Mile Hi - New Things

I was searching through apps on my Droid Razr and came about Outfit7's Talking Tom Cat . This app is described as a cat that responds to your touch and repeats everything you say in a funny voice. I wanted to see what it was all about so I downloaded the app to my Razr to check it out. You can Talk to Tom and he will repeat everything you say with a funny voice, pet his body or head to make him purr, poke his head, belly or feet, grab his tail, pour a glass of milk for him to drink, and forget about him and he will yawn or sneeze. I find Tom only slightly enjoyable. What did you do today?

I bought a few Brussels Sprouts at  Albertsons  (I don't remember the price) and cooked it for dinner tonight. Brussels Sprouts are a leafy green vegetable are that look like miniature cabbages. The sprout is Brassica oleracea, in the "gemmifera" group of the family Brassicaceae. Brussels sprouts contain sulforaphane , a chemical believed to have potent anticancer properties. I made Dijon Dill Brussels Sprouts  from Allrecipes.com with butter, dijon mustard, lemon juice, dill, and black pepper (I also added onions, mushrooms, olive oil, and walnuts). The recipe turned out good, I love vegetables. I served it with pork chops and apple sauce. What did you do today?

I bought a small bag of  Streit's Zaha Whole Wheat Israeli Couscous  at King Soopers (I think it was about $2 or $3 for a 8.8 oz bag) and cooked it for dinner tonight. Couscous (pronounced kus-kus) is a Berber pasta dish of semolina that is a staple food throughout Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and west of Libya. One of the 1st written references is from an anonymous 13th-century Moroccan/Andalusian cookbook. Couscous is among the healthiest grain-based products. It has a glycemic load per gram 25% below that of pasta. It has a superior vitamin profile to pasta, containing 2 times as much riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, and folate, and containing 4 times as much thiamine and pantothenic acid. I made my couscous with garlic, yellow onion, orange pepper, cucumber, jalapeno, lemon juice, cumin, parsley, ginger, and black pepper. I liked it a lot! I served it with tilapia and broccoli. What did you do today?

We we to  Quiznos for dinner tonight since we had a buy 1 get 1 free sub coupon. I saw a new sub, Harvest Chicken, so I ordered it. It was supposed to have honey-dijon chicken, grapes, apples, dried cranberries, cucumbers, pumpkin seeds, spring mix lettuce, and Acai Vinaigrette. However, I don't believe it had cranberries, cucumbers, or pumpkin seeds now that I think about it. I should complain! I ordered mine regular on wheat. Matt got a Black Angus on Rosemary Parmesan with black angus steak, mozzarella, cheddar, sauteed mushrooms, sauteed onions, honey bourbon mustard, and zesty grille sauce. I believe all the ingredients were on his. One of the sauces had some spice. Both seemed to have more bread than meat. What did you do today?

I didn't have time to post last night, therefore I'm posting this late as this occurred yesterday (Sat 2/25/12). Vail got about 12 inches of snow during the week so my friend and I skied at  Vail  yesterday. I wanted to complete the challenge of skiing all 10 bowls in 1 day since last time I skied 7 of 10 bowls. We started at 8:30am (16th chair) to get a good start. However, since it was windy, Vail closed Blue Sky Basin and the Back Bowls early around 1:30pm! Therefore, funneling everyone to 1 chair lift, Tea Cup Express Lift. We waiting in the lift line from about 1:45-2:45pm thus killing our time to finish our challenge. We only got in 9 of 10 bowls. skied Game Creek Bowl, Sun Down Bowl, Sun Up Bowl, Tea Cup Bowl, Outer Mongolia Bowl, Inner Mongolia Bow, Siberia Bowl, Earl's Bowl, and Pete's Bowl (in that order). Next time I am determined to ski all 10 bowls in 1 day (8:30am-4:00pm). After, standing in the line for an hour, we got cold and didn't even feel like...

After a long week of work, I went to Patrick Carroll's for happy hour with 2 friends tonight. Patrick Carroll's is an Irish Pub in the Highlands neighborhood. Their happy hour special is every day 3:00pm-7:00pm and 10:00pm-12:00am. The special was $1.00 of draft beer so I tried a Monk something, Monk Wheat? I forget already. I would love to come back here for Patty's Day for a tasty Irish meal of Corned Beef and Cabbage! What did you do today?

