Did You Say Salsa?

The salsa chips you get at most Mexican restaurants are hard to beat.  I have never  found a really good grocery store chip that compares to them. This summer my wife stumbled upon Tostitos Cantina Thin and Crispy chips. In our family's opinion these are restaurant quality good!

I believe we are experts on this.   We have tried all kind of salsa chips.  We have even tried the chips named after famous Mexican restaurants but they always missed the mark.  These chips from Tostitos have the perfect balance of flavor, thinness, and crunch.  They are just as good plain as they are with your favorite salsa or cheese dip.  I have even tried them mixed in with taco salads.  

If you are looking for a good chip then I would highly recommend these.  Be careful you grab the right bag. Tostitos makes two kind of Cantina chips. The labels are similar. Make sure you get the ones with "Thin and Crispy"on the label.  One other word of advice if you buy these don't just get one bag.  One bag will not be enough. Trust me on this one.

It's a Smaller World

I got a package this past week from England.  I think this might be a first for me.  The package was a book that is not available in the United States.  I bought it through Amazon so I did not have to calculate exchange rates. It was a relatively painless process.  I even got the book in a couple of weeks.

It is truly amazing how much easier it is to interact with people we have never met.  It might be simple things like trying a recipe from a blogger on the West Coast.  Then contacting them via email, Twitter or Facebook letting them know you tried their recipe and liked it.  Most of the time you get a note back.  

I liked a page on Facebook from someone over in England who has a famous cat named Bob.  People from all over the world post pictures of cats that look like Bob.  They call them bobblegangers (for those of you that watch HIMYM it's the same as doppelgängers).    I have a cat that looks like Bob and I will occasionally post pictures of him.  I get "likes" from people whose names I could never ever pronounce.  

I still find it fascinating that when I post something there are people from all parts of the world that have a chance to read it.  I wonder what they think about some of the things I write about?  Are there things that I say that get lost in translation?  More than likely yes.  But, if most of my points or comments get across and the person on the other end gets a good laugh or learns something new then I have set out what I wanted to do.  

Watch Until You Drop

I recently found out my family is doing something that is all the rage right now.  It's called "binge watching".  I saw the term in Entertainment Weekly several months ago.  That was after my family had spent an entire weekend watching episodes of Once Upon a Time.  All of this was was made possible by the wonderful tool called Netflix and their streaming service.

We started out with Netflix several years ago with just the one DVD at a time option.  The first DVD we got was Paul Blart: Mall Cop.  After that one we averaged watching a movie each week. Then Netflix started their streaming service. They offered it free at first.   We watched it some but the titles were somewhat limited.  When Netflix went through their "New Coke" marketing snafu and tried to change their name we remained loyal.  We recently dropped the DVD option and have gone straight streaming.  We have supplemented the DVD option by using Redbox (another cool,concept).

The "binge watching" began with Once Upon a Time .  My kids have their shows which ranges from cartoons to science type shows.  The show that has recently gotten the most views in our home is Psych.  We are up to Season 3 Episode 12.  It's a funny show and its nice to be able to watch one of them when your schedule permits. 

"Binge watching" I know should be done in moderation just like everything else.  I know with the name "binge" in the title makes it seem like doing in moderation would be hard to do.  Some days, some weekends, some times of the year are made for "binge watching".  Who knows what next technological accomplishment will create the next trend?  Perhaps some device that instantly downloads hours of entertainment to your brain in a matter of minutes? Don't laugh we said the same thing about video streaming only a short time ago.  

