Back in Truckee

Well, we started our vacation this year in Sacramento; taking the kids to Old Sacramento's railroad museum and the Sacramento historical museum. They both had fun and were interested in everything (especially the actual train ride) but the 102° heat was too much for everyone. So off to Truckee we went. We've been here for 6 days so far and my stress-level has gone down a bit. Another year or two and I'll be great (j/k).

We've been to the pool a bunch, wandered into King's Beach for dinner and mini golf. We'll hit Reno tomorrow and probably Tahoe City tomorrow or the next day too. The weather has been in the upper 80's all week, with the wind just starting to pick up today.

It'll be nice to get back home (just to be around my own stuff) but not so much to be back to work.

And it just keeps going...

Sorry for the lack of updates, took a while for my nose to finally heal.

I love Chicken Shwarma, except when it ends up in my lap. Chicken Shwarma is, in layman's term, a grilled chicken burrito made with chunks of grilled, marinated chicken, lettuce, tomato and Ranch-like sauce. It can be spicy but not always.

Noses and Allergies abound...

Morning weight: 176lbs.

So my stay in Tahoe resulted in my sinuses drying out to the point of a constant (but small) headache since last Wednesday morning. Plus a little b-l-o-o-d whenever I blow my nose (fairly often due to the constant aggravation with my nose). Oh goody. This has affected my ability to sleep (less sleep = more tired), my mood (grumpier than normal) and my appetite (less hungry than normal). Not a really good combo for me.

For lunch, we have a peanut butter sandwich (very original) and a nectarine (a true surprise). I'll grab a couple bottles of water from the office. So, I'll need to pay extra attention to my diet this week until my nose heals up. Heaven help me as I try to be a normal, happy person (always a challenge) while that happens.

Last fling before The Grind...

Morning Weight: 176lbs.

Well, my little vacation had to end eventually. And this weekend is the last couple days of it. Boo hoo.

Kinda wanted to make pancakes again but neither Heidi nor I got to sleep until after 2am. Nothing exciting, simply unable to fall asleep for some reason.

Lunches for the next couple weeks will be interesting since I have no idea what I can make that won't be a dietary nightmare. Hopefully I won't gain all that weight back. We'll see...

Back on track...

Morning weight: 176lbs.

I honestly thought I'd weigh more after a week without a scale and not really paying attention to what I eat. In fact, considering I ate 1/2 a box of Cheez-Its and 2 pints of fancy ice cream (Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia and Häagen-Dazs Vanilla) plus a bunch of other yummy food, I'm a little surprised I didn't gain all my weight back. The only thing I really avoided was soda pop.

Consider this... the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of sugar is 40 grams per 2000 calories. A single 12oz. can of Coca-Cola contains... between 39 and 42 grams of sugar (or 10 teaspoons of sugar). And I have occasionally drank 3 or 4 in a day. Ouch.

Also consider what the other ingredients in a single 12oz. can of Coca-Cola does to your body. Read about that here: http://www.blisstree.com/healthbolt/what-happens-to-your-body-if-you-drink-a-coke-right-now. Double ouch.

On the nicer side of things, I had sushi for lunch today. Yummy, yummy, yummy!

Let them eat... Pancakes.

So I made pancakes this morning... from scratch. Yeah, I'm that crazy. Here's the recipe...

Alton Brown's "Instant" Pancake Mix
6 cups of all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsps baking soda
3 tsps baking powder
1 tbs kosher salt
2 tbs suger

Pancake batter
2 cups of Pancake Mix
2 eggs, seperated
2 cups buttermilk
4 tsps melted butter

Whisk together the egg whites and buttermillk. In another bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and melted butter. Combine the buttermilk mixture with the butter mixture and whisk together until thoroughly combined. Pour over the pancake mix and combined until smooth. Heat a griddle to 350 degrees F and lightly butter before you begin cooking. Pour pancake batter onto the griddle and cook until the bubbles set and the edges become dry. Flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Serve hot with butter and syrup or some fruit topping.

To make fruit or chocolate pancakes, sprinkle in your choice right after you pour the batter on the griddle.

I made my pancake mix with 1/2 all-purpose white flour and 1/2 all-purpose wheat flour. A little more healthy that just all white flour.

Needless to say, they were all eaten. Robby (my 3 year old) ate 3 pancakes and 2 turkey sausages (Jennie-O brand). For comparison, I ate 4 pancakes and 3 turkey sausages and was full.


Nutritional Info

Pancakes:

Serving Size	2 pancakes		Saturated Fat	1 g
Total Carbs	24.7 g		Vitamin A	55 IU
Calories	137		Trans Fat	2 g
Dietary Fiber	0.75 g		Vitamin C	-
Calories From Fat	15		Cholesterol	5 mg
Sugars	3.85 g		Iron	0.40 g
Total Fat	1.75 g		Sodium	404 mg
Protein	4.6 g		Calcium	95 mg

Jennie-O's Turkey Sausage:

Serving Size	2 links		Saturated Fat	3 g
Total Carbs	0 g		Vitamin A	2%
Calories	140		Trans Fat	2 g
Dietary Fiber	0.75 g		Vitamin C	0%
Calories From Fat	100		Cholesterol	45 mg
Sugars	0 g		Iron	4%
Total Fat	11 g		Sodium	360 mg
Protein	9 g		Calcium	2%

Food, Glorious Food - "Drunken Monkey"

Eadamame - half-eaten already "Drunken Monkey" - Yum. "Golden Tail Black Dragon" - Wow.

I've decided to continue this blog with a new focus on... Food. Today, Heidi and I ate at a relatively new (3-1/2 months old) sushi, tapas and sake lounge in Truckee, CA named "Drunken Monkey". Situated in a smallish business park on the old highway out of Truckee heading towards Northstar, this small Japanese restaurant had a very earthy and inviting feel to its decor. Our fare consisted of an order of eadamame (steamed whole soy beans, covered in coarse sea salt), an order of sunomono (cucumber and bean threads in sweet vinegar), a simple sake (salmon) hasomaki roll, a "Dreaming Monkey" roll (crab avocado roll with hamachi, ahi tuna and salmon), and a "Golden Tail Black Dragon" roll (tempura shrimp, avocado and mango topped with fresh water eel). The entire meal was very tasty, with various elements of each roll making the entire roll that much better. My only complaint would be that the fresh water eel still had some small bones left in it. Entirely eatable but still a small nuisance. Overall, a 3-1/2 out of 5 star event. I would definitely go again.