I didn't have time to post last night, therefore I'm posting this late as this occurred yesterday (Thurs 2/23/12). We have a Wellness Program at work where they provide instructors to teach 1 hour classes at noon such as Pilates, Yoga, Zumba, and Kickboxing. In January, they also started a Minutes in Motion Challenge with you record the minutes you've worked out each day and add up the total minutes each week. They pick winners each week. I was a Wildcard Winner this week for last week's workout minutes. I was 'most improved'. I believe I did Pilates, Zumba, Yoga, Cycle, Tai Chi, and Skiing for 450 minutes in week 2 and Skiing, Zumba, PiYo, Cycle, Elliptical, and Skiing for 685 minutes in week 3. I won a White Women's Under Armour RBI Cap and a 24 oz Insulated Polar Bottle Water Bottle. What did you do today?

A few weeks ago, Michelle Obama was on The Ellen Degeneres Show (recorded February 2, 2012 and aired February 9, 2012). The 1st lady stopped by The Ellen DeGeneres Show to promote her campaign against childhood obesity, Let's Move , and was describing her daily workout routine when DeGeneres proposed the challenge since her arms were so toned. DeGeneres, 54, struggled around 15 but did 20 push-ups. Obama, 48, stopped at 25 push-ups, though she said she could have done more. The Monday after this episode aired, my Pilates instructor was talking about and saying we should all do 40 push-ups per day. My upper body is pretty weak, as I typically do girlie push-ups (on my knees). So I decided to challenge myself to see how many regular push-ups I could do (on hands and toes). My goal was 15 push-ups and I did 20! I'm pretty sure my arms will hurt tomorrow. What did you do today?

I now play Zynga's Words With Friends  on my cellphone and I wanted to see what Zynga's Hanging With Friends was all about so I downloaded the app to my new Razr to check it out. Hanging with Friends is a social mobile game that challenges players to solve mystery words made by their family and friends (basically it is the digital version of Hangman). I started a game with my friend that lives in Texas. I started the game with a 5 letter word _____ (I can't write it just in case she is reading this). She tries to solve the word. Then she makes a mystery word for me. I'm not sure how points work. I'm guessing Words With Friends is more fun than this game but I wanted to give it a shot. What did you do today?

After work, we ordered food from Basil Doc's Pizza  in Virginia Village tonight. They started with a dough recipe from Pepe's Pizza in New Haven CT and built their business around their mantra of "Fresh, Green, Neighborhood." We tried the Spinaci Salad (baby spinach, sliced mushrooms, bacon crumbles, walnuts, and gorgonzola cheese crumbles, and  roasted shrimp, served with balsamic vinaigrette dressing) for $10.50 and small Moab Pizza (8 slices of tomato sauce, chicken, red onions, pineapple, jalapenos, and chili powder) for $17.00. Basil Doc's Pizza has won awards for 2001, Zagat.com "The Best Pizza in Town" and 5280 Magazine agreed by calling it "Denver's Best Pizza." I think it is a unique and tasty pizza (ours was a little spicy with the jalapenos) but I'm not sure about "Denver's Best Pizza." What did you do today?

I have Verizon Wireless as my cellphone carrier and my contract was up to renew. When this happens you can get better deals on new cellphones. I've owned a Samsung, Palm, HTC, and 2 LG cellphones in my past. The best current deal that we saw in the stores was the buy one get one free Droid Razr by Motorola . We got 2 16GB Razrs for $199.99. Some of the features of this phone are: Ultra-slim Design, Reinforced Case, Verizon 4G LTE Network, Remote PC Access with MotoCast, Processor 1.2GHz, Smart Actions App, 4.3" Super AMOLED Advanced Display, and HDMI/Mirror Mode. Some cons are it is bigger than my other phones and battery life is short. I haven't gotten much time to play with it yet today, but so far I like it, better than my LG Ally (sorry) and way better than my HTC Eris (sorry again). What did you do today?

