MINUS 2 DEGREES?

Yes, that is how cold it was today. So freezing that the wind was blowing chunks of hail in my face. The outside running is postponed once again. My mom and I went to the workout room, but for some reason it was also FREEZING in there... guess the radiator was off? Also, something is seriously wrong with my knee. Probably shouldn't have pushed myself when I knew it was hurting, because now I feel like I have shin splints. I wonder what's wrong...
I only did 25 minutes on the elliptical, then did a faster mile on the treadmill... I don't understand. it seems like I can run a 7 minute mile outside, but when I do that on a treadmill, it feels like I'm full-out sprinting...
(Before I left I had half of a rotting banana)
Breakfast was a pretty small bowl of oatmeal-- strawberries, the other 1/2 of the banana, 1/2 cup skim, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup cottage cheese (cept then I went back and got more because it didn't really fill me up), vanilla, strawberry jam, and peanut butter.

I TOOK MY MOM TO SEE TWILIGHT TODAY! Before the show, we stopped at the most awesome place to open in Hyde Park yet: Zaleski and Horvath Market Cafe.

I knew there was a gourmet foods store opening, but not that it would be so AWESOME! Check out the shelves:
They also have great coffee, sandwiches, soups, salads, and cookbooks.
My mom got a ham sandwich with a bunch of fancy spreads and cheese (She really is eating more meat than usual) and a cappucino.
I ordered a panini on whole wheat with eggplant, red pepper spread, muenster, and greens.
Both sandwiches came with a side sample: my mom got coleslaw and I got veggie slaw, which had chickpeas, raisins, carrots, and all the things i love.
I fell so in love with this place that I APPLIED FOR A SUMMER JOB! I'm not sure what I would do, but that would be amazing if I could work there... put my blog URL on the app...


I rarely eat cheese, but that little bit of cheese in the sandwich kept me full for a good 7 hours! Is this the secret of life?
After Twilight (Which my mom loved, but she kept laughing during all the romantic/suspenseful scenes and I had to keep yelling at her. It would be "hurry! she only has minutes left!" and my mom would start laughing loud enough that everyone could here... I see where I get my cynicism from) we went shopping... I got some amazing Lulemon leggings on sale. It was so unbelievably cold...
While I was cooking, I had an apple.

Happy Hannukah!

For dinner, I made Deborah Madison's lentil-chestnut soup with fennel, which I've made once before. It's perfect for winter, with the chestnuts giving the same starchy sweet flavor that sweet potatoes do (we use Chinese vacuum-packed chestnuts).
We also had brown rice and stir-fried watercress.
It's been ages since I really indulged in some dessert, so tonight I had a big bowl of ice cream: Purely Decadent Cherry Nirvana (nondairy) and nonfat vanilla frozen yogurt (I may or may not have gotten another scoop of this afterwards)... my sweet tooth is now at peace.

Taste the Rainbow (Roll)

Happy Wednesday! For me that means lots of piano and HALFWAY THROUGH THE WEEK!
Moby-Dick was so fun today... everybody presented their projects. One of my friends even wrote music for different chapters! People acted out skits, even made quilts, etc.
Breakfast-- I was sad to see the last of the gingerbread go (Surprised it lasted this long)... I sprinkled it over Greek yogurt and blackberries with wheat germ and had a banana and peanut butter on the side.
Snack-- I had some dried apricots and Kashis... but I only ate a few crackers.
Lunch-- Leftover fried rice, bok choy/mushrooms and a pear that got smooshed and oozed all over my lunchbox.
After school I had to go straight to chamber music, followed by a private lesson. To kill time in between I just practiced more piano... God, I played for 3 hours straight today and I didn't even notice. I was going to have a Luna Bar but I only ended up eating an apple.

For dinner, my dad and I were starving, and since I DON'T HAVE ANY HOMEWORK TONIGHT (it's a miracle!) we went to the nearby sushi place, Sushi Wabi, which is super chic and awesome.
Turns out 2 is the perfect number to sit at the sushi bar.
My dad got sake.