In Search of the Pretzel Bun

It seems like we have been inundated with restaurants touting hamburgers and hot dogs on pretzel buns.  I've seen enough commercials that I now have to have pretzel buns.  Wendy's, Sonic and Ruby Tuesdays all have commercials featuring pretzel buns.  They look REALLY good,

We have not been eating out very often so I figured surely someone local sells pretzel buns.   I  "Googled" pretzel buns and got nothing.  Last week I saw a post from Publix showing these yummy looking hamburgers.  The buns kind of looked like pretzel buns but they were not.  I commented on their Facebook page suggesting they should add pretzel buns to their bread assortment.  A few hours later I got a response back from them saying "but we already do have pretzel buns".  An angelic chorus of "ahhs" went off in my head.  Could it have been this easy that all I had to do was drive down to my local Publix and try this heavenly concept for a bun?  I emailed my wife the glorious news.  I rushed out at lunch to my nearest Publix to snag a bag of pretzel buns.  You could imagine the look on my face when I found out these do not exist at least at the Birmingham Publix stores.  I was heartbroken.  I called my wife to break the news and before I could tell her, she said Publix does not have pretzel buns.  She had also gone to her nearest Publix and found out the sad truth as well.

That night the family trekked over to Red Robin....(yum).  It just so happens they have a limited time only Oktoberfest burger on a pretzel bun!  The Oktoberfest burger was way too busy for me so I worked with the waiter to replace a regular Red Robin burger with the pretzel bun.  I am not sure if it was the pedestal I had put the pretzel bun on, this particular pretzel bun or the Red Robin Burger .  It was not what I had hoped it would be.  

This has not deterred me.  I am in search of trying other pretzel buns.  I might even try to make some of my own.  I welcome any suggestions on where I can find a good pretzel bun.  It has now become my mission.  

Paul Blart: Mall Cop

The movie Paul Blart:  Mall Cop is one of my guilty pleasures.  It's a very hokey predictable movie.  I've seen it several times.  If I am flipping through the channels and it is on I will usually watch it. It's somewhat permanently etched into my brain.  I even let out a chuckle if I am at the Galleria and I see there are mall cops around.  Especially if they are on a Segway.  

There's a lot of good one liners in the movie.  Here are a few of my favorites.

"Peanut Butter:  It fills the cracks of the heart."

"Safety never takes a holiday."

"No one wins with a head butt"

"The mind is the only weapon that doesn't need a holster"

The lines are all delivered so seriously which makes them even more humorous.  

I did some research on the movie.  The film was shot at an actual mall in the Northeast.  The film was shot during the summer but the film takes place around Christmas.  People who shopped at the mall were a little shocked at seeing Christmas decorations in July.  Also some of the windows in the mall featured swimsuits instead of winter apparel.  I found out by looking at IMDB.com there are a lot of movie goofs in the movie. Next time the movie is on I will have to look for them.

I do like serious movies but sometimes I just want to watch something goofy.  So give me The Three Amigos, The Waterboy, and yes Paul Blart: Mall Cop!

Where Were You?

There are moments in your life where you never forget what you were doing when something significant occurred.  September 11, 2001 was one of those days.  The song Alan Jackson wrote called "Where were you when the world stopped turning?" is such a true reflection of how I felt that day.

I still remember that day being so caught up in what I had to get done.   There were work issues I was dealing with.  There was birthday party planning for our oldest.  Our youngest was due in December.  We also started a major renovation to our house on the morning of 9/11.

I remember getting a call from a co-worker that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center.  At that time everyone thought it was an accident.  For several hours afterwards, when it was obvious we were being attacked, I found it difficult to comprehend all of the events that were occurring.

By the mid morning the realization sunk in that this was a truly pivotal moment in our country.  So many people were impacted immediately by what was occurring.  A co-worker of mine had a husband in the reserve by the end of the workday he was shipping off to protect some undisclosed location.  We all felt scared, angry, hurt and confused.  Why was this happening?  

Each anniversary of 9/11 causes me to reflect on all of the feelings and emotions that we felt that day.  It still seems like yesterday even though it has been 12 years.  It's hard to believe this has happened long enough now that there are younger people who are too young to remember it.  They can only read about it in text books or watch videos about it.  My generation was too young to experience Pearl Harbor or the assassination of John F. Kennedy.  We read about it but it's not the same as living through it.