I didn't have time to post last night, therefore I'm posting this a day late as this occurred yesterday (Sat 2/18/12). After skiing at Keystone, we  went to Pug Ryan's Steakhouse & Microbrewery in Dillon last night. They have happy hour from 3-6pm every day with $2.50 pints so that is what we had. I tried a Morning Wood Wheat which is a light beer and has won some awards such as Gold Medal Winner 2007 Colorado State Fair and Silver Medal Winner 2005 Great American Beer Fest. Later, I had a Funky Monk which is a Dark Belgian Ale is fashioned with fruity flavor is balanced with hops, Belgian candy sugar, coriander, and fresh orange peel. We tried the Calamari and Oysters Rockefeller appetizers. The oysters were particularly awesome! Then Matt and I split a buffalo burger with fries and a side salad. All of the food was great. I think I like the oysters the best! What did you do today?

We watched a movie entitled  Valentine's Day  (technically we watched the 1st 1/2 of the movie on Valentine's Day and finished it tonight) with a ton of stars (Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Patrick Dempsey, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, George Lopez, Shirley MacLaine, Emma Roberts, Julia Roberts, and Taylor Swift to name a few) that came out in February 12, 2010. It is about relationships and love. The film takes place on Valentine's Day and about numerous stories of people's live that are all intertwined. Some parts were funny that make you go 'ha' and some parts were cute they make you go 'awww'. IMDB gave it a 5.7 out of 10 and I would give it a 6.6 rating. What did you do today?

I read that a healthy alternative to popcorn is Roasted Chickpeas . They have fiber and protein and contain less fat. The ingredients for Roasted Chickpeas are can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), olive oil, sea salt, and spices (I used pepper and paprika). You must drain, rinse, and dry the chickpeas otherwise they'll end up chewy and soggy. You toss chickpeas in a bowl with all the ingredients and bake 30 minutes at 400F. They are a very tasty snack and I will definitely make them again. What did you do today?

I order from Door to Door Organics from time to time since they deliver to my work every Tuesday. The fruits and vegetables are fresh and it is a convenient service. In my 'Bitty Box' order, there were 2 blood oranges . When I started peeling the blood orange, I thought it was rotten since it was dark, almost black in color. A blood orange is a variety of orange with almost-blood-colored flesh. The fruit is smaller than an average orange. Its skin is usually pitted, but can be smooth. The distinctive dark flesh color is due to the presence of anthocyanins, a family of pigments common to many flowers and fruit, but uncommon in citrus fruits. The flesh develops its characteristic maroon color when the fruit develops with low temperatures during the night. The skin can also be more tough and harder to peel than other oranges. Blood oranges are known for their sweet and mellow flavor. I ate the orange with vanilla yogurt this morning. I think I prefer regular oranges since they ar...

We went to Japon in East Wash Park for dinner tonight. Thisis our 3rd year in a row eating sushi on Valentine's Day so we are making it our tradition. They have happy hour from 4-6pm Tuesday-Thursday with specials on drinks, apps, and rolls BUT not on holidays (so I guess we will have to go back for happy hour specials). We had Edamame, Denver Roll (Fresh Water Eel, Albacore Tuna, Cucumber, Avocado & Flying Fish Roe and a Washington DC Roll (Softshell Crab, Cucumber, Burdock Root, Green Leaf, Asparagus, Alfalfa, Japanese Mayonnaise & Smelt Roe). I love sushi! Happy Valentine's Day?

Vail got 5 inches of snow last night so we skied at Vail today. Their back bowls are the best place to ski at the resort. Their website claims "Vail's Legendary Seven Back Bowls stretch an impressive 7 miles and 3,017 acres". They are saying the 7 are Sun Down Bowl, Sun Up Bowl, Tea Cup Bowl, China Bowl, Siberia Bowl, Inner Mongolia Bowl, and Outer Mongolia Bowl. We skied Game Creek Bowl, Sun Down Bowl, Sun Up Bowl, Tea Cup Bowl, China Bowl, Siberia Bowl, and Earl's Bowl (in that order). There is also a Pete's Bowl in Blue Sky Basin. Therefore, I would say Vail has a total of 10 bowls and 1 day I will ski them all in 1 day (8:30am-4:00pm). The snow was great today, best day of 2012! What did you do today?

