Breakfast protein shake

lunch two satsumas and clear veg soup

dinner protein shake

cups of tea: 3

sprite zero

1 tic tac!!!

11.00 – 11.30 am: Breakfast of black olives, salami, baguette, pita bread (which in my house we just call bread), Tomme Crayeuse and Brebis Ossau.

1.42 – 2.06 pm: More olives, salami and pita bread, plus some Armenian string cheese, which I share with the dog.

5.20 – 6.01 pm: Turkey time.  Even though I don’t much like it, I eat bit of dark meat, along with my family’s version of Thanksgiving fixins — mango salad, bean salad, two and a half boeregs, holiday rice* — and a glass of Chateau Ste. Michelle Columbia Valley Dry Riesling.

6.30 pm: Glass of Koehler Chardonnay in the backyard with the dog.

7.05 pm: Two slices apple galette, a bite of chocolate-chip meringue and a hazelnut truffle.  Then another few inches of galette.  Then some galette crust crumbs.  And a grape.

Apple Galette, from Everyday Cooking with Jacques Pepin by Jacques Pepin
Makes eight to twelve portions

½ recipe pâte brisée (recipe following)
5 large apples
¼ cup sugar
4 tablespoons apricot preserves
1 tablespoon Calvados or Cognac

1. Make pâte brisée.  Roll out dough 1/8 to 1/16 thick, in a shape that fits roughly a cookie sheet — approximately 16 x 14 inches.  If the dough is not thin enough after you lay it on the cookie sheet, roll it some more, directly on the sheet.
2. Peel and cut the apples in half, core them and slice each half into ¼-inch slices.  Set aside the large center slices of the same size and chop the end slices coarsely.  Sprinkle the chopped slices over the dough, then arrange the large slices on the dough beginning at the outside, approximately 1 ½ inches from the edge.  Stagger and overlap the slices to imitate the petals of a flower.
3. Cover the dough completely with a single layer of apples, except for the border.  Place the smaller slices in the center to resemble the heart of a flower.  Bring up the border of the dough and fold it over the apples.  Sprinkle the apples with sugar and pieces of butter, and bake in a 400° oven for 65 to 75 minutes, until the galette is really well-browned and crusty.
4. Slide the galette onto a board. Dilute the apricot preserves with the alcohol and spread it on top of the apples with the back of a spoon and the top edge of the crust.  Take care not to disturb the apple pieces.  Serve the galette lukewarm, cut into wedges.

Pâte Brisée **
Makes enough pastry for two 13 x 16 rectangular crusts, or two 13-inch circular crusts

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) sweet butter, cold and cut into thin slices
½ teaspoon salt
Approximately ¾ cup very cold water

1. Mix the flour, butter and salt together very lightly, so that the pieces of butter remain visible throughout the flour.
2. Add the ice-cold water and mix very quickly just until the dough coheres.  The pieces of butter should still be visible.  Cut the dough in half.  Wrap and refrigerate for one to two hours, or use right away.  If you use the dough right away, the butter will be a bit soft, so you may need a little extra flour in the rolling process to absorb it.  When rolling, use flour underneath and on top of the dough so that it doesn’t stick to the table or the rolling pin.  Wrapped properly, the dough can be kept in the refrigerator for two or three days, or it can be frozen.

* “Holiday rice” is what I call the rice my mother makes exclusively for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  It’s pilaf with ground beef, pistachios, almonds, pine nuts and cinnamon.  Whenever we come to visit, Keith asks my mom for holiday rice, and she refuses.
** I find this pastry extremely soothing to make, mostly because I love mixing the ingredients together with my hands. I think it’s really relaxing. I also like to trash-talk my dough while I make it.  Dunno why.

