Daniel’s Beating the Fat Kid

In case you couldn’t tell by the mere fact that I have this blog devoted to food (despite not updating it for a very long time): I love food. From lamb to puppy chow (the sort of dessert, not the dog food).

So it may seem strange that I have, along with a friend of mine, decided to do a sort of cleanse for the next two weeks. We’re basing it off of the Daniel Fast. Except we’re not doing it for religious reasons, and therefore, we’ll stick with “Daniel Cleanse”.

Our food list is something like this: fruits, vegetables, water, all natural peanut butter, all natural fruit juice, olive oil, vinegar, herbs, and spices.

No potatoes. Cause potatoes are starch.
Jenn told me this after I bought some red potatoes and got excited for roasted veg (including potatoes). No potatoes.

Why am I doing this? Not for a diet. We’re all “on a diet”. Whatever you eat on a daily basis is your diet. Plus, let’s be honest, most diets don’t work. Moderation and exercise is the key. I know this because I lost 60+ pounds working out and changing up my diet to include healthier foods (and less food). Also, that last sentence was not supposed to sound infomercialish.

Confession: I’m doing this because the fat kid on the inside has been showing itself more and more. I don’t resist junk food as much as I should. I don’t eat as healthy as I should. Moderation? No, I’ll eat a whole bunch of puppy chow* for breakfast. I’m doing this because if I wasn’t on a purposeful cleanse and doing it with someone, I would just give in after a long day. Emotional eater? I’m just an eater.

I’m not doing this so I can tell people I’m on a cleanse in a fussy or snobby way. I’m trying to avoid that.

I have a headache at the moment. I know it is because I didn’t drink coffee this morning. Though Jenn is still drinking black coffee, I decided this would be a good time to do something about my caffeine addiction. However, I’m not sure I want those headaches right now. I may reduce my intake for a bit instead of stopping completely. One cup instead of three cups. It’s a start.

*Puppy chow, by the way, is melted down chocolate chips and peanut butter that you use to cover Chex cereal. Coat the cereal well then add powdered sugar and mix some more. It’s delicious. And not terrible for you.

What did I eat today? Here’s the running list:

A handful of grapes
Simply Orange juice
A banana and strawberries with natural peanut butter
Carrot sticks
Simply Apple juice
Almonds
Salad — spinach, romaine, cucumbers with olive oil/balsamic vinegar
Green grapes
Almonds
Peach
Roasted asparagus and carrots (tossed in olive oil, garlic, cayenne pepper, and salt)
Handful of strawberries with natural peanut butter
4 liters of water mixed in there

I’m going to bed early tonight. In the morning I will have a cup of coffee again. Or at least tea.

Foodie

I had a really good food day on Saturday.

It started, too early, at DeLeon Springs. Everytime I make the drive home to DeLand I think of the days of leaving home around 8:30am to head to Lake Mary for class, then Orlando for work, then back to Lake Mary to spend the rest of my evening at Coffee Cafe or another coffee shop with friends and ending up back home between 1-3am, generally. The drive didn’t seem so long back then.

Saturday was Danielle’s birthday. One of my favorite things about her is how much she loves food. She also makes a great travel partner. Because Danielle loves food, we started the day at DeLeon Springs to make our own pancakes at the Sugar Mill. One of my favorite places for sure. Most of the end of the year field trips at my middle and high school were to DeLeon, mostly because it was cheap and a mile away… and all 100 of us could get there easily.

Lunch usually isn’t necessary after a huge pancake breakfast. However, it was an early morning and we watched Cool Runnings after breakfast. Which brings me to good food of the day numero dos: Tijuana Flats. Because I wasn’t that hungry, I just had chips and queso and a Diet Coke. Still, their chips and queso are the best.

Scott turned 21 yesterday, but we celebrated on Saturday night. Lori, Aaron, and I surprised him and took him to 310 Park South. I hadn’t been. I read they had terrible service, which proved to be true, but their food was great. I was going to go for something cheapish since I planned on paying for Scott’s meal and I knew he would go with the filet mignon. But the server listed the specials and one of them was lamb and it just sounded so good. So I went big before going home. It was worth it.

