Pizza, Pie and Polenta!

Good evening!

I have much amazing food to report! But first, I realize I have been negligent of my exercise reporting. B-May and I have gotten back into the swing of running. I think that she has run just under 15 miles this week and while I only have six miles under my belt week to date, I enjoy feeling the tightness in my calves and cadence of running again. Don't know how we got away from it but it's nice to be back.

Okay, so at the end of my last post I was eagerly anticipating dinner and dessert. It was worth it! B-May whipped up a fresh pizza dough from scratch! The whole wheat dough was soft and crunchy on the crust. We absolutely covered the pie with vegetables - eggplant, peppers, zucchini, spinach and tomatoes. Covered it! A liberal soaking of tomato sauce and and many handfuls of mozzarella cheese later we had a delicious vegetable pizza.

AND while it was cooking we mixed some sugar and cinnamon and other pie ingredients with some freshly skinned apples from earlier that day and made an ENORMOUS apple pie. (Notice the fork and how high the pie piles up in comparison!)

It was an evening of insanity but I have no regrets. As soon as the pizza finished cooking we put in the pie and when we finished the pizza the pie was done! Everything was delicious.

So yesterday morning I finished the remainder of the french toast and tried a little Kashi with half of a banana all tossed in some yogurt! I continue to enjoy eating the newest healthy food for me. Then I headed back to Massachusetts for some dental work but first tricked my mother into buying me lunch at one of my favorite sandwich shops in town, The Ultimate Perk. I enjoyed a spicy Thai chicken wrap while my mom had "the best veggie wrap ever." As the feeling returned to my mouth from the local anaesthetic, B-May and shot some hoops at the park. It

was pretty cool and I look forward to more nights like that!

Okay, so for dinner last night, we made tostadas! We used tortilla wraps broiled first which served as the base for a turkey and veggie mixture. Sprinkled some more cheese on top and baked the whole lot for four tostadas. Excellent!

Last night was reading night so after dinner, we sat and read for two hours. Awesome! I finished the book I wanted to - Devil in the White City - which was quite good and read the newspaper and a couple magazine articles I wanted to finish. At the end of our two-hour block we had a piece of pie each - mine twice the size of B-May's - and I enjoyed a couple scoops of ice cream as well.

This morning I kind of rushed out the door. As such I didn't finish my oatmeal nor my corn muffin. Bummer! Good breakfast though.

At work, I was treated to a cup of coffee by a co-worker and snacked on raisins with water. Good snack, huh? During my break I enjoyed the remainder of the tostadas and two congo bars with a seltzer water for lunch. After work, I stopped at Flatbread for a couple beers - one organic - before settling in for the night with a plate full of freshly made ratatouille and polenta! I have never had anything like it and it was quite good. I tip my hat to B-May and the various cookbooks she employs to keep me well, well, well-fed.

Now I'm all updated. I just had another slice of pie, a small (seriously!) scoop of ice cream and got rid of the Reese's Peanut Butter cups residing at the top of the cupboard by eating them. I'm still hungry so I might eat something else. Not sure. It's a mystery!

Today was a Day for the History Books!

But not yesterday. Yesterday was a slew of chains: Dunkin Donuts for breakfast (egg and cheese on a plain bagel with a black coffee), Panera Bread for tea (earl grey), and Friendly's for lunch with friends (TurkeyClub SuperMelt with very little fries and a giant chocolate Fribble, a.k.a., frappe). For dinner B-May and I whipped up a quick stir-fry of rice and veggies. I had seconds! And drank a PBR. Which was awesome.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of any of those things. Friendly's and the stir-fry of course, I regret failing to do so. I have an unconditional love for the sandwich I ordered at Friendly's, a New England staple and so have to have it every time I go. This time, was in the face of everything I learned from Food Inc. and every thing I promised to do in my last entry. Which brings me to my next point: I bought Odwalla Organic super-berry mixture (of sorts) and a Stonyfield yogurt, black cherry. The Odwalla I have not consumed, though I tasted it and loved it. It's only a matter of time. As for the yogurt, well...not only is it organic but is amazing!

I officially love yogurt! This was a wonderful afternoon snack that has filled me up and satisfied my sugar craving for that part of the day. It's not correct that one gets one sugar craving a day. Rather, they come in frequent waves. (At least for me.)

