Workworkworkwork pt 3

Well, the intention was for a healthy breakfast, but I ended up revving my engines hard. I was a little hungry at home, but had visions of a roasted veg and goat cheese sammich in my head. So I contented myself to some espresso beans, but when I got to Almondine, the sandwiches weren't ready yet! So I went across the street to Jaques Torres and got a slammin' cookie. Not healthy, but perfectly indulgent and satisfying, makes me happy to focus on healthier options later on.

AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea, handful of chocolate covered espresso beans
BREAKFAST: 9:45am, large chocolate chip cookie, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12:45pm, 2 slices of green apple pizza, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Further experimentation. Definitely a worthy seasonal pie. Key is a balsamic reduction, no tomato sauce, and a healthy dose of salt and pepper. Thin slice, no need to pre-fry the tomatoes.

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, green salad, two small almond ice creams, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 5:15pm, 3 meatballs with Romano, a few olives, water, 3 chocochip cookies,1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
A coworker brought in homemade cookies, had to have a few. Man, today is turning into an overboard sweets day!


EVENING SNACK: 7pm, 2 thin & crispy slices, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5
Experiment stretching a medium dough to large and lightly topping it. Reminded me of the cracker-like pizza I had many years ago at the very first 'artisinal' pizza place I experienced.

EVENING SNACK: 10:15pm, 2 burgers & fries, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5

Workworkworkwork pt 2

Woke up to B placing Edie on the bed, and B narrating while Edie gingerly poked my face. "Nose!" Nose poke. "Hair!" Beard poke. "Where are poppa's ears?!" Ear poke. "Eyes!" Eye poke. Perhaps the most awesome way to wake up ever.

Had some dreams about being stuck in a construction zone of the Manhattan side of the Staten Island ferry, trying to get to the Island but being thwarted by the construction. Stranger, the construction worker explained I could not leave the zone the same way I came in, but would have to take a rickety single-person pontoon boat from there to Governor's Island, where I'd have to wait many hours for a ride to Staten Island.

Due to a self-locking door, a kitchen guy and myself spent a brief part of the morning jimmying the lock of the office, pretty annoying.

BREAKFAST: 8:45am, organic wholegrain chex with the good milk, half portion of iced green tea, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 1pm, roasted potatoes with fennel sausage, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Freshly sliced potatoes cooked in a caste iron pan with onion, season with salt, pepper and parsley, and some seared crumbled sausage sprinkled on top. Pretty much the best off-menu lunch I'm gonna get in the pizza restaurant.

LUNCH 2: 2pm, 3 slices of green tomato-balsamic pizza, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Pizza experimentation. Seared some thick slices of green tomato in caste iron, thin sliced some and placed directly on pizza. Thin cooked-on definitely the winner. The nice bitterness of the tomato against the acidy sweetness of the balsamic just worked, and complimented perfectly by the bed of moz and garlic. Gotta try this at home for friends.

PM SNACK: 4pm, a small cup of almond ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5:45pm, green salad

DINNER: 8pm, 2 slices of white pizza with bacon and olives, 8 oz sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Workworkworkwork

I'm still a little sore from T's tournament of terror last Friday, and the new layer of weariness from riding a strong 70 miles yesterday didn't help me feel much better when I woke up this morning. But I started with a good breakfast while racing through chores, and hoped for the best.

Mildly busy in the resto today, trying to hold myself to a better eating habit.

BREAKFAST: 9am, steelcut oatmeal, iced green tea, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Already we're out of oatmeal. Guess I gotta put a new pot on to soak tonight.

PM SNACK: 3pm, green salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
 
LUNCH: 3:30pm, 4 slices of Sicilian, small almond ice cream,  8oz sprite, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
 
PM SNACK: 6:15pm, cranberry lime soda
 
DINNER: 7:30pm, sauteed shrimp in light garlic sauce with a little bread, another small almond ice cream, half a vanilla soda, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

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

Spent

Pretty much a perfect day. Woke at 7, saw a little Edie & B, then took off for the Tour de Bronx. Beautiful weather, the bike felt great, the ride went smoothly. Coming home, my friend E got in touch and dropped in on her in Greenpoint for some seriously Polish food, hit the spot perfectly. Spent the even refreshening myself, playing with the Edles and just enjoying the feeling of a spent body.

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, granola with the good milk, iced green tea, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


BIKE SNACK: 11am, cliff bar, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


BIKE SNACK: 12pm, bagel with cream cheese, apple juice, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


BIKE SNACK: 4pm, slice of streetza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 5pm, kielbasa, perogies, stuffed cabbage, kraut, potato pancake, slaw, a few tomatoes, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, large quantity of ramen noodles, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Paint the town mauve

Surprisingly sore from T's tribulation of terribleness, man I need to toughen up a bit. Plans to travel today cancelled, so me and the fam had a nice morning in Soho, then a swing by the Hester Street Fair for a revelatory snack. Babysitter came in the eve, and me and B painted the town a nice shade of mauve, just like a nice pre-middle age couple should!

BREAKFAST: 9:15am, pumpernickel bagel with chevre and sable, iced green tea, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Holy crap, using goat cheese on a bagel with smoked fish makes something so familiar so interesting. Damn, why didn't I do this years ago?

LUNCH pt 1: 1:30p, beef empanada, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Fried to order at the Hester Street Fair. Perhaps the best empanada I ever had. My only complaint is that when the dude offered my hot sauce and/or spicy mayo, I should have taken him up on it -- if a guy who makes something this good offers a condiment to go with his product, it probably makes it even better.

LUNCH pt 2: 2:15pm, large green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
I used boston and ice berg lettuces. While there is lots of water and a little fiber in it, I probably should aim for a greener, more nutritional leaf next time.

PM SNACK: 4pm, half a brownie


DINNER: 5:45pm, sausage and kraut, kale pakora, guacamole, whole wheat naan, pint of beer, water, a little chocolate souffle, a little apple cheesecake, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Took B out for dinner and a movie. Went to an old standby, Tabla, which is going to be closing in the next month or so. Food was good but not as good as I remember, the level of service was trimmed back, and all and all the specter of the  bad economy hung in the room like stagnant cigarette smoke. Still, I had a lot of great dinners in that room and it was nice to have one more time there.

T's Dwelling of Discomfit

A good Edie day. In the morning we were all over downtown Manhattan via bike doing chores, after nap, we met up with a friend and his baby in the 'hood. In the evening I yogacized at T's Palace of Pain, then we snickled in the East Village. Two conclusions: I really need to focus on strength training, so I'm not flopping around like a nearly-dead fish at T's Circus of Stress, which I hope to be doing every Friday eve for a while...

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, iced green tea, plain pinhead oatmeal, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Betsy finished the oats this morning by heating them up to absorb the last of the water, but she failed to season them with anything before putting it away -- now I'll have to individually season each portion with salt (sea salt!), spices (cinnamon! cardamom!), sweetener (brown sugar!) and maybe a fat (butter! olive oil!). But this morning I ate it Betsy-style, and appreciated it's oatiness. It was a little cardboard flavored, but I really appreciated the pleasant snap of the oat kernel between my teeth within the smoothie thick and creamy starch.

LUNCH: 12:30pm, sardine & avocado sandwich on superhippy bread, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Finally acquired some proper superhippy bread from the farmer's market, dense but soft, nutty flavor, the color of golden wheat. Sandwich was delicious, why have I not eaten one of these in so long?


PM SNACK: 1:45pm, freshly baked brownie, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Cooked up brownies while I fed Edie. Too delicious, but I'm sure my B will hoover them down in no time!

SNICKLEDINNER: 8:30pm, mock duck & noodle in curry, a few fried vegan bites, a small ginger-jasmine soda, water, vegan ice cream, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Pizza seeping through the cracks

A day off from work, and I still find pizza a cornerstone of my diet! Lunch was leftovers that B shared with a friend the night before, and dinner was a result of freezer-fishing. Busy day, with taking Edie to the play group at the local community center in the morning, an intense session of teaching in the afternoon, and running out to the supermarket for a good big food shopping in the evening sans-Edie.

On the positive side, I put a huge dose of pinhead outs on the oven to soak overnight, to avoid 20 minutes of high-power microwaving...

AM SNACK: 8:15am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 11:30am, half a lame vegan pizza, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


TEACHING SNIPPETS: 3:30-7pm, some boiled shrimp in a mayo-based sauce, a few strips of grilled chicken, a bunch of freshly baked buttery croutons, many little tastes of student mayo, 4 oz of coca cola, a bunch of seltzer, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, some dark chocolate with peanut butter


DINNER: 9:45pm, Stouffers French Bread pizzas, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 11pm, cheesy poofs, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

A good sandwich

Mellow day at work, enlivened by a visit from C & her baby. Starting to find myself naturally swing back towards healthier eating habits, it's just time.

AM SNACK: 8:15am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 10am, vegetarian sandwich, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Wow wow wow wow. I was at Almondine again this morning, craving a sandwich. I've stuck with the turkey & cheese, as the tuna and 'vegetarian' didn't hold much interest. But in the name of getting back on track of my nutrition, I looked closely at the vegetarian sandwich: it was on a nice slice of rustic whole wheat bread, and it didn't have meat and cheese in it.