We went to Sam's No. 3 for dinner tonight. We wanted breakfast for dinner so we got a Farmer's Burrito. It was a tortilla filled with 2 scrambled eggs, homefries, sausage, onion, and tomato, then smothered in country gravy. I've had many breakfast burritos in my past, but this is the 1st one that I've had with country gravy. It was a good breakfast burrito, but then again all the burritos at Sam's No. 3 are great! What did you do today?

I didn't have time to post last night, therefore I'm posting this late as this occurred yesterday (Sat 2/11/12). We went skiing at Breckenridge yesterday with our Glendale neighbors. We skied for about 6 hours at Peak 7, 8, 9, and 10. We also skied the bowls. After a hard day of skiing, we went to the Breckenridge Distillery  to sample their vodka, spiced run, bourbon, and chocolate liqueur. Then went to  Windy City Pizza for dinner. We ordered a calzone and stromboli. They were huge, filled with meat/veggies/cheese, served with homemade marinara sauce, and very delicious. What did you do today?

I didn't have time to post last night, therefore I'm posting this late as this occurred 2 days ago (Fri 2/10/12). I went to a friend's house for Girl's Night with Wine and Cheese. I bought Matua Valley Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2011 Wine from New Zealand and Murray's Havarti with Dill Cheese. The wine was on sale from $10.99 to $7.99 at King Soopers and the cheese was $2.25 for 1/4 lb. However, I didn't even get to try to wine I brought. I did try a Bogle Vineyards Phantom Wine . It is made in California with a blend of Zinfandel 51%, Petite Sirah 47%, and Mourvèdre 2%. I also tried Drunken Goat Cheese which is made with red wine. What did you do today?

I love bagels! For breakfast, lunch, or dinner. With butter, cream cheese, peanut butter, jelly, cheese, eggs, meat, fish, or veggies. Today is Bruegger's 29th Birthday. Bruegger's are based in Burlington Vermont and bakes New York-style bagels. They have a variety of bagels, unique cream cheese flavors, breakfast sandwiches, hand-tossed salads, hearty soups, sandwiches, paninis, and desserts. They were celebrating their birthday by giving away 3 free bagels to their facebook fans. I ordered sundried tomato, rosemary olive oil, and honey grain bagels. It's not my birthday but I got a great present!   What did you do today?

If you recall, I went to the dermatologist to get a skin screening for the 1st time back in December. When I was there, the doctor did a biopsy of 1 of the moles on my back (which came back as normal, by the way). The area was healing pretty well until about 2 weeks ago. The area around the wound started getting bigger instead of smaller and oozing. Therefore, I went back to my doctor to check it out. She said I was having an allergic reaction to something, probably the Neosporin . She gave me some new ointment, Vanos , and said I should take Zyrtec until the area starts to get better. Vanos (fluocinonide) Cream is indicated for the relief of the inflammatory and pruritic manifestations of corticosteroid responsive dermatoses in patients. Best results are seen if used twice per day. Zyrtec (cetirizine) is an antihistamine that reduces the effects of natural chemical histamine in the body. Histamine can produce symptoms of sneezing, itching, watery eyes, and runny nose. Zyrtec can be u...

We watched the new series on NBC called Smash tonight with Debra Messing, Katharine McPhee, and Anjelica Huston. Steven Spielberg is an executive producer. The show is a musical drama that celebrates the beauty and heartbreak of the Broadway theater as it follows a cross section of actresses and actors who all have one common desire - to be a "Smash." In the show, they dream to create a Broadway musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe. IMDB gave it a 7.4 out of 10 and I probably give it an 7.8 rating so far after seeing 1 episode. What did you do today?

As an alumni of DU , I'm invited to attend events on campus. Tonight, was Daniels College of Business Voices of Experience speaker series event with Kevin Reddy, CEO of Noodles & Company . The Daniels speaker series brings in CEOs and significant leaders to share the lessons learned from their triumphs, mistakes, and decisions as they navigated through their leadership careers. Noodles & Co is a fast casual restaurant chain that first started in Denver CO in the Cherry Creek Neighborhood. The pasta dishes are inspired by American, Mediterranean, and Asian influences. They serve salads, soups, and sandwiches. They are also testing appetizers and desserts. Noodles & Co has won several business and industry awards including Parents magazine 'Parents 10 Best Restaurant Chains',  Nation's Restaurant News ' Second 100: Top 5 Chains in Sales and Growth', and  Health magazine 'America's Healthiest Fast Food Restaurants'. Reddy has been CEO of N...

