Oops

All that crowing about how I was going to walk more and yesterday I only did the mile to Central. But we had a nice homemade dinner last night of Quorn (for me, chicken for Spouse) with mushrooms, onions and spinach in a white wine and cream sauce over brown rice, with steamed broccoli on the side. I made far too much rice and Spouse didn't even finish his portion.

Lunch today will be frozen food. I bought it a couple of weeks ago to shove in the freezer in case I really needed it, and I think my schedule will be too tight today to contemplate a better lunch.

Having trouble drinking water today. My stomach is a little upset and water just doesn't feel right. Unfortunately there's no fizzy water in the vending machine, so I'll probably go for ginger ale.

Bad blogger

I've been so bad about putting anything here lately. I've been following other people's progress, which has been inspiring, but neglecting to log my own. Perhaps I'm just afraid to see in print the days I slack, overeat or over drink?

For the past two days (yes, two whole days) I've increased the walking part of my evening commute. Previously I had been walking to Central Square in Cambridge to take the T home, which comes out to one mile from my office. Last week I tried going a bit further to see how awful it would be, and it was actually not a bad walk at all!, So now my basic goal (rainstorms and heavy grocery days aside) is to walk from the office to Kendal Square by way of Central, which works out to 2.3 miles. I am allowed to stop (such as for groceries) but I must do that 2+ miles before getting on the T to go home. Then it's only the piddly 1/2 mile from the T stop to home.

Breakfast:
toast with peanut butter, tea with soy milk, water

Hey, I lost weight!

I cheated though: I got sick. Now I'm on antibiotics that have appetite suppression as a side-effect (the only positive side effect). I had been trying to get more walking in, but this weekend I was so ill I hardly moved, let alone left the house. But after looking at some recent photos today, I'm just horrified.


Yes, I am just bloody huge.

Here's hoping the warmer weather will inspire healthier meals (it usually does) and the desire for long walks. And that the four pounds I've lost stay off when I come off the meds next week!

Bad me!

I am naughty for not posting, but I'll try to get back at it.

Yesterday I took my first steps (ha!) toward walking my way into fitness. I walked for 30 minutes at lunch while listening to an old radio show I'd downloaded. The result: big blister on my toe! It's got a bandaid on it so I will not be deterred from today's walking. Since I have a meeting to go to 12-1:30, I'll be walking after work.

Yesterday I also started some warmer weather breakfasts. I bought three different bags of organic frozen fruit, plus placed three bananas in the freezer before they went off. So yesterday was a mango, banana and pineapple smoothie made with Greek yogurt and soy milk and a scant teaspoon (if that) of honey. Yesterday's tea was lighter on sugar as well. Today's smoothie was pineapple and banana with even less honey (mainly because it wasn't coming out of the squeeze bottle) and lacked only a touch of coconut to make it a total tropical explosion. I have some unsweetened coconut too, so may try that tomorrow.

I managed to keep from big snacking yesterday somewhat. My post-walk lunch was a salad with sesame dressing (about 2T?) and a hard boiled egg. There was some leftover food from noon service and I managed to avoid the olives, feta, hummus and crackers in favour of the grape tomatoes, which were really sweet. Pre-class much was veggie sushi and post-section dinner was cod and leeks with a couple tiny, 1" potatoes. I paid WAY too much for that small amount of food, but cod isn't really sustainable, so I'll just call that guilt money. Oh, and 2 pints.

Today's lunch is provided at the meeting, so I don't know quite what it will be yet. I'm hoping for a snack-feasting dinner though.

Ugh. Lunch was a Greek salad wrap. I HATE wraps as it's like someone smeared out paste in a circle, let it dry then rolled some salad up in it and let it soak through again. I ate about 1/4 of it, then picked out and ate the filling with my fingers. And then I had the included crisps and cookie. There were two cookies included but I traded my second one for some Advil.

Fruit!

Breakfast was grapes and an English muffin with butter and jam. Tea was unsweetened, unlightened as all the milk is spoiled. I poured the beginnings of tofu into my tea to discover that and then checked the cow milk and that was off too.

Spring has Sprung

The weather is getting warmer and it just cries out for long walks to be taken (yes, weather cries out to me.) We went for a walk down to the water on Friday and then out for a pub meal, which was just wonderful (the walk, not the meal. The meal was just okay.) Spouse went out hiking on Saturday while I stayed home and did grading and then went down the pub for a bit. We decided that walks would be our things, and, even better, it's getting to be the time of the year for Snack-feasting!

Our first official snack-feast meal was last night. Snack-feasting for us is when we lay out a table full of what one might consider appetisers (bread, garlic oil and caprese salad feature prominently) and then munch our way through in an unhurried fashion. Last night's feast was gingered asparagus, pan-roasted sprouts with garlic and pine nuts, steamed artichoke with dijonaisse dipping, tomato and mozzarella, olives, bread and garlic-herb oil. I somehow managed to drink an entire bottle of wine over the course of the evening though. V Bad!

This morning the snack-feasting continued with us having grapefruit, papaya and veggie sausage on home-made English muffins. A rather huge meal, but at least we won't be snacking on junk all day!

Friday again. Where did the week go?

Yet again I did not make breakfast. I had a few dried apricots with my tea and then bought a crappy excuse for a croissant at work.

Huh. Where did Wednesday go?

Well, it's Thursday now, so let's just start in. I ran very late today but somehow made in to work two minutes before start time. Showered, made tea and cooked an asparagus and Smart Bacon omelet this morning, which took a lot of the time, then setting my hair while eating took much more. I would have made it out earlier if I hadn't then spend 10 minutes trying to find my mp3 player that the cat had made off with. The thought of commuting without it was just too ghastly!

I should do a quick recap of what I had yesterday, I suppose. Breakfast was a veggie sausage and tea. Lunch options in the cafeteria were slim so I went for the salad bar even though that was pretty much full of leftovers. One of the leftovers was the couscous from Molly Katzen's visit though, so that made a nice topper on the salad. I broke down and had non-food from the vending machine in the afternoon in the form of a Milky Way. Not satisfying at all. Dinner was pizza and beer and then the last of the jelly beans at home.

Speaking of pizza, I still have store-bought dough at home and will probably make pizza for dinner tonight. We have mushrooms, asparagus and spinach, which should make something reasonably healthy. I need to go shopping soon for more flour to get our bread production back up. The pizza dough I made on Sunday was very nice (I didn't get to taste the finished product) and I thought it might be nice to make some whole wheat dough to keep in the freezer for occasional pizza nights at home.

I'm about halfway through In Defense of Food right now, and while it's not really telling me much that I didn't know in terms of what we should eat, it's still really shocking to see the extent of corruption of our food because of lobbying groups and how our diet has changed because the food we grow is made to be cheap and transportable. It's making me really wish we'd bought a CSA this year, but it may be too late to get one at this point.

Lunch today was quickly gobbled before running up to a video shoot at work. The food place in the lab building has premade salads and I got a spinach and berry salad, using only about a tablespoon of dressing. For dessert - yes, I got dessert - it was chocolate pudding. A fizzy water was consumed over the next hour and a half while I did the shoot.

No pizza for dinner as Freddie made it up for his lunch. He was still full when I got home, so I made red beans and rice for myself.

Hungry? Not?

I wasn't hungry at all again this morning but now that I'm at work I'm thinking I should eat something. Hmmm. Breakfast sandwich time, perhaps?

Still full from Sunday

I made tons of food yesterday and ate too much of it. I'm still full this morning so limited myself to tea for breakfast. Spouse says I feel thinner to him. I though I haven't noticed anything yet.

I made an appointment for my annual exam (nearly a bi-annual at this point!) but can't get in until July. At least that gives me some more time to slim down a bit. I weight about 20 pounds more than the last time I was in and then I was trying to lose weight too! But maybe the writing will help. I've started a private blog that I'm viewing as my therapist. I spill everything, no matter how hard it is (and some of it is hard to put down in print) and just try to let go. It's also good for general bitching when someone annoys me :) And it's probably better than slugging the person or screaming, "SHUT UP!"

