Food shopping at Pathmark in the morning with Edie on the big bike, a nice play date at some friends we don't see often enough in the afternoon, a walk by the river, then an evening in with B's momma & some pizza ordered in. Over all good chill day in the 'hood with the family.
Not the greatest eating day, but I think the only way not to fall off the wagon is to loosen up (if not lighten up) on the weekends. I hear that Tom Cruise eats only what his team of nutritionists and cooks allow him during the week, but on the weekends he's off the hook and able to eat as many Scientology Crackers as he likes or something. I wonder if he would hire a guy like me to record everything he eats and write a witty blog about it.
AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9am, special k with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 10:45am, cheese ravioli and spinach, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: noon, banana bread, pretzels & hummus, different cheeses, salumni & crackers, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
At friends house with the kids. We brought some banana bread as the host also made banana bread and ate them head to head -- too different to really compare. Really nice cheeses and salamis, ate lightly because a ton o' meat and cheese will kill my guts, but enjoyed it highly regardless.
PM SNACK: 3pm, baby carrots & white bean dip, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 5:45pm, 3 slices of streetza, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 8pm, potato chips, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Saturday, February 11
Friday, February 10
Top of it
Busy day. Did the laundry in the morning, got out with Mil to visit MAP for hot chocolate, went downtown to do a secret special chore, got home by 1:15, made lunch, put away laundry, cleaned up house, picked up Edie, exchanged some clothes at a kids store, spent an hour at the playroom and changed multiple diapers, got everyone home and made dinner for everyone. Rushed but on top of it.
TODAY'S COOKING
Granola bars: In a small pot, a few glugs of maple syrup, quarter stick of butter and about a cup of almond butter. Once smooth, added 2 eggs, a glug of vanilla extract and a sprinkle of salt. Mixed it into yesterday's batch of granola, pressed it into a parchment lined glass pan, and baked at 300 for 20 minutes.
Banana Bread: Had 4 bananas on the edge of oblivion, so made up a recipe. Beat a stick of butter into 1/2 cup of white sugar and 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Added 2 eggs, the 4 bananas and a 1/4 cup of full fat fage. Teaspoon each of baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Turned to slow, added 1.5 cups of whole wheat flour. Baked at 350 for 1 hour. Came out weirdly dense but light, so moist almost to be mushy, just holding on by a thread.
AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9:30am, hardcore oatmeal, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 11:am, large mutzu apple
Looking for a snack in the farmer's market. My mind went to pretzels and whole wheat baked goods, but the farm stand of 15 different apple varieties caught my eye. This golden yellow apple was almost a pound, and was cold, crisp and seasonally perfect.
AM SNACK: 11:45am, 3oz bourbon hot chocolate
Visited my friend MAP at City Bakery for hot chocolate, she does a blog every year tasting every flavor they do in the month of February. It was really good, had the smokey wood flavor of bourbon that worked well with their dairy-based rich hot chocolate. Most notable was the size -- we got tasting servings, which in actuality for something so rich was pretty much all you need. A 20oz Starbucks-size serving of this stuff would probably be enough calories to cover lunch and dinner, he he. Mil slept through it, but I think later in the month I'll be taking Edie, and she'll also have a 3oz shot. I hope it aint cappucino hot chocolate then!!
LUNCH: 2pm, breaded tilapia, health salad, pickle, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Between going out and getting Edie, popped home to do chores, put away laundry and make a proper lunch. The frozen fish is weird -- it's breaded, but the actual fish is raw, so it would not be fair to say it is deep fried, but the amount of oil in the breaded that leeches out on to the pan, the oil that allows it to become crunchy, makes me wonder. Maybe I should get the unbreaded ones and bread them myself on demand?
DINNER: 5:45pm, cheese ravioli & spinach, grenadine soda, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
2 lbs of frozen mini cheese raviolis, a pound of frozen spinach cooked with a little olive oil and 3 cloves of garlic, a cup of homemade tomato sauce, all thrown into a pot and mixed together. Not the yummiest -- the ravioli are so bland -- but filling and could be worse, I suppose. Ate a small second helping in hopes of avoiding snacks in the evening.
EVENING SNACK: 7:45pm, banana bread, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
TODAY'S COOKING
Granola bars: In a small pot, a few glugs of maple syrup, quarter stick of butter and about a cup of almond butter. Once smooth, added 2 eggs, a glug of vanilla extract and a sprinkle of salt. Mixed it into yesterday's batch of granola, pressed it into a parchment lined glass pan, and baked at 300 for 20 minutes.
Banana Bread: Had 4 bananas on the edge of oblivion, so made up a recipe. Beat a stick of butter into 1/2 cup of white sugar and 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Added 2 eggs, the 4 bananas and a 1/4 cup of full fat fage. Teaspoon each of baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Turned to slow, added 1.5 cups of whole wheat flour. Baked at 350 for 1 hour. Came out weirdly dense but light, so moist almost to be mushy, just holding on by a thread.
AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9:30am, hardcore oatmeal, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 11:am, large mutzu apple
Looking for a snack in the farmer's market. My mind went to pretzels and whole wheat baked goods, but the farm stand of 15 different apple varieties caught my eye. This golden yellow apple was almost a pound, and was cold, crisp and seasonally perfect.
AM SNACK: 11:45am, 3oz bourbon hot chocolate
Visited my friend MAP at City Bakery for hot chocolate, she does a blog every year tasting every flavor they do in the month of February. It was really good, had the smokey wood flavor of bourbon that worked well with their dairy-based rich hot chocolate. Most notable was the size -- we got tasting servings, which in actuality for something so rich was pretty much all you need. A 20oz Starbucks-size serving of this stuff would probably be enough calories to cover lunch and dinner, he he. Mil slept through it, but I think later in the month I'll be taking Edie, and she'll also have a 3oz shot. I hope it aint cappucino hot chocolate then!!
LUNCH: 2pm, breaded tilapia, health salad, pickle, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Between going out and getting Edie, popped home to do chores, put away laundry and make a proper lunch. The frozen fish is weird -- it's breaded, but the actual fish is raw, so it would not be fair to say it is deep fried, but the amount of oil in the breaded that leeches out on to the pan, the oil that allows it to become crunchy, makes me wonder. Maybe I should get the unbreaded ones and bread them myself on demand?
DINNER: 5:45pm, cheese ravioli & spinach, grenadine soda, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
2 lbs of frozen mini cheese raviolis, a pound of frozen spinach cooked with a little olive oil and 3 cloves of garlic, a cup of homemade tomato sauce, all thrown into a pot and mixed together. Not the yummiest -- the ravioli are so bland -- but filling and could be worse, I suppose. Ate a small second helping in hopes of avoiding snacks in the evening.
EVENING SNACK: 7:45pm, banana bread, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Thursday, February 9
Granola bars to the rescue
Hung out with old friend J and Mil in the afternoon, walking around, kinda skipped lunch but I had some homemade granola bars with me to stay sane, and had a small lunch when we got home after picking up Edles from school.
Fried up a nice sausage from Whole Foods with dinner -- unlike a lot of different meats from a butcher case, one link is 1/3 lb, a good single portion with no worrying about using the meat over several days.
TODAY'S COOKING:
Granola: My friend brought me a gift of a huge 32oz jar of artisinal granola, but I went a made this anyway. The jarred stuff was fresh, organic and full of healthy stuff, but still too sweet for my palate and had walnuts in it, whose flavor just doesn't appeal to me.
Brown Rice Pilaf: Sauteed a cup of shortgrain brown rice in 4 tbsp of butter for a solid ten minutes. Added water, half cup of slivered almonds, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, onion & garlic powders. Came out pretty good, though the almonds had less impact then I thought they had -- next time I'll sautee them with the rice.
Iced Tea: Another 2 gallons, each gallon with 1/4 cup of white sugar.
AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
Last pint of the 2 gallon batch. Noticed it tasted a little funky, from being in the fridge too long. Hmmmm.
BREAKFAST: 9:45am, toasted pumpernickel bagel with scallion creamcheese, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
I was looking in the cupboard for a healthier breakfast -- had smoothie yesterday, oatmeal soon but not today -- and realized I had to change it up or risk getting bored. Makes me think perhaps I should make a load of my own bagels, a pumpernickel bagel with proper 100% whole grains, rye and wheat, and just freeze them. Won't be cheaper than buying them, but will be fun and healthier...
PM SNACK: 1pm, granola bar, seltzer, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 2:45pm, pickle
LUNCH: 3:30pm, whole grain chicken nuggets, health salad, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6pm, momma salad, andouie pork sausage, brown rice pilaf, roasted acorn squash, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
I don't like acorn squash that much -- I suspect it has such a high water content that it makes the flesh a little bit too juicy, despite being roasted at high heat for more than an hour. Weirdly sweet, too, like a sweet potato (another thing I don't like.) Well, I ate it, despite remembering that I don't like it, hrumph.
EVENING SNACK: 8pm, whole wheat ritz & nutella, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Went hard. Lunch and dinner were both too small.
EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, 3 small buttermilk pancakes, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Fried up a nice sausage from Whole Foods with dinner -- unlike a lot of different meats from a butcher case, one link is 1/3 lb, a good single portion with no worrying about using the meat over several days.
TODAY'S COOKING:
Granola: My friend brought me a gift of a huge 32oz jar of artisinal granola, but I went a made this anyway. The jarred stuff was fresh, organic and full of healthy stuff, but still too sweet for my palate and had walnuts in it, whose flavor just doesn't appeal to me.
Brown Rice Pilaf: Sauteed a cup of shortgrain brown rice in 4 tbsp of butter for a solid ten minutes. Added water, half cup of slivered almonds, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, onion & garlic powders. Came out pretty good, though the almonds had less impact then I thought they had -- next time I'll sautee them with the rice.
Iced Tea: Another 2 gallons, each gallon with 1/4 cup of white sugar.
AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
Last pint of the 2 gallon batch. Noticed it tasted a little funky, from being in the fridge too long. Hmmmm.
BREAKFAST: 9:45am, toasted pumpernickel bagel with scallion creamcheese, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
I was looking in the cupboard for a healthier breakfast -- had smoothie yesterday, oatmeal soon but not today -- and realized I had to change it up or risk getting bored. Makes me think perhaps I should make a load of my own bagels, a pumpernickel bagel with proper 100% whole grains, rye and wheat, and just freeze them. Won't be cheaper than buying them, but will be fun and healthier...
