Wild for Wings

This morning, my son and I had a special outing. First, we hit the local GameSpot and Best Buy stores to spend a little of the cash we got for Christmas on some new games. Second, though, was a lunch stop to one of our favorite restaurants here in town - Buffalo Wild Wings.

It seems that on weekdays from 11am until 2pm, they have a special. All you can eat wings and buffalo chips (potato disks-like-fries) for $9.99 per person. So, we decided to go for some good eating. They started us out each with a dozen wings. Okay, no problem there. Usually when we go he and I split an order of 18 wings - nine apiece. So, eating three more was no issue. After the first round, we decided to get a bit more. They bring the additional ones out six at a time. So, we each got another six.

Well, I managed to get eaten my seventeenth wing before I was full. My twelve-year old son, who was so sure he could keep up, got full after his fifteenth. So much for the kid besting the old man (for now...).

It was a nice father-son bonding moment on our vacation.

Soup For Supper

Last night we had for dinner some homemade chicken soup that my wife cooked up in the crockpot during the day on Sunday.

She boiled up some chicken we had in the freezer and then deboned it. She carmalized some onions, celery and carrots. Then, all of that went into the crock pot along with some of the water from the chicken boiling and a container of chicken broth (for flavor). She let it all simmer all day on Sunday.

Last night, we took that and brought it to a slow boil in a regular pot. To that she added some frozen peas and corn to thicken it up. She cooked up some rotini pasta in another pot (she doesn't like the noodles to cook in the soup as they get too soggy for her taste that way). She then served up the bowls by putting pasta on the bottom and then adding ladels full of goodness on top.

I've always been a huge soup fan, so I enjoyed it a lot. In fact, I ended up having seconds along with finishing my son's bowl when he was done (he picked out the chicken and noodles and had most of the broth - he's not huge on vegetables). Along with that we had some nice bread with rosemary and olive oil baked in. A very nice, light dinner.

The best part: there is plenty of soup left-over so I can have another meal of it late in the week (or to cover my lunches on the weekend).

Zero My Hero

USA Today reported earlier this week on how Coca-Cola has managed to turn its Coke Zero product into a success by targeting men of all ages with “black packaging, a different sweetener and irreverent marketing.” Coke Zero, the story noted, “is Coca-Cola's first new product hit after a long list of attempts - from lime to vanilla flavors - that started strong and fizzled fast. Zero, out two years, is still growing. Sales volume is up 34% in North America year-to-date vs. the same period in 2006 … (men are) about 55% of Coke Zero buyers. It has a stronger, more Coke Classic-like flavor and seems to be holding onto male customers who've become more calorie-conscious with age but still want more flavor than most diet colas.”
Now, I have to say that I have been an avid regular cola drinker for many decades. Coke or Pepsi, I did not have a preference. Only two criterias had to be met: it was not a diet version and I would buy whichever was on sale in the grocery store for home consumption. In restaurants, they were interchangible as far as I was concerned.

However, two months ago I made the switch to Coke Zero for home consumption. I had tried it and found it tasted close enough to Coke's flavor that I could accept it as a diet drink. The zero calories was something I found I was needing, given that I was looking for ways to tweak my caloric intake now that I am in my early 40's. Clearly I am falling right into that target demographic that Coke is following with the product. I have even forgone my second criteria (price) in favor for the dietary benefits. Now, I just watch the sales in the grocery store and will stock up on 12-packs whenever the price is good (usually every four weeks or so). I've even gotten it so that my parents and my in-laws will have Coke Zero in their houses for when I visit - meaning I can stick to the drink even away from home.

The only challenge is when we go out to eat, which for the diet isn't a good thing to do in general anyway. When we do go out, I'll drink regular soda (Coke or Pepsi) but I have found I drink much less than I used to. Something about the regular soda seems "heavy" to me. Maybe it's subconscious; I know it isn't as good for me thus I tell myself it tastes "different" and thus I drink less. The mind is a powerful thing. However, I have found a restaurant or two that carries Coke Zero. The Hardees chain does that - so we actually have made a little switch when it comes to a fast burger run. We'll go to Hardees instead of McDonalds or Backyard Burger. Okay, my son prefers Hardees hotdogs too - but he's not the one driving and making the dining decision.

I am very pleased to hear the sales numbers are growing stronger; I would really hate to find another alternative. That one can of cola a day is my caffene fix (I've drank coffee and don't plan to ever start). As long as the Coca-Cola company keeps this product on the market, they have a sold-consumer.

I Like Cereal

Just like that all-yellow guy named Cheese on Fosters Home For Imaginary Friends, I like cereal. It doesn't matter the manufacturer: Kelloggs, Post, Quaker, General Mills; I enjoy them all.