So today B-May and I made pumpkin french toast, which came out excellent and was delicious. I was surpised how full I got from this breakfast. I can usually put down six or seven slices but I think the combination of whole wheat bread and pumpkin puree set my intake limit slightly lower. Milk for a drink!

During the course of the morning, B-May and I headed down to Applecrest Farms for a pumpkin to be a jack-o-lantern and a peck of apples.

We got both despite nearly all the apples had been picked from the orchards. For lunch we returned to the apartment and I smushed a tuna sandwich to make a tuna melt and enjoyed some almonds before as a snack. I also had some chips and salsa with my tuna and two congo bars for dessert.

This brings me to the yogurt experience which was magical and to dinner which I will post either later tonight or tomorrow. Hooray for yogurt being in my life!

Portsmouth Film Festival Continues and Ends

When I last posted, I eagerly anticipated breakfast. Unfortunately it was far from a grand affair: I fried one egg white and put it on two toasted slices of bread with some oatmeal.

Water was my beverage as we ran out of milk. These things never happened when my folks bought me food but alas, I am an adult now and have to reconcile that I occasionally fall a little short and forget to buy a steady supply of milk.

In the morning, I walked down to the Moffatt-Ladd warehouse and saw a short documentary on Ethiopian women who suffer from childbirth injuries and their proximity to care. It was disturbing, yes, but fascinating and truly eye-opening. Google "fistula" for a topic not to be covered here but one that should not be ignored.

After the film, I was invited up to a swanky club of the rich and famous as an extension of B-May's work and we dined on fresh salmon, pasta with veggies and a sip or two of fine cider. It sounds so unfair to the food to simply qualify it as "pasta with veggies" but I will never eat there again so it's not worth considering any further. I did not carry my camera with me for this event. Another point about food bloggers: it must be easier (if not, less conspicuous) to be a female blogger, owing to the purse or handbag in which to conceal and carry a camera....I digress.

While I managed an eventful morning, I still had to go to work. Before though, I slurped down a Hannaford chicken noodle soup which lacked any semblance of flavor. Never again. I rode my bike despite the cold again (woot!) and snacked on raisins and two Nalgenes worth of water. When I took my break I had (yet another) serving of the veggie mac and cheese and few bars of the granola with apricots B-May made I think before I started this blog.

For dessert, I wolfed down a granola bar - Chocolate Chunk, etc. etc. - and gave in to a Clif Bar. This last treat I nibbled on for the last hour of work before B-May picked me up. That was nice of her!

We bought a bottle of wine and half gallon of ice cream. It was a perfect Saturday grocery purchase. At home, we uncorked the wine - something red - and I had two glasses before deciding that a bowl of ice cream was absolutely necessary. (It rarely is.)

Now to today! For breakfast, I enjoyed a warming cup of Breaking New Grounds coffee and an onion bagel with cream cheese.

This lasted me until just before noon when I went to Weathervane with my grandmother, her sister and my aunt. For a greasy seafood restaurant I managed a (somewhat) healthy avenue of fried haddock sandwich with veggies instead of fries. One could argue it was all in vain as I downed an entire fountain soda, negating any benefit from the veggies.

When I got home, I poured a tall glass of milk and snacked on three cookies, trying to get rid of the temptation, bit by bit.

Okay, so now I'm at the exciting part!

Tonight we saw Food Inc. This is a mind-blowing movie. Its delivery is original and the topic is particularly gripping: where food comes from. The film manages to cover all the angles - grocers, farmers, businesses, and organics - in less than two hours. Part of it was hard to watch (reaffirming my abstinence from meat) but the rest was so educational I'll have to watch it three more times to retain the parts needed to win an argument for organic. A special treat was a Q and A session immediately afterward with the Stonybrook CEO. My takeaway: "There are thousands of reasons to eat organic, but only one not to: price." The man knows his stuff is expensive but his infiltrating Wal-Mart helps reduce the prices of his signature yogurts and make the healthy stuff more accessible to all Americans. It was not my intention when I started this blog and recording what I eat to actively pursue eating organic, but with the influence of this movie and B-May's resilience for the products, I will start.

