Did Hungry Vince starve?

Uh-oh, I haven't updated my fascinating food diaries for almost four days! What's going on? Do not worry, Hungry Vince is still hungry and hasn't starved himself into a coma quite yet so all is good, updates will follow later ;)

Thursday, August 23

Lunch: well it happened: delicious vietnamese cuisine that re-heated pretty well. Now I understand the whole meaning of to-go boxes for left-overs. Happy belly!

Dinner: Another late evening, and we had literally pounds of pizza (just 5 slices!) in the fridge at work.. So I had one slice with a yogurt and a banana. I'm sure we'll eventually run out of pizza and some healthier meals will magically show up.

I need to work on my magic skills.

Wednesday, August 22: Dinner

The plan was to come home and eat those left-overs that have my name on it, but instead quite a few of us stayed at work and we had some food delivered. It was some Patxi's Chicago Pizza, crazy thick pizza weighing something like 10lbs each.. I had a slice and a half and I was done! Crazy! They were pretty good too. They fueled us for the rest of the evening, all good.

Wednesday, August 22: Lunch

Now, will you believe this? This morning I prepared a nice lunch-box full of good things to have a good healthy lunch and as I was about to walk out the door I received a phone call.. I answered and my mono-task brain focused on the conversation, and when I was done and ready to go I left my lunch-box behind :-/ So no left-overs for me today. Instead I joined the team to go the little Hawaiian place, and I have a healthy avocado salad. Yum and green!

Tuesday, August 21

Fairly predictable lunch, unexpected "dinner" tonight.. Lunch was left-over pizza from yesterday's lunch, good enough, and dinner was some kind of hot dog at the Google Dance (I was a guest there tonight.)

I think I'm seeing a pattern here: if I were to rate my meals and plot the result on a graph over the past two weeks, I think the line would be going down and to the right i.e. not too good. Luckily I have plenty of yummy left-overs for the next couple of days so it might raise the average a little bit.. :)

Monday, August 20: Dinner

Oooh, dinner was a special event tonight! I was invited by a friend with connections to a tasting dinner at Ana Mandara in San Francisco, a restaurant serving modern vietnamese cuisine with a french twist in a very plush atmosphere. The courses were described and served directly by Chef Khai himself and the food was just delicious. Great food, great people, good times :-) Somehow I ended up with some left-overs in a box so you might see me talk about this delicious food again soon.. Oh, and extra props to Chef Khai for hosting his blog on Blogger :-)
(I'd also recommend going to visit the interior of the restaurant; the decoration is pretty amazing.)

Monday, August 20: Lunch

For lunch our team went to a small pizza place in Palo Alto (I believe it was N.Y. Pizza on Hamilton.) I had a mini 8'' vegetarian and could only eat half of it -- I guess I know what I'm having for lunch tomorrow ;)

Sunday, August 19: Trading with Joe for Dinner

I followed Tina's suggestion to visit Trader Joe's frozen section and sure enough they seem to have some decent things there! A lot of the stuff is organic with little preservatives and not much cancer-inducing ingredients it looks like. I picked up a few things, and tonight I had Trader Giotto's Pesto Pizza.. After 11 minutes in the oven I had something that tasted pretty decent and was warm for once! Awesome.

Wine: Robert Mondavi Private Selection Cabernet-Sauvignon 2005. While I was at Trader Joe's I picked up a couple of bottles < $10 as people always talk about them. I like the Mondavi wines that tend to be 2-3 times as much so I figured I'd try that one.. A little young but it worked out nicely :)

Sunday, August 19: Lunch

Light lunch today as I wanted to go out in the sun and time was running tight: multi-grain bread + cheese (emmentaler, appenzeller), bread + nutella (bwahahaha YUM YUM), yogurt, peach, done deal. On the road. Bye!

Saturday, August 18

Saturday... Hmm, okay so let's see: I had breakfast really late because Friday's wild no-sleep night (okay, it wasn't really wild but I didn't sleep much) and so later I kind of skipped "lunch" (snacked on a carrot, apple and a peach.) Dinner was more on the light side too: tomatoes, zucchini bread (that was the end of it.. It was almost crunchy-dry at that point, but still yummy), a papaya from Hawaii that I brought back three weeks ago (ooooh that was good!), a yogurt and a banana. At least I have my share of fruits in there :)

No wine again. I think my joints are starting to rust with all that water I'm drinking.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Friday was Hawaiian day :-) We went for lunch to this little Hawaiian restaurant in Palo Alto (Hukilau on Ramona st I believe) and I had a Mahi sandwich. I thought it'd be healthy but the fish was deep fried or something...) Of course the first thing that came to mind when I got there was to order a Mai Tai but it being a work lunch and all, it didn't happen.. Too bad :) The sandwich was big enough that I had plenty left over and so dinner was fulfilled easily without having to leave work :-)

Thursday, August 16

Today was another... Quizno's day! Oh no! I bought a long sandwich at lunch so I had plenty left for dinner. That was a good idea because I left work after midnight :-/ (But hey I found a bunch of bugs!) (I mean, not in my sandwich ;-) )

Wine: none!

