots of help from my friend MAP, for 7 people, and while it was very rich food, two things saved me: I served very modest portions (a few people wanted seconds, which was nice), and I ate very lightly all day, which was easy because the food was quite laborious.

MAP came over around noon, and we immediately started on Julia Child's famous beef bourginon, which is basically just cheap beef cubes braised in stock and wine. We had to brown bacon lardons, cube some bottom round and brown it all in the bacon fat a few cubes at at time, then brown the veg, then bake it all in a coating of flour and seasoning to get some crust going, then cover it in wine and stock with herbs and aromatics, then bake it covered for 3 hours, while braising pearl onions separately, sauteing white mushrooms separately, and after the braise, separating the braising liquid, defatting, reducing, and tossing everything back together. While all that was happening, we dashed out latkes and apple sauce, a flourless chocolate cake, and most interestingly, mint linguine.

I never made mint linguine, but thought in terms of lamb with mint sauce -- the vegetal character of mint in a savory dish really sets off a heavy red meat, and there are few red meats heavier than braised stew meat. Using the same method as spinach pasta, I blended eggs with mint leaves until there were no more leaves, and incorporated it into AP flour as I always do. The final product was pleasingly minty in a laid-back way, and really sang nice high harmony to the bourginon's deep bass-profundo chorus of flavors. The beef it self was a little dry and stringy (should of stopped at 2.5 hours, but we went out to get Edie on a swing and ended up cooking 3.25 hours, oy)

Peeps seemed to like the food, many bottles of wine consumed, Edie slept like a, well, baby. I hope I have more casual mid-week dinner parties like this as Edie gets older, so she sees how adults enjoy each other's companies, mediated by no more than good food and a few drinks.

AM SNACK: 8:45am, iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 10:45am, brown rice spicy shrimp nori roll, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2:30pm, sardine sandwich on demihippy bread, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, mini latkes with spiced apple sauce, beef bouginon over mint pasta, chocolate plate including macarons, truffles and flourless chocolate cake, 2 glasses of wine, shot of amaretto, 1.75 bowl hunger 4/5

Happy happy joy joy!

Edie & I attended a baby swim class at a local indoor pool, one that I did not know about that is literally a 5 minute walk away from our door, but hidden in the depth of public housing. Surprisingly well maintained, clean, and almost entirely run and used by Asian peeps. Odd. I had a moment of concern, but literally 5 seconds after Edie hit the water, she was all smiles and happy happy joy joy!

AM SNACK: 8am, iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, wholewheat buttermilk waffle, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 11:15am, grilled cheese on demi hippy bread, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Haven't made grilled cheese in a while, not a light dish but definitely makes life taste good. good raw milk cheese, hearty whole grain bread.

PM SNACKING: 4-6:30pm, bits of pizza and pizza ingredients, a couple of juice drinks, a can of seltzer, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Made pizza with the class, we served about 50 people. Funny, as we did this class it kinda reminded me just how deep my knowledge of the pizza making process is compared to someone who knows nothing. When the kid's pizza started sticking to their boards when trying to get the pies in the oven, I would pick up an edge and blow, making a little air wave under the raw pie. They thought that was cool. Now that I think about it, yeah, that is kinda cool!

DINNER: 7:30pm, small portion of lasagna and half a meatball, soda, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Not my choice, this is a new menu item at the restaurant I needed to try, to write a menu description...

EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, multigrain tortilla chips with salsa, a little homemade granola, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Smoothie Ice Cream Experiment

Once I shook off the morning haze and got some smoothie in my, I did some weights and exercises -- my reps on push ups and sit ups are already improved. Still ridiculously low numbers, but nice to see any progress.

After a little book reading with Edie and lunch with a mom friend, got in the cooking groove and popped out a dinner for 4. After, spent pretty much the entire evening making beef stock (a 6 hour simmer time on top of 45 minutes of roasting bones) and preparing for tomorrow's class, my visit to the restaurant, and anticipating me n' Edies first swim class!

AM SNACK: 8am, iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 9am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
The smoothie pops I've been freezing with the excess have been good, but unless I lick it, I bite into large ice crystals that are unappealing in the mouth. So as an experiment, I ran today's excess through the ice cream maker -- whipping air into it as it froze, preventing large crystals and adding air to the volume. It seemed to work, but I only got two pops out of it -- so much was wasted getting stuck to the barrel's walls.

