It's that time again...

Heya kiddos. How is your day going? Mine has been very strange, mostly because I got up at 9, ate, then went back to sleep until 1. Glorious, but you know how I do.

I had a big bowl of cereal, with two handfuls of All Bran Flakes and two handfuls of Smart Start. I sliced an entire banana (halfway down the road to mushy, also glorious) on top and bathed it in skim. Who says cereal has to be boring?


I had an apple when I woke up...


... and grabbed some dried fruit (date, fig, prune, apricot, candied ginger) on my way out the door to go to the gym.


Got a small coffee with skim milk to take on my ride into the city.


My workout today was not so great (but they can't all be, right?). Since I'm going out to dinner tonight, I'd planned on having a wonderful, 600+ calorie busting session, but that just wasn't in the cards today. I did 35 minutes on the bike, then moved on to the stairs and started to feel sick to my stomach. I hope I'm not coming down with something!

To make up for the lack of greenness in yesterday's eats (just chives and cilantro... bad news) I went to the Whole Foods salad bar. I got some spinach, baked tofu, "chicken" salad (I love this stuff), lemon baked tempeh, broccoli and jicama mango cucumber salad. I squirted on a little creamy avocado dressing (the name itself is enough to make Ari vomit) to give it a little oomf.


I didn't want to have something too heavy, because my parents and I are going to the Tribeca Grill for Restaurant Week. This is the first time since having the blog that Restaurant Week has occurred, but it's pretty much my favorite time (well, times, since it now comes thrice) a year. Assuming you act fast, you can get a three course lunch or dinner at the city's best restaurants for $24.09 or $35.00, respectively. Woo-FREAKING-hoo! By the time I called, our first choices were already booked, but I got us reservations for 7:30 tonight. I'm excited to try something new. It's also co-owned by Robert De Niro, so it'll be interesting to see what his tastes are like (I have a feeling this isn't exactly Italian mobster food).

Have a lovely Wednesday night!

Shall we dine?

Good evening! This is going to be quite a busy post, and I'm very tired, so if my words start to slur or ZZZZs start appearing, consider yourselves warned.

Although I got up bright and early (which is getting more and more easy to do), I had lunch plans at noon and didn't have time to go to the gym. It's funny, but I can really feel a change in my body when I don't go (and no, I don't just mean "guilt"). It gives me so much energy and, more importantly, it gets me out of the house and starting my day.

I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast all by my lonesome (Ari's record is being presented to their label tomorrow and he is very busy... wish him luck! Not that he needs it...). It's been awhile since I've had cold cereal, so I had a great big bowl of All Bran Flakes and Smart Start with skim milk. I went out early to get breakfast for the boys and picked a coffee up for myself on the way.


I finally got on the Yoga Download train and did Hip Opening #1. It was great! I expected not to be able to follow it so clearly and have to look at the diagrams all the time (and thus interrupt my "flow"), but the audio was really clear and I actually kept my eyes closed for most of it. I'm glad I figured out that I can do this from home!

I went to the Museum Of Modern Art (MOMA) today to see The Hustler with my friend Howard. Now, I've been a Paul Newman fan (sniff sniff) for quite some time, but to be perfectly honest, I don't know if I've ever seen him look so handsome. The movie is great, if you haven't seen it- I think it's the prequel to The Color of Money.

Before the movie, we went to Maison for lunch. It's a Belgian bistro that's owned by the French Roast/ L'Express franchise, and like the other two is opened 24 hours. (Poor servers!) I went there the last time I went to MOMA and ordered the moules frites, so I wanted to try something different this time. The menu has a lot of things that are suitable for vegetarians (although vegans may not be so fortunate, sorry guys). I ordered the asparagus/swiss/egg crêpe... it reminded me of the crêpe stands in Paris (and one unfortunate night when I thought a 1-lb mushroom/cheese/egg crêpe was a good idea at 3 AM) and I ate every last bite.


After the movie, I found my beautiful Kalle and we went to Levain Bakery for their delicious chocolate chip walnut cookies. Next time you're in New York, go here. Seriously. These are the most amazing cookies (besides my aunt Mary's, of course) that I've ever had... they're half a pound each! They're worth every bite. The women who founded the bakery are bikers, so they understand the need for a little treat every now and then!

I had a couple bites of Kalle's, but was saving up for my new bar and a trip to Starbucks (I fell asleep again during the first hour of the movie, surprise surprise).


At Starbucks, I tried the Vanilla Rooibos tea latte (and forgot to take a picture! I can't believe it). A tall skim is 150 calories, and it was just the right amount for me. I also tried my first Gnu bar, in the Orange Cranberry Flavor.