PM SNACK: 1pm, granola bar, seltzer, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 2:45pm, pickle
LUNCH: 3:30pm, whole grain chicken nuggets, health salad, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6pm, momma salad, andouie pork sausage, brown rice pilaf, roasted acorn squash, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
I don't like acorn squash that much -- I suspect it has such a high water content that it makes the flesh a little bit too juicy, despite being roasted at high heat for more than an hour. Weirdly sweet, too, like a sweet potato (another thing I don't like.) Well, I ate it, despite remembering that I don't like it, hrumph.
EVENING SNACK: 8pm, whole wheat ritz & nutella, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Went hard. Lunch and dinner were both too small.
EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, 3 small buttermilk pancakes, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Wednesday, February 8
Up the Walls
And old friend and her toddler come over in the morning to hang out and share smoothies, had coverage in the afternoon and took myself out to lunch -- in a few weeks, I'll be teaching on Wednesdays, too, but we put the child care coverage down in advance. Nice dinner at a friend's in the hood with kids crawling up the walls.
TODAY'S COOKING
White Bean Dip: Made this recipe pretty much faithfully, an alternative to bottled salad dressing. It came out nice and salad-dressing runny, but I wonder how it'll thicken when it's chilled... I suppose even if it thickens to hummus-like standards, it'll still liven up the momma style salad.
Health Salad: Kinda forgot about this slaw, a good simple side.
AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 10am, smoothie, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Yep, lose the raspberries, halve the pineapple, and we'll have a divine smoothie. Pretty good, makes me feel good, but look forward to working through the gallon of frozen fruit to create a new mix...
LUNCH: 1:30pm, veg dim sum, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Took myself out to lunch, but improved. I always order too much when I go to veg dim sum by myself, but I limited myself to 3 small plates and it was a nice, proper amount in which I was able to finish everything and feel good after. Not enough veg, very starchy, but it hit the spot.
DINNER: 6:45pm, shake n' bake boneless chicken thigh, boxed mac n' cheese, a little roasted broc, 2 wedges of salted chocolate caramel tart, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Took the fam over to a neighbor's house for dinner, a little bit raucous but a good time. Brought the last of the 3 tarts I made for the stupor bowl -- I wiped off about 2/3 of the finishing salt before presenting it, was definitely more balanced....
EVENING SNACK; 9:45pm, Special K with milk. .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
TODAY'S COOKING
White Bean Dip: Made this recipe pretty much faithfully, an alternative to bottled salad dressing. It came out nice and salad-dressing runny, but I wonder how it'll thicken when it's chilled... I suppose even if it thickens to hummus-like standards, it'll still liven up the momma style salad.
Health Salad: Kinda forgot about this slaw, a good simple side.
AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 10am, smoothie, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Yep, lose the raspberries, halve the pineapple, and we'll have a divine smoothie. Pretty good, makes me feel good, but look forward to working through the gallon of frozen fruit to create a new mix...
LUNCH: 1:30pm, veg dim sum, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Took myself out to lunch, but improved. I always order too much when I go to veg dim sum by myself, but I limited myself to 3 small plates and it was a nice, proper amount in which I was able to finish everything and feel good after. Not enough veg, very starchy, but it hit the spot.
DINNER: 6:45pm, shake n' bake boneless chicken thigh, boxed mac n' cheese, a little roasted broc, 2 wedges of salted chocolate caramel tart, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Took the fam over to a neighbor's house for dinner, a little bit raucous but a good time. Brought the last of the 3 tarts I made for the stupor bowl -- I wiped off about 2/3 of the finishing salt before presenting it, was definitely more balanced....
EVENING SNACK; 9:45pm, Special K with milk. .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Tuesday, February 7
A Nice Granola Bar
Got into a funky mood last night, continuing through the morning. Forgot to eat breakfast while taking care of Milli Mil, doing the laundry, cutting back my beard, etc, but a nice granola bar held me over.
Started teaching a new culinary class, these kids are a year younger than who I've been teaching, 15 to 16, and I'm surprised at the difference. A little bit more hand holding, a little less explanatory oratory, a little more cat-herding to clean up. Still, the food turned them on and got mostly positive feedback at the end of the lesson.
Still, our meal wasn't the healthiest, so I ate lightly, and by the time I got home, I shoveled in some unhealthy snacks and that was that.
AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea
LUNCH: 11:45am, turkey & Swiss on sprouted whole wheat bread, baby spinach & carrot salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
The bread struck me as kinda tiny, so I toasted a second pair while I ate the first, but half way through my sandwich I realized it was really dense bread and that it would be enough.
PM SNACK: 1:15pm, granola bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
SCHOOL DINNER: 7pm, chimichurri flank steak, mac n' cheese, sauteed spinach, water, a little grape soda, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 9pm, potato chips, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 10pm, whole wheat ritz and nutella, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Started teaching a new culinary class, these kids are a year younger than who I've been teaching, 15 to 16, and I'm surprised at the difference. A little bit more hand holding, a little less explanatory oratory, a little more cat-herding to clean up. Still, the food turned them on and got mostly positive feedback at the end of the lesson.
Still, our meal wasn't the healthiest, so I ate lightly, and by the time I got home, I shoveled in some unhealthy snacks and that was that.
AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea
LUNCH: 11:45am, turkey & Swiss on sprouted whole wheat bread, baby spinach & carrot salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
The bread struck me as kinda tiny, so I toasted a second pair while I ate the first, but half way through my sandwich I realized it was really dense bread and that it would be enough.
PM SNACK: 1:15pm, granola bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
SCHOOL DINNER: 7pm, chimichurri flank steak, mac n' cheese, sauteed spinach, water, a little grape soda, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 9pm, potato chips, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 10pm, whole wheat ritz and nutella, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Monday, February 6
Off the Chart
Woke up to my phone alarm -- B woke up early and got out the door around then for her first day of work, and miraculously both chillun remained asleep. Got both of them up, fed, dressed and the big one to school, and lifted weights when I got home.
Have been enjoyed the baby spinach salads, but I need to change it up. It's slightly bitter, chalky taste begs for accompaniment, which has been met with baby carrots and creamy Cesar from a bottle. The carrots are fine, but I need to make my own creamy dressing. The ranch recipes I've looked at call for butter milk (yay!), sour cream (eh) and mayo (ewwww.) Makes me think I should just invent my own, and hope the buttermilk and fresh herbs can give the right flavor. I can make cream fraiche again with the buttermilk and some cream, and make my own mayo. Soup it up with fresh herbs, vinegar and maybe water to thin it. Could be good, but how long would it last in the fridge? It won't be the forever-stuff like you buy in the bottle...
I bought a pound of spinach, and including the one more left, I've gotten about 5 servings out of it. I think in the future I will rotate momma style salad / spinach salad and chopped poppa salad. Need to get one more in there and will have a month's round of salads!
AM SNACK: 7:15am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9:45am, hardcore oatmeal, banana, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Funny how what was two servings of oatmeal the first time became 3 solid servings the second time.
LUNCH: 12:30pm, chicken parm hero on whole wheat, spinach salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
This time reheated chicken and bread in micro, added more sauce and a bit more cheese, and set the broiler to lo instead of hi. Edges of bread still burned, but tasty. Add around the bottom half of the bread, leaving over about 1/3 of it uneaten. Chicken, how ever, was pretty good despite being almost a week old. Three solid meals out of one chicken boob!
DINNER: 5:30pm, angel hair pasta with roasted brussel sprouts, momma style salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 6:30pm, whole wheat ritz with nutella, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, left over angel hair pasta, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
I suspect I did not eat enough today, ravings for sugar and carbs off the chart.
Have been enjoyed the baby spinach salads, but I need to change it up. It's slightly bitter, chalky taste begs for accompaniment, which has been met with baby carrots and creamy Cesar from a bottle. The carrots are fine, but I need to make my own creamy dressing. The ranch recipes I've looked at call for butter milk (yay!), sour cream (eh) and mayo (ewwww.) Makes me think I should just invent my own, and hope the buttermilk and fresh herbs can give the right flavor. I can make cream fraiche again with the buttermilk and some cream, and make my own mayo. Soup it up with fresh herbs, vinegar and maybe water to thin it. Could be good, but how long would it last in the fridge? It won't be the forever-stuff like you buy in the bottle...
I bought a pound of spinach, and including the one more left, I've gotten about 5 servings out of it. I think in the future I will rotate momma style salad / spinach salad and chopped poppa salad. Need to get one more in there and will have a month's round of salads!
AM SNACK: 7:15am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9:45am, hardcore oatmeal, banana, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Funny how what was two servings of oatmeal the first time became 3 solid servings the second time.
LUNCH: 12:30pm, chicken parm hero on whole wheat, spinach salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
This time reheated chicken and bread in micro, added more sauce and a bit more cheese, and set the broiler to lo instead of hi. Edges of bread still burned, but tasty. Add around the bottom half of the bread, leaving over about 1/3 of it uneaten. Chicken, how ever, was pretty good despite being almost a week old. Three solid meals out of one chicken boob!
DINNER: 5:30pm, angel hair pasta with roasted brussel sprouts, momma style salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 6:30pm, whole wheat ritz with nutella, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, left over angel hair pasta, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
I suspect I did not eat enough today, ravings for sugar and carbs off the chart.
Sunday, February 5
A pretty good apple
Another hard night with babies up here and there, but with a new approach and a newly put-up gate, hopefully things will settle soon. Took Edie out in the morning for a big food shop, as it has occurred to me now that B will be at work, it'll be difficult to haul weight by foot with Milli Mil -- he's too young for a bicycle.
Took Mil to a friend's Superbowl party in Brooklyn. She made a veritable feast of fancy food, though due to some appetite-destroying cupcakes B inflicted on me in the afternoon, it was easy to go easy. My salted chocolate caramel tart was good, though I went a little too heavy on the finishing salt.