Mollie Katzen was doing a cooking demo with tastings and recipes in our cafeteria today. I had a bit of everything (you got a small plate to put a taste of each dish on) and really loved the gingered asparagus most. The black beans in mango sauce were good too, but I think the dish I want to try most (after the asparagus) is couscous with orange and dill. I have a ton of dill left over from co-op last night and would only need to buy an orange. Well, technically I'd need to buy couscous too, but I'm going to try it with quinoa instead.

The rest of lunch was veggie lasagne and green beans.

Dinner was the quinoa dish and sausage over baby spinach and half an artichoke with vegan dijonaisse.

Hooray for Friday!

I have three meetings today, but still, IT'S FRIDAY!!

I forgot to pick up more grapefruit, or even juice yesterday so it was a citrus-free breakfast :( I did have a boiled egg, three slices of Smart Bacon and bread with butter along with my tea. I'm really missing the citrus though so may need to hit the cafeteria before my meetings to get some juice.

The citrus craving got the better of me. I just finished 16oz of red grapefruit juice.

I had lots of water in the morning and during the first two meetings of the day, then gorged myself on macaroni and cheese and roasted sprouts (with more water) for lunch.

Tried breakfast

This morning I made cream of wheat with dried fruit to have in addition to grapefruit and tea. It wasn't that good, but I blame that on my choice of fruit (black mission figs and cherries.) Still, I ate it all and it hasn't killed me yet.

Lunch was a white bean soup and small salad with blue cheese dressing. I've had a decent amount of water today too. Dinner will be boeuf bourguignon (made with seitan), bread and broccoli. An all B meal.

Midweek

Grapefruit and tea again this morning.

I heard an interesting thing on diet books on NPR this morning. Someone has come up with a writer's diet that, apart from the eat-less-exercise-more advise that everyone should follow, suggests writing for 20 minutes every morning to keep yourself on track. I'm such a slug that I don't know if I could manage it since it would mean getting up on time in the mornings! But I've managed to incorporate eating in the morning, even if I haven't had more food lately (and I should get back to having cereal or egg and toast), so perhaps I could manage writing, even if it's only updating my other blog.

Snacked on Smartfood from the vending machine. I really need to make bigger breakfasts to avoid getting so hungry late morning.

Lunch was rice, tarka dahl and salad with Russian dressing. And water.

Dinner was a cocktail, pizza with gorgonzola, carmelized onions and figs. And then a glass of wine.

Back at work

It's 83 degrees in the office. People keep asking how I'm feeling because I took the day off (and two people are still out) and all I can say is, "Sweaty!" I climbed up on the sill to open my window and they just opened the door to the outside, but it's still too hot.

I couldn't get to sleep last night, so I hope I can make it through the day. I've got section tonight too and need to write my notes. Breakfast was grapefruit and tea.

Lunch was a giant honkin' sandwich and water.

Dinner was salmon salad and beer at John Harvard.

Took a Sickie

I was starting to feel really drained, like when you have a fever, yesterday so used it as an excuse to stay home. But since I rolled over in bed yesterday morning and strained my neck (almost as lame an injury as when I threw my back out plugging in an iron) AND somehow screwed up my foot so it feels like the cramp from hell when I try to walk, I feel justified in staying home. And I was still oogie when I sent the email that I'd be out. The neck is starting to feel better now after Freddie gave me massages last night and this morning (and he fixed my film editor!), but the foot is still screwed up. It's been a while since I've had an x-ray though, so maybe I'm just due for some radiation :)

I mad two recipes from Vegetarian Times last night that were fab! One was a red quinoa and beet salad from the Ubuntu restaurant (how could I pass that up) in Napa Valley, and the other was a pasta with asparagus and feta. After we ate the salad, neither of us were hungry for the pasta, so I've been munching it today. There's still leftover beets, quinoa and arugula for more salad too.

Beverages today have so far been limited to tea, of which I drank a whole pot! I'm a bit wired now.

Dinner was leftovers, water and a bit of coffee ice cream

Another long day

I only managed to do 17 minutes of Wii fit today because it was just too yucky and I started crying when Spouse tried to talk to me. PMS Fit. And I have a sensitive tooth today and am in back-to-back meetings again (right now, in fact).

Breakfast was grapefruit, cornbread and tea. Lunch was avocado and cheese sandwich, chips and cookie with water.

Tuesday

I'm still sore from exercise, but managed another 20 minutes this morning. The I had grapefruit and cornbread with tea before dashing off to all-day meetings at work. Oh boy! I think they're feeding us though.

Well we weren't supposed to be fed, but I had to give an impromptu demo during the lunch break, so those of us at the demo got fed. I had a salad with fatty dressing and fizzy water.

Dinner was leftover taco rice thing and beer.

Back to the grind

This is such an uncivilized hour! For a week I've gotten up early, fed the cat and crawled back into bed for several more hours sleep (I should be sleeping right now), but not today. This morning I hit snooze only once and got up at the ghastly hour of, well sometime between 6:00 and 6:15. I was too bleary-eyed to really focus. Put the kettle on, prepared some grapefruit and put on the radio before starting, ugh, exercise! I did 22 minutes of Wii fit, which sucked!

I don't think I'm going to be able to do too much exercise in the morning because I get too sweaty. If I set my hair overnight, I can't then hop in the shower (well, I can, but I need a showercap) before getting ready for work. The plan now is to try a little in the morning, but do more after work (or class). I'm already sore from two days of making myself move muscles and get sweaty. This better do something about my weight and shape, or else!

On my way into work I picked up a fruit cup to supplement the grapefruit and tea already consumed.

Lunch was 3 pieces of pizza bought for a lunch-time staff meeting. Dinner was fiber-rich: taco filling (made with Gimme Lean and fire-roasted tomatoes with Adobo) over brow rice and beans with corn bread made with whole wheat flour.

Wednesday

Slept in. Got up made made tea and prepared grapefruit for breakfast. Went back to bed with Spouse for a bit :) Played with my new editor which is now a toy for both of us since Spouse is going to rewire it to make it safer (it's just a lamp). Went out to lunch at Marliave and had roasted beet and goat cheese salad with a nicely citrus flavoured dressing, ravioli with roasted tomatoes and panna cotta with a rhubarb sauce. Spouse had the mixed greens salad, pan-roasted chicken with risotto and bread pudding. We had an insteresting view of a cobbler's shop and watched people getting their shoes shined. Spouse decided he had to get his boots shined up so we went there after lunch. Then it was off to see Watchmen and eat Twizzlers!

My niece was born early this morning!

I still have no details other than they had to do a c-section (which was how Liz, the mother, was born as well) and mother and baby are doing fine. I still don't even know her name! As soon as Liz is p for phone calls, she's going to let us know herself, so I'm waiting for mom and A to get the news.

Breakfast was a grapefruit half and tea. Lunch will be at Lock Ober at 2:00. They've reopened for lunch for restaurant week so we get to try them out for only $20pp! And they have a huge menu for restaurant week, which not everyone does.

HUGE meal! We think we were getting better attention from the waiter because Spouse had his lovely suit on (plus we're always polite to waitstaff.) Spouse had fresh spring pea ravioli in potato soup, Statler chicken with asparagus and Bailey's and hot butterscotch sundae. I had field greens with crisp goat cheese, Locke-Ober fish and chips (very crispy fish and average fries with amazing malt vinegar beurre blanc) and cheese cake. Oh so decadent! I want to go back there again!

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!

I was officially on vacation at 12:45 this afternoon! Hooray! Plus I just found out that my stepsister is in labor. New baby!

The weekend was rather nice. Spouse and I went out to dinner Saturday where I didn't finish anything of my fish, potato or squash. Sunday we had folks over for a roast dinner or lamb (or seitan), roast potato, parsnip and carrot, peas, broccoli and gravy. Dessert was a steamed pudding with custard. It was YUM!

Today I just had tea and bread and butter for breakfast (still full from last night) and then went off to a morning conference. By lunch it was vacation time, so I had a martini and my first Restaurant Week meal of parsnip soup (yum!) and mushroom risotto which, sadly, included white truffle oil so smelled like decaying feet. Hopefully I'll have better luck with the next Restaurant Week meal, whatever that may be.