Nutrition Facts:
Calories: 130
Fat Cal: 30
Total Fat: 3g
Carbohydrates: 32g
Protein: 3g
Fiber: 12g

Ingredients: Gnu High Fiber Blend (whole rolled oats, organic whole wheat flour, wheat bra, organic kamut, psyllium, flax, millet), chicory root, inulin, fruit juices, rice dextrins, raisins, apples, canola oil, plums, cranberries, rice, natural flavors, wheat protein isolate, baking powder.


Kalle and I had entirely different takes on this bar. As someone who doesn't usually consume copious amounts of nutrition bars- a normal person- (she usually sticks to Clif and Luna), I feel her voice has precedence:
"Too tangy and orangy. Yucky. Too berry and seedy. Too grainy. Too tart."
She didn't even want to finish the piece I gave her... not looking good for you, Gnu. When I tried it, I had an entirely different experience. As soon as I opened the package, a waft of orange fragrance breezed out. I liked the texture of it, and although it was very citrus-y, I appreciated the chunks of fruity-goodness. I would definitely buy these again, although I still have four more of the same flavor (I got a box at Whole Foods of 5/$7... hard to beat) so I'd like to try the other kinds.

On to dinner! I was veeeery spoiled, food-wise, today. My mom's colleagues at work gave her a gift certificate to the Daniel consortium, and we chose to go to Daniel Boulud's newest restaurant in Lincoln Center, Bar Boulud. I've been to his other Manhattan restaurants (Daniel, Café Boulud), and they all have very different feels. Bar Boulud was very low-key, unpretentious, and packed.

Empty glasses...


... magically filled by the wino fairy! My mom and I each got a tasting flight; I got white and she red.

In my flight:

Domaine Mardon, Quincy "Cuvée très vignes" 2007. Loire valley, Sauvignon Blanc.

Olivier LeFlaive, Rully premier cru "Rabource" 2005. Bourgougne, Chardonnay.

Michel & Stephane Ogier, VDP "Viognier de rosine," 2006. Rhone valley, Viognier.


The Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier were my favorites. I thought the Viognier tasted like rose; the sommelier told us the taste was jasmine. I'm going to try to find a bottle of this somewhere.

The amuse bouche was a flaky popover-like bread filled with a light cheese. Very good, and yummy with the wine! I wish I'd known it was coming or I wouldn't have raided the bread basket beforehand...


My mom and I split oysters. Yumyumyum.


You can bet I ate that last one!


Don't they look nice? Good food puts everyone in such a good mood.


If you tilt your head (I swear, when I have a free day I'm going to look at all my blogging options...) you can see my striped bass with chestnuts, butternut squash and sautéed greens. I ate everything except for one little scrap of fish that I let my poor daddy have.


Dessert was so scrumptious that I'm going to taunt you with multiple shots of each (we split them both three ways).

Noisette mousse with toasted hazelnuts, milk chocolate, vanilla and chocolate ice cream:



The dessert special: Meyer lemon tart with finely shaved pistachio croutons, meringue and vanilla ice cream.



I am so happily full right now (hence the drowsiness). I'm just going to fold the laundry and fall into bed... have a lovely evening!

"There's nothing as over as Christmas"

My mom used to say that, and I think she learned it from my grandpa.  Sad but true, ALTHOUGH my aunt, uncle and twin cousins are coming on Monday, so we'll have Christmas #2 and some quality family time.  When I was little we used to always do that- spend Christmas day here in New York, then leave for Indianapolis a couple days later to have New Years with my mom's side of the family.  

Yesterday before the movie, I had a big bowl of Mueslix with a banana and skim milk.

Hmm. So The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was... interesting.  To be fair, I was asleep during the first hour of the movie (I'm such an old man) so I missed the beginning set-up and context. But, that said- and this is all I'll say because I don't want to spoil it- Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt were obviously gorgeous, but that's pretty much all the movie had going for it. Oh well! The lines outside the theater were ridiculous.  They went 3/4 of the way around the block!  The Ziegfeld is a really cool old theater; I think it's the biggest one in Manhattan, so at least we all got to sit in the same area.

We came home for a tasty Christmas dinner prepared by my one and only Daddy-O.  We started off with a little Austrian white wine- how great is this bottle?!

We packed up the gingerbread cookies:

Poor Rudolph lost his head:

For some reason this picture won't rotate at all, but on the plate is spiced baked plantains and sweet potatoes from The Soul of A New Cuisine, a crawfish cake, and sautéed red swiss chard with onions and toasted almonds.

The bûche just might have been better on the second day.  I asked to have the end piece, which was covered with a thick slab of marzipan.  YUM.

And another little marzipan pinecone:

My breakfast cookie got a lot of goodnatured laughs while I was making it last night... I guess it's not the most appetizing thing to look at!

We tried out the gingerbread this morning.  White piping icing was NOWHERE to be found, so we settled for dipping them into Betty Crocker chocolate frosting.  Things could be worse.