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, iced green tea, hardcore oatmeal, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 11:45am, brussel sprout fried brown rice , baby spinach with a few baby carrots and a little creamy Cesar dressing, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
A powerfully nutritious lunch, in advance of a dinner that'll be very, ummm, American.
PM SNACK: 1pm, an apple
A crisp, cold fuji apple is pretty delicious, but it's even more delicious when cut up, munched on while on the couch, and your 2.5 yr old comes up, puts her head on your shoulder, and shares it with you. Mmmmmmmmm!
PM SNACK: 3pm, 2 cupcakes, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
-sigh- B brought these back for me, after a few hours out and about while I looked after the kids. I guess she didn't get the memo. Didn't stop them from jumping down my neck quite quickly, though.
SUPERBOWL DINNER: 6pm, a few vegetarian dumplings, pulled pork on a steamed bun with a little kimchi, 1 beer, 1 slice of salted chocolate caramel tart, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Took Mil to a friend's Superbowl party in Brooklyn. She made a veritable feast of fancy food, though due to some appetite-destroying cupcakes B inflicted on me in the afternoon, it was easy to go easy. My salted chocolate caramel tart was good, though I went a little too heavy on the finishing salt.
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, iced green tea, hardcore oatmeal, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 11:45am, brussel sprout fried brown rice , baby spinach with a few baby carrots and a little creamy Cesar dressing, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
A powerfully nutritious lunch, in advance of a dinner that'll be very, ummm, American.
PM SNACK: 1pm, an apple
A crisp, cold fuji apple is pretty delicious, but it's even more delicious when cut up, munched on while on the couch, and your 2.5 yr old comes up, puts her head on your shoulder, and shares it with you. Mmmmmmmmm!
PM SNACK: 3pm, 2 cupcakes, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
-sigh- B brought these back for me, after a few hours out and about while I looked after the kids. I guess she didn't get the memo. Didn't stop them from jumping down my neck quite quickly, though.
SUPERBOWL DINNER: 6pm, a few vegetarian dumplings, pulled pork on a steamed bun with a little kimchi, 1 beer, 1 slice of salted chocolate caramel tart, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Saturday, February 4
Pancakes to the Extreme
A restless night of babies, toddler and wives up all night in varying degrees. Took the Es to a birthday party in the neighborhood while B slept in, and in the afternoon B's mom came over, and I got in a solid 3 hour nap. Ordered in food, kept the night as easy as possible.
TODAY'S COOKING
Pancakes: Had a cup of cream fraiche from the torte work, as well as a cup of cream and a quart of buttermilk. So I threw them all in, and unsurprisingly the fat/moisture ratio really interfered with gluten creation, leaving tender, silky pancakes in their wake. Wow. Really good, but I think next time I'm going to go with whole wheat pastry flower to preserve the tenderness while adding a nutty flavor/making it healthier.
AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 8:15am, pancakes, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: noon, 2 slices streetza, cucumbers & baby carrots, a small square of birthday cake, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
At a 3 yr olds birthday party at the playroom. Thankfully mostly healthy food, fruit & veg, on display, though after one juice box, Edles was braying for another, but I would not let her. She definitely seems to have my (and my dad's) sweet tooth....
PM SNACK: 6pm, baby spinach with a few baby carrots and creamy cesar dressing, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
The mild chalky bitterness of raw spinach is hard to down without an accompaniment. The crunchy sweetness of baby carrots work perfectly.
DINNER: 6:45pm, curry puffs, spicy string beans & tofu with sticky rice, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
With grandma in the house saving our butts, we ordered in. I stayed on the healthier side, a small deep fried meaty app, but the bulk of the meal was string bean and tofu, as opposed to a rice or noodle.
EVENING SNACK: 7:45pm, granola bar
EVENING SNACK; 8:45pm, potato chips, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 11pm, half a bad chocolate bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Around the world of cravings in evening snacks. Mast Brothers make some horrible chocolate, with these high fruity bitter notes that taste like a mistake. Well, it's Saturday night, it's the parent's equivalent of going ape shit on a night out!
TODAY'S COOKING
Pancakes: Had a cup of cream fraiche from the torte work, as well as a cup of cream and a quart of buttermilk. So I threw them all in, and unsurprisingly the fat/moisture ratio really interfered with gluten creation, leaving tender, silky pancakes in their wake. Wow. Really good, but I think next time I'm going to go with whole wheat pastry flower to preserve the tenderness while adding a nutty flavor/making it healthier.
AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 8:15am, pancakes, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: noon, 2 slices streetza, cucumbers & baby carrots, a small square of birthday cake, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
At a 3 yr olds birthday party at the playroom. Thankfully mostly healthy food, fruit & veg, on display, though after one juice box, Edles was braying for another, but I would not let her. She definitely seems to have my (and my dad's) sweet tooth....
PM SNACK: 6pm, baby spinach with a few baby carrots and creamy cesar dressing, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
The mild chalky bitterness of raw spinach is hard to down without an accompaniment. The crunchy sweetness of baby carrots work perfectly.
DINNER: 6:45pm, curry puffs, spicy string beans & tofu with sticky rice, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
With grandma in the house saving our butts, we ordered in. I stayed on the healthier side, a small deep fried meaty app, but the bulk of the meal was string bean and tofu, as opposed to a rice or noodle.
EVENING SNACK: 7:45pm, granola bar
EVENING SNACK; 8:45pm, potato chips, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 11pm, half a bad chocolate bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Around the world of cravings in evening snacks. Mast Brothers make some horrible chocolate, with these high fruity bitter notes that taste like a mistake. Well, it's Saturday night, it's the parent's equivalent of going ape shit on a night out!
Friday, February 3
Feeling French, haw haw HAAAAW!
I feel so French, on the morning walk with Milli, was thinking about the day's eats. How can I make my lunch of chicken parm a bit healthier than just breaded fried chicken meat? Surround it by healthy stuff! I walked by Wholefoods and picked up a whole wheat baguette to make a chicken parm hero and a pound of baby spinach to make a super easy green salad.
It's good to up my salad game, as though I have been greatly enjoying the resurgence of momma-style salad in my diet, it will eventually get boring.
TODAY'S COOKING:
Shrimp & Brussel Sprout Fried Rice: I surprised myself how much I liked this dish, taking the edge off the longing for take out. This morning, cooked up a cup of short grain brown rice with a little soy sauce, then put it in the fridge. This evening, quartered a pound of brussels and roasted them the usual way, at 400 for 20 minutes after being tossed with oil, salt and pepper. Minced an onion. Caste iron wok heated on high, peanut oil, tossed in some crushed garlic cloves and slices of fresh ginger. Tossed for a minute to flavor the oil, then got them out. Added onion, let cook until slightly soft, about 3 minutes. Tossed in cold rice, a few table spoons of sweet cooking sake. Tossed in cooked brussels. Finished with some sesame oil. Cleared the wok, threw in some quartered raw shrimp until cooked, along with a little more sake. Tossed with my portion, as the rest was for my vegetarian bride, hrumph.
AM SNACK: 7:15am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 7:45, revised smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Replaced milk with acai juice, and added blackberries, raspberries and pineapple to the current mix of banana, blueberries, cherries, mango and peach. Spirulina, flax, a dash of salt (waiting on a new batch of vanilla extract.) Two comments: pineapple is such a dominant flavor, gonna cut it back by half next time. Also, the little hard seeds of the raspberries is unappealing, but due to so many other fruits, not a big deal.
Did two things to speed up production: I emptied all the fruits from their various baggies and made one big gallon-sized plastic bag of mix fruit. Unfortunately, pineapple looks just like mango so I'll just have to bear it. Also, I noticed the acai juice is only good 1 week from opening, and this is two months worth of acai, so I poured it into 3 ice cube trays, and once solid, will keep them in a bag next to the fruit bag.
LUNCH: 11:45am, chicken parm hero on wholewheat, baby spinach salad, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
The whole wheat baguette was kinda meh, probably not the freshest. I used 1 half, split it, inserted the two oblong pieces of chicken, added a bit more sauce, and put it under the broiler for 5 minutes. The chicken got hot and got a little char on the bread, which was great, but not enough. Next time, will probably reheat the whole thing in a micro before the broiler. Not sure what to do about the bread, other than either make it or find better bread. The salad was just the baby spinach with some bottled Italian dressing, simple, satisfying.
DINNER: 5:45pm, shrimp & brussel sprout fried rice, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Really enjoyed this. Maybe a little bit greasier than a super-healthy meal, but it was full of whole grain, greens and tasted....satisfying. Not nearly as salty as the take out stuff.
EVENING SNACK: 7:15pm, homemade granola bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 8:15pm, popcorn, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
It's good to up my salad game, as though I have been greatly enjoying the resurgence of momma-style salad in my diet, it will eventually get boring.
TODAY'S COOKING:
Shrimp & Brussel Sprout Fried Rice: I surprised myself how much I liked this dish, taking the edge off the longing for take out. This morning, cooked up a cup of short grain brown rice with a little soy sauce, then put it in the fridge. This evening, quartered a pound of brussels and roasted them the usual way, at 400 for 20 minutes after being tossed with oil, salt and pepper. Minced an onion. Caste iron wok heated on high, peanut oil, tossed in some crushed garlic cloves and slices of fresh ginger. Tossed for a minute to flavor the oil, then got them out. Added onion, let cook until slightly soft, about 3 minutes. Tossed in cold rice, a few table spoons of sweet cooking sake. Tossed in cooked brussels. Finished with some sesame oil. Cleared the wok, threw in some quartered raw shrimp until cooked, along with a little more sake. Tossed with my portion, as the rest was for my vegetarian bride, hrumph.
AM SNACK: 7:15am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 7:45, revised smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Replaced milk with acai juice, and added blackberries, raspberries and pineapple to the current mix of banana, blueberries, cherries, mango and peach. Spirulina, flax, a dash of salt (waiting on a new batch of vanilla extract.) Two comments: pineapple is such a dominant flavor, gonna cut it back by half next time. Also, the little hard seeds of the raspberries is unappealing, but due to so many other fruits, not a big deal.
Did two things to speed up production: I emptied all the fruits from their various baggies and made one big gallon-sized plastic bag of mix fruit. Unfortunately, pineapple looks just like mango so I'll just have to bear it. Also, I noticed the acai juice is only good 1 week from opening, and this is two months worth of acai, so I poured it into 3 ice cube trays, and once solid, will keep them in a bag next to the fruit bag.