I read something today, which I had heard before, and it was: “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a beggar.” This and the fact that I need to save money prompted me to do a more exciting grocery shop than just buying more English muffins and lettuce. Kacie and I took a walk to Publix and with a more purposeful list I bought:

Eggs
Cheese
Turkey bacon
Spinach
Light ranch
Wraps
Wheat bread
Bananas

I made some cheese toasties for dinner. Just mixed two eggs, salt, pepper, deli style mustard, and shredded cheese then buttered one side of whole wheat toast. Put the buttered side down in a pan. Put the egg/cheese mixture on top. Oven at 450 for 15 minutes. That, spinach with ranch, and Arrested Development were good to me this evening.
Tomorrow: coffee, orange juice, and an omelette… and maybe some oatmeal. And probably a spinach, turkey bacon, and ranch wrap for lunch. And I’m sure a Nerds Rope thrown in there somewhere.

I could talk about food all night long…

Breakfast

It’s the most important meal of the day, right? Unless you mean to wake up by 7:20. But you somehow turn off all three of your alarm clocks and sleep until 8:58… with a class at 9:30. Breakfast didn’t quite go as planned, or rather, at the planned time this morning. I did manage to grab a banana and liter of water as I rushed out the door, wishing I had time to take a shower.

I was feeling too gross to go into work- so I came home and showered and proceeded to make the breakfast I had been looking forward to since I had it yesterday morning: a fruit wrap

I was sad to not see any blueberries when I finally made it to Publix on Monday night. So I opted for strawberries to accompany the banana. Strawberries and bananas are always a good mix… And they tasted delicious in my wheat wrap with all na-choo-ral peanut butter and honey. FREAKIN DELISH, that’s what it is. Add to that a cup (soon to be two) of pumpkin spice flavored coffee made tastier with vanilla soy milk and you have one heck of a good (late) breakfast.

It’s still before noon, so it’s breakfast.

More food to come… I just forget about this blog sometimes. Which is weird, because I never forget about food.

Austin’s Coffee

Austin’s Coffee “and Film” (and film? Just because you have two TV’s that your baristas sometimes play movies on does not make it necessary to add “and film” to your name. I mean, Coffee Cafe has a TV they play news/sports on… they don’t call themselves “Coffee Cafe and Current News and Sports” or something)

I do love Austin’s. For nostalgic reasons, mostly. And Tré is always a joy of a barista.

Their frozen soy chai is lacking. It separates too quickly. Also, their normal hot soy chai is good for a while. But by the end I feel a bit sick and find myself grossed out by the taste.

A classic cappuccino is enjoyable, as far as I remember. Despite their coffee being organic and fair trade (yadda yadda), I don’t think I’ve had an amazing cup of black coffee their. Probably their brewing method? BUT, their iced coffee is just fine. I’ve had a cup of coffee made from coffee beans from Austin’s and it was uh-mazing (thank you Dandy). Their specialty drinks are good as well. Peppermint mocha in a nice large mug was a delight.

Foodwise, they have hummus. Good hummus. Need I say more? Ask for a little bit of olive oil on the side (thank you, Samia). It makes for a creamier hummus, if you like that sort of thing. Their Greek Sandwich (I think it is called something else, and it is generally under “chef’s special”) is alright. I’d say hold the chicken. At most small places like this, I find the chicken to never taste okay. Which means I eat a few bites with chicken, and eventually lose the chicken altogether. But if you go without the chicken, it is bascially a greek salad panini, and it is delcious. Their pasta salad needs a bit more flavor, but the fact that you get both chips and pasta salad on the side may make up for it.

Dessert wise, avoid the vegan donuts. The name alone should have deterred me. But I thought I’d give it a try. The actual donut wasn’t too bad, but if you like your chocolate topping to taste like chocolate, don’t order it. If you are one of those organic, health freaks you’ll probably like it. I am, however, not one of those people. I like my chocolate to taste as much like chocolate as possible. Or the fake chocolate taste I’ve come to love. For those like me, try a chocolate muffin heated up. It doesn’t get much worse for you than that. But boy is it delicious. They have some pretty good looking chocolate cake as well… one day I’ll get to it, one day.

Overall, the atmosphere is over the top, or there’s something off about it to me. It can give off that indie feel (or indie/vegan/trashy?), but I find it feels like it is trying too hard. They should probably clean up a bit, keep things tidy. Art for sale done by local (and generally not so great) artists cover the walls. There are three booths. If you can sit at a booth it will make the experience much more enjoyable. The outside chairs are nice, but avoid in high traffic times if you are expecting to carry on a decent conversation.

