Gabbagoolia: I Can Not Has Cheezburger

Day 43

Work was interesting today. I don't want to say too much about what I do, but it was a very long, stressful day full of tiny details. It's not an exaggeration to say that I was interrogated for a good part of the morning. I had a serving of pretzels for breakfast, and delightful leftover pasta primavera for lunch, and then I was too busy to even think of food until I left for home. I really missed my late-afternoon protein snack; by the time I got home I was ravenous.

Dinner was amazing. I had bought some frozen Dover sole at TJ's, and for the last two days I had an idea for lemon sole. I didn't have anything like a recipe for it, but it just sounds so good- people in Noel Coward stories, and the Lord Peter Wimsey books, are always eating lemon sole. Here is what I did:

Melt 4T of butter in a dutch oven. Add 2T flour and cook until golden brown. Add 4 cups chicken stock and simmer for 30 minutes or so until sauce is reduced by 1/4 volume. Lay the sole fillets into the simmering liquid (I had a pound of sole that I cut into 8 half-fillets; if I had it to do over I wouldn't have cut them, as the fish shrinks quite a bit in cooking). Poach for 3 to 4 minutes until the fish is opaque and breaks up easily. Remove the fillets from the pan and set aside (tonight, two went on my plate and the rest went into Tupperware). Stir up the sauce and pick out any little fishy bits. Add the juice of 1 1/2 lemons and 2T chopped dill. Ladle the sauce over the fish and serve.

I served it with red beets, golden beets, green beans and roasted rosemary potatoes. After I ate the fish I kept swiping the rest of the food into the sauce, which tasted light and fresh and awesome. I will totally make this dish again.

Later, I'll have plums and oranges for dessert, because I didn't have enough calories or carbs and I am now out of chocolate.

Calories 1740, Carbs 229, Fat 58, Protein 84.

Day 42

Today I had leftover miso soup and stir-fry for lunch- no scallops this time because I thought they would definitely not reheat well in the work microwave. Also, I hate people who microwave fish in a public place. It stinks up the whole joint for the rest of the day.

I had a rough afternoon at the Other Office- I had a question about some hours billed by a vendor (they charged us for 12 but our records showed they were only in for 6) so I'd sent an email inquiring about how the vendor spent his time. I emailed my sales contact, who talked to the guy's manager, who asked the guy, who was PISSED. I hadn't intended my question as an attack on his honesty, but he certainly took it that way. He wrote a six page tirade about how I wouldn't know whether he was there or not because he never could get in touch with me, I didn't know anything, I was totally useless, etc. The fact remains that I am right: he is supposed to have me, or someone else in the organization, sign his work order at the end of the day. If he had done that, I would not have needed to ask the question. But I was shaken by how angry and hostile his email was.

So when I left at 6, I was feeling pretty horrible. I got into my car and remembered: baseball's on! The very first Red Sox spring training broadcast of the year. By the time I got home I felt much, much better.

G's working late tonight, and I didn't get home until after 7, so I made pasta for myself. I wanted some more of that tasty tasty alfredo, so I balanced it out with tons of vegetables. I call it Lazy Pasta Primavera:

2 cups dry whole wheat pasta, subsequently boiled

Saute the following in the appropriate order:
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped summer squash
1/2 cup chopped broccoli

Add 1 cup chopped fresh spinach. Stir in 2 servings of jarred alfredo. Add 1/2 cup milk to thin it all out. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the pasta and mix.

I didn't realize how much it would make, so I now have tomorrow's lunch all ready to go. And, when I entered in my calories, I was still way under, so that means: chocolate!

Calories 1665 (including chocolate!), Carbs 263, Fat 66, Protein 73.

Day 41

I mixed it up a little bit today and had fruit and string cheese for breakfast. It made a nice change from endless pretzels.