LUNCH: 12:15pm, half a porcetta pizza, 2 cured sardines on crusty bread, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
At Pulino's with a mom after the library baby event. Fortunately, she suggested the sardine app, a big green code. I am not red-lining the pizza despite it having pork on it because a) it was a relatively small amount on a small amount of pizza and b) it was a house cured whole-meat product, not a scary industrial dry sausage or something.

DINNER: 5:15pm, homemade mushroom ravioli with tomato sauce, roasted asparagus and portobello mushrooms, green salad with whole wheat croutons, 2 macarons, 4 truffles 1 glass wine, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
A nice dinner with another couple in the 'hood with baby. 7 ravioli, 5 spears of asparagus, very moderate portions in my book. The croutons, made from whole wheat and toasted in the oven with butter and salt, really made the otherwise ordinary salad pop.

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, homemade granola, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 9:45pm, multigrain tortilla chips with salsa, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

I GOTS FEETS!!

I was surprisingly sore in the legs from my ride yesterday -- that's good, that means my body is getting up to 100-mile abilities again. It was a slow 80 and dizzy at the end, but the next one will be stronger.

Me n' Edles went out to the BK to visit C and her 2 month old, then hit up the food market and spent the late afternoon and evening cooking. Made chicken stock (and shmaltz), salad for the week, dinner for myself, then macarons for the dinner party we're having tomorrow eve.

This was my third attempt at macarons -- the first was clownish, the second was better but still a bit amateur. This time I used proper professional food dye gel, not the liquid drops you get at a supermarket. Also, the kitchen was quite warm when drying out the batter after piping. Plus I cracked the oven open while baking to encourage drying. I gots the feet that make 'em look professional! Wooo!

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, toasted pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese and sable, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12 noon, mozzarella panini, small portion of fries, half a brownie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
There goes the first desert of the week!! Out to lunch with C and her baby, she wanted to share a desert, seemed unfriendly to say no.

PM SNACK: 1:30pm, glass of black cherry soda

DINNER: 8pm, large green salad, sauteed red pepper & garlic chicken sausage, roasted asparagus, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Simple asparagus -- tossed with a little olive oil and salt, put on a baking sheet and baked at 350 for 10 minutes. The tips were slightly brown, crisp but slightly soft, nice.

EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, multigrain tortilla chips and salsa, bits of macaron cookies, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Unfortunately, the lack of a starch or carb left me awfully hungry as the evening went on.

Ride

Last week on my bike ride, I ate cheesy corn puffs that were imported from South America. On today's bike ride, I came across another bag of savory chips, this one proudly made in New York. How the packaging proclaims the potato stick as some sort of symbolic NY snack is beyond me.

After yesterday's heavy desserts, had a hard time falling asleep. Got to bed around 1, was up at 5:30am and out on the bike by 6:30. Was supposed to ride with others, but they all punked out, but I needed to ride -- if not today, the next ride will be Friday. What's 4.5 but a number?

Approached the bike-eating a little differently. Small things a few hours apart, a few spiked with caffeine. Worked pretty well, got me through without any lags until the last few miles of the 80 mile trek. A podcast I listened to during the ride proclaimed that the human brain is only about 2% of the body's weight, but consumes about 20% of it's energy. By the end of this ride I could believe it, I felt drunk and slow....in a good, expended way.

I originally planned a homemade pasta and beef chili dinner, but after the last few eating days I had, that will just have to wait until the end of next week!

AM SNACK: 5:30am, iced mint green tea

AM SNACK: 6:30am, chocolate donut

AM SNACK: 8:30am, caffeinated cliff bar

AM SNACK: 10:30am, small bag of dipsy doodle corn chips, 20oz of Gatorade

LUNCH: 1pm, turkey on whole wheat bread with let, tom, on & roasted red peppers, potato sticks, a Manhattan Special, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 5:15pm, shrimp and string beans over brown rice, steamed vegetable dumplings, shrimp toast, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, smoothie pop

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, small amount of homemade granola

Cheeky

The day was centered around having lunch with some friends at Pulino's, then having a date with B in the evening, involving dinner out at a restaurant. Lunch included an afogato, a scoop of gelato in a shot of espresso. The espresso was cooled, so the gelato didn't melt too fast, causing me to drink a little of the minimally sweetened stuff before the ice cream really hit it.... hmmmm. I think I like espresso. I've never really drank coffee (or smoked cigarettes) because I was bummed by my mom's addictive behavior, but I think I may have to reconsider a good cup of espresso. Manhattan Special snuck in, but now it seems too sweet, acidy and carbonated.

