Day 13 - A Vision of Bees and Honey

Monday at work.  Today I couldn't get the idea of becoming a beekeeper out of my head.  If I had bees then they would provide honey for me and not only would my sweet tooth be satiated but it is also a very healthy thing to have locally made honey.  Not to mention the good it would do for the environment to raise a bunch of bees.  So there you have it - I'm going to do it!  Just have to stock up on some supplies first.

Day 12 - Keeping Busy

As planned I had two softball games starting at 9:00 and going all the way until 1:30.  By the end of the second game I was really out of energy.  All I had this morning was a glass of water and some smoked bluefish.  After getting home, I got to work on the smoker grill and dried out the fillets.  I tried to keep these piece a bit larger this time - we'll see how they turn out.  My plan was to get the wood chip really going well and then putting the fish on before going to Lavallete for a few hours.  Hopefully the heat inside the grill is not too intense that it cooks or burns my fish while I'm gone.

Day 11 - Icy Blues

Got up at 5:30am today to be surprised by frigid weather!  Brrrrr.  The reports said it was down to 20 degrees during the night and it felt like mid 40's in the morning.  Brian and I met Pat at his house and got prepared to go fishing.  It was very low tide and as a result my boat was unable to float off the lift.  Crap.

Day 10 - Start up the Smoker

I've let a few days pass before sitting down for a minute to write these next few posts.  Day 10 is a Friday and my last day of work for the week.  As usual, weekdays are difficult so planning is key.  I have the bluefish slices marinading and they should be ready for the smoker grill later tonight.

Day 9 - I'm so Lame

Thursday.  Hmm. . . Sorry folks, I got nothin for ya today.  I worked all day.  Came home and watched American Idol.  I ate rice, fish, beans, greens.  Boring!

Breakfast - Lunch - Dinner

 Wait, I almost forgot the duck story. . .

Day 8 - Big Bluefish, what a fluke

I got up this morning determined to catch some fish.  I decided to dunk the kayak in the river today because the boat is not available.  I was able to snag a couple bunker for bait but I didn't even get a single bite!  For about 3 hours I was out there paddling around and trying everything in my bag of tricks to muster a bite.  No luck.  Good exercise though - believe me, I got my work out today paddling against the wind.
So I'm coming back in feeling quite discouraged about the fishing situation and off in the distance I see something unusual on the surface of the water. 

Day 7 - Still No Fish (sound familiar?)

Tuesday morning. I don't have to get to work until 10am so I decided to go to the trout pond to see if I can catch something for lunch or dinner.  No joy.  There were a couple of big carp in the pond that I tried to snag with a treble hook but I was unsuccessful.  There were also a few geese in the pond that I was most certainly able to snag with a treble hook.  Alas, my conscience got the better of me and I did not try.  Maybe it was not my conscience. I think it was more about the fear of being seen or caught by someone else nearby.
Well, don't be surprised if you read a future post about a wonderful goose dinner I had - and no details will be revealed.  A bird would really be a nice meal right about now.

Day 6 - You Gotta Hate Mondays

Back to work Monday.  It was an uneventful and unproductive weekend so guess what?  Nothing substantial to eat for breakfast and nothing to bring to work.  Sheesh.  I feel like I've been here before.  Time to make the beans and rice and deal with the greens in the yard and do that again and again and again and again and again and again and again.  Do you get how I feel?

Day 5 - Walking a Fine Line

I am not very proud of myself today.  It is Sunday and there is nothing stockpiled to eat.  A glass of water for breakfast and some small bites of greens from the yard (which I'm getting sick of).  I had the distraction of two softball games this morning to keep my mind off food.  The weather report was for rain for the majority of the day but I was able to get the games in before the storm. Surprisingly my energy levels were up enough to get through the first game and then I headed right over to the second game.
At about the third inning I was dragging a bit and one of the players on my team announced that he brought a box of Dunkin' Donuts Munchkins for everyone.  Oh man.  That's all I needed to hear.

Day 4 - No Fish, But No Headache Either

Headed out at 5:30 this morning with Pat to try to catch a fish.  Weather was perfect despite the forecast of rain. The problem, however, was the tide. It was dead low and not moving. This is always a problem for fishing. We saw a few splashes and we caught some nice live bait but the larger fish were not interested.  And NO, I didn't eat the bait.

Day 3 - Pretty Hungry

Water, beans, rice, kale, clams. Try that for every meal, every day.  For someone who really loves to cook and eat and have a very wide variety of flavors, this is the challenge.  There are plenty of greens in the garden but it's easy to get sick of them quickly.  Especially when they are not too flavorful on their own. And even more so when you don't have any seasonings or fats to cook them with.

Day 2 - Evening Clams Save the Day

After a long day at work with nothing but a few steamed greens and rice I decided to go check out the clamming grounds in Rumson.  Unfortunately the tide was on its way up but there was a little bit of beach exposed and sure enough some clam holes were there.  In a few minutes I was able to gather about four steamers.  Then I walked out into the water a bit and added a few hard clams to the bucket.

Day 1 - The Dawn of a New Challenge

I'd like to say the 2012 SDC started out with a bang - but it was more like a blaaahck.  It was a dreary drippy day - quite the contrast from just three days ago when it was almost 90 degrees (in April!)  Although I knew the start date was rapidly approaching, I have not done much, if any, preparation this year.  Oh - besides getting FAT again this winter! Does that count?  I suppose I have to do that in order to even have a Survivor Diet - so job well done.  Kicking off SDC at a nicely round 200 pounds.

Moving over to FACEBOOK - Thanks Mark Zuckerberg!

Trying something new again this year folks - I'm moving over to facebook for my daily reports.  So you'll want to check it out there and don't forget to "LIKE" me!
Go to facebook and search SURVIVOR DIET - should be able to find it from there.

Or you can just click this and magically you will be taken there. . . ta da.

Survivor Diet 2012 - Coming Soon. . .

April 18th Start Date - check back soon.