LUNCH: 11:45am, chicken parm hero on wholewheat, baby spinach salad, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
The whole wheat baguette was kinda meh, probably not the freshest. I used 1 half, split it, inserted the two oblong pieces of chicken, added a bit more sauce, and put it under the broiler for 5 minutes. The chicken got hot and got a little char on the bread, which was great, but not enough. Next time, will probably reheat the whole thing in a micro before the broiler. Not sure what to do about the bread, other than either make it or find better bread. The salad was just the baby spinach with some bottled Italian dressing, simple, satisfying.
DINNER: 5:45pm, shrimp & brussel sprout fried rice, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Really enjoyed this. Maybe a little bit greasier than a super-healthy meal, but it was full of whole grain, greens and tasted....satisfying. Not nearly as salty as the take out stuff.
EVENING SNACK: 7:15pm, homemade granola bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 8:15pm, popcorn, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Thursday, February 2
Lunch with the 1%
Lifted weights this morning, paying attention to the feel of my body. I don't know if my slight weight gain is due to building muscle, but I do think that I've come back to the level of tone before I stopped lifting due to Baby Mil popping out.
AM SNACK: 8:15am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9:15am, hardcore oatmeal, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 12:30pm, a few bite sized fried things, breads & butter, lobster in tomato sauce, pork & parsnip, chocolate thingy thing, water, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5
Since B is reentering the work world next week, this was pretty much the last chance to go out one on one for a while, so I took her to Del Posto for lunch, a beautiful room, great food, 4 star service. This Italian food made my chicken parm last night look like dog food.
DINNER: 9pm, momma salad, kraft dinner, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
After that lunch, trying to make anything real would have been unpleasing...
AM SNACK: 8:15am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9:15am, hardcore oatmeal, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 12:30pm, a few bite sized fried things, breads & butter, lobster in tomato sauce, pork & parsnip, chocolate thingy thing, water, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5
Since B is reentering the work world next week, this was pretty much the last chance to go out one on one for a while, so I took her to Del Posto for lunch, a beautiful room, great food, 4 star service. This Italian food made my chicken parm last night look like dog food.
DINNER: 9pm, momma salad, kraft dinner, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
After that lunch, trying to make anything real would have been unpleasing...
Wednesday, February 1
Mom's great leap forward in Chicken technology
231--->226.8-->228.2
So I went up a little, no big deal -- last month's drop was attributable to not eating due to illness, the gain is practically a margin of error. I'm still surprisingly sore from Monday's workout, which reminds me that muscle is heavier than fat. I think for me to really see a difference on three fronts -- look skinnier, look toner and actually be lighter on the scale -- I should think more in terms of 6 months of consistent better eating and regular weights. I'll still limit myself to monthly weigh-ins, but will reevaluate at beginning of July. Y'know, bikini season.
TODAY'S COOKING:
Salted Chocolate Caramel Tart: For the Stuporbowl party I'm attending this weekend, I promised to make this recipe. It's a bit labor and time intensive, as the dough had to be made, pressed out, chilled baked and cooled. The caramel needed to be cooked, poured into shells then cooled four to 5 hours. Simple ganache had to be made, poured, then cooled again (or in this case frozen, to last to when delivery is.) The recipe calls for 9" pans, I only had 11", so I made 2 1/2 times the recipe.....and found I had enough stuff for THREE tarts. Hrumph. Well, they look good, I'll assume they taste good when I try it over the weekend...
Chicken Parmesan: My class made this last semester, at their insistence, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. It's not surprising, as this was one of my mother's signature dishes. I remember when I was 5 or 6, she got the recipe from someone who also summered at the rental bungalows we inhabited in the warm months. When I think about it, it's a simple dish, peasant food really, but for someone like my mom, to bread and pan fry a chicken breast was something foreign and challenging. Her chicken parm was gross, the meat was always dry AND greasy, the stale tasting crust would fall off in chunks before ever hitting the plate, the rubbery cheese not quite melted.
But it was a big deal -- the only way my mom made chicken was what me and dad referred to as "puke chicken", a braise in some sort of liquid that I assume involved ketchup. In later years as we entered the middle class, my mom would bring home roasted chickens from A&P, which were a huge step up.
I ate one breast yesterday, and it was a large portion. After slicing the 2nd breast into thin pieces for quick cooking, I got 6 reasonable pieces, enough for 3 medium portions (or 2 generous portions). I used standard breading procedure (dip in salted flour, dip in egg wash, dip in crumbs, straight into hot oil.) Instead of prepacked "seasoned crumbs", I used panko mixed with dry oregano for that crunch. My mom would try to cook through a whole breast in the oil, I just quickly browned the meat then into a glass pan on a bed of sauce. Cheeses, a little dollop of sauce, into the oven for 20 minutes - my mom would just place the cheese on the meat in the oil and hope for the heat of the goings-on to melt the cheese.
This definitely a once-in-a-blue moon food. Next time, more dry spices in the breadcrumbs, skip the bed of sauce in the pan and just put it on top.
AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9:30am, organic chex with organic dead milk, banana, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: noon, sardines & avocado and whole wheat sprouted bread, health salad, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 2:30pm, apple, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5:15pm, momma salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6pm, chicken parmigiana with angel hair pasta, grenadine soda, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Sure, it's big & American, it's not that healthy, but it's homemade from scratch and is part of who I am.
EVENING SNACK: 8pm, potato chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 10pm, peanuts & chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Well, I'm outta chips. Should I try to resist buying them in the market?
So I went up a little, no big deal -- last month's drop was attributable to not eating due to illness, the gain is practically a margin of error. I'm still surprisingly sore from Monday's workout, which reminds me that muscle is heavier than fat. I think for me to really see a difference on three fronts -- look skinnier, look toner and actually be lighter on the scale -- I should think more in terms of 6 months of consistent better eating and regular weights. I'll still limit myself to monthly weigh-ins, but will reevaluate at beginning of July. Y'know, bikini season.
TODAY'S COOKING:
Salted Chocolate Caramel Tart: For the Stuporbowl party I'm attending this weekend, I promised to make this recipe. It's a bit labor and time intensive, as the dough had to be made, pressed out, chilled baked and cooled. The caramel needed to be cooked, poured into shells then cooled four to 5 hours. Simple ganache had to be made, poured, then cooled again (or in this case frozen, to last to when delivery is.) The recipe calls for 9" pans, I only had 11", so I made 2 1/2 times the recipe.....and found I had enough stuff for THREE tarts. Hrumph. Well, they look good, I'll assume they taste good when I try it over the weekend...
Chicken Parmesan: My class made this last semester, at their insistence, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. It's not surprising, as this was one of my mother's signature dishes. I remember when I was 5 or 6, she got the recipe from someone who also summered at the rental bungalows we inhabited in the warm months. When I think about it, it's a simple dish, peasant food really, but for someone like my mom, to bread and pan fry a chicken breast was something foreign and challenging. Her chicken parm was gross, the meat was always dry AND greasy, the stale tasting crust would fall off in chunks before ever hitting the plate, the rubbery cheese not quite melted.
But it was a big deal -- the only way my mom made chicken was what me and dad referred to as "puke chicken", a braise in some sort of liquid that I assume involved ketchup. In later years as we entered the middle class, my mom would bring home roasted chickens from A&P, which were a huge step up.
I ate one breast yesterday, and it was a large portion. After slicing the 2nd breast into thin pieces for quick cooking, I got 6 reasonable pieces, enough for 3 medium portions (or 2 generous portions). I used standard breading procedure (dip in salted flour, dip in egg wash, dip in crumbs, straight into hot oil.) Instead of prepacked "seasoned crumbs", I used panko mixed with dry oregano for that crunch. My mom would try to cook through a whole breast in the oil, I just quickly browned the meat then into a glass pan on a bed of sauce. Cheeses, a little dollop of sauce, into the oven for 20 minutes - my mom would just place the cheese on the meat in the oil and hope for the heat of the goings-on to melt the cheese.
This definitely a once-in-a-blue moon food. Next time, more dry spices in the breadcrumbs, skip the bed of sauce in the pan and just put it on top.
AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9:30am, organic chex with organic dead milk, banana, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: noon, sardines & avocado and whole wheat sprouted bread, health salad, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 2:30pm, apple, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5:15pm, momma salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6pm, chicken parmigiana with angel hair pasta, grenadine soda, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Sure, it's big & American, it's not that healthy, but it's homemade from scratch and is part of who I am.
EVENING SNACK: 8pm, potato chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 10pm, peanuts & chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Well, I'm outta chips. Should I try to resist buying them in the market?
Tuesday, January 31
Tastes like chicken (Damn you, Liam Neeson!)
I can't imagine who reads this blog -- the stat counter says between 6 and 12 people read this thing every day. (Hello, LTF massive!) It's probably clear to all you out in internet land the motivation for this blog is to recite out loud what I eat, and the thoughts and pressures behind it, more for my own benefit than the world's. Like a kid who reads out loud rather than in his head to increase absorption, this blog is my thoughts out loud to keep myself honest to myself. And every once in a while I'll look at an entry 1, 2 even 4 or 5 years back to see where my head (& stomach) was. Weird, I've been doing this that long. I guess despite the content, you're reading because I'm regular. He he, I'm regular. But that's a whole nuther kinda blog.
The reason I bring this up is that I've hit up all my other social media with news that I'm riding as Team Captain for the Blue Card team in the 5 Boro Bike Ride -- the Blue Card is a charity that gives funds to destitute Holocaust survivors. I need to raise some dosh, so here's the link:
http://www.imathlete.com/donate/NoahWildman
Learning to Feed readers represent! $200+ gets knishes! Back to your regular programming...
Woke up feeling shitty, a rough night unrelated to kids. Insomnia, then restless sleep due to stuffy nose and mucusy throat. Had a weird dream of being in French class with Liam Neeson, the teacher was Tilda Swinton, and I suspected Liam was a spy looking to destroy the free world, and I was jealous of him, because I wanted to do that too! And Tilda always called on him, not me!
