Happy Father's Day!!

After yesterday's cheating, and with only one day of Spring left, I needed to do some Spring Cleaning. Maybe this will help:

Or, maybe this will!

Sidney's mom had some left over chocolate pie. How could I say no to that?! Exactly, it's not possible. So I accepted the inevitable, and added some whipped cream for good measure.

Then, Sidney and I headed to my parents' house. My dad introduced me bratwurst patties, and they were actually quite delicious.

This Pac-Man-esque patty was split between my dad and I.

So, let's recap the day in food so far. There's been

• a fiber brotein bar
• a fairly small piece of chocolate pie with whipped cream
• and half of a brat patty

So far, so good with getting back on track with my cut. To add to this, Sidney and I were unable to make it to a late lunch with her cousins, so I was really in the green on food today. And then it went down hill. Check that, it fell of a cliff. My parents then suggested that we go out for dinner. I'm thinking, "Ok, this is fine. I can order well and stay within my calories. This is good. I can do this!"

Then my dad suggested Longhorn. I about screamed out loud, but deep down I really wanted to go back. Having just been there 5 days ago, that wonderful experience was still fresh in my mind. And on that day I was torn between two menu items. This was my chance to experience the other one! Or do I get the Outlaw Ribeye again?? It was really good, after all... Decisions, decisions...

Upon arriving, we were seated immediately, and by a TV where we could witness the Royals' extra innings walk-off against the Tigers. Already a good start. 

Then there was bread. 

I again had a single piece, although this time it wasn't an end piece.

And again I put butter on it.

Then my dad ordered some onion rings for an appetizer. Turns out they're not so much "rings" as they are onion "chunks."

But I had a small serving with some horseradish sauce.

Turns out they're pretty good, so I had some more. The horseradish sauce was too strong for me, though I don't really prefer horseradish anyway, so.

Then my salad came out. Wow, this is some serious deja vu.

Again I made the decision to finish everything in my bowl. Again I succeeded.

This time, though, I was more acutely aware of the tomatoes. I could taste them more this time than the last, though this could be for a number of reasons. I'm still not ready to say that my hatred for them is weakening.

There were a couple pieces of onion thingies left over, so I grabbed one and dipped it in a little butter.

Everything is better with butter!

Then my main course arrived. I decided to go with the other option I had considered last Tuesday. The Primtime Burger is exactly what it sounds like. It's a burger with prime rib on it! I substituted steamed broccoli for my fries, although looking back I should've just gone all in and gotten HUGE! Oh well, the broccoli at Longhorn is really, really good!

The burger also had sauteed onions, Swiss cheese, and mushrooms on it.

It was actually much better than I was expecting, and I was expecting it to be really good! I didn't regret not ordering the ribeye!

But on a sentimental note, this is the exact Longhorn restaurant that I waxed so lovingly about in my Tuesday post. This was the exact restaurant I visited so many times with my parents. I can distinctly remember so many individual visits, sitting in different booths and at different tables over the years. All they way back to when I was 7 or 8 I came here with my parents, and here I was, 15 years later, back again with my parents in the restaurant that probably bears the largest significance of any other in my childhood.

But sentimentality aside, we had other business to attend to. And this is where my cut was utterly destroyed. My dad absolutely loves the Turtle Sundae from Freddy's. Fittingly, my mom informed me that she had gotten him a Turtle ice cream cake from Freddy's.

It looked good, and it suggested that it be set out for 5-10 minutes for "best results."

Apparently, we didn't let it sit out long enough. It took about 15 minutes to do this:

But the benefit of cutting a frozen solid cake? Perfect looking slices!

Have you ever seen such a sight? When was the last time you ate a cake with a fork and a steak knife? Yeah, I didn't think so.

After this celebration, Sidney and I then headed back to her parents' house. But on the way we stopped at this shaved ice stand.

We (I) wanted to see if it was the good kind or the bad kind.

Turns out it was pretty much the good kind! Sidney chose the kiwi flavor, and it was very good!

And with that, I wrapped up my second cheat day in as many days. Can I just get one decent cut day, please?!

Cheater, Cheater, Pants on Fire!!

I can smell the smoldering remains that were my pants. Not only did they catch fire today, they burst violently into a plume of white hot flame and billowing black smoke.

Ok, that may be a little exaggerated, but still. I sure ain't stayed in my calories today!

But that's alright. It's been a long while since I've had a cheat day, and I deserved this. And heck, maybe I even needed this. After the previous 13 days of hardcore cutting with the likes of Longhorn, my body very well may have been in straight starvation mode.

Anyway, I didn't even bother with a brotein bar this morning. Sidney and I went straight to the market, unfed and anticipating something delicious. This something delicious could only be...