Wednesday, August 15: Dinner

Late dinner which turned out to be an easy one: the half-sandwich left over from lunch worked out perfectly, along with a few baby tomatoes and some Appenzeller.. My fridge is getting seriously empty though, I should post a picture.

Wine: none :-/

Wednesday, August 15: Lunch

Oooh, a healthy sandwich from Whole Foods with artichoke hearts, avocado, basil and a bunch green stuff... It was good and I have some left for tonight :) I'm sure it shouldn't be too difficult to prepare something like that on my own.. Will think about it.

Also, somehow I have to find a substitute for the 4pm kitkat, i'm sure that's not the best thing I could ingest as a snack (but that's about the healthiest available on site.) I could bring a banana or something but I just can't make myself remember this sort of things in the morning. Hmmm.

Tuesday, August 14: Dinner

Was home at a reasonable time for once but went for the easy route: the other half of the quizno's sandwich, baby tomatoes, some Appenzeller, a yogurt and half a creme-brulee that I got from whole foods over the weekend (which also means I ate the other half on Sunday and didn't tell you!) Not the best dinner I guess. I need to look into frozen stuff that'd be reasonably healthy, it'd have to be better than that. Are there healthy frozen dinners? I think in the past I've eaten healthy choice and lean cuisine, but they're kind of yucky and probably not the healthiest either.

No wine. I should do something about it, I might run into heart problems later otherwise ;-)

Tuesday, August 14: Lunch

Hey, this time I convinced my team to go to... Quizno's! Again! :-) And I had left-overs...

Monday, August 13: Dinner

Stayed late at work and needed something.. So I ended up getting a small Quizno's sub. They are pretty tasty for a fast food sub, I don't know how bad they are for me though :-/

Notice how good I've been at avoiding touching any pot or pan for the past week or so. Hmm...

Monday, August 13: Lunch

Lucky me! My Googler friends invited me over and I had a delicious lunch at Cafe Moma (fish, plenty of green, yellow, white veggies, a couple of potatoes, and some yummy crumbly desert.) Brings back memories of the good ol' times when food was like that every day :-)

Sunday, August 12: Dinner

Pretty much skipped dinner on Sunday, just had a banana. (And I'm taking a whole post to describe just that!)

Sunday, August 12: Lunch

"Lunch" happened fairly late in the day given how late I happened to wake up ;) And it was made of the other half of the tuna sandwich (it was pretty yummy.)

Saturday, August 11: Dinner

Whole foods was my friend again, I had a tuna sandwich late afternoon to have food in my belly for the event that was happening later: rum tasting party at Tina's! Tina had made some delicious appetizers and had some good cheese out too. Yum :)

Saturday, August 11: Lunch

carrot, cantaloupe (the last piece! but I have another full one in the fridge...), one piece of zucchini bread (hmmm it's a little dry now, but I'm almost out), cherries, apple. Basically, grab what I can and survive :-)

Friday, August 10: Dinner

I stayed at work quite late (so awesome for a Friday night) but took a break at a local bar with the team.. Hey, that's almost as good as Google's TGIF and here the whole company fits on the outside patio ;) Later dinner was sushi from Whole Foods with a banana for desert. Sushi was ok, nowhere near Yanagi Sushi in Hawaii though :-)

Wine: none! (makes up for the beers ;) )

Friday, August 10: Lunch

Hmmm should I really say it... Today was some special occasion and for an easy place that can host a lot of people for not too much... Round Table Pizza. I'm going to have to do something about the lunch situation ;)

Thursday, August 9: Dinner

I stayed late at work and had a Cliff Bar (energy bar) before leaving as I was starving.. So my dinner was "lighter", but still without any preparation ;) Slice of cantaloupe, one carrot, artichoke-spinash dip, a little bit of cheese, cherries, and two dates. As much as I've been avoiding it, I have a feeling I'm going top have to bring that pan back out again and try to do something soon. Plus I'm running out of cantaloupe, finally (one piece left.)

Wine: same as last night ;)

Thursday, August 9: Lunch

Ouch! I am experiencing new lows in American nutrition! Today I let myself be convinced to follow my team for a... 7-eleven lunch experience. Ouch! Ended up eating a hot-dog that was scary-looking with lots of spicy condiments that kind of killed any taste this thing could have had. Wow. They'll have to pay me next time to get me to follow them there :-)

Wednesday, August 8: Dinner

Cold dinner tonight: cantaloupe (it had been a while...), pork slice with dijon mustard, tomato from Provence, sauteed broccoli, mashed potatoes, cheese, cherries. It looks like a lot of things but it was just a little bit of everything. Coming late from work really makes the whole cooking thing more difficult. That's where the Google way ruled: hungry at 8pm? Just go grab dinner at the cafe downstairs and come back up to keep working happily with a happy belly... I haven't found an easy way to deal with the new situation yet ;)

Wine: same as last night. At least something that's easy: uncork, pour, enjoy :-)

Wednesday, August 8: Lunch

Indian Buffet with the team...