With this new information kicking out our heads, we scoured the cupboards of our apartment for foods with ingredients we could not pronounce. Still we ate a fine turkey chili with corn muffins and chips and salsa for dinner. We also sipped some more wine. It was lovely!

I must report, I felt another instance of necessary ice cream and did just that.

Regrettably, I finished the whole bowl. So now I'm craving, truly craving, a cold glass of water. I'll go get one.

Serious Moonlight

Good morning!

Even before I enjoy some breakfast, I wanted to post my supper! B-May, who has been working at the Portsmouth Film Festival yesterday and all day today and tomorrow, got home around 645, 7. Like I said before, I was waiting for her to feed me, and I was glad I waited. She took some cheese tortellini from Buitoni and layered it in pie dish with spinach, sauce, and more cheese. It was an interesting presentation of this typical pasta! She thought the sauce needed to be boiled first but I thought it came out fine.

Then we went and saw one of the premiere movies of the Festival: Serious Moonlight. It starred Meg Ryan, Tim Hutton and Kristen Bell with a strange appearance of Justin Long as well. We really enjoyed this movie and hope that it circulates wider as it is worthy of much bigger audiences! Perhaps the highlight however, was catching a few glimpses with Brett Cullen - better known to me, at least, as Goodwin from LOST. He's starring in one of the films here and is apparently hopping about and catching some others. We didn't get his photo or anything. Oh well!

Breakfast awaits: later!

Successful Taming of the Craving!

Good evening!

I just got back from my bike ride from work and on the way felt two things: a headache and after seeing a bag from Wendy's, a strong craving for fast food. Then, I got to thinking: I am dehydrated! I don't think I drank enough water at work and the Wendy's wanna-treat was actually craving the salt! Well, now I'm sitting comfy watching a little Cash Cab and sipping some cranberry pomegranate juice while dipping some Food Should Taste Good: Olive chips in a garlic hummus. An excellent alternative!

A little catching up: For dinner last night, I enjoyed a small bowl of B-May's macaroni and cheese (how much of this stuff did we make anyways???) and a handful of the aforementioned chips I picked up at the grocery store during my break. Oh, and two Reese's, dark chocolate. I don't know if they make me healthier but I wanna believe that they do.

So in over-preparation for my cold bike ride today, I loaded up on probably unnecessary energy: eggs - without yolks -, whole wheat toast with peanut butter slathered on top, and a bowl of oatmeal. With milk. What was I thinking? I wasn't about to take off for a killer run or something and I got hungry at work like I would anyways. What gives?!

For lunch, I nuked a canned veggie soup from Hannaford that loaded me up with more sodium than I'll need for the rest of the day. Not that I need sodium. Isn't that bad for you? After my warming soup, which it wonderfully was, I snacked on a cheesecake slice with cream cheese and pumpkin that B-May made for her work and this tiny box of Multi-Grain Cheerios from CNN we picked up in Chicago at a health fair.

As I watch the idiots of Cash Cab I'm waiting for B-May to get home and feed me. Wish I was kidding!

Later!

Winter is Coming!

Oy vey!

It's getting cold outside! I feel a little head-cold coming on and a cough that brings up the nasty reminders of phlegm and...winter. Granted, I am totally psyched for skiing, snowshoeing and winter backpacking. I can't wait to welcome the warmth of hot cocoa after a day of sledding and the coming holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Fall is definitely my favorite season so I'm trying to enjoy it while I can. Accordingly, I will be biking to work today, tomorrow and every other day I can until the snow falls. Perhaps when that happens, I'll run to work on Micro-Spikes or something.

So when B-May and I were preparing for our trip to Chicago we finished off all perishables, which given our lunch and dinner tendencies, that was nearly everything. I had dry cereal and the one remaining slice of whole wheat bread with crunchy peanut butter with a glass of milk for breakfast.

This morning I was productive in cleaning the apartment, dodging jury duty owing to my move to New Hampshire and paid some bills. To reward myself for these efforts, I took a walk into town and stopped in at the Works on Congress St. for a Thai Chicken wrap. As I recall, there were sprouts, onions, red peppers, chicken of course, and a spicy thai peanut sauce. They called it "hot" but it was not "hot." Slightly disappointing but I enjoyed it much-ly.

