While the frenzy to get into that perfect bikini may be over for most women in the Western hemisphere, some of us men have just started noticing that the older we get, the less we look like we did in our 20’s or early 30’s.  I remember tipping the scales at 155 pounds at my most built in high school, and today I would love to see 170. (Or at least a size 30!)  For us it’s time to get the six pack that all of the twelve packs over the years have helped to soften.

The problem is, if you’re going for a commercial diet system, how do you know which one to go with? There’s carb counting, calorie counting, of course the well remembered “grapefruit diet” (gone from the world of fad diets, thankfully!), South Beach and too many others to count. Most are unhealthy at best, some can be detrimental to the point of placing you in a hospital bed. Wasn’t someone trying to stop the madness here? (She’s on to other things, but I still remember her…  And that Simmons Person <shudder!>)

Weight Watchers has a good track record, but for me the thought of counting points for every meal is somewhat inane. (The fact that I constantly overhear women discussing the “points value” of frozen fried dinners in our local market is even more inane (and a little terrifying), but that’s a different topic altogether.) Nutrisystem is an easy way to lose weight and keep it off as well, but as a rabid foodie, the thought of dealing with prepackaged meals makes me want to run and hide in any of Wolfgang Puck’s establishments… Right behind the salmon station.

So what are you supposed to do?  Is there really a system that can help or in the end is it really up to the individual?  What are your thoughts?

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Just a quick note to let you all know that one of the Food Network Celebs I actually like, Miss Ingrid Hoffmann, will be appearing on Paula’s Party this Sunday, June 1st 2008 at 11pm EST. (Paula is another of the Food Network Celebs I actually like, so that makes this a double whammy!)

Ingrid is also heading into her third season of production of Simply Delicioso, a show I hope that the food Network deigns to keep around for awhile!

From her publishers:

FOOD NETWORK’S ‘SIMPLY DELICIOSO’
BEGINS SEASON 3 OF PRODUCTION

Food Network begins production today on Season 3 of Simply Delicioso with resident Latina cook and lifestyle expert, Ingrid Hoffmann in her hometown of Miami Beach.
Coming off a successful Season 2 of the popular Food Network series, Ingrid explores lively new menus, clever entertaining tips and time-saving shortcuts to show viewers how to create American favorites with bold and surprising Latin accents…
click here to read more

While you’re thinking about it, go grab a copy of her book, Simply Delicioso: A Collection of Everyday Recipes with a Latin Twist!

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While the videos in this entry were originally designed for Arizona, I felt that I really should pass them along.  Until I moved to Texas, I lived very close to two of California’s largest lakes.  The number of news reports including deaths is something I don’t care to dwell on.

I think there is a real need for Boating Education Online so that people understand that if you’re Boating Operating Under the Influence, you are either going to end up injured, or someone else is.  It’s no different from a car.  In fact, it’s far more dangerous.

Pass the word on these Arizona Boating videos.  The more buzz the better.

Boat Sober Commercial:

Boating in Arizona:

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I just realized that I hadn’t told you guys about what happened when my wife visited her cardiologist on Monday.  I don’t think I have to tell you that we were both nervous about the appointment, but luckily our fears were not confirmed.

Apparently Mrs. seat of her Pants has some swelling in the muscles of her heart, which leads to some uncomfortable moments, but is not in any way life threatening at this point and treatable with simple muscle relaxants.  Her choloestrol is treatable as well, and doesn’t seem to concern her doctor much at all.  So while we’ll still be on a diet intended to lower out calories and up the good stuff, I’ll be donning my Daring Baker’s apron again soon and continuing on with the fun.

All is good in the land of the seat of my pants, and I couldn’t be happier!

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I was talking to a friend the other day about her experiences with her server and server administrators.  She’s running her sites with one of the most popular shared hosting , and to be honest, I’ve never had any real problems with them, but that was not the case for her.  She was having issues with everything from updating her sites to issues with her blogs malfunctioning.  You know, all the things we take for granted every day.

I expect to hear these issues from less than tech-savvy people, but in her case she’s very nearly on par with me as far as technical knowledge of web hosting and servers, so communicating her issues to her web hosting company shouldn’t be an issue of any kind, but yet they apparently weren’t listening, and have not been for some time.  This has led her to search for another hosting company. (I tried to talk her in to running her own server like I do, but she’s just not as much of a glutton for punishment as I am.)

In the end I pointed her over to WebHostingChoice.com.  They have a directory of different hosts based on platform, availability of common services, and a slew of other factors that can help you determine if the host is right for you or not.  But the best advice I can give out of all of this is simple.  Do your research before selecting a hosting company.  I have failed to do so in the past, andd it has cost me in the long run.

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There are things that each of us does on a daily basis.  Some of them are for our personal amusement, some are for health reasons and some are things we’d really rather not be doing, but end up doing anyway.