A nice quiet morning or afternoon spent at Austin’s may be the best time for a first visit, or for a second chance. After that, you may want to brave an open mic night on a Tuesday. Generally, the people who play are not good. But I have not been in months, so who knows these days. Let’s just say it’s an experience…

Memories of Dublin… I Mean India

Restaurant: Memories of India
Price: ($24.02: Chicken Tikka Masala with rice, Butter Naan, Garlic Naan
(not including tip, plus tip came to $30.02 split between two people)

I have been craving Indian food since our three day stay in Dublin this past May. Our first night in Dublin found us in a nice restaurant with delicious Indian food. I had Tandoori chicken and we got naan. Lots and lots of naan. I’ve been craving naan ever since…

I, along with Sarah and Danielle, have been wanting some Indian food since we got back to Florida in the middle of May. After realizing just how much we all love food, we started a sort of “restaurant club”. One day, we really will think of a better name. Pretty much, it was just a good excuse to go out to a new place, a local place, a place we’ve wanted to try once a week or every other week.

This past week, we went went to Memories of India in Lake Mary, in a little plaza just off Lake Emma Road. The inside was much nicer than you would think judging by the plaza’s look.

We were seated at a booth in the back room. The service was great. From the man who sat us to our main server was attentive and friendly.

Single dishes were a bit pricy, but very much worth it. Sarah and I decided to split Chicken Tikka Masala (per Stephanie’s suggestion) which came with white rice. We ended up with three types of naan: butter, garlic, and plain. All were just so delicious. Garlic was especially tasty. Danielle ordered vegetable samosas, which for some reason I did not try. They did look pretty good though.

The chicken Tikka Masala was adequate to split if you get three orders of naan and are expecting to have dessert after, so Sarah and I were fine on that. The chicken was as good as I expected. And of course, the sauce made for a delicious naan dip.

I’ve heard that Memories of India has a buffet on the weekends, and another Indian restaurant near by has a lunch buffet daily. I’d very much like to venture to one of those. My experience with Indian Food has been limited to fairly similar types of chicken and naan. Really, I’m okay with that. But I would like to try more.
I’m all for returning to Memories, the food was delicious and the service was great.

On to dessert…

After much discussion (as usual), we decided on Delano (“The Everyday Cafe”) for dessert. Delano is a fairly new (okay, over a year old) local cafe in Lake Mary. It was recently bought over and they are expanding into the space next door this fall. I’d go on about how good their flatbreads are, or how awesome their “make your own salad” menu is, or how they have really great freshly made hummus… But I’ll stick with our dessert experience.

I was hoping to have a chocolate panini, which is basically Nutella in between a couple small slices of good bread and put in a hot press. Sadly, when Delano changed owners, some of the menu items changed as well… No more nutella for me. Our other choice was smores, as they bring out a litle smore kit for you to roast your marshmellow and make a mess right at your table (and almost set the place on fire, if you’re me).

Though they still had the smores, we chose to split a piece of carrot cake. Our server informed us that it was exclusive to Delano and made fresh daily, and that she didn’t even like carrot cake but she loved this one. SO, in the spirit of trying new things, we ordered a slice and three forks.
I’m sure I’ve tasted carrot cake before, but it is not an occasion I can recall. So this was sort of a first for me. The icing was incredible. I’m not a huge fan of chunks of fruit in pies or cakes and I had a little trouble with that in this case. Overall, it was moist and quite delicious. I really enjoyed the icing.
A cheap slice of cake and a good tip (we knew the server), we spent about $3 on dessert each.

Barnie’s Vs Starbucks (Waterford style)

Last night’s Indian meal will be discussed… later.
Coffee shops are my favorite things. Last night I found myself reviewing all the local ones that came to mind. We’ll save that for later too. Right now, let me just tell you…

I started my morning at the Barnie’s in Waterford. I like that Barnie’s because it is franchised and has delicious frozen soy chais. I have only been there one other time and it was specifically because I was craving said chai. I went with the intention of finishing a book called “The Mother Of Us All” for my Caribbean Cultures class. Fortunately, that Barnie’s is perfectly alright if you want a good frozen soy chai and to sit in a comfy chair and read.

This morning, however, I went mostly to use the internet in an air conditioned atmosphere (thank you lightning storm for outing both of those at my apartment). Barnie’s did provide both of those. Despite the loads of vitamins, Cold-Eeze, and Noni Juice I’ve had, I woke up feeling much worse this morning. This forced me to want tea over coffee.
Barnie’s menu kind of sucks. What’s on the menu doesn’t suck, but their actual menu does. The customer at the counter was on her way as I walked in. Giving me no time to focus on the menu and find the tea. I hesitated as I approached the counter, panicing to find the tea choices or even a display of tea.