Knowing work will prevent me from eating for another four hours, I snacked on three of the peanut butter blossoms which are actually not peanut butter but a chocolate base with pumpkin Hershey kisses in the center. A B-May original, I might add.

Off to layer and prepare for work! A cold bike ride awaits!

Chicago Recap!

Good evening!

B-May and I just got back from a three-day vacation in Chicago, visiting my brother. We did not stop. It's almost too much to bullet-point the entirety of our trip - we got a complete experience. The "integrity" of the food went from bad to good, but B-May mostly kept me on the straight and narrow. Highlights included the requiste Chicago Deep Dish Pizza with vegetarian toppings (pictured below), a black bean burger with guacamole and sweet potato fries from local organic grocery Fox and Obel, pub fare of pulled pork and fresh beer from Goose Island Brewery and two light breakfasts of coffee and bagels from two prime bakery/shops less than five minutes from my brother's apartment.


We flew in on Saturday night, just in time to wake up early for the Chicago Marathon. We met up with my uncle, a multi-marathon veteran, for color commentary and true runner insight. While we didn't run, we did walk just about everywhere.

On Monday, we headed down south of the city for a look at Hyde Park, the neighborhood with the University of Chicago and Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House. I'll do my best to satisfy the historic preservationist in B-May by adding that the Robie house provides a clear demonstration of Wright's signature prairie style.

Behold the standard tourist photo of Millenium Park's Bean with city skyline. Despite the type of gawkers it attracts, it's still pretty cool.

Perhaps the most unique visit of our whirlwind tour was an hour-long trip north to the suburb of Wilmette, home of North Ameria's only Baha'i House of Worship. It's a place of devotion for the members of the Baha'i Faith, a fledgling independent religion exported from Iran in the mid-1800s, whose beliefs are an inclusive amalgation of nearly all major faiths throughout the world. I'll post a good sized bite about it sometime. Really, a beautiful building.

Oh! We also bought a bottle of wine from 7-Eleven. Yellowtail Merlot though, so it was legit.

Proper food and strength training updates to resume tommorow!

Lots of Room for Improvement

Good evening!

I have very little good to report. Truth is, I took a two-day whirlwind tour of New York City and ate terrible things - McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts, two NYC pizza joints, etc. - and visited a few too many bars. I even had cheeseballs at one of the bars. Regarding my training, it was a GIANT step backwards. Not that I have to make up the difference, it was just unnecessary. I had fun but there were many moments I was wishing I was asleep, running, or eating vegetables. Actually, those moments happened quite a bit. To be fair, I should note that during my visit, my friend and I walked just under 100 blocks on the island of Manhattan. It works out to be seven miles. We were severely dehydrated however and I wonder if it just made my headache worse.

MOVING ON.

That's the theme of my life and training lately. Moving on. Today I woke up and had two fried eggs and a couple slices of toast with a tall glass of cranberry/pomegranate juice. At work, I sipped a medium sized coffee and enjoyed a big handful of raisins before lunch. I haven't got a photo but I will soon. Before my trip, B-May experimented with a pot pie of sorts of mushrooms, brussel sprouts, spinach, peppers and whatever other veggies we had in the house. Tacked on four little oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for a filling and redeeming meal. Seltzer water for a drink.

Dinner was excellent! This was a huge step back towards Taming the Craving. Gnocchi with roasted cauliflower. B-May whipped up a cream sauce to hold it all together and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner.

Okay, so now for What I Learned Today: I would rather be moving than sitting on a barstool past midnight. It was immature taking the trip I did - though it comes with some good stories - and the fact that I still have hot-burps from lousy beers is a telling sign. There's fun to be had in going out on a bender but it's no good maintaining that as a lifestyle, even if it's just two nights in a row.

Ironically, B-May and I are contemplating a beer out on the town tonight or ice cream. Speaking on rare occasion, my liver, says ice cream.

Later!

Uh...Half marathon? Yes!

There's been nothing subtle about my life lately.

To project a self-fulfilling prophesy, I brought my friends to Dos Amigos Burritos for the namesake burritos. I ordered a fish burrito with guacamole (for an extra dollar) and sipped a Coke for lunch. I have never been to this staple of Portsmouth dining but it was amazing. I'll be back very very soon.

