Project: Food Journal
For once I'm actually ahead in turning in coursework!
I'm required to turn in a three-day journal of my food intake for my kickboxing class. I thought might was well blog about it so it's more fun.
July 3
So it's Fourth of July Weekend. I'm home alone as my tito & tita are off to see the Niagara Falls. Whenever I'm alone, I find I am more resourceful and creative with what I eat - well at least most of the time.
I woke up early-ish as I could hear one of the neighbour's kids moaning about not wanting to go potty. I have loads of chores planned for today and tomorrow so I decided to start my day.
Breakkie consisted of Basmati rice and Menudo. I was in a hurry so I decided to just take leftovers. I figured I'd have a busy day as well, I could use the carbo and the protien.
After some light chores I head out to do my grocery shopping. I'm planning to make one of my favourite casseroles from the Philippines and I figured to get the ingredients asap before the mad Fourth grocery rush.
I buy fresh veg: carrots & cucumber, as well as milk -the Vitamin D kind cause I don't do any of that 2%/fat-free nonesense. And since I like a COMPLETE meal, I always like to have proper dessert. I stop by French's and get cream puffs, a fudge cake and a choco cupcake (with the flag colours on it for the Fourth of course).
I get home at 1:30pm and I'm mildly starving. So I have some arroz caldo and lumpia. Again, leftovers. Dinner, I will be cooking myself of course.
After lunch, I vacuum the house AND wash my car. It took me about almost two hours for both so I figured that's my workout for today. I get into the house, it's 6:15pm. Time for dinner.
I bought some whole wheat fettuccine at the grocery store and start cooking that. I've been craving for pasta for awhile and I wanted to have some pesto fettuccine. I also bought a bottle of pesto from Trader Joe's. I've had better, but for a starving girl who just vacuumed the house and washed her car and hasn't got time to make her own pesto it had to do. I also made some parmesan tomatoes and roasted some garlic (dangerlicious!). All that plus a glass of pinot noir (oh ok, 2 glasses!) = happy girl. Cream puff for dessert.
July 4
I didn't really have a plan for today. My bestfriend was away at San Francisco, Nan's was moving, etc etc. There was a fireworks show at a city park near my place and I figured I'd just go there and chill.
Stace heard I was alone and as always she said I had to spend the fourth with them.
Up until this morning over breakfast I was mulling over going. So over my smoked salmon, cream cheese and egg on toasted pandesal I thought and I thought. I was broke and I wasn't sure about spending to eat out and for the petrol. But then I guess I could just NOT eat or drink much for that matter! Finally I figured, what the hell. What better way to spend a weekend than with friends. Now I had errands to run still so I took care of that first.
I tidied up my room and worked on some of my projects. My car as not been vacuumed since my girlfriends came to visit -that was May. And I was jealous seeing Stace's friends in Denver with their nice clean cars! So I grabbed the vacuum and went to work. It was so hot in the garage too even with the door open. Bleh. But at the end of it all, my auto's interior was clean, sand-free, and smelled lovely -I found my lavender room spray in one of the side pockets in the car.
I was starving after that and I found some leftover rice noodles with veg and mixed in steamed shrimp wontons. Super filling for all that work :) As a reward, and a little celebratory act, I ate my choc cupcake with flag coloured icing. I wasn't so keen on the icing. Too heavy but I ate it anyway. Ah well, here's to America!
After finally being done for the day I head to Long Beach at 6:30pm. I don't arrive till 7 and it takes me forever to find parking as everyone and their mothers are there to watch the fireworks.
I get Stace and we walk to our friend's house that's by the beach. Yay for little things like that. I liked it too, that it's at a house -which meant I didn't have to spend money at all. And when I got there, everyone was already drinking. Yay, I don't have to spend for alky. After awhile I also notice that a friend's 3 year old son was there and to me that meant there will be food. Double yay!
The fireworks didn't start till 9:00 and dinner wasn't ready so I munched on a few handfuls of kettle chips and drank a few glasses of Lauren's strawberry martini. Dinner finally came after the fireworks but seeing as so many people were at the house and there wasn't enough food to go around we had to get smaller portions of food. I split half a brat and cheese bun with Stacy. Thankfully I was still pretty full from lunch and all those chips.
July 5
I slept over at Stace's as I was too tipsy to drive. Better to be careful at a night like that.
I woke up at about nine-ish to a grumbling tummy so I head off home. So I stopped by the grocery store and got some juice.
I prepare a smoked salmon salad and have it with a hard-boiled egg and apple juice. I was so dehydrated from last night and all my body could think of was gimme juice!
There was still leftover pasta so for lunch I make whole wheat fettuccine with crab fat sauce mixed with roasted garlic and tomatoes. Yes evil and perhaps extremely high in cholesterol, but such a yummy guilty pleasure.
Some Sunday laziness and art-y stuff comprise the rest of the afternoon till it starts getting dark then it's time to make dinner. I finally get down to making the Chicken Pastel -sans the pie part cause nobody really does that anymore as it's too much work. I also made sure to lessen the butter I use as my aunt is a kitchen nazi and will freak out at any sign of fat in foods. It takes me awhile to prep and cook all in all but my god it smelled SO good! I finally get to sit down and eat and have the pastel with some rice, soda, and then half a slice of fudge cake for dessert.
July 9
I find it so much easier controlling what I eat when I make food for myself and cook on my own. But living in a family setting doesn't make it so easy, nor is it practical. Lately though I've been trying to get some healthy (not that the food here isn't healthy because my tita is a stickler for taking fat off of EVERYTHING!) and yummy food into to the menu and I'm hoping there will be requests for me to cook them again next time.