I feel Spring.

Woke up late, had to get out with Edie to playgroup and sort out her preschool arrangements for next Fall. Got home and lifted weights, then V came over and we cooked up lunch and a bunch of cookies. Edie & I enjoyed the park for an hour before B got home, it was so nice to feel Spring kinda peeking around the corner and knocking on the door. Left overs and TV took me into the night.

TODAY'S COOKING:
Cheddar Chive Biscuits with Sausage Gravy: I eliminated the bacon from this old standby, and they still came out pretty perfect -- didn't hurt that I used full-fat cream-based buttermilk from the farmer's market. I just winged the gravy, as it's one of those things you know what it is -- it's just beschamel with crumbled cooked sausage thrown in, and kicked up a notch with pepper and cayenne. Crumbled and browned a lb of breakfast sausage, then cooked the pork fat with flour to a dark blonde roux. Slowly added a few cups of hot milk until it was the right consistency, tossed the sausage back in, salted, peppered and cayenned to taste, and it was good, dammit!

Prune & Cheese hamantashen: A goof. It's Purim in a few weeks, so what the hey. Got the recipes from the Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. Two fillings, prunes (soaked, ground with walnuts, honey, citrus zest) and cheese (blended farmer's cheese, cream cheese, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla bean, salt), and a simple creamed-style cookie dough set off with a bit of sour cream. Came out pretty good.


BREAKFAST: 9am, good yogurt with honey, peanuts and vanilla, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


AFTERNOON SNACK: 12:15pm, iced green tea

LUNCH: 2:30pm, cheddar chive biscuit with sausage gravy, a handful of prune & cheese hamantashen, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 7:30pm, health salad, mushroom risotto, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Mast Brothers is BS

Spent most of the day at a friend's new apartment, helping paint the ceilings. Dinner plans got cancelled, so did a food shop and hung out with my ladies.

TODAY'S COOKING:
Shrimp n' Spinach: Did a shop at WF this evening to prep for cooking with a friend tomorrow. Picked up some big whole shrimp and a bag of frozen chopped spinach, and made it quick n' dirty. While large pan was heating, cleaned, deveined and butterflied the shrimp, placed in olive oil with onion powder and salt. Olive oil in the hot pan, dumped the bag of spinach, stirred. Added freshly crushed garlic, a shake of smoked paprika, a shake of cayenne, salt, cooked until it stopped steaming. Hit it with a splash of rice wine to deglaze, put in a bowl, wacked the shrimp in the pan until done, ate it all up yum!

AM SNACK: 9am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 11am, 2 donuts, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 1pm, 3 tiny pizza slices, water, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 4:45pm, health salad, pistachios, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 7pm, sauteed shrimp with spinach, bad chocolate, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Indulged in a Mast Brothers bar, makes a big deal of being a local producer, but it was totally ass. Chalky, sour tasting, unbalanced, and generally shitty.

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

Mushroom Fiesta

Good day, with a nice visit from a friend I have not seen since my wedding. Nice evening in with a movie with the wifey. Edie was a bit warm and cried a bit in the late evening, which was stressful, but  a bit of baby tylenol seemed to do the trick.

TODAY'S COOKING
Mushroom Duxelle Risotto: With my c-school risotto recipe, I adapted it to make it super-mushroomy. A friend recently gifted me some dried wood-ears and hen-of the woods, which I combined with some dried porcinis and morrels. I reconstituted them in the vegetable stock that I was using in the dish, which retained all the mushroomy goodness. Then I added some fresh shitakes, portobellos and beautiful chanterelles, chopped fine in the processor, sauteed in a little olive oil and salt until no more steam came off of them, then deglazed with a hit of sherry. Made the risotto with the veg-mushroom stock, and mixed in the duxelle at the end along with the other finishing agents (cold butter, marscapone, parmegan, salt, chopped parsley.) Happy with how it came out, super 'shroomy and tasty. Gonna make riceballs with the left overs on Monday.


AM SNACK: 10am, iced green tea


LUNCH: 12:30pm, mushroom risotto with health salad, 1 glass prosecco, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 4:45pm, good yogurt with honey and almonds, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 7:30pm, multigrain corn chips with school-made salsa, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 8:30pm, singapore mei fun, shrimp dumplings, scallion pancake, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Ordered from a new place, a pan-Asian place on 1st and 13th that happens to deliver this far south. I ordered some of the usual stuff I get from my local take out places, and two things: it's easily 2x as expensive and, and it's about 2x better -- fresher, tastier, better ingredients and a lighter hand on the greasiness. I don't think I'll be ordering again locally soon, unless I'm hankering for food memories from back in the day.


EVENING SNACK: midnight, small piece of cinnamon babka

Sleepy yoga

Good day of chores all morning and afternoon, cooking, organizing the kitchen, getting little things done around the house while also lovin' on Edie. Went to yoga with the HVS for the first time in a long time, despite being over-tired. Still enjoyed it. Surprisingly, HVS was up for something not 100% healthy so we went to a ramen shop and I got to indulge in a little pork and shrimp! Conked out early, soon after my evening snack.

TODAY'S COOKING
Mock Super Hippy Bread: Made 100% whole wheat bread with the cracked 7 grain cereal mixed in, only this time I eliminated the dried milk powder, making the bread vegan and more in the spirit of a super-hippy. It's another step closer to the original, it's less supple, more rough, less luscious, more in your face, but it's still not there. I think there may be some sort of sour-dough starter in the original, and I suspect there may be whole grain flours other than white in the original, so next version I may have to take a more radical step.

Health Salad: One small cabbage still made a huge bowl of this simple slaw.

AM SNACK: 7am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 8:15am, 5 small buttermilk pancakes, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12:30pm, sardines and avocado on freshly baked super hippy bread, health salad, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, school made fresh salsa with multigrain corn chips, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

SNICKLEDINNER: 8:15pm, shio ramen, shrimp shumai, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, small ramekin of chocolate chips, peanuts and pretzels
We had a few little packets of peanuts and pretzels from the flight. Mixing them with the chips was surprisingly delicious, and baseline it cut down the caloric density if I just ate chips.

First day of class

Good busy day. Woke up late, finally normalizing after the LA trip and upset system. B went out to a playdate group with Edles while I lifted weights, then picked up a new bike from the shop, a wonderful early birthday present from B & her family.

Today was the first day of teaching this semester, 7 kids, a very quiet and focused group, very easily the best first class I've had. Feedback at the end was very positive, too, which hopefully means the pleasure was mutual. Swung by Wholefoods on the way home. Had a hard time falling asleep.

Tomorrow is home chores, followed by snickleyoga, hopefully that will get my sleep back on track once and for all!

AM SNACK: 9:30am, iced green tea


LUNCH: 1pm, frozen fish sticks, onion rings, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

SCHOOL SNACKIES: 6-7pm, cup of fruit smoothie, fresh salsa and corn chips, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 8:30pm, brown rice sushi & nori rolls, shrimp summer roll, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10pm, cashews & chocolate chips


EVENING SNACK: midnight, Jamaican beef pattie, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Bad eating day

Resto is tiny bit busier, but I now have a server and busser on the floor, so I now go back to my more sedentary look-and-comment role. Yeah, I'm still up and hustling a tiny bit, but that part of the job (looking-commenting-while-helping-and-assisting-everybody) wont kick in until it's much busier.

Sleep schedule is just returning, and the final dregs of my upset system is exiting, that and low & out of stock of the healthier things at work lead to a very bad eating day.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, oatmeal, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 11:15am, freshly baked bread, Manhattan Special, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Haven't had this espresso soda in a while, as it's too sweet, but between the remnants of jet lag and a lack of ready tea this morning, it hit the spot.

LUNCH: 2pm, 3 small slices salad pizza, 8 oz sprite, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 7pm, meatballs with bread and sauce, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, half a coffee cake, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
No comment.

Weighty thoughts

231.8--->226.0

I wouldn't give too much credit to this fluctuation. On one hand, yes, I've stepped up the weight lifting seriously this month and am starting to actually feel the difference in my tone and strength. On the other hand, I extremely foolishly ate a cheeseburger on Saturday that put my guts in a knot on Sunday and Monday, limiting my intake and overdriving my output.

I'm back to fine now, but it definitely suggests a false read on my current weight.