Enjoy your day!!!  Here’s my plan of attack for the day. 1^st I can’t give up my exercise routine today (shoulders/back with the weights and a run). Of course I have what feels like a million extra “to do’s” added on but by staying organized I keep on track. I planned ahead so all tasks are laid out. The big question is how not to go overboard eating today. Throughout the year I have done only simple changes to my diet. I gave up all soda (that was the biggest and hardest I used to drink at least a six pack a day), I also began taking a protein shake in the mornings. Most importantly I learned to take time with my meals. I started a food diary. In the beginning I wasn’t overly specific in it. I only wrote what I was eating and at what time. We have all heard don’t eat big meals just snack throughout the day. Eating often can speed the metabolism. So I was simply trying to determine how often I was eating when. After having about 2 weeks of data I could see clear trends and adjust them. Turns out I wasn’t eating often enough just big dinners or big breakfasts. To overcome this I literally began scheduling my meals. Kept on eye on the clock and devoted myself to eating something about every3 hours. At this point I still wasn’t calorie counting or worried about what I was exactly eating. Timing myself in this manner just naturally led to eating smaller meals. I just wasn’t able to stuff my face with such big meals as I did before and the new healthy habit developed.  Of course my diet log has now greatly evolved into a monstrosity of data, calorie counting and formulas but I will save those details for later.

My point of all of this is if you have a plan, schedule, purpose and stick to it you can succeed. The plan shouldn’t be overwhelming. It should be small and manageable with very little effort. Something small, like eating on a schedule throughout the day, is going to keep me full and happy and not allow myself to overindulge this Thanksgiving Dinner. I plan to take my time at dinner, start conversations and let the meal sink in slowly. This way when dessert comes maybe I will only be able to finish a sliver.

“Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy just to be normal.” ~ Albert Camus

Breakfast: Fruit and fibre, skimmed milk & small banana

Snack: medium skinny decaf latte

Lunch: cheese and vegetable omlette and chips + tomato sauce pint and a half of diet coke

Snack: cup of tea and twirl bar, two glasses of water

Dinner: 125 ml of red wine, brown rice and vegetable & quorn madras, with mango chutney. plus half fat cheese on top, two large glasses of water

teeny tiny homemade chocolate brownie

1.15 – 3.30 pm: Lunch at Eleven Madison Park with Keith and Ben; it’s my second time here in a month, and I’m excited to eat.  We decide to do the three-course prix fixe for $42.00.  After an amuse bouche of gougères, sashimi and cucumber panna cotta, I order the chicken velouté with veal sweetbreads and black truffles, the linguine with Alaskan king crab and Meyer lemon, and the bone marrow crusted beef tenderloin with saffron onions and braised shallots (for $15.00 extra).  Try bites of Ben’s scallop with celery, more Meyer lemon and black truffles, as well as the poached pear and the savoy cabbage that accompanies his boudin blanc — though neither of us can remember what it is until Ben texts me afterwards.  Also sample Keith’s slow-poached egg with Parmigiano-Reggiano and mushrooms, his ricotta gnocchi with artichokes and bacon, and his suckling pig confit.  Ben tries to get me to eat some of his salad of heirloom beets with chèvre frais, rye crumbs and edible flowers but I’ve had this dish before so instead I order a non-alcoholic cocktail called “Up the Alley” that is so good I promptly get a second.  We’re too full for dessert but we make room for the two plates of macarons we are given anyway; Ben and I share a caramel-popcorn and a rosemary-pistachio, but after that I eat my own sesame and chocolate-quince.

4.45 – 5.30 pm: Cinnamon-spiced apple cider at the Grey Dog.

7.10 pm: Bowl of pilaf standing up in the kitchen while my parents eat dinner and watch Jeopardy!

7.59 pm: Handful of dried mangoes, which my dad has always fed to the dog, who stares unblinkingly at me — and indignantly huffing — until I share.

It’s soon time for the wonderful time known as Christmas.  Parties, drinks, family, food, desserts, visiting, baking, cooking, did I mention drinks?

I am going to do project on how to survive the holidays while trying to be healthy.  It will feature what holiday foods to nix, to keep; how to eat around the dinner so you can have a few favourites; how to squeak in workouts so the drinks/food damage can be neutralized; portion control; how to survive parties; etc etc etc.

Let the holidays begin!

