Thursday, December 20, 2012

Prius

People aways ask, "How do you like the Prius?"  The short answer is, "I won't trade it for something else."

The story of how we got it:
I have a 2004 silver Prius that I bought used in 2009 that had 45k miles on it. The transmission and a few other things were going bad on my previous car (Jetta) so we started to look for a replacement.  My wife found a great deal on the Prius and said let's go check it out. Her best friend drove a Prius so she was already sold. We get there, the car looks good, works well, and has all kinds of gadgets. Next thing you know, I am signing paperwork and driving off in my "new" car.

The long(er) answer:
  • I drive a lot! (75+ miles per day average since I bought the car; 100+/day for the last 6 months) For this reason, I love the car. You cannot get a car from the factory with MPG (and range) this high. I have averaged over 50MPG for the life of the car.
  • I don't drive the car to be green; but rather to save green ($$$)!
  • I don't care for the look of the car or the performance of it (76HP). If money was no object, I would probably drive a lifted pickup with huge tires and a plume of black, diesel smoke.
  • I have tried to make it look "cooler" by adding a shark-fin antenna and wind deflectors (both Christmas gifts), some Redskins window stickers and a vanity plate. Next upgrade: tint? rims? Maybe a sweet paint job with flames!?
  • For our family (of four) it works great for us. Adults in the front. Kids in the back. Junk in the trunk hatchback. We have taken several road trips (DE, NC, NE) in it and it worked just fine.
  • I don't get respect in the Prius:
    • on multiple occasions, I have been passed (with double yellow lines) while driving the Prius.
    • I have gotten a couple notes (nasty-grams) left on my car about my parking abilities


I love to hear people make fun of the Prius. (i.e. Jeff Dunham, The Other Guys, Bedtime Stories)

What is your opinion of the Prius? Do you have any Prius jokes?
Can you figure out the license plate?

Monday, December 10, 2012

Garlic and Brown Sugar Chicken

Pinterest recipe review for Garlic and Brown Sugar Chicken
See the other recipes I have made here

Basic Recipe:
Saute garlic in olive oil. Add brown sugar. Top chicken with garlic/sugar mixture. Bake at 500F.
Full recipe here

Here are my thoughts:
  • Excellent!
  • Never any left overs
  • I serve this over couscous or quinoa (the juice makes an awesome sauce)
  • My 3 year old eats it (he calls it brown chicken)
  • The olive oil started to burn at the end (a lot!)
    • time to learn about smoke point... (wiki)

If I were to make this again, what would I do differently?
  • I have probably made this a dozen time (including several times for guests) so I already have some recommendations:
    • Use grape seed oil (or any higher smoke point oil)
    • Cook at 450F
    • Don't be afraid you use more garlic (I use a whole head of garlic)
    • Line the pan with foil for easy clean up
  • I would like to try it over rice
  • I would like to try a different oil (peanut or corn oil) to see how it affects the flavor

Do you have any experience with smoke points?
Have you had any issues cooking at higher temperature with oil?

Monday, December 3, 2012

Bucket list

I started a bucket list in the summer of 2007 with 100 things on it. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason for the order. The goal was to complete 5 things and add 10 new ones each year. I have added each year but the completion thing is a little behind track. (Mostly because they involve spending more money than I care to right now)

As of publishing this post, I can cross #1 off the list! Click the links to read about the completed ones.