Woke up sore, too, more than usual. I did have a good work out yesterday, warmed up by the bike ride haul of kid furniture from Brooklyn. I've been pushing a little harder on the pull ups (some day, I will do one, but I have started going from -no movement- to a slight lift of maybe an inch, so that's something!) but in particular there is one leg exercise that gets me every time. Because of my cycling, leg exercises don't do too much for me even with added weight, except for wide squats. They work my inner thighs and backs of legs. I go full on with my heaviest weight (52.5) and though my reps are 5, I usually do 7 or 8 because it doesn't feel THAT challenging. Yet every time (I rotate my exercise by muscle groups, so it is 1 of 6 leg exercises), my inner thighs are painful the next day, making walking stiff. This is a good thing I suppose, as this part of my legs are not being worked out by bike riding, and having tone and muscle mass in other parts can only help and protect me. Perhaps I should add squats as an every-time exercise, separate from the leg exercises group...
The morning was dedicated to baby luvin' and midweek laundry washin' - long gone are the days of the once a week laundry.Out in the afternoon with an old friend, Edie time, then internet and TV all eve while I took care of Milli.
AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9am, granola bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Popped another vitamin C.
LUNCH: 11:30am, green salad, pizza, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Out at Patsy's with an old, old friend I haven't really spoken to since my wedding. We ate our traditional meal, splitting a large salad and a large pizza. I left the bones (i.e. crusts) over.
PM SNACK: 5pm, momma salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 5:45pm, grilled chicken breast, tabouli, butternut squash soup, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Hammered out a chicken boob to a 1/2 inch thick, tossed with olive oil, salt and Worcestershire sauce, and grilled for a good 5 minutes on each side to get some nice marks (though I smoked out the house a little.) Amazing how good a properly grilled, fresh chicken breast can be. Usually when you buy that kind of stuff, it's been sitting around and dry, or worse. This quick grill left the meat moist, the hammering left it tender.
The portion was a little large, about 9oz of chicken, in hopes the extra protein would leave me without cravings in the evening...
EVENING SNACK: 7pm, peanuts & chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5'
EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, potato chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
I guess that chicken didn't do the trick! Tried to resist, but was flat out hungry. Not the best snacks this evening, tomorrow will be better. Gotta mix it up or I'll get bored (and discouraged.)
The reason I bring this up is that I've hit up all my other social media with news that I'm riding as Team Captain for the Blue Card team in the 5 Boro Bike Ride -- the Blue Card is a charity that gives funds to destitute Holocaust survivors. I need to raise some dosh, so here's the link:
http://www.imathlete.com/donate/NoahWildman
Learning to Feed readers represent! $200+ gets knishes! Back to your regular programming...
Woke up feeling shitty, a rough night unrelated to kids. Insomnia, then restless sleep due to stuffy nose and mucusy throat. Had a weird dream of being in French class with Liam Neeson, the teacher was Tilda Swinton, and I suspected Liam was a spy looking to destroy the free world, and I was jealous of him, because I wanted to do that too! And Tilda always called on him, not me!
Woke up sore, too, more than usual. I did have a good work out yesterday, warmed up by the bike ride haul of kid furniture from Brooklyn. I've been pushing a little harder on the pull ups (some day, I will do one, but I have started going from -no movement- to a slight lift of maybe an inch, so that's something!) but in particular there is one leg exercise that gets me every time. Because of my cycling, leg exercises don't do too much for me even with added weight, except for wide squats. They work my inner thighs and backs of legs. I go full on with my heaviest weight (52.5) and though my reps are 5, I usually do 7 or 8 because it doesn't feel THAT challenging. Yet every time (I rotate my exercise by muscle groups, so it is 1 of 6 leg exercises), my inner thighs are painful the next day, making walking stiff. This is a good thing I suppose, as this part of my legs are not being worked out by bike riding, and having tone and muscle mass in other parts can only help and protect me. Perhaps I should add squats as an every-time exercise, separate from the leg exercises group...
The morning was dedicated to baby luvin' and midweek laundry washin' - long gone are the days of the once a week laundry.Out in the afternoon with an old friend, Edie time, then internet and TV all eve while I took care of Milli.
AM SNACK: 8am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9am, granola bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Popped another vitamin C.
LUNCH: 11:30am, green salad, pizza, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Out at Patsy's with an old, old friend I haven't really spoken to since my wedding. We ate our traditional meal, splitting a large salad and a large pizza. I left the bones (i.e. crusts) over.
PM SNACK: 5pm, momma salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 5:45pm, grilled chicken breast, tabouli, butternut squash soup, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Hammered out a chicken boob to a 1/2 inch thick, tossed with olive oil, salt and Worcestershire sauce, and grilled for a good 5 minutes on each side to get some nice marks (though I smoked out the house a little.) Amazing how good a properly grilled, fresh chicken breast can be. Usually when you buy that kind of stuff, it's been sitting around and dry, or worse. This quick grill left the meat moist, the hammering left it tender.
The portion was a little large, about 9oz of chicken, in hopes the extra protein would leave me without cravings in the evening...
EVENING SNACK: 7pm, peanuts & chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5'
EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, potato chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
I guess that chicken didn't do the trick! Tried to resist, but was flat out hungry. Not the best snacks this evening, tomorrow will be better. Gotta mix it up or I'll get bored (and discouraged.)
Monday, January 30
An Apple a Day means a little less chocolate!
Woke up late -- our usual alarm clocks (da kidz) didn't go off and B got up at 7:45, and got Edie out the door while I slept with Milli Mil. Got up at 8:30 with a sore throat and stuffy nose, worse than yesterday. Still have energy and a clear head, so it's not a HUGE deal, but I popped a vitamin C to help things along.
A good day. Road the cargo bike to B's cousin's house in Brooklym and transported a child's desk and chairs over. Lifted weights, walked to Wholefoods with Milford, did a little light cooking.
Good news: Just picked up a new cooking class for a semester, will be teaching it starting next week through April, overlapping the other class I teach by a month. We'll see how it goes, hopefully it'll become a regular thing.
TODAY'S COOKING
Tabouli: While making the week's mama salad, whipped up some simple tabouli. 1 cup of bulgar wheat into 2 cups of salted boiling water, sit for 30 minutes. Mixed in one deseed chopped tomato, 2 deseeded chopped cucumbers, minced bunch of mint, minced bunch of parsley, a small amount of grated red onion, some olive oil. Forgot to get a lemon, will hit it tomorrow.
AM SNACK: 8:45am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9:15am, good yogurt with almonds, vanilla and agave, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
I squirted the agave into the yogurt assuming it would flow like honey, and ended up shooting too much in. I poured as much as I could off, but it was still too loose and sweet. Oh well, probably still not as sweet as a McDonald's "healthy" yogurt parfait.
LUNCH: 12:30pm, turkey & swiss on whole wheat, health salad, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Toasted the bread and zapped the filling in the micro for 30 seconds, made for a much more satisfying sandwich.
PM SNACK: 3:30pm, brown rice avocado cucumber nori roll, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Out to Wholefoods with Mil strapped to me, forgot to grab a granola bar on the way out. Considered a slice o' streetza or a hotdog on the way over, but occured to me half way there would probably some sort of appetizing but healthy snack at the market.
PM SNACK: 6pm, momma salad, with carrot dip, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 7:30pm, leftover whole wheat penne with beef gravy, spinach and a little broc, an apple, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
The pasta wasn't too appetizing, and when I sniffed it I almost hope it went bad. But it was fine, and afet zapping, the umami-ness of the brisket braising-liquid derived gravy was nice, beefy, mushroomy. After finishing, felt the urge for desert, for sweet. I bought some nice fujis the other day, so cut up some big apple chunks, and it left me feeling satiated. Though in the back of my mind I feel a salt/greasy urge building....
EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, potato chips. .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, frozen waffle, the 2 last mini bagel wrapped hot dogs, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
A good day. Road the cargo bike to B's cousin's house in Brooklym and transported a child's desk and chairs over. Lifted weights, walked to Wholefoods with Milford, did a little light cooking.
Good news: Just picked up a new cooking class for a semester, will be teaching it starting next week through April, overlapping the other class I teach by a month. We'll see how it goes, hopefully it'll become a regular thing.
TODAY'S COOKING
Tabouli: While making the week's mama salad, whipped up some simple tabouli. 1 cup of bulgar wheat into 2 cups of salted boiling water, sit for 30 minutes. Mixed in one deseed chopped tomato, 2 deseeded chopped cucumbers, minced bunch of mint, minced bunch of parsley, a small amount of grated red onion, some olive oil. Forgot to get a lemon, will hit it tomorrow.
AM SNACK: 8:45am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9:15am, good yogurt with almonds, vanilla and agave, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
I squirted the agave into the yogurt assuming it would flow like honey, and ended up shooting too much in. I poured as much as I could off, but it was still too loose and sweet. Oh well, probably still not as sweet as a McDonald's "healthy" yogurt parfait.
LUNCH: 12:30pm, turkey & swiss on whole wheat, health salad, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Toasted the bread and zapped the filling in the micro for 30 seconds, made for a much more satisfying sandwich.
PM SNACK: 3:30pm, brown rice avocado cucumber nori roll, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Out to Wholefoods with Mil strapped to me, forgot to grab a granola bar on the way out. Considered a slice o' streetza or a hotdog on the way over, but occured to me half way there would probably some sort of appetizing but healthy snack at the market.
PM SNACK: 6pm, momma salad, with carrot dip, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 7:30pm, leftover whole wheat penne with beef gravy, spinach and a little broc, an apple, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
The pasta wasn't too appetizing, and when I sniffed it I almost hope it went bad. But it was fine, and afet zapping, the umami-ness of the brisket braising-liquid derived gravy was nice, beefy, mushroomy. After finishing, felt the urge for desert, for sweet. I bought some nice fujis the other day, so cut up some big apple chunks, and it left me feeling satiated. Though in the back of my mind I feel a salt/greasy urge building....
EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, potato chips. .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, frozen waffle, the 2 last mini bagel wrapped hot dogs, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Sunday, January 29
A Model Sunday
Got to bed around 9pm, feeling run down. Slept fitfully, because/regardless of baby getting up for B to feed, but thank goodness Edie slept through the night. Woke up with slightly stuffy nose and sore throat, but full of energy. Perhaps my better diet is pulling me through? Spent the first half of the day food shopping with Edie then making apple pies, the middle of the day hosting a nice brunch with K&C, a respite of taking Edie out for an hour to run around, then the the third part of the day was a bike ride to Park Slope to meet E for adult dinner. A pretty good Sunday, bye the bye.
One thing of note, I had no cravings in the evening, but dinner was rather heavy. Also, this emerging head cold got me in bed by 11, which may have had an effect on my evening appetite...
TODAY'S COOKING:
Apple Pie: Entertaining guests, most food was either dead simple (roasting brussels, making bagel chips, searing shrimp) or already made (carrot dip, pumpkin knishes) but no real desserts on hand. So this morning I made the dough, a doubling of this recipe, and in the late morning made some free-style apple pie filling - 10 lbs of granny smiths peeled, cored and sliced, a handful of brown sugar, handful of white, a scoop of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg, salt, a big dash of corn starch for thickening goo-action. Rolled out dough between pieces of wax paper to make the transfer easier, but the side against the stone still got a little sticky. Over all, though, these were some of the better looking pies I've done (though if I had a cold room, it would be a lot easier, or maybe next time I'll roll in wax then put them in the fridge for an hour....)
The three pies came out OK, a little bit dry on the inside for my taste, the crust a little gummy. Maybe I should have let them go a little longer in the oven...
Shrimp veloute: Inspired by the brisket gravy, I tapped my c-school memories and made a simple sauce for the shrimp. Instead of throwing out the shrimp shells, I simmered them in a pint of water for about 30 minutes with some bay leaves. Strained it into a holding bowl, then whisked 2 tbsp of olive oil and 2 tbsp of flour in the pot until it smelled toasty. Slowly fed the hot shrimp stock into the pan and soon had what was essentially shrimp gravy. Seasoned with Bay Seasoning, the same stuff I had seasoned the shrimp with. Simple, relatively light, a nice wet coat for the dry shrimp.
AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 8:15am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Banana, yogurt, milk, grapes, mango, cherry, blueberry, peach, spirulina, flax, salt, vanilla. While feeding it to Edie, B objected, saying I put all sorts of crap in it, like honey. I asked her, dude, do you ever read my obsessive blog entries?!
PM SNACK: noon, handful of dry roasted almonds
LUNCH: 2pm, bagel chips & carrot dip, shrimp with veloute, pumpkin knish, roasted brussel sprouts, apple pie, grenadine soda, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6:15pm, fatty burger, duck fat fries, bread pudding, 1 cup of beer, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Out in Brooklyn to some nice restaurants in Park Slope with a good friend, while Betsy held down the fort like I did on Friday. Not the healthiest food, but it was nice to indulge. The burger was waygu beef with bacon fat, a onion confit, homemade ketchup, but I had them hold the gouda, as I did not want to risk a dairy-chop meat explosion in my body....
One thing of note, I had no cravings in the evening, but dinner was rather heavy. Also, this emerging head cold got me in bed by 11, which may have had an effect on my evening appetite...
TODAY'S COOKING:
Apple Pie: Entertaining guests, most food was either dead simple (roasting brussels, making bagel chips, searing shrimp) or already made (carrot dip, pumpkin knishes) but no real desserts on hand. So this morning I made the dough, a doubling of this recipe, and in the late morning made some free-style apple pie filling - 10 lbs of granny smiths peeled, cored and sliced, a handful of brown sugar, handful of white, a scoop of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg, salt, a big dash of corn starch for thickening goo-action. Rolled out dough between pieces of wax paper to make the transfer easier, but the side against the stone still got a little sticky. Over all, though, these were some of the better looking pies I've done (though if I had a cold room, it would be a lot easier, or maybe next time I'll roll in wax then put them in the fridge for an hour....)
The three pies came out OK, a little bit dry on the inside for my taste, the crust a little gummy. Maybe I should have let them go a little longer in the oven...
Shrimp veloute: Inspired by the brisket gravy, I tapped my c-school memories and made a simple sauce for the shrimp. Instead of throwing out the shrimp shells, I simmered them in a pint of water for about 30 minutes with some bay leaves. Strained it into a holding bowl, then whisked 2 tbsp of olive oil and 2 tbsp of flour in the pot until it smelled toasty. Slowly fed the hot shrimp stock into the pan and soon had what was essentially shrimp gravy. Seasoned with Bay Seasoning, the same stuff I had seasoned the shrimp with. Simple, relatively light, a nice wet coat for the dry shrimp.
AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 8:15am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Banana, yogurt, milk, grapes, mango, cherry, blueberry, peach, spirulina, flax, salt, vanilla. While feeding it to Edie, B objected, saying I put all sorts of crap in it, like honey. I asked her, dude, do you ever read my obsessive blog entries?!
PM SNACK: noon, handful of dry roasted almonds
LUNCH: 2pm, bagel chips & carrot dip, shrimp with veloute, pumpkin knish, roasted brussel sprouts, apple pie, grenadine soda, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6:15pm, fatty burger, duck fat fries, bread pudding, 1 cup of beer, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Out in Brooklyn to some nice restaurants in Park Slope with a good friend, while Betsy held down the fort like I did on Friday. Not the healthiest food, but it was nice to indulge. The burger was waygu beef with bacon fat, a onion confit, homemade ketchup, but I had them hold the gouda, as I did not want to risk a dairy-chop meat explosion in my body....
Saturday, January 28
Walkabout
Woke up 7ish after a fitful night. B&E took off with some friends to some children's thing on the UWS, while Mil & I ventured into the subways to Inwood Hill Park for a nice walk for an hour, before meeting up with an old friend for brunch. We hopped on the subway and walked across Central Park to grandma's house -- such a beautiful day, I only regret Mil is too young to be attached to a bicycle, so we could have been outdoors more and in subways less.
BREAKFAST: 8am, iced green tea, homemade granola bar, handful of chocolate covered espresso beans, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Ah, granola bar. Healthy convenience. When I first ate it the other day, it struck me as not sweet enough, as it is BARELY sweet, but on my palate first thing in the morning, it's mild sweetness is just right. Maybe the next version I'll put in green tea powder for a caffiene kick.
BRUNCH: 11:15am, buckwheat pancakes, bacon, a little melon fruit salad, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
At a resto with Mil and a friend, healthyish fair. The wholegrain pancakes came with the syrup and butter that I only added a little for flavor, but one thing I surprisingly enjoyed was the small side of cut up melon and a couple of grapes to decorate the dish. I see myself upping my fruit game this week, and not just in smoothies.
PM SNACK 3:35pm, momma salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 4:30pm, wholewheat ritz crackers, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 5:30pm, cesar salad, pizza, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Ordered in, nice to not cook or make dirty dishes. Large salad, three slices, down from my usual 4 (ordered from Lombardies, very thin, lightly topped - 4 slices of streetza would kill me!)
EVENING SNACK: 6:45pm, grenadine soda, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
The citric acid in the syrup is a revelation. Makes me want to experiment with making other syrups.
BREAKFAST: 8am, iced green tea, homemade granola bar, handful of chocolate covered espresso beans, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Ah, granola bar. Healthy convenience. When I first ate it the other day, it struck me as not sweet enough, as it is BARELY sweet, but on my palate first thing in the morning, it's mild sweetness is just right. Maybe the next version I'll put in green tea powder for a caffiene kick.
BRUNCH: 11:15am, buckwheat pancakes, bacon, a little melon fruit salad, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
At a resto with Mil and a friend, healthyish fair. The wholegrain pancakes came with the syrup and butter that I only added a little for flavor, but one thing I surprisingly enjoyed was the small side of cut up melon and a couple of grapes to decorate the dish. I see myself upping my fruit game this week, and not just in smoothies.
PM SNACK 3:35pm, momma salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 4:30pm, wholewheat ritz crackers, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 5:30pm, cesar salad, pizza, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Ordered in, nice to not cook or make dirty dishes. Large salad, three slices, down from my usual 4 (ordered from Lombardies, very thin, lightly topped - 4 slices of streetza would kill me!)
EVENING SNACK: 6:45pm, grenadine soda, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
The citric acid in the syrup is a revelation. Makes me want to experiment with making other syrups.
Friday, January 27
Dietary Thoughts
Alton Brown's Good Eats episode about his change in diet over a 9 month period to lose 50 lbs was repeated today, and it re-inspired me. Its never going to work for me to just cut out chocolate in the evening, especially if I get cravings pushed on by hunger -- I just have to crowd it out with nutrient-dense calories during the day to get a handle.
He said he had a smoothie EVERYDAY for breakfast, but that seems a bit extreme (and boring) to me -- twice a week is as much as I can handle. However, I can up my smoothie game. I think I may add more different fruits (frozen blackberries and pineapple come to mind) and replace organic dead milk with acai juice...
Another addition is more nuts, especially almonds. Gonna roast some, add some flavors. Also, to a batch of slivered-almond and cashew granola, gonna make some granola bars, with almond butter as one of the binders.
Maybe I should start re-color coding my entries, too?
Thought about finishing the brisket for dinner, making beef four days in a row, but instead I cubed it and put it in the freezer for future knish use.
TODAY'S COOKING:
Health Salad: The standard, to have around to increase my veg intake. 1 head o' cabbage, shredded. 1 carrot, thin sliced rounds. Tossed with 3/4 cup white vinegar, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp salt, 1/2 tsp white ground pepper.
Grenadine Syrup: 2 cups pomegranate juice, 2 cups tart cherry juice, 4 cups cane sugar, and for the first time, 1 tablespoon "sour salt" aka citric acid. Brought to a simmer, left to cool then put in the fridge. The acid is to give it a certain cleansing bite, part of what makes a commercial soda refreshing after a big meal, despite it being so laden with crap. Hopefully a digestive shot of soda will reduce cravings for sugar later in the evening.
According to Brown's schedule, soda is a never. I don't think he meant HOMEMADE soda -- he'd probably restrict it, though...
Granola: 4 cups rolled oats, 1 cup raw cashews, 1 cup pepitas, 1 cup unsweetened coconut, 1/2 cup slivered almonds, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup dark maple syrup, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cardamom. Mixed, roasted at 300 for 45 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes for even browning. Added 1/2 cup minced dried cherries after the fact.