Dinner was homemade vegetable soup and beer.

Happy Spring!

It became Spring today at 7:44am. Yay Spring!

Breakfast this morning was tea and grapefruit, but I got really hungry on the train in and got more food :( They have traded the english muffins for biscuits for the breakfast sandwiches at the refectory, which just wasn't as tasty (and would have been nice if it had been labelled as a biscuit.) Oh well.

Lunch was avocado and cucumber sushi and fresh veggie spring rolls with water.

I'm just too fat

So breakfast was grapefruit and tea. And I'm hungry.

Lunch was red rice with sautéed cabbage and onions, plus a small bowl of leek and apple soup. And my second bottle of water.

I had to work late to film a public lecture, but decided not to stay to the reception and instead go out for some food. Hit Grendel's Den for spinach pie, rice and a garnish of a salad (leaf of lettuce torn into bites and a slice of plum tomato) and wine.

No, I wasn't eaten by doughnuts

But it felt like it!

We had a brunch at work in honour of our facilities staff and there was a ton of food leftover, much of which ended up right outside my office. Sigh.

I'm better today though having breakfasted on grapefruit, onion soup and bread and tea. Lunch was a salad and water with some Smartfood as a snack.

Dinner was pizza that was too salty and too much beer (to quench that salt thirst). And an argument with random guy sitting next to me who was upset that we were going to be a "socialist country" even though he had no idea what socialism was. I tried to get him to define it several times (it was getting to be a game) but he couldn't so didn't try and would instead bring up anecdotes about England (which I pointed out was not a socialist country.) My dinner took an extra hour because of this!

GET THOSE DOUGHNUTS AWAY FROM MY DOOR!

That is all

Back to work

I mostly at granola, rissoto and seitan over the weekend, with copious amounts of beer thrown in for good measure. I've been able to maintain my weight for a while now, which is good, but really need to start thinking about exercise to start losing some of this weight.

Spouse has decided to limit when he eats (he's tried this before) to somehow help his sleeping pattern. He said he will not heat after 6:00pm, which means we will never have dinner together (and "too fucking bad" to any complaints I raise on that.) What he really needs is to see the doctor again (so do I) and maybe get a different perspective from her (or perhaps she'll agree with him.) His heart has been giving him trouble, so I really want that to get checked out before he does anything drastic. I think much of his problems are coming from not having structure in his day, but what the hell do I know.

This morning's breakfast was half a white grapefruit! The co-op just has them all in a bin labelled "Grapefruit" and they have invariably been pink when I've bought them, but this time there was a nice, tart regular one in the mix! Also had a bowl of fruity granola with spy milk and the Ubiquitous Tea.

Lunch was veggie lasagne and salad with Russian dressing with a bottle of water (I'm on my third bottle for the day.) I also had a snack of Smartfood, which I really didn't need because I wasn't hungry, I just wanted the taste (a bit of emotional eating going on.)

I bought lots of things for soup tonight, although not a much as I planed as things started getting heavy. I made a big pot of spicy vegetable soup and corn muffins for dinner, which was very tasty, and washed it down with beer.

Midweek

I'm wondering what to do with the dried cherries I bought last week. They seemed okay in the steamed pudding I did on Sunday (better than the cakey part, that's fer sher!), but they're a bit too sour for anything else. I tried them in my cream of Wheat this morning and needed some maple syrup with it as well. They might work for a sauce for meat (or "meat") though.

800 Days

Spouse and I have been married for 800 days today! Go us! I'm really rather pleased how well I've taken to the whole marriage thing. Not that I'm the perfect spouse at all, but we manage to find ways to make it work for us.

Brekkies this morning was oatmeal with a small spoonful of maple syrup and tea. Lunch was tofu and veg noodly thing and a jack fruit shake at Le's in the square with Spouse. He also brought me a berry cream cupcake from Sweet Tooth :) I haven't had anything from there in a long time and it was SOOOOO yummy!

Dinner was bread with garlic oil and beer. And SEX!

The Weekend was a Dead Loss

Tons of food, tons of booze.

Today I had orange juice, tea and toast a bit of butter and jam for breakfast. Lunch was leftover mashed potatoes, vegan fillet mignon and water.

Dinner was a repeat of lunch but with broccoli.

Having the Master Painters In

A friend used to say that she had the Good Ovary and the Bad Ovary. When she had a period without complaints, it was a Good Ovary Month. The month with all the yuckiness was a Bad Ovary Month. When I woke up at 3:00am, I knew this was a Bad Ovary Month. Fortunately for me, I have a wonderful spouse. He was up all night so when he knew it was time for me to get up, he put the kettle on and came in to give me a massage to get the blood flowing (to my limbs, that is.) He asked what I wanted for breakfast, and probably would have run down to the cafe for an omelette had I asked, but all I could think of was orange juice, of which we had none. So he went out and bought it for me. Isn't he a dear?

The solids of breakfast were three (yes three) corn muffins left over from chili night. I still felt a bit like crap when I left, but looked pretty, which was designed to help my mood. I'm feeling much better now that the second round of ibuprofin has kicked in.

Overslept again

I did hear my alarm, but then I hit snooze. When I woke up again, an hour had passed! So I only had time for a bit of tea and the other grapefruit half from yesterday's breakfast (apparently Spouse didn't eat it.) I managed to make it to work only a couple minutes late, which was good. Surprising though as getting dressed took a while.

I decided to pull out my girdle today. It's a long Ragu OBG with suspender (garter) straps and is mighty tight. It may actually be too small, but I managed to get it zipped anyway. Getting the stockings on was almost impossible though as I couldn't reach the back clip with both hands because it's very high up and far back. Then after I did get all the underwear on, I found I would really need something covering that tiny bit of thigh at the top to keep from chafing. So the girdle is making me look as slim as it could due to the bulk of the sweatpants under my skirt. I think I really do need to make some bloomers now!

Lunch: couscous with chickpeas, green beans, tofu with spinach. Also a bag of Smartfood (bad!) and water (good!)

Dindins: veggie Toad-in-the-Hole with Bisto gravy, broccoli, beer.
I'm thinking of trying to make my own veggie sausage. I have one sausage recipe, but don't yet know what the texture is like. I have some spice recipes though for English sausages, so it I can get the texture down, I think I'll be okay. Plus, one of my coworkers has sausage-making apparatus and has offered it to Spouse for meat sausages With my secret spices, we could have the doings of home food for him!

Halfway through the week

Okay, I've gotten this three meals a day thing down, now I need to make them a bit healthier so maybe I can lose some weight (exercise wouldn't hurt either). Breakfast this morning was half a grapefruit, half of the last oat scone, bowl of strawberries and Ubiquitous Tea.

Lunch was veggie lasagna and salad (with sesame dressing) and water. I had 2 chocolate-covered cherries as a snack and a diet coke during class.

Since it was class night, Martin thought I shouldn't prepare dinner, but it was kind of late when we decided to think about food so we just went out I had bean tacos with sour cream and guacamole and sangria. Over dinner we came up with a storyline for the first short movie to make with the new 16mm camera I'm only going to use one reel so it will be a maximum (that's with one usable take each shot) of 3 minutes. It's a hokey story, but it's just supposed to be for practice.

Tuesday

Breakfast was the same as yesterday. I really need to pick up some more fruit and the makings of granola this week (and maybe some more flour for bread) so I can have some variety in my breakfasts.

Lunch will be leftover tetrazinni from the other night.

Had a bad snack of a Milky Way from the vending machine and one chocolate covered cherry.

And dinner was leftover chili with 2 cornmuffins and 1 cider.

Not quite a snow day

I waited until after 7:00 to get ready for work, by which time the bosses had already emailed to say they were staying home Got dressed, but the hair up in victory roll (and the snood does not stay on o well with half the amount of hair in it) and checked email one last time before heading out. School opening is delayed until noon. Like I'm going to be in any mood to leave the house then! Feh!

Breakfast was half a grapefruit and two scones. And Ubiquitous Tea.

As long as I'm home, I might as well make lunch. I should try to bring it with me though and not eat it before 11:00 when I leave. It will be veggie sausage and broccoli on past with a cream sauce.