When I sat down with it, I first said "yuck!", and picked out the cauliflower. I did notice a nice wide selection of veg -- eggplant, zucchini, onion & red pepper, as well as broccoli, asparagus, mushroom and the aforementioned ick. It smelled slightly vinegary, the way proper roasted sandwich veg should. The bread had a squirt of fragrant olive oil, and little bits of curdy pot cheese studded the affair.

When I took my first bite, I realized a few things: the pot cheese was chevre, a nice tangy goat cheese. I noticed the balance of vegetables and cheese to bread was in perfect balance, and I noticed the veg was marinated in something involving roasted garlic.

Despite my reservations, again Almondine delivered the best ever vegetarian sandwich to mah mouf. Again, an ordinary food item is elevated to something wonderfully special in their bakery. Maybe not the ultimate health sandwich, but a step up from the turkey & emmenthaller with mayo on white bread.

PM SNACK: 1pm, 1 slice of experimental white pizza, .25 bowl, hunger 2/5
Not hungry, but had to eat it, it's my job.

PM SNACK: 3:15pm 8oz  sprite, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 4pm, green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5:30pm, 2 freshly baked meatballs, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5:45, 3 homebaked cookies
Coworker baked them, using my advice greatly improved them. Nice.

PM SNACK: 7pm, one half of a slice of pizza


DINNER: 10pm, burger and fries, a slice of cold pizza, 4 mini muffins, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

I am the first person in the world to have steel cut oats!!

Woke up from a good night sleep a little stuffy, but in a good mood. Determined to start the eating day off right, I downed some green tea then proceeded to make myself some pinhead oats (aka steel cut) for breakfast. It ended up taking over 15 minutes in the microwave, so I had to package it and take it to work. It was quite delicious, but I think I may have to make it in larger batches in a slow-cooked style, then reheat as needed over a week.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 10am, steelcut oatmeal with a little brown sugar, salt and vanilla, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
To be honest, I was inspired by Alton Brown's Good Eats episodes on oats, which he proclaims as one of the most healthy things you can have for breakfast. It definitely fits in well with his lose-weight scheme, as a whole grain.

Oddly enough, I think this may be the first time I've eaten/paid attention to steel cut, as opposed to old fashioned rolled outs. The technical difference is steel-cut are whole oats that are chopped up into large grit, so that's why it's called "pinhead". Rolled oats are rolled between huge metal rollers at high pressure to press then flat. Rolling makes them faster to cook, but also lowers the amount of the mucous-like starch that is produced when cooked, which makes them very slow going through the digestive system (and therefore more nutritionally rich and more filling.) (Instant are rolled oats that are chopped up and par-cooked, greatly reducing nutritional value and flavor.) While rolled oats are good for baking in granola, I don't think I'll ever use them again for oatmeal.

Steel-cut has a nicer, fuller mouth feel, both firmer in the grain and thicker in the starch released. I cooked them in water, but for my bigger quantities, I see milk, cream, buttermilk or a combination. Throw in a small amount of brown sugar, salt and pie spices, and it's going to be a crazy-health party in mah mouf.

NOON SNACK: 3 pieces of freshly baked bread, handful of olives, a few slices of cucumber, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 1:45pm, large green salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 3:15pm, 2 slices of pizza, a small sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5:45pm, 4 misc. home baked cookies, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
A coworker has been consulting with me about baking, so I had to try them.

DINNER: 7pm, 3 small slices of pizza, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10:15pm, 3/4 of a waffle, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Ass, Kicked.

After yesterday's thoughts, I'm going full-out for half-full. Started with a delicious smoothie, which I really should make twice a week -- it just tastes and feels so good going down, and it powers me up with just the right hit of sugar.

The restaurant was oddly busy in the afternoon, and being that I had a bare-bones staff, I ended up running around taking orders, busing tables, running the register, sitting customers, fixing the ice machine, answering the phone, dealt with a 20-person table of all Spanish speakers who could not comprehend why we were giving them 1 big check and not 20 individual checks, bartending and running food out. It was hella-fun, kinda like playing a real life video game where they just throw everything at you to knock you out and it's up to you to kick some ass. Ass, kicked.

Didn't eat enough, and after the rush felt a little wobbly, but I scarfed down a large amount of pizza and felt better pretty quickly. I drank several pints of water in the early evening, but my appetite didn't really return until after I left for home.





BREAKFAST: 8:30am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
A banana, the good yogurt, acai juice, frozen mango, blueberries and cherries, a splash of vanilla and salt, freshly ground flax seeds.

AM SNACK: 11:15am, freshly baked bread, olives, a few slices of cucumber, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 2pm, sprite

LUNCH: 4pm, 4 small squares of Sicilian with mushroom, onion & garlic, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 7:30pm, 1 slice of white pizza, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 9:30pm, beef lomein, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 11pm, 1 apple-turnover sourdough muffin

Half full? Half empty?

Is my health half full or half empty? I got to bed the night before around 9:30, not feeling quite right and a little worn down. I woke at 4am with a bathroom issue, and got back to bed soon after. I finally awoke at 11am, feeling a little groggy but with energy rising from below.

I went on to have a fully-functional, active day, but the original plan was to wake at 6am and ride the bike into the early afternoon. On one hand, I feel like my body successfully fought off a cold or illness that could have been more serious if it lingered. On the other hand, another week has gone by late in the season where I did not get a good ride in. I can only conclude that my lazy eating habits of late are catching up with me.

BREAKFAST: 11am, BLT on rye toast with mustard, homefries, diet coke, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Lazy eating habits, indeed. B was on the Edie case, and I needed comfort in a bad way. I went around the corner on my block, to my local greasy spoon. The guy behind the counter greeted me warmly, said he hadn't seen me in a long time. I wanted to say, "That's because your food is shit and your style of eating establishment reeks of death," but I just smiled and said "Yeah, well." Of course, I don't go for the food, I go because every other weekend or so I'd come here with my parents and they'd greatly love the cheap prices, bottomless cup of coffee and egg plates. I go here to be with my parents.

I had a diet coke for two reasons -- that was the one thing me and me parents would both guzzle, and I felt a little mucousy from the long sleep -- the acid in the diet coke which I usually abhor felt good for clearing out my throat!

PM SNACK: 1:30pm, a few bites of random pickled stuff
Me n' Edles went to the LES Picklefest, very fun, very tasty. I picked up some really well-done kimchi and pickled diakon for later eats. Perhaps when I break down and eat a hot dog, this stuff will give it a dose of flavor and nutrition!

SNUNCH: 3:30pm, Gatorade, corn chips, 5 little onion rings, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
The fam & I rode bikes to Prospect Park Zoo, with a stroller strapped to the back of my bike. When we got there, we sat and fed Edie, and I realized I was very hungry. The "cafe" at the zoo is oddly a set of 5 or 6 vending machines. After the chips and Gatorade, I was so curious about the kosher hot-food vending machine I had to try it. It had pizza, french fries, and a knish, but I went for the onion rings. Basically, for $3, I got 5 small, microwaved rings of super-processed deep fried onion/bread rings. Pretty shockingly crappy AND expensive. Kosher eaters are suckahs.

DINNER: 7:45pm, pad see ew, shrimp rolls, small green salad, water, a bunch of pumpkin chocolate chip  cookies, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Family Saturday

Spent the morning baking, the afternoon in Hoboken at a party of some of B's friends, and the evening going to sleep early. Not sick, but fighting something.

AM SNACK: 9:30am, handful of chocolate covered espresso beans


BREAKFAST: 10am, 3 apple-turnover sourdough muffins, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Baked up a ton of muffins using a week-fermented sourdough starter, with sauteed apples hidden in the bottom of the pan. Pretty groovy.


LUNCH: 1pm, potato nick with mustard, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 3:45pm, slice of pizza, a few bites of caramel popcorn, a bite of a few vegetables, a beer, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 7:30pm, pasta with clams, oil and garlic, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Potato Potato

Edie Day!! We got on the bike and hit up the Union Square area for shopping, then out in the stroller for some local grocery accomplishments, 11am nap, then stayed in on the windy, cold afternoon. Didn't have a proper breakfast, and ended up eating a lot of potato products in the afternoon, then went crazy in the evening. Need bigger breakfasts, smaller dinners...


AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea


BRUNCH: 11am, large piece of potato nick with mustard, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Funny, I was hungry for more food for about 30 minutes after I ate this, but I waited it out and then I was fine.

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, creamed mashed potatoes, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
I was only going to have a bite, but it was so good, I finished the container.

DINNER: 7:30pm, sushi, shumai, spring rolls, small green salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, cube of dark chocolate


DINNER pt 2: 9pm, White Castle burgers, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
I ordered in Japanese, but found it was not enough, and ended up freezer-fishing.

Busy

A busy day. Edie hit up playgroup in the morning, I took off for school in the afternoon for a well-received session, then a bike ride from Red Hook to the Meat Packing district in the cold dark rain for a nice meal with EB. Looking forward to an all-out Edie day tomorrow...

BREAKFAST: 8am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 11:15am, curry noodle with fishball, 2 lotus leaf wrap, 2 donuts,  1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
From a cart at East B'way & Essex, real Chinese-Chinese eats.

