Simple Randomness

Hitting a Plateau

So I’ve written a few times in the past that I’m actually doing a workout program right now to gain some weight.  So for a while I actually put on some pounds, but lately I’ve stalled.  I guess I’ve hit a plateau!

Whenever this happens it just means that it’s time to look back and see what you have or haven’t been doing.  Then reasses and make some changes.

In my case, I know that I haven’t been eating enough.  So for the next couple of weeks my goal is to make sure I eat as much as I know I should be eating and stop skipping on meals.  I’ve had some major schedule changes in the last 2 weeks that threw me off, but now it’s time to get back on track.

One of the Best Burgers I’ve Ever Had!

So last night my wife and I decided to go to Chili’s.  We had a gift certificate that we haven’t used yet, so we figured why not.

Now honestly I haven’t been to Chili’s in quite a while, and in the past I’ve just thought that they were ok.  So this time I decided to try one of their burgers and I ended up going with the Jalapeno Smokehouse Bacon Big Mouth Burger.

IT WAS SO GOOD!

I’m a big fan of Fuddrucker’s, but this burger I think rivaled that even.  The bacon on it was really thick, the jalapenos were more flavor than they were spice (just how I like them), and just had a great flavor to it!

So if you’re in the mood for a burger, either go to Fuddrucker’s or get this Jalapeno Burger from Chili’s!

Wanna Go on a Picnic?

Just today a friend of mine sent me a blog post from MyNextPicnic.com, and I thought it was a really cool idea (here’s the post if you’re interested): what you do is set a timer, start driving, and where ever you are when the buzzer goes off is where you have your picnic.

Wouldn’t that be a fun date idea?  I’ll have to try it sometime with my wife.

Honestly my wife is always interested in going on a picnic.  But we don’t really have the stuff for an official picnic.  So I might have to send her to MyNextPicnic.com for some picnic baskets and such, or maybe I’ll just surprise her and get one anyway!

I think the best thing about a picnic is just being out in nature eating some good sandwiches and having fun in the sun.  It’s a great summer activity that I honestly haven’t taken advantage of this summer at all.  Well, good thing the summer isn’t over yet!

The Best Fudge I’ve Ever Had

Yesterday I got off work early and my wife really wanted to get out of the house, so we ran a few errands and then randomly decided to take the kids over to Cabela’s.  While we were there we showed our 2-year-old all of the animals and stuff they have on display, and he loved it.

But one of the main reasons my wife likes to go to Cabela’s is because of their fudge.  They have tons of flavors you can choose from, and yesterday I had the most amazing fudge that I’ve ever had in my life.  And it wasn’t even any type of chocolate!  It was a raspberry cheesecake fudge.  This stuff is seriously the best!

So hey, if you have a Cabela’s near by you should check this stuff out.  You won’t regret it!

Gotta Love a Free Steak

Don’t you just love a nice juicy steak?  And even better, don’t you love it when the steak is free?

Well, today I went with some guys from the company I work for and we had lunch on the company.  We went over to Macaroni Grill.  I had their new Chianti steak, and man was it good!

Here’s the thing: Macaroni Grill has been on my black list of places not to eat.  This was simply because they used to have these italian nachos that were to die for.  Nachos are my favorite food after all .  So since then they’ve been on the black list, but now they’re off because that steak was so good.

And what’s better than a really good free steak?  Not much, that’s for sure!

I found this image on Flickr, and it is the exact same dish that I just had.  Good stuff!

For the Love of Seafood!

Ok, I first have to say that I really really like seafood.  The problem is that I live in Utah.  We’re pretty far inland, and so sometimes the seafood isn’t the freshest when we eat it here.  Still, I love it.

So if I had to pick one of my favorite seafood dishes, I think I would have to go with this bacon-wrapped shrimp alfredo that my wife and I used to get at a restaurant that went out of business.  This dish was so incredibly good!

Another really good seafood dish that I had once was some tiger prawns at PF Changs.  I don’t remember what all was on it, but it was really good as well.  I think it was some kind of a buttery sauce.

I’m honestly not sure what could make these dishes better.  I think the bacon-wrapped shrimp would go really good with a steak, or maybe with more of a lemon herb sauce than an alfredo sauce.  Ok, now I’m getting hungry!

Actually, if it was in more of a lemon herb sauce it might be a good contender for the Great American Seafood Cook Off. I’ll have to see if I can check this event out to get some really good seafood ideas!

By the way, it’s always a good thing to support domestic seafood. There are a lot of positives to it, such as knowing the source of where it came from, etc. I don’t really have that option here in Utah, so if you live on the coast you’re lucky in that regard!

I Miss Chinese Food

For today’s random thought, I just want to share that I haven’t eaten Chinese food in probably about a month.  And I’m starting to miss it…

Come to think of it, I haven’t had my absolute favorite food in a while either - nachos!  But today I’ll talk about Chinese food.

One of the nice things about Chinese food is that it almost always tastes the same no matter where you go.  I mean seriously, have you ever had a cashew chicken for example that really tasted different than another place?  I think they all get the food from the same place, then throw it in a pot.

Now, this doesn’t count some of the more ‘gourmet’ places like PF Changs and stuff like that.  I mean just your run of the mill, order it to go Chinese food.  In fact, it seems like you’d really have to screw it up to get a bad Chinese dish.  And those restaurants should go out of business cause they can’t get it right.

Maybe I just need to learn how to cook some for myself.  That could be fun!

Tucanos

Today for lunch I went with my department to Tucanos Brazilian Grill.  Apparently this is mainly just a Utah restaurant (they only have 3 locations, 2 in Utah and 1 in New Mexico).  But man is it good food!  Another restaurant that is basically the same thing is Rodizio Grill (they only have 2 locations, one in Salt Lake City and the other in Denver).

So here’s the basic idea: you have a salad bar, and then you have guys coming around with different types of meat.  You get whatever you want from the salad bar, and then you sit at your table and whenever they bring a meat that you’re interested in, they cut some off for you.

What could be better?!  So next time you’re in Utah, check this place out!  It’s good food, no doubt about that.

Trying to Gain Weight

So I’m going on a new exercise program to actually gain some size.  One of the key things is eating a LOT more food.  This is one area that I never really gave enough attention to, and now that I’m trying to eat a lot more I can see why it makes such a difference!

Just yesterday I went to the gym and did some heavy squats and other things.  Normally I feel like I got some exercise, but for some reason yesterday I felt a real difference.  I don’t know if it was just because I have been eating more so there is more for my cells to work with, but it felt great.

Anyway, there’s an insight into the personal life of Dan and what I’m up to!

Silly Rabbit, Trix are for ME!

Ever since I was a kid I loved Trix.  So for our anniversary one of the presents that my wife got me was a box of Trix!  Not a bad present, I haven’t had this stuff for years.

The crazy thing about Trix is that I could honestly eat a whole box in one sitting.  They really just aren’t that filling, but they sure are good!

What’s really crazy is that I used to eat this kind of cereal when I was growing up.  Some of my other favorites included Cap’n Crunch Crunch Berries, Froot Loops, etc.  I like a few of the ‘healthier’ ones like Chex, Rice Krispies, and Corn Flakes, but for the most part I loved the sugar cereals.  But then again, what kid didn’t?  But what do I eat for breakfast now a days?  Bran Flakes.  Does that mean I’m getting old, because I actually like Bran Flakes?