Conversation With A Mildly Crazy Man in the Checkout Line at Walmart

Crazy Man: Oh sorry, I always forget to put that thing (divider bar) on the end of my stuff.

Me: That's ok, I always forget that one too.

Crazy Man: Some people come up and start loading their stuff really close to mine so you can't tell where my stuff ends and theirs starts so I push it back a little and they always freak out and say "What the hell? Why are you touching my stuff?" And then I'm like, "I'm not paying for it! Scoot back!" and then they get all pissed off even though it was their fault!

Me: Yeah people can get kind of touchy about that kind of thing.

Crazy Man: Well you're nice. You seem like a respectable person. I'm always talking to people in the checkout line and some people are like, "Why are you talking to me?" and it's like, dude, SORRY! I didn't know it was against the rules to be nice to people in the checkout line.

Me: *Courtesy Laugh*

Crazy Man: Yeah and some women are like "I'm Married" and I'm like I'm not asking you on a date I'm just TALKING. Geez! But you seem respectable.

Me: *Laughing* Yeah don't talk to me I'M MARRIED. Ha ha ha!

Crazy Man: Dude did you hear about Bret Michaels? The lead singer from Poison? (as he points to a People magazine). He almost DIED!

Me: Oh yeah that was crazy.

Crazy Man: I'm mean he's really lucky. He was almost a goner. I heard he said that he just kept thinking about his daughter and he had to stay alive for her. But man I'm such a 80s rock fan, you know? I love all of em... Styx, White Snake, Rush, Boston, you name it. But that Aerosmith is my man. He's freakin awesome. He rocks so hard.

(His stuff is now checked and the agitated checker is waiting for him to leave while starting to scan my stuff).

But yeah that Bret Michaels I'm glad he's alright. That was scary.

Me: Oh yeah.

Crazy Man: Ok well take it easy!

Me: Yeah, see ya later.

Today's Special: Let's See... I Didn't Use Red Meat This Week? Yeah, That's It.

Grilled Chicken with Mustard-Tarragon Sauce- Repeat. This is currently my favorite chicken dish. I love to eat this with "mixed spring greens" and the sauce is amazing. I've used fresh thyme instead of tarragon both times I've made this and it is really good. I'm sure you could use just about any fresh herb you have on hand (or whatever you can find at the grocery store). Try this!

Mini Chile Relleno Casseroles- New Recipe. I deemed this meal as the most adorable of all the meals in the land. HA! They turned out really good and looked beautiful. They were kind of like Southwestern quiche omelet thingies. I thought they looked super fancy but they were also really quick and easy to make. I served these with *cough* canned refried beans.

Chipotle Shrimp Tacos- New Recipe. This was pretty much the fastest meal ever. I thought it turned out really well. The shrimp was actually not spicy at all, but the chile verde sauce I bought was, so it met our standards. If you don't want spicy tacos, just use a mild chile verde and you'll be fine. Oh and I used guacamole instead of plain avocados. Also added a squeeze of lime to the final product.

Pasta with Zucchini and Toasted Almonds- New Recipe. While this recipe was really easy to make and it tasted good, I don't know that it was good enough to make again. Forgettable is the descriptive word of the day. It was however, very fresh tasting and a good meatless meal. Maybe it would've been better with basil instead of mint?

Thursday 13: My Maladies

Here are thirteen illnesses or injuries I've sustained in my life thus far:

1. Broken wrist
2. Dislocated pinkie
3. Strep Throat
4. Shingles
5. Hernia
6. Stitches (cut head open)
7. Allergies (weeds, trees and grasses)
8. UTI
9. Pink Eye
10. Gingival Graft
11. Deviated Septum
12. Enlarged  Saggy Nose Balls (aka turbinates)
13. Torticollis

Wow I'm surprised I was able to come up with all that stuff! I'm actually pretty lucky health-wise as I hardly ever get sick.  Must be good genes. Or all that food I eat.

To see more Thursday 13 participants click here.

Today's Special: Cinco de Mayo

Blackened Salmon Sandwich- New Recipe. Wow this was really great. A big surprise as far as flavor and it's healthy too! I would definitely make this again.

 
Nogales Steak Tacos- This was the second time I've made this. So so good and easy to make. You do have to plan ahead of time (the onions and steak need to marinate overnight), but it makes for a fast meal that's full of delicious flavor.

Brats and Sauerkraut- New Recipe. So I don't know that this really counts as a recipe as there isn't much added to the brats or sauerkraut. I mainly saw "Brats and Sauerkraut" and thought it sounded really good. I served this on fancy hot dog buns from the bakery (which I later saw were labeled at 'Brat Buns'), and mustard. It was really good and hit the spot.

Homestyle Macaroni and Cheese- Favorite. I LOVE this mac and cheese. I've tried a lot of homemade mac and cheese recipes and they are usually bland and don't have much flavor. This stuff is awesome. The Dijon mustard gives it an extra little kick of flavor and matches really well with the cheddar. This is one of my favorite recipes.