Definitely ate a little too much, and ate a little too much at dinner, but in both cases it was sharing such pleasure with who I was eating with, it seemed wrong to eat less. I ordered beef cheeks at dinner, an extremely tough, gristly piece of meet that when slow braised properly in beef stock becomes amazingly tender and flavorful -- this was the first time I've had it since c-school, and made me sorry my wife is attempting vegetarianism, as this is the kind of dish that kind of encapsulates how good an extreme "beefy" flavor can be.

I gotta get on the wagon, eating-wise.

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, organic cheerios with organic dead milk, glass of iced mint green tea, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 11:30am, a pizza's worth of pizza, a little smoked sable, a little fennel salad, lemoncello cocktail, water, afogato, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4.5

DINNER: 6pm, braised beef cheek with potato and polenta chips, eggplant parm, various chocolate things, bread, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Pizza Della Tazza

Woke up with my buttocks sore -- the lunges of my work outs of the day before definitely felt. I originally hoped to work out 4 times a week, but allowing myself to fully recover seems it will be more like 2x a week. Are buns of steel too far off?

I had 2 pints of beer the night before and not enough sleep, and with the rain outside, the day was mellow. Put away laundry, cleaned up the house a bit, took a walk with Edie for some chores in the hood.

I baked up some cupcakes for my friend MAP's event, Cupcake Camp, basically a cupcake exchange on steroids at a local bar. Doing a sweet thing would be...excessive, so I went in the savory direction. Cupcakes have been trendy for a while, and my own preference for pizza has been trendy, so I thought to jam the two food trend together, however awkward. Using this buttermilk corn muffin as a base, I added minced fresh oregano & basil, a dash of red pepper, threw in the egg yolks, and a large fist of grated parm. When in the cup, I inserted a small piece of browned hot Italian sausage, then topped with a small piece of moz, drizzled some tomato sauce on top of the cheese, then baked. Once cooled, used a star-tip to pipe some ricotta (smoothed with a little heavy cream and olive oil) to add a florette, and topped with half a grape tomato.

I went to the event, but a) it was super crowded in a small space and b) it was way more sugar than any body should eat in one sitting. I purposefully ate dinner right before going, so resisting the siren's call wasn't too difficult.

AM SNACK: 7:30am, glass of iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese and sable, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12:30pm, whole wheat matzo farfel, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5pm, 2 pizza-cupcakes, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6pm, shrimp, sauteed spinach, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 7pm, 1 tiny 1-bite chocolate cupcake

EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, homemade granola, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Haggis ain't all that

Did a weight regimen in the morning, made some good waffles, ate pizza in Union Square with a friend, and went out to a Scottish restaurant with bunch of peeps for dinner. Haggis ain't all that, minerally like a blood sausage, gritty in a good way from oats. The Beef Wellington I ate was surprisingly good, makes me want to go out and braise something, but if I'm trying to keep red meat to once a week, that may have to wait. Dinner involved carousing, which involved 2 beers, which was a bit too much for me, but considering my company all downed 4+, I guess that's restraint, right?

AM SNACK: 7:15am, glass of mint iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, 2 wholewheat buttermilk waffles, 3 slices bacon, quart o' water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Experimented with the waffles again, replacing whole milk with buttermilk, keeping wholewheat pasty flour and light brown sugar. Damn if it just didn't get a bit better. This was almost restaurant quality, if I can only tame the persnickety caste-iron...

LUNCH: 1pm, low-cheese pizza, seltzer, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5pm, 1 slice demi hippy bread with hummus, some granola, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8pm, Beef Wellington, a few cockles, a little lamb sausage roll, a few pieces of cured meat, a spoonful of haggis, 2 pints of beer, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Amazing jumping cookies!

Slept for 13 hours, it just snuck up on me. Still a little sore from the weight work out on Monday, but tomorrow should be ready for another lifting session. Took it easy and stayed in and played with the Edie until Yomomma arrived around 1, then took off to teach. We prepared a very rich risotto, and my supervisor supplied unusually good chocolate chip cookies which jumped down my throat.