Los Angeles was nice. Came in on a rainy Friday night, Saturday my friend M spent the day taking me around in the morning, then me and Edie in the afternoon, while B stayed in and got over her travel shock. We hit up the Farmer's Market (not an actual farmer's market, but a lot of outdoor food stalls -- AMAZING beef taco), over to Fairfax to an incredibly lame "NY style" pizza slice, by U of C for an In & Out Cheeseburger -- surprisingly good, surprisingly little meat, really didn't think it would hurt me (boy was I wrong!)

My over all impression of what I saw was, coast is beautiful (the pier was nice), West Hollywood is full of douche bags with too much money and too little taste, there seems to be a movie theater for every 3 people, and the food culture has potential to rival NY (though I'd really need a week to really get a read on all the different levels.) Weather was fantastic, but felt a bit fakey, if weather can actually do that...


AM SNACK: 8:45am, iced green tea, handful of chocolate covered espresso beans
LUNCH: 12:45pm, 2 superthin slices, 8oz sprite
DINNER: 5:45pm, order of meatballs with bread and sauce, dry ginger ale, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 7pm, 8oz apple juice

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, house special lomein, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Off to LA

Woke up a bit blown-out from yesterday's unexpected harried day and my highly-caloric wind-down, but Edie was in a fantastic mood, running riot around the house and being generally a beautiful pain-in-da-butt.

Me & the fam are going to L.A. tomorrow and I'll be away until Monday eve, so this blog will go dark until Tuesday. My friend M will be showing me around a bit, full expect to eat some good Mexican cart food and eat out of restaurants who are shaped like the food they serve.

TODAY'S COOKING:
Tomato Sauce: Cooked it with extra onion, a bit of sherry, a few drops of balsamic, and simmered a Parmesan rind in it.

AM SNACK: 9am, iced green tea

LUNCH: 1:15pm, homemade angelhair pasta with sauce, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8pm, shrimp saag with basmanti rice, garlic naan, samosa, water, chocolate chips and cashews, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Eurotrash SOBs

Things seem to be on the cusp of turning around at the restaurant, may have to actually have an additional staff member to do the floor in the next week or two so I can focus on more managerial stuff.






Got a good run-around today, felt good to just be moving without any big pauses. Wiped me out, though, makes me long for good 9 hour bike rides that will be part of my life soon!

AM SNACK: 9am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST:10am, the good oatmeal, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: noon, 4 slices Sicilian, 8 oz Sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 4:30pm, vegetarian meatballs is sweet chili sauce over red wholegrain rice, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Tired of the resto food, cheap-ass Eurotrash customers who don't tip getting on my nerves, so treated myself to delivery from another resto in the hood.


EVENING SNACK: 11pm, Jamaican beef patties, onion rings, chocolate cake, water, 1.75 bowl, hunger 4/5
No comment.

Superthin appreciation

Set my alarm for 7 so I could get some work done and lift weights before taking off to work, as I would have lifted yesterday if not for the working holiday.

TODAY'S COOKING:
Oatmeal: Cooked up a batch of steelcut oats by soaking them overnight in a solution of salt, brown sugar and cinnamon, reheated to thick this morning. A little too much salt. I should of made measurements, so I can get it down to a science.

AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea, chocolate covered coffee beans
BREAKFAST: 10:15am, the good oatmeal, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 1pm, 5 superthin slices with onion, mushroom, garlic, 8oz sprite
PM SNACK: 5:45pm, green salad, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 7pm, 2 slices pizza, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
The cook made a pizza, in the restaurant's style. Too thick, too heavily cheesed, too greasy, made me appreciate the healthy crispiness and balance of my superthin. 



EVENING SNACK: 10pm, hot dog, cashews & chocolate chip, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Nuts Get Me By

Restaurant open for President's Day, mildly busy. Forgot to make the oatmeal, ate through some nuts to get me by.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 10:30am, pistachios, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 1:15am, 4 slices superthin pizza, small glass of apple juice, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5:15pm, green salad, small amount of chocolate babka, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5



EVENING SNACK: 10pm, Singapore chow mai fun, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Pleasant NYC Sunday

Chill day. Spent the morning with Edie, and after she went down, spent the afternoon with my friend K, then road around for awhile then popped over to Brooklyn for dinner with the owner of the resto.

AM SNACK: 10:30am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 12:30pm, organic wholegrain cheerios with organic dead milk, a banana, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 3:15pm, a few snippets of homemade cinnamon babka


PM SNACK: 4pm, 1 slice Artichoke pizza, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Walking by under the high line, no line, so I tried a slice of Artichoke Basile's signature slice.  Basically, take a horrible "mac n' cheese" slice from a dirty kebab-and-pizza slice joint, take away the pasta, add a few leaves off a marinated artichoke bulb, and there you go. Basically a big wet pad of beschemel sauce on some generic crust, with not enough artichoke to give a particular flavor. Very heavy, very greasy, very filling, not very satisfying. The Emperor has no clothes.


DINNER: 6:15pm, matzoh ball soup, a pickle, half a smoked meat sandwich, half a portion of kasha varnishkes, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Went to Mile End with my boss, ate around the menu. Their kasha is interesting, with chicken gizzards and a little bit too much schmaltz. Still unimpressed with their meat.

Straight Ballin', Yo

Spent the day in, recovering from a cough and stuffy nose, went out just to give Edie a nice walk around the 'hood. Kept my self busy when my momma-in-law email-shouted that chicken soup should be served in a sick house. Too bad B was too stubborn to have any.

TODAY'S COOKING
Matzoball soup: It's nice when a well-stocked pantry lets you do what you want on the fly, without having to leave the house. Especially when everyone is sick! I'm getting over a head cold, B slept 15 hours, and Edie is finishing a course of antibiotics to knock out a small chest infection. Yomomma was shouting in email about Jewish penicillin, so I did a quick run down in my head of what I needed, and while I didn't have the ingredients for IDEAL matzo ball soup, I had everything I needed.

Half gallon of homemade chicken stock out of the freezer and onto the fire. 8 eggs, bar of melted butter, some homemade seltzer, salt and pepper, 2 cups of matzo meal combined and refrigerated for 30 minutes. Balled into 1" rounds, dropped in simmer stock around with 2 slivered carrots. Finished with pastina in the last few minutes, little tiny pasta stars. Seasoned with salt and pepper, BAM! Homemade chicken soup in about an hour.

Ideal: Shmaltz would of made the balls much tastier, and unlike butter, kosher. A chicken breast quickly sauteed then chopped up into the finished soup would of made a more complete thing. A mess of chopped parsley would of given a nice color and taste. Celery and onion to compliment the carrot would of made for a bigger heartier soup.

AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea
I steeped this batch for 8 minutes instead of 10, and it made a big difference. Despite only 1/2 cup of sugar into the whole gallon, noticeably less bitter.


BREAKFAST: 9:45am, toasted pumpernickel bagel with creamcheese, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 1:30pm, large green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 2pm, homemade matzoball soup, health salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 2:45pm, chocolate babka, seltzer, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 8:30pm, shrimp burrito, tortilla chips, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, small ramekin of dark chocolate chips

Babkatopia

Woke up to Edie hollerin' at 6am. Sore from a good lifting session yesterday, and stuffed up and sore throat from an annoying cold. Got a lot done today, meeting with tax attorney, laundry done, babkas cooked, a nice walk with Edie, thought I was feeling ok. When B got home, she was feeling rough so I decided to cancel my evening's plans and while she was playing with Edie, I laid down to close my eyes for a second and...all of a sudden it was 9pm! I guess my cold got the better of me.

TODAY'S COOKING:
Babka:Oy. I haven't made babka this season yet, and the warm weather reminded me that yes, this season will be over eventually (and at work, I go back to Mondays on a regular basis on March 21st.) So this weekend's project was babkas.

I looked at the Encyclopedia of Jewish Food's recipe and was unimpressed (not as rich, not as chocolaty, sweeter) so I stuck with the recipe I've been using, but for a change up I did two things: I did make a batch of cinnamon filling from the book (mostly brown sugar, spiked with cinnamon, butter and a few tablespoons of corn syrup to give  a good mouth feel) and made the strusel at the end of the recipe.