Tuesday, August 7: Dinner

Whole Foods cooked for me tonight as I left work pretty late: spinach-artichoke dip, tomatoes from Provence, sauteed broccoli, mashed potatotes, cheese, cherries.

Wine: same as last night ;)

Tuesday, August 7: Lunch

Greek Gyros!

Monday, August 6: Dinner

A little bit of deja vu: half-avocado with vinaigrette, sauteed zucchinis (yum yum!), Sat's spaghettis, cheeses, cherries.

Wine: Parrone 2004 (Cabernet Sauvignon, Colchagua valley, Chile): pretty interesting.

I'm done with the zucchinis and the spaghetti which means tomorrow I'll have to be creative and come up with something new. Hmm, I don't have much inspiration I must say. I wonder how that whole "make your own food" thing is going to last...

Monday, August 6: Lunch

First day at my new job. Lunch (with the team): round table pizza... Ouch :-/

Sunday, August 5: Dinner

I did it! I cooked zucchinis! And they tasted really good :)

Tonight's menu: last night's spaghetti a la vince-bonara with fresh grated parmesan, sauteed zucchinis, cheese.

Wine: Geyser Peak Merlot 2001. Ok bottle is out now.

The zucchinis turned out good and I'm quite surprised about it. It involved dicing zucchinis, chopping garlic, using things like pepper & salt & thyme... It's probalby due to the new pan :) However, the spaghetti from last night were really dry after being reheated. There has to be a secret on how to reheat spaghetti. I just put the pot back on very low heat and let it get warm that way, it's probably not the best way. If anyone knows how to do that right please give me a hint! (Note: I do not have a microwave.)

Getting serious

My brand new acquisitions: a cheese grater, and a 9.5'' pan (24cm in some countries.) I think I'm all set! :) I might experiment with my mom's delicious diced zucchinis but she gave me the recipe over the phone and I'm not sure I'm remembering all of it. But now I have the tools and I feel adventurous.

Sunday, August 5: Lunch

Cantaloupe, cold pork with dijon mustard, half-avocado with vince's vinaigrette, yogurt, strawberries and ice-cream.

(I had a few old strawberries laying around so I figured I'd throw them with a bit of sugar in ice-cream and that'd make a good desert :) )

Saturday, August 4: Dinner

cantaloupe, spaghetti a la vince-bonara, three cheeses, cherries.

Wine: Geyser Peak Merlot 2001 (Sonoma County.) Still the same bottle and I have some left ;)

And for the first time in a long time... I cooked something warm! I think it's the first time it happened since I moved into this apartment. I tried to prepare some Spaghetti a la Carbonara (following this recipe) but I didn't quite have the ingredients so I had to improvise a bit. I used some black forest ham and white onion (that I simmered a bit in a pot (I don't have a pan)), some old parmesan, two eggs and spaghetti. The end result wasn't too bad really, not quite what I remember from true Carbonara but good enough for tonight :)

Saturday, August 4: Lunch

Jetlag is still kicking and got me to sleep wayyy to late.. So lunch looks like a big bowl of cereal ;)

Friday, August 3: Dinner

Tonight's dinner was a little unusual as my Google friends invited me over for a short party this afternoon which involved ice cream and other yummy things. Later I was shown how a small Weber gas grill worked and I had a brat-dog in the process. And finally back at home I had some of that delicious Brie de Meaux (*) and an apple.

(*) I got a new piece of Brie from Whole Foods today and wow, it is so delicious. If you have the occasion, try it out. I have seen it at Whole Foods in St. Louis, MO and here in California and apparently they come from the same producer. They have several brie-looking cheeses but only one Brie de Meaux I think. Good stuff.

Friday, August 3: Lunch

hmmm. Cheeze-its! (just a few of them...), cantaloupe (it's a big one, it'll last a while ;) ), yogurt, banana. Not sure that'll last for too long :)

Update: there was also a slice of zucchini bread in there (left over from Johanna's last visit) which was really good. I knew this lunch felt more filling than it appeared :)

Thurday, August 2: Dinner

I thought of stopping by Safeway and picking up some prepared pork tonight, warm and all..

half-avocado with Vince's vinaigrette, some italian cantaloupe (really really good!), baby tomatoes, rosemary pork tenderloin (warm, but a tad overcooked in my opinion ;) ), spinach leaves (raw; I should have steamed them but that's getting difficult), cheese (brie de Meaux, Appenzeller, Emmentaler), cherries.

Wine: Geyser Peak Merlot 2001 (the bottle is going to last a while ;) )

Thursday, August 2: Lunch

My peeps at Google invited me for lunch, yay! Easy life! Nothing to prepare for me :-)

Wednesday, August 1: Dinner

My first home-made meal. Well, first of the new beginning at least :)

half avocado with Vince's vinaigrette, one carrot, baby tomatoes, cheese (Brie de Meaux, Appenzeller, Emmentaler), cherries.

Wine: Geyser Peak Merlot 2001

Wednesday, August 1 2007: Lunch

Skipped lunch (I'm just back from Hawaii and just got way too late)