I'm finding out I'm not a very good food critic. I seem to like every place I go. Come on taste buds, be more refined!
On my quest to satisfy my craving for pizza Sunday (last night), I was ready to venture to the south side. There's where all the good ma and pop pizza joints are, right? After checking on a few places, I realized the south side closes down on Sundays. Corigliano's, Tumea and Sons, and La Pizza House were all closed (based on no one answering the phone and the hours listed online). I've never eaten at any of them and was pumped up to check off a big item on the To Do List. I gave up on the south side, but didn't give up on pizza. I almost caved in to going back to Gusto's (which is super amazing but I've already been there) when my co-worker suggested RedRossa. I've never even heard of this place, which is a small chain located on University in Clive. Even though the suggestee said it was delicious, I had my doubts. To my great surprise, I was wrong. All of the pizza options looked amazing, and the pizza didn't disappoint. I ordered the Sausage Bella with mushrooms, gorgonzola, and artichokes. Love it.
I'm finding out I'm not a very good food critic. I seem to like every place I go. Come on taste buds, be more refined!
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It's always a treat for me to get fast food. If you get fast food every day, that can get pretty pricey and it's just not healthy. Last night during my dinner break at work I didn't have time to cook something up, so Jimmy John's it was. Yes, I've been to Jimmy John's before, but I almost always order the roast beef. My new thing yesterday was ordering the #9 Italian Night Club. It was delish, which I figured it would be. Lame, I know, but it still counts!
Two new things today in the spirit of the holidays:
1) I donated some canned goods and pasta to STAR 102.5's Combat Hunger Drive. My gymnastics club had a convenient drop off for the food. My donation was a mix of things I already had in my kitchen and a few items I picked up the last time I was grocery shopping. It really is easy to forget how blessed I am: a family who loves me, a roof over my head, two jobs, good health. Hopefully someone will enjoy the pineapple! 2) I mailed off a dozen holiday cards to the Red Cross to deliver to our soldiers and veterans. I posted about it on Nov. 9th when I made my first four cards. I was so inspired, and having a lot of fun, I made more over the last week. I feel good knowing they are on the way to a very deserving soldier or veteran. Again, I'm blessed to live in a free country and am grateful for that everyday. **Remember: It's easy to do a little good. It makes you feel good too.** Life can get comfortable, complacent. To some, that might be a good, even a great, thing. For me, it's the worst thing imaginable. That's one reason I started The Challenge. Complaceny at your job is even easier to fall into. A conversation with a friend got me thinking about incentive programs at work. Do they really motivate people to go above and beyond? Do they improve office morale and attitude? Is there research to prove they work?
I read a few articles on the topic and spoke with a few friends who's employers offer such programs. I feel like if there is a clear goal and a reward that is worth the extra effort to reach the goal, it should work. Especially if the reward is monetary. Can incentive programs, which are meant to do good, actually turn co-workers against each other? For example, say the top sales agent for the year wins an exotic trip. Will this create a hostile, overly competitive work environment rather than just a goal to make you work harder? This week is apparently all about new food seeing that I baked creamy dijon chicken for the first time today. Super easy and the dijon adds a great, different flavor: skinless chicken breasts, cream of chicken soup, dijon mustard, water, and a dash of corn starch. You mix it, bake it, eat it. I served it with mashed potatoes and asparagus. A well-rounded meal that I recommend to change up your typical chicken dish.
Meat. That's what Jethros smells like. As a steak and potatoes girl, I'm not complaining. I can't believe I've lived in Des Moines for 21 months and not eaten at one of the most talked about and highest rated BBQ places. Even Adam Richman of Man vs. Food on the Travel Channel has eaten there. It's been on my list of places to eat (I actually have a list of restaurants I keep handy on my iPhone) and am glad I can finally check it off the to do list.
The place was packed today at 12:15, but we got seated right away. After perusing the entire menu, I had a tough decision to make. The Texas Dip stuck out in my mind and will forever be remembered in my belly. I was surprised how quickly our food came out. I'm guessing Jethros is used to being that busy and has serving customers down to a science. The brisket was tender and juicy, but not soggy. I'm not a fan of soggy sandwiches. The side of mashed potatoes and gravy was a great compliment. Against my stomach's will, I only ate half the sandwich so I could eat the other half for dinner. At least now I have something to look forward to tonight... and of course, looking forward to going back for seconds. I love breakfast food: cereal, french toast, eggs, sausage, bacon, oatmeal, biscuits and gravy. (I purposefully left off pancakes and waffles. I ate too many as a kid and can only eat them every blue moon.) I think they are great any time of the day. Growing up, if I didn't like what mom was making, I'd have a bowl of cereal and still have a bowl every morning. (Don't know how I haven't gotten sick of it yet.)
