Support Marriage Equality

I support the right of every American to marry, regardless of sexual orientation. I believe that marriage and other civil rights protections are essential to making all families safer and more secure. If you feel the same, sign the Million for Marriage petition.

Geography Fun

How Well Do You Know Your States?

You Know Your States

You got 10/10 correct. You’ve got a pretty good handle on US geography. There’s a good chance you’ve visited at least a dozen of the fifty states.

Blogging Without Obligation

Ok, so I seriously love this concept! No more feeling guilty if I don’t get my blog updated every single day. From now on, I will be …

If you click on the logo, it will take you to the original BWO post. If you’d rather not have to go elsewhere, here is the premise:

• Because you shouldn’t have to look at your blog like it is a treadmill.

• Because its okay to just say what you have to say. If that makes for a long post, fine. Short post, fine. Frequent post, fine. Infrequent post, fine.
• Because its okay to not always be enthralled with the sound of your own typing.
• Because only blogging when you feel truly inspired keeps up the integrity of your blog.
• Because they are probably not going to inscribe your stat, link and comment numbers on your
• Because for most of us blogging is just a hobby. A way to express yourself and connect with others. You should not have to apologize for lapses in posts. Just take a step back and enjoy life, not everything you do has to be “bloggable”.

• Because if you blog without obligation you will naturally keep your blog around longer, because it won’t be a chore. Plus, just think you will be doing your part to eradicate post pollution. One post at a time. . .

If you feel the same way, visit the creator’s site by clicking the logo above for more information and logos.

Until next time …

Greetings from Palm Springs

My friend Nick and I arrived safely in Palm Springs after driving through a horrific thunderstorm in Moreno Valley. We heard later there was apparently a tornado that went through not long after us, so we’re really thankful we didn’t caught up in that!

Our plan for tomorrow is to take the aerial tram up to the top of Mount San Jacinto. Imagine my surprise when we got out here and found out there’s still SNOW up there and the forecasted high for tomorrow is only 40°F. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!! I’m not sure I brought warm enough clothing for those conditions!

The hotel we’re staying at doesn’t offer free WiFi, but I managed to locate a signal out on the balcony. So, after having gone to one of my favorite vegan restaurants for dinner, I’m now sitting here on our balcony enjoying all the hub-bub from an English pub on the street below and doing a lot of people watching on a very pleasant spring-like evening. Nick is inside doing a bit of cross-stitching while I finish this post. After that, we’re planning to play a bit of Gin Rummy or Canasta. Life is good.

Until next time …

Worst Foods in America

Ok, so I know this list came out several months ago, but I thought it was worth mentioning again. It’s a list of America’s Top 20 Worst Foods as ranked by Men’s Health magazine. It was compiled by Matt Goulding who is also the editor of the book “Eat This Not That” which was written by Men’s Health editor-in-chief David Zinczenko.

I think it’s a great reminder for us about the importance of making healthy food choices when we go to restaurants. It also reminds us that not even everything that might sound healthy is necessarily a good choice. Some of these numbers (especially sodium levels) are simply staggering! So, do YOU eat any of these foods??

20. Worst Fast-Food Chicken Meal

McDonald’s Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips (5 pieces) with creamy ranch sauce
830 calories, 55g fat (4.5g trans fat), 48 g carbs

19. Worst Drink

Jamba Juice Chocolate Moo’d Power Smoothie (30 fl oz)
900 calories, 10 g fat, 183 g carbs (166 g sugars)

18. Worst Supermarket Meal

Pepperidge Farm Roasted Chicken Pot Pie (whole pie)
1,020 calories, 64 g fat, 86 g carbs

17. Worst “Healthy” Burger

Ruby Tuesday Bella Turkey Burger
1,145 calories, 71 g fat, 56 g carbs

16. Worst Mexican Entree

Chipotle Mexican Grilled Chicken Burrito
1,179 calories, 47 g fat, 125 g carbs, 2,656 mg sodium

15. Worst Kids’ Meal

Macaroni Grill Double Macaroni ‘n’ Cheese
1,210 calories, 62 g fat, 3,450 mg sodium

14. Worst Sandwich

Quizno’s Classic Italian (large)
1,510 calories, 82 g fat, 106 g carbs , 3,750 mg sodium

13. Worst Salad

On the Border Grande Taco Salad with Taco Beef
1,450 calories, 102 g fat, 78 g carbs, 2,410 mg sodium

12. Worst Burger

Carl’s Jr. Double Six Dollar Burger
1,520 calories, 111 g fat, 60 g carbs, 2760 mg sodium

11. Worst Steak

Lonestar 20 oz T-bone
1,540 calories, 124 g fat

10. Worst Breakfast

Bob Evans Caramel Banana Pecan Cream Stacked and Stuffed Hotcakes
1,540 calories, 77 g fat (9 g trans fat), 198 g carbs (109 g sugars)