First 100 compiled in the summer of 2007:
1. Publish this list on my own website and put photos and stories of the completed ones [completed]
2. Graduate college [complete]
3. Get Married [complete]
4. Become a Professional Engineer [test scheduled for April 2013; similar to the Bar exam for lawyers or the Boards for doctors]
5. Obtain a six figure salary
6. Swim with dolphins [complete]
7. Swim with sharks [complete]
8. Deep sea fishing and eat my catch
9. Go hunting and eat my kill
10. Ski in the Alps
11. Go Heli-skiing
12. Play poker in Las Vegas
13. Go all in (see #12)
14. Make a Final Table (see #13)
15. Give my mother a dozen red roses and tell her that I love her
16. Buy my father a beer and tell him that I love him
17. Ride the Bullet Train
18. Play Pachinko in Japan
19. See the Great Wall of China
20. Shower in a waterfall
21. Drive from NY to LA via the Cannonball route
22. Drive the Autobahn in an exotic car
23. Spend Christmas on the beach drinking pina coladas
24. Raft through the Grand Canyon
25. Buy my own house and then spend time and money making it into exactly what I want [semi-complete: I bought a house. Now I just need to spend the time and money... slow process.]
26. Scuba dive off Australia's Great Barrier Reef
27. Scuba dive in the Blue Hole, Belize
28. Visit the Pyramids and the Sphinx
29. See the Northern Lights
30. Take a trip in a hot air balloon
31. Visited all 50 states [semi-complete: 15 of 50] (excluding the ones I have just driven through)
  • Virginia
  • Maryland
  • Pennsylvania
  • West Virginia
  • Delaware
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Connecticut
  • Rhode Island
  • North Carolina
  • South Carolina
  • Ohio
  • Indiana
  • Missouri
  • Nebraska
  • Minnesota
32. Get fit: 50 push-ups, 10 pull-ups, six-minute mile, and bench my own weight
33. Run a 10K (under 60 minutes)
34. Swim five laps
35. Ride a gondola in Venice
36. Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge
37. Visit Alcatraz
38. Go on an African photo safari
39. Live on a boat for a week
40. Visit a volcano
41. Take a stunt driving class
42. Apply it while avoiding police (see #41)
43. Climb Mount Fuji
44. Have a car for each day of the week
45. Restore a Mustang
46. Get it published (see #45)
47. Auction it off (see #45)
48. Spend New Year's in an exotic location
49. Go to Disney World with my kid(s)
50. Spend a day in Disney being a kid
51. Surf the waves in Hawaii
52. Spend $500 on dinner for two
53. Take gourmet cooking classes
54. Prepare a 7 course meal (see #53)
55. Float in the Dead Sea
56. Ride a leg of the Tour de France
57. Solve a Rubik’s Cube
58. See Niagara and Victoria Falls
59. Drive a steam car
60. Go parasailing
61. Get an autograph of someone famous
62. Drive the Bonneville Salt Flats
63. Watch all 23 (and counting) Bond films [semi-complete]
64. Set off a fire extinguisher [complete]
65. Set off a chemical shower
66. Watch the launch of the Space Shuttle (missed out on this one)
67. Witness Old Faithful Geyser
68. See the Redwoods
69. Go on a whale watching tour
70. Go skinny dipping
71. Drive a jet ski
72. Learn to drive a bus
73. Organize an event with over 1000 people
74. Organize a family reunion for at least three generations
75. Fell a tree [let me clarify: a Christmas tree doesn't count. I mean a huge tree using a chainsaw. Or least a decent size tree using an ax (like johnny appleseed)]
76. Start a bonfire without matches or accelerant
77. Go on a fishing and camping trip with my son(s)
78. Dance with my daughter(s) on her wedding day(s)
79. Attend a PBR rodeo
80. Go sled dogging
81. Collect sea shells/glass from around the world  [semi-complete] (I don't know if this has a completion point)
  • Vieques, Puerto Rico
  • Top Sail Island, North Carolina
82. Stay in an over water bungalow
83. Rent a limo and be VIP for a day
84. Relax in a natural hot spring
85. Fire a Desert Eagle and M-16
86. Fire a 50-cal sniper rifle
87. Help a stranger change a flat tire
88. Sail a boat across an open body of water
89. Hot wire a car
90. Ski and sit on the beach in the same day in Chile
91. See the Taj-Mahal
92. Watch the sun set of the west coast
93. Watch the sun rise on the east coast
94. Wish on a shooting star
95. See the Redskins play beat the Cowboys in person
96. Go hang gliding
97. Go ice climbing
98. Jump off a bridge
99. Picnic in the middle of the lake while drifting
100. Learn to dive
 