Dinner was chili, corn muffin (by which I mean muffins with corn in them, not cornmeal, which I forgot to buy) and beer.

Weekend

Saturday was so nice without grades hanging over my head. Although I had several students emailing because HW2 was due. Breakfast was Cream of Wheat with dried strawberries, then I shopped for Sunday dinner and picked up spicy noodles for lunch. Took myself out to dinner at the Franklin Cafe (Southie) and had a Manhattan, tuna tartar over tofu, butternut squash spring rolls with creme fresh, an Old Fashioned (it was all about the Old Man Drinks) and blackened tuna with salad I think I've had my fill of fish for a while! They have a few more vegetarian options on the new menu though (like the spring rolls) so I'm going to have to go back and try more :)

Sunday was waking early to worry that Spouse wasn't back from NYC yet and trying to doze until he came home (at 7:45) Once he finally got to sleep I got up and made oat scones and breakfasted on a 1 egg omlette with broccoli and parmesan, 2 slices soy bacon, a scone and Ubiquitous Tea. Lunch was 2 more scones. Dinner was "chicken" tetrazini and broccoli with wine.

And I finished my second snood!

Thursday

I know what I'm having for lunch! Yay, leftovers!

I overslept yet again, but at least I slept, unlike Spouse. He's still sick, mainly all congested and snotty. I gave him some Tylenol Sinus this morning and he was amazed.
Spouse: They're pills?
Me: Yes, we have three different decongestants, I think these will be good.
Spouse: And they get rid of snot?
Me: Yes.
Spouse: I should have been taking these since Monday.
Me: Probably. Why didn't you?
Spouse: I never knew such a thing existed!

That's one thing TV ads have going for them that we are missing out on: they make you aware of the existence of products. I can't believe he's never heard of decongestants!

Anyhow, I them mead breakfast of Cream of Wheat with dried strawberries, half a grapefruit (with the other half waiting for Spouse) and Ubiquitous Tea.

Wednesday

I massively overslept as I didn't get to slept until 12:30ish and then woke up at 3:00. But I still managed breakfast of tea and granola.

Lunch was veggie lasagna and salad (and not enough water). I'm sipping a diet Coke in class right now.

Dinner was oh so good "chicken" pot pie! I gave my recipe to Office Mate yesterday as he was looking for something he could make with what he had left in the house before payday and then it just made me crave it. And there's some leftover for lunch!

Tuesday

Spouse offered to prepare my breakfast this morning, which was really sweet! I declined the offer though, since I'm a little muddled in the morning and am just not prepared for that sort of thing. I can't tell him what I want for breakfast if I haven't yet figured that out. When I did decide, I went for an egg, which I wouldn't have him prepare for me anyway since he's allergic. So breakfast was 1 scrambled egg with 2 slices soy bacon and a small bowl of cereal with soymilk. And Ubiquitous Tea.

I had another Smartfood snack, mainly because I wasn't sure when I would get to eat lunch. Fortunately, the event I was taping had food, and they are more than happy for the tech to eat too. I wasn't sure what was in some of the pasta things, so just had salad, peapods, bread and tomato and mozzarella (and three macaroons to finish). Drink was half lemonade, half fizzy water.

Section went really well tonight! I was prepared and the student who knows more than I wasn't there ;P Seriously (although I am seriously embarrassed when that student is there) though, I covered the intended thing on tables and got to forms. The student who came early was really bummed about me doing tables again since no one has really gotten into forms yet (well, I think Rei did, but she didn't go to his section) and they have to do one for this assignment. So I covered all the basic elements, including all the requirements for the assignment, without actually doing the assignment for them.

And then I went out for a salmon salad and beer.

Monday, the start of a new week

And what a fun start it is! I did not have the best sleep and was a bit grump this morning (sorry, Hon!)
Breakfast was granola with soymilk, grapefruit half and Ubiquitous Tea

Snack: Smartfood

Argued with spouse over email and did some emotional eating for lunch. Had veggie sushi and a salad with pasta, cheese and full-fat blue cheese dressing. Later heard that someone else at work has it much worse than I (although, so does much of the world, but I'm a selfish American so it only hits me when it's people I know) and had a minor sob over that.

Dinner will be veggie sausage and noodles. I might even throw a veg in.

Weekend

Saturday:
Strawberries and tea for breakfast, a cider in the afternoon and pea soup with sausage and bread for dinner. Late at night (after midnight when we got home) I had vegetable lomein and a fortune cookie too. Oh, and a small peanut butter bar at friend's birthday party.

Sunday:
Tea, bread and butter were my only food until dinner. Had beer while grading homework and cooking (I stopped grading before there was a chance of it having an impact). Dinner was Quorn roast, roast potatoes, parsnips and carrots, Yorkshire pudding, Brussels spouts au gratin, peas, broccoli, and gravy. Steamed pudding with custard for dessert, plus some wine.

Another day off

Maybe the thing I really need is 10 hours of sleep a day. I feel so much better when I get it.

No breakfast as I've been in bed, but I've got the kettle on for tea and will need to think about lunch.

Lunch was noodle with butter and cheese. I later had a beer while tidying. I hadn't been doing my 56 minutes in the bedroom as I should, so I did 25 minutes while watching 'Dark Shadows.' Dinner is critiqued on the other blog.

Took a Sickie

Mainly I'm just light-headed, but I really didn't fancy walking to the T in the rain this morning when I'm so woozy. A co-worker was out for two days with vertigo, (and it was one of my boss's symptoms too), so I know it's not unusual, it's just weird. It's kind of like when I was super doped up after my surgery, but more lucid.

I had a huge breakfast of two "bacon" sandwiches and tea this morning before napping on the couch. I don't know what to do about lunch since I'm home though. Maybe I'll skip it (or have Spouse make me something.)

I had orange juice for lunch.

Dinner was seitan and carmelized onions in sauce over noodles and garlic sauteed sprouts. And I did a steamed pudding with custard for dessert.

Perpetual State of Embarrassment

Not that I'm actually embarrassed today, I'm just really flushed. I don't feel sick enough to justify staying home (although I might bail on class), but I'm not quite well either.

Breakfast was half of a really huge and juicy grapefruit (getting my C at least), boiled egg with buttered toast, Ubiquitous Tea. And a round of World of Goo, the insanely cute and addictive game I bought last night after watching Martin play it. I could have gotten it for free since he still had an active download link (he bought it for Linux), but I though $20 to support independent game makers (they used to work at EA) who don't put DRM in their games was worth it. But if I can get a free Wii copy, I'm totally going for it!

Lunchie was stuffed shells and diet soda (and water, of course) with a side of Advil. I'm starting to get a bit of a headache, but it's one that feels like I've been grinding my teeth. Perhaps I have been and haven't noticed?

Dinner was toast with jam, water and one beer.

May be coming down with something

Spouse has been feeling run down, headachey and chilled for a few days now. This afternoon, I started to feel like I've been hit with something as well. Yuck! At least I'll get my section over with tonight and not have to worry about that for a week.

Dinner last night:
Vegetable soup and bread

Morning:
Grapefruit
fake bacon sandwich on homemade bread
Ubiquitous Tea

Lunchie:
Veggie lasagna
chocolate pudding
water

Dinner:
soup and grilled cheese and "bacon" sandwiches

Happy Dead President Day!

I slept in again and only had grapefruit and tea for breakfast. Lunch was out at CBC with grilled tomato mozzarella sandwich with fries and mayo (chips I like wt vinegar and brown sauce, and frites with mayonnaise. Ketchup (a Cantonese word, mind you) are reserved for onion rings) and beer. It was my "reward" for going out to Petco on the Cat Food Run.

My dad called yesterday and it seems the hip he broke and had pinned in November is collapsing. He's waiting for surgery to be scheduled to have the whole thing replaced. I asked him to keep me in the loop, but think I'm going to have to call a few times a week until I know the schedule. I want to go up to be there for rthe surgery, but don't know how it will effect the school schedule. I think I'll appeal to the head TA and hope she's traditional enough (she's Indian) that she'll let me beg of for family obligations.