SCHOOL SNIPPETS: 3-7pm, seltzer, a few spoonfuls of decadent mashed potatoes, a bite of sauteed chicken breast, a bite of chard & caramelized onions, a small handful of kalamata olives, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 8pm, rib-eye steak, a few bites of potato, a spoonful of creamed chard, cured hamachi with a bite of duck bacon, a few spoonfuls of risotto, 3 little bread rolls, water, 1 glass wine, ice cream, a half a chocolate tart, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Dinner with a EB, celebrating her new job, at Collichio & Sons. Very disappointing. The food was good, but certain flavor combinations and preparations were surprisingly sub par. Chocolate tart was strictly mediocre.


EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, donut
An HVS-laid donut was found, and had to be defused.

BA BA BA

Woke to a happy baby and a happy wifey, which makes any day a good day. I can't wait until "BA BA BA BA" turns into "Wake up, poppa!

Work was surprisingly busy in the evening, not a lot of time to sit around and eat!

BREAKFAST: 8am, iced green tea
I'm really happy with the consistency I'm getting. This is my method:

• Bring 1 gallon of water to a boil
• Turn off heat, add: 10 bags of jasmine green tea, 5 bags of Himalayan green tea, 3/4 cup of white sugar. Lightly stir.
• Cover. Rest for 10 minutes.
• Remove tea bags, light squeeze. Allow tea to come to room temp. Bottle and refrigerate.

AM SNACK: 9:45am, chocolate croissant, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
On the way to work, from Jaques Torres.

LUNCH: 12:30, Sicilian with mushroom & onion, sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
I keep returning to Sprite because it comes in reasonable 8 oz bottles, not the 12 the other sodas come in. The 8 oz bottle look "old-fashioned" and small, but they make sense, nutritionally.

PM SNACK: 4pm, green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6pm, 1 slice shrimp & clam pizza, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, glass of apple juice


EVENING SNACK: 11:30pm, burgers and fries, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Bananahead!!

Edie was in her seat watching videos in the kitchen with me, and she started going "AH!" and pointing at my breakfast. I put a punch of cheerios on her plate, and when she was done, started pointing at my banana. Instead of cutting off little pieces, I stuck the whole peeled business end of the banana in her face and she took big bites, like an adult, except she couldn't get her tiny mouth around the end of the banana. It was soooo cute!! Aaaaigh! Quite a way to start the day.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, organic wholegrain cheerios with organic dead milk, banana, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11:30am, fresh baked bread, olives, Manhattan Special, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 1pm, 1 slice of pizza, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 4pm, green salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6pm, 1 slice white pizza, 1/3 of a meatball hero, sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, waffle, hotdog, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Workworkworkwork pt 2

Due to Columbus Day, the restaurant was mobbed like it was a weekend day rather than a Monday Ghosttown, so I was on my feet and didn't have too much time to focus on eating.

BREAKFAST: 8am, good yogurt with agave and vanilla, iced green tea, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 1pm, 1 slice of pizza, a sprite, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6pm, green salad, meatballs with extra bread, cranberry lime soda, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING MEAL: 10:30pm, pork fried rice, wonton soup, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Family Vs. Bike

I prepped for a bike ride last night, and got up at 5:30, and was out the door at 6:30 sharp in full kit. The problem is, Edie woke a couple of minutes before leaving out, and I picked her up and brought her to Betsy. You know how it is when you haven't seen someone in years, and when you meet it's all hugs, laughs and pure pleasure? Well, it's like that almost every morning when Edie wakes up. So when I got out the door, I turned on a podcast and it was a woman calling in, talking about all the horrible things her husband was doing. Even though I was psyched for a good day on the bike, I longed even more to spend some time with my beautiful 15 month old and my wife, with whom despite disagreements on some matters is pretty much my best friend, girlfriend, partner in life and all matters Edie-related. With our jobs and various activities, time is thin, so I turned the bike around and came home about 10 minutes after I had left.

We took a nice morning bike ride to Battery Park to let Edie get some time in a playground, and when we got home for Edie's nap, I broke out the waffle iron and experimented with high heat/short cooking time. The result was a beautiful brown to a little burnt color, but the most tender, soft yet crisp waffle yet. A nap followed, conjoined with B & E taking to grandma's house while I chilled, got some work done and chilled.

BREAKFAST: 6am, good yogurt with vanilla and agave, handful of chocolate covered espresso beans, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 11:30am, waffles, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6:45pm, eggplant hero, green salad, some onion rings, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Cook-on

A relaxed Saturday. Spent the morning making some granola bars made with some homemade granola from a NY Times recipe -- way too sweet, next time I make it, I'll halve the sweetener aspects. Fell asleep in front of the TV for a nice afternoon nap, then loaded Edles on the bike and we spent the afternoon in Park Slope with a high school friend I had not seen in 20 years. Brooke is now married to a woman with twin 2 year old boys, but it STILL seemed like only a few days had passed.

Got my cook-on for dinner, something I haven't done in quite a while. Had some sofrito in the freezer from march, so cooked up a pot of brown rice & beans with extra porcinis and morels. Cooked a mess of shrimp in olive oil and sake with garlic and parsley in a caste iron pan in the oven, for a Spanish-style dish -- never cooked it, just eaten it, and my approximation was surprisingly good.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, organic wholegrain chex with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 12:30pm, multigrain tortilla chips with student made salsa, hot dog, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 2:30pm, homemade granola bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 7:30pm, shrimp in wine, evoo and garlic with sofrito brown rice & beans, chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Push & Pull

Got out of the house and made it uptown by bike for a dermatologist appointment by 8:15 (as with yesterday's general doctor, all is well.) Rushed back and had a proper Edie day. After napping and feeding, we pedaled over to the supermarket, and after we got home and had a quick snack, spent a couple of hours in the playground.

I almost went to yoga, but I had two forces preventing me. Push: the HVS would not be teaching it. Pull: MAP called me a few hours before with a spare ticket to a panel discussion at the NY Times with Frank Bruni, Daniel Bouloud, Jean Georges Vichtrewhatever and Michael White, so I took off for that. Ironically, despite being part of the Food & Wine festival, absolutely no food was allowed anywhere in the building, so I took myself to my favorite lunch spot from when I used to work in the area. Got home at a reasonable time, got to bed at a reasonable time, all in all a well rounded day.

AM SNACK: 9:30am, iced green tea


LUNCH: 11:30am, 2 Stouffer's French bread pizzas, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 3pm, multigrain tortilla chips, student-made fresh tomato salsa cruda, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 7:45pm, pork tonkatsu over curry rice, shrimp shumai, miso soup, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10pm, small piece of dark chocolate with the good peanut butter

My Inner-Louis

I had my check up this morning, my blood pressure is 120/90, which the doctor & I were very happy about. Pending some blood, pee & chest x-rays, all signs point to perfect health for a 39 year old guy.

Spent the afternoon teaching the first class of the culinary after-school program. 15 students, a good start, hopefully we'll retain 8-10 by the end of the semester. Went really well -- I found since all the students were new and didn't know me, it was an opportunity to change up my teaching style a little bit. I called on my inner-Louis and made myself a bit more aggressive, a bit more shouty, and a bit more full of side-stories from my time in the biz to illustrate points -- less academic, more 'street', but with a focus on the content. It seemed to work, because the kids snapped too, the work got done efficiently, the cleaning process was good from the get-go, and on the end-of-class discussion, every one seemed to be a little bit glowy with excitement.

I rode over to Brooklyn Borough Hall to hang out at an Italian Heritage month even in their main room, celebrating Italian food and restaurants -- the resto had a little space among the many restaurants for people to sample food. It was fun running around stuffing myself, though honestly most of the food was very unremarkable, except for one spot that was doing thin little slices of octopus terrine with the most wonderful cucumber-salsa.

BREAKFAST: 9am, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese, handful of chocolate covered espresso beans,  1 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12:30pm, ramen noodles, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

SCHOOL TASTINGS: 5-6:30pm, about a cup worth of fruit smoothies, some chips and freshly made salsa, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5\'
DINNER: 7:30pm, lots of different samples of Italian dishes, a few desert things, pelegrino, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Satisfying

I really enjoy making breakfast pancakes and waffles from scratch on the weekends -- the best part is it's easy to make many extra to freeze, so Edie can enjoy them all week long. And enjoy them she does, I think it's my first non-baby dish that she can't get enough of. Making enough money to support a family, providing a roof from the elements, those are all great, but being able to make something from raw pantry items into something my child just loves, there are few more satisfying feelings. Other than, maybe, squashing a multi-day heated argument with my wifey.

Tomorrow is two milestones -- in the morning I got to my generalist for a check up (and a blood sample, ick!) and in the afternoon I go to teach the first class of the culinary after-school program at the Brooklyn High School. Yes, I look forward to Friday (only hitting up a dermatologist to get some skin tags removed) and Saturday (dentist - cleaning) where I can spend some quality time making waffles for the McFeedles.

BREAKFAST: 8:15am, 2 banana pancakes, iced green tea, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 12:15pm, half a medium Sicilian pizza with onion mushroom & sausage, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3:30pm, green salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 6pm, 2 cookies
PM SNACK: 7pm, 1 slice cheesless shrimp pizza, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10pm, 2 little burgers and fries, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Inspirational Sandwich

Woke up late, had a lot chores to do on top of Edie needing attention, rocketed out without a proper breakfast. Picked up a fantastic sandwich on Almondine on the way to work, fresh as can be, a nice focacia, rosemary mayo, tomato-tasting tomatoes, turkey and a creamy gruyere. Clearly, this place has a vision of good food that doesn't pander to the lowest common denominator, to make a humble turkey sandwich so outstanding. When I have my own thing, I hope to project a similar vision.


AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 10:15am, turkey gruyere sandwich, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 2pm, 1 slice of chicken-salad pizza, small Sprite, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5The guys in the kitchen made a cheeseless pizza with salad, but hidden beneath was pieces of deboned buffalo chicken wings, yuck!

PM SNACK: 4pm, green salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 4:45pm, a few spoonfuls of nutella
LINNER: 6pm, half a calzone, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 11pm, chocolate digestive biscuits, water, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Grind

Rainy-ass Monday. Feel good, though I worry how 3 days of rain are going to grind on me.

From today's NY Times:

"When people make numerical estimates, they are notoriously subject to the distorting influence of “anchors”: numbers previously observed that linger in the mind and drag up or down the later estimate. A new study describes a related but opposite effect: when the anchor is in a very different category, it can drive the target estimate away, rather than pulling it closer.
In the study, students who contemplated a rich, calorie-laden food (a “decadent” cheesecake) followed by another caloric food (a cheeseburger) saw the cheeseburger as relatively low in calories. But when they first contemplated an organic fruit salad, the cheeseburger looked 33 percent more caloric than before.
“When we see items which are intuitively classified in different categories, that leads to contrast effects,” said the study’s author, Alexander Chernev, a professor of marketing at Northwestern University. The study is to be published in the Journal of Consumer Research. ■"

I think I've been looking from the higher end of the calorie scale lately, when I should be looking from the lower. I think I will be focusing on the color code system again soon.

BREAKFAST: 8am, 3 banana pancakes, iced green tea, .75 bowl hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 11:30am, Manhattan Special, piece of freshly baked bread, handful of olives, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 2pm, 3 small slices of shrimp and clam pizza, small sprite
PM SNACK: 5pm, green salad, bread, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 7pm, meatball appetizer, 1 slice white pizza, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

gut.

For the past 2 nights, I've been sleeping for about 11 hours, and it can't just be chalked up to jet lag anymore. My nose is a little stuffy and I feel a little low energy, so I assume my body is fighting (mostly successfully) a bug. My original plan was to wake up before the sun and do a mega ride out to my parent's resting place or up the Croton Aqueduct to the reservoir, but when I woke up and took stock, my first thought was not to ride at all and take it easy. But with the family and the job and all that, riding is very much a rarer privilege that is not to be taken lightly, particularly with my weight concerns and winter's cold blanket descending rapidly.

So I did a slow tug out to Coney, a ride I've done hundreds of times but enjoyed it thoroughly anyway. When I got home, Betsy herself was in a bit of a bleah stay-in mood, but I got her, Edie and Grandma to come out to the playground and enjoy Edie's running-about. Once home, we ordered in and I spent the night zoned out on the TV and zoned out in Edie's room helping her wind down into her sleep.

Just when I think Edie couldn't be more fantastic, she unveils another trick -- she's earnestly starting to mimic language, rather than randomly make sounds that sound like words ("papa", etc) -- her first word may well be "good", but with a German accent.

Me: "GOOD!"

Edie: "GUH!"

Me: "GOOD!"

Edie: -- pause -- "GUT!"

Me: "GOOD!!"

Edie "HAHAHAHHA! gut."


BREAKFAST: 8:30am, pumpernickel bagel with butter and sable, iced green tea

BIKE SNACK: 11am, clif bar

BIKE SNACK: 2:30pm, cherry ice

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, baby carrots, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, crappy chocolate ice cream cone, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 5:30pm, shrimp panang curry with sticky rice, spring rolls, small green salad, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Tummy Ache!!

I passed out around 9pm yesterday after an exhausting rainy day of doing nothin' much other than containing the Edles. Woke up feeling fresh at 4:30, so drank tea and watched the tube until the inspiration hit to make a batch of pancakes before the E-D rose. Suffice to say, when she did, she downed almost 2 entire pancakes, a new worlds record in Edie-pancake-consumption.

AM SNACK: 5am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 6:45am, 2 banana pancakes, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


AM SNACK: 9:30am, handful of chocolate digestive tea biscuits, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK 1:15pm, hotdog with kraut and mustard, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 4:30pm, lobster roll, small bag of chips, root beer, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7:30pm, chicken enchiladas with rancheros mole, rice & beans, guac & chips, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5
I ordered in from my face local Mexican place, but I keep forgetting how huge their portions are. I didn't have the focus to cook because of looking after Edie, and she was trying to mooch food off my my plate while I was eating, so I ate quickly, resulting in eating more than usual, and giving me a tummy ache!

Weigh-oof!

226.8 --> 229.6


Yesterday I wore a tshirt I bought in Finland back in 2003, with Homer Simpson's face on it with a a phrase in laplander that I never bothered to translate. It is XL, but being from a very blond, relatively skinny nation, it never fit -- it was incredibly tight. Yet yesterday, after being told over the last month by multiple unrelated people how thin I look, I tried it on and was very pleased to find it fit close without being tight or binding.

And yet on weigh in this morning, I'm up for the second month in a row. 221 to 227 to 229.5. Part of it I must chalk up to the liter of water I chugged last night, part of it to the increase in muscle mass in my legs, but part of it must be the poor eating habits I've fallen back on lately. Now that we're in the fall, I must rearrange. B has book club today, but starting next week I hope to hit up the HVS's basic yoga class early Friday eve (with inspirational vegan snickles after!)  and biweekly rounds of weight lifting starting....this weekend!


AM SNACK: 9am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9:30am, organic wholegrain chex with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: noon, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese and sable, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 4pm, gruyere-paprika pretzel with whole grain mustard, .5  bowl, hunger 4/5
Wandering in the rain with the Edles (under a stroller's rain cover ) and came upon a new fancy pretzel shop on Ave B -- really impressive. It was empty, and I don't know how this new iteration of the shop-doing-one-very-specific-thing-well will do, but the next time I'm down for a small nosh, I may have to swing by.



DINNER: 7:30pm, pad thai, thai salad, curry puffs, chocolate babka, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Ridiculous cocktails

A playdate in the morning, food shopping in the afternoon, out for pizza and a drink for MAP's birthday in the eve. Didn't eat a proper breakfast and got uncomfortably hungry, but had nothing in the house. I gotta start cooking.

BREAKFAST: 8am, iced green tea

PM SNACK: 1pm,  digestive cookies, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 3pm, brown rice shrimp nori rolls, inari, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7:30pm, 2 slices pizza, a couple of mini cannoli, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNORT: 9pm, ridiculous cocktail 
At a bar with a few friends for a birthday. We were at a trendy bar that only had a few bottled beers, but a menu of very, very complicated and strange cocktails. Mine included rum, some alcohol I never heard of, Aztec Chocolate bitters, cream, grapefruit juice and a few dashes of things on crushed ice. It tasted like acidy cream, and the fruit juice curdled the cream. Over all, ridiculous and disgusting. I remember in the mid 90s, "grandpa" cocktails were briefly trendy, like gin & tonics and Rob Roys. I'll start drinking cocktails when those come back.



EVENING SNACK: 11pm, ramen noodles, chocolate babka, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Back

I intended to record last Thursday, but it fell through the cracks due to a Grand Snickle Snack with the HVS and Vise, as well as getting ready to go off to England. I flew out Thursday evening and came back last night.

I haven't been over to visit Tania & Elijah in a few years due to financial restraints, a new Edie, etc, so it was long in coming -- I used to visit anually, and Tania would visit me annually, so 2.5 years without contact was a bit much, but as with all best friends, a minute after I arrived it seemed only a few days went by. Except, of course, for the kids in the family, some who are undeniably young adults now. Scarey.

My visits there are defined by the ceremony of what we eat -- first night always Indian, last night always fish n' chips, a shopping trip for groceries at Tesco first day, and a homemade big lunch at Sunday dinner at Tania's sister's house on the Sunday I'm there. Indian and fish are always great, the trip to Tesco always unveals the deeper ways how the UK and the US are different, and the Sunday dinner is always a bit difficult to choke down, he he.

Happy to be back, happy to hug Betsy and Edie, happy to get back to the work thing.

Friday is the 1st, so time to take a look back. I have not been eating great, but I think my portions have been more reasonable over all. I've been getting a lot of 'thin' comments, or more precisely, 'not overwhelmingly fat' comments. I'll be curious if my weight has really changed. And with the cooler weather and less biking, can yoga and weight lifting be back in the picture soon?

The DOH inspected the restaurant today, giving a jolt of nervous excitement to an other wise boring, rainy slow day. It's something I studied about in school, and it was cool to be riding side-saddle on an inspector as she went through her paces.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, organic whole grain cheerios with organic dead milk.
LUNCH: 12:15pm, 3 slices shrimp & clam pizza, 1 small sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5pm, green salad, diet coke, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
The diet coke was an experiment, felt like some caffiene. Yuck, I really don't have a taste for artificial sweeteners anymore. It's not even the taste, it's the mouthfeel -- too watery -- watery beyond water, like slippery, plasticized.