The next ten were added in the summer of 2008:
101. Cruise on the Odyssey
102. Snorkel the pier in Vieques, Puerto Rico
103. Be an extra in a movie
104. Drive a jeep on a beach
105. Off-roading with lots of mud
106. Sail a catamaran
107. Play 18 holes of golf
108. Build a custom poker table
109. Win the construction cost  (see #108)
110. See a kangaroo in the wild
 
The next ten were added in the summer of 2009:
111. Go caving
112. Visit Luray Caverns
113. 100 mile bike ride
114. Learn Spanish
115. Plant a tree
116. Grow a garden
117. Cook dinner for a week straight
118. Learn to Juggle
119. Attend a Rascal Flatts concert
120. Donate my whole paycheck 
 
The next ten were added in the summer of 2010:
121. Celebrate New Year’s twice in one night
122. Ride a camel
123. Ride an elephant
124. Cliff diving
125. Snow shoe adventure
126. Learn one song on guitar
127. Learn one song on piano
128. Live in a hotel for a month
129. Become a regular
130. Give everything to a panhandler
 
The next ten were added in the summer of 2011:
131. Walk 20 miles
132. Save something from the dump and fix it up  [complete]
133. Pass something down to my son(s)
134. Coach a team
135. Write “Just in Case” letters to my family and loved ones
136. Become debt free
137. Call Dave Ramsey and scream, “We’re debt free”  (see #136)
138. From Financial Peace Plaza  (see #137)
139. Buy a car with cash  (see #136)
140. Visit Lake Tahoe
 
The next ten were added in the summer of 2012:
141. Visit the all the Great Lakes
142. Take a homeless person to dinner
143. Take the kids and grandkid(s) on to the beach for a week
144. Pay for someone’s groceries
145. Take a vacation on a train
146. Take a vacation on a bus
147. Work a labor job
148. Work a food service job
149. Work a retail job
150. Be a contestant on a game show
 
Then pinterest came along and I added another 50 to make the list a cool 200:
151. Become a season ticket holder
152. Go to a monster truck rally
153. Get a commuter car and a weekend car
154. Customize the weekender (see #153) with:
  • Paint job
  • Wheels and tires
  • Custom seats
  • Tinted/Mirrored windows
  • Body Kit
  • Lights
  • Exhaust
155. Grow fresh herbs (cilantro, basil, etc.)
156. Watch a meteor shower
157. “Hold up” the Leaning Tower of Pisa
158. Carve initials in a tree
159. Revisit 10 years later (see #158)
160. Walk into the airport and buy a ticket on the next flight
161. Attend the Summer Olympics
162. Attend the Winter Olympics
163. Rent a glass igloo
164. Stay in the Ice Hotel
165. Pull the fire alarm (should have thought of this when I added #64 and #65)
166. Camp in the snow
167. Visit all the continents [semi-complete]
  • North America
  • Asia
168. Swim in the Oceans [semi-complete]
  • Atlantic
169. Sail the seven seas (Adriatic, Mediterranean, Black, Caspian, Persian, Arabian, and Red)
170. Learn to ride a motorcycle
171. Commute with it (see #170)
172. Attend all 3 Triple Crown Events
173. Pick the winners correctly (see #172)
174. Bet on the long shot (see #172)
175. See Stonehenge
176. Build a tree house
177. Order 1 of everything (i.e. girl scout cookies)
178. Visit Dubai
179. Go a week without technology
180. Create an App
181. Eat clean for a month (no processed food)
182. Leave a $100 tip
183. Participate in St. Baldrick’s
184. Be in the audience of a TV show
185. Go on a second honeymoon
186. Ride in a helicopter
187. Own a pinball machine
188. Be in a parade
189. Go on an unplanned vacation
190. Photograph lightning
191. Take a month of vacation
192. Cross the Capilano Suspension Bridge
193. Have 1,000 followers on twitter (follow me here)
194. Prepare dinner for a month at once (i.e. freezer meals)
195. Create a cookbook
196. Create a family recipe
197. Create a lemonade stand with my kids
198. Complete an extreme race (i.e. Warrior Dash, Tough Mudder, Spartan race, etc.)
199. Build a computer
200. Build a bike
 
My goal is this list to evolve as I add more items and complete others. Ideally, this will become a list of links to other blog posts that summerize each completed item.