I made a double recipe of dough, and my 5 quart mixer could  barely contain it, what a mess. I should have done two batches. And I ran the chocolate through the food processor to chop it quick, but while incorporating the butter, sugar and spices, it started melting a little and seizing -- should have froze the chocolate first. And never having topped the babkas with strusel, I assumed it would spread and look a bit like icing (as it's confectioner's sugar, butter and flour), but did not spread and turned tan -- I should of piped it into a nice pattern, instead it looks like my babka have cancer.

But 9 medium loaves and 5 mini loaves were produced. I started the dough around 8:30am, and the actual babkas exited the oven a little before 5. One fell on the floor while being removed, so I ate a few slices of that one, and when B got home, she killed it with cream cheese (!). That's like slathering an eggy, sugary stick of butter riddled by dark chocolate with fatty dairy spread!

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

BREAKFAST: 7:45am, organic wholegrain chex with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Usually not that hungry this early, but it came on me.

AM SNACK: 11am, snippets of chocolate babka filling (dark chocolate ground with sugar and cinnamon)

LUNCH: 1pm, small green salad, 2 fish sticks, large amount of angel hair pasta with oil & garlic, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5pm, 2 slices of babka, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, small amount of wholegrain gold fish


EVENING SNACK: 11pm, hotdog with extra kraut, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

Thank goodness the DMV doesn't serve food.

Productive day. Spent the morning with Edie and lifted weights more effectively, concentrating on going slow. A sitter took over, and I went out for errands, including a horrible 2.5 hours at the DMV to get my license renewed. People who work there just don't give a crap.

TODAY'S COOKING
Iced Tea: Another gallon for the week, picked up some ridiculously expensive tins of loose Japanese green tea while out today.
Green Salad: Mixing it up with the health salad!

BREAKFAST: 9am, iced green tea

LUNCH: noon, sardines and avocado on homemade wholewheat bread, health salad, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 4pm, brown rice sushi & brown rice nori rolls, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6pm, bowl of mixed pierogies in butter, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Finished the batch I made for the stupidbowl. 13 pieces turned out to me not that much, because I made them so small.


EVENING SNACK: 8pm, popcorn, a little caramel ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, chocolate chips & cashews, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Don't Mess with MY oatmeal!

Third day at work, due to V-day. Next week I'm working 3 due to President's day. Looking forward to the busy season where I'll be in the resto Mon-Wed and in class on Thursdays. Makes Edie-Day on Friday all the more delicious!

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
The cup of Japanese "blossom" green tea I had was so great this past week, later this week I plan to acquire a whole mess of it, along with some tea-brewing equipment, and totally upgrade my tea-game.

BREAKFAST: 10:15am, Irish Oatmeal, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Urg, need the good oatmeal back. Good thing Edie and Betsy like this oatmeal, will make the other half of the can for them so they don't mess with MY good oatmeal!!

LUNCH: 12:15pm, 4 slices superthin pizza with mushroom & onion, 8oz sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 8pm, green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Had to single-handedly work a group of 20 for 3 hours, buffet-style while working the rest of the resto and the phones, so while I didn't work THAT hard, I couldn't stop to eat either.



DINNER: 10:30pm, burgers, fries, 3/4 of an apple pie, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
No comment.

Smooth Smoothie

Edie's coughing was on the uptick the last day and night, and it even kept ME up a bit. Woke up 6ish with Betsy and Edie, got some weight lifting in and chores around the house before they took off to the doctor. Turns out Edles has a sinus infection, is going on anti-biotics for the first time. :(. Well, it should be cleared up in a few days, so that's good. She's so CUTE when she coughs, her mouth is a tight little puckered O shape, wah!

TODAY'S COOKING:
Smoothie: banana, green grapes, frozen mango-cherries-blueberries, the good yogurt, organic dead milk, ground flax, vanilla extract, pinch o' salt. Pretty good, as usual. Pre-ground flax really takes an inconvenient step out, I suspect the cost in nutrition is negligible.

AM SNACK: 7am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9am, smoothie, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 1:15pm, 4 slices superthin pizza, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 5:45pm, fried shrimp with green salad, 8oz sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, beef lomein, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 11:30pm, cashews and chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Valentine's Work

The resto was open for V-day, thought I'd wake up early to lift weights, but slept through. I've been lifting 3 days a week for a few weeks now, and am starting to feel a little bit different. Come late March, between weekly yoga and weekly bike rides, the lifting will be cut back, but for now it's a good source of physical exertion.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 10am, oatmeal, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
What the? I bought a barrel of "Irish Oatmeal", assuming it was the same thing as my beloved "steel cut" "pinhead" oats. It LOOKED the same, but when I put them on to soak, they took all the water very quickly, in a few hours instead of overnight. Now that I'm eating it, the texture is very different -- the oat lumps a are smaller, less firm, and the starchy goo that develops between the oats is....less gooey. I suspect these oats were cut smaller and maybe even parcooked then dried for quicker cooking. Bleah. I have friends who swear by this stuff, but it's just a convenience compromise that delivers an inferior final product.

LUNCH: 1pm, 4 slices superthin pizza, water
PM SNACK: 4pm, green salad, 8oz sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5pm, Jaques Torres chocolate chip cookie, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
A server did a chocolate run down the street, as it was slow and we were all jonesing for the main culinary ingredient of the day's holiday.

PM SNACK: 6pm, small slice salad pizza
DINNER: 7:45pm, meatballs, sauce, bread, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

I wish cheesecake was healthy in any way.

Betsy was away at a shower with my cheesecake most of the daytime, while me n' Edles got stuff done in the 'hood and around the house. Made a nice dinner for B, for after the Edles went to bed.

TODAY'S COOKING
Pasta with sauce: I'll be working v-day tomorrow, so made a batch of pasta dough, rolled and cut into very thin square spaghetti, so thin it came out more like angel hair. Took about 2 minutes to cook after an afternoon of drying. Cooked down the onions for an hour before quickly cooking the mushrooms with a little fresh garlic. Had the last of the  sauce in the freezer from November, should make a fresh batch soon.

AM SNACK: 9:30am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 11am, toasted pumpernickel bagel with butter and sable, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 3pm, hotdog with mustard & kraut, health salad, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 7pm, slice of cheesecake, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
B brought me home a wedge of the cake I made for her friend's baby shower. Surprisingly, I think by luck and by accident, I made a nearly perfect NY-style cheesecake. At the last minute, I through in extra egg yolks and a few drops of lemon essence, and baked at 200 from a cold oven for about 3.5 hours. Texture was perfectly smooth and creamy, but cheesecakey firm. The slight lemon tone perfectly complimented the vanilla. The only minus was the crust -- I used store-bought 100% wholewheat graham crackers that just didn't taste right. The next cheesecakes will involve graham crackers from scratch.

DINNER: 7:45pm, homemade angel hair pasta with homemade sauce, sauteed portobellos and caramelized onion, 1 glass prosecco, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, handful of whole wheat graham crackers

False start to ride season

Another good day. Baked in the morning, had B's cousin and few folk over, and in the afternoon road out to Brooklyn to test a bike with a friend. After two moderate loops around Prospect Park, my appetite got unexpectedly large -- I think in the end I rode about 20 miles, pretty much the most since the riding season ended in October.

TODAY'S COOKING:
Banana Walnut Muffins: I've made these quite successfully twice, but I miffed it this time -- distracted, I failed to cream the butter and sugar, and instead just through it in with the bananas, eggs and vanilla and just mixed away before adding the dry. Man, it made a difference -- these muffins are dense and kinda greasy.

AM SNACK: 8:15am, iced green tea

AM SNACK: 10:15am, banana walnut muffin

LUNCH: noon, 2 fish sticks and health salad, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5 

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, 2 cups of hot tea, unsweetened

PM SNACK: 4pm, 1 slice of streetza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 5:15pm, mixed vegetarian pierogies in butter, piece of dark chocolate, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACKS: 11-midnight, small amount of onion rings, gold fish, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Good Friday

Good Friday, got a lot done. Laundry, brought in the commuter bike for tuning up, a nice walk about with Edie, a play date with another dad in the afternoon, cooked a few things.

TODAY'S COOKING
Mock Superhippy Bread: Got to the next step! Got the water ratio right with the added grain cereal. But this loaf is more tender than the strong, chewy superhippy bread. Next loaf will eliminate the milk powder, making it more hippish and vegan, and hopefully chewier. If that doesn't work, I may have to experiment with a mix of flours.


Cheese Cakes: Made some straight up NY-style cheesecakes, one for a baby shower B is attending on Sunday, one to bring to a friend tomorrow who is letting me try out a bike that B might buy me for my birthday. Which means I may not get to try this cheesecake, though the one lick of batter was pretty amazing. Used this recipe, but added a few extra egg yolks, scrapings of 5 vanilla beans, a half teaspoon of salt (NO cake EVER should not have salt), and a teaspoon of lemon extract just for a acidy zing.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea

LUNCH: 12:30pm, sardine & avocado on mock superhippy bread, health salad, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Mashed the sardine with the avocado, quite good. Health salad a little less snappy then last time, not sure why. Might just be a moister cabbage, could be a reaction to lessening  the sugar by a third.

PM SNACK: 5pm, a few fancy chocolates
B was getting cranky for chocolate, so I pulled out the box of Jaques Torres I was going to give her for Valentines.


PM SNACK: 6:30pm, pistachios


DINNER: 7:30pm, lomein, shrimp toast, wonton soup, water, dark chocolate, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
B out at book club, the baby asleep, I reverted to my singlehood and snarfed Chinese while watching TV. I guess better that than shooting gank and picking up randoms...

Canadian No

A good busy day. Did grocery shopping in the morning, went out to Red Hook for some successful recruiting for the cooking class which starts in March, then met up with Y for lunch at Mile End. Caught a movie right after, then home to my ever lovin' family.

TODAY'S COOKING
Health Salad: B didn't finish the green salad and it went to waste, so trying something different this week. Really enjoyed this last week, perhaps it can be a go-to vegetable this week. Mainly raw shredded cabbage, dressed in 3 parts white vinegar, 2 parts sugar, salt, white pepper and a little olive oil.

AM SNACK: 8:45am, iced green tea
I cut the sugar by 1/3, and I could really taste the difference. Barely sweet, but sweet enough to tamp down bitter notes. Hmmm. Not sure if I like it more or less yet.

BREAKFAST: 10:30am, sable with cream cheese on pumpernickel bagel, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Ate this right after I got home from purchasing it, bagel fresh and not toasted. Wow, damn good.

PM SNACK: 12noon, a few squares of homemade brownie

LUNCH: 2:15pm, smoked meat on rye, fries, matzoh ball soup, pickles, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Went to Mile End in Brooklyn with a friend for lunch, it's been getting a lot of hype as a Canadian-styled deli right here in NYC. Very unimpressed. I guess it's "authentic", but in the end the 2nd Ave Deli is what I grew up on and love.

DINNER: 9pm, shrimp parm hero, green salad, chocolate chips and cashews, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Noahzona Ice Tea

Another slow day at work. Bleah.

TODAY'S COOKING:
Iced Green Tea: I now have a gallon pitcher to measure water. So it's: 1 gallon water and now 1/2 cup white sugar (down from 3/4) brought to a boil, 10 jasmine green and 5 Himalayan green tea bags set in the water, heat turned off, covered, for 10 minutes. Take bags out, let cool, then refrigerate.

Now my 1 pint (16 oz serving) has 3 teaspoons of sugar in it -- according to the interweb tubes, a 16 oz can of Arizona Iced Tea has.... 15 teaspoons of sugar (corn syrup). Hmmm. So I now have 1/5 the sugar in Noahzona Iced Tea than our leading competitor...


BREAKFAST: 9am, iced green tea, wholegrain organic cheerios with organic dead milk, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: noon, half a calzone, 8oz sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Brought in the extra pierogie cheese filling and used it in a calzone, along with spinach and other vegetables. Farmer's cheese is amazingly good, why is it so much tastier than ricotta?

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


PM SNACK: 8:30pm, 3 slices superthin pizza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, sack o' cookies, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
No comment.

Work work

Work is so slooooow...

AM SNACK: 9am, iced green tea
 
AM SNACK: 10:45am, a few spoonfuls of oatmeal

I tried to have this for breakfast at work, but it tasted a little sour so I threw it out. Wah!

LUNCH: noon, 4 slices superthin pizza, 8oz Sprite, 1 bowl,hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5:15pm, green salad, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6:45pm, Sicilian pizza, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10pm, shrimp fried rice, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Dinner in Red & Green

Good Monday. Playgroup in the morning, then nap and lunch. Playdate with C and her baby in Brooklyn in the afternoon. Dinner with my wifey in the eve!

TODAY'S COOKING:
Smoothie: banana, blueberries, grapes, cherries, mango, milk, good yogurt, ground flax, salt, vanilla extract. Went a bit heavy on the blueberries by accident and came out really sweet, very drinkable though. Vanilla and banana are such complimentary flavors.


Pasta with spinach: Hmmmm. Pasta is a "once a week" red-zone food, but by throwing some chopped spinach in it (from freezer to micro to pot with hot pasta) it actually tasted really good and nudged it into the green zone a little. Maybe whole wheat pasta heavier on the spinach next time. Added a little bit of homemade tomato sauce, a shot of good olive oil and a handful of grated parm really zinged up these wagon wheels.

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


LUNCH: 12:30pm, breaded fish fillets, large green salad, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, green chai tea, graham crackers, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Technically, "graham" flour is whole wheat flour, but these industrial cookies mix it with more than 50% refined flour than sweeten it up with corn syrup, so no way they can get a green rating. Tempting to make my own with 100% whole grain and lightly sweetened with real sugar.

DINNER: 6:15pm, pasta with spinach, cashews & chocolate chips, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 1am, pistachios, 2 buttermilk pancakes, 4 little bags of chocolate geltAnd it was such a good eating day until this point! If I was just asleep, this wouldn't of happened, but restlessness combined with hunger combined with stress, well, fneh.

Stuporbowl

If I had known they were playing, I would have made a black-eyed pea dish just to make people groan. For the first time in a long time, I was pretty happy with how everything I made came out. The pierogies boiled up from frozen perfectly, and tossed them with melted butter and chopped caramelized onion. The health salad was a nice counterpoint to the heavy meats served, and I got a few compliments of the ice cream.

Woke up with a stiff stomach. I wonder if it has something to do with my weight regime. I've been focusing on core strength for the bike, and though I enjoy waking up sore, maybe it's interfering with appetite? That can't be a bad thing...

TODAY'S COOKING:
Onion rings & battered cheese curds: I cooked at T's house when I got there, the stuff I brought was labor & time intensive stuff that would have taken all day, and longer because I was in a strange kitchen. Deep frying has to be done a-la-minute. Deep frying, as they taught in c-school, can be done by a bunch of trained monkeys and still be delicious, hence the preponderance of deep fried foods in fast food establishments. We made a simple beer batter fluffed up by egg whites, and fried in half peanut oil and half lard. Pretty damn good.

Mac n' Cheese: I've made this so many times, I don't even use a recipe anymore. Just grab and go, and it comes out good.

AM SNACK: 10am, iced green tea

Stuporbowl eats: 2-8pm, tortilla chips & queso, pierogies, beer boiled bratwurt, pulled pork, a bite of mac n' cheese, a bit of health salad, a homemade soft pretzel, 1 beer, 2 cups diet coke, 2 cups seltzer, 1 slice chocolate cake, one scoop ice cream, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Perogathon!

Puzzle me this, Batman: If you eat diet cheese and drink diet milk, but go bat shit crazy when confronted with ice cream and snarf as much of it as possible as quickly as possible, wouldn't it make sense to perhaps try moderating small amounts of full-fat dairy in your diet (like, say, a bit of cream in Butternut Squash soup) on a regular basis instead of binging on it whenever confronted with a sweet snack? Well? Hmmm?


TODAY'S COOKING
Butternut Squash Soup: While waiting for the first batch of perogie dough to set in the fridge, knocked this out for B and her mom and bro, who were coming over for lunch. Sauteed an onion, garlic, sauteed an apple with it, added the cubed peeled squash and covered with vegetable broth. Simmered to soft, blended, seasoned with salt, cinnamon and cayenne. Put it back on the simmer to thicken up. The three of them snarfed the whole thing before I got to have any! I guess it was good.


Chocolate Hazelnut Ice Cream: Wowzers, this came out kinda perfect. Smooth and silky, mildly chocolaty so the hazelnut really works a nice bass tone of savory nuttiness.

Spinach/Kraut/Kasha/Potato/Cheese Perogies: I've been eating perogies my entire life, but never actually made them. I got a recipe for the dough and cheese filling from my friend K, who grew up in a Polish household (the other 4 fillings I just winged, based on my schooling.)

Spinach was sauteed with olive oil, garlic, caramelized onion and a dash of cayenne. Kraut was store-bought, then fried in a dry pan with a bit of the oily caramelized onions until it turned color and got really dry - tasted surprisingly mild. Kasha was cooked with chicken stock, salted to taste. Potato was simple red potatoes skinned and boiled, passed through a ricer, seasoned with shredded Gouda, salt and pepper. The cheese filling was something to behold, so delicious. Farmer's cheese, eggs, raw grated onion, sour cream, salt, pepper, so incredibly punchy and grabbing, the best of the bunch.

The dough was very rich, no water, just egg, sour cream and butter for liquids. It was a very stiff dough, and even though I made a double batch, I quickly realized I needed much more dough to cut out enough 2" rounds. Ended up making another triple batch, about 150 two-bite dumplings. About half are coming with me to the stupidbowl party, the other half will be for giveaway and eating on for the next few weeks. Pretty much spent the whole day rolling, filling, pinching with fork tines, boiling, shocking, drying, freezing.


AM SNACK: 10:15am, iced green tea


AM SNACK: 11:30am, a spoonful of chocolate hazelnut ice cream


PM SNACKING: 12noon-6pm, various failed perogies, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Whenever they'd open up, I'd open up and gobble them down. A bit watery, but quite good.


DINNER: 8pm, hot dog with fried kraut and whole wheat potatonik, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Just too tired of cooking all day to make anything more involved.

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, cashews and chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Breakfast forlorn

Forgot to eat anything for breakfast, just felt tight in the stomach and busy working on the ice cream, the potatoes, looking after Edles, etc.

TODAY'S COOKING
Chocolate Hazelnut icecream custard: Looking for a flavor to compliment a a friend's chocolate cake. Very mildly chocolatey, very hazelnutty, lik Nutella gone ice cream....
Potato filling: For tomorrow's perogiathon. Riced potatoes, a bit of gouda, salt, black pepper, that's it.

PM SNACK: 12:30pm, 2 small burgers from freezer, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 2pm, bowl of health salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

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


DINNER: 6:30pm, vegetarian Ethiopian food, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 9pm, peanut butter & chocolate chips

It had to go down

Went to supermarket in the morning, cooked in the afternoon. Took Edie to the doc for a booster shot, and B took her home. I planned to go to yoga, had my yoga bag and everything, but after an hour of burning up time at a Barnes & Noble, I realized my muscles were achy from lifting weights in the morning, I was hungry despite the late lunch, and I felt a bit woozy from a lack of sleep. I was in bed and asleep by 9:30, fneh.

TODAY'S COOKING
Green Salad: Reload for the week.
Health Salad: For Sooperbowl Sunday, though I made a double batch because it's so damn healthy. From the 2nd Ave Deli cookbook, it's the slaw they put out for every table, raw cabbage and a few bits of veg marinated in vinegar, sugar and a little salt and pepper, super simple and super delicious.
Four perogie fillings (cheese, spinach, kasha, kraut): The first step in making a relatively involved dish for sooperbowl.


AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 10:15am, brown rice California roll, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 3pm, green salad, hot dog with mustard, kraut and caramelized onions, homemade wholewheat potatonik, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5 
Wasn't quite planning on a hot dog, but I was caramelizing onions for the perogies, and had kraut on hand, so it was an opportunity to have a properly dressed hot dog. And I had the homemade potatonik on hand, which is my go-to side for a hotdog, so it had to go down!!



DINNER: 7pm, curry ramen, pork dumplings, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, dark chocolate

Thinking of cooking

NYC was covered in a sheen of ice while it rained down frozen bits of hell. The restaurant was pretty empty most of the day.  Spent some time dreaming of what I'm cooking for a friend's Sooperbowl party on Sunday. Four kinds of vegetarian perogies, 2nd Ave Deli health salad, two things good to have around the house. And the almighty MAP will be baking a chocolate cake, trying to figure out an ice cream that will be a nice counterpoint.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
Only half a glass because it tasted a bit like dish washing liquid.

BREAKFAST: 10:45am, the good oatmeal, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 2pm, 4 slices superthin pizza, 8oz sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5pm, green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 7:15pm, experimental chocolate stromboli, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Second crack. A little bit better, but too thick, raw dough in the middle. Gotta figure out a way to do it with the sizes of dough we are already making.




EVENING SNACK: 11pm, burgers, onions rings, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
No comment.

Weighty thoughts

232 ---> 231.8

So my weight has been static this month, but I do feel better for sure. Though I haven't been really writing about it here for fear of hexing it, I've been weight-training three times a week, with a new set of weights that are much more effective, as it's very easy to change the amount of weight from rep to rep.

My old set was purchased for me by my dad when I was in high school. My dad and I went to the Staten Island Mall for it, and I remember distinctly carrying the box of weights from the store to the car with great effort. I set up an ad-hoc weight bench in my room in Staten Island with a board with a towel stapled to it, resting on two plastic buckets -- it's amazing I didn't do serious harm to myself. I wonder what my dad was thinking when he purchased that set for his son.

Anyway, this weight set has been following me around for over 20 years, and the chrome finish has been chipping off recently -- since I use them in Edie's room with her watching, I didn't like this suspicious material flaking off into her environment.

Now every time I lift, I feel sore in a few different muscle groups, and have one or two days to recover. I've gone from struggling with 4 push ups at the beginning of January to struggling with 8, and hope to struggle with 12 before this month is done.

I guess the plan for the next two months of winter is to keep eating more in the green zone, keep lifting three times a week, and expect more serious weight loss come April when work goes to 3 days a week and distance bike riding can resume.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 10:15am, small amount of the good oatmeal, toasted pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese and sable, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Finally with new doohickies in the cannon, packed a more aggressive breakfast to work. Only had a little bit of the old batch of oatmeal, so made the bagel -- unfortunately, toasted bagel becomes chewy and tough when left in a container for 30 minutes. Gotta rethink this for transport.

LUNCH: 1:15pm, 4 slices superthin pizza with mushrooms and peppers, 8oz Sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3:45pm, green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6pm, 4 small slices of Sicilian, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10pm, cashews & chocolate chips, 3 small buttermilk pancakes, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

A la Noah

Woke up, got Edie to the playgroup where she danced and clapped a little to the leader's song-time a little, a first.  While Edie napped, got some cooking done, lifted weights, etc. A good busy productive day.

TODAY'S COOKING
Iced Tea & Pinhead Oats: Just making more to get through another week, keep me in the green zone.

Buttermilk Pancakes: Holy crap! The NY Times made a big deal of real buttermilk a few weeks ago, so last week I used the usual mass-produced industrial stuff, and this week I got some of this fabled farmer-market buttermilk and had a go with the pancakes. My god, damn, it really makes a huge difference. The previous batch kinda had a sour-creamy tang with a slight undertone of metal, while this batch was neither -- it's flavor was uniquely buttermilky, tangy in a mildly pleasant way. Both batches were ridiculously tender and moist without being even slightly fatty or greasy. Never again, farmer's market butter milk is the only way to go.

Pasta a la Noah: Wagon wheel pasta out of the box. Large saute pan, olive oil and butter, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, a dash of salt, 2 cloves of garlic crushed into right before pasta tossed in. Covered with a generous handful of freshly grated parm. Simple, good.


AM SNACK: 9am, iced green tea


LUNCH: 12:45pm, large green salad, pasta with butter and oil, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 4pm, 5 small buttermilk pancakes, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5 

DINNER: 7pm, half a pizza, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Ordered in with the fam.

Spectacular Edie

Not a great eating day, but a spectacular Edie day. The two of us went around the corner to the greasy spoon I used to go to a lot with my parents, and Edie feasted on bits of bacon and experimented with using a straw with an adult cup of water, rather than the built in straw of her water bottle. B went out to brunch with friends then go to work, so Edie & I ventured by foot and carriage to the ferry to Ikea, had lunch in the very baby-friendly caf there, then made our way back home in time for a baby's b-day at a playroom in the hood. Edie loved the goldfish, though I wonder if they were too salty. Next time at the supermarket, will give a closer look at 'em.


AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9:15am, BLT on rye with mustard, homefries, half a can of diet coke, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 12 noon, Swedish meatballs in gravy, mashed potatoes, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, Greek honey-phillo dough things, goldfish, half a beer, a few slices of spinach-stuffed bread, a small fneh brownie, a small cup of diet pepsi, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 9pm, large green salad, frozen fish stick thingies, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10pm, dark chocolate chips and cashews, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Friends

D and his gal C came over, as well as Dielle and her family. As by chance, our high school friend M happened to be in town from Pittsburg, so it was quite a warm afternoon of old friends and family. I baked the muffins that I did last week, and again they went down a storm. After a comfy afternoon nosh, me and D&M&C went out for vegetarian dim sum, and while the food was all right, the company and the conversation made for a top-notch evening.

TODAY'S COOKING
Banana Walnut Muffins: Again, adjusted the recipe and again, came out pretty good.

Smoothie: Good. Banana, grapes, cherries, mango, blueberries, flax, milk, the good yogurt, vanilla extract. Sometimes it just comes out right, like this one


AM SNACK: 8am, pint of green iced tea, small handful of chocolate covered coffee beans


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


PM SNACK: 12:30pm, banana walnut muffin, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 2-4pm, cheese, potatonik, pickles, apple cider, a little beer, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6pm, vegetarian dim sum, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, apple cider, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Parental looming large

Edie had a large morning snack, grapes and cheerios and teething biscuits and water and all dat, yo. So when I sat down to eat my lunch, she pretty much begged for some, so I tore off pieces and fed her some. I first gave her a bit of fish, which she kept in her mouth for a few seconds, then screwed up her face and let it fall to her chair.

I found myself in a weird position, trying to convince Edie that something is actually really good, despite her clearly not liking it. -sigh-. I'm a parent, just like my mom trying to convince me that fruit is actually good. Hrumph.

Oooh, and for the first time in quite a while, almost had a fully "green" day!

TODAY'S COOKING
Mock Superhippy Bread: Soaked a cup of the 7 grain cracked cereal in a cup of water, and and added 1/2 cup of water to the recipe over all. Bread came out nice and puffy, not a tiny dense lead brick like before. Unfortunately, the high moisture lead to weak gluten, where the protein chains were pulled too thin, resulting in a bread that crumbled and fell apart when trying to cut. Tasty, looked good, next time will eliminate the 1/2 cup of water, maybe add a tablespoon or two of vital gluten.

Potatonick: Got a cool book recently, the Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, the first thing I looked up was Potatonik. My dad turned me on to it, picking it up regularly from Moishe's, a local kosher bakery. It's basically a yeasted potato bread, like a mash-up between a latke and loaf of peasant bread. My version, compared to Moishe's, used 100% whole wheat flour and peanut oil, as opposed to white and cheap vegetable oil. And I grated the potatoes unpeeled, as my mom always believed the nutrition was in the peel! It came out less greasy and a bit fluffier than store bought, but very potato-nikky. Next time I make it, gonna use the traditional fat for this dish -- shmaltz.

AM SNACK: 9:30am, iced green tea

LUNCH: 11:30am, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese and smoked sable, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

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

DINNER: 5:30pm, sprats and avocado on mock superhippy bread, small square of potatonik, pickle, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 6:30, small piece of shortbread, chocolate chops and cashews, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Snow All Up In Here

Crazy snow day, B stayed home so I went out on foot for groceries, stopping by a fave dumpling place when the hunger hit. Went out in the evening to Jackson Heights for Indian with friends. Not a great eating day, but a fun day.

TODAY'S COOKING
Green Salad: Just keepin' it real for the week, yo.

AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 8:45am, organic wholegrain cheerios with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: noon, pork and chive steamed dumplings, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 3pm, spoonful of ice cream, chocolate cake, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6:30pm, wide variety of Indian food, 2 beers, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Winter, why can't I quit you?

Work was quiet, but I kept myself distracted with tasks, and being the only person working (along with a singular kitchen guy), even the minimal business kept me a little busy. Played with dough.


It was a bit rough on the ride in the morning, but plowing through a very strong, very wet snow storm was crazy fun. Still managed to ride over the bridge, do food shopping at Pathmark, and pick up some sinful eats before coming home.

AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 10am, the good oatmeal, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: noon, 5 slices super thin pizza, 8 oz sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 4:15pm, green salad, cranberry lime soda, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 6:15pm, 1 slice of clam pizza, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
I don't like a dense layer of chopped clams out of a can. Reminds me of scrambled eggs. Bleah.

PM SNACK: 7:30pm, experimental Nutella roll, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Pizza dough stretched thin, smeared with nutella, rolled up tight, baked, finished with olive oil and powdered sugar. Needs refining, but potentially a killer dessert for the resto. Kinda a mash-up of babka and pizza.


EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, burgers, fries, donuts, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
No comment.

My kingdom for some good doohickies

The container store was woefully understocked and overpriced in the area of kitchen dohickies, so more advanced breakfasts at work will have to wait a bit longer. Snow, snow snow, this is turning into one brutal winter.

Very slow in the morning at the resto, but shovelling snow felt good. I remember how much I disliked having to shovel snow as a kid in Staten Island, but because dad asked, I wanted to do it well to make him say how good a job I did. Funny, if my mom asked, it would of felt a bit like punishment and I would have cut corners. What does that mean?

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 10:15am, the good oatmeal, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12:15pm, 4 slices of super thin pizza, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

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


DINNER: 5:30pm, 3 Sicilian slices with red peppers, onions, mushroom, 8oz sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 10pm, shrimp fried rice, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Should I let myself have indulgent PM snacks twice a week after work, or should I rethink? A lack of indulgence will make permanent change a lot harder.

Wish for March

Felt a bit grim in the morning, but getting out and taking Edie to the morning playgroup helped. Some grocery shopping then banging around the kitchen until B got home made for a good day. So cold, I think most people in the North East are with me in starting to wish for late March sooner than later.

TODAY'S COOKING:
Buttermilk Pancakes: Made plain buttermilk pancakes with just real vanilla as a flavoring, to let the tang of the cultured dairy come through. I used the same-old store-bought stuff, but next time I'm going to use some fancy farmer's market buttermilk to see if it makes any difference.

Mock Superhippy Bread: In the breadmachine again, the 100% whole wheat I've made before with a cup of 9 cracked grain cereal from the bulk section of the supermarket thrown in. Total fail, it didn't really rise or come together as a loaf. I did eat some of it, reminded me of super-dense Scandinavian bread. I think the cereal absorbed a lot of water, preventing proper gluten development. Next time, I'm going to presoak the cereal.


AM SNACK: 8:30am, small handful of chocolate covered coffee beans

LUNCH: 1:15pm, 7 small buttermilk pancakes, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6:15pm, sardines on failed superhippy bread, large green salad, dulce de leche ice cream, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Surprisingly, the homemade ice cream is still good, and relatively soft. Most homemade ice cream in the freezer goes a bit funky after a week or two, crystallizing and taking off flavors. I think the cooked condensed milk I added for flavor is acting as a stabilizer, like the crappy guar gums and stuff you get in cheap ice cream.


EVENING SNACK: 8pm, cashews and chocolate chips

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, left over pasta, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Chilly Chill

A chill Sunday. Woke up early to bake muffins for some friends of B who were were popping in on same morning. A chilly walk back and forth overt the Williamsburg Bridge, lunch and a nap, then to my brother-in-law's place in Chelsea to set up D and his gal for a stay in the city. Chill with delivery and TV in the evening, and the day is done.

TODAY'S COOKING
Banana Walnut muffins: Used this recipe as a jump-off, but with numerous changes. Used 100% whole wheat flour, one extra egg, doubled the baking soda, doubled the salt, real vanilla instead of extract, creamed the butter with sugar first, mixed EVERYTHING before gently folding in the flour and mixing minimally. Undercooked them slightly and let them finish on top of the oven. Realized after I ate one that if I followed the recipe, they would of been just meh. I don't like banana walnut muffins, but these were pretty good.