Lunch was a TJ's Tasty Bite. I'd rather have leftovers, but there weren't any from last night. After work, I went to Idylwilde for produce (and the items I forgot to get at TJ's, namely soy sauce and vinegar as I pitched mine last month in a cleaning frenzy). Dinner was a stir-fry of broccoli and 'broccoli slaw', with scallops, in a Thai red curry sauce, served over basmati rice. I also made miso soup, because I'd been craving some- I didn't use seaweed, or dashi, because I didn't remember to get any, so here's what I did:

Sautee some shiitake mushrooms in a little oil. Add six cups of liquid- I did half water, half beef stock. Add 2T soy sauce and 1/4 cup miso. If it's not salty enough, add more soy.

Cube up some tofu- I used 1/4 block, or 3.5 ounces, but I really like tofu. Sprinkle it into the bottom of a bowl. Top with chopped scallions. Ladle the soup onto the tofu and serve immediately.

Looking at my Spark nutrition tracker after dinner, I realized I was way below my recommended daily calories and carbs, so I ate dessert. I dug around in the baking cabinet and found a block of Valrhona Jivara Lactee milk chocolate, left over from the last time I made chocolate mousse, and cut myself a nice 2 oz. block, which I gnawed while watching America's Next Top Model. It always makes me feel good to eat snacks while watching skinny girls get tortured. Again, this doesn't say anything particularly good about me, but there it is.

 

Calories 1756, Carbs 237, Fat 76, Protein 95.

Day 40

Lunch was leftover taco makings- beans, beef, cheese, zucchini and onions. Still yummy!

I went to Trader Joe's after work- and may I digress to say that having the Google Maps desktop application on my BlackBerry has kept me from getting lost EVER in the past eight months- and, because it was snowing, I didn't get home until after 7. I had planned on a Thai tofu thing, but went to Plan B because of the lateness of the hour: whole-wheat pasta, tomato sauce from a jar, steamed broccoli and TJ's turkey meatballs. When I was at the store, I could not resist the siren call of a jar of alfredo sauce, so last night I measured out two servings of tomato, added one serving of alfredo, warmed it in the microwave and poured it on my pasta, without mixing. That way all my pasta had tomato sauce on it, and I could really taste the alfredo- which is necessary, given the fat and calories it contains. I was super stuffed after dinner, but still needed to eat more calories (!), so I had some plums and oranges.

I've been avoiding TJ's, because in the past, I bought so many packaged and prepared foods, and that's what I'm trying to stay away from with this new eating regimen. So I tried to look at their selection with new eyes- they have great prices on staples like beans and ww pasta, and fabulous prices on frozen fish, so that's mostly what I got. They also have frozen herb cubes of garlic and basil, which are so handy to have around the house, and which none of my other three supermarkets carry. The Hannaford has frozen 'italian herb mix', but not straight garlic. WTF, Hannaford?

Of course, I now have to go to the OTHER supermarket for produce to fix with my awesome fish. I cannot wait for June, because we finally got it together to join a CSA for 2008, and I am salivating to think of the humongous boxes of fresh, locally-grown organic veggies that are waiting for me. We also bought a 'fruit share', which is described as containing the following:

-8 lbs. apples
-6 lbs. peaches
-4 pts. blueberries
-2 1/2 pts. raspberries

EVERY TWO WEEKS from August to October. For $60. I am going to need to start canning.

Calories 1716, Carbs 211, Fat 63, Protein 88.

Day 39

My boss is out this week, so work has been incredibly boring. I find myself wanting to eat snacks just to have something to do. So far I have restrained myself- it helps that I have applesauce, whole-grain crackers and wheat pretzels here in my desk. It hushes the call of the vending machine.

Dinner was Tacos New-School, my attempt to make my favorite quick dinner more vegetable-focused. My old-school taco 'recipe' is: brown a pan of ground beef. Add a can of refried beans. Dump a bag of shredded cheese on top. Serve with salsa, sour cream and shredded lettuce. Last night, I also sauteed up a pan of zucchini and onions, measured the cheese and sour cream, and sprinkled on a chopped orange bell pepper along with the lettuce, and it was so much better. Whole-wheat tortillas are not that awesome, but higher in protein and fiber, so I'm dealing with them. It probably took 25 minutes, compared to 20 for old-school, and so worthwhile!

