The Other Side of Midnight: Free Ticket Sweets Day

This still counts as day 3; but it's one of the two days in the month when I am allowing myself to eat the sweets I want. I caught the 8:42 a.m. bus into NYC to meet Sis for Sniffapalooza, a fragrance lovers' event....hope to blog about it soon. NYC is such a sophisticated playground for lovers of every food group, including sweets. Here is what I had today:

• 1 large slice of Junior's red velvet cheesecake. Very good.
• 1/2 of small mediocre dessert at Sniffapalooza lunch.
• 2 little cookies at Sniffapalooza event at Molton Brown store on Madison Avenue.
• 1 cup bittersweet hot chocolate with baby bowl of whipped cream [$8.50] --at La Maison du Chocolat, 30 Rockefeller Plaza. It came with a tiny foil-wrapped tile of chocolate. Also: 1 large vanilla macaron [$5]. Let me say, this hot chocolate was divine. You can also get semisweet. I feel like this was a real splurge, something I would remember for its opulence and luxury. I sat at the counter by myself at about 5 p.m. [Sis had headed back to Connecticut] and sipped it from a white cup with a silver spoon.

It's funny. I am not craving more sweets. I am so full. But that doesn't mean that tomorrow, like a drug addict, I won't be shaking because I want a fix. We shall see.

Also, the day was invigorating and exciting: going into NYC, seeing Sis, shopping for beauty indulgences, sniffing fragrances, getting free gifts, all of that is energizing. So while I said I felt more energized at my desk yesterday due to no sugar, I did still feel energized with sweets today.

Good night to you.

TCOY

1. Did start the day with a healthy breakfast at home: 1 slice rye toast with butter, 1 smoothie made with 1/2 banana, low-fat milk, ice and PB.
2. Actually applied makeup today, albeit in front of mirror at Port Authority bathroom. Chanel concealer, Bobbi Brown sky-blue eye shadow, Christian Dior navy mascara, Guerlain bronzer--and the tangerine Aerin lipstick I bought on my day trip to the Hamptons this summer.
3. Walked all over the city,  from the Port Authority to Bergdorf Goodman, over to Molton Brown, back to Rockefeller Center. Popped into St. Patrick's Cathedral; very pretty in its spruced-up state. Passed 10,000 steps on my fitbit.
4. Time to laugh and play with my Sis.
5. A few new beauty creams to enrich my life.

Day 2, No Sweets

FYI, I would like a good piece of dark-as-night chocolate, maybe dipped in Skippy SuperChunk Peanut Butter, right about now!

MOOD NOTE: But I'm plodding along and feel more energized without the sweets in my day.

Will have yogurt with walnuts soon.

Thanks for being there.

Cooking Class! Girls' Night Out

Chef Lisa Davies of Montclair. We met at Patsy's boot camp years ago!

Chef Karan Fischer, who specializes in weight management cooking,
in the black chef's coat. The class started at 7 p.m. tonight.

Karan & Lisa scooping out the strands
of roasted spaghetti squash.

I don't know about your town, but here in Montclair, a lot of women I know are doing or have done the Whole Life Challenge, an 8-week healthy eating/stretching/etc.  program. The next one starts January 16, and based on tonight, I just might join up. I had shied away from it due to its carb and sugar restrictions.

This evening's event--at Designer Appliances on Bellevue Avenue--was called the Whole Life Challenge Cooking Class & Dinner. Thirteen of us--many pretty young moms with shiny manicures and healthy hair--paid $50 each to attend. It was fun and the food was great. We learned about everything from spice blends for fish to how to cook with garlic. [Don't bother using a garlic press, Chef Karan said. You waste a lot of garlic, it's hard to clean and she only uses one for something like potato pancakes, which she wants to infuse with garlic flavor.] The wine flowed and so did the pitcher of water with plump strawberries and thin orange slices. We left with the recipes!

It's late, and I'm eager to sleep so I can be productive at my desk tomorrow, but here are some tasty morsels from our lessons tonight:

• Alternative hummus. The chefs made a dip with white beans pureed with rosemary and garnished with rosemary sprigs. Good! Will try it.
• Chicken boredom. A lot of people eat a lot of chicken, Chef Karan said. I often stand before the raw chicken case trying to figure out what I can do with it. She and Chef Lisa included a great way to prepare it: Dijon Chicken, made with thin organic chicken cutlets. The platter was emptied pretty fast.
• Oil drill. Olive oil is the healthiest, said Chef Karan. You want the first cut--cold-pressed.
• No ban on butter. Chef Lisa said in her kitchen, butter is welcome. We had Baked Spaghetti Squash with Garlic and Butter [just 2 tablespoons, nothing crazy]. Yum. Will plan to make that, too, instead of pasta.
• The ring. Secret from Chef Karan, who worked at Gramercy Tavern in NYC: Vidalias make great onion rings.
• On the wild side. Both chefs said wild-caught fish is much better than farm-raised, which you likely know already. Raising fish in tanks is not clean, Chef Karan noted: It's like being on the subway all day. This led to a discussion among us all about the merits of fish from Whole Foods or from Gus & Co. Seafood on Valley Road. The latter, a new Montclair shop, is a favorite for its fresh catches.
• Spice it up. Chef Karan passed around a jar of her Tuscan spice blend, which we sprinkled on the Dover Sole Florentine tonight. She makes the blend from dried parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, finely minced dried orange peel and a little paprika. We loved how it smelled, and how it tasted, too.
• Vegan for Figgy. Even a recipe I can make for Figgy! Zucchini & Quinoa Salad. Chef Lisa whipped it up. It was soooo good. With toasted walnuts, lemon zest, torn basil and other treats. But I will have to eliminate the Parmesan, as Fig won't eat cheese.

They have kids' classes, too, and I bet Punchy would love one. The website is: Montclair Culinary Academy. Sweet dreams, good night. Oh that's right! The final kiss was sweet Medjool Date Raw Energy Bars. We got to take a portion home, and H. and Punchy polished it off pretty fast. I plan to make those, too. They contain pitted dates, ground raw almonds, coconut and organic dried apricots. Yummmmm.

A tiny glass mug of sweet potato soup before dinner.

Me and my dear friend Nicky, whom I also met years back
at Patsy's boot camp. Nicky is a chef in her own right.

TCOY

1. Warm bath with nice Neutrogena Rainbath [the green one].
2. Learning to cook that healthy food, and eating it, too, for dinner. Hoping to use the recipes.
3. Hearing more about the Whole Life Challenge.
4. Iced coffee for afternoon snack [TBT, with a lot of milk, a splash of heavy cream from a farm and one packet Equal].

It Happened Last Night, Day 1 Again

Everything was good on day 3 no sugar until about 9:30 p.m., in the dark of night. Punch had taken a bath, and H. was reading The Tale of Despereaux to her.

I went into the kitchen. I saw the box of cheese-dusted crackers H. left on the table and started eating them with hummus. And then; I opened the freezer door and took out the single square of carrot cake* I had ordered last week in my Farmigo** grocery order, which arrived yesterday at Punchy's school. I ate it, still frozen. I had offered it to Punch after school but she didn't bite. And Fig was home, too, but it wasn't vegan.

So now I'm back to Day 1 again of no sugar, with a free ticket 2 days a month.

*It was from Margaret Palca Bakes, on Columbia Street in Brooklyn. It weighed 4.5 oz. It was good.
**I love ordering from Farmigo; Punchy's school has raised almost $1,000 with these weekly deliveries. I get everything from Ithaca Coffee Company fair trade, organic coffee to beets, potatoes, cream, yogurt, apples, vegan cheese spread, carrots, milk. Every now and then, I am tempted to try the baked goods.

Fig & Sug & Punch Today

Figgy & I picked Punch up at school.
Bobe! Punch called from the second-floor window,
spotting Fig on the playground.
As I've said, they call each other Bobo, or Bobe for short. IDK why.

Sugar and Figgy--once the little red-haired girl who chose her in Brooklyn.

Both getting older, still loved every drop as much.

Day 3, No Sugar, Holding My Own

A fabulous brownie from Cakeaholic is stashed in my freezer right now. My friend/Punchy's sitter on Tuesdays, treats Punch to something from her favorite bakery after school. I quickly wrapped up the leftover brownie in aluminum foil and put it in the freezer.

I hope it will not be as in weeks past, when Punch would go back and ask for it, and I had to say, I'm sorry--I ate it.

Went to boot camp. Beautiful day. Carving out time to work between school and soccer commitments today--and Figgy also came home for a visit.

More later.

Mood note: Did not lose my temper this morning when Punchy refused to brush her hair and put on socks and shoes, etc. I did have to end up driving her there [15 minute ride], since we missed the bus. And then I in turn was 19 minutes late for a 1-hour boot camp class. 

Day 2, No Sugar, It's OK

My 8 a.m. yoga class was cancelled, so I went to Julie's very good/very hard 9:30 to 11 class. At the end of the class, when we were resting in Shavasana, Julie came around, as our instructors sometimes do, and massaged our necks with lavender oil.

