Fatty fatty fatty...

So on Wednesday this week I ate more food than I think I have ever eaten in one day in my entire life. Ugg I'm such a fatty!

I started out normal, coffee and cigarettes for breakfast (jk: almost a year now!) and when lunch rolled around my buddy Mark showed up. We went to the local dive for sushi so I had the California roll pack and a small salad (I knew it would be a big day of eating so I tried to go light)

We were both part of a special meeting in our office which moved from conference room to top secret focus groups riding around in buses to the competition for live feedback... (I will spare you the boring details)

First stop on our tour: McDonald's

I tried the new southern chicken sandwich which after I put a glob of mayonnaise on it was not half bad. Kinda a small knock off of the Chick-fil-a original chicken sandwich. You can't beat Mc Donald's fries though and I had an iced coffee to wash it down.

Stop number two: Carl's Jr.

I had the new Jalapeno Chicken sandwich which if it was hot, it would have been a flaming explosion of mayonnaisy delight, but alas, it was luke warm as most of their food is...

Stop number three: Jack in the Box

By now I am pretty full so I only order the sampler pack. My friend Mandi eats the cheese sticks and I went for the jalapenos and spicy chicken bites (of course dipped in ranch) the whole dang box was burnt to a crisp (what a turn-off)

Finally we finished our meeting behind the secret glass as they grilled the focus group; more boredom ensued...

Then came the dinner party. To thank us for attending the top secret meeting they took us to a fancy dinner at Champps in the spectrum. It was a nice place and everyone had drinks and got happy (except for me; I didn't mention, but I quit drinking a couple months ago) I had a diet coke and sampled the appetizer platter which was very good...

After an hour of schmoozing the big wigs we finally sat down to dinner where I continued to eat; I ordered satay sticks with peanut sauce and ate every last one.

And of course when the company pays you cant forget dessert: a big slice of cheesecake (which 4 of us split) I had to unbutton my pants for the drive home... I was stuffed and I am sure I consumed a weeks' worth of calories... I am only taking liquids today to try and cleanse the grease and fat I have ingested this week... Like I said, I'm such a fatty...

My new name...

Thanks to the girl at Starbucks who took the order for my Venti Iced Americano with an extra shot, no water and plenty of room (for nonfat milk and 5 sweet n' lows) I have adopted a new identity!

I shall from this day forth be know as Bliam (pronounced Blee-Ham)... It has an exotic ring to it; which is probably exactly what I have been missing in life.

Freezee Pie

OMG - I am in love! Based on a project I was working on at work I concocted this delight and promptly ate the whole thing the next day. (OK, I had a little help...)

So you take an pre-made graham cracker pie crust from the store...

Dump in two Freezees (blended soft serve and candy) and smooth it out to the edges...

Then sprinkle more candy over the top of the Freezees...

Then squirt some hot fudge over the top and place into the freezer to solidify overnight:

In the morning you take it out and have a big slice for breakfast...

Heaven in dessert form:

Chicken Soup on a cold day...

Holly and I were looking for something healthy for dinner on Friday and it was freezing out. And by the way: why is is pouring down rain and 48 degrees in May?

So I decided to make us some chicken soup. I went over to Cardenas and got a bunch of vegetables (all on sale) Even with a nice plump chicken breast the total was only $5.65 (I love that market)

The ingredients were simple:

Leeks (thanks to TFP), Onion, Zucchini, Green Beans, Carrots, Cilantro and Jalapenos.

On the stove I started some chicken bullion to which I added 2 grilled chicken breasts.

I chopped up all the veggies and threw them into the pot. The result: mmmm warm and cozy chicken vegetable soup on a cold night...

Toast and Jam

Mmmmm Barb made me some strawberry jam and it is delicious on crunchy toast!

Walking shoes and spinning...

So in my fight against obesity I have decided to walk to work everyday. No, no, not all 35 miles but from the train station to the office (1.1 miles each way). It's actually a very nice walk. I pack my work shoes in my backpack and wear my sneakers... I think they look cool with my dress slacks:

I have also been taking a spin class twice a week at the gym and it kicks my butt! The teacher was totally picking on me this week. I think it makes a big difference to have motivation (well someone yelling: "FASTER; MOVE IT")

Gotcha

This commercial requires little words...

Ticket

You know when you are cruising down the highway knowing full well that you are speeding, then you come around the bend and right there in broad daylight is a cop with a radar gun pointed directly at you...

Hmmm - 84 MPH is what he wrote on the ticket... I wasn't even going to take that freeway today, but I changed my mind at the last second and paid the price...

Traffic school here I come...

Window

I love to look out my bedroom window. There is a huge tree right in front of my house and in the morning I see the sun rising behind the swaying tree. This morning the sky was beautiful:

Vegas Getaway and lucky Lisa on the "dark side"

So this last weekend Dad, Lisa, and I went to Vegas for our bowling tournament and some family fun.

Again we stayed at the beautiful Rio Hotel and Casino (it is starting to be one of my favorite places) The room was awesome and this time the pool was open so after a long night at the craps table Lisa and I got a chance to catch up on some zzz's out by the pool.

We bowled in our tournament and I did fair: I won $9.75 in tournament money, where my little sister bowled like a champ and walked with $205. dang man...

