Dude Food - Cooking So Easy, A Man Can Do It!

On a recent trip to visit my friend Brian and his wife Shea in Flagstaff, AZ, I learned a great recipe from (a very pregnant, not to be quarreled with) Shea! It's simple, quick and relatively healthy! It's one of those things that can be eaten any time of the day as a quick snack or even for a light meal!

First thing is first, if you're like me, finding your way around a kitchen could most likely be compared to navigating the Sahara with a blindfold on... She taught me a lesson about the kitchen that I think I'll use for the rest of my life... Its called broiling. The broil feature is found on your oven settings on your stove and though I always knew it was there, had no idea what it was... Basically, broiling is the use of the top "burner" of your oven... It's a fantastic way to make toast (as we will in this case) or, as I have found, hot sandwiches! (which I will post about later)

So, thanks for the lesson, Shea!!! I've eaten a lot at home thanks to your simple two minute lesson!

Fried Eggs and Toast

Per Serving Stats:

Prep Time - About 5 min.

Calories - About 250 for two pieces

Cost - >$1.00

Ingredients:

2 slices of whole wheat bread

2 medium to large sized eggs

1 teaspoon of butter or margarine

1 pinch each of salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven by setting broil to "high".

2. Place a skillet on the stove and heat to a medium heat.

3. Butter one side of a piece of each piece of bread and place on a cookie sheet, butter face up. Once the oven is pre-heated, place the cookie sheet on the top shelf. (you need to monitor the bread to make sure it doesn't burn. let it cook until you are satisfied with the color)

4. Grease skillet with 1/2 teaspoon of margarine, butter or olive oil.

5. Carefully break eggs into skillet. Let the eggs fry until the top portion of the egg has almost no "liquid" remaining, then flip over with a spatula.

-You will have to experiment with how you cook your eggs. I like mine over easy to over medium. The longer you allow them to cook, the more firm the center will get. Once you fry a few eggs, you'll get better at knowing when to flip and flipping itself...

6. While frying eggs, add salt and pepper for flavor.

7. Remove toast from oven and place freshly fried eggs on top!

8. Add salt and pepper at your discretion.

9. Enjoy!

Alternative:

Try different breads and spices!

Let me know if you try this and like it!

-L

Running With The Lights On

When you think of running on the most basic level, it is by far the simplest form of exercise. That is, put one foot in front of the other at a "rapid" pace until you burn a calorie. There, you’ve just exercised. It is also the only form of exercise that we don’t have to be taught to do, that is, it comes naturally to us… We don’t have to learn to throw something, swing an object or distribute our weight properly (sort of)… Running is something that nature bestowed upon us to employ during times of desparation and flee in times of danger… It is the only form of exercise that has been constant since the dawn of man…

So, my question is, why do we make it so darn complicated? Before most of my runs, I busy myself with planning a route on google maps, making sure my GPS watch has a signal and my heart rate monitor is sensing, filling up water bottles and eating gels while preparing my iPod playlist, strapping on my flip phone that I purchased just for running and securing my Road I.D. somewhere on my person... Just getting ready to work out is a work out!!! Do I need any of these things to run? Or are they simply distractions from the pain and boredom of the sport that I have claimed to "love" for the last two decades? I am no historian, but I’m quite certain that when Pheidippides ran the first marathon 2000 years ago, he did it without an mP3 player, custom sunglasses or a heart rate monitor.

My contention is, all this gear, although nice, completely distracts me from the things that make running an amazing way to experience the outdoors and stay fit. More specifically, when I run, I am constantly concentrating on a laundry list of things other than putting one foot in front of the other. (e.g. what song was on my ipod, getting to the next song on my ipod, talking to my running partner(s), checking how far and how fast I’ve gone so far on my multi-function wrist top computer, checking my heart rate, worrying about hydrating, eating, peeing, stopping for traffic, et cetera, et cetera.)

So, this Easter Sunday, I decided to load Nico in the car and head to Palo Duro Canyon State Park for a nice, un-distracted trail run. When I walked out the door, I passed by my GPS Watch/Heart Rate Monitor, iPod and extra cell phone. I decided that today, in the canyon, I was going to "run with the lights on", that is, enjoy the run by paying attention to the things around me in the canyon that I would normally ignore if paying attention to my music or my GPS. (e.g. the creek flowing beside the trail, lizards scurrying out of the way as I pass by, the amazing rock and clay formations that fill the canyon, families on the trail enjoying the holiday, etc.). Other than waiting 35 minutes to get into the front gate of the park (due to Easter traffic) and a slightly twisted ankle, it was one of the most pleasant running experiences I've had in years! Nico and I put in a solid 4 or so miles and we did it without the help of any gadgets...

Above: "Running With The Lights On" with Nico in Palo Duro Canyon State Park.

That all being said, sometimes I need to run in order to be distracted… It’s a funny thing, but I use the gadgets and gear that I run with to distract myself from the gadgets and gear in my everyday life… Sometimes running with the lights off is a great way to numb your brain from the goings on of work, negative aquaintences and life’s stressors in general… So, in other words, I am not ruling out the use of modern conveniences and technology in my run tomorrow morning. I am simply promising that next time I am in a circle of runners and someone says “I could never run without….”, I will say “yes you can, just turn the lights on”. I am also promising myself that I will, on occasion, run without any discractions other than the world around me and the sound of my soles tapping the ground…

Try running with the lights on next time you go out... You may be surprised what you will find and how good running can feel without any distractions!