DINNER: 6pm, 2 slices white sicilian, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10pm, 2 slices cold pizza, a few digestive cookies, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

Reverse Jetlag

I love reverse jetlag. It's like when you get an extra hour of sleep with they set the clocks back, but instead of 1 hour, you get 5. It's easy to get to sleep before midnight, and it's easy to wake up all energized at 6 in the morning. I should go to England more often!

Found myself eating an unusually large lunch. As I was eating the 4th slice of a large pie, I started wondering why I was so hungry, then remembered waking up at 6am with a full steam o' energy...

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, 2 slices of demi-hippy bread with hummus, small handful of chocolate covered espresso beans, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12:30pm, 4 slices of sausage and onion pizza, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 2pm, vanilla cream soda, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5pm, green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 8pm, slice of banana/nutella pizza, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 11pm, a handful of chocolate digestive cookies, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Workworkworkwork pt 2

Went to sleep and woke up with a stuffy nose, but slept well and felt refreshed regardless. Work was mild. Looking forward to leaving the country later in the week.

AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea
PM SNACK: 12:30pm, snippet of bacon
LUNCH: 1:15pm, 3 meatballs, a slice of pizza, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3:45pm, a slice of nuttella pizza, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 6pm, green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 8pm, 1 slice pizza, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, small box of Entemann's chocolate chip cookies, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Workworkworkwork

Woke up a refreshed but a little sick this morning, scratchy throat and a drippy nose, but happy to have a happy wife and a beautiful healthy baby, albeit also with a drippy nose. Work was a little busier than it's been in a month or so, so that was a nice relief.

AM SNACK: 7:45am, iced green tea
LUNCH: 1pm, cheesless Sicilian with shrimp & clam, a sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5pm, green salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6:15pm, calzone, cranberry soda, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: midnight, hotdog, peanutbutter with a little homemade hotfudge sauce, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Responsible Dad-type stuff

I had readied my bike gear for a 5:30am departure, but through the night B kept on getting up to negotiate with a very stubborn and cranky 15 month old. When my alarm went off at 5am, my first feeling was not "BIKE RIDE! WOOO!" but "my poor betsy!" I groggily asked B if I should cancel my bike ride, and she said oh no, go go go.

But her stridency was not enough to overcome my potential guilty feeling that would follow me on the bike, so I slept in. Around 9, finally got up to a thrilled B&E, and announced immediately that Edie & I were going out, and B was to sleep. B pretty much passed out on the spot.

Instead of a stroller, I opened the door of the apartment and Edie walked on out to the elevator. In the lobby she negotiated the 3 steps by crawling down them. When it came to walking out to the sidewalk, Edie found this an excellent spot for peek-a-boo and we spent a few minutes of her walking to the sidewalk, running to behind a hedge, me popping in on her, then repeat. I then put her on my shoulders and walked around to the local greasy spoon, but it looked too crowded to negotiate with an Edie, so I put her down and followed her.

She ran over to the gate of the park behind our building, and that's where we spend the next hour or so. Slide and steps over and over again. We got home a little after 11 and I spent most of the day either playing with Edie or laying on the couch vegetating with my large TV.

I did a little ride to pick up cat food, and stopped in on my favorite ramen shop. but did not have much of an appetite. I met up with B & E on the street and we went back to the park from the morning, where our coop was holding a little social gathering. A few people who I hadn't seen in a while commented on how thin I looked, which is weird, as I don't think I look particularly different. But I guess the numbers at the end of the month will tell the tale...


AM SNACK: 11:15am, chocolate babka, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 2:30pm, shoyu ramen, shrimp fried rice appetizer, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 7pm, eggplant parm hero, green salad, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Break fast.

Edie didn't quite sleep the night before, so we two headed out on the bike around 9am so B could get some proper sleep. We popped over to Greenpoint to have breakfast with E and her T, then pedaled over to Clinton Hill to visit Y doing her stoop sale. Edles fell asleep for the last leg of the ride, but was still crazy-fun having a happy, smiling baby take in the world with fresh eyes as I road these routes that I've covered many times before.

B's family came over in the early evening for the bagels I spent the afternoon making, as well as the babka I made the day before -- it was Yom Kippur. It was a good vibe, though I can't help but think I want Edie's religious training to be a bit more formal.


AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 10am, ricotta pancakes with a little fruit, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 1:30pm, fresh pasta with olive oil, garlic and parm, snippet of babka, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6pm, 3 small homemade bagels, with cream cheese, veg & a little salmon, chocolate babka, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Friday Funday!

Friday funday! Started out with a superhealthy fruity smoothie with lots o' flax, chilled with Edie in the house in the morning, then B got home and we rode bikes to Edie's doctor checkup -- healthy across the board, and right in the 50% percentile for weight -- half of 15 month olds are lighter than her, half are heavier. But she's in the 75% for height, so supermodeling is not to be ruled out yet.

We popped over to Red Bamboo for lunch, a vegan soulfood type place for lunch, hit up some supermarket shopping then home. I spent the afternoon baking a round of chocolate babkas (threw in extra filling, extra egg yolks in the dough, extra salt, too) which came out the best yet, and after Edie went down, B & I got cosy on the couch for some video-consumption. After she went to bed, I couldn't help myself and tried a piece of babka.

BREAKFAST: 9am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 12:30pm, mock-chicken parm hero, a few French fries, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 7pm, pork dumplings, pork fried rice, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, chocolate babka, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Chill

Spent a good part of the day at school, recruiting kids with brownies, stopped by a lobster roll restaurant in Red Hook, then home with the fam. Looking forward to teaching culinary again in October...

BREAKFAST: 8am, peanut brittle ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


AM SNACK: 10am, brownie scraps


LUNCH: 1:30pm, lobster roll, lemon-lime soda, chips, pickle, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6pm, vegetarian Ethiopian food, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Optimistic

Felt optimistic today. Restaurant slow again, but enjoyed my Wednesday-cum-Friday. Looking forward to going to the school I teach at tomorrow and recruiting. The only sucky thing about it is I have to wait until Friday to get down with the Edie McFeedie!!

B got initiated into the society of NYC cyclists by having her bike stolen from in front of work -- evn though she had access to a new bike room in her building. But it was her old beater, not her new fancypants bike, which she will now ride to work....AND lock up in the bike room!

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 10am, chocolate croissant, chocolate chip cookie, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5Treats from Jaques Torres, start the day off with an indulgence to help get through. Maybe a little too much, made me feel a bit queer to my stomach.

LUNCH: 2:15pm, four slices of onion & mushroom Sicilian, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5pm, green salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 6:45pm, 2 meatballs, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, large bowl of popcorn, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

McShmetsy

A slow but peaceful day at the restaurant. Drank a lot of water in the morning and early afternoon, which seems to really work at routing my desire for soda. A quick goodbye drink with D (who is moving to Portland tomorrow) followed by a small grocery run got me home by 11. One more day in the salt mines before 4 days of freedom! And Edles McFeedles! And Betsy McShmetsy!

BREAKFAST: 7:45am, 3 banana cinnamon buttermilk pancakes, a banana, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: noon, 4 slices of cheeseless clam & shrimp Sicilian, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
I had a typo on "cheeseless", and auto-correct thought it was "cheerless". Hmmmm.

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, roasted potatoes, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5
PM SNACK: 4pm, green salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5:15pm, 3 small cold slices of pizza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 8pm, Sprite


EVENING SNORT: 10:30pm, small glass of beer


EVENING SNACK: 11:30pm, small portion of ice cream

Slow

Found myself drinking a lot of water this morning, probably balancing out after my ride yesterday. Very slow day at the restaurant, slowest I've ever seen, due to rain and being Monday.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, organic cheerios with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 12:15pm, prosciutto pizza, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5Funny, easy to resist the sugared sodas after sipping water all morning.

PM SNACK: 4pm, house salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 5:45pm, meatballs, Sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 8:15pm, Cranberry-Lime soda


EVENING SNACK: 11pm, cheezy poofs, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Ride

Today was the NYC Century, a 100 mile ride in the city sponsored by Transportation Alternatives. This was my first 100 mile ride back in 1999, and my mom and friends met me at the finish line that year, it was quite dramatic. I've only missed it once or twice, once because I was riding my bike cross country, the other time because I was sick or in England or something.

This year it started raining about halfway through, and I ditched after the rain became steady, around 11am. Still, it was a good 70 miles all told, though the food supplied by the organizers was a bit meager. I did find by eating a minimum and taking no longer than 3 minute breaks at the rest stop, my energy level stayed pretty well even. I was feeling the burn by 11am, but mentally I was ready to go on, except for the danger of riding on wet, slick roads with cars -- on a different bike, less of a big deal, but this bike had thin, slick tires that weren't meant for this weather.

The rest of the day was bathing, ordering in Chinese food, dropping in on a neighbor's 1yr old's b-day, and taking it easy with the family.

AM SNACK: 5am, handful of chocolate covered espresso beans
BIKE SNACK: 7:15am, peanut butter on whole wheat bread, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
BIKE SNACK: 9:15am, small bag of potato chips, small cliff bar, a pretzel stick, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
BIKE SNACK: 11am, jelly on wholewheat, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 11:15am, slice of pizza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 2pm, shrimp toast, wonton soup, Singapore Chow Mei Fun, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 4pm, espresso ice cream with chocolate sauce, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 4:30pm, small serving of veg lasagna, pasta salad, alcoholic punch, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 8pm, hotdog with sour kraut, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

TCB

Spent the morning at the restaurant taking care of business, visited a neighborhood friend who sells hotdogs and sampled his wares, then met D&E for a movie before hitting up a crappy Mexican restaurant. Got Edie to bed while B got some me-time, and put myself to bed early so I could wake up for the NYC Century the next morning....