Nothing.

The girl behind the counter seemed a bit quiet, maybe shy. I prefer a spritely greeting in the morning. I was stuffed up and probably looked unknowingly angry.

Her: “What can I get for you?”
Me: “Um… um… Do you guys just have normal teas?”
Her: pointing to the little menu right in front of me on the counter, “Yes, right here.”
(Must they have mulitple menus? This gave me no time to contemplate what kind of tea I’d want.)
Me: “Oh, right. Hm… I’ll have… hm… … …Sorry. … I’ll go with the… um… Green Passion.”

And away she went, putting two bags of green passion into a large double cup and adding hot water. I almost asked for honey, but luckily looked behind me to see a bottle of honey by the sugar.

I thanked her and took my tea. Then I went on a hunt for an outlet. I didn’t need one right away, but I am always paranoid that my battery won’t last very long. Sadly, there was no outlet to be found. I thought about asking, but settled for a seat at the bar along the window.

I thoroughly enjoyed the large passion green tea I ordered. They conveniently give you a spoon to fish out the two tea bags once it has brewed long enough. With one packet of Splenda and a big of honey (a lot of honey), the tea was good to go.

The real downer to this Barnie’s is the set up of the shop and it’s seating. There’s plenty of barstools at the bar along the window. But those aren’t exactly good for extended visits. There are a few tables in the middle of the shop, but I don’t like being in the middle with all of my stuff. There really is no good spot if you have more than just a book. An out of place bar area, complete with alcohol and a flat screen television would probably have been my best choice. I saw the barista later plug in her friend’s lap top at this station. But still, no good normal table. And no outlet, unless you sit at that bar.

I stayed for a little over an hour. Squinting the entire time. Partly because my nose is stuffed and I was sneezing. And partly because I was facing a floor to cieling window.

So I left… A bit sad that my high hopes for this Barnie’s to be my new enjoyable local coffee shop. Still, it is good for a good drink and a book. It should also prove well for studying. You’re not a total fail, Waterford Barnie’s. Maybe my experience would have been better if this sickness hadn’t hit this morning.

Now though, I’m sitting at the Waterford Starbucks. I gave in. Panera almost lured me in with it’s delicious free refill coffee until it looked like it was already overfilled. I didn’t want to come to Starbucks. But I did…

The girl behind the counter was a bit more perky and sweet. She gave me my tall coffee and iced water with a smile. She even said, “I hope you feel better, I could hear you’re sick.” That alone won me over. AND for some reson, Starbucks is giving $2 iced drinks after 2pm today with your receipt from this morning. Not sure if it’s just this one or all. Either way, that’s a plus.

Another wonderful thing about this Starbucks in particular is free wireless. Yes, if you’re facing Alafaya, sit in the front left corner. WEORPG pops up, join it, use it. Ah, it’s a wonderful thing.

More on coffee shops later… Starbucks may see me again after 2…

It Is Here: Confessions of a Former Fat Kid

I love food.
As far back as I can remember (which actually isn’t very far), I’ve loved food.
I love junk food, which resulted in a plump childhood. More recently, I’ve worked on somewhat expanding my food horizons- beyond the everyday junk I love.

There’s a photo of a 8 or 9 year old me with a huge smile on my face. Why the huge smile? Maybe they told me to smile. But I’m sure I was happy enough already… I was eating cinnamon toast.

If you’ve ever eaten a meal with me, you may have noticed just how meticulous of an eater I am. Which I actually did not really notice until my sister pointed it out. I take my time, I enjoy my food. I make the perfect bites.

Last year I took my second trip to Sydney with my sister and a good friend. With an overabundance of Mint Slices among other things in our small Edgecliff hotel room, I told tales of my food loving past. Somewhere among the laughter and the tears (tears from laughing), one of us stated “confessions of a former fat kid”.
“In middle school, I’d come home…” well, we’ll leave those confessions for later.

I’ve been asked several notable times recently, “What do you love?” I hate that question because I love silly little things like sitting for hours at coffee shops. Menial things like watching TV on DVD. Things like food and writing…

I love food and I love writing. This blog is the combination.
A mix of confessions and food/restaurant reviews… maybe some secrets.
Please join in, contribute. I don’t claim to know a whole lot about food or writing really, so feel free to help me.

Cheers.