He has no one else, really. I don't blame my sister for her estrangement, I understand it. But that leaves me and I just can't, in spite of everything, leave him to it alone. Perhaps I'm just a sap, but the fact of "Family," attitudes of the individual notwithstanding, means a lot to me.

Now I just need to find out the dates and work out transport. I think I'll see if I can bribe my aunt with a killer meal that I pay for and make.

Day after

Breakfast was leftovers out of the dish and tea. I'm so classy! Now of to buy tarragon to make "chicken" tarragon tonight.

The Tarragon "Chicken" was a hit, although the ginormous amount of butter and cream we've had over the past few days (still less than a quarter of what our class ate in pre-WWII England!) will probably do us in! Spouse had soup and fresh bread as a starter (I just "tasted" bread after it came out of the oven), and I served the main dish over rice. I had some wine while cooking (and dancing around the kitchen like a loon to 'Jesus Christ Superstar') and water with dinner.

Happy Dead Saint Day!

I slept in this morning, but feel a little zonked still (too much sleep, perhaps?) Made the tea this morning and had that with Cream of Wheat with stewed fruit. Spouse didn't like the fruit in it (I could have done with limiting the fruit to just apricots) so next time he'll get his plain.

I watched him exercise before breakfast. Worked up a sweat, I did! Whew! Can I log that as my activity?

Had some cider in the afternoon, then came home to make:
White bean soup (served with champagne cocktail)
Roasted golden beet and turnip served with sprouts in garlic cream sauce
"Beef" Bourguignon with mashed potatoes (served with Bordeaux)
Individual chocolate cakes with bananas and custard (served with champagne)
Strawberries with a port wine reduction sauce

Sleeeeeeeeep

Had beer after work/pre-performance last night and then some naughty cookies during the performance. After we went next door to the pub for food and I had the best fish and chips in the US. It wasn't quite the thing, but seeing it come in real newspaper (with a bit of waxed paper lining it. then adding vinegar and brown sauce was great. the actual quality of the food was really good too. Had two beers with that and felt drunk halfway through the second.

Was not hungry this morning after eating dinner so late, but made myself eat a bowl of granola anyway. Had some juice to wash down the Advil (I quaffed three glasses of water before bed, but was still a little ugh this morning) and tea with more sugar than usual. Just finished a cup of coffee with half and half at my desk in the hopes that I will finally wake up.

The show was awesome though!

Had a HUGE cheese sub and diet soda for hunch. I'm totally clumsy today too and almost fell over TWICE trying to get a key to the student office next door. I think they thought I was drunk.

I was still exhausted when I got home, but for some reason thought it would be a good idea to spend four hours making a sauce (probably from watching all the Posh Nosh episodes), which was tasty. Sauce was on sauteed seitan and buttered noodles with roasted garlic Brussel sprouts and wine.

Busy day ahead

Boss Man is out sick and has throw 4 AV jobs on my calendar. One is at 9:00, so I guess I should get off my ass and get dressed and go. Just finished a bowl of granola with soy milk and am working on my tea and a glass of water.

I managed to wolf down some cucumber and avocado sushi and chocolate pudding between AV jobs and while responding to student questions. One of the other TAs though it was his day to monitor the boards and so has answered half of the questions for me, which has been very helpful. I'm offering to take tomorrow for him if he'll keep doing today for me. Since I'll be unavailable for several hours tonight, that will work much better for me.

It feels like Spring

I know it's going to get cold and snow again (it is only February after all) but it's still a nice change.

Boring breckie of granola with yoghurt, grapefruit, juice and tea this morning. The juice tasked off, but maybe I just keep expecting it to taste like orange juice when it's really orange and tangerine. It will be another late night on campus for me as I'm attending the class tonight. I may eat on campus before going home.

Nothing exciting in the refectory for lunch today. They had macaroni and cheese, but I tried it once and it was HORRIBLE. So I went for green beans and wheat berries from the hot side and salad with a hard boiled egg and some sesame dressing for cold. And more water.

Yup, crap after class. Snacked on veggie sushi before and had a "grilled cheese" (warmed, not melted cheese, cold slab of tomato on bread that had clearly been browned in a panini press) and a couple of fries and a beer while standing up in the PACKED student pub.

First night of section tonight

I hope I don't fuck things up too badly. as it was, my account was set up wrong and the guy who set it up refused to help (in the time it took him to tell me to ask the instructor, he could have given me the three lines of Unix to fix it. Makes me think he didn't know what the fuck was wrong).

Breakfast this morning did not include fruit, only because I was late and lazy (and not all that hungry). Still, I had a perfect egg (buying a kitchen timer has helped too), toast with butter and toast with jam, juice and Ubiquitous Tea. Drinking water now at work.

Lunchies: veggie sushi and salad. Water

Snack: bag of Smartfood between day and night jobs

Section went well. A small amount of students, but some with a lot of questions. I know that would have bothered me as the quick student, and there were a few who seemed frustrated, but I think going slower will help them overall. But I did try to move us along as much as I could (and had a pop quiz on validation a well). Section ran late to answer questions for the last to people, so i decided to eat junk in Cambridge and had fried mozzarella and beer for dinner.

Monday

Sorry for not blogging the weekend. I brunched on Saturday and only nibbled a little Quorn before dinner on Sunday. Dinner at Pho Pasteur Saturday, plus Twizzlers at the movies. Sunday was a household day of granola-making, bread-making, laundry-cleaning and a good dinner of pea soup, "meat" balls and gravy over noodles, broccoli and wine.

Now, for today. I'm about to sit down to my first cold cereal breakfast in a while. It's the homemade granola with Greek yogurt, which promises to be yummy. Plus there is a half grapefruit, juice and the ubiquitous tea.

Lunch was out at John Harvard with the office to celebrate Boss Man's birthday. I had mushroom gnocci and a beer.

Late din-dins of grilled cheese and a glass of wine.

So I'm a bit pished

End of Friday post.

Had some salad with a hard boiled egg as extra lunch ting and also a vending machine bag of Smartfood. Then I got my Drink on.

Friend Ted' 40th wa today o had three AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL cocktails made by the amazing Misty Kalkofen At Drink. Then we went out for food and I went all pescetarian and had schrod with mashed potatoes and a beer. And I am very drunk right now and drinking lots of water before bed.

Friday

Overslept AGAIN but wouldn't leave without breakfast first. I wasn't feeling up for hot cereal, and needed to finished off the old loaf of bread (still one chunk left though) so just had a soy bacon sandwich, orange, juice and tea. By the time I left it was getting so late I had to take a cab to work or risking having to call from the Charles station to say I'd be in late. But I made it in plenty of time.

I wasn't so much hungry as just craving my sandwich I packed for lunch (Quorn and Branston pickle with vegan mayo on last night's bread) so I pulled it out at 11:30. I touch of sharp cheddar would have made it just perfect, but perhaps I have that next week (I still have our whole 4oz cheese ration to buy this week!)

It's Thursday already?

The cat messed up the alarm again, but provided his own alarm by meowing at the bedroom door at 6:20, so I did at least get up. Had two small glasses of juice this morning, one while making breakfast and one with it. Breakfast was a boiled egg (my Tuesday and Thursday thang); two slices of toast, one with butter, one with jam; half grapefruit and the ubiquitous tea.

Lunchies was a nice salad with some pasta and a sesame dressing and two slices of left over "meat" loaf. I've had two bottles of water so far today.

I was really not in to cleaning tonight. Bought some yarn to darn the sweater I was wearing today (I looked like the fattest Dickensian urchin ever) and just wanted to try that (failed, but more on the other blog when I get around to it). Did a few dishes and started some bread and went in to the bedroom armed with more 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' to just get those damned five minutes over with. Before I started, Spouse came home with flowers for me. Awww! Flowers and smootchies gave me the fortitude to clean for 15 minutes instead of 5.

Finished last night's soup for dinner and there's a Quorn roast and bread in the oven. I'll probably have a small Quorn sandwich on the last of Monday's bread to round out the evening. Also finishing a beer.