I'm also a huge fan of eggs. You can prepare them so many ways: sunny side up, omelette, scrambled, raw. OK, I've never actually eaten a straight up raw egg (in brownie dough, yes). I hae been on a huge egg, cheese and ham bagel kick since the summer. But decided to mix it up. For the first time today, I prepared eggs benedict with asparagus for lunch. I've had eggs benedict from a restaurant before and thought I'd try my hand at it. Even though I had an interesting time trying to poach the eggs, it turned out very yummy and filling. An easy recipe to keep on hand that's sure to impress any time of the day. This will now be the most over-said phrase coming out of my mouth, "Wanna see my tattoo?" After several years of wanting one and several months of knowing what exactly I wanted, I got my first tattoo yesterday. I went to Skin Kitchen in Des Moines. I'd seen them voted as one of the best places in town, and checked out a couple other shops too. I really liked the artist Lono last week when I popped in, so I went back to have him complete the job. I gave him two pictures of tiger paw prints I saw online that I liked, and he made up a great paw print to make mine unique. He put them on special paper so he could transfer the outline onto my body. The tattoo itself doesn't have an actual outline though which I really like.
I texted the below picture to my parents (who knew what tattoo I was getting) and they wrote back, "Wow." I figured that wasn't a good wow, and sure enough they called a minute later. My mom said something to the effect, "you can actually see it." Well, duh. If I'm going to get a tattoo, I want to be able to see it. Needless to say, I'm super stoked and can't wait for the redness to go down and be completely healed in a week and a half. BONUS: A few hours into my tattoo recovery, I ate at A Dong for the first time. It's a Vietnamese restaurant in Des Moines that I'd heard good things about. I got the #20 which includes egg noodles, beef, shrimp, and chicken. The broth/sauce was amazing. In fact, after I finished the food, I drank a couple spoonfuls of it. I'm sure it looked a little weird, but it was that good, plus I was still hungry. Mental note: order an appetizer next time because there will be a next time. OK, the headline is a little misleading. Today's new thing is shoes which are made for running. I went to the Running Room in West Des Moines. The excellent manager there watched me walk without my shoes on. He deduced that I roll to the outside of my feet which in the running world is known as supination and is apparently very rare. Sounds technical, I agree. Due to my supination and high arch, he recommended I get a cushiony shoe with great arch support. I tried on the Asics pictured below, and they felt great. I walked around the store a few times, tried on another pair just for comparison, and made the purchase. They'll last 400 miles. At the rate I'm going (6 miles a week), I figure it's a worth while investment. I'm one step closer to becoming a runner.
Ah ha! Thanks to the second book in my running research, Fitness Running, I've learned I suck at running because my body does not efficiently transport and use oxygen. That makes me run slower. It's called VO2max - the volume of oxygen consumed by a person. On the scale of 22-70 (22 being terribly inefficient, 70 being amazing) I'm a 32/34. No wonder I'm such a bad runner; my body actually was not made for long distance. Strike one.
If you refer to my 11.7.11 post, I write, "So instead of believing I need to work harder, I've decided I must be running wrong." Fitness Running tells me my stride is also off. I take small steps, barely lifting my feet off the ground. Apparently, I'm supposed to put a spring in my stride by lifting my knees up and pushing off the ground with my big toe. I've never thought about my big toe when it came to running. Maybe it makes a difference. Strike two. I don't eat the right running food at the right time, and I'm probably under-hydrated much of the time. I eat pretty heathly, but I don't think of how my food will help me run better. I will be taking that mentality with me the next time I'm at the grocery store. I also need to drink more water. It's not necessary to drink eight 8 oz glasses of water a day, but I could do a better job of staying hydrated. Strike three. With those factors against me, I guess I really do just need to work harder. My two books give me running programs to follow to make me run longer and faster and improve my VO2max. I've never followed a program before so, wish me luck! |