Today was September 11th. After 9 years, still feels weird.

AM SNACK: 6:45am, vanilla ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


BREAKFAST: 8am, cinnamon banana buttermilk pancakes, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11am, 2 slice cantaloupe


AM SNACK: 11:45am, hotdog with mayonnaise sauce


PM SNACK: 1:15pm, cherry icee


LUNCH: 4pm, chips & guac, shrimp fajita, 1 beer, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 8pm, Stouffer's Frenchbread pizzas, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Laughy

Edie day! After her nap, we rode bikes over to Crifdogs to meet Y, played in Tompkins Square Park, went over to Ben & Jerry's for some sweets, then home. The afternoon of not-quite-healthy eating left me satiated most of the day, and a small bowl of fresh pasta simply prepared topped me off. Edie is getting more smiley, more willful, more walky, more climby and more laughy every day.

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, organic cheerios with the good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 12:30pm, 2 hotdogs, tater tots, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


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


DINNER: 8pm, small bowl of fresh pasta with olive oil, garlic & parm, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

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

A Hunch

On the bike ride to work, the sun was behind me and I noticed the shadow stretched before me. My shoulders were up, too close to my head, undoubtedly exaggerated by the angle of the sun, but I could feel that they were hunched. The last time I was on a tandem with the HVS, she reached out and grabbed my shoulders and pushed them down. And this past Monday, when B and I went to get back massages, the masseuse did a number on my shoulder-neck muscles that left them sore for a couple of days.

I unhunched my shoulders, sat a little bit taller and forward. Didn't feel natural. But with all this hunching, this can't be a good thing. Any advice on how to break my hunching habit?

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea


BRUNCH: 11:30am, meatballs, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 4:30pm, nutella and peanut butter


DINNER: 6pm, linguine with crab, a meatball, a little mushroom, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 11pm, hotdog, espresso ice cream, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

Damn, ice cream!

B had off today, and before I even left they jetted off to Connecticut to be with family. Not exactly jealous, just wish I could have been on the train with them, then magically appear at work on time. I like train travel. It was odd leaving for work from an empty house, no cute little hobbit to shout "buh buh!!" at me with an uncoordinated little wave. Makes me appreciate how less my life would be if I did not have B&E in it. B&E, that would make a good name for a neighborhood restaurant concept...

Why do I constantly, unendingly, repeatedly write "hunger 4/5" after every entry if it never seems to change? Because the habit of writing it reminds me to ask myself if I was actually hungry when going to eat this item. I was raised to eat on a schedule -- breakfast, lunch, dinner -- without regard to if I was hungry or not. I'm pretty good at eating when hungry and not eating when not hungry, but this is my own constant reminder.

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, organic wholegrain cheerios with the good milk, half a banana, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 10am, Manhattan Special
LUNCH: 12:30pm, 3 slices Sicilian with mushroom and onion, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 4:45pm, green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5:15pm, chocolate ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Damn, Jaques Torres has some of the best chocolate ice cream in the world. I sometimes amaze myself because when I make ice cream, it's better than any Haagan Dazz or Ben & Jerkys, but being better than a mass-produced industrial item is not that big of an accomplishment. JT's chocolate ice cream is like mine, in that it clearly is made fresh without gums or preservatives, but his balance of chocolate and the temp it is served at is so crystal clear and pure, my ice cream has only come out a few ways like this by luck, while every time I've gotten ice cream from this place, it's perfect. Damn.

PM SNACK: 6pm, 1 meat ball, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8pm, pizza, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5


EVENING SNACK: 11:30pm, multigrain wholewheat bread with nutella, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Saying vs. Doing

Woke up with seriously sore muscles at the base of my neck, from the painful back massage I received yesterday. I assume this is supposed to be good for me...

I wanted to eat breakfast, but I just wasn't hungry. How do I make sure I'm hungry for breakfast? I know it's sound nutritional science that says a big breakfast, a medium lunch, a small dinner and small snacks in between make for the best health, but saying it and DOING it are two different things.

Well, at least

AM SNACK: 7:45am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 11:45am, nutella pizza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
I made the rare pizza at the restaurant as the guys set up and prepped. A few chunks of refrigerated nutella, olive oil and salt. The nutella never really spread, it started to char before it could melt. Though it looked a bit gross, it had that burnt-marshmallow caramelized-sugar flavor you get on a smores.

LUNCH: 2:45pm, green salad, sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
After my frustration with a monster 20oz bottle of soda this past weekend, it was nice to sip on a glass 8oz bottle of soda at the 'rant. They're kinda old-timey in terms of both size and shape as well as material, and because of the cold temp of the glass, one could think it tastes different, too. Ironically, this true single-serving bottle has no nutritional info on it, as it's packaged for restaurant sale, not in a market.

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, small plate of roasted potatoes, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6pm, slice of ricotta pizza, slice of clam pizza, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, slice of pizza, sprite, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, small amount of espresso ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Riding with B

Both B & I had the day off, but still had a baby sitter, so we took off on bikes and trekked through Brooklyn. We ate bagels from La Bagel Delite in Prospect Park, and got lunch at the ball fields in Red Hook. We got messages right before we went home, where my masseuse really did I number on my lower neck -- is this supposed to hurt this much? The HVS came over to hang in the evening, bringing all sorts of snicklesnacks. Edie was in fine form. A good day.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, organic chex with good milk, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


BREAKFAST 2: 10:30am, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese & veg, grape juice "beverage", 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
I grabbed what I thought was juice at the bagel shop, but when I tasted it, hoping for a pure natural taste, I was surprised to find that it kinda tasted like flat grape soda. I looked at the ingredients, and indeed the second ingredient after water was corn syrup -- only 30% juice. After the words "Grape Juice"on the label, it had the word "beverage" right underneath. What a scam.
 



LUNCH: 1pm, shrimp chalupas, roasted corn, tamarind drink, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5


SNICKLESNACK: 6pm, rustic bread, a little wine jam, a little olive oil, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10pm, saag paneer & rice, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Bagel Labor

A weird eating day. Woke up at 6 to make a double batch of bagels, as well as mint lemonade, adult lemonade with gin  & lemoncello, churn custard for espresso ice cream and prep bagel condiments. We invited a whole mess of local families to meet us in a local playground for Labor Day brunch, was a lot of good baby vibes, a lot of compliments on the bagels.

Ended up not eating much, and the alcohol made me nap 1-3. Woke up weirdly hungry, and foraged through the cupboard. Yomomma was around all day, so we ordered in Indian, but mine was quite substandard and ended up eating too many donuts.


AM SNACK: 8am, snippet of espresso ice cream


AM SNACK: 10am, most of a 2oz bagel


AM SNACK: 11:45am, bite of bagel, a few cups of mint lemonade, a few cups of mint lemonade with lemoncello and gin, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 3pm, hotdog, a little chips n' salsa, chocolate and good peanut butter, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 7pm, a little dry chicken tikka and rice, a little naan, 4 Entemann's donuts, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Soda

While Edie napped, I went to the Hester St Fair for a lobster roll, then a short walk over to East Broadway for some Chinese street food. I found myself desiring grape soda, and I picked up a bottle at a bodega near by. Twenty ounces -- that's more than a pint, and according to the label, 2 & one half servings. Huh? 2.5? This is supposed to serve two and  a half people? In my mind, this is a large single serving, and I think myself a thoughtful person on these matters.

At 130 calories per serving, I drank about half the bottle and tossed the rest. My desire for the soda was the same as a desire for a candy bar, rather than a drink. No way I was going to eat a massive chocolate bar, and no way I was going to drink more than a pint of sugar water. Ick. If there was an 8-oz serving bottle (an actual single serving), I would have bought that, but that ain't the way it is now...I could of bought 20oz of 0 calorie artificially sweetened ick...

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


BREAKFAST 2: 9:30am, onion bagel with butter and tomato, gatorade, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 2pm, lobster roll, lotus leaf wrap, fishballs with rice noodles, half a bottle of grape soda, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 7:30pm, shrimp and white rice, guac & chips, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Bread & Butter

I took B out to dinner this evening while a babysitter squat on Edie. Today we celebrated three years of marriage, and we went to Blue Hill, a restaurant we went to initially to celebrate our engagement. It's all very green and PC, associated with an upstate farm from which it gets most of it's produce. The tomato salad was unremarkable, but tomatoes this season have been a bit fneh in general. I'm not a huge veal guy, but the deliciousness of having such an un-PC item in such an earth-friendly place was just too appetizing to pass up. They really had my number!

But in the end, it's three years with B, and over all it's been a fantastic three years -- and just because of Edie this past year, though that is definitely a high point. B is my Bread & Butter!!


BREAKFAST: 9am, corn muffin, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


BREAKFAST 2: 10:30am, 1/2 a pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese and sable, water, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 4pm, a piece a of chocolate


DINNER: 6pm, tomato salad, bread & butter, veal, potatoes and string beans, chocolate bread pudding, a glass of cider, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Vittles

And on the fourth day, God said let there be lots o' Edie! Before B could even get out the door, Edie was in her bike seat jetting off to the supermarket to pick up supplies. My friend V came over and we cooked up some fancy vittles, baked some cookies, took Edles out swingin'. In the eve took care of chores and a loud wife. Looking forward to a long weekend with my family, my bike and my Edie!