So tired

I had weird dreams and overslept this morning, but still managed breakfast. I tried cream of wheat with prunes again, but made the full portion. People have recommended making it with milk to be more filling, but I didn't have any (and it sounds kind of gross to me), so splashed in some soy milk with the water. Maybe I'll get used to the taste, as I did with soy milk in coffee and tea (now cow milk tastes off for those), but it was kind of yucky. The half grapefruit was nice though, and I segmented the other half and left it in the fridge for Spouse. I also, in addition to the ubiquitous tea, had watered-down pineapple juice that I was trying to make into a full serving. Also kind of yucky.

Snacked this morning at a staff meeting on two fortune cookies they handed out. Still hungry.

The hot lunch offerings were not doing it for me today (BLTs or fish) so I hit the salad bar. Greenery with a small scoop of egg salad and some pasta with "lite" ranch and a tad of Russian dressing. The veggie soup today was tomato basil with ravioli, so I had that too. And I'm on my second bottle of water.

Had three bottles of water at work and a large glass at home. After work I went to the grocery store at Porter Square because they have Bisto. Had a hellish time with the self checkout (it doesn't like people who bring their own bags), but managed and got home to chore. Did the dishes, popped a cake in the oven and then set to work in the bedroom while watching 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents.' Did about 10 minutes, which is still unnoticeable, but it will get there eventually. Next I made the custard to go with the cake. Spouse came home to get some network cards and ran out again before I started dinner. Dinner is a red pepper bisque and aloo gobi with Quorn.

Back to the routine

The weekend away was nice, but it's so good to be home! I started my work week off with a perfectly boiled egg (yay!) with buttered toast from last night's bread, a sliced orange and tea with soy milk and sugar. I wish I could have had more tea, but I was running a little late. Still, I am determined to keep up this breakfast thing, so I made the effort to not only prepare everything, but sit down and eat it, rather than snatching bites while running around. Spouse thinks I'm already looking thinner (but I've "fallen to the Communists" so he doesn't want to piss me off.)

This week was going to be the week I brought my lunch in every day, but since I didn't grocery shop after we got in yesterday, I don't really have the food to do that. That goal may have to wait until next week. So I think this week's goal will be a cleaning one (yuck.) I refuse to go whole hog on it right away (and Spouse says he should be cleaning more since he's home), but I think vowing to spend five minutes picking up and/or sorting things in the bedroom every day will help. Our closet is in a hell of a state, but it feels like too much to take one so I just do nothing. If I can manage five minutes, even if it's hardly noticeable, by the tend of one week things should start to look a little more tidy in there.

I gorged myself on a huge lunch today. They had tofu cordon bleu (spinach and swiss on tofu, actually) with brown rice and summer squash. I added a little greener from the salad bar, PLUS a cup of corn chowder. OINK!

Dinner will be (when spouse comes home, or in the next 10 minutes for me, which ever comes first) "meat" loaf, roasted potatoes and carrots, broccoli, gravy. And beer.

I made the bed and picked up clothes in the bedroom for 10 minutes while watching a video tonight. I think I now see a purpose to 'Sabrina the Teenaged Witch' as it was a nice, fluffy background and made what I was doing go faster. I could have done more, but I was afraid I would start on the closet and things would get ugly. I think tomorrow, if I don't have to go to class (I may be a TA again), I'll move the suitcases and grab some of the closet gunk and go through it. So much of this stuff needs to be sorted to get rid of. I'm not going to throw anything in the trash, but I need to see what I will wear, what I can give to the Goodwill and what need to go in a fabric bag. This will be a multi-sorting venture, but I've got to start sometime.

Home again

Breakfast was bread, toasted with some cheese melted on, coffee and soy milk. Lunch was another Subway veggie sandwich. And then 837 more hours on the fucking bus, stopping in every township in New Hampshire.

Dinner was at home, made by me (yay!) Quorn cutlets wrapped in Smart Bacon, sauteed with mushrooms. Side dish (actually taking up most of the plate) was carrot and cabbage sauteed in butter and finished with vegetarian fish sauce and Siracha. I even made a really nice loaf of whole wheat bread as our starch. Hopefully we won't eat the entire loaf before I get a chance to have some for breakfast.

Sunday

Half a bagel with lite cream cheese, coffee with soy milk for breakfast.

Lunch was at a cute bakery cafe in the Old North End (Burlington) and consisted of a BBQ seitan sandwich with cheese on whole wheat bread. It was GORGEOUS! also ate all the crisps and half the pickle that came with and had a cup of tea with milk. Back at my stepmother's we had poundcake that someone brought her and some cookies from the cafe.

Amazing dinner of mom' macaroni and cheese (or, as it's known in the family, Lordaroni), salad and spouts, and wine. Yummers!

Saturday in VT

It promises to be quite frigid up north today. I slept in and decided to try the suggestions I got on boiling an egg and this time it worked! I had a lovely egg with one slice buttered toast for dipping and one with peach jam. Plus there was COFFEE! I have a coffee pot, but I drink so little coffee that it's just not worth pulling it out of the cupboard. Tea has been my preferred drink for morning even before Spouse immigrated, but I tend not to drink it at other people's houses because, um, I'm a tea snob. Twinings English Breakfast just doesn't do it for me as much as PG Tips (Bigelow is nice for a regular grocery store tea though). So it was fun to have coffee this morning, and I even got to have it with soy milk as my stepfather buys that for his cereal.

Lunch will be at a sushi place in town where I'm meeting up with some old high school friends. I haven't actually seen either of them in a while, but we've been keeping up through Friendface.

Okay, in linking to Facebook there, I thought maybe it would make more sense to link to something from The IT Crowd since that's what I was referencing. And it actually exitsts

So lunch was kimchee soup with tofu and a side of rice. Very tasty! Dinner was with family and consisted of AMAZING homemade pizza, arugula and tangerine salad, raspberry and chocolate dessert and wine. And Happy Twins!

Trip to Vermont

I got to sleep in this morning, which was really nice. Spouse and I even got to eat breakfast together before hopping on a Greyhound to Vermont. I had only 1/2 a grapefruit and offered it to spouse and had an orange for myself. The rest of breakfast was oatmeal with prunes, pineapple juice and tea.

Lunch was on the go. I got a 6" veggie sub at Subway and also had a couple pieces of broccoli spouse got at the Chinese buffet off the bus station. Plus a bottle of water

Snack: 2 table water crackers, three small pieces of cheese, water

Dinner: Tortellini with pesto, salad with fat-free dressing, garlic bread, water

Egg Failure

Again I managed to not soft-boil an egg. This time I cross-referenced with a late 1960s version of Joy of Cooking and I swear I did everything right, but the yolk was still firm. Maybe I need to skip the step of getting the egg to room temperature first. On source suggested running it under hot water if it came right from the 'fridge and that's what I've been doing, but maybe for too long? Could I be partially cooking it before I even start? I'll try straight from the cold next week and see how it goes.

Apart from my failure to have some good for my toast soldiers to jump in, breakfast was good. Pretty much like Tuesday's meal, but with the addition of a small glass of pineapple juice, and no marachino cherry on the grapefruit (it looks cute, but is really unnecessary.) I'm quite enjoying the feeling of a, if not quite full, but sated belly in the mornings. And it really is helping me get through the day without having to munch on everything in sight.

I made a point of going to the refectory at noon today before the Locusts descended. A very good plan, as it turned out, as I was able to get eggplant parmesan (somewhat breaded eggplant wrapped around ricotta and covered in tomato sauce) which came with a tiny side salad. I hit the salad bar for more salad, but couldn't resist the lure of the tortellini and veg in there. But I still had more veggies than the pasta, so that's a plus. And I managed 1.5 litres of water.

After I left the office, early because of this, I went to a user testing thing where there was pizza and soda. I stopped myself at 1 slice of veggie pizza (the Upper Crust does reeeeealy nice pizza) and a 20oz diet Coke. Then I hit the library as D810.W7 H66 had been found after I put a trace on it, and retired to the brew pub to read. Um, which means I had beer. MMmmmmmm... beeeer....

Dinner for me, since spouse is nowhere to be found, is hotted up "meat" loaf from Monday as a sandwich with vegan mayonnaise on homemade bread.

