DJ John Land

It's Spring...officially... Another winter behind us officially.  Unofficially, we're still in the trenches, although there was a hint of spring weather yesterday.  Easter is less than two weeks away, and naturally, I'm looking forward to the weather being more spring-like.  The nice thing now is that it's getting dark out later, and it won't be long before we're doing our workouts outside again.  Really looking forward to that! Bender Reunion... I had a wonderful time at the Bender reunion last Saturday night.  It was held at Molly Macguire's Pub in Clark.  The place was packed (it was St. Patrick's eve).  There were about 10 or 12 of us, and the classmate who organized it (Denise) recognized me in the crowd.  She was very enthusiastic about us all getting together and though it's been many years, you can see the resemblance to how we looked as young children.  We had a great time talking and sharing stories and catching up in our liv...

Had a good (and productive) week.  Workouts this week went very well, and the prepared Paleo meals (3 lunches, 3 dinners) from the Caveman Culinarian kept me on track with the eating plan, were quite tasty, and very convenient.  The other bonus is that they came in handy this week because I spent a lot of time working in the porch. This week I'll be doing the cooking on my own; need to save a few bucks. I painted the wall in the porch over the last couple of days to a slate gray.  The book cases and shelving, to be painted white, still need to be done.  They should be completed by the afternoon.  The color darkens the room a bit, but I tend to think that once the white stuff is done, and the artwork is put back up, it should tone the gray down a bit.  Al will be coming here on Sunday and we'll get the furniture back in place, and steam clean the carpeting in there. Al and I met up for dinner with some friends of his from the Acme.  We had a great...

Anyway, started Week 9 of Le Paleo Challenge .  Wow...it feels like we just started this the other day.  How time flies!  All is good so far and this week should be easy-breezy; I decided to try the prepared Paleo meals from the Caveman Culinarian.  Had one of them for dinner tonight - the Srirachi-grilled chicken with the Thai cucumber noodle salad (pretty tasty...great job Anti-Mike!).  It will be nice to have this week off from cooking, since I'm working on a painting project here at home...but I digress. Two days into the workouts this week and energy levels were good...yay! I've been watching some Food Network shows in the last week and getting some inspiration on trying a "Paleo-ized" chicken fried (cauliflower) rice.  My idea for this actually stems from watching this week's Worst Cooks in America , where they had the recruits make shrimp-fried rice.  Of course, theirs was not Paleo, but I think it can be done within Paleo parameters, using...

Today was filled with Paleo challenges, although it was a scheduled skip day from the gym.  Tonight was a planned cheat meal in Philly before heading over to Woody's - pizza!!  I haven't had it in months , and let me tell you...it may not have been the greatest pizza (nothing's as good as pizza here in Jersey) but it tasted sublime.  Definitely overdue and satisfied my craving for it. The other thing (which I made mention of on Facebook), was that there was a birthday at the office, and there was a lot of leftover cake in the break room, directly opposite my cubicle.  You want to talk willpower??  It took every last ounce of it to not cave in.  Be that as it may, I managed to succeed and feel all the better about that. We're in the latter end of Week 8 now.  The week's meals were good, and didn't have major cravings for non-Paleo stuff.  I got around to making the Thai Curry chicken recipe I wrote up a few posts back, and loved it.  Th...

My first elementary school is having a reunion in a couple of weeks.  They managed to track me down, and I responded to the organizer that I would attend.  I haven't been to any reunions before (probably due to weight issues...who knows) and though I'm a little nervous about attending, I'm looking forward to it.  It's been almost forty years since I've seen these folks, and my memory of some of my classmates is sketchy.  When I talked to the woman (a former classmate) organizing it the other night to RSVP, she remembered who I was (was I that memorable??).  Unfortunately, I don't seem to have a recollection of her. My Bender years are sketchy in some regard, while crystal clear in others.  I remember each of my teachers (sans the gym teacher), so at least there will be something to talk about.  My career at Bender was fairly short-lived; it was only three years (1st - 3rd grade), and was brought to a screeching halt at the conclusion of that year....

I finally gave this recipe a whirl and made it last night.  Sampled it immediately after making it and had it for lunch today.  This is one of those dishes that's even better tasting the next day. It's pretty spicy! This recipe can also be found at the Clear Lake Crossfit website.  Mise En Place: Sauce and Chicken: 1 lb of boneless/skinless organic chicken breast 1 can unsweetened Coconut Milk  2 tablespoon lemon juice 1 tablespoon finely chopped or crushed ginger 1 tablespoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground coriander 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom  1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 teaspoon sea salt Fresh cilantro and red onions for garnish  Cucumber Curry Rice: 1 med head cauliflower - 20 oz  1/2 teaspoon ground curry 1 green onion - finely chopped  Dash of cayenne pepper, sea salt, ground black pepper  1 Tablespoon olive oil Instructions: Start by...

Week #7 went pretty well.  Stuck to the Paleo protocol quite well most of the week, and had a few cheats (1 meal each on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday).  Had a cheat breakfast (Bing's - roll 'n butter) on Friday morning, a cheat lunch on Saturday (also at Bing's - chicken salad with pretzels) and one on Sunday.  Sunday was the ultimate cheat - McDonald's.  Haven't been to one in months.  The meal in question: #1 (Big Mac with fries) with a Shamrock shake (yay...got my Shamrock shake for the year!).  Tasted good, but it's out of my system and dinner tonight will be a Paleo-friendly salad at the diner. The workouts this week went pretty well.  I'm now working with a 24kg bell for the shoulder exercises.  It's pretty much a "base weight" for me; the other exercises normally see heavier weights.  There's definitely a spike in strength, and I'm seeing some definition in the mirror - something I have never experienced.  All in all, it's ...