There was a hearty vein of cheese running down the middle of my burrito this morning! Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, good!

But I know what you're thinking. I know that you're thinking that this looks like any other Saturday morning at the Market. And you'd be right in your assessment. So how could this be a cheat day???

Patience, my friends.

After confirming with Sidney that today would indeed be a cheat day, I agreed to let her surprise me with a little something from another vendor at the Market. I had no idea what she had in store for me, but I was pretty sure it would be carbs. It's always carbs. Rule of thumb: surprises are always carbs.

This is what she came back with:

See, I told you so!! But just look at this glory:

I simply could not wait to taste this poppyseed "bread" so I dug right in.

With a sugar glaze, this is hardly bread. This is more like a muffin in the shape of tiny bread. And I'm perfectly happy about that! I tore off about a third of this tiny loaf and split it with Sidney. It was so good! It really did taste like a poppyseed muffin, and on the bright side, I've still got some for later!

A little while later, a Market tragedy occurred. One of the Peanut Butter Stuffed cookies stuck to the one above it, and a big piece of it ripped off.

What a shame, now we couldn't sell it. Whatever would we do now???

We would eat it, that's what!!!

I had about half and Sidney had about half.

Then later, because I was now in an "eat everything" mode, I scavenged some scraps from one of the cookie jars after the cookies had sold out.

Now here it comes. Here's where the cheating really picks up some steam. Remember how I've been craving a good buffet session? Well, my craving experienced a little satiation right after the Market!

Sidney and I headed down the street a couple blocks to Lawrence's newest Indian restaurant. This was the second time eating here, and it didn't disappoint!

Everything looked so good, so I got my customary sample plate at the beginning.

I started off with some poori (crispy puffed bread), then (clockwise starting at 11) some vegetable pakora, chicken tikka masala, beef vindaloo, some chicken and potatoes, and some cheesy peas.

Meanwhile, they had brought out some fresh naan to our table.

Literally everything tasted excellent, but there were a couple standouts. The poori and chicken tikka masala were otherwordly in flavor. When I went back for my second plate, I doubled up on poori and got a very generous portion of tikka masala.

This time, though, I added some chicken biryani as a nice bed for the chicken tikka to rest on.

The combination was stellar. Also, the combination of chicken tikka with the crispy poori was simply amazing. I wish I could just taste that all the time. Seriously, there are very, very few things I've ever eaten that taste as good as this. There are a few reasons why, as a whole, Indian cuisine is my favorite style of food. This is definitely one of them. Obviously, I had to go back and get some more. This time, along with the requisite poori and tikka masala, I optioned in some basmati rice and another pakora, just to add some texture and some even greater depth of flavors.

I was in absolute food heaven, and I wanted to stay there for as long as possible. But, like all good things, it came to an end. But that means that it's time for dessert!

Unfortunately, they did not offer gulab jamun on today's buffet, but as a worthy substitute, rice pudding was on offer. The last time I ate here, both Quinn and Andrew preferred the rice pudding to the gulab jamun, but I didn't try it. This time, having no choice, I got a bowl.

I'll admit, it was tasty. I'm standing strong behind my preference for gulab jamun, though. There's just something about those warm, fried, doughy delights soaked in sugary syrup that are impossible to resist. And we all know my history with this particular dessert. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that they didn't have any today.

Anyway, this lunch buffet at Bayleaf really hit the spot. It hit the spot more than any meal or food has in quite some time. I'm fully committed to my cut, but the food aspect of it is slightly a bummer. It's worth it, for sure, but I miss eating with the reckless abandon I shared with Quinn and Andrew last semester. All in the name of being lean, I shall carry on!

But not today. Today I will eat everything. Oh look, cookies!!

I had about half of a chocolate chip walnut oatmeal cookie. Oh look, more cookies!!!

Then I had an oatmeal whoopie pie and another half of a chocolate chip walnut oatmeal. Oh look, more cookies!!!




Just kidding. Peanut turtle dove!!!

Then, Sidney and I went downstairs to pack a little of our stuff into boxes (we're moving soon). This really consisted of me handing her stuff while I snacked on some leftover Easter candy. Almond M&Ms are good.

Then, a little before bedtime, I decided to wrap up my cheat day with a little more nuts and chocolate. I had quite a few dark chocolate-covered almonds and pecans. Eating one almond and one pecan at the same time is a perfect combination of dark chocolate, almond, and pecan.

So, how did I do on my first cheat day in almost 2 weeks?? I'd call it a resounding success!!! I've got my eye on another buffet, so be on the lookout for that sometime hopefully in the (relatively) near future.