But despite that cave, I did avoid drinking soda at school and eating pizza and sodas at the restaurant after. I was hoping the risotto would get me through, but found myself scavenging in the kitchen in the evening. I need to reup on my snacks, to get me more in the green zone...

AM SNACK: 8am, glass of iced mint green tea
I made a batch of mint syrup yesterday, and I noticed something weird about it this morning -- it had recrystallized in the plastic container!! I knew this was possible, but I never saw it happen before. I guess I need to reheat it, but I wonder if that will effect the mint flavor...

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

LUNCH: Noon, herring on demihippy bread with avocado, flax corn chips with salsa, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, cranberry lime seltzer

DINNER: 5pm, sausage fennel risotto, 3 chocolate chip cookies, lime seltzer, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, flax corn chips with salsa, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, Ritz cracker-like crackers with good peanut butter, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Worn out

Only got 6 hours of sleep last night. First thing after breakfast, hauled ass to the supermarket with Edles strapped to me. Once I got home, between getting stuff away and dealing with Edie, pretty much took off again to meet Y for lunch in Chinatown. When I was coming home from that, started to realize just how tired I was. I decided to skip Food Coop business, which is a good thing -- I fell asleep at around 7pm on the couch, transferred myself to bed at 8, and would not wake until B needed to split at 8 the next morning...

AM SNACK: 8:30am, glass of iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 9:15am, good yogurt with agave, vanilla and raw cashews, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH pt 1: 12:30pm, large green salad, flax corn chips with salsa, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH pt 2: 2pm, crab-pork dumplings, spicy string beans, sauteed shrimp with vegetables, a little white rice, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 4pm, left over shrimp and string beans, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, freshly baked banana bread, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Wholewheat flour, extra bananas. Despite the butter and eggs, this is definitely in the green zone.

Monday, with strengths and weaknesses

I had some crazy idea that being it's Monday, I'd try for an all-green day, but the social meal of the day knocked me out with sweets and alcohol.

Did my first whole weight-work out this morning, felt a little feeble but it was fun with the music and the Edie observing from her crib. Improvised a potato salad with stuff laying around the kitchen, then attended a baby's birthday party. Edie was feeling awfully clingy, crying every time I put her down for the first hour, but she loosened up. Good thing I love holding her! Afterwards met up with B and walked home, rode out to Coney and back. Feel good.

AM SNACK: 9am, glass of iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 10:30am, crispy brown rice cereal with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AFTERNOON TASTING: 12:30pm, bites of potato salad
Made a batch of potato salad for a kiddie party attending this afternoon, using stuff laying around the house. Bag of red bliss mini potatoes, egg yolks & olive oil with some mustard powder to make mayo, fresh rosemary, parsley, carrot and celery, salt, Worcestershire, some hot pepper, voila, potato salad...

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

LUNCH: 3pm, 2 wedges of eggplant and zucchini hero, bits of industrial potato salad, macaroni salad and some of my own potato salad, 1 brownie, 1 piece of carrot-cream cheese cake, 1 glass wine, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
At a 1 year-old's birthday party. They had a several feet of vegetarian hero and some bland sides, to which my potato salad sat with. Funny, the industrial potato salad was bone-white and was simply potato slices in loose white mayonaisy blandness. My potato salad was a rich yellow color (from the yolks in my mayo), studded with crunchy bits, herbs and the loose red skins coming off the quartered potatoes.

DINNER: 9pm, baked ocean perch, sofrito brown rice & beans, smoothie pop, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Got a frozen fillet of perch, sprinkled a bunch of old bay seasoning and wacked it in the oven -- before c-school, I'd be too intimidated to just cook a simple piece of fish without instructions, now it seems ridiculously easy.

Peeps, fneh!

An enjoyable, though not healthy, eating day. Out to brunch with a friend at Schillers, out to dinner with a bunch of B's friends at Otto. Dinner was in honor of Easter, and marsh mellow peeps were passed around -- the first time I've ever had one. Very...unremarkable. Thank goodness that tomorrow is a brand new week, wipe the slate and try to do better.

AM SNACK: 9am, banana, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

BRUNCH: 10:30am, bagel with cream cheese and lox, side of sausage, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11:45am, chocolate donut, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 5pm, bread, a peep, various seafood antipasti, various slices of pizza, gelato, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

I ate Diana's Churrito.