After they left B-May and I took a walk and debated on dinner. It didn't take long to decide on a vegetable calzone which we started on as soon as we got back. The pictures tell the story and one can easily deduce that it, too, was amazing. (B-May also allotted some of the dough taken from the enormous calzone and worked it into three breadsticks we eagerly dipped into a olive oil concoction on par with Not Your Average Joes).

For dessert I had a couple more of the bites (see last post).

This morning was sort of epic. First of all, we woke up at 6 30am. Then we each ate half of a bagel with some peanut butter. Then we ran 13.1 miles.

13.1 miles! That's a half marathon! I felt pretty good during miles 1-8 and 10-13.1. Miles 8-10 were a different story. I developed a devil of a blister on my left foot and my legs gave up the whole running thing. What I Learned Today: run like B-May. I need to slow down my pace when I put on the big miles. She did amazing. She said her legs were sore too - after all, she is human - but for the most part, when I needed to walk, she never stopped running. Very impressive girlfriend!

Our run ended right next to a convenience store and I quickly downed a quart of Gatorade, B-May half that much. I wolfed down a couple waffles and tall glass of milk before running a quick errand (no pun intended) to Maine, during which I sipped a Diet Coke.

At work, I had one of the portions of our macaroni and cheese with veggies. Like before, I added a bag of Wheat Thins and four of the bites. Not completely awake at work, I picked up a Coke and got the necessary caffeine kick to get me through.

When I got home, B-May and I celebrated the completion of our run with a beer each and generous bowl of ice cream. Typically, I'm sheepish to share a photo of one of my favorite snacks but given the serious mileage we put in today, I don't mind posting this sweet snack on the blog.

I am thoroughly exhausted. Bedtime.

Later!

A Run and a Regret

Before I wax poetic on why I can't seem to bring myself to blog a regular basis, I have to boast about these amazing waffles!

I can honestly say (and B-May can testify) that I made these all by myself. One step towards autonomy! Granted, I followed a recipe from Betty Crocker, but made it my own by adding a banana and a solid handful of almonds! Excellent breakfast that I had to wait for because we didn't have eggs, among many other things needed at the grocery store.

So back up a little: Shortly after my previous post B-May and enjoyed a simple but veggie-licious take on macaroni and cheese. We made excess macaroni and cheese. Seriously, there are three tupperwares in the fridge, and three in the freezer. It was out of hand. Four types of cheeses and peppers and mushrooms. Filling but, given the whole wheat macaroni base, it ranked on the healthier side of things.

For dessert, we baked oatmeal, peanut butter, chocolate chip cookies. Lots of good things there. Strangely, the recipe did not call for an egg which is probably why they look like bites and not traditional cookies. Triple (or quadruple?) the number of bites here to arrive at my total consumption that night.

Breakfast the next morning was next to nothing. We stopped for coffees and chai lattes, respectively at Caffe Killim in town. This was at 6 30am because we were headed back down to the Commonwealth despite the rain for the Somerville Homeless Coalition 5K. I've already said it was our first race exactly a year ago. As such, we've been eagerly awaiting to see our improvement since then. At press time, I have not been able to dig up the official times but I recall something around 26:25 for myself, and B-May just 30 seconds or so behind. That's five minutes better (at least) than our times in 2008. And I ran it in my Five Fingers!

Afterwards, we were treated to a post-race BBQ of sorts put on for runners by a couple local restaurants in Somerville, chief among them, Anna's Taqueria supplied grilled chicken and grilled veggie breakfast burritos. These were of course excellent.

And there was mixed fruits and corn bread. I ate a lot of corn bread.

Soon after, I was back in New Hampshire for work and during work enjoyed leftover macaroni and cheese and some of B-May's homemade applesauce - despite not having a spoon. I just finished fishing out the pasta with my fingers like a Beudoin when a generous co-worker offered me spoon for my applesauce. It was good timing.

Work proved to be particularly stressful and so a co-worker joined me for a couple of beers at the Coat of Arms in Portsmouth. I had a Black and Brown - Guiness and Newcastle and a Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale. Both were pleasant treats I slowly sipped.

All caught up! I have friends from college arriving soon - I forsee burritos at Dos Amigos - and other hearty portions in my immediate future.

Later!