November 26, 2009

Dear Diary,

I went to my nutritionist/trainer yesterday.  I was honestly scared because I haven’t been that religious about eating, and have drank a lot lately.  I didn’t gain though, still at 149lbs but I did lose a bit more body fat!

Goals is to not gain over the holidays and to improve body fat.  Maybe to make shakes that can last me all day (balanced, enough for 3 meals).

Also he showed me workouts for when I have no time to get to the gym.

Upperbody: Pushups!  Start with a set of 15.  Rest 30 seconds.  Do a set of 14, rest for 30.  Set of 13, rest for 30 and so on.  Upper body workout in a short time!

Lowerbody: Squats! Set of single leg squats, each leg.  Then wall squats.  Start at a set of 15 with 30 second breaks.  Work down to set of 1 as above.

Intervals: Do a set of pushups, squats, crunch, sprint.  Do for 15 minutes.

~ Percy Cerutty

Guys, I was bad and I did not work out again tonight.  Future Hubby just really wanted me to stay home  and snuggle tonight.  He doesn’t plead his case like that very often, so I felt as though I should honor his request.  The gym is open until 1pm tomorrow, so I’m going to try to get in there and bust out a mile, which is all I have left to take me up to 10 miles for POTM. 

On to the food!!

Actual/Goal:

• Calories:  1971/2000 – Woot woot!!
• Fat (g): 98.2/65 – better than yesterday
• Cholesterol (mg): 160/300 – no eggs today
• Sodium (mg):  28662400 –  I’ll take it!!
• Total Carbs (g):  213/130 –Hmmmmm….
• Fiber (g):  32.8/35 –  2 pears today!!!
• Sugar (g):  96/35 – Hmmmm
• Protein (g): 70.4/136 – not a lot of meat today
• Vitamin A (%): 221/100
• Vitamin C (%): 607/100
• Calcium (%):  133/100
• Iron (%):  158/100

WW Points:  44/42

Pretty darn good eating day, I think!

I’ll be back tomorrow with

• Some thoughts about what I’m thankful for this year
• Article about cholesterol
• A workout recap ?

Until then, if you are traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday, please be safe!

Weight: 133 pounds

Breakfast: 290 calories

• Bagel
• Banana
• 8 oz V-Fusion Light

11.45 am – 12.21 pm: Milk with Spanish honey — my dad is determined to find The Perfect Honey, so he has several kinds in the pantry.  Also, pieces of baguette with Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, Tomme Crayeuse and Brebis Ossau.

2.35 pm: Coke Zero (!) and quarter of an orange pepper that I’m supposed to be dicing for tabbouleh.  The dog begs for a piece of the pepper’s spongy innards; it’s a favorite snack, along with cucumber peels.

3.18 – 4.14 pm: Light lunch of tabbouleh and oven-roasted Brussels sprouts.

9.45 pm: La Chouffe at Vol de Nuit.

10.15 pm – 1.03 am: Dinner at Babbo with Joann and Keith.  We debate over whether we want the traditional or pasta tasting menus before deciding on pasta.  Our meal consists of the following: black tagliatelle with parsnips and pancetta; “casunzei” with poppy seeds; garganelli with “funghi trifolati;” pyramid-shaped ravioli with pomodoro; papperdelle bolognese; cacciotta fritters with honey and thyme; and chocolate with shaved dried chilis.  I swap my full plate for Keith’s empty one, much to Joann’s dismay.  I can’t eat spicy food, even if it’s chocolate.  For our last course, we each get a different dessert — Joann a pistachio and chocolate semifreddo, Keith a lavender honey spice cake with sweet potato gelato and me a Tyrolean carrot and poppyseed cake with an olive oil drizzle and orange gelato.  I may be a little biased, I think mine is the best.