Calories 1787, Carbs 225, Fat 75, Protein 67.

Sixth Weekend (Days 37 and 38)

Saturday I slept really late- until almost 2!- and we had plans to meet friends for someone else's birthday dinner. I had a honkload of coffee and some fruit for breakfast, knowing that I would be eating cake that night. The party was at a Moroccan restaurant, and they have live Middle Eastern music and bellydancing on weekends, so I was excited. I ordered something called Chicken Tangiers, which was essentially chicken Marsala with dried figs and apricots in it. The food and the conversation were awesome- until the birthday girl's bratty little brother decided to order a hookah and stuff some weed into it. The first thing that happened was that we all looked at one another like "do you smell that? Does that smell like... weed to you?" The next thing that happened was the manager coming over to the table and insisting that we all get out. At this point, four diners hadn't even gotten their entrees, and we had ordered what turned out to be almost $600 worth of food and booze, so a compromise was negotiated where the bratty brother got the boot and the rest of us were left alone to eat cake. I think the belly dancer disapproved of the shenanigans because we didn't see her again all night.

Calories 1641, Carbs 159, Fat 68, Protein 99.

Sunday was a day of chores and Netflix at home. I went to the regular supermarket to restock on seltzer, Ziploc bags and toilet paper. I don't buy very much food there anymore, because their produce isn't as pretty as Idylwilde, and I don't have the same confidence in their packaged goods as I do in Whole Foods's. Lunch was leftover turkey patties and vegetables; dinner was my favorite pan-fried tofu with a bok choy stir-fry and udon.

The best thing that happened on Sunday was that, encouraged by my recent documented weight loss, I thought I'd dig out my engagement ring and see whether it fit again. I had to stop wearing it a few months after our wedding, because that was the summer that I broke my foot and piled on 20 pounds. It's a little bit tight on my right hand, but I am so thrilled to be able to wear it again, I don't even care.

Calories 1534, Carbs 138, Fat 73, Protein 87.

Days 35 and 36

Thursday I had to go to the Other Office, but I was able to eat lunch (pasta & bean soup and pretzels) before I left. I also had a little Gladware of leftover green beans, beets and feta that I brought with me as my afternoon snack, so I was well supplied. On my way home, I stopped by CVS and bought some trial-size toiletries to keep in my gym bag- I do not yet have a gym bag, but that might be a good reward to get myself some week when I actually can get to the gym. Baby steps, right? Every tiny thing that I do is one thing I won't have to take care of later.

Dinner was leftover pasta and veggies, along with the salad I wasn't able to eat on Wednesday.

Calories 1872, Carbs 265, Fat 63, Protein 71.

On Friday, we were slammed with a huge snowstorm, and I didn't go to work. I had a lovely late breakfast of cereal and yogurt and blueberries, then made a really good late lunch-early dinner. I made turkey burgers, but I bulked them out with chopped portobello mushrooms and onions. I put blue cheese and bacon on top, and served them on gorgeous onion bulkie rolls with spicy sweet potato 'fries' and sauteed spinach with lemon. So good. We stayed up really late that night, watching movies, so I had some microwave popcorn for a snack.

Calories 1993, Carbs 271, Fat 68, Protein 90.

Better (Days 33 and 34)

Back to work. I almost turned right around yesterday when I walked in to find 59 emails waiting for me.

Tuesday I ate the last of my Tasty Bites, plus some pretzels and applesauce. I made salmon for dinner, with cucumber-yogurt salad, spicy sweet potato oven 'fries', and roasted beets and asparagus. Our neighbors invited me over to taste some extra-rare chocolates smuggled home from Paris- they were filled with cheese (no, really) and wouldn't last past that night in the fridge. I'd already had a piece of carrot cake for dessert, but I really wanted to try them, so I did. As a result, I went over on calories and fat- but it was a once-in-a-blue-moon indulgence and I am trying not to feel bad about it.