See you out there!

-L

Dude Food - Cooking So Easy, A Man Can Do It!

So, now that I'm unemployed and need to watch my ca$h flow a little closer, I've decided to start cooking at home as opposed to eating out 3 meals a day at a cost of about $20-25 per. For someone who is way better at holding a hammer than spinning a spoon, this may prove to be a challenge... Or will it? I've got a few simple, quick and cheap ways to prepare meals at home that are so simple, even a man can do it... Uh, I think! Mooooommmmm?????? (Yes, I put a "$" in place of my "S" above. Thank you Ke$ha. You are an inspiration to us all!)

Oatmeal With Fruit

(replica of McDonald's Fruit and Maple Oatmeal With Brown Sugar)

A quick, healthy and inexpensive breakfast for the dude on the go!

Per Serving Stats:

Prep Time - Less than 5 min.

Calories - 272

Cost - $1.50 (or so) (compared to the $2.15 at McD's)

Ingredients:

1 packet of instant oatmeal

1 apple

1 pkg. of raisins

1 pkg. of dehydrated cranberries

Instructions:

1. Slice apple into 8 pieces. Chop one slice of the apple into cubes. The other 7 slices can be stored in the fridge for snacks later in the day when you feel like popping a few Oreos.

2. Prepare instant oatmeal according to mfg. instructions (Quaker Maple and Brown Sugar variety takes about 90 seconds in the microwave)

3. Add apple cubes, 1/8 cup of raisins and 1/8 cup of dehydrated cranberries into oatmeal.

4. Stir thoroughly, let cool to desired temperature.

5. Enjoi!

Alternative:

Try using different flavors of oatmeal and different fruits... It will be even cheaper if you purchase bulk canisters of oatmeal!

I'm pretty sure when my mom sees that I'm cooking at home, let alone posting recipes online, she may have a heart attack...

Let me know if you try this and like it...

-L

Conformist Confessional

I'm inspired to write because writing is cool,

and I'm inspired to be cool because I'm society's fool.

Poking and prodding at my brain they are,

about what I should eat and how I look in my car.

My next new toy is just around the bend!

Clicking to pay to have them send,

it's digital "this" and technology "that"!

I'm treadmilling away while some guy's wallet gets fat?

Fly Here! Go There! Do This!

"It's a life changing experience you don't wanna miss!"

"Read it, watch it, smell it, see! This thing we're selling will set you free!"

"Keep going 'youngin', theres no time to sit,

don't worry about your freedom,

everyone's doing it!"

Sweating off days and wasting away,

just for night time financing of play.

This 700 count goose down duvet

is giving me such and enjoyable stay!

Just so I can dream of my next material sin,

as a robot in this world just short of two-thousand and ten.

-------------------------------------------------------

That is my ode to express my frustration with the world of conformism that we live in. It's my expression of self-frustration with my lack of courage to go my own way... I wrote it, tie tight around my neck, neatly pressed suit suffocating my body, on an upper floor law office in a building in Dallas... In 2001.

In 2001, I was fresh out of college... I had the world by the tail and my heart was on fire, sure that I was destined to do great things! However, there I was, doing exactly the opposite of what I always said I was going to do... That is, follow my heart.

I remember the day I got the call... I was in my office just down the hall from the studios of KWTS, 91.1 fm, the rock station managed and operated by myself and other broadcasting students at West Texas A&M University... I was a senior and had just interviewed with a company in Downtown Dallas that provided legal services to attorneys... I had no idea what they really did, I just knew I was going to make, like, a trazillion bucks a year! Actually, the starting salary was $30k, but to me, it may as well have been all the money in the world. At that point in my life, the largest number I had ever seen on my W-2 was around $6,000... Imagine a 6' 2" man in cargo shorts and a t-shirt with some cleaver saying on the front and flip-flops on his feet, jumping up and down and shreeking like a 13 1/2 year old girl that was just told by her parents that they bought her Justin Beiber concert tickets... Got the image in your head? Because that was me...

I realized very quickly that I did not want to pursue this corporate lifestyle, however, with every raise came a new toy or trip or experience that only someone that makes $35k or $42k or $55k can obtain... And with every dollar "earned" and spent, further did my dreams get pushed down the order on the life "to-do" list...

Until now.

Seventy-one days after receiving my 2010 W-2, which, by the way, had on it the largest number of any of my previous 16 W-2's, I was laid off from my job as part of a national reduction in sales employees.

Bummer, right?

Nah, not too much... They gave me a little dinero to go away... More politely referred to as a "severance package", for which I will be eternally grateful to my soon to be former employer...

So, raise your imaginary glass with me and share a toast to freedom, adventure and holding onto the shirttail of your dreams as long as your shuffling feet can keep up. Because this blogger has been given a second chance at being 17 again, and my hope is that this time I don't F**K it up.

I'll keep you posted...

-L