Have you started a bucket list?
What is on your bucket list?
What should I add to mine?
Which one should I complete next?

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Bacon wrapped omelet

This will be my first recap of something I made from pinterest. You can browse through the rest of the things I have completed in my "Made it!" board.

I saw these bacon wrapped omelets and thought, "This looks simple and delicious." So I set out to make it.

Basic recipe:
Put bacon strips in muffin tin and then add whipped eggs with a little cheese about 3/4 full.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 min.

Mine (right) don't look too much different than those from the pinterest recipe (below).

Here are my thoughts:
  • There was a lot of prep work and dishes
    • crack the eggs and whip in a bowl
    • cut the bacon on cutting board (see below)
    • shred the cheese
  • It was very salty
    • 1/2 slice of bacon wasn't enough to wrap around all the way so I had to use the whole slice
    • only about 1/2 an egg fits once the bacon was in the pan
    • 1/2 egg to 1 slice of bacon; not the ideal diet
  • The bacon wasn't crispy
    • if you like crispy bacon, this won't be your favorite thing.
    • I ended up removing the "omelet" from the pan, flipping it over (more dishes), and broiling it to get the bacon to be somewhat crispy.
  • They are hard to eat
    • not bite size
    • not finger food
    • since the bacon wasn't crispy, you need a sharp knife to cut them (more dishes)
If I were to make this again, what would I do differently?
  • Try 3/4 of a strip of bacon (less bacon will leave room for more egg)
  • Add onion or tomato to the egg
  • Partially precook the bacon
Don't get me wrong, these were excellent but I am always looking to improve things. I think with a little tweaking, these could become a hit and a regular occurance.

What have been your experiences with pinterest recipes?
Have any suggestions to improve this recipe?
What is your favorite thing to cook for breakfast?

Monday, November 19, 2012

iPhone

First of all, I was hesitant about getting a smart phone because I didn't want to pay for the monthly data usage. This all changed when my bride (her blog) got an iPhone for Mother's Day. I would use it here and there and was beginning to think, this is pretty cool! After three months of telling myself, "I don't need this." and "I only need to talk and text." I caved in. I need one of these!

After what seemed like an eternity (a weekend) my iPhone arrived on a Monday. (I might have left work early to get it) Still in the parking lot of fedex or ups, I activated my phone and called my wife. This thing is really cool!

This is where the downward spiral started. I use this thing for everything now:
  • Calling
  • Texting (not while driving)
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Facetime (talk to the kids while I am at work)
  • Calendar
  • Pictures (1500+ pix/vids in 3 months)
  • Videos
  • Fantasy football
  • Music (anyone want to buy my ipod mini? i haven't used it since I got the iPhone)
  • Podcast
  • Pinterest 
  • Email
  • Directions (won't need to buy another GPS)
  • Weather
  • Alarm clock
  • Time-out timer
  • Gas Buddy (saving green: $$$)
  • Instagram
  • Craigslist
  • eBay
  • PayPal
The list goes on and on.


What is your favorite or most used app that you recommend I download?

Monday, November 12, 2012

Welcome

This is (obviously) my first blog post. I have never done this before but I want to create a digital footprint to share my ideas, experiences, and opinions.

I will share my ideas for saving money, creating an organized household, and conquering the world. I will write about my experiences as a husband, father, and provider. I will chronicle my opinions about recipes, child-rearing, and home-ownership.

You can follow me on: