Enervated

It was supposed to rain and be warm today, so I got up in my rain suit and pushed my old commuter bike out to Coney Island, then met L in midtown for lunch, followed by a movie. Got home to a happy baby and a mostly-happy wife, and taking advantage of enervated relaxed feeling, did a round of weights.

Just heard the kitchen may be functional by Friday. Let's hope...


BREAKFAST: 9am, brown rice crispies with organic dead milk, cupcake, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 1:30pm, pork tonkatsu with curry rice, pork gyoza, edemame, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 8pm, sushi, tempura, salad, water, 1 cupcake, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Cake followed by cupcakes

Woke up after about 9 solid hours of sleep, body feels good but sore -- my inner thighs seems to have suffered from pretending to give birth to a large square block in yoga a few days ago, he he. Popped out in the morning to the local diner and to Whole Foods for Edie food, as there is no point in buying groceries for a kitchen I can not cook in.

I indulged in cake and TV while Edie napped, and after she rose and ate lunch, we rode over to the local park so she could run around a bit for an hour, then we pedalled up and down the East River Park. It was nice, with Edie waving at all passersby from the front of the bike.

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, BLT on a bagel, home fries, diet coke, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: noon, chocolate cake, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5pm, 2 cupcakes, 3 pickles, Ritz crackers, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5 
Unfortunately, I got home with E really hungry and B confronted me with late birthday cupcakes. Without thinking, they went down. I followed cake by cupcakes. Oy.


DINNER: 9:15pm, shrimp parm with spaghetti, green salad, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Bike Sore

Woke up unusually sore -- I had a good weight-lift in the afternoon, and I pushed a little bit harder in yoga than usual yesterday. I woke around 7, and by the time I got out of the house on my bike, I was wondering if I'd make it. By the time I exited Manhattan, my body snapped to, but it was a push getting there.

Had a nice ride to City Island & Orchard Beach. When I hit home around 4, my body seemed to go back to being sore, like someone snapping a spring-loaded curtain. Took an hour bath that didn't do much good, and stayed home and chilled until I passed out around 11.

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


BIKE SNACK: 9am, 2 donuts, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


BIKE LUNCH: 12:30pm, 32 oz Gatorade, handful of pretzels, turkey & Swiss sandwich, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 3:45pm, large bowl of good yogurt with honey, vanilla & cashews, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 8pm, lo mein, dumplings, salad, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

2 pounds

231.8--->226.0--->228.0

Yes, I did gain 2 pounds in March officially. Being that the drop in February was 6 pounds, the fact that perhaps 4 of those pounds were something other than water or the contents of my expulsiary organs, well, that's pretty good. I'm pretty happy with how my body is starting to change -- starting to feel a bit toned from the regular weight lifting, and biking is on the verge of kicking in.

Lifted weights around noon, then yogacized with the HVS, ended up feeling pretty sore by the evening.

BREAKFAST: 10am, pancakes, potatoes, bacon, diet coke, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Ordered in from around the corner. It was rainy, the laundry was getting done, the kitchen is dissembled.


PM SNACK: 2pm, small amount of ice cream


PM SNACK: 5:15pm, slice of streetza, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


SNICKLEDINNER: 8pm, sweet potato noodles with veg and curry, dumpling soup, tofu pudding, pumpkin cake, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


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

Chocolate enlightenment.

Excellent day at school -- this semester's students are just really picking up on what I'm offering, and enjoying the fruits of their labor more than past groups. Class 5 and still have a full contingent of 10 students. One is coming in early next week because he wants to learn how to properly sharpen a knife with a wetstone. We made farro & sausage (because we were cooking different grains) and most actually liked it and took some home for their families. We did a chocolate tasting, 5 different samples between milk and 77% dark, and a handful actually liked the darker ones, and one actually said the milk tasted too little like actual chocolate -- I wanted to jump up and hug him.

Poor eating day. Looks like another weekend without a kitchen, wah.


BREAKFAST: 10am, 2 donuts, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 12:30pm, hotdog, 2 pickles, apple tart, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


SCHOOL EATS: 6pm, kasha varnishkes, farro & sausage, tastes of different rice pilafs, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 7:30pm, ice cream & potato chips, quart of water, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Tumbling

Tumbling through the week.

BREAKFAST: 10:15am, vegetarian sandwich, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Excellent sammich from the boulangerie down the street. Whole wheat peasant bread, chevre, marinated veg, of which I picked out the cauliflower.

LUNCH: 2pm, 3 slices Sicilian, pomegranate soda, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5pm, small slice of pizza, cheesecake cup, water, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 8pm, green salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 11pm, burgers, fries, cake. 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
No comment.

Dissembled

Mildly busy in the 'rant, good to be working, get away from my dissembled kitchen. A major step was supposed to happen yesterday, and all of a sudden the contractor is not returning my calls. Typical in a project like this, hopefully things will resolve themselves soon.

BREAKFAST: 9am, organic wholegrain chex with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 12:30pm, 3 slices pizza, pomegranate soda, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 4:30pm. green salad, small cheesecake cup, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
A coworker brought in some cheesecake cups, with an oreo buried in the middle. Purdy good. Not very sophisticated, but to the point.

DINNER: 7:15pm, meatball appetizer, 8oz sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, glass of apple juice

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, chocolate chips & cashews

Too cold

Monday work has been delayed until the end of the month, but I've decided to stick with nanny coverage that has been planned months ago. I tried to do a day of bike riding, but the windchill made it intolerable, and ended up only riding for an hour before having to go home and stay under blankets until I felt normal again. Took myself out for lunch, wandered a bit then did little chores at home until everyone else came in.

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


LUNCH: noon, vegetarian dim sum, tea, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
I ordered 5 dishes, but with the intention of eating reasonably and bringing left overs home.

PM SNACK: 4pm, left over Pepe's pizza, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 7:15pm, 2 beef tamales, ice cream, apple tart, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Eating prepared foods from Wholefoods. Oh, I need my kitchen back!

Love is a day trip to eat pizza.

The weather was a snap colder than ideal, but other than that, our day trip up to New Haven to visit Pepe's could not have been more perfect. We met up with two other couples with bebes on the train at Grand Central, and the 2 hour ride was easy and calm and friendly. We only waited about 10 minutes for a very child-friendly table all together, and a slow walk through some nice bits of the town got us on an early train home, in good seats without drama. A little cranky baby here and there, but over all the three babies slept well. We were all home by 5pm, glad to have such cool friends in our situation in the 'hood.

I ate a lot of clam pie, but between the lack of cheese, lack of acidy tomato, and the fact that I left "bones" behind (I skipped the crusts), my stomach felt just fine.

BREAKFAST: 8am, brown rice crispies with dead organic milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


AM SNACK: 9:30am, large almond cookie, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 1pm, lots of white clam pizza, a couple glasses of cheap beer, water, 1.75 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 4pm, cannoli


DINNER: 8pm, left over shrimp saag & rice, a little leftover pizza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


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

People really live like this by choice?

Ugg, do people really get by just on ordering in food? This is giving me a new appreciation of what cooking does for me. Hopefully the kitchen will be back in operation late in the week...

BREAKFAST: 9am, iced green tea, brown rice crispies with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH 1: 12:45pm, pumpernickel bagel and cream cheese with 2 pickles, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH 2: 2:30pm, shrimp saag with rice and roti, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 5pm, dark chocolate bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, eggplant hero, salad, onion rings, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

40

Happy birthday to me. Forty. The age John Lennon was assassinated. I guess my Beatles days are far behind me, he he. My Yoko sure can be uppity, though, he he.

Being that the kitchen is out of sorts, me n' Edie went to the diner on the block and had a greezy breakfast, reminiscent of my parents. Stayed indoors until workers came, took care of chores on the outside. After B got home, took off to yoga and had the most wonderful time with T -- unfortunately for her, no one else showed but fortunately for me, we had a 1-on-1 birthday yoga session!

Picked up ice cream from Lulu's on the way home and had a nice chill pizza & salad with B before bed. A low-key day.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9:45am, blt on rye, french fries, diet coke, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 1:30pm, buttermilk waffle, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, half a pint of ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


SNICKLESNACK: 7:15pm, half a lame vegan cupcake thing


DINNER: 8:30pm, pizza, Cesar salad, vegan mint chip ice cream, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Takin' Care of Business

Lifted weights early, then took Edie to a playgroup -- on Mondays it's mellow with a few dads, but this was full bore Mommy & Nanny central, maybe 10 other kids. Edie was fine with it, very cool. Chores right after then Edie to nap around noon. Took care of business and went off to school in the early afternoon.

School was the sauce class, highlighted by the beschamel needed for mac n' cheese. This is the 4th time I'm teaching, and I gotta say, this group is definitely the best yet -- they're actually PAYING ATTENTION to my lecture portion, and seem to be investing themselves in the food we're cooking. It's surprisingly gratifying. It makes me wish my dad was around, who was a college professor most of his career, to bounce that off him.

AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea


LUNCH: 12pm, 6" veggie burger sub on wholewheat, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Went for a Subway sub for lunch, as the kitchen is not operational. Could have done worse I suppose.

SCHOOL FOOD: 6pm, a couple small pieces of chimichuri flank steak, some mac n' cheese, a little spinach, a small cup of coca cola, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 8pm, brown rice California roll, seaweed salad, chocolate cake, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10pm, small ramekin of goldfish

Nutz

C, who looks after Edles on some days, brought me some roasted mixed nuts that impressed her -- buttered, fresh rosemary, spicy cayenne kick, nice selection of cashews, pecans, walnuts, almonds. Reminded me how good and how easy something like this is to make, as long as you start off with raw nuts -- double roasting a nut will make it chalky and bitter.

AM SNACK: 9am, iced green tea

AM SNACK: 11am roasted mixed nuts

LUNCH: 12:30pm, 4 slices superthin pizza 8oz sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6pm, shrimp with coconut curry, a little chicken with satay sauce, sticky rice, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Tired of the same pizza. Ordered in from Rice, food was pretty meh.

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, burgers, fries, donuts, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
No Comment.

Tuesday (Work)

Moderately busy day at work, glad to be out of a house under construction.

BREAKFAST: 9am, iced green tea, banana walnut muffin, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 12:15pm, 3 slices superthin pizza with onion and garlic, 8oz sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


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


DINNER: 6pm, meatballs & bread, 1 slice salad pizza, cranberry lime soda, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, house special mei fun, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Munday

Monday work postponed due to poor weather. Being that Edie was covered but too miserable out to ride, I reverted back to college and planted myself in a theater for two movies, followed by a cheapo meal.


BREAKFAST: 8:45am, iced green tea, wholewheat banana walnut muffin, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

BRUNCH: 11:30am, 3 veg samosas with chickpeas and spinach, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


LINNER: 4:15pm,  hijiki soy patty, large spinach salad with carrot dressing, cold sesame noodles, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 4:45pm, 1 short bread cookie, 1 chocolate madeline

PM SNACK: 7pm, chocolate chips, sesame crackers & peanuts, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 9pm, hot dog, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Spring Sprung

Can't wait for the house to be put back together, better than before, but in reality that won't be for another two weeks or so. Took Edie out for a nice walk in the morning, and in the afternoon we hopped on bike and met up with some non-baby friends in Brooklyn for some hanging out. Partially reassembled the bedroom when I got home, already looks better than before despite the dust and clutter.

Today is the first day of Spring, and boy I can't wait to officially begin spring cleaning!

TODAY'S COOKING:
Banana Walnut Muffins: Double batch, as there will be no cooking for the next 5-10 days, depending on how the kitchen work goes. As before, adjusted this recipe with 100% whole wheat flour, an extra 2 eggs, creamed the butter and sugar, then added the bananas, eggs and real vanilla bean. Upped salt by 1/3, chopped walnut to large pebbles. Topped each with a crumble of brown sugar right before hitting the oven. Came out pretty good, will help me be a little healthy through the week, if they last that long!

BREAKFAST: 4:30am, a couple of freshly baked banana walnut muffins, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


AM SNACK: 9am, small piece of semi sweet chocolate


LUNCH: noon, pasta with sauce and parm, glass of grape juice, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
I don't keep grape juice in the house, but we got a bunch of Purim bags from the religious neighbors dropped on our door (Edie-fans), so there it was.


PM SNACK: 6pm, 2 banana walnut muffins, .5 bowl, hunger 4/ 5

DINNER: 7pm, eggplant hero, green salad, water, 1.25 bow, hunger 4/5

Better than drugs

Woke up naturally at 6:30, got on the bike at 7:15 and made my way out to Little Neck Bay and Whitestone via Flushing Meadow. A little cold, but wonderful to be out in the world. Had a fantastic afternoon out with the gals, culminating in buying new shoes for babies and eating some great food, followed by vegan cashew-based ice cream at Lula's on the way home.

My body was hungry and tired in a way that only a long bike ride can give, much better than any sleeping pill or drug.


BREAKFAST: 7am, iced green tea, brown rice crispies with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


BIKE SNACK: 10:30am, 20oz Gatorade, small bag of corn chips, 3 small chocolate chip cookies, half a "beef stick", .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 12:30pm, 2 White castle burgers, 2 pickles, health salad, 2 cheese hamantashen, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH pt 2: 2:30pm, 2 homemade black bean burritos with a little fresh guacamole, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5 


DINNER: 5pm, bulgogi & rice, kimchi pancake, veg dumplings, water, vegan chocolate ice cream. 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Get 'er dun

A lot going on in the house with three men working, a dishwasher delivery, a bed delivery, a guy came to measure for stone, etc etc. But everything got done by the time Edles napped, and being that it was over 70 degrees out, we got the heck out of the house and I fed her lunch in a vest pocket park around the corner.

Once she got it in, we rolled over to our local play park and Edie ran around for an hour before we slowly made it back home. It was nice to hand off to B a bit, and I ordered in.

Next week, I may not be able to cook in my kitchen for a full 7-10 days, hmmmm.

AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 9am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Banana, milk, yogurt, grapes, cherries, mango, blueberries, vanilla, ground flax, pinch of salt.

LUNCH: 12:30pm, 2 fish sticks, tatertots, pickles, healthsalad, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 5pm, piece of semisweet chocolate


DINNER: 8pm, pepper steak, salad, spring roll, wonton soup, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Mah fsss!

Good day. Went out to the park with Edles while men worked in my apartment. Over to school in the afternoon for a relatively successful teaching session (Cesar salad with grilled chicken and fresh croutons, a bound shrimp salad with fresh mayo, vegetable soup with stock made last week). Rode over to WF after for a few things, and picked up some premade stuff as I didn't want to cook anymore today, and the place is under construction on top of that.

Edie put together her first two words unprompted ("Hi Papa" doesn't count, as she was just mimicking what she heard.) She's been saying "more" a lot, and calls goldfish crackers "fssss". Over breakfast, she held out an empty container that had goldfish and instead of just saying more ("mah!"), she said "mah fsss!" Yeah, I'm proud.


AM SNACK: 8am, ice green tea


BREAKFAST: 9am, brown rice crispies with organic dead milk, half a waffle, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: noon, 4 white castle burgers, health salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


SCHOOL SNACK: 2:45pm, chocolate covered pretzels, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


SCHOOL TASTINGS: 3:15 - 7pm, bits of 10 cheeses, a few shrimp, many tastes of student mayonnaise, freshly baked croutons, vegetable soup, grilled chicken breast, .25 bowl, hunger ?/5


DINNER: 8:30pm, brown rice California roll, shrimp summer roll, chocolate cake, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Work Work

Had a hard time falling asleep, little niggly things about family, work and the renovation starting today just bouncing around my head. Woke up a bit early to run out to do some chores to help get ready for the men working in the house today.

Rainy on the way to work, the new bike controls like a charm. Between the Big Dummy's wide tires, long wheel base, non-locking disc brakes and nice heft (along with the front fender I just installed), it rode in the rain like it was made for it.

BREAKFAST: 8:15am, iced green tea, the good yogurt with honey, vanilla and cashews, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12:15pm, 4 slices superthin pizza with mushroom and onion, 8 oz sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3pm, meatball
PM SNACK: 5pm, green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 6pm, large arancini, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 8pm, small glass of apple juice


DINNER: 10:30pm, tatertots, cheesefilled coffee cake, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
No comment.

Work Work

Busy in the resto, didn't eat too bad considering. The season has begun.

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

LUNCH: 12:45pm, 2 slices superthin pizza, 8oz sprite, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5pm, Manhattan Special
Very busy in the shop, needed it once the lunch crowd ended.

PM SNACK: 6:30pm, green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

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

DINNER: 10pm, house special fried rice, 3 cheese hamantashen, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Monday Monday

My last Monday at home for a while, next week starts three days a week at the resto. Took Edie to the Dads-only play group, ran around and completed a few chores, then home for her nap. Edie was a bit cranky after lunch, so we hopped on the bike together for the first time this season and went down to the fancy playground by South Street Seaport. Only one other parent and kid there, but Edie had a fantastic time running around and going up and down a set of steps. When I got home, B was there to take over the E while I banged out a bunch of hamantashen. Went to bed early.

TODAY'S COOKING
Hamantashen:  Had left over prune and cheese fillings, had to use them or toss them. I forgot that the cheese filling loosened the cookies, and I went heavier to use it up, so they all came undone. Still delicious, but not transportable or servable -- I'll just have to eat them over the next few days. Considered making a yeast cookie instead of the creamed-butter version, but the directions called for a chill over-night, which would make it more delicious, but I just wanted to knock 'em out quick.

AM SNACK: 8:45am, iced green tea

LUNCH: 12:30pm, black beans & cheddar, health salad & 2 pickles, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Health salad and 3/4 sour pickles are a fantastic combo. The beans and cheese left over from my burrito session yesterday went in my mouf today -- I should of let the beans simmer without a cover for a bit to tighten them up, a little bit loose and watery, but good flavor regardless.

PM SNACK: 6:30pm, handful of cheese hamantashen


DINNER: 7:45pm, pad thai, mixed dumplings, tiny spring roll, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Ordered from the new place uptown. The Pad Thai was HORRIBLE, underdressed, noodles too stiff, and about twice the quantity it should be. The Chinese stuff, though, was still a class above the local take out. They have Japanese stuff on their menu too, but I guess I'll just stick to the Chinese stuff.

Waffles & Burritos & Sauternes OH MY!

Went to Home Depot looking for various things needed for the upcoming fixes to the apartment, but everything was just straight-up wrong there. Found exactly the right stuff on Amazon, and paid a whole lot extra to have everything delivered early in the week. Worth it, if I'm going to be staring at this stuff for potentially many years to come.

Banged out some good cooking, took Edie for along walk and play in the park behind the building, and met up with a friend and old colleague from the resto to talk about the future. Over all a good but tiring day, and it doesn't help that we lost an hour!

TODAY'S COOKING
Buttermilk waffles: Had some left over buttermilk from the cheddar chive biscuits, so rather than do pancakes, broke out ye olde caste iron waffle iron and pumped out a double batch. Edie love 'em.


Burritos: Long cooked black beans yesterday with sofrito, onion, bell pepper and assorted seasonings and salt. And I banged out a big batch of guacamole (mushed together avocado, minced cilantro, raw grated onion, lemon juice, salt) Today, cooked a cup of long grain brown rice, gathered a bunch of whole wheat tortillas, and grated a block of mild cheddar and assembled away. One broke open and ended up in my mouth, pretty good, a definite improvement over the last batch.

AM SNACK: 9am, iced green tea

LUNCH: 2pm, 2 waffles, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5pm, 1 small burrito, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER:7:30pm, chicken soup, pasta with pork ragu, broccolini, a little gnocchi, 1 glass wine, a little ice cream, a little carrot cake, half glass of sauternes, fizzy water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Bike Season has begun

First ride of the season yo!! Woke up early-ish, caffeinated then got the hell out, rode out to Coney Island on this windy, brisk day. Ran into a few parent friends on the way out, ran into a school friend in Bay Ridge, just a wonderful early start to Spring. Did chores via bike in the afternoon, then out to a nice Korean dinner and a movie with E, who I haven't had one-on-one "girl time" with in way too long. Good day.

BREAKFAST: 8:45am, iced green tea, handful of chocolate covered coffee beans


BIKE SNACK: 11am, bag of corn chips, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


LUNCH: 12:45am, health salad, pickles, water .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 3:15pm, pretzels, peanuts and chocolate chips, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6:45pm, bulgogi, pa jeon, bibimbop, kimchi and various little starters, large bottle of beer, 1.75 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 8pm, sprite, chocolate thingies, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Runnin' About

Went out in the morning with the Edles to go food shopping, bought a dish washer while out, bleah. Baby sitter in the eve, me and B went out with another couple to dinner at a really annoying restaurant, then to a Robyn Hitchcock show. Despite the hickups, it was a brilliant evening.

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


AM SNACK: 11am, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese and sabel, 1  bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6:30pm, couscous with assorted meats, a few bites of tomato salad, water, 2 glasses of wine, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Not a good eating day

Busy day, school teaching, then a few meetings after. Did not eat well.

BRUNCH: 11am, cheddar chive biscuit with sausage gravy, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SCHOOL SNACK: 3pm, a few twix candy bars, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


SCHOOL MEAL: 6:30pm, chicken, mashed potato, chard, sprite, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 9pm, 1 small slice pizza, half a beer, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10pm, 2 small burgers, a small bowl of chocolate chips, peanuts and pretzels, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Unpowered

Slow day at the resto, felt weirdly lethargic. I wonder if it was causal or unrelated. Looking forward to Edie time tomorrow.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, good oatmeal, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 12 noon, 4 slices superthin pizza with shrimp, 8 oz sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 1pm, Manhattan SpecialFeeling groggy and unenergetic. THis didn't help much.

PM SNACK: 5pm, green salad
DINNER: 7:45pm, vegetarian meatballs with thai black rice, 8oz sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5


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

Artiste

I was distracted by Edie's massive art installation this morning, a piece that covered the walls of her bedroom and hallway, as well as very pieces of random furniture, that I forgot to pack a healthy breakfast.

AM SNACK: 9am, iced green tea
LUNCH: 12:30pm, 4 slices superthin pizza with mushroom, & onion, 8oz sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 4:45pm,green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5:45pm, 2 small slices pizza, .5 bowl hunger 4/5

DINNER: 10:30pm, cheddar chive biscuit with sausage gravy, water, assorted sweets from Milk Bar, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

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