I'm off to go to the gym and meet my mama for some shopping.  Have a great day!

Hot Hot Feet

My bandwidth and I need to to have a little chat... It just took me about 20 minutes to load 7 photos! HMPF.

I got off work last night at 11:30. I'm hostessing at a cute bar & grill on the Upper West Side, and I had such a fun time last night! Unfortunately I had to rush home (chez maman et papa), grab some "dinner," and go back to Queens. I'm going to have to figure out a better system...

Dinner was a ginormous bowl of Mueslix with skim milk...


... and an apple which I ate while trying to hail a cab. My poor fingers were so cold!


This morning I ate half a Banana Nut Zone Perfect bar (I love these)...


...then decided to go home and get my paper done before heading back to work tonight at 5:30. I needed a little java...


Daddy-O made another delicious vegetarian soup! I think I may have died and gone to soup haven. This is called Potage St. Cloud; it has peas, potatoes, carrots and parsnips, among other things. It was very tasty with a little mint garnish:


I ate it with a hunk of Silver Moon baguette and more coffee with skim.


I did a little taste test between a tangerine and a clementine.


The tangerine was sweeter and juicier, but it had tons of seeds. Small price to pay for big taste!

Back to the grind... I can't wait to get all my schoolwork done so I can finally feel like I'm on vacation! Happy Sunday!

Breakfast Buddies (2)

Good morning! (I could almost say "Good evening"!) Last night went pretty well, as far as studying goes, but at 3, when the library closed, I couldn't bring myself to do anymore so I came home.

I didn't end up eating my yogurt (I traded it with Jalene for a grapefruit), but I did enjoy this lovely snack... I'm not sure how much my peers enjoyed my crunching though.

Justin's Organic Cinnamon Peanut Butter

Ingredients: Dry Roasted Peanuts, Honey, Organic Palm Fruit Oil, Organic Cinnamon, Sea Salt.


I spread this on carrots, and it was delicious. It had a definite cinnamon taste, but it was' perfectly sweet and not overpowering. I'd like to try it on fruit; I used to make PB/banana/cinnamon sugar sandwiches and they were pretty amazing. The serving size (the same for regular ole jarred nut butters) made me realize that I don't use as much as I thought when I'm making sandwiches. I had about half the pouch left after I smeared it on a whole baggie of carrots, which I used later (read on!).

Around 3:30, I had a bowl of Oatmeal Squares/ Mueslix with half a pear.


I didn't end up going to sleep until about 5; my schedule never lines up with Ari's and when it does, we have to take advantage of it! So we watched an episode of 30 Rock via iChat (dorky, I know, but shh). I'm so excited to see him in two days! Woohoo!

Sometimes, you just need a little something extra to get you out of bed and brighten your morning. Meet Jim.


1/2 cup oats
1/3 mashed banana
1/2 mashed pear
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
1/2 packet Justin's Organic Cinnamon PB
craisin eyes/ smile, date nose

This combination was so tasty. Who knew pear and banana would go so well together? The cinnamon flavor from the Justin's packet really came through; I think steeping it overnight made it a lot stronger.


I'm resisting the urge to get back into my warm, fluffy bed, and going to get coffee with Jalene. Happy Humpday!

Midnight Madness

It's very late, and I'm very tired, so without further ado...

After my monster nap, I had two clemmies:


Crudités:


I'd been planning on having something healthy for dinner, since I've been eating pretty heavy things recently. But, of course, I started picking at the cold macaroni and cheese (leftovers) in the fridge, so I just gave in and heated it up. I steamed a whole bunch of veggies, but after only a few bites of my dinner I felt really full. This should have been my cue to stop eating, or at least wait a while for my stomach to settle, but no. I saved a few of the veggies but I ate all of the pasta. Ugh.


For some reason I'm always of the mind that fruit will un-bloat me.


And when that fails, why not try some chocolate?


It's a tradition at our school that every semester on the first night of finals, we have a "midnight breakfast" from 10-12. The teachers serve the students, you don't have to pay to get in, and pretty much the entire campus squeezes into our little cafeteria. Believe it or not, this is the first time I've actually gone!

I had some fruit and H2H cereal with skim milk.



I think they're starting to like being in the pictures! I rarely even get a grumble from this bunch anymore... I only had a little Reese's cup.


Hmm. So, I guess you can see that I've been thinking a lot about how eating when I'm not hungry anymore... I've noticed that I've been doing it since I went home for Thanksgiving. Going home always means eating my favorite foods, treating myself, and going back to that glorious childhood mentality of not caring. Oh, if only! The rich food in and of itself isn't what worries me, it's the mindless grazing and not listening to my body telling me it's had enough. So, I'll be working on this in the future...

Anyway, time for me to go to bed. Hope the week's off to a good start!