Oven-Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Vinegar, Pine Nuts + Parmesan
Makes three portions

2 ½ cups Brussels sprouts, cut in half lengthwise
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
¼ cup pine nuts
¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1. Preheat the oven to 425°.  Toss the sprouts in a bowl with the vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper until well coated.  Line a roasting pan with tin foil, then arrange the sprouts in a single layer across the bottom of the pan.  Roast for twenty to thirty minutes, or until the sprouts brown.
2. While the sprouts are in the oven, toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat, three to five minutes, stirring often.
3. Remove from the sprouts from the oven and transfer to a serving dish.  Mix with pine nuts and Parmesan, season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

]]> http://berry1973.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/food-diary-25-nov-2009-day-1-fasting/ Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:15:21 +0000 berry1973 http://berry1973.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/food-diary-25-nov-2009-day-1-fasting/

Breakfast cup of decaf tea with skimmed milk and protein shake (175 cals)

snack - satsuma (25 calories) and cup of decaf tea with skimmed milk

Lunch satsuma (25 calories) and cup of decaf tea with skimmed milk large diet coke

250 ml skimmed milk allowed for tea all day – 83 calories

Afternoon: 3 cups of decaf tea with skimmed milk

dinner marigold vegetable bouillion soup (12 cals) & skimmed milk protein shake (175 cals) glass of diet lemonade

Total calories consumed 495 – probably the least I’ve ever eaten in a day when I’ve not been ill!

~ Carl Lewis

Whew!!  I feel like all I’ve done for the last two days is go grocery shopping.  Normally Future Hubby does the household grocery shopping when he is off on Fridays.  He likes to do it and I loathe it, so it all works out!!  I do my healthy food shopping at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods on Tuesdays.  Since we were gone most of last week, I offered to do the household shopping yesterday so that he did not have to battle the crowds on Sunday.

So, yesterday I spent an hour running around Kroger,which is a regular grocery store.  Normally I avoid regular grocery stores, as I’m trying to eat cleanly.  When you shop at places like Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods, it makes eating cleanly fairly idiot-proof.  While I was at Kroger, though, I did find the newest Eat This Not That! book:

I have already read a bit of it and it has some great new tips that I’ll be sharing with you soon!!

Today I needed to do my grocery shopping and also hit Target for some other stuff.  I hit Target first and it was a madhouse!  I knew it would be when there was no parking and then maybe 5 carts left in the store.  Oy!!  I had to get some stuff for our kitties and also just the usual stuff, like deodorant and such.  Of course, I also picked up this:

I’m all about the easy!!   

After Target, it was time for Trader Joe’s.  I bought a ton of pears, as I am trying to get more fruit and fiber in my diet.  I grew up eating canned pears, so this will be quite a new experience for me!!  I also love their pre-sliced butternut squash.  And I picked up some buffalo burgers. 

After that, it was time for Whole Foods.  Here I picked up two boxes of Amazing Grass bars, as well as a new treat for me:  Ricotta salata cheese and this:

OMG, sooooooo good!!  The Ricotta salata is a pressed cheese, so it’s made to be diced.  I just crumble some on a plate and then put some of the Mackays strawberry on top and OMG – it’s the perfect sweet and savory treat!!

Plus, I love the ingredient list on the Mackays:  Sugar, Strawberries, Fruit Pectin, Champagne, Lemon Juice.

What I couldn’t find but want to are these:

I love the Bolthouse Farm products and would love to try these, but so far haven’t had any luck.  Wait, I just checked the website and it seems as though they are pretty limited to Giant Eagle right now.  Okay, will have to check that out next week, as I am not going to one more store this week, lol!!

I decided that since I was already hurting from last night’s workout plus today’s shopping (back issues again), I am not working out tonight.  I am just going to let my back rest tonight and then I’ll hit it hard tomorrow. 

So, on to my food recap for today!

Actual/Goal:

• Calories:  2117/2000 – Woot woot!!
• Fat (g): 104/65 – better than yesterday
• Cholesterol (mg): 334/300 – eggs today
• Sodium (mg):  4464/2400 –  blech
• Total Carbs (g):  218/130 –Hmmmmm….
• Fiber (g):  16/35 – yuck!
• Sugar (g):  34/35 –Super yay!!!!
• Protein (g): 69/136 – no protein bars today, but will have this up tomorrow
• Vitamin A (%): 24/100
• Vitamin C (%): 32/100
• Calcium (%):  53/100
• Iron (%):  32/100

WW Points:  44/42

Not a bad eating day.  I’ll take it!!