Several years after 9/11, I was at an FSU game and they had a beam from one of the World Trade 

Center towers.  I got to touch the beam.  All those emotions from that day came back to me in just that brief moment of seeing and touching that beam.

Unfortunately we will more than likely have many more  9/11 moments in our lifetime and our children's lifetime.  The uncertainty and evil in our world assures that.  I hope when that time comes we will react the way we did in 2001. We came together.  We helped each other out.  We were a lot nicer to each other.  It's unfortunate that it takes events like 9/11 for that to happen.  It's also unfortunate that this generosity and togetherness only lasts a short time before we go back to our old habits.

My hope and prayer is that we never forget what happened on 9/11.

It's All Greek For Me

I know Chobani has been in the press lately because of a less than stellar handling of a recall on some of their products due to some sort of mold that was causing their containers to bulge and to not smell and taste so good.  I am sorry that happened to them.  I am however happy that I had not purchased any of the recalled product.

A couple of years ago I was introduced to Greek yogurt.  At that time I was a regular yogurt eater.  I was a little skeptical of the Greek yogurt at first but thought I would give it a try.  The texture is different than regular yogurt.  It's a little thicker.  The flavor is a little more intense.  Both of these characteristics I really liked.  I started with a couple of flavors at first (strawberry, blueberry and peach).  

What I like most about Greet yogurt is it fills you up and it tastes really good.   It's a pretty satisfying snack.  I have branched out to several other flavors.  Apple Cinnamon  is my favorite.  I also like Mango, Pineapple, and Strawberry/Banana.  Lemon is pretty good as well.  Key Lime is awesome!

I like the nutritional aspect as well.  The extra protein in Greek yogurt is a plus.  The calories are about the same as regular yogurt.  Some of the Greek yogurt brands  seem to be a little more natural.   If you have not tried Greek yogurt I would suggest giving it a try. Although Chobani is good, there are other brands I like. A lot of other companies have gotten on the Greek yogurt band wagon.  The Yoplait 100 brand is pretty good and so is Dannon Oikos.  I am not as big a fan of the Greek yogurt ice cream. I tried the Ben and Jerry's flavors once and I did not like it. Something got lost in the translation. 

Help! I'm Stuck in a HGTV Twilight Zone

I am not knocking HGTV. Next to Disney Channel its probably the most watched channel in our house.  I truly believe it would be a great question for the A.C.T.  "ESPN is to men as HGTV is to women".  I actually don't mind watching some of the programs on the channel.  I actually like watching OTHER people do home improvement projects.  As long as it's not me doing the work I love it.  That's where the problem starts.  I have entered the HGTV Twilight Zone.  Over the last few weeks I feel like I am living HGTV episodes.  I have had to put on many Mr. Fix It hats.  

The first hat was a plumbers hat.  We have had a few leaks and toilets running intermittent times during the day.  I have had to replace various parts of the toilet.  Each requiring various trips to Home Depot and Lowes.  Sometimes I would solve the problem immediately.  Other times it would require a second and third trip.  I am actually somewhat proficient on the inner workings of the toilet.  There has not been very many disasters with these repairs.

The next hat has been a painter's cap.  Our deck needed to be repainted and we went with Home Depot's Deck repair.  I wont go into too much detail on this one.  This is well worth an entire posting.  Let me just say we bought the paint on July 4th weekend and we are not through painting yet.  This project has been back breaking.  We have even been attacked by a swam of Mosquitos.  This has been a group family project.  Children at times can be cheap labor.  If only we had more kids!  We still don't have an ETA yet.  My hope would be before the end of October.  

The next hats are ones I don't plan to wear for the latest breakdowns.  Our stove top started sparking last week. I don't mess with sparking especially on high voltage appliances.  I am passing on this one.  Then our TV decided not to acknowledge the existence of either remote.  I was hoping it was a simple fix with new batteries.  We are not so lucky.  I am somewhat proficient with setting up electronics. I have taken out hard drives on computers and installed memory.  I do not plan on tackling this one.  I know this will require taking it somewhere to be repaired.  Which means I might get it back before bowl season.  At least I got to see the first two weeks of college football in high definition.