Granola Bars: In a pan, heated 4 tbsp butter with about 8 oz of almond butter and 2oz maple syrup. Mixed in a palmful of spirulina and palmful of ground flax, a heavy dash of vanilla extract, and 3 beaten eggs. Held aside 2 cups of granola (for the HVS), the rest got mixed in with the green slime and pressed into a square pan. Baked for 25 minutes at 300.
AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 10:45am, hardcore oatmeal, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Left over from yesterday. Zapped in the micro, very tasty. Next time gonna double the batch now that I have the hang of it.
LUNCH: 1pm, breaded shrimp, health salad, handful of dark chocolate covered espresso beans, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3:15pm, spinach empanada, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Well, this was healthy. Last time had a rather greezy chorizo empanada. This one was full of spinach, onion and tofu, and the crust was very whole wheaty and dry.
DINNER: 6:15pm, momma salad, wholewheat penne with gravy, spinach and broc, 8oz glass of grenadine soda, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Didn't want the brisket gravy made from the braising liquid to go to waste, so I threw it over some pasta and tossed in some quickly sauteed spinach, as well as 2.5 bites of leftover broccoli that Betsy didn't deem worthy of finishing. It was good, but strangely unsatisfying.
I only added one tablespoon of sour salt to essentially a half gallon of syrup, but wow, what a difference it made, and maybe the next batch I'll halve the sour salt. The taste popped, it felt a little scouring in my mouth (in a good way), and while 2 table spoons of syrup for 8oz of seltzer made for light colored mildly sweet soda, the acid was very notable. Made it bubble up kinda foamy like a commercial soda, too.
EVENING SNACK: 10pm, mini bagelwrapped hotdogs, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
After all that, still ended the day on an unhealthy note. The stress/relief of stress after getting the toddler and the baby to sleep with out a second pair of hands wasn't overwhelming, but big enough to cause me to indulge a craving.
He said he had a smoothie EVERYDAY for breakfast, but that seems a bit extreme (and boring) to me -- twice a week is as much as I can handle. However, I can up my smoothie game. I think I may add more different fruits (frozen blackberries and pineapple come to mind) and replace organic dead milk with acai juice...
Another addition is more nuts, especially almonds. Gonna roast some, add some flavors. Also, to a batch of slivered-almond and cashew granola, gonna make some granola bars, with almond butter as one of the binders.
Maybe I should start re-color coding my entries, too?
Thought about finishing the brisket for dinner, making beef four days in a row, but instead I cubed it and put it in the freezer for future knish use.
TODAY'S COOKING:
Health Salad: The standard, to have around to increase my veg intake. 1 head o' cabbage, shredded. 1 carrot, thin sliced rounds. Tossed with 3/4 cup white vinegar, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp salt, 1/2 tsp white ground pepper.
Grenadine Syrup: 2 cups pomegranate juice, 2 cups tart cherry juice, 4 cups cane sugar, and for the first time, 1 tablespoon "sour salt" aka citric acid. Brought to a simmer, left to cool then put in the fridge. The acid is to give it a certain cleansing bite, part of what makes a commercial soda refreshing after a big meal, despite it being so laden with crap. Hopefully a digestive shot of soda will reduce cravings for sugar later in the evening.
According to Brown's schedule, soda is a never. I don't think he meant HOMEMADE soda -- he'd probably restrict it, though...
Granola: 4 cups rolled oats, 1 cup raw cashews, 1 cup pepitas, 1 cup unsweetened coconut, 1/2 cup slivered almonds, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup dark maple syrup, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cardamom. Mixed, roasted at 300 for 45 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes for even browning. Added 1/2 cup minced dried cherries after the fact.
Granola Bars: In a pan, heated 4 tbsp butter with about 8 oz of almond butter and 2oz maple syrup. Mixed in a palmful of spirulina and palmful of ground flax, a heavy dash of vanilla extract, and 3 beaten eggs. Held aside 2 cups of granola (for the HVS), the rest got mixed in with the green slime and pressed into a square pan. Baked for 25 minutes at 300.
AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 10:45am, hardcore oatmeal, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Left over from yesterday. Zapped in the micro, very tasty. Next time gonna double the batch now that I have the hang of it.
LUNCH: 1pm, breaded shrimp, health salad, handful of dark chocolate covered espresso beans, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3:15pm, spinach empanada, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Well, this was healthy. Last time had a rather greezy chorizo empanada. This one was full of spinach, onion and tofu, and the crust was very whole wheaty and dry.
DINNER: 6:15pm, momma salad, wholewheat penne with gravy, spinach and broc, 8oz glass of grenadine soda, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Didn't want the brisket gravy made from the braising liquid to go to waste, so I threw it over some pasta and tossed in some quickly sauteed spinach, as well as 2.5 bites of leftover broccoli that Betsy didn't deem worthy of finishing. It was good, but strangely unsatisfying.
I only added one tablespoon of sour salt to essentially a half gallon of syrup, but wow, what a difference it made, and maybe the next batch I'll halve the sour salt. The taste popped, it felt a little scouring in my mouth (in a good way), and while 2 table spoons of syrup for 8oz of seltzer made for light colored mildly sweet soda, the acid was very notable. Made it bubble up kinda foamy like a commercial soda, too.
EVENING SNACK: 10pm, mini bagelwrapped hotdogs, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
After all that, still ended the day on an unhealthy note. The stress/relief of stress after getting the toddler and the baby to sleep with out a second pair of hands wasn't overwhelming, but big enough to cause me to indulge a craving.
Thursday, January 26
Cravings
I ate dinner late, as I had a filling lunch and I was kinda hoping to take the edge off of my evening snacking. It did not work. Something other than hunger is at work here. Cravings, sugar & salt. Hmmmm.
TODAY'S COOKING
Broccoli: Chopped it up to bite sized pieces. Toasted some panko in the 400 degree oven for 2 minutes Tossed the broc with the panko, 2 cloves of minced garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil. Baked for 20 minutes -- usually I'd do 10, but B likes her roasted veg mushy.
Hardcore Oatmeal: Second time, better. 1 cup of the McCanns steel cut, 4 cups of water, 2 tbsp butter, a splurge of brown sugar, a shake of cinnamon, a teaspoon of salt. Brought to a boil then down to a simmer, left uncovered for 30 minutes. A little liquid on top, turned off heat, let sit for 10 minutes and came together nicely. Nice creaminess against the firm poppiness of the oat kernels. No strong flavor from the add-ins, just nice notes underneath the grassy oatiness of it all.
AM SNACK: 8:30pm, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9:15pm, hardcore oatmeal, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 12:30pm, hummus, wholewheat pita, a few falafel balls, mushrooms, favabeans, tahini, chickpeas, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5'
Out for lunch at the Hummus Place on St. Mark's with B. Ordered the "Hummus Place Platter", which was a surprisingly large amount of hummus, and more surprisingly was easy to finish (with a bit of help from B)
PM SNACK: 1:30pm, vegan ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
In keeping with the theme, we went to the place on A and 9th that serves Lulu's ice cream.
PM SNACK: 5pm, momma salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 7:30pm, brisket on wholewheat toast with gravy, roasted broccoli, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 9pm, peanuts & chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, mini bagelwrapped hotdogs, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
TODAY'S COOKING
Broccoli: Chopped it up to bite sized pieces. Toasted some panko in the 400 degree oven for 2 minutes Tossed the broc with the panko, 2 cloves of minced garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil. Baked for 20 minutes -- usually I'd do 10, but B likes her roasted veg mushy.
Hardcore Oatmeal: Second time, better. 1 cup of the McCanns steel cut, 4 cups of water, 2 tbsp butter, a splurge of brown sugar, a shake of cinnamon, a teaspoon of salt. Brought to a boil then down to a simmer, left uncovered for 30 minutes. A little liquid on top, turned off heat, let sit for 10 minutes and came together nicely. Nice creaminess against the firm poppiness of the oat kernels. No strong flavor from the add-ins, just nice notes underneath the grassy oatiness of it all.
AM SNACK: 8:30pm, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9:15pm, hardcore oatmeal, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 12:30pm, hummus, wholewheat pita, a few falafel balls, mushrooms, favabeans, tahini, chickpeas, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5'
Out for lunch at the Hummus Place on St. Mark's with B. Ordered the "Hummus Place Platter", which was a surprisingly large amount of hummus, and more surprisingly was easy to finish (with a bit of help from B)
PM SNACK: 1:30pm, vegan ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
In keeping with the theme, we went to the place on A and 9th that serves Lulu's ice cream.
PM SNACK: 5pm, momma salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 7:30pm, brisket on wholewheat toast with gravy, roasted broccoli, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 9pm, peanuts & chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, mini bagelwrapped hotdogs, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Wednesday, January 25
Brisket n' Gravy
A really nice day, despite a rough night. Betsy cancelled her plans and stayed in to sleep, so I took Edie to school with Mil strapped to my chest. After drop off, had a nice wander down to Pier 51, and walked Mil in circles in an empty light-filled mall dining room while I read magazines and the phone for an hour, then sat with a sleeping baby and read for another hour. It's one of those things I'll miss when they're older. I remember when Edie was around the same age I took her down to the Pier (though it was warmer out) and we sat out on a terrace and watched the boats pass.
In BOTH instances, however, multiple Asian tourists stopped to ask how old the baby is and take pictures of us. Hrumph!
Still eating well. Had big cravings of cookies/brownies/ice cream last night, good thing nothing was on hand other than the usual or I would have gone nuts. I think it was a combination of not eating a big enough dinner/feeling stressed from awake kids/feeling a little blue about whatever. I think right now the key to really making a difference is not getting bored with what I'm eating. Brussels are a good addition to the regular spinach, I think broccoli needs to make a comeback ASAP.
TODAY'S COOKING:
Brisket: 2.5 pound flat cut into the Le Cruset pot, covered in red wine and beef stock, a bunch of crushed garlic cloves, smoked paprika, a little brown sugar, a little onion powder, salt, a packet of dried porcinis. 250 for 5 hours.