Today is Super Bowl Sunday. We were invited to our friends house for a Super Bowl Party and wanted to bring an appetizer. I decided to make a Warm Spinach & Artichoke Dip that was sent to me in an email earlier in the week as a healthier snack. The dip is made with spinach, artichokes, lima beans, light mayonnaise, olive oil, fat free cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, hot sauce, capers, green onions, mustard, and pepper. It is baked in the oven for 30 minutes at 350F. There are 59 calories/serving, 4g fat, 3g protein, 4g carbohydrates 1g fiber per serving, 5mg cholesterol, 183mg sodium, and 53mg calcium. We served it with tortilla chips, carrots, celery, and broccoli. It came out warm, creamy and really tasty, just like in a restaurant. Super Bowl XLVI is NY Giants vs NE Patriots played in Indianapolis IN. I routed for the Giants since I'm from NJ. Giants won, 21-17, oh yeh! What did you do today?

I didn't have time to post last night, therefore I'm posting this a day late as this occurred yesterday (Sat 2/4/12). We watched a movie entitled Sucker Punch with Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, and Vanessa Hudgens that came out in March 25, 2011. The film takes place in the 1960s and is about a 20 year old girl that is committed to a mental institution by her abusive stepfather after she accidentally kills her younger sister. She plans to escape the hospital with 4 other girls before her lobotomy. Throughout the movie, she fantasizes that she fights for her freedom. They fight in wars with samurais to serpents. It was an interesting movies and weird at times. IMDB gave it a 6.1 out of 10 and I agree with that rating. What did you do today?

I didn't have time to post last night, therefore I'm posting this a late as this occurred 2 days ago (Fri 2/3/12). We watched a movie entitled Bad Teacher with Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, and Jason Segel that came out in June 24, 2011. It is about a middle-school teacher in Illinois, named Elizabeth, who gets dumped by her rich fiancé. She doesn't care about teaching as she shows movies every day in class so she can sleep. She swears, drinks, and does drugs. Elizabeth wants to find and marry a rich man. She finds out the new substitute teacher is born into a wealthy family so she begins to pursue him. In the meantime, the school's gym teacher, pursues Elizabeth, which she rejects. Some parts were pretty funny. IMDB gave it a 5.7 out of 10 and I would probably give it a 6.3 rating. What did you do today?

I didn't have time to post last night, therefore I'm posting this a a day late as this occurred yesterday (Thurs 2/2/12). Last week I bought a couple yams to make as a side dish. I decided I wanted to try to roast them. Roasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat, whether an open flame, oven, or other heat source. Roasting can cause caramelization or Maillard browning of the surface of the food, which is considered by some as a flavor enhancement. Roasting uses indirect, diffused heat (as in an oven), and is suitable for slower cooking of meat in a larger, whole piece. I looked up a few recipes online at Allrecipes.com  to get an idea on how to roast my yams and what flavors to use. The ingredients I chose were yams, onions, honey, rosemary, olive oil, salt, and pepper. I roasted them on a baking sheet cover with foil on the lower rack on 400F for almost 45 minutes. We also made tilapia and a salad. What a well-balanced and delicious meal! What did you do today?

I went to dinner at  The Cherry Cricket  with a friend tonight. She is in town from Chicago for work. The Cherry Cricket has one many local awards for best burger and such, like 5280 Magazine Top of the Town 2010, Best Burger Bar, and has been on Season 3 "Burgers" The Best Thing I Ever Ate on the Food Network and Man v Food. I had an Avery Brewing Co White Rascal (Belgian white ale beer) along cheese sticks and a Little Cricket Burger (1/4 lb burger) with smoked cheddar, grilled onions, bacon, and fried egg. The place was packed for a Wednesday night so the service was slow but the food was still pretty great. I'm still full! What did you do today?