If these were the only issues I would not be so worked up but I know it's just the tip of the iceberg.  I see other potential repairs on the horizon that will make me feel like I am in another HGTV episode.  If only I could TIVO to the end and the projects would be finished.  

BTC Free Trail Run at Oak Mountain

This weekend I inadvertently when way out of my comfort zone by running the most challenging trail race I have ever run.  I am a member of the Birmingham Track Club and took them up on their offer to run a FREE trail race at Oak Mountain.  Yes, I said free.  I got a great technical t-shirt made by Merrell a chance to run a competitive race and post race food and refreshments!

There were three trail races to choose from.  There was a 4 mile, 8 mile and 14 mile course.  I chose the 8 mile option. I have run a few trail races before including a half marathon trail run.  I felt like the 8 mile race was doable.

It was a beautiful Saturday morning at Oak Mountain State Park.   I was not that familiar with the course.  I have run at Oak Mountain before but not the trails on this side of the park.  I heard rumors before the race that there were some hills in the course.  I  started to have flashbacks of when I ran the Peavine Fall Run and the Statue to Statue Race for the first time.  What have I gotten myself into?

The first mile started innocently enough.  The trail was narrow and there were a few twists and turns.  There were tree roots to avoid and narrow bridges to run over.  This was nothing new for me on a trail run.  It was right before mile two that made me realize I was going to be challenged.  At 1.7 miles I was  running at an elevation of 665 feet which was about 50 feet higher than where I started.  At this point I would begin a slow gradual climb up very rugged terrain to reach 1,280 feet.  I walked up this hill for way over a mile.  I thought at this point I would finish the race maybe around lunch time (it started at 8 AM).

During this long trek up hill I was breathing pretty hard and I could tell my heart rate was up.  I have to admit the possibility of DNF crossed my mind.  Once I reached the top I was still breathing heavy but resisted the temptation of walking.  I continued a slow steady jog.  It was beautiful at the top of this peak and there was a nice cool breeze.  I got my second wind and started my descent down the trail.

Trail running has a lot of mental mind checks.  I was right in the middle of one.  During miles four through six I did not see a lot of people on the trail.  I was by myself.  I questioned whether I was going the right way.  I kept seeing the blue flags so I was hoping I was on the correct path.  At this point I had not had any major trip ups or falls but as usual I tripped on level ground where there was a minimal amount of rugged terrain.  I scraped my knee a little bit and my palm but nothing major.

I was very happy to see the aid station around mile six to confirm I was on the right path.  I did see a few more runners at this point so that made me feel better.  I did get concerned as I made the turn away from the aid station that maybe I went the wrong way.  I really got concerned as my GPS watch read I had gone eight miles and the finish line was nowhere in sight.  When my watch read I had gone 8.5 miles I really got concerned.  At this point I figured if I am going the wrong way I will eventually see civilization again.

When my watch read 8.7 miles I could see in the clearing I was near the finish line.  I was very happy to cross the line.  I was a little sore and a little tired.  I had a great sense of satisfaction completing this race.  It made me feel like I was back on track with my training.  This race gave me a lot of motivation to continue increasing my training for future road and trail races.

Thank you to the Birmingham Track Club (www.birminghamtrackclub.com), Mountain High Outfitters (http://www.mountainhighoutfitters.com) and the Southeastern Trail Series (www.southeasterntrailruns.com) for putting on this race.  What a great experience this was.  I can't wait to put on my trail shoes and take another run through the woods!

It's a Magic Race

At the end of August the Magic City Half Marathon revealed a new logo.

I have been a huge fan of this race since it was first announced back in 2011.  I circled the date on my calendar and was one of the first people to sign up.  This race will always be special to me because it was my first half marathon.  I could not have asked for a better first half marathon race experience.