Calories 2242, Carbs 301, Fat 80, Protein 94.

Wednesday I had chicken soup for lunch, with pretzels. I stopped at Idylwilde to get some staples for dinner and managed to swing by the gym on my way home- I never connected with a personal trainer, so I wanted to try and set that up, and I also wanted to weigh myself. I have been telling myself all month that the important thing is that I am eating well, and I shouldn't let the numbers on the scale affect my attitude- and then I learned that I have lost 7.4 pounds. In 34 days! That's a lot! More than 10% of my goal! I was impressed. So I guess I reserve the right to be pleased with myself based on the numbers on the scale.

Dinner was whole-wheat pasta with a fresh tomato sauce that I whipped up- sauteed portobellos and onions with a can of tomatoes and tons of garlic, and chicken sausage. I sliced up some feta cheese and had that with the leftover beets, and made steamed green beans and sauteed zucchini. I also made a salad, but we didn't even get to it, there were so many other vegetables on the plate. I might have some later, but I have already determined that I am having more carrot cake for dessert.

Calories 1599, Carbs 191, Fat 69, Protein 62.

Sick, again (Days 30 through 32)

Saturday I managed to make it out to Idylwilde to buy some vegetables- I went a little cuckoo when presented with all that gorgeous produce. I bought the whole rainbow in anticipation of making myself some meals. Then I came home and collapsed. We got takeout from the Southeast Asian Restaurant (that is actually the name, not just the cuisine's provenance) and I was able to get steamed chicken and vegetables with peanut sauce on the side, and Garden Rolls (which are just cabbage and carrots and rice noodles, wrapped in rice paper). My numbers are probably way off, because I couldn't find a detailed breakdown for the rolls, just the calories in them.

Saturday: Calories 1122, Carbs 44, Fat 27, Protein 60.

Sunday was all about introducing G to the awesomeness that is Heroes on Netflix on-demand. I was still not really able to cook; he got Indian takeout and I had garlic naan and raita with my chicken soup.

Sunday: Calories 1709, Carbs 298, Fat 30, Protein 81.

Monday I was able to whip up a big pot of Orange Soup- it went a little something like this:

Boil some butternut squash. I bought three pounds already skinned and seeded and cut it into chunks about the size of a 9-volt battery. It cooked for roughly 20 minutes- it's done when it's squooshy. Drain.

Blend in Cuisinart. If you stop now, it's babyfood!

Return to pan. Add 2 cups stock (I keep a jar of low-salt chicken soup base in the fridge for easy soupinating). Stir. The amount of stock can be adjusted to taste, of course. Or you could use plain water, or half-and-half if you wanted it to be less healthy and more delicious.

Season. I used about 1 t of garlic salt, a spoonful of jarred garlic, and a couple grates of pepper. You could do curry and cumin, or ginger and cinnamon, but I knew I was adding bacon to the finished dish so I did not. Simmer over low heat until flavors are blended.

Monday: Calories 1188, Carbs 215, Fat 20, Protein 53.

Sick (Day 28 and 29)

Urgh. I don't know whether I just have a bad cold, or the flu, but whatever it is laid me flat out for the better part of this week. My #1 priority, as I said, was to rest and recuperate, and I decided that whatever I ate would be in service of that. So yesterday, I ate almost nothing, and today I ordered chicken fingers delivered. I still don't have much of a sense of smell, and I definitely don't have an appetite, but I've been stuffing food down my gullet whenever I remember (and that has to be good enough).

Thursday: Calories 1025, Carbs 190, Fat 12 (all from chicken soup), Protein 46.

Friday: Calories 1665, Carbs 159, Fat 74, Protein 118.