To start with, we got the goma-ae, the blanched spinach bundles with sweet sesame sauce. This time I really tasted honey in the sauce. Either way, I love spinach in any form.
We also order grilled eggplant with miso sauce. There was actually no oil in this at all, yet it was delicious! I'm pretty sure it was steamed, then grilled with the sauce, which it was only lightly drizzled with.
As for sushi, we got one Rainbow roll (avocado, tuna, salmon, unagi (eel)). Sushi Wabi is known for their over-the-top rolls such as Tarantula and Caterpillar.
We also got nigiri (2 pieces of each order): yellowtail, tuna, octopus, and scallop (these are AMAZING raw).

I had one of each nigiri, plus 2 of the rainbow. Perfect amount of food for me, except I started getting weird stomach pains afterwards. I took my acid medicine and everything was fine... except I'm too young to be having these problems!

Monday and Tuesday in a Nutshell

SORRY I HAVEN'T BEEN POSTING! Now I can post to my heart's content because all my final papers, tests, projects, etc, are OVER! This calls for a celebration... anyways, last night and the day before I was working on my English project, which was actually a research paper on the history of the whale as food-- it included lots of weird recipes, as well as some politics and social history. I really liked the way it came out, so I might even post it on the blog, if people don't find it too boring. Anyways, I'll do Monday and Tuesday before I blog today.
Monday
Breakfast-- gingerbread, blackberries, a tangerine, and Greek yogurt with a sprinkle of grapenuts.

Lunch-- A Caprese sandwich with spinach and hummus to get the spinach to stick... unfortunately, I also added some balsamic, and since this wasn't sturdy bread, when I unwrapped it it kind of fell a part. Guess it's a good thing I take my lunch photos in the morning.

Snack-- A sliced apple, some Greek and Black's, another tangerine, some graham cracker sticks, and a spoonful of peanut butter, with some chai and soy milk. This was incredibly satisfying, but actually pretty light.

Dinner-- Good old comfort Chinese food:
Bok choy and mushrooms
Spicy eggplant, green peppers, and smoked tofu
With nutty brown rice.
Dessert-- grapes


Tuesday


Breakfast: can't get enough gingerbread! This time with this new "skyr" that I bought at Whole Foods-- it's basically Icelandic yogurt... I think the only difference in ingredients is some vegetable rennet. It tasted a bit more substantial, even though it was fat free... a bit like fromage blanc. It's too expensive to have all the time, but every once and a while would be nice. Also had blackberries and a banana with peanut butter.





Snack: Tuesdays I always need a snack because I have all my classes and thinking is tiring. I had a Kashi bar (Trying to use these up).
Lunch: Leftovers! And an apple
I got a pretty good workout yesterday. In yoga we did a Power Yoga video, and then I went home and ran a mile on the treadmill, then did 40 minutes on the elliptical. Sweating feels so good!
My snack was, of course, cottage cheese and grapenuts with blackberries, strawberries, and almonds.
Dinner: My dad made pineapple fried rice, but the problem with fried rice is every bowl I have, I get hungrier! I don't understand why that is... I always feel like I need to have different components to a meal, because I eat more slowly that way. Either way, this rice was packed with vegetables and protein, but it didn't really fill me up. I tried to have some kimchi on the side, but the flavors totally clashed.
The rice had: a combination of all our leftover rices: white, short-grain brown, and brown basmati
eggs
A tiny bit of shrimp
Green peppers
Fresh pineapple
Red onions
carrots
Flavorings: fish sauce, a kind of Thai seasoning (not curry)

Dessert: 2 tangerines (only 1 shown) and some hot chocolate

Gingerbread, Takoyaki, Eggplant, Oh my!

Saturday:
I've decided to start posting a "lake shot of the day" photo:
I woke up this morning... It was beautiful, as per usual, so despite my aching legs, I set out on a run... nothing fancy, just to the playground and back (about half of what I did yesterday). My pace was faster, but MAN, was it windy! On the way back especially, there was a crazy amount of resistance.
I came back and made a beautifully light yet decadent breakfast:
A slice of gingerbread, heated
The last of the Greek yogurt
Half a banana and a tangerine



I found 4 apples WAY past their prime and decided to make an impromptu applesauce... the problem was I forgot about it and it burned like crazy. The whole kitchen was filled with smoke... and we have no ventilation. I had to open the door to the hallway and neighbors were asking if everything was okay... yes, it was pretty embarrassing.
BUT I could get all fancy and pretend it wasn't a mistake. In fact, I'm calling it caramelized apple chutney, because that's what it is now. I got rid of the charred bits, but I used some of the syrup I made from quince and pear better back on Thanksgiving, and it really did get a gorgeous copper hue and smokey flavor. I didn't puree it... hence, chutney! I also added lemon zest, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and of course, some salt.
This would go REALLY well with poultry or pork, if I ate either.