I road my bike to Nyack this morning for the first time this season. It's about 33 miles one way, and a good point to stop, eat, enjoy the Hudson River and turn back. I've always gotten a few items from a small deli, then gone to a public park by the water to pic-nic it and enjoy the view.

The little deli and grocery store I used to hit up is not there anymore. It was run by an old Irish American family who must of run it at least since the 70s. Up the street there is a large old brick building with a sign for a "Chef's Market" prepared-food emporium coming soon. Across the way, a twee health food store. I had to ride a few blocks off the main drag to the crummier part of the neighborhood to find an honest, plain deli....except that almost all the food in it was Spanish! Everyone in the place spoke Spanish, too. I ordered a standard turkey on a roll from the deli counter, and poked around....everything was brands I never heard of, kinda neat. I got some Diana Churritos (Cheetos made in El Salvador) and a bottle of Maneragua (imported from Mexico, bottled in Texas), basically a tonic water, seltzer with salts. I loved the fact that the new real working class is taking over the deli business, but it bums me out that in the nice part of town, affordable simple food has been pushed out in favor of a rather pretentious food emporium.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, glass of iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, vegan blueberry waffle, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
There is fruit in this, and it's more than half whole-wheat, but there is so much oil in this thing that I just can't bring myself to making this a green-labelled food.

LUNCH: 12:45pm, 3/4 of a turkey on a roll sandwich, 20oz Gatorade, a bag of cheese-curls, a few sips of tonic water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Lunch from a bodega and eaten by the water in Nyack, mid-bike ride.

PM SNACK: 3:45pm, clif bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
A little powerup in the last 5 miles of the ride, felt right.

DINNER: 6:30pm, big green salad, shrimp & stringbeans with brown rice, fried wontons, mint chip ice cream, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5
I was very tempted to finish the ice cream last night, but since I ended on a fruit-note and wasn't particularly hungry, I resisted....so I could indulge and finish it after my bike ride!

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, 4 graham crackers with the good peanut butter, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Bike ride munchies.

Snickleconference 2010

Edie was up at all hours last night, so I was up at 8 with way too few hours of sleep. The few crunches and push ups I did yesterday left me sore in my midsection, which is 1) bad because I'm so weak but 2) good because it takes very little to get to the sore point you want from a good strength-building workout. Will ride tomorrow, will refocus on the weight training on Monday.

My new batch of iced tea is sweeter than previous, but still good. The HVS and Gooshgirl came over around 11am for Snickle Conference 2010, and I had them assemble some granola, and the batter for vegan blueberry waffles. The waffles were surprisingly good, though a bit heavier than the egg n' milk version.

AM SNACK: 8am, glass of iced mint green tea

AM SNACK: 10am, banana

SNICKLE BRUNCH: 12:15pm, bowl of hot granola and dead organic milk, 1 heavy vegan blueberry waffle, seltzer, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 4:15pm, shrimp fried rice, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5pm, glass of iced mint green tea

DINNER: 8:30pm, chicken breast, meatballs in peas, bean stew, roast potatoes, white rice, babaganoush, tomato salad, green salad, mushroom pate, cucumber salad, matzoh, glass of wine, water, a little bit of fruit, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Nice sabbath dinner in the 'hood with some momfriends. Serious cooking, good food. Resisted the chocolate plate (kosher for passover, blech!) and had a few pieces of pineapple and kiwi.

It's a whole new month!

I weighed in at 234.6 this morning, pretty much the same as a month ago. Not disappointed, pretty much what I expected. Over the past month, I've altered my eating habits to adhere a bit to Alton Brown's loose set of rules, and I have had results -- I feel a little clearer, a little bit more energy, and I suspect I've been eating a bit more -- of good, nutritiously dense food (hello sardine sandwich!) and less calorie-dense nutritionally empty food (hello 2x daily dessert!) The bottom line: for anything to change, something has got to change. Not to get all zen n' shit on you.

The weight thing is something to focus on a little now. Input is relatively simple, just eat a bit less. Hopefully the nutritionally powerful foods I'm taking in will make it easier to cut back a little on caloric intake.

Output has to be greater than input for weight loss. Yoga doesn't fit right now, as it requires a stiff schedule, very limited availability due to Edie, and requires leaving the house -- all three make it something to do later. Biking is tricky right now -- until Edie can join me on a bike in June, the schedule is restricted, and it requires me to leave the house. I've started a regimen of about 100 miles a week (30 to Coney one weekday eve, one 70+ ride on a weekend) -- once B starts having Fridays off and Edles can join me during the week, this is going to help, but not enough.