For me each day is usually a combination of all three of these things.  As a Work At Home Dad, it sometimes means that the workday either lasts well into the morning hours, or that no work gets done at all because, and let’s face it, a toddler doesn’t really give a rat’s behind what Dad has contracted out today.  He’s interested in his life, not mine.  And then there’s always the other little things…

Read more…

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If you are in the market for new construction then you’ve probably thought of using traditional wood construction.  What if I told you that there’s something else you can use?  Steel Buildings aren’t the “warehouse only” construction materials any more.  With a little work between your contractor and yourself, Steel Buildings can be made to look just like any traditional wood construction.  To top it off, Steel Buildings are safer, stronger and resistant to wind and fire damage in ways that a traditional wood building never could be.

If you’ve been considering a build, ask your contractor about this alternative.  It may just save you time, money and a heck of a lot of headaches over the course of your build.  And you get the satisfaction of knowing that your building is probably made of at least 50% recycled materials.  You don’t have to kill a single tree.  Not bad, eh?  It’s all about going green, and still getting a space you can fall in love with.

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Another month and another blog event.  This is my first time joining in with a lot of my blogging friends for the Royal Foodie Joust, hosted by the lovely Jenn (a.k.a. The Leftover Queen).  The joust really is the perfect challenge for me, since you’re presented with a triplet of ingredients and challenged to come up with something unique using them.  What more could the king of cooking without a recipe ask for?!?

The ingredients for this round of the event were chosen by Elle, the winner of last moth’s joust. Her choices?  Raspberry, almonds and lime.  While these three could easily be used to create something very sweet and decadent, there was a hint that she’d like to see something savory come out of it.  I knew what direction I was going to take these ingredients immediately, all I had to do was go get some berries!

While I would have loved to use fresh raspberries for this, we’re not exactly in raspberry country.  The “fresh” raspberries in the market were not only outragiously priced, but smelled more of plastic than berries, so they were out.  I considered using frozen berries, but they tend to muddle the colors of other ingredients, and don’t present well, so I went with 100% all raspberry preserves, and the result was just a bit on the sweet side for me, but still fantastic!

If you’re looking for the perfect main course for a hot summer night, this is your dish.  The texture is cool and wonderful, with a load of crunch from both the iceberg lettuce and the almonds, but still quite a bit of toothiness from the romaine.  The queso fresco is the perfect accompaniment, as it has a texture much like feta but is more mildly flavored, like a cross between a goat cheese and ricotta, and blends perfectly with the other flavors.

My wife’s response was simple.  She just looked at me and asked; “We’ll be making this again, right?”

Yes honey, we most definitely will.

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There are a lot of SEO companies out there that will tell you they can optimize your site and in the process bring in a metric ton of new traffic.  Most tout their proprietary in-house software, which will analyze your site and allow them to work Internet miracles with your traffic and targeted keywords.  Their crack team will optimize everything about your existing site, which of course was not performing as well as it could have been without them, and you’ll be seeing results before you know it.

The trouble is that most of these companies know little or nothing about SEO.  Most of them are using the same software that their competitors are using, and their idea of optimizing a site borders on keyword spamming rather than any real knowledge of how either proper marketing techniques should be implemented or how your company relates to its customers.  It’s a big money business, but only if the turnover is fast.

What you need is a partner in advertising.  An SEO firm that will talk to key members of your company and find out the directions that your business needs to grow in.  You need a company that can bring competitive intelligence for search to the table, rather than just a bunch of tired search engine buzzwords and a vague overview of their “software”.  Everyone uses software, what you need are people who know their busines, not buton pushers.

Think about that the next time you’re looking for advertising.  And check out that link while you’re at it.

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I have never been a great fan of fruit salads, especially if they are piled high with some whipped-cream substitute and enough sugar to mask the taste of even the most potent fruits in the dish.  But yesterday while I was busy with preparations for the first burgers of the year, my wife was busy changing every notion I’ve ever had about fruit salad with this a one of a kind dessert.  In the end she had converted me, and now I’m singing the gospel of dressed fruit to all of you.  It really is too good not to share.

This fruit salad is really all about the dressing, and it’s a versatile recipe that lends itself not only to fruit salad but to salad greens as well, with a distinct orange flavor almost reminiscent of an Orange Julius.  I think with a little tweaking it would be perfect for chicken or pork and could easily be used as a marinade or as a main component in a fruit smoothie.  I honestly can’t say enough about it.  (I snuck off for another cup full of fruit as I was writing this, the picture was making my mouth water…)

The fruit used here was mostly of the frozen variety, as the season isn’t right in our part of the world just yet, but I can imagine that it would have been much better over fresh fruit.  I think that I’ll add some of the remaining dressing to some frozen fruit tomorrow morning for a nice little smoothie to start my day off right and let you know how it goes.

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