Look at the Little Hand Too

I hit snooze several times this morning, finally dragging myself out of bed at 6:50. Since I try to leave for work around 7:00, this meant it might have to be a cold cereal day. But then, the voice of Bob Oakes telling me it was 6:01 caused me to whip around toward the kitchen clock. Oh, that's where the small hand is!

It seems that when kitty woke me in the middle of the night by pushing the alarm clock off the bookcase and wedging it between the bookcase and the wall, the time on that clock got a little screwed up. I should have realized something was up by just how dark it was, but I'm in no shape for logic before I've had my tea. Saved from cold cereal, I had oatmeal with prunes, pineapple juice, tea with soy milk and sugar and an orange.

Today was the first day of classes so the students were swarming like locusts. I got to the refectory at 12:30 and saw the last of the "student special" being dished up, plus all the pizza and "Heart of the Plate" (a protein, starch, usually whole grain, and veg sold by weight) were long gone, I settle for a grab-n-go veggie sushi and scraping the bottom of the dish of white bean soup.

Dinner, which will be blogged more about on Urban Earth Mother was last night's beans, apple and sage veggie sausage (one for me, two for spouse) and chips. Oh the chips!

I didn't drink nearly as much water as I should have today. I was often thirsty, but was pressed for time and didn't run to the well to fill the old skin bag. I think I need a larger water container to alleviate this problem. Then when I do go to fill up, I can get enough for most of the day.

Breakfast II: This time, it's Personal

So, check out that breakfast



That's an egg (WAY over cooked! Should have been soft-boiled) toast with butter, designed for dipping, but that was a bust, plus toast with jam, grapefruit, tea and water. I'm hoping all that toast will keep the hunger away longer than yesterday's breakfast.

And lo and behold it worked! Lunch was pasta and broccoli from the hot by-weight food and salady things (um, including tortellini) from the cold salad bar in the refectory. I threw some "lite" Ranch dressing on, but ended up with way too much as it poured out much faster than I was expecting. To get my daily fruit, I also procured a Granny Smith apple and munched that for dessert. Or would have been dessert if there hadn't been two small Dove chocolates on my desk when I got back. So apple and chocolates for dessert.

Dinner was spending three hour making a WWII English recipe for Boston Baked Beans (called Boston Bake). It called for golden syrup, but I used molasses. It didn't turn out like proper Boston (or New England) baked beans except for being close to the colour. Not bad though, so I had a rice bowl full, which followed the remaining bit of vegan chicken salad.

First day of Breakfast Week

In spite of getting nearly no sleep last night, I managed to make not only breakfast this morning, but lunch for both myself and for spouse. I had Cream of Wheat with prunes today and made the serving size for infants and toddlers listed on the side of the package. The regular serving size seems HUGE, but the half cup portion was perfect. I also had half a pink grapefruit (why can I never find white grapefruit anymore?) and tea with soy milk and no sugar.

Lunch, since I've already packed I know what it is, will be vegetable soup, two small vegan chicken salad sandwiches, and a banana.

Nothing was filling today! I started snacking on my lunch at 9:30 and after I finished the huge thermos of soup, remaining tiny sandwich and infant banana, I was still hungry. Starting on a mocha now made with no sugar added Swiss Miss.

Dinner is all about comfort food. I was freezing when I got home and hungry all day. I'm making Gimme Lean "meat" loaf, little stuffing balls (added some bread to the onion, celery and bread crumbs left over from the loaf), sauteed sprouts and broccoli, mashed potato and carrot. Also had a beer and water (and yes, I drank lots of water, about 2 litres, throughout the day at work.)

Weigh-in day

Today was my weigh-in day on the Wii and while I had to run around before I did it to find my sweatpants (I'm weighing myself in the same clothes each time), when I got on I had lost 2 pounds in two weeks. The Wii makes you set a goal at a minimum of two weeks out, so my next goal, like my last, is to lose 1 pound in that time. But hopefully I'll make it two pounds :)

And to celebrate, I'm having lasagna for brunch :)
(big glass of water and much tea consumed as well)

In the evening I had a glass of whine while cooking the meal and a beer with it. The meal itself was a Quorn roast with roasted potatoes and carrot, sauteed sporouts with garlic, steamed broccoli and gravy.

Saturday

Got up around 10:30 today. But given that I turned out the light around 2:00, it's not that surprising. So I had brunch this morning, consisting of leftover curry and rice, with several cups of tea.

Afternoon: pints of cider with the lads down the pub.

Evening: We went over to some friends for a lovely evening of food and conversation. I had a couple of crackers with cheese, 2 small pieces of spinach lasagna (with some to take home!) and bread, a bit of salad without dresing, and chocolate cake with ice cream (for my birthday. They even sang!). Oh, and split a bottle of wine with the hostess as her husband doesn't drink.

The Goal

I've been so inspired by Destination 1940 and her slowly incorporating new tasks in each week. While this doesn't mean I'm suddenly going to turn into a great housekeeper (how can I make the bed in the morning when there's someone still in it?), it does give me hope for incorporating little changes into my life to instill new good habits.

She actually began her new habits with the bedmaking, but since I can't really do that unless spouse gets a job that gets him up and out at the same time as me, I'm going to follow her Week Two Mission to prepare and serve breakfast.

Part of the reason I struggle with weight may be do to sporadic eating patterns (says the woman who had lunch at 2:00 today). They say* that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but I generally am in a rush in the morning and half the time just cannot face solids at that hour. But I've had a few breakfasts at home lately, and it's really helped get me through the morning without reaching for a snack at 10:30. My first week will begin on Monday. Weekends may be modified a bit as that's when I like to catch up on all the sleep I'm not getting during the week (maybe sleep should be a goal?), so it may be modified to brunch.

So this is my new small goal for myself. Others will be added (mainly food and exercise-related, but perhaps the occasional bit of housework as well) as the weeks go on. I have some more things I'd like to do, but am loathe to put them in print right now. I am having a hard time with my Grand Goals, so I'm just going to stick with wee ones for now.


*(don't They always say? Will They ever shut it?)

Vintage Home and Health

In Destination 1940, Jitterbug mentioned going back on the reducing plan from an article in the October 1945 issue of Good Housekeeping. I did a little search and found what looks like nearly all of Good Housekeeping archives up through 1950 has been digitized at Cornell. How cool is that?

So, whilst the BIG library I usually go to can't seem to keep their catalogue up to date with what's actually on the shelves (I've been told that lost books are not updated there), and thus I can't seem to get LOC D810.W7 H66 (hey, look it up for yourself), at least I can go to a similar source (albeit the American version.)

Friday!

Hello, Friday! How's the end of the work week today?

My morning food has been most of a cup of tea with sugar and soy milk and a corn muffin. I was running late this morning so couldn't leisurely drink my tea or go for that preferred second cup.

Lunch was running to the library to find my book still is either missing or invisible (since the catalog has it listed as being on the shelf). Then salad lunch with humus and lentils.

Dinner was me being frustrated at arriving 20 minutes late because EVERYTHING had to happen in the afternoon at work. But the last issue was my own damned fault for answering the phone after I should have been gone. And then I had mutter paneer, rice and a glass of wine. Am about to have a nice cup of tea and finish submitting grades.

Thursday

Morning: tea with sugar and soy milk. I'm running low on sugar cubes but can't buy any more sugar until Sunday at the earliest (rationing) Egg and cheese breakfast sandwich, water.

Lunch: big honkin' deli sandwich, diet Dr Pepper, water

Evening: homemade chili and corn muffins, a beer and a half (maybe. I used a lot of the first beer in the chili and drank about half of the second)

Better late than never

No exercise Wednesday, but I did take a delightful bath and set my hair in pincurls (which took 12 hours to dry!)

Morning:
granola with yogurt, tea with milk and sugar, water

Lunch: veggie sushi, small amount of leftover mack and cheese, water, 1 Dove chocolate

Dinner: Quorn and veg casserole over brown rice, wine with bath and beer with dinner, water with bedtime

SLAAAAAAAAAAAAACKER!

Yeah, I haven't logged. I suck.