Talk to you all soon!!

Breakfast: dorset cereals, small banana and skimmed milk, plus a cup of decaf tea

Lunch: felafel wrap, low fat crisps, large skinny latte, 1/5 of a maple and pecan slice

Tea: Homemade Quorn vegetable madras with brown rice, 200 ml of delicious red wine

Snacks and drinks: 3 glasses of water, two cups of decaf tea

Weight: 133 pounds

Breakfast: 210 calories

• 1 cup Kashi GoLean cereal
• 1/3 cup rice milk
• 8 oz orange juice

~ Herschel Walker

Though I am not working right now, I am just as sensitive to the s-l-o-wdown that occurs around the holidays.  I started thinking:

1. You know, I could take this week off from working out.
2. Working out, I’m just not that into you (right now).
3. Working out, we need a break. You go to your family for Thanksgiving and I’ll go to mine.

But, I knew that I owed it to my body to go work out tonight.  It’s kind of like when you start shaving your legs – once you start, you have to keep going or the hair just keeps coming back.  Or something like that. Ooo, or it’s darker and thicker!!  Or something like that.  Anyway, since my body is now used to working out, it wants it and it gets sore and stiff if it doesn’t get it. 

Now, in order to get my mind on board, I had to do some negotiation.  And so no treadmill tonight, just Circuit #2.

Two circuits

I ended up running out of time to get my new FitPoint Assessment last week.  Ashley and I are going to do it sometime next week instead. 

On to the food!!

Actual/Goal:

• Calories:  2319/2000 – Woot woot!!
• Fat (g): 129/65 – blech
• Cholesterol (mg): 310/300 – eggs today
• Sodium (mg):  3452/2400 –  blech
• Total Carbs (g):  222/130 –Hmmmmm….
• Fiber (g):  27/35 – not bad
• Sugar (g):  50/35 –Super yay!!!!
• Protein (g): 85/136 – eh
• Vitamin A (%): 116/100
• Vitamin C (%): 63/100
• Calcium (%):  46/100
• Iron (%):  86/100

WW Points:  52/42

Not a bad day, especially on the sugar, cholesterol and fiber totals.  How cool is that??

Speaking of cholesterol, I’ll be sharing some new information on it – and the bad rap it has received.

Have a great rest of your day!

Weight: 135 pounds

Breakfast: 210 calories

• 1 cup Kashi GoLean cereal
• 1/3 cup rice milk
• 8 oz orange juice

Snack: 25 calories

• Cocoa

Lunch: 380 calories

• Pot roast
• String cheese
• Yogurt
• Pineapple

Snack: 140 calories

• Trail mix

Supper: 485 calories

• Soy marinated chicken
• Jasmine rice

Snack: 170 calories

• Dark chocolate

Total Calories: 1410

Started well with scrambled egg and veggies on toast. I’m not usually a breakfast person, but I know I need to start eating it. I’ve tried to go for more protein, as I believe this keeps you feeling fuller for longer, rather than crashing and burning after a high-carb breakfast. We’ll see, eh?

Scrambled Egg with veggies on toast

I used caloriecount.about.com for working out the calories. Here’s the breakdown:

2 eggs = 150 cals
40g green pepper = 10 cals
75g celery = 12 cals
10g spring onion = 4 cals
1tbsp olive oil = 119 cals
40ml semi-skimmed milk = 20 cals
2 slices wholemeal bread, toasted = 160 cals
86g tomato (1 tomato, sliced) = 16 cals
1 pint water = 0 cals

Total calories = 491 calories
Balance = 1400 – 491 = 909 cals remaining.

Lunch was interesting. Although I did eat it late (4pm – honestly wasn’t hungry until then! Go protein!). I wasn’t sure at all what to have for lunch, so I ended up cobbling together a pasta, pesto and vegetable dish… and it turned out to be delicious!!