Bonus: Dessert

Ginger-Lime Coconut Cake with Marshmallow Frosting- New Recipe. After looking at about a million cake recipes, I chose this one to make for my mom's birthday. It was a bit time consuming, but turned out really good. I thought it was kind of a "key lime pie" cake. The lime curd filling was really good and the frosting was addictive. I kept eating the leftovers out of the bowl... it was just like marshmallow fluff. The cake turned out a lot more dense than I thought it would, but it was still really good. It was a really beautiful cake and I was really pleased with how it turned out.

Thursday 13: My Last Meal

I thought I should get my "last meal" list together just in case I'm on death row sometime. You gotta be ready with that kind of stuff, those prison wardens don't fool around. Plus, it's the responsible thing to do. It's one of those "end of life" tasks you need to prepare. Like a will... or a life insurance beneficiary.

1. Chicken Flavored Rice-a-Roni
2. Stuffing
3. A thick ribeye steak, medium rare with sauteed mushrooms
4. Mixed Berry Pie with Haagen Daaz Vanilla Bean Icecream
5. Roasted brussels sprouts
6. Seafood Pasta from Gabor Bros.
7. Fresh French bread with butter
8. Red Iguana's Puntas de filete de la Nortena
9. Market Street's Clam Chowder
10. Humbolt Fog goat cheese with mini toast crackers
11. Mashed Potatoes
12. Spicy Tuna Tempura Roll from Thaifoon
13. Beer Battered Fries

What would YOU choose?

To see more Thursday 13 participants click here.

More Torture? Sure! Where Do I Sign Up?

So I know you're all out there wondering how the 5k went this weekend (just humor me OK?). We only got a couple pictures because somebody forgot they brought a camera and didn't take any pictures of the post-race. (Sorry Annie, you can wear your race outfit with bib number on Sunday when we come over and I'll take a picture of you and you can pretend it was from race day).

This is Seth showing off his muscles.

This is my "hurry up and take the picture, I'm freezing" smile.

Seth took off like a rocket as soon as they blew the start whistle. He got a new PR out of it though. He wondered why he felt so crappy the whole time and it was because he was running way faster than he normally does. Looks like he's just a fierce competitor! His time was 25:17 and he took 4th in his age group.

I also got a new PR (27:46) and finished 4th in my age group. I'm getting better! I know this is going to sound terrible, but the best part of this race was passing all the little elementary school kids. I can run longer and faster than a kid! HA! Just kidding. But those kids are funny though. They'd get tired and walk and as soon as you came up next to them they'd start running again for a few steps and then stop after you got ahead of them a few paces. Don't worry, I kept the taunting to a minimum.

Seth and I decided we should do another practice race before we do our 1/2 marathon in September. So, we signed up for the Scenic River Classic 10K in Idaho Falls next month. They also have a 5K run, a 5k walk and a kids run which I believe is a mile, so feel free to choose the race that suits you best and come join us!

Today's Special: Pioneer Woman Extravaganza (aka You're Going to Need a Gallon of Heavy Whipping Cream)

This week I decided to try out a bunch of delicious looking recipes I've seen on the Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen blog. They're definitely not as healthy as the recipes I usually make, but some of them are worth an extra run around the block.

Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen Recipes

Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce. Groan.- OK, if you're going to use the word "groan" as part of your recipe name, it better be damn good. And this was just average. I mean it was good, but didn't warrant the "groan." Maybe it was a case of my expectations being too high? All I know is, I'm glad I bought the pre-roasted (cheaper) red peppers instead of doing all the work and paying the extra money to do it myself.

The Mushroom Soup- Of all the new Pioneer Woman recipes I made this week, this was by far my favorite. Very quick and easy to make and it was delicious! Nice mushroom flavor and the other ingredients complimented it nicely, especially the Parmesan.

Butter Chicken- This recipe had the most rave reviews from all the PW recipes I tried, but to me it was just so-so. Nothing special. Maybe it'd be better the next day, or maybe the sauce and such would go better on pasta than on rice. All I know is, I had a butt load of sauce leftover and I didn't save it for later.

Jaden's Beef with Broccoli- This turned out pretty good. I think I should've thickened the sauce up more after adding the broccoli, but I was too hungry to bother. This was a fast dinner, but it didn't have quite as much flavor as I'd thought there'd be from the marinade and sauce. This was good, but forgettable. On a positive note, I tried basmati rice for the first time with this meal and it turned out awesome!

EatingWell.com Recipe Intermission

Chicken Fried Steak with Mashed Potatoes- New Recipe. This was EatingWell's version of healthy-ish Chicken Fried Steak so I was more than a bit skeptical as to how it would taste. I thought this was awesome and turned out great, even though I completely forgot to add the cornstarch to the breading mixture. It was just as good the next day as leftovers. Mmmm.

Chili-Rubbed Tilapia with Asparagus and Lemon-New Recipe. I thought this tilapia turned out really well  although I think I went a little heavy on the spice layer (I scraped a bit off). The asparagus was good, but the lemon was a bit overwhelming. I'd cut back on the lemon juice next time.

Pioneer Woman Dessert Bonus

Pineapple Upside-Down Cakes for Two- I wanted to make a dessert using the fresh pineapple I bought and found this on the PW website. It was very easy and turned out really good. Mine doesn't look as pretty as the one on the recipe because my pineapple slices were bigger and I didn't have any pecans. Not bad for an impulse dessert though.