I went to music school for my quartet at 11:30. I had a break from 12:30-2:00, so I decided to check out a cute little (new) sushi joint around the corner called Sushi Pink. It outdid my expectations! I managed to get three little dishes for 11.00 including tax (not tip, though)!
First of all, the atmosphere was awesome. The whole place was decked out in red and mirrors (why not pink though?). I ended up sitting at the bar, which I've never done, surprisingly.



I COULD NOT DECIDE WHAT TO GET, since I've never gone to a sushi place alone before. Should I get sushi over rice, or a handroll, or mix and match? I decided to mix and match: they said their special was grilled octopus, so I got that, plus 2 pieces of hamachi (my love) nigiri and a seaweed-cucumber salad.
The seaweed salad was just the way I like it: chewy seaweed on a bed of crunchy cucumbers with lots of sesame oil and vinegar.

After that, I waited... I couldn't figure out what was taking so long. Meanwhile, I saw some other people get brought a platter of fancy over-the-top rolls that had FLAMES in the center of the plate! No joke... I couldn't see far enough, but they had obviously put something flammable in the center and lit it on fire for dramatic effect.
When the octopus came, I realized what had taken so long. Instead of charcoaled octopus like I'd been expecting, I got TAKOYAKI! In case you don't know what that is, it's basically balls of egg batter with octopus hidden in the center. It can be baked or fried, and is usually served with okonimyaki sauce (kind of like worchestershire sauce) and a little mayo.
Now, that DEFINITELY doesn't sound like the kind of thing I would normally order, but I'm so glad I got to try it! I remember being at a food court in Singapore, watching them make the little balls and being so curious. Luckily, mine were baked, not fried. They were slightly crispy on the outside, eggy and creamy on the inside, and studded with little chunks of chewy, savory octopus. Almost like a savory profiterole or something! They were actually really light, except for the mayo, which I pretty much wiped off (hate mayo). The sauce was tangy, like barbecue sauce, and pretty addictive. There were 6 little balls, the perfect portion.
As for the hamachi, the fish was really fresh. It was hamachi, which I know and love... not much more to say about it.
Oh! Their bathroom has a 1-way mirror, so it seems as though everyone can see you through a window, but if you go outside it's just a mirror. Freaky! And the water also came out of the faucet like a waterfall.
I would definitely come back! Very decently priced... the only thing is that I heard the staff speaking Chinese... so maybe it's not the most authentic, but who am I to say that? Sushi Pink, you rock!

I went back to music school for theory, then ditched assembly to go get a much needed caffeine boost. I must say, this lunch didn't really hold me over that long... Now that I think about it, it really wasn't THAT much food. So I went to Starbucks for a banana and a nonfat latte that I sprinkled cocoa powder on.

But this is the embarrassing part-- my old music theory teacher and a flute teacher walked in and said, 'hey, aren't you supposed to be in assembly?"
I didn't lie or anything. I just kind of smiled and set "yes."
and they pretty much said "oh, okay."
Me: I usually go!
Theory teacher: Lida, I don't really care. So how's your book?
Ha, awesome.

After assembly was piano duo, and after that was GROCERY SHOPPING! We went to Whole Foods and then Chinatown.
The problem is, now our fridge is so full it can hardly close, what with the leftovers from last night, what we bought, and leftovers from dinner tonight. Goal tomorrow: do not cook at all!!!!!

Dinner was tasty and fast, and my dad is a genius.
Stir-fried mung bean sprouts, my favorite.
Another stir-fry of eggplant, green peppers, and a kind of smoked tofu, which is chewy and delicious.
I was starving and ate a lot.

Dessert? I don't know... we have so much stuff to use up! But I don't know if I'm in the mood. An apple should do for now.