I had made the decision in the Summer of 2011 that I was going to set running a half marathon as a goal.  My initial plan was to make the Mercedes Race held in Birmingham as my first half marathon.  Then this race was announced and that it was going to be held in November.  I quickly knew changing my goal to this race was a good idea.

The first year of the race it was named the Ruben Studdard Half Marathon.  I was a big fan of Ruben when he was on American Idol. I knew his initial goal was to run the half marathon.  He ended up running the 5K race instead.  Sometimes you have to modify your goals.  I respected that.  He ran the 5K and finished it.  This year he is  going to be on The Biggest Loser (Biggest Loser Link).  I wish him the best of luck as he competes on this show.

The course takes you into parts of Birmingham you might not venture on a regular basis.  You start out at Boutwell Auditorium just like the Mercedes Race but you go in the opposite direction.  You go toward Interstate 65 and go by Legion Field and Rickwood Field.  Then you work your way back toward Birmingham going by Railroad Park.  The last part of the race takes you up a long gradual hill.  You double back on this hill and head toward the finish line.  The last mile is through a tunnel.  You emerge from the tunnel and head toward the finish line.    Just describing the course makes me excited about the next time I get to run the race again in November!  Here's a link to the course map.

Course Map

The finish line is also something special.  For the past two years there has been a band with music playing.  There has also been a fitness competition going on.  It's a great atmosphere.  The weather has been awesome the past two years.  Both years I have run comfortably in shorts and a t-shirt.

If you are a new runner and only have experience running 5K's and 10K's and have thought about running a half marathon, this is the race for you!  It's a little more laid back than Mercedes since there are less people running. It's at a great time of the year.  To prepare for the race I ran a few 5K's in October and then ran the Vulcan Run 10K the first week of November.  This helped me greatly prepare for the race.

Here's a link to the website to learn more about the race and to sign up.

Magic City Half Marathon Website

Good Luck and Happy Running!

Chick Fil A Honey Roasted BBQ Sauce: This Stuff Rocks!

Several years ago I discovered a wonderful condiment that Chick-Fil-A offers for Lunch and Dinner.  It's their Honey Roasted BBQ Sauce.  It's got a unique taste that's great for putting on most of the chicken Chick-Fil-A serves.  This is not the sauce that comes in the plastic dipping container.  This sauce comes in a ketchup type package.  I assume that means Chick-Fil-A thinks it is only being used as a condiment for their Grilled Chicken sandwiches.  In fact we use it on their nuggets and even dip their waffle fries with it. I've been known to even put some on my finger and eat it straight from the package.

This sauce is not something that Chick Fil A voluntarily hands out. You have to ask for it.   My oldest loves this sauce and begs for as many packets as she can from the Chick-Fil-A cashier.  Unbeknownst to her once she got a lot of these packets from a young male cashier that thought she was cute. We also once ordered a party tray of the nuggets and got a good supply of the sauce to last several weeks.  

I am not exactly sure what is in it.  I did some research on line and found out we are not the only ones that have a passion for this sauce.  Apparently there are people with knock off recipes for this sauce.  According to the knock off recipes the main ingredients are honey and Dijon mustard. 

All I can say it's good stuff.  One thing I have not tried this sauce is with breakfast.  With it being Chick -Fil-A Free Breakfast Day next week, (yes, I got a reservation before they stopped them!)  I have already reserved some Chicken Mini's.  Hmmm....that might not be a bad combination.  Perhaps I will give it a try!

Slacking Update: Week One

I apologize again.  This post is mostly for my benefit.  Last week was a good week. I obtained my goal of working out four days.  I ran almost double the amount I ran for the previous week.  It was a good start back.  I did get some grief from the people I normally see at the gym.  They asked me where I had been.  For me, it's good to get feedback like that.  It motivates me.