Spaghetti, Dad Style: Boiled up dry spaghetti, coated (not drenched) in simple tomato sauce I made in November, then tossed in small cubes of mozzarella while still hot. Doesn't quite make sense culinarily, but totally brought me back to a nice home cooked meal as a child with my dad.

BREAKFAST: 8am, large glass of iced tea, 2 banana walnut muffins, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5


AM SNACK: 10:15am, hot green tea


LUNCH: 1pm, large green salad, spaghetti with homemade sauce and cheese, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, chicken tikka masala with basmanti rice, 1 potato samosa, garlic naan, dark chocolate, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5 
I don't really eat chicken, but I thought I'd give it a shot in this well known dish from the take-away. Ick, now I remember why I don't eat chicken. Not a lot of flavor, kinda stringy, nothing to it.

Mid March can't come soon enough

Easy going Saturday. Took a walk into Soho with the fam in the morning, took my road bike up to a shop in midtown for a full tuneup for the upcoming season in the afternoon. Riding it up 1st Ave made me a little excited for all the riding we're gonna do together come mid-March! Stayed home in the eve while B went out with friends. B brought me home some food from her night out, which was nice.

AM SNACK: 10:15am, iced green tea


PM SNACK: 1pm, slice of streetza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK 3:45pm, handful of cashews


LUNCH: 4:45pm, 2 large fishsticks, large green salad, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 8pm, peanut butter, cashews, chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 10:30pm, 2 steak tacos, rice, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

Full day

Busy body Friday. Went up for a lunch at the Food Network with MAP while Edie slept through most of it. After hitting up home, went to a playdate in the East Village with some sinful snacks. In the afternoon, out with Y and Baby Giraffe to a nice dinner at Frankies, a snack at the Dessert Truck outpost, then a movie. A very Edie-centric and full day.

Tomorrow, refocus on eating a bit better. Social things tend to knock me off the horse, time with the HVS excepted.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, organic cheerios with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5


LUNCH: 12:15pm, sausage and cheese crepe, orange soda, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, small piece of chocolate cake, small piece of lemon meringue pie, cookie, small amount of champagne, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 7:15pm, papardelle bolognese, antipasto, bread pudding, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 9pm, popcorn, water

Lunch smoothie

Supermarket in the morning, assembling some dishes in the afternoon, off to the restaurant for a wine tasting in the evening.

TODAY'S COOKING
Green Salad: For the week's health.
Quinoa Salad: Out of the Veganomicon. Made more for Betsy, but actually tasted OK.
Smoothie: Wanted this for breakfast, but chores prevented me. So I went nuts and had it for lunch instead.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 10:30am, brown rice California roll. .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 1pm, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 3:15pm, quinoa salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5 

PM SNACK: 5:15pm, sips of 8 different wines, 2 slices of pizza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 7:30pm, wholewheat mac n' cheese, breaded flounder, Jaques Torres dark chocolate cornflakes, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Need more doohickies

I guess it's normal not to be hungry when you just wake up, I need to work harder to accommodate my body's cycles. For a second day in a row I have packed the oatmeal and brought it to work. Maybe I should devise a series of containers (aka doohickies, as my mom called them) to bring other breakfasts to work, like milk and cereal, smoothies, fish n' bagels, etc.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
 BREAKFAST: 10:15am, the good pinhead oatmeal, water, 75 bowl, hunger 4/5
 LUNCH: 12:45pm, 3 slices Sicilian with mushroom & onion, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 4:15pm, large green salad, fried shrimp, 8 oz Sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 7:30pm, 1 slice pizza, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5

DINNER: 10:30pm, burger, fries, apple pie, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
No comment.

No Breakfast Pizza

Woke up a bit sniffly and stuffy and very unhungry. The iced tea helped me wake up (maybe I should fresh brew hot tea on a day like this?) and zapped a container of oatmeal to take to work. Good thing, as riding the bike in this "wintery mix" of snow, rain and ice took twice as long as usual, with twice the exertion. By the time I went through my morning opening routine, the oatmeal hit the spot much better than a late morning pizza.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 11am, pinhead oatmeal, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 1pm, 3 slices super thin pizza, small amount of freshly roasted potatoes, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3:30pm, large green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 5:15pm, shrimp in garlic butter, garlic bread, water, 8oz sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, chocolate chips
Looked for something to water this down with and add to the nutrition, but didn't have anything. Will remedy that on my next shopping excursion.

Fatty Thoughts

Woke up with a croaky throat and a veil of tiredness, but got up and pushed myself to eat a good, healthy breakfast to avoid a lunch-binge later on. Due to the MLK holiday, B had off but the restaurant was open.

Been thinking about dramatic weight-loss recently, and the options available. It's easy to say "eat less-do more", but the longer I live, the longer I realize that the psychological, physiological, biological and sociological all team up in a wicked brew to take the teeth out of this simple credo. My body mass index is 35.4, and over 30 is considered "obese". I'd have to be 163 lbs (a loss of 70 lbs) to be official "normal weight". I know I'm a bit of a chubster, but I never saw myself as a superfatty "obese" person.

Trawling Amazon under a "weight loss" search, a lot of books came up. A drug, "Alli" came up a lot, which seems to be the same stuff they put into "diet" potato chips in the 90s that made people shit a lot and soil them selves. My quick research made me conclude that it is not a magic weight loss pill, so much as a harsh stick that makes people afraid to eat fatty food, lest they let loose farts of indeterminate nature. A bunch of other pills looked like either snake oil or straight-up scariness. Speed-like drugs aimed at weight loss will make you lose weight, sure, but it'll make you lose sleep, lose focus, eventually lose your mind.

Then there are the surgeries, I've been reading up on lap-band technology. A band is inserted through a small incision in the belly button around the top of the stomach and through injections, can increase or decrease the size of the band. It's considered the safest of bariatric procedures because their is no actually cutting up of the corpus - it's a same day procedure. Still, a) your still getting hacked up, b) it required regular needles and c) in the end you have a lot less control of what you can and cannot eat, and what portions. Eating well is important to me. I would like to eat less, but do I really have to go under the knife to do this?

Am I content to be an obese person for the majority of my life? Two things make me think not: As I push into my 40s, my health will suffer more from excess weight. And secondly, if I could drop 70 lbs from what I have to carry around on a bicycle, oh my GAWD how much faster I could be!!

"Diets" are false, because they end. For Edie's and my family's sake, I need to take a good hard reevaluation of what I'm doing, or surgery will be in my future, minus the choice.
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, iced green tea, toasted pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese and sable, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5
LUNCH: 12:30pm, 2 small slices of Sicilian, 2 small slices of white Sicilian, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3:45pm, large green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 5:30pm, a few experimental "garlic crisps", roast potatoes, 8oz sprite, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, pint of pork fried rice, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Stupid Hippies

Spent a day in (mostly) motion. Woke up late, got out quick with the gals to C's house in Brooklyn to cook and prep then scurry out before Edles could have a melt-down. By the time we got home with a blissfully sleeping baby in the carriage, I took off on the tandem and picked up T and squired her to a movie. Surprisingly, I did not fall asleep!


TODAY'S COOKING:
"Mexican" cornbread: We were over at C's house early to help set up for the party, I ended up making this out of some hold hippy vegetarian cookbook. I just followed the recipe, but while making it I saw it would not have a lot of flavor -- not enough salt, not enough sweet. It had whole corn kernels and some cheese in it, but how that makes it "Mexican" is beyond me. Stupid hippies!! :)


BREAKFAST: 9:30am, iced green tea


LUNCH: 1pm, beef chili over brown rice, corn bread, 1 piece of shortbread, diet coke, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


SNICKLESNACK: 4pm, popcorn, chocolate vegan cookie, lemon soda, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Spent the afternoon at the movies with the HVS.



DINNER: 8:15pm, green salad, hot dog, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, smal amount of peanut butter with chocolate chips
B made me, she made me watch the damn Golden Globes!

Main-line Chocolate

Tried to eat well today, started right with a good breakfast, hungry for a nice vegan lunch, whole wheat and green salad for dinner, but then I was just....hungry. Finished the cocoa-infused pancakes in the fridge, but they weren't....sweet enough. So rather than main-line chocolate, I sprinkled some chips on top of the good peanut butter, but....I was still hungry. Some cereal put me away. What could I have done better? Probably more snacks during the day.