I'm going to to start a 4-day a week regimen of weights. I have a pair of dumb bells from my teen years and a folding weight bench. I did a few push ups and sit ups this morning -- holy crap, I'm tight and weak! Then did a few basic lifts with light weights, and realized I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I stopped, and went to the computer and researched a bike-friendly routine using the equipment I have. Going to play with it some more tomorrow, then start in earnest Monday, doing the regimen Mon-Tues mornings, and Thurs-Fri mornings.

AM SNACK: 8:15am, iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 9:45am, homemade granola with organic dead milk, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2:30pm, freshly made mushroom ravioli with a little tomato sauce, a small glass of beer, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
My friend MAP came over and we made ravioli (and some spaghetti) from scratch, a lotta fun. As something that is limited to once a week, this small supply means when I DO eat that once a week pasta, it's the best pasta possible.

PM SNACK: 6:30pm, clif bar
Road out to Coney Island, this helped even me out and get me through.

DINNER: 8:30pm, pizza, a bit of green salad, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Met up with a few people post-ride at a new pizzeria in Greenpoint. We got three medium pies for the four of us, just enough food. Fortunately they didn't have their liquor license yet, so I didn't go into the red with another beer...

EVENING WATERING: 10:30pm, quart

After?

Edie is better, but not 100%, so I cancelled a playdate with my friend C and her iddy biddy baby, on the slight chance of giving said baby a cold. Went by the resto and had an unhealthy snack, wandered around Brooklyn and hit up B's old hood, then went home and did baby stuff until B got home. I took myself out to dinner on the way to grocery shopping, and was torn between pork-chive dumplings from a little hole in the wall, and a big slice of non-wheat vegan pizza. Eventually, my mind got to, "Well, how will you feel AFTER you eat" rather than the pleasure from the act of eating, and I steered myself toward the pizza. As you can see above, not your average streetza, it fits much better into the rules of 4...

Tomorrow, a weigh-in, a reflection, a revision of plan...

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, glass of iced mint green tea, large hunk of banana bread, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11:30am, small piece of mole tamale, black cherry soda, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2:30pm, falafel sandwich, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 6pm, ramekin of roasted ginger almonds, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, slice of "zen" "pizza", 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, frozen smoothie pop, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Sederz

Edie still has a runny nose, but seems to be doing really well. For a sick baby, she sure is a pleasure. We made our way to the upper east side for a seder of B's family. A lot of the food was catered from a local diner (turkey that kinda gets powdery when chewed), but some homemade haroset was pretty groovy, and my farfel and ice cream were pretty popular.

I brought a stash of the macaroons I made a few weeks back, but once defrosted, they were so delicate and easily smashed, they didn't get presented. Every time I went into the kitchen for whatever, I grabbed a few and ate them -- reminded me of when my mom brought me chocolate chip cookies on visiting day of my first summer-camp summer, and I ate them until I was sick because I didn't want to share them. Macarons were yummy, but I think freezing and defrosting allowed moisture into the cookies...

Farfel, haroset, macaroons, gefilte fish, matzoh ball soup....y'know, with all the trendiness of narrow concept restaurants (meat ball shop, peanut butter sandwich shop, etc), I wonder how cool it would be to have a restaurant that just served...Passover food all year. Only take reservations for Pesach. He he he. "Sederz" "Elijah's" or "Jeroosalem"!

AM SNACK: 8am, glass of iced mint green tea

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, whole wheat waffle, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Delicious, last one in the freezer. Maybe my next batch should take it to the next level, adding fruit and maybe olive oil instead of butter....

AM SNACK: 10:30am, spoonful of homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream
For tonight's seder. Used three bunches of mint instead of 2, and a drop of green food dye, just to make the brain think it mintier...

NOON SNACK: noon, small amount of matzo farfel, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2pm, herring & avocado sandwich on whole wheat, mini carrots, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Even though the can of kippered herring said one serving, I only used half for one sandwich, rather than make 2 sandwiches. The new month is soon to be here, no weight feels lost, thinking of changes to make...