Every morning I have a bowl for breakfast (with skim milk). Once in awhile I'll have a bowl at night as an evening snack/desert. It has always been like that. As a kid, as a teenager, I've always done this. There is something very relaxing and comforting to me - crunching on some flakes or shapes while I look over the back of the box or read something else. And, when I was in elementary school and walked over to my grandparents' house every day for lunch, I would have cereal then too (my grandmother always made sure she had a box or two in the cupboard near the stove just in case I wanted any to munch on).

As a kid, the primary determining factor of which cereal I'd have my mother buy was totally based on what was inside the box. If there was something cool or a series of stuff you had to get, I'd focus on that cereal exclusively until my set was complete. I would often get ahead of her in the grocery store just so I could have time to check everything out and make my selection. When the prize inside review failed to yield anything I wanted to get, the fall fact factor was usually picking something that had "sugar", "fruity" or "frosted" in the title.

As a grown up, there are also two factors involved - but not the same two factors as my younger days. First, what's healthy for me is big. After my heart surgery, I have to focus on heart healthy, lower cholesterol offerings. But, every now and again, a bowl of something that is a pure treat can be fit in too. The other factor these days is price. If there is a sale on particular brands, I am more inclined to pick that up instead - especially a buy-one-get-one-free deal.

Sadly, sometimes cereal makers change the formulas over time and one-time favorites start to fall by the wayside. I found this happened with Quisp before it was pulled back from market. I found this recently with Honey Combs (they're not as sweet as they used to be) too.

The only time I really don't like cereal is if it has gotten too too soggy. Bleech. It has to have a little crunch for me to enjoy it. That's probably why I don't ever see myself becoming an oatmeal kind of person (at least as long as I have my teeth).

Two Tasty Dishes

My wife was looking over recipes in magazines (one was Light Cooking, I think) this weekend and pulled out a couple to try.

The first was a rosemary chicken dish we had on Tuesday night. It was really easy to prepare (I watched as she put it together). Here's the full recipe:

Roast Rosemary Chicken and Vegetables

serves 4 total prep time: 40 min

8 small chicken drumsticks (about 1 3/4lb)
4 large red potatoes, each cut in 8 wedges, wedges halved
2 large peppers, cut in 3/4 in. wedges
1 large red oninon, cut in 1/2 in. thick slices
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary or 1 1/2 tsp dried
2 tbsp chopped garlic
1/2 tsp each of salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, cut in half
Serve with: balsamic vinegar to drizzle over chicken and vegetables

1. Position racks to divide oven in thirds. Heat oven to 500F. You'll need 2 rimmed baking sheets lined with nostick foil.
2. Distribute drumsticks, potatoes, peppers and onion evenly between pans. Drizzle with oil; sprinkle with rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper and toss to turn and coat.
3. Roast 30 minutes, stirring mixture after 15 minutes, or until chicken is coooked and vegetables are tender.
4. Arrange on platter; add olives.

We swapped out to regular olives and cooked the olives in with everything else.

It was very very tasty and pretty healthy too. I'm not a major vegetable fan but I did enjoy them roasted this way. If you pull off the skin from the drumsticks after they have cooked, it is probably even better for you. I didn't though - I enjoy some good cooked chicken skin every now and again. This was going to the keeper file.

The second dish was a chicken pot pie sort of thing which we had on Wednesday night. This one required a little more preparation work up front. You peel and slice up some regular potatoes and carrots (about a cup of each). Then you chop up a cup of celery. You put all this and some frozen peas and frozen pearl onions into a pot of chicken broth. You also add some chopped up boneless, skinless chicken breasts and let it all boil for a few minutes. You use a slotted spoon and pull all that out of the broth, then add flour and milk (we use skim) to the remaining broth to thicken it up. Sprinkle in some fresh parsley and tyme for flavoring. You then put the meat and vegetables back into the sauce for a few more minutes. Once that is done, you pour it all into a casserole dish and cover the top with a pastry sheet (we got one from the frozen food section but you could make your own if you're that adventurous). Cook the entire disk in the oven at 350 or so until the pastry crust gets golden brown.

Besides all the healthy vegetables and the homemade sauce, the other goodness of this is that there is only one part that is crust - on the top (instead of it being in a full pie shell which increases the crust consumption). I'm a big fan of pot pies and found this dish also very tasty. Our son isn't big on vegetables so he didn't like it much - but the adults sometimes get to overrule when it comes to dinner choices. Again, another keeper.

If anyone wants the exact recipes, let me know and I'll post them up.