TODAY'S COOKING:
Wholewheat Mac n'cheese: Made it for C's daughter's 1st birthday, with whole wheat elbow macaroni at her request. I made a bit extra and had a reasonable portion for dinner, surprisingly the whole wheat element was actually really nice. The slightly gritty texture that can work against whole wheat pasta was totally overwhelmed by being baked in tons of cheeses and bechamel!


BREAKFAST: 8:30am, pinhead oatmeal, iced green tea


LUNCH: 12:30pm, various vegetarian dim sum, tea, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 5:30pm, fresh homemade whole wheat mac n' cheese, green salad, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 7pm, 5 buttermilk red velvet banana pancakes, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 9pm, peanut butter and chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 10pm, organic chex with organic dead milk, 75 bowl, hunger 4/5

Norbert Saturday (Nutella Whispers)

Intense Edie day, with getting to the Museum of Natural History in the morning, and a playdate with a bunch of local moms in the afternoon. A nice chill evening with the missus.



BREAKFAST: 8am, toasted pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese and sable, iced green tea, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 1:30pm, large green salad, hot dog, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 3:15pm, 1 piece of hazelnut shortbread
Everyone liked it at the playdate, and I hadn't tried it yet. Definitely a step up from pistachio shortbread. With the layer of chocolate, there is a whisper of nutella...

PM SNACK: 5pm, pretzel with a little herbed goat cheese, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Better to snack a little through the day, to prevent a feeding frenzy later. We were walking by Sigmund's on B and they're such great, artisinal, thoughtful pretzels.


PM SNACK: 6:30pm, 6 chocolate truffles, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Betsy sprung these on me when she got home, and they jumped out of the box and down my throat before I could object...


DINNER: 9pm, tofu pad thai, shrimp rolls, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Nutella Whispers

Intense Edie day, with getting to the Museum of Natural History in the morning, and a playdate with a bunch of local moms in the afternoon. A nice chill evening with the missus.


BREAKFAST: 8am, toasted pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese and sable, iced green tea, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 1:30pm, large green salad, hot dog, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 3:15pm, 1 piece of hazelnut shortbread
Everyone liked it at the playdate, and I hadn't tried it yet. Definitely a step up from pistachio shortbread. With the layer of chocolate, there is a whisper of nutella...

PM SNACK: 5pm, pretzel with a little herbed goat cheese, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Better to snack a little through the day, to prevent a feeding frenzy later. We were walking by Sigmund's on B and they're such great, artisinal, thoughtful pretzels.


PM SNACK: 6:30pm, 6 chocolate truffles, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Betsy sprung these on me when she got home, and they jumped out of the box and down my throat before I could object...


DINNER: 9pm, tofu pad thai, shrimp rolls, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Fneh food

Had dinner out with E at Hecho en Dumbo on the Bowery. Curious about this place, the rare full-throttle Mexican fine-dining place. Unfortunately, the food was surprisingly not that great. Just because the portion size is small and the presentation neat and orderly, doesn't make up for unremarkable plain ceviche, a mini burrito filled with chorizo, potato and oddly dusty flavored paprika and little else, and deserts whose Mexican influence seems to not get along with the French training of their pastry chef. Oh well, still had a great time because I don't see E often enough.


TODAY'S COOKING:
Iced Tea: 10 bags of jasmine green tea, 5 bags of Himalayan green tea, 3/4 cup sugar.
Pinhead Oats: Made it wish a dash of vanilla sugar, salt, scrapings of a few vanilla beans, cinnamon and a tiny bit of cardamom. Skipped the milk because will add it when it's reheated to serve.
Green Salad with Shrimp: Cooked the shrimp unadorned with a little peanut oil in a caste iron skillet. It's been a while since I've eaten properly cooked shrimp.

Hazelnut shortbread: Invited to a playdate tomorrow, wanted to bring something other than booze. Had some hazelnuts left over from my failed nutella experiment, gonna dip in chocolate tomorrow morning.

AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9:45am, brown rice California roll, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 2:45pm, green salad with a little Italian dressing and 6 large shrimp, 2 buttermilk red velvet pancakes,  1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5pm, multigrain tortilla chips with a little salsa, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6:15pm, ceviche, chorizo burrito, acorn squash tart and chocolate mushy thing with icecreams, 1 pint of beer, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

2% evil and destructive

The storm prevented some staff from coming to work, so I served by myself all day, busy enough to keep me busy but not so busy I couldn't handle it comfortably.

TODAY'S COOKING:
Oatmeal: Oat of pinhead oats, had to use rolled. 3/4 cup oats, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup whole milk, 3 pinches of vanilla sugar, 1 pinch of salt, 1 shake of cinnamon, a few drops of vanilla extract, mix and microwave in glass bowl for 4 minutes. Came out pretty perfect.

She who shall be nameless(hint: not Edie) complained that it was indulgent and unhealthy, which is wrong on so many levels. The presence of a small amount of sugars, fats and salt in something otherwise overwhelmingly virtuous does not automatically make it 100% evil and destructive. Making a tasteless, unappetizing bowl of 100% healthy mush into a delicious, appetizing and soulfully satisfying 98% healthy dish should be celebrated and replicated, not shunned with a false sense of heroism. That same someone can eat 2 teaspoons of lunch and feel great about herself, then when she gets home, she's so hungry and scarf a pint of ice cream, the fat equivalent of about 1/2 gallon of whole milk. 2% of decadence upfront sure helps cut the need for 98% decadence on the back end.

BREAKFAST: 8am, oatmeal, iced green tea, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Woke up early and fed the Edie, good time. Nice to have hunger just naturally come up an hour after waking and being able to satisfy it with something healthy.

AM SNACK: 10:30am, 2 small pieces of bread, mise cup of olives, handful of cucumber slices
LUNCH: 12:30pm, 4 slices super-super thin pizza, 8oz sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Experimenting with lightening toppings, thinning crust. Got it to the point where toppings could not spread enough to protect dough and had a few burnt spots. Still delicious, very cracker-like.

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

DINNER: 7:30pm, roasted potato and onion, ice cream cup, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, beef lomein, cheese danish, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
No comment.

The Appetite Returns

Back at work, my appetite is returning mostly to normal. Was it a bug? Usually that means my guts are tied into a not and I have an intimate relationship with the toilet, but that did not happen, this was of a different order. Well, I ate less and didn't really NOT do anything due to sickness, so I'll take it.

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, organic cheerios with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
I was planning to eat pinhead oats, but my wife seems to have decided she liked them too and made them disappear.

AM SNACK: 11am, pint of apple juice
Meeting someone for lunch, so drank this to keep my appetite in check.

PM SNACK: 12:15pm, snippet of fresh bread, olives
LUNCH: 2:45pm, 2 slices super thin pizza, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5:15pm, green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6:45pm, 3 slices Sicilian, 8 oz sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 9:45pm, small ice cream cup

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, small cup of chocolate chips

Appetite returning

Spent the morning with Edie at the community center drop in and then some food shopping. Too cold so we stayed in in the afternoon. Betsy came home and we three ate pretty much the same dinner at the same time, it was really nice, can't remember the last time that happened during the week.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea


LUNCH: 2pm, baby carrots, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 5:15pm, 2 buttermilk red velvet pancakes


DINNER: 6:15pm, shrimp saag & basmanti rice, pakora, naan, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, small cup of caramel ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Cheeky monkey!

A bit of a rough day, with me & the fam taking a train up to Albany in the morning, spending the afternoon with my brother and his family of 6 and a half, and a train down in the evening. Edie managed to be wide awake and in need of entertainment for the trips, and asleep for most of the time in Albany. Cheeky monkey!

AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea


AM SNACK: 9am, 2 donuts, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 11:30am, weird "vegan burger", potato chips, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 2:30pm, half a onion bagel with cream cheese, water, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 7:30pm, cheeseless eggplant hero with green salad, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Still not much hunger

Slept from 6:30pm to 7:30am. Stomach still tight, but getting a little better. Cooked breakfast for the fam and MA & D, was able to eat a full portion. Took the afternoon easy, bed by 9pm

AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 10:30am, 4 red velvet buttermilk banana pancakes, 2 slices bacon, 1/2 a donut, water, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5


DINNER: 5pm, pumpernickel bagel with creamcheese and sable, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5