9. Worst Dessert

Chili’s Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream
1,600 calories, 78 g fat, 215 g carbs, 950 mg sodium

8. Worst Chinese Entree

P.F. Chang’s Pork Lo Mein
1,820 calories, 127 g fat, 95 g carbs

7. Worst Chicken Entree

Chili’s Honey Chipotle Crispers with Chipotle Sauce
2,040 calories, 99 g fat, 240 g carbs, 4030 mg sodium

6. Worst Fish Entree

On the Border Dos XX Fish Tacos with Rice and Beans
2,100 calories, 130 g fat, 169 g carbs, 4,750 mg sodium

5. Worst Pizza

Uno Chicago Grill Chicago Classic Deep Dish Pizza
2,310 calories, 162 g fat, 123 g carbs, 4,470 mg sodium

4. Worst Pasta

Macaroni Grill Spaghetti and Meatballs with Meat Sauce
2,430 calories, 128 g fat, 207 g carbs, 5,290 mg sodium

I think this one shocked me most! What’s in those meatballs to make it THAT high in calories, fat, and sodium?!

3. Worst Nachos

On the Border Stacked Border Nachos
2,740 calories, 166 g fat, 191 g carbs, 5,280 mg sodium

2. Worst Starter

Chili’s Awesome Blossom
2,710 calories, 203 g fat, 194 g carbs, 6,360 mg sodium

1. The Worst Food in America (drumroll, please ….. )

Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing
2,900 calories, 182 g fat, 240 g carbs

Given how much Americans tend to dine out regularly, is it any wonder we have such an obesity problem in this country? Food for thought … (yes, the pun was intended )

Until next time …

Mother’s Day

I hope all of the moms who read my blog had a great Mother’s Day today!

Sorry I’ve been kind of quiet here for the past week. It’s been a combination of work and personal stress.

As some of you likely know, due to some issues from my childhood, I don’t have much of a relationship with my family. Mother’s Day has just been a big reminder of that. The person in my family that I was closest to was my paternal grandmother and she passed away a few years ago, so I don’t have a whole lot of contact with them now. In fact, if it weren’t for me contacting them from time to time, who knows when we’d talk at all.

Anyway, I sent both mom and my sister a dozen roses each that were delivered on Thursday, but hadn’t heard a peep out of either one of them. I finally broke down and called mom this afternoon and her only response was, “I meant to call yesterday (already 2 days after the flowers were delivered), but it was storming and then I forgot.” How does one forget when there is a dozen roses sitting on the table?! Sometimes I wonder why I still even bother anymore.

So, that’s kind of where my head has been the past 72 hours. On the upside, I haven’t emotionally eaten over it (I’m notorious for that), and I’ve even gotten in some workout time. I should have gotten in a wog today, but I just didn’t get it done. I’ll try and get one in tomorrow instead. This will be my last somewhat unstructured training week since my Sprint triathlon training plan starts next Sunday.

I did get in a bit of cooking this weekend though. I’m really hoping to get into the practice of doing some bulk cooking on the weekends so I have food for lunches during the week. This weekend’s recipe was something I just kind of made up as I went along and it turned out pretty darned tasty, IMO. To save myself some calories, I completely skipped the whole breading of the eggplant part. I’ll definitely make this one again, but I think next time I’ll augment it with some mushrooms and perhaps even some artichoke hearts.

Here’s a photo followed by my recipe. (I forgot to take the photo until after I had cut it into the servings.)

* Exported from MasterCook *

Eggplant Parmesan

Serving Size : 4

2 pounds eggplant, whole
1 1/2 cups classico Spicy Red Pepper Sauce — (1/2 jar)
4 ounces part skim milk mozzarella cheese — shredded
Italian seasoning — to taste

Preheat over to 375 degrees. Peel the eggplant and cut into 1/2″ slices. Spread onto a baking sheet or parchment paper and sprinkle with salt. Let stand for 45-60 minutes and then pat dry with a paper towel. Spray a 2-quart casserole with non-stick cooking spray. Spread 2-3 tbsp of the pasta sauce in the bottom of the casserole and top with a layer of the eggplant. Lightly cover the eggplant layer with some more of the pasta sauce and then some of the cheese. Continue layering until you have used all of the ingredients. Top with the Italian seasoning. (I use Paul Prudhomma’s Pizza & Pasta Seasoning.) Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the eggplant is tender. Remove the aluminum folk and bake for an additional 10-12 minutes until the cheese on top is bubbly and browned slightly.

Per Serving: 172 Calories; 6g Fat (33.3% calories from fat); 11g Protein; 17g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 15mg Cholesterol; 380mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Lean Meat; 2 Vegetable; 1/2 Fat.