Pasta, Pesto, Veggie Delight

Let’s break it down!

80g Mushroom = 15 cals
138g Yellow Pepper = 50 cals
12g spring onion = 4 cals
40g dry weight penne = 150 cals
1 tsp garlic puree = 8 cals (want to check this, as garlic puree is in vegetable oil and this seems really low)
10g Sacla Basil Pesto = 45 cals
Pint water = 0 cals
Cup of tea + 20ml semi-skimmed milk = 10 cals

Calories consumed = 282 cals
Balance = 909 – 282 = 627 cals remaining

Dinner was another interesting affair. Philip had requested stuffed mushrooms and again, I had to just use my initiative and what was in the fridge. The result was actually pretty pleasing and I will have to write down the recipe somewhere before I forget what I did!

The total dish, which servied both Philip and I contained:

6 large flat mushrooms = 60 cals
10 closed cup mushrooms = 50 cals
150g dry-weight basmati rice = 520 cals
70g celery = 10 cals
2 slices wholemeal bread, crumbed = 160 cals
3 tsp olive oil = 120 cals
100g red pepper = 30 cals
10 cloves garlic (!!) = 40 cals

Meal total cals = 990 cals

Clare’s meal calories = 495 cals + 1 corn on cob = 45 + 1 Alpro Soya Strawberry = 78 cals

Total meal calories = 618

Balance = 627 – 618 = 9 calories!!!!!

I’m really happy about today’s eating as I have consumed 1381 calories only. I have also drunk more than my 2l water allowance and have only had one cup of tea. Unfortunately, at the time of writing this final update (22.22), I still haven’t done my workout. I need to let my food settle and then I do need to do this before I go to bed tonight, and I need to prioritise this for tomorrow.

HAPPY DAY!!!

10.08 am: Warm milk with honey.

12.21 – 12.29 pm: Split half an apple with Keith while watching the Battle at the Berrics semifinals.  I spread mine with peanut butter, which I then get all over my fingers.  I’m messy.

1.30 – 3.30 pm: This is technically supposed to be brunch at Craigie on Main with Keith, Kelly, Nancy and Jonah, but since it’s after noon I say it counts as lunch.  I have something like three cups of coffee, all with cream and whatever sugar cubes Jonah doesn’t eat, as well as a yogurt-drenched fruit cup with some amazing figs, grass-fed and house-brined corned beef and tongue hash with a slow-poached egg and crispy onion rings and chocolate-smothered profiteroles with what is supposed to be mint-chocolate ice cream but really is just overwhelmingly minty.

6.35 pm: Coke Zero and half an order of large fries from McDonald’s while  we drive to New York. Keith eats the other half while I lick the salt from my fingers.  I know fries aren’t the healthiest choice in the world, but I love them so.

8.11 pm: A bite of Keith’s banana-walnut bread from Starbucks.  I’m the one driving at this point, so I pretty much cram the bread into my mouth in a very unladylike fashion.  My mother would be so ashamed.

10.06 – 10.46 pm: At my parents’ house, where I drink one of my dad’s Beck’s and share two and a half lamejun with the dog. He doesn’t mind that I’ve sprinkled my food liberally with fresh lemon juice.

11.15 pm: Two glasses Torii Mor Late Harvest Gewurztraminer with Keith and my parents while we discuss dogs, nightmares and Thursday’s Thanksgiving menu.

Hello!!  How are all of you?  I missed you!!

Future Hubby and I had a great time on our little getaway.  We went back to Burr Oak, which we visited this past spring.  Here are some photos from the trip:

We totally lucked out with absolutely gorgeous weather.  It was foggy in the mornings, but by 10 am had burned off and was just beautiful. 

We pretty much just relaxed Thursday and Friday.  We had some wonderful meals in the lodge restaurant.  Saturday we went for about a 1/2 mile hike.  It was up and down some steep hills, but I did just fine!!   The workouts are paying off!!