Last night I had so much food I thought I'd vomit. Fortunately, hubby packed up leftovers before I could try to shove them down my gob too (will be shoving them down my gob for lunch though.) Today's lunch will also include leftover cakes!

Oh, and it's my birthday. Happy birthday to me.

Lunch:
Proseco while watching the speach; little spanikopita things; leftover "chicken" pot pie; water

My husband lost his job, my stepmother has cancer and you just made my week

These were the exact words I said to the performer on the T tonight. He brought his own sound and danced on the train between station and really did make my week (I gave him a fiver).

On the health side, my stepmother has Stage 1 cancer, so that's actually a big relief since treatment looks good. They can't do surgery on the tumor, but think they can zap it with chemo. And she'll probably be out of the hospital this weekend. Yay!

Morning: 1 cup of tea with sugar and soymilk, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich, water

Lunch: "vegetable stack" (a vegetable Napoleon with a scant amount of mozzarella), roast potatoes, root beer, water

Snack: Smartfood

Work birthday party (not mine, which will be Tuesday): glass of white wine

After work: 2 10oz glasses beer

Dinner: TBA (will be added later)

Took a Sickie

Decided to stay home today. It's a more mental than physical health sick day as I had a few crying jags this morning. I'm feeling a bit better, but it's all still a worry.

Morning:
Fake bacon sandwich, tea with sugar and soymilk. Been drinking lots of tea today.

Lunch: leftover leek, cabbage, carrot cheese thing, with extra cabbage added (but no extra cheese)

Dinner: "beef", carrot and cabbage filo puffs; Brussels' sprouts with garlic; Pugu Club cocktail; random, over-reacting-at-the-tiniest-slight weeping.

Exercise: typing, standing, walking a block, doing my hair, blinking, occasional snog

Can we get a do-over on the new year?

First spouse loses his job, and now my stepmother is in the hospital with an incredibly serious condition (like she's already specified things for the funeral serious). This year is sucking.

Morning: bread and butter, leftover leek dish, tea with sugar and soymilk, possible concussion from the closet door falling on my head

Lunch: salad with a shit-load of blue cheese dressing, leftover potato and seitan mushroom thing, water, cream soda

Snack: three Dove chocolates

Evening: one 10oz beer; one 12oz cider; fake bacon sandwich; leeks, cabbage and carrot in a hooray-for-leftover-cheese sauce

No exercise

Tuesday

Morning: tea with soymilk and sugar, egg and cheese on english muffin (BAD! but I wasn't hungry at all until I got to work), water

Lunch: salad with fatty dressing, corn chowder (that seemed more like onion chowder with random bits of corn), water

Snack: 1 Dove chocolate

Dinner: baked potato with seitan and mushrooms, leeks in goat cheese sauce (hooray for leftover cheese!), cider

Exercise: I tried the Good Housekeeping exercises this morning but could only do one round of them rather than the two the suggest. It was party because they're actually hard, but partly a time issue too since I wanted to do something with my hair before I left for work.

Exercise Amendment: walked 1/2 mile to the grocery store after work, then did 30 minutes of Wii free step wen I got home (I'm a "Calorie Roaster")

Monday, Monday

No exercise today :( But I found a short routine on the Good Housekeeping website that I can do in the morning. I figure if I can manage that, then it won't be so horrible if I miss the evening exercises (which I do still plan to keep up.)

Morning - tea with sugar and soy milk, granola with yogurt, water

Snack - some of my lunch (I was hungry!), water

Lunch - vegetable soup, bread with scant amount of butter ("scrape" as it was called during rationing), water

Evening - vegetable soup with pasta and fake meat balls, tea with sugar and soy milk

Today's bread batch was a loss. It was a combination of having the dough do the last rise in the fridge and then being over baked. I think I'll salvage it by making bread crumbs. Tomorrow I plan to make the sponge for the bread in the morning and then making up the dough and baking after work. I still need to give spouse proper bread baking lessons, but after I do, I may turn baking duties over to him.

Cottage Cheese

Does anyone actually like cottage cheese? It only seems to appear in diet food plans which makes me think it was created to punish people for being fat.

Sunday

I actually managed exercise today! The Wii had some power issue when I got up (like no power), but it got going again after unplugging everything for a couple of minutes. So I did 28 minutes of Wii yoga and the 10 minute advanced rhythm boxing.

Morning - no food, just tea and exercise

Afternoon - granola with yogurt, mimosa, beer

Evening - wine, pita, hummus, carrot, grapes, salad with dressing, whole wheat pastas with tomato sauce and veggie "meat" balls, roll with butter, sorbet, cookies

Oh, and I lost 1.3 pounds since Monday night.

Saturday

Morning:
Tea w/sugar and soy milk
granola with yogurt

Afternoon:
cider down the pub. The gents kindly got me rounds to console me on spouse's job loss

Evening:
homemade bread, vegetable soup

Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuck

Spouse lost his job today. Much alcohol was had and little exercise. We've decided to use British WWII rationing as our economization guide, and 'll be making us ration books (hey, why not). We're not in dire straits as we've been saving for a mortgage down payment so have a good chunk of change, but it still blows.

I can't really say much more about it now (partly because I'm still in shock, and partly because of the alcohol), but will mention more, I'm sure, in coming days.

Off the wagon

I really, really need to start bringing fruit and/or nuts to work for snacks. I probably would have been okay today if there hadn't already been the bag of M&Ms from the vending machine in my desk. Grr.

Morning:
Granola with yogurt, tea with sugar and soy milk, water

Afternoon:
Veggie lasagna, white wine (we had a small party-type thing in the office), water, fucking peanut M&Ms

Evening:
Salad with orzo and the rare (a is not often, not as in lightly cooked) bit of fish; powdered sugar doughnut in class (treats for the last day), beer, homemade bread.

No exercise as I'm home late due to the class.

The bread came out really nice. Keeping a starter and having a very slow rise (dough was made at 7:00 last night and loaves formed at 7:00 this morning) helped the flavour a lot. Spouse baked them perfectly (although with my hyper-detailed instructions, it would be hard not to), and even saved me some to come home to. A hunk of bread and tankard of ale was just what I wanted! Although the beer tastes a bit funny in the metal tankard.

Log Day 3

I'm still sick, but managed to get to work today. It was freezing rain out most of the day ad jut dreary.

Morning:
Tea with sugar ad soy milk, granola with rice milk, water

Noonish:
Salad with fatty dressing, corn bisque, water, small piece of chocolate chip cookie (I just wanted a taste and gave the rest to someone else)

Evening:
Vegetable soup, bread with butter, 1 bottle hard cider, orange juice

Exercise:
34 minutes Wii Fit, even mix of aerobic and stretching

Still sick

I took a sick day today and slept for about 12 hours. That meant skipping breakfast, so one less meal for the day.

Food:
Noonish - 1/2 granola with vanilla rice milk, tea with sugar and soy milk. Tea throughout the afternoon

Snack - smoked Gouda, probably about 2 oz

Dinner - 1/4 cup leftover gremolata rice, sauteed Seitan with goat cheese on homemade baguette, water

Exercise:
26 minutes Wii yoga, 4 minutes Wii rhythm boxing

New Year, New Resolutions to Break

Well, I'm starting off again. I think I weigh more than I did this time last year, but I really disgusted with it (no, this time I *mean* it!) My mom wants a buddy to help get healthy so we're posting Facebook status updates with our progress, but I thought I would be more verbose here.

Food:
Morning - 1/2 cup homemade fruit granola with 2% fat Greek yogurt, 2 cups tea with 1 small sugar cube and splash of soy milk (per cup), 2 cups orange juice, water

Noonish - Chili with beans and Gimme Lean "beef", water

Snack - Naked Juice pomegranate blueberry

Dinner - Casserole of Quorn naked cutlet with brown rice, onion, green pepper, gremolata; broccoli; beer

Exercise:
31 minutes Wii Fit - all the yoga poses, plus Slalom, Ski Jump and that stupid soccer ball thing I completely FAIL at

The exercise is not much today, but I'm still sick with this nasty cold. Once I'm well, the goal is 1 hour of exercise (probably all Wii), but may be broken up into 30 minute chunks