The meat surprised me by literally falling apart when I took it out of the pot to rest. I strained the braising juice, and created some roux in the pot with 1/8 cup of flour and equal parts butter. After the cooked, I whisked the braising liquid in to make some kick-ass gravy that would not be denied.
Not sure if I like this. The meat is at once moist, dry, tender and tough. The gravy helped greatly though. One thing for sure, the "beefy" flavor of the meat is much stronger than any quick-cooked tender cut, and very appealing.
AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 8am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Banana, grapes, milk & yogurt, cherries, mango, blueberries and peach, flax & spirulina, salt & vanilla. After not eating her waffle, Edie shouted, "Noisy ice cream! Want some!" I told her to sit and I'd make her a bowl, and she quickly did so. I gave her a bit in a plastic bowl and a spoon, and she eagerly lapped it up, asking for more twice. During eating, she said, "Mmmmm I love it!" and "Oooooo blueberry noisy ice cream!"
LUNCH: 1:15pm, momma salad, sauteed shrimp, butternut squash soup, whole wheat Ritz crackers, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5pm, slice of swiss, a few wholegrain pretzels
DINNER: 6pm, brisket & gravy on wholewheat toast, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Was gonna make a green to go with this, but B&E&e were causing all sorts of chaos and pressure, so I had to get in quick.
EVENING SNACK: 8pm, potato chips, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 9pm, chocolate chips & peanuts, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
In BOTH instances, however, multiple Asian tourists stopped to ask how old the baby is and take pictures of us. Hrumph!
Still eating well. Had big cravings of cookies/brownies/ice cream last night, good thing nothing was on hand other than the usual or I would have gone nuts. I think it was a combination of not eating a big enough dinner/feeling stressed from awake kids/feeling a little blue about whatever. I think right now the key to really making a difference is not getting bored with what I'm eating. Brussels are a good addition to the regular spinach, I think broccoli needs to make a comeback ASAP.
TODAY'S COOKING:
Brisket: 2.5 pound flat cut into the Le Cruset pot, covered in red wine and beef stock, a bunch of crushed garlic cloves, smoked paprika, a little brown sugar, a little onion powder, salt, a packet of dried porcinis. 250 for 5 hours.
The meat surprised me by literally falling apart when I took it out of the pot to rest. I strained the braising juice, and created some roux in the pot with 1/8 cup of flour and equal parts butter. After the cooked, I whisked the braising liquid in to make some kick-ass gravy that would not be denied.
Not sure if I like this. The meat is at once moist, dry, tender and tough. The gravy helped greatly though. One thing for sure, the "beefy" flavor of the meat is much stronger than any quick-cooked tender cut, and very appealing.
AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 8am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Banana, grapes, milk & yogurt, cherries, mango, blueberries and peach, flax & spirulina, salt & vanilla. After not eating her waffle, Edie shouted, "Noisy ice cream! Want some!" I told her to sit and I'd make her a bowl, and she quickly did so. I gave her a bit in a plastic bowl and a spoon, and she eagerly lapped it up, asking for more twice. During eating, she said, "Mmmmm I love it!" and "Oooooo blueberry noisy ice cream!"
LUNCH: 1:15pm, momma salad, sauteed shrimp, butternut squash soup, whole wheat Ritz crackers, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5pm, slice of swiss, a few wholegrain pretzels
DINNER: 6pm, brisket & gravy on wholewheat toast, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Was gonna make a green to go with this, but B&E&e were causing all sorts of chaos and pressure, so I had to get in quick.
EVENING SNACK: 8pm, potato chips, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 9pm, chocolate chips & peanuts, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Tuesday, January 24
Brussels n' Burgers
Woke up surprisingly achy from what I thought was a casual bike ride yesterday -- I estimate I ended up riding about 20 miles at a VERY relaxed pace, but fact is I haven't done any distance at all since Mil popped out on us.
A bunch of things have fallen to the wayside since the baby came, some of which I've brought back since getting sick over the holidays: Lifting weights twice a week, eating healthy, cooking 6/7 days. Some things have not come back, particularly focusing on getting my knish concept off the ground. B goes back to work next week -- will it drift further away or will I find the time and energy to refocus?
TODAY'S COOKING:
Curry Carrot Dip, take 2: Boiled 1 lb of carrots for full 15 minutes, used the small work bowl of the full-size food processor, all came out nice n' smooth.
Butternut Squash Soup: Sauteed onion, carrot, celery and leek in olive oil for a solid 30 minutes until soft. Put one full chopped up squash on top an covered with veg stock, let simmer for 20. Blended. Surprisingly salt-balanced from what I added to the mire poix and from the stock. Lacking fat and cream, but B insisted on a vegan soup, boooo.
Roasted Brussel Sprouts: Third time I've made these in the past few weeks. I'm finding fresh cook faster and darker at 400/20 minutes. This batch came out overcooked, blackened, but still delicious. A bit bitter, but a perfect foil to the the sweet-ish soup.
Burgers: I bought a brisket at Wholefoods today, thinking I'll braise it tomorrow. On a whim, cut off 1/2 pound of it, cubed it, ground it, added some minced raw onion, Worcestershire, salt and pepper, fried in butter, put on some nice buns out of the freezer. Pretty good, maybe a little overcooked and crumbly.
BREAKFAST: 10:30am, good yogurt with honey, peanuts, vanilla, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Forgot to put the brewed tea into the fridge last night, so I skipped it.
LUNCH: 12:30pm, shuyo ramen, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Treated myself to lunch out at Rai Rai Ken.
PM SNACK: 4pm, leftover chicken mushu and veg fried rice, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Was about to eat some momma style salad but saw this in the fridge -- if it didn't get eaten today, would probably have to toss it. Good to mix it up a little -- it's good to increase my veg game, but at the same time things gotta be mixed up.
DINNER: 5:45pm, 2 freshly ground hamburgers on sprouted wholewheat buns, butternut squash soup, roasted brussel sprouts, 7.5oz ginger ale, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 8pm, chocolate chips & raw cashews, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
A bunch of things have fallen to the wayside since the baby came, some of which I've brought back since getting sick over the holidays: Lifting weights twice a week, eating healthy, cooking 6/7 days. Some things have not come back, particularly focusing on getting my knish concept off the ground. B goes back to work next week -- will it drift further away or will I find the time and energy to refocus?
TODAY'S COOKING:
Curry Carrot Dip, take 2: Boiled 1 lb of carrots for full 15 minutes, used the small work bowl of the full-size food processor, all came out nice n' smooth.
Butternut Squash Soup: Sauteed onion, carrot, celery and leek in olive oil for a solid 30 minutes until soft. Put one full chopped up squash on top an covered with veg stock, let simmer for 20. Blended. Surprisingly salt-balanced from what I added to the mire poix and from the stock. Lacking fat and cream, but B insisted on a vegan soup, boooo.
Roasted Brussel Sprouts: Third time I've made these in the past few weeks. I'm finding fresh cook faster and darker at 400/20 minutes. This batch came out overcooked, blackened, but still delicious. A bit bitter, but a perfect foil to the the sweet-ish soup.
Burgers: I bought a brisket at Wholefoods today, thinking I'll braise it tomorrow. On a whim, cut off 1/2 pound of it, cubed it, ground it, added some minced raw onion, Worcestershire, salt and pepper, fried in butter, put on some nice buns out of the freezer. Pretty good, maybe a little overcooked and crumbly.
BREAKFAST: 10:30am, good yogurt with honey, peanuts, vanilla, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Forgot to put the brewed tea into the fridge last night, so I skipped it.
LUNCH: 12:30pm, shuyo ramen, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Treated myself to lunch out at Rai Rai Ken.
PM SNACK: 4pm, leftover chicken mushu and veg fried rice, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Was about to eat some momma style salad but saw this in the fridge -- if it didn't get eaten today, would probably have to toss it. Good to mix it up a little -- it's good to increase my veg game, but at the same time things gotta be mixed up.
DINNER: 5:45pm, 2 freshly ground hamburgers on sprouted wholewheat buns, butternut squash soup, roasted brussel sprouts, 7.5oz ginger ale, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 8pm, chocolate chips & raw cashews, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Monday, January 23
OLD
Road out to Red Hook for a meeting, then to Bay Ridge to meet up with an old buddy from college at a crappy diner. I ordered a particularly unhealthy meal, as if we were both in our early 20s again. Though, we are not.
With his omelet and home fries, he was still nursing a broken heart from his last relationship several years ago, not to mention the blood pressure pills he was popping with his coffee. There I am, talking about the rigors of juggling two kiddies and a wife. OLD, he he he.
Took the time to explore Dyker Heights and make my way back home via Borough Park, good wet ride. Got to get Edie on time for a tour of the supermarket before going home. Was invited to a a Chinese New Years get together, but was just too tired.
TODAY'S COOKING:
Iced tea, big momma salad: Just the standard, enough to last for a bit.
Curry carrot dip: Rushed it, didn't cook the carrots long enough, and used the smaller underpowered food processor, came out super grainy. Tossed it, will try again with the left over carrots tomorrow.
BREAKFAST: 8am, iced green tea, Special K with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 11:45am, gyro & fries, diet coke, pickle, slaw, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5pm, momma salad with babaganoush, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6:30pm, breaded shrimp, spinach, peanuts & chocolate chips, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 9pm, potato chips, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
With his omelet and home fries, he was still nursing a broken heart from his last relationship several years ago, not to mention the blood pressure pills he was popping with his coffee. There I am, talking about the rigors of juggling two kiddies and a wife. OLD, he he he.
Took the time to explore Dyker Heights and make my way back home via Borough Park, good wet ride. Got to get Edie on time for a tour of the supermarket before going home. Was invited to a a Chinese New Years get together, but was just too tired.
TODAY'S COOKING:
Iced tea, big momma salad: Just the standard, enough to last for a bit.
Curry carrot dip: Rushed it, didn't cook the carrots long enough, and used the smaller underpowered food processor, came out super grainy. Tossed it, will try again with the left over carrots tomorrow.
BREAKFAST: 8am, iced green tea, Special K with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 11:45am, gyro & fries, diet coke, pickle, slaw, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5pm, momma salad with babaganoush, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6:30pm, breaded shrimp, spinach, peanuts & chocolate chips, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 9pm, potato chips, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
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