So, how did I do with my eating?

• I only had dessert one night.
• I made sure to have a salad at dinner every night.
• I never ate until I was stuffed.
• I had my Amazing Grass bars when I felt like snacking.
• I went for a short walk by myself on Thursday, because my body needed a workout.

All in all, I feel very successful about my eating this trip.    I really tried to eat intuitively.  I even asked for fresh fruit one breakfast, but all they had was stuff I didn’t like.  Oh well!! 

Okay, I am still trying to catch up on everything, so I’m going to get busy.  Hope that all of you are doing well!

11.43 am: Way too much batter while making meringues.  I saved my unused egg whites from last night’s soup recipe, and at lunch yesterday Stephanie mentioned she wanted to make meringues, thus planting the seed of meringue-making in my head.  I love watching egg whites froth up and turn into peaks.  And I apparently also like using the words “making” and “meringues” as much as possible in a single sentence.

1.03 – 1.28 pm: Leftover soup plus the first of my beloved Coke Zeros for the day.  These things are seriously addictive.  I know this because I’m hooked.

2.22 pm: Warm milk and honey.

4.13 pm: Meringues!  I think I may have put in too much sugar, but this doesn’t stop me from eating three.

6.13 – 6.43 pm: Two slices pepperoni pizza at Keith’s Aunt Mary’s house, plus a Diet Pepsi.  It’s good, but it fails to hold a candle anywhere near my Coke Zeros.

7.34 pm: Coffee with cream and sugar, mostly because I am freezing.  That’s the thing about getting over being sick — adjusting to feeling normal again.  I’m wearing a T-shirt over a camisole, a cardigan and a scarf, and still I’m cold…

8.02 pm: …but not too cold to enjoy a piece of apple pie.

Chocolate Chip Meringues, from Martha Stewart
Makes 2 ½ dozen cookies

6 large egg whites
1 ¼ cups superfine sugar (see note)
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Cocoa powder, for dusting

1. Heat oven to 175°. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats and set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites until they form soft peaks. Sprinkle a few spoonfuls of superfine sugar over beaten egg whites, and whisk in on low speed.  Increase speed of mixer; whisking constantly, continue adding superfine sugar, a spoonful at a time, until all has been incorporated and mixture is firm enough to hold stiff and glossy peaks. Fold in chocolate chips.
3. Pipe or spoon small mounds of mixture onto baking sheets, spacing mounds about 1 inch apart. Bake meringues until completely dry to the touch, about 3 hours.
4. Transfer sheets to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container up to 3 days. Before serving, dust meringues with confectioners’ sugar and cocoa powder.

Note: No need to buy special sugar for this.  Just measure out the amount you need into the bowl of a food processor and blitz.

10.03 am: The largest mug of warm milk and honey in the world, or at least the house.  The honey is from my dad’s friend, who harvested it from his apiary in upstate New York.  I drink it while sitting on the kitchen floor, with the dog’s head in my lap.

2.15 – 2.53 pm: A hodgepodge of a lunch.  My dad, Keith and I toast salami and cheddar sandwiches on baguettes; then we eat leftover cold ratatouille, Cabot clothbound cheddar and Tomme Crayeuse.

4.11 pm: What was supposed to be an apple, but turns out to be only half, since Keith keeps on eating slices of it even though he says he’s not hungry.

8.05 – 9.07 pm: Dinner of mixed greens with a balsamic-herb vinaigrette, cucumbers, steamed white rice and grilled flank steak; my mother had marinated the meat in a mixture of soy sauce, Tabasco sauce, garlic, pepper and Sherry, and I eat three pieces.  Afterwards, have a mango Whole Fruit popsicle, which I smuggle out of the freezer without the dog noticing, though my dad blows our cover by feeding him pieces under the table.  Beg a bite of apple tart from Keith, then two Roman Egg Stella D’oro cookies with my mom before we pick the leaves off of three bunches of parsley for fattoush and boereg and watch Dancing with the Stars.  We both think Mýa will win, but I’m rooting for Kelly.