BREAKFAST: 8am, iced green tea


AM SNACK: 11am, multigrain tortilla chips with salsa, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 1:30pm, cod with Parmesan-dill sauce, fennel orange salad, slice of pound cake with orange syrup, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 6pm, 2 slice whole grain bread with chocolate hazelnut spread, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 8:30pm, curry chicken, pork fried rice, egg roll, grape soda, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Weigh-in

(227.4 --->) 221.8 ---> 226.8

So while I may be 5 pounds over last month, I'm about a pound less then where I was the month before. I suspected last month was an anomaly due to dehydration and day-to-day variables. I'm still seeing a nice slow downward trend, which is ideal. My wifey and various people say I look thinner, and I do feel a bit lighter, and biking is going swimmingly. I suspect I've gained a little muscle mass in my lower half, too. And there ends the boring weight obsession.

AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 9:45am, chocolate chip cookie, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Stopped by Jacques Torres on the way to work. Not the healthiest way to start, but I was too hungry and it was too early to start wolfing down pizza.

LUNCH: 12:45pm, 2 slices pizza, sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3:30pm, 3 meatballs, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5:30pm, green salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 6:15pm, chocolate ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, slice with bacon and maple syrup, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, half a special brownie


EVENING SNACK: midnight, burgers and fries
No comment.


EVENING SNACK: 1am, fresh pasta with pistachio pesto, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Tasting Sodas

Slowish day in the resto. Found myself craving sugar. Hmmm, gotta get back into the habit of drinking water through the day -- a little dehydration can be mistaken for sugar-desire...

BREAKFAST: 8am, 2 banana pancakes, iced green tea, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 11:30am, Manhattan Special, snippet of freshly baked bread
Very odd, usually a bottled soda tastes pretty much the same every time, but this morning this espresso soda tasted....better. A little less overwhelmingly sweet, a little more bitter, more balanced. Still too sweet, but nice. It's made locally a few miles away, I know it's a relatively small company, but still, consistency in a product like this is key. Don't they have tasters who test every batch? I imagine dealing with a natural product like coffee beans must call for some tight controls. Maybe this is a new formula to appeal to people like me? I somehow doubt it, usually these kinds of products are dumbed down to appeal to the maximum amount of consumers....

LUNCH: 2pm, 2 slices clam & shrimp pizza, 1 small slice salad pizza, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3:45pm, roasted potatoes, diet coke, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
I experimented with diet soda this past weekend, but I didn't really taste it. I tasted diet coke today, with mindfulness, and was surprised how lackluster it was. The lack of real sugar makes it feel more watery in my mouth, none of that coating clinginess that sugar does that feels good in the mouth but is so bad for the teeth. The sweetness was both too sweet and not sweet enough, artificial tasting compared to the real thing, which is clear and ringing. Nope, definitely not going back to a diet coke habit.

PM SNACK: 6:30pm, green salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 9:45pm, 1 small slice of pizza, sprite, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: midnight, small bowl of cornflakes and dead organic milk, 5 falafel balls with humus, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Recap

Over the weekend, B, E & I rented a car, threw my bike on the back, and went to Greenport on the northern tip of L.I. for a getaway. I road my bike to Montauk Saturday morning, and road in the Northfork Century Sunday morning.

Eating-wise, I let myself go in a slightly different way, drinking a few diet sodas here and there -- it's amazing how highly acidic Fresca is. It's so acidic, citric acid is the second ingredient on the label after carbonated water -- before flavor, before sweetener,  before all the weird-ass ingredients in that grapefruit flavored elixir... anyway, it did not do my body good, all that acid cause a flush of a certain kind, bleah.

On Friday evening, had some nice oysters with dinner. While yes, they are a bit like boogers on the half shell, their salty goodness tastes remarkably how you wish ocean water would taste like -- salty, briny, balanced with a fresh fishiness, a tender bite.

Sunday felt a little off due to the hard ride the day before and the acid working out of my system, and ate relatively light for such a long bike ride. By the end, a little wiped but felt...cleansed.











Today was moderately busy in the restaurant, it went by quickly, and after last week's rain washout, thank goodness.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, iced green tea, good yogurt with honey and vanilla, banana, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 1pm, 3 slices white Sicilian with bacon & onion, sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 2:45pm, cranberry lime soda
PM SNACK: 4:15pm, small slice of pizza
PM SNACK: 4:45pm, green salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 6pm,cranberry lime soda


PM SNACK: 8pm, vanilla cream soda

DINNER: 10pm, 1 slice white pizza, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Cooking

Me n' Edles went to Wholefoods in the morning to collect what was needed for the evening meal, and I sample some prepared foods as I hadn't had a real breakfast, bleah. My friend V came over around noon and we prepped the evening meal, as well as bang out a tray of special brownies.

D & has new gal (which he is moving to Portland for) came over for dinner. Started with thick cut heirloom tomatoes and vidalia onion, served with a tomato-based "steak" sauce that replicated Peter Luger's. The entree was fresh linguine with a pistachio pesto, and the pesto came out much better than the first attempt (which ended in a cream sauce), but still needed work -- perhaps more oil. That was served with a side of green beans, quickly blanched than sauteed with garlic, olive oil, wine and a little lemon. For dessert was a citrus-almond pound cake and a little green tea ice cream. It was pretty good, though I should of used cake flour for a slightly lighter finished product.

The day flew by, though the hour I spent with Edie in the park in the morning was pure pleasure. During cooking, she was either napping or mostly amusing herself in the safety of her room, with breaks to come out and get some huggin'.

The fam & I are decamping to the Northfork of Long Island this weekend, so this blog will go dark until Monday, which will have a short recap. Until then, my 1.2 readers!!

AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9:30am, 2 small pancakes, a chicken sausage, a lame shrimp summer roll, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM NIBBLING: 1-4pm, a little tomato & onion, a little pasta and pesto, a little ice cream, water
Didn't really eat lunch, but sampled the dishes I was making for dinner.

DINNER: 7pm, fresh pasta with pistachio pesto, sauteed green beans, tomato & onion with steak sauce, pound cake, a little green tea ice cream, 2 glasses wine, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

I love food.

Slapped on the rain suit and road over the bridge to work -- sheeting rain all morning, without pause. These slow days are more tiring than fast days.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, watermelon, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5
LUNCH: 11:15am, turkey & cheese sandwich, chocolate chop cookie, Manhattan Special, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
To break up the monotony of a sheeting-rain day at the resto, I popped out to the local fancy bakery and picked up a killer sammich -- fresh semolina roll, nice creamy french stinky cheese, some sort of herbed mayo, fragrant red onion. The cookie was huge and chocolaty. Ah, food, I love you!

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, meatball
New batch made, had to test.

LUNCH 2: 3:15pm, piece of calzone, 1/2 a pint of beer
No customers, but a pair of regulars who eat for free came in, so I shared a meal with them while we chatted in the empty restaurant. Did not need the beer, but felt like the friendly thing to do.

PM SNACK: 6pm, small slice of pizza, sprite, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 8:30pm, a little salad, a little artichoke, a couple of squares of Sicilian, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 10:15pm, special cookie
No comment.

Smiley Happy

Edie woke up about an hour after I got home last night, I fed her a half bottle of milk while snuggling on the couch, but I think it woke her up more, rather than get her back to sleep when she's with her momma. I can't say I minded too much, as I missed her all day. I turned off the lights in the living room and watched Mad Men with her, hoping the drone of the tv would get her down, but after it was over, she wanted to get off my chest and run around the living room a bit -- B woke up around this time and was not amused with our 1am TV party. I brought Edles back to bedroom to relax on my tummy, it was a long evening.

Woke up tired, but woke up to Edie slamming her tummy into my head and giggling wildly, so that ain't too bad. The weather is overcast, and after the rain killing business yesterday, didn't expect too much different today. Slow days at the resto are hard to get through sometimes, but it helps to know I have a comfy home with a smiley happy wife and a smiley happy Edie.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9:15am, 2 banana pancakes, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 1:30pm, 3 slices white bacon & onion Sicilian, sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5pm, cranberry lime soda
DINNER: 10pm, 2 slices pizza, sprite, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 11:30pm, multigrain tortilla chips with salsa, .25 bowl, hunger 4.5

Plant!

I saw "Inception" yesterday, so it should be of no surprise to anyone that I had a freaky dream last night. I was working, running home to sleep and play with Edie, trying to wine and dine my wife and ride my bike, too, and in the process my chest hair started really growing thick and tangled and Robin Williams-esque. I had a wound, small and round and right in between my pectorals, but because of the excessive chest hair, I forgot about it -- I just assumed it would scab up and go away.

So months later, after running around busy with life, I decided my chest hair needed some grooming -- not cutting, just some combing and washing to get the detritus out. And low and behold, where my wound was is...a plant!! A vine-like plant growing out of the wound, camouflaged by my salt-and-pepper chest hair!! Thick at the root, thin and pointy and woven into the hair all around, and basil-like small leaves sticking out here and there, Swampthing like. I freaked out and pulled the thing out by the root, immediately relieved I found it before it attacked my internal organs, but worried it would grow back.