Hope everyone has a great week! Until next time …

Hola!

Not much going on for me today other than work. I’m hoping to get out of here at a reasonable time so I can get in a workout tonight. I was lazy this morning and didn’t get up in time to get one in before leaving for the office.

I also wanted to share a new food find. I went by Trader Joes today on my lunch hour to pick up a few things. I went by the aisle with the protein bars to pick up a few of my beloved Z Bars from Clif. (Yes, I am fully aware they are for kids, but they’re tasty!) While I was there, I noticed a new bar called Nectar Cacao which was also by Clif. Two things immediately caught my eye. 1) The flavor was “Dark Chocolate Walnut”, and 2) it was organic. After checking the nutrition label to be sure it would fit into my food plan, I decided to pick one up to give it a try as my afternoon snack today.

When I got back to my office, I started looking more closely at the label. I was amazed when I noticed it claimed to have 2 servings of fruit. I was thinking, “Ok, how the hell does this have 2 servings of fruit when it’s dark chocolate walnut? I flipped over and looking at the nutrition label more closely and was shocked to find that the primary ingredient is actually organic dates! YAY!! I love dates! You just HAVE to love a product for which the entire ingredient list is organic dates, organic walnuts, organic unsweetened chocolate, organic cocoa, and organic vanilla. Not a single artificial ingredient in the bunch and no high fructose corn syrup!

When snack time rolled around, I opened up the bar. It was a bit smaller than I was expecting (1.6 oz./45g), but still not bad for a light snack I think to myself. I’m not going to kid you, it definitely had more of a date taste than it did a chocolate taste. Fortunately, since I love dates, that was fine by me. I thoroughly enjoyed the bar, and with it’s 6 grams of fiber, it was pretty filling as well.

Here are the overall nutritionals: 160 calories, 6g fat (0g trans fat), 27g carbs, 6g fiber, 18g sugar, and 3g protein. For those on Weight Watchers, that makes it come in at 3 points. Even though it’s a point higher than my Z Bars, it was definitely a nice change of pace and I loved that I got in a couple of fruit servings to boot. All in all, I’d give it 4 out of 5 stars if I were rating it. I definitely want to check out some of the other flavors now, too.

I forgot to mention a few days ago that something odd happened to me on Friday. It’s only happened to me one other time in my life, so it was pretty monumental to me. I got a speeding ticket. So, on Wednesday, July 16, I’ll be heading off to traffic court. Since I’ve never had a single infraction on my driving record since moving to California over 11 years ago, odds are definitely on my side that the judge will let me go to traffic school to avoid having a point go on my license. The lesson learned here for me is to not get so involved in watching the traffic when merging onto the freeway that I forget to watch my speedometer. Oh, yeah, and if I’d stop being such a damned lead foot, it wouldn’t hurt either.

Six Word Memoir

Did you know … (click banner for more details)

I was tagged by Kris for a Six Word Memoir meme. Here’s goes:

Thought my life would mean more.

The rules call for tagging 5 other people, so I’ll tag Tracy, Darla, Kate, Kathy, and Jeanne.

Here’s another cute one I stumbled across on someone’s blog. Unfortunately, I don’t remember which blog.

You Are Garlic

Of all the spice types, you are the most universally loved. You get long with pretty much everyone, and you leave a lasting impression. You adapt yourself well to situations. You can fit in or stand out, depending on what you’re called on to do.

Until next time …

Make Mom happy and help a great cause

Ok, don’t panic, but did you realize next Sunday, May 11, is Mother’s Day? You’ve still got plenty of time to do something nice for Mom. In fact, if any of my readers here in the United States are planning to order flowers online for someone special in your life (mother, grandmother, aunt, sister, wife, etc.), or even if you weren’t prior to now, I just wanted to let you know you could help a great cause in the process, too.

I work with the local chapter of the MS Society since my sister has MS (Multiple Sclerosis). They have partnered with ProFlowers for a Mother’s Day promotion. For each order placed through our special link, ProFlowers will give $10 to our chapter. The goal is to raise $10,000.

Here’s the link if you’re interested, and please feel free to spread the word:

http://www.proflowers.com/mspacific

Also, if you happen to shop at Ralphs, they are an on-going partner with the southern California chapter. You can sign up online with your Ralphs Club card number to join the program which is completely free of charge to you. Once you are registered, Ralphs will rebate 4% of your total purchases each month back to the local MS chapter. Here’s the link for that:

Ralphs Community Contribution

Sorry for the adverts in my log, but this cause is very near and dear to my heart since it directly impacts my family. I love letting people know when there are very easy ways for them to help out so that one day they will find a cure.

I realize I haven’t been blogging much this week. Life has been kind of busy. I’ll try and get a more personal entry done either tonight or tomorrow.