Running Is Making Me Hungry

I started running again, which means my metabolism is going crazy. I’m sore, sleepy, and starving. I ran 4 miles on Friday, 3 on Saturday, 5 on Sunday, and 4 on Tuesday. That was a lot of running for me and I ate everything in sight. (See this LA Times article about my condition, which is called “Compensator.”)

When I run, I feel justified in eating what I want. On Saturday, I had been good in the morning, but friends and I went on a last minute “moms’ night on the town” that started at Melrose Bar and Grill in West Hollywood. It was my second time there and the first time the server was so rude I thought I would never going back. However, on Saturday I did go back and we got the same server, but she was working the bar. She was actually very pleasant this time and even chatted us up. The appetizers were good and I thought about the turkey burger I had the last time around (fabulous, melt in your mouth burger), but we decided to go somewhere else for dinner.

Google Maps was no help in finding the restaurant we were trying to get to, so we ended up stopping at Jones Hollywood. There was an hour wait for a table so we sat at the bar where the crowd was young and hip. My friend used to hang out at Jones back in the day and so she was happy. We got a couple of side dishes and some wine and took in the scene; which was a lot of Hollywood types looking to hook up. It was fun, and I loved the red couches and dark colors. I also loved the wasabi mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach, which was a little sweet and cooked perfectly. I really wished I’d ordered a full meal because everything we saw looked so good.

On Monday, I had a fabulous day that I will write about at length tomorrow. One of the highlights was stopping by Sprinkles Cupcakes in Beverly Hills and trying their new gluten-free red velvet cupcake. I’ve had cupcakes there before (I can have gluten, but my husband has celiac so I cook and bake gluten-free) but now their very best cupcake is the gluten-free red velvet. It was fabulous. My husband thought it was really good (but claimed that my gluten-free cupcakes are better).

That night the husband picked up Zankou Chicken, one of our favorites. We always get the rotisserie chicken roasted in a garlic sauce because it’s the best chicken I’ve ever had. Garlic paste comes on the side and it’s incredible. It’s a secret recipe, but I think it’s mayonnaise, butter and garlic. Some people think it’s lard, garlic and lemon. Whatever it is it’s fabulous. The hummus is creamy, and delicious and my favorite in any restaurant. Even the white rice is good. What I appreciate the most is that my kids like it and there’s no crying at the table because they’re too busy eating. And everything is gluten-free except for the pita bread, of course, and the tabouleh.

No amount of exercise was going to burn off Sprinkles and Zankou, but I tried anyway on Tuesday. Unfortunately, circumstance led us to another meal-not-made-by-mom on Tuesday.

I had to get new tires (Damn you Toyota and your faulty, shredding tires. Like you don’t have enough problems!) so we stopped for dinner at Natalee Thai Restaurant. I thought it was great, but it’s only earned 3 stars on Yelp. My kids had glass noodles and chicken and were so happy. I had vegetables in red curry (pictured top right) and asked for it really spicy and by God, it was really spicy. So good. We also had the Spicy Beef pictured here. Everything was good and the server was great. She brought the boys extra lemons and cherries and got our crazy kid order exactly right.

Well, I’m off to exercise once again. Hopefully I won’t chase that with any more cupcakes. But you never know.

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