That was basically it. What did the plant symbolize? The bigger picture? Losing the forest for the trees? Maybe I need to eat more salad... After hanging out with my father-in-law, my mind has been going back more to my parents lately, maybe that could have something to do with it, but usually when they are on my mind, they make direct appearances in my dreams, not abstract things growing from my corpus...

It occurred to me this morning that because I'm on a 40-hr 3-day schedule, my Monday is actually my Monday and half of Tuesday. And my Tuesday is a sliver of Tuesday and all of Wednesday. And my Wednesday is Thursday and Friday all rolled into one.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, organic wholegrain cheerios with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
 
AM SNACK: 10:45am, 3 bites of cheap pastries,  a Manhattan Special, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
 
PM SNACK: 12:45pm, green house salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
 
LUNCH: 1:30pm, 3 slices white Sicilian with bacon and onion, cranberry lime soda, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
 A new combination, voted pretty delicious by the staff.

LUNCH 2: 4:45pm, meatball appetizer, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
 
PM SNACK: 6:45pm, apple juice

PM SNACK: 9pm, sprite

DINNER: 11pm, 5 pork dumplings, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Pancake School

It seems like such a long time since culinary school. Bike riding was cancelled today due to rain, so I hung out in the house until my father in law came over. I made banana pancakes from scratch, and all sorts of memories of what I learned came back to me.

• When wet goes into dry, mix minimally to avoid toughness i.e. gluten. Whisking is a no no
• When the banana side of the pancake goes down, wait until you smell the sugars of the banana caramelizing. There is no point to making banana pancakes until this happens
• A fish spatula is ideal for lifting sticky things out of a fry pan like, say, caramelized bananas -- it ain't just for fish.
• A cooling rack is essential if you plan to store these -- if left on a solid surface while hot, condensation will collect and you will have a permanently mushy pancake

One thing I forgot:

• One your comfortable, experiment with the recipe. It ain't the Bible.

I should of jazzed it up with vanilla bean and cinnamon, added extra eggs, supplanted some milk with cream and maybe even a subtle dash of hot pepper or hot sauce to add that little round note.

AM SNACK: 8:45am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 11am, homemade banana pancakes, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Ate them as they came out of the pan. The ones that were a little too dark went into my maw, so the nicest ones are saved for B & Edles.

PM SNACK: 2pm, seltzer, "small" popcorn, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
That popcorn had 320 calories, according to the listing at the theater...

DINNER: 6pm, beef carpacio, shrimp scampi, canolli, pepper soup, water, bread, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Out with El at a nice restaurant, excellent quality but small portions...he he.


EVENING SNACK: 9pm, scallion pancake, 3 pork dumplings, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Left over from the reign of the father in law.

Stress 2

Took the father-in-law out on the bike, for Summer Streets, then took him on the SI Ferry before meeting up with B & Edles for dim sum. Very stressful. Again, a pretty horrible eating day. Tomorrow should be better.


AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9:15am, donut


LUNCH: 2pm, dim sum, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


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


DINNER: 9pm, green salad, eggplant hero, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Stress

Got to bed around 9:30, woke up 8:30 feeling refreshed and caught up. Spent the day with the family and the father-in-law, running around, exhausting. The stress of it lead to a very poor eating day.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea


AM SNACK: 10:30am, 2 donuts


LUNCH: 3pm, fish & chips, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 7pm, beef lomein, shrimp eggroll, water, ice cream, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Damn good dinner

Woke up after about 5 hours of sleep feeling great but tired -- four day weekend! Edie! Edie! Edie! Edie & I went to a play group at the local community center to show off her new walking skills, and we played mock-telephone for a solid 30 minutes. We came home, and Yomomma met us so she could take Edie while I ran chores.

I found myself inordinately hungry, probably due to lack of sleep -- I know interrupted sleeping can mess with blood sugar. So I went to my favorite cheapo dumpling place and ordered a fried rice along with the dumplings -- I was the only white person in the shop, and their fried rice is definitely different in style than a take out place, really good. I got home from running errands around 2, and me and Edie immediately went to a local mom's apartment for a playdate with about 8 others -- kids a-poppin'. Though I wanted to save my appetite for the evening, I could not help but late a few cookies jump down my throat.

Home by 4:30, out on my bike by 5:30 to meet Y for dinner at Daniel. This is the rare 5-star restaurant in NYC, I even took a tour of the place when I was in C-school. It was impressive then, and eating there did not diminish that impression. I suspect they must have 2 people on staff for every customer, crazy. The prices were not cheap, but still, how do they make money?

BREAKFAST: 8am, toasted pumpernickel bagel with creamcheese, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: noon, shrimp fried rice, pork dumplings, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 2:30pm, a small handful of homemade chocolate chip cookies, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6pm, a taste of peas three ways, garlic Parmesan focaccia, seared scallops with a chorizo crust, a bite of foi gras over melon, duo of beef (braised short rib and wagu tenderloin) with tomato veloute in a natural jus, a bite of snapper with an avocado preparation, hazelnut sable with milk flavored ice cream, chocolate peanut butter ganache, mini madelines, petite fours, water, 1.75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Dinner at Daniel with Y for her birthday. Pretty fantastic from beginning to end.

Awkward & Geeky

Got to bed around 1, up around 8, felt a little drained. But it's Wednesday, my Friday, and it has seemed to have passed in a hot flash. Tomorrow: EDIE TIME!!

During lunch service a few parents came in with their young children. One mom sat at the bar with her son, maybe 4 or 5 years old. He was skinny as a reed and had the same beady eyes and big nose as his mom, complimented by buck teeth that really tied his face together. Still, he was as cute as a button, in an oversized baseball cap, and a look of love for his mother that was just ridiculous -- like she was his mom, and his best friend and mentor and guide. They played slaps as they waited for their pizza, and when it did come, he took many little bites, finally getting one slice down many minutes after mom finished three. I sure hope puberty is kind to him, as adolescence made him quite awkward and geeky.

And how will Edie be?

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, organic cornflakes with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 12:15pm, 2 slices of clam & shrimp cheeseless pizza, Manhattan Special, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH 2: 4pm, green salad, cup of chocolate ice cream, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 9:30pm, 2 slices Sicilian


EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, 3 special tarts
No comment. At least I avoided evil burgers, as a member of the kitchen crew and I took a nice bike ride after work, and my appetite never came back.

Wine refrain

Got to bed around 2, after a couple of hours of being hypnotized by my new huuuuge television. God bless America, yep.

I had a sip of wine in the afternoon, as a server did not know whether a bottle that had been opened a few days before was still good (it was.) Even though it was only a sip, I continued to taste it for a solid 30 minutes after, and I noticed the taste evolve and get pleasant/funky/interesting before it finally cleared. I guess I could of just had some water or ate something, but I was enjoying it too much. Does that make me an alchie?

Restaurant was busy, time flew, though didn't really eat so when I made some pizzas for the staff at the end of a long day, a few slices just jumped up and ran down my mouth.



BREAKFAST: 8:30am, organic chex with dead milk, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 10:45am, snippet of cinnamon cruller and wholewheat muffin
LUNCH: 12 noon, three slices of Sicilian with sausage, cream soda, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 4:15pm, green salad, chocolate ice cream, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 11pm, 3 slices of Sicilian, a Sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING WATERING: 12:30pm, half a quart of water

In the Tank

After draining myself all day on bike yesterday, I got to bed around 9pm, skipping all the good Sunday night TV watching (thank goodness for a DVR). I woke this morning around 7:45, after more than 10 hours of deep sleep. Edles woke up a few times in the evening, but B handled the situation -- so my renewed vigor and refreshed feeling is pretty much due to her.

Resto was steady and slow due to weather. Just two more days in the tank and I'm free for another 4!


BREAKFAST: 8:30am, good yogurt with honey, vanilla and almonds


AM SNACK: 10:45am, cranberry lime soda


LUNCH: 12pm, shrimp & clam Sicilian, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 1pm, Manhattan Special


DINNER: 6pm, half a meatball, cheeseless shrimp pizza, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 8pm, Sprite, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5

EVENING SNACK: 11:30pm, multigrain tortilla chips & salsa, falafel balls, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5

Ride

Woke up at 4am, got out of the house by 4:45am, rode the bike to Poughkeepsie, 80 miles. Got there by 1:15, with plenty of time to get the 1:40 train home. Between the perfect weather (low 80s, overcaste but dry) and the eating of small amounts multiple times, it was a strong, fun ride without any moments of weakness -- infact, I found myself pushing harder the last ten miles to assure a relaxed amount of time for making the train.

The rest of the day was chillin' with the ladies & Yomomma, we ordered in a pizza then a I did a run for ice cream. I wa out like a light by 9pm.

AM SNACK: 4:30am, banana


AM SNACK: 6am, caffienated clif bar


AM SNACK: 8am, gatorade, corn chips


AM SNACK: 10am, gatorade, corn chips


LUNCH: 11:15am, california roll, crappy knish, chocolate chip cookies, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 1pm, gatorade


PM SNACK: 1:45pm, chocolate chip cookies


PM SNACK: 4:30pm, shrimp saag & rice, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 5:30pm, cesar salad, mushroom & onion pizza, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 7pm, cookie dough ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5