We ate at the Rio buffet (totally delicious again) and got a lot of fun gaming in. On Friday night after gambling for hours I turned in at 2am with dad, but Lisa wanted to stay at the craps table. She met some guys from New York who showed her how to play craps an entirely different way. Instead of betting on pass line with the point (as normal people do) she was betting against the shooter and with the house: aka the don't pass bar. She did say that it was a slow a steady game and did not have the excitement that the point and inside numbers do, but when all was said and done, she walked with $1800, where dad and I walked with half that... hmmm; maybe she is onto something...

Dad and I took a good look at what she was doing and declared it playing on the "dark side" Dad has been playing craps for years so I don't think he will change - but hey the proof is in her wallet - I will give it a shot when I go with my friends from church in June.

Anyhow - we all had a great time, lots of eating, relaxing, bowling and craps...

Green, Blue, Red, Gold = Mama Mia!

Most of you know of my strange love for anything public transit. I often visit the local subway when I am traveling the country for work. Well last Wednesday I had tickets to go see Mama Mia (one of my favorite shows) up in Pasadena. A slam dunk on the train: I would have just taken the Metrolink into Los Angeles then transferred to the Gold Line light rail and been in Pasadena about an hour after leaving work in the OC. Not on this Wednesday. A railway worker (2nd day on the job) fell into an oncoming freight train so they had to shut down rail service into and out of the city through the rush hour commute... I got a far north as Norwalk then I got stuck!

Then it dawned on me... I could take the city bus across town to the Inglewood boarder and hop on the green line! From there I could transfer to the blue line, then to the red, finally back to the gold and arrive in Pasadena. A long trip but really my only shot -

What an adventure! Here is a video of me on the green line which runs down the middle of the 105 freeway - it was pretty clean and quick as we zipped along side the traffic.

Once I reached the transfer station I went downstairs to the blue line. The blue line was pretty scary... It ran through Inglewood, Compton, Watts then LA. I didn't dare take my camera out for a quick shot - the people on the train were staring at me as it was... I was painfully out of place in my pressed shirt and shiny shoes. Here is a clip of the packed train arriving...

Once I landed at the 7th street transfer station I hopped down the stairs to catch a red line train as it was pulling in...

Once I got downtown I ran over to the gold line and arrived in Pasadena 30 min later. I got off the train just in time to meet my dad & uncle Ron and take our seats for the show with only a min or two to spare. The show was awesome - a totally different cast from the last few times I had seen Mama Mia but very good. Pretty OK singing and flawless choreography... Mama Mia what a journey...

Babies...

Sandy gave me this pic of me and the kids a while ago and I found it today... Gosh I love those little guys... This is must have been a light week - I usually have about 15 in my sunday school class...

J E L L O; JIGGLERS! YEA!

Often I find myself obsessed with the thoughts of food (which goes completely against the lessons I learned in the Lord's Table course).... hmmm....



Today on the train I was dreaming of Jello... fond memories of childhood when Grandma Bowman would take us to the Hollander Cafeteria and I would eat green Jello topped with whipped cream...



So on the way to work I had to stop and get some Jello. I made jigglers out of the box (something I had not done in probably a decade) they were delicious and oh so fun!



I decided to put them on my face; so did Andie...

Holly couldn't stop laughing long enough to even eat one...

Who knew Jello could be so much fun...

The original reason for the hens

So the whole reason I was looking for Cornish game hens was that my Dad got me the rotisserie kit for my BBQ for my birthday and I was super excited to try it out. So after the difficulties with the first batch I finally got some reasonably priced hens at Albertsons on Sunday. They were marinated in a yummy sauce of some kind and I could not wait to grill them.

I carefully arranged them on the rotisserie (after stabbing my finger with the spokes: OUCH!) and I let them spin for about 40 min.

They came out crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside... mmm I want to try BBQ flavored chicken next!

A Delicious Misunderstanding...

So I have grown to love shopping at Cardenas (the Latin themed market by my Dad's store) they have crazy deals each week and often I find products there that you can't get anywhere else (because other markets wouldn't dare carry some of the items). The only hard part is all of the employees speak only Spanish - for all intensive purposes it's like setting foot into Mexico. So I was perusing the meat counter this week looking for some Cornish game hens (a product they didn't teach me how to translate in Spanish class). When I could not find them I asked the guy behind the counter "oye: no tienen Cornish game hens? me intendes; como pollo chiquitos" and the guy tells me $19.99 which really didn't answer my question - so I tell him in Spanish "$20 for a little chicken! which he says no; that is for the case. So I go ahead and clarify that I only want 2 not a whole case. He smiles and we both laugh, then he proceeds to grab two (which are split at the breast) from a bin and wrap them up for me. Now I was really looking for whole hens and just trying to get the price and look at the quality. But before I knew it; I was being handed a bag with two hens in it and he was helping the next customer; which was OK I guess till I saw the price tag: $9 for two little hens! I didn't really want them; heck I could buy a whole big chicken for $3! but I was stuck... so I took them back to the store, dredged them in some flour and angrily tossed them into the deep fryer.




With a side of salsa and some grilled tortillas it was by far the best chicken I have had in a LONG time... I ate everything but the bones.... mmm quite a delicious (and pricey) misunderstanding...