If you don't want me to massage you with oil, place your hand on your belly, and then I'll know, she said.

Being a shopper, and also the legal guardian of a little girl who resists sleep even after hours of activity, I took Julie's tip and headed to Whole Foods after class to get a small bottle of lavender oil. Will dab a bit on Punch tonight.

But then I kind of ate too much for lunch, like a cup of heavy mac and cheese from the hot bar at Whole Foods....

Oh well, on the horse again.

Good night.

TCOY

1. That yoga class. I liked Julie's words and wisdom.
2. Got my Rx at CVS. Had to wait a while. Pain in neck.
3. Warm bath with salts.
4. Private Benjamin. Kind of a difficult and emotional session, but gets me thinking. Tears for fears.
5. Made simple tomato sauce with a big can of San Marzano crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic and a couple shakes of Parmesan.

Day 1, No Sugar, Hot Bath Nightcap

My blogosphere friend Nan once asked how I felt in the past when I skipped the sugar*. So I am keeping close notes this time. Hope I don't bore you. And BTW, I would love to know how you manage sugar and sweets. Do you indulge on weekends? Special occasions? Every day? Can you co-exist with a cake in the house? Most of the time, I can't, not without eating it.

It's 10:16, and I have to go to bed. If I stay up to watch TV--which on some level, I'd love to do--I will reach for food. That's just the way it goes, and it can get ugly. I do have good microwave popcorn in the cupboard, but still. Probably better to rest.

My workday was productive. I had to do some work at night, too, and I snacked on wasabi peas. They were crunchy and very, very zingy.

Good night to you. I just hope I don't wake up in the middle of the night craving carbs and sugar. It has happened before. If it does: Small bowl granola with milk.

TCOY

1. Wild-caught salmon, baby potatoes and asparagus for supper.
2. Lots of ice water and hot tea with milk.
3. The good thing about giving up sweet treats [except 2 planned days per month] is that I am not tempted to eat the Quaker granola bars H. got on sale for Punchy to snack on. They are mediocre at best, anyway.
4. About to take a bath with mountain sage bath salts from Whole Foods.

*When I say skip the sugar or no sugar, I don't mean embracing a sugar-free diet. For example, surprisingly, the wasabi peas I just ate have some sugar in them. So does lox, I think, and I love lox. What I mean is sidestepping sweet treats, baked goods, ice cream, sugary drinks and gulp, chocolate. There, I said it. Wish me luck. But I plan to enjoy those 2 days per month. I just hope I don't go off on a bender.

Sugar: The Backstory

Love the label.

Since this is still Day 1, wanted to report the impetus that made me again say sayonara to sugar [except for two days a month?].

On Saturday, H. drove Punchy down to Toms River for an overnight with her Mom. On Sunday, when he headed to the Mets game with his pal Michael, I drove back down to pick her up. [It's about 2 hours and 40 minutes round trip.]

We reveled in being able to sleep late Sunday without someone small running in and jumping on our bed.....that can be seen as loving, but it's a jarring way to wake up, too. Then: We went to Plum on Park, this sweet little diner-car restaurant on Park Street across from the Montclair YMCA for brunch. We hadn't been out for brunch alone in a while. We shared ricotta fritters, but just 3 of them, not too large. H. had an omelet and I had a cappuccino and grits with shrimp, scallions and bacon. Each of our dishes came with a clean green salad on the side.

Since I never get there, I wanted to get one of the healthy juices to go. Went for SUPER GREEN {KALE APPLE CUCUMBER LIME MANGO}, $7.

I started slurping it down before the bill was paid. It was delicious, fresh and virtuous. I could feel my skin looking better with every sip. I didn't take into account that the apple and mango parts would be high in condensed natural sugar. Suddenly, in the car, my mood switched to a dark place. I became mean and angry. Part of it was also fear, as H. and I were discussing a family issue that worries us both. Then I wanted a cupcake. I didn't get one. But I was out of control and nasty. I am ashamed of that.

Sugar affects me in unhealthy ways, and I need to find a balance in my life. Thanks for listening.

I have to get back to work!

Day 1. No Sugar

I figure if I post it here I will be accountable to you, my blog readers. In this cupcake-macaron-sticky bun-margarita world, it's not easy for a sweet tooth like me to look the other way. I think I will allow 2 treat days per month, though. This month: Saturday, October 24, day in NYC with Sis, and Friday, October 30, big boot camp party.

But am I fooling myself? Can an alcoholic have a drink twice a month? More to come...

Good Night, Sleep Tight

That's all for now!