Most of my gym workouts were pretty good last week except for Friday. I wanted to take a Spinning Class but it was already full at 5:30 in the morning.  Usually I have a backup plan but that morning I hedged all my bets on that I would be Spinning. I had to use the dreaded treadmill.  I tried one of the new treadmills the gym just put in.  It has a large screen where you can program what scenery you want to look at while you are running so you won't be reminded you are running in one place.  I chose the "Road to Oahu".  This was supposedly a scenic road from someplace in Hawaii to another place.  It was really nice scenery.  However, I realized there is no way I could ever run on this road.  It was a two lane narrow winding road with no shoulder. Any runner would not last a mile before getting sideswiped by a car or motor cycle. On top of that after 35 minutes the machine just reset on its own. So I never actually got to Oahu.  It was very disappointing.

I felt so good Saturday I decided to compete in my first college cross country track meet.  Well, not exactly.  I was at Veteran's Park Saturday morning when Samford University was hosting the University of Alabama Cross Country Team.  The course was not closed so I was running at the same time they were.  They finished the course in a lot quicker time than I did.  It was awesome watching them run.  I never really thought about attending a cross country meet but it looked like a lot of fun. The Samford Men beat Alabama and the Alabama Women beat Samford.

Their meet did inspire me to enter a race.  I have a few scheduled later in the year but decided to enter one for September.  It's an eight mile trail race I have never run before so I really don't have a benchmark to go by.  I plan to run for fun and I was planning to run that distance anyway.

All in all it was a good week.  I followed most of the goals I had set for myself.  Except I might have crossed the line on using food as a reward. I mostly blame myself but I also blame that Plain Chicken Lady (Plain Chicken ).  Last week she had to post a recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Muffins. Let me just say they were pretty darn good.  Here is what our version looked like and the link to the recipe she posted Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Muffins .

Oh well, I'll just add a few miles to next week's training schedule!

In the Midst of Volleyball Greatness

As you probably know this past weekend was the first weekend of college football.  I watched a few of the games that morning but none of them were that great.  Texas A&M was somewhat interesting but that was about it.  Saturday afternoon I took a break from football, coincidentally during the Alabama game (please forgive me) to attend a Samford University volleyball match with my oldest.

This particular match Samford played the University of Minnesota.  The University of Minnesota is a national power in volleyball and are currently ranked sixth in the country.  This was the first time my oldest and I have attended a volleyball match at Samford.  I was extremely impressed with their facilities and their program.  First off I expected them to charge admission but they did not.  In fact they don't charge admission to any of their home games.  We sat on the front row.  There's really not a bad seat in the house.

Samford played a good game but Minnesota beat them in three straight sets.  There's a reason why Minnesota is ranked so high.  They are a very powerful team.  There roster is mostly Freshman, Sophomores and Juniors.   They only have two Seniors.  This team plays very well together.  They do a great job communicating and are very athletic.  I predict this team will win a National Championship in the next three years. Minnesota's coach also coached the Women's US Olympic team in 2012.  He coached that team to the gold medal round where they lost to Brazil.

I really enjoyed watching both teams play.  I liked the way Samford kept on fighting against Minnesota and I commend them for taking on such a difficult team so early in the season.   This will only make them better as they get into conference play.  I read on Samford's website they were picked to win the Southern Conference.  They have some really good players on their team I think they will have a successful season. I would encourage everyone to attend a match.  It's great family entertainment at an awesome price!

Samford Volleyball 2013 Schedule

As a side note I have to say that Saturday night I did watch the Clemson vs. Georgia football game (great game by the way).  First off ACC!  ACC!  ACC!.  Second I did have my IPad  next to me watching the FSU. vs. LBSU vollebyall game via a feed that LBSU provided.  FSU. beat Long Beach State in five sets.  It was the first time that FSU has ever beaten LBSU.  It was a great match.  Something tells me that FSU and Minnesota might be playing each other in some post season tournament.


Good luck to FSU, Samford and Minnesota this season!