SEDER: 8pm, haroset & matzoh, gefilte fish, matzoh ball soup, sliced turkey breast, farfel, sponge cake, mint c-chip ice cream, macaroons, macarons, water, 1.75 bowl, hunger 4/5

Passed Over

Edie was a bit cranky last night and threw up for the first time -- not spit up, but the real deal. She got to sleep late, woke up early and did not follow her usual nap routine. The thermometer were a few degrees hot, not a huuuge fever but enough for us to cancel our trip to deep dark southern NJ to spend the first night of Passover with my cousin and his branch of the family. I'm bummed about it, as this is the one time of the year I get to catch up with them (and it's all about the food, some items which have been made by various home cooks in my family for decades), but that will have to wait a few months.

Edie seemed to be in good spirits, despite not having an appetite. Eventually she got down to bed in the mid-evening, but not before really wearing out B, who took the day off to make sure Edie's health was taken care of. All in all, not a day I wish to repeat soon.

BREAKFAST: 8:45am, toasted pumpernickel bagel with sablefish and babaganoush, mint iced green tea, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Made the green tea again last night, this time with half the mint syrup (8 cups of tea to 1/2 cup syrup) and it came out perfectly -- barely sweet, just enough to round off the bitterest notes and leave a hint of mint in it's wake. It really tastes like green tea. I probably couldn't sell this to the mass population, but it rings my bell and is in the daily checklist. The sugar is so minimal I'm comfortable calling this a non-dessert.

AM SNACK: 10am, bits of farfel here and there for adjusting seasoning
Cooked up a mess of stuffing with bits of matzoh called farfel, including onions I caramelized for 4 hours last night, sauteed onion and celery, freshly grated ginger, salt & pepper, and most importantly, lots of chicken fat and good double-strength chicken stock to moisten it, all bound and enriched by a few whole eggs. Made a separate batch with whole wheat farfel for private consumption...

AM SNACK: 11am, glass of iced mint green tea

LUNCH: 1:30pm, 5 pan-seared cornmeal-dredged scallops, collared greens, whole wheat matzo farfel, a little kimchi, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
A healthy well-rounded lunch. Bought a bag of frozen scallops as an experiment, quick-defrosted under water and dredged them in corn meal, corn starch, salt and paprika. Pretty good. Finished the left over collards (seems a bit too juicy, but palatable), a large portion of this morning's farfel (oh my oh my tasty) and some hot fermented cabbage from the back of the fridge.

DINNER: 7pm, deep fried shrimp wrapped in phillo, chicken and vegetables in a spicy sauce over sticky rice, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, ramekin of dark chocolate chips
Technically, the first dessert of the week, -sigh-. I think something about the stress of Edie being under the weather and my wife being a stress-case kind of manifested itself in this great urge to eat chocolate at a totally inappropriate (but quiet and peaceful) time.

Lost Weekend

On Saturday, a bunch of friends joined me and my family on an excursion to Frank Pepe's in Connecticut. I imbibed in a special brownie, a fresh untested batch, and a single brownie (1/15 of the sheet) was a bit too strong. Everything beyond it that day was a lot of fun, but the details are fuzzy.

Felt great and well-rested the next day, took Edie out to breakfast with B worked at home. The fam and I met up with the Hungry Vegan Society uptown to treat her to a birthday snickle. Dinner was taken while caramelizing several pounds of onions for tomorrow's matzo farfel and baking a rather good banana bread. I upped the bananas, the baking soda and the eggs, and lowered the sugar (1/2 cup of brown.) I also used whole wheat pasty flour, which gave a very tender crumb. I would of held off on the bread until tomorrow, but B started devouring the whole loaf, so I had to get some in before it might disappear.

Saturday

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, granola with dead organic milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 10:15am, special brownie

LUNCH: ???pm, a lot of pizza, a beer, water, ??? bowls, hunger ???/5

DINNER: 7pm, skyline chili over sofrito brown rice & beans, .75 bowl, hunger ???/5

Sunday

BREAKFAST: 10am, BLT on whole wheat and a side of homefries, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

SNICKLELUNCH: 2pm, cheddar and gruyere on whole wheat, a few spoonfuls of carrot soup, hummus, babaganoush and tabouleh with assorted breads, most of a large chocolate chip cookie, water, 1.25 bowl

DINNER: 8pm, peanutbutter on 2 slices of demi-hippy bread, roasted brocolli with panko and cheddar, a few thin slices of freshly baked banana bread, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5