Polenta-Style Corn Casserole

It's been a long time since I posted to my personal blog, and an even longer time since I posted a recipe. I know it's no excuse, but with everything going on in my life at work and in the theatre, it is only recently that I've had any time.

Anyway, recently, I had a small dinner party for some of my friends ("Thanks again for comming, Shawn, Dan, and Greg"). I really like having people over for dinner. It gives me a chance to expirement a little in the kitchen, adapting recipies to make them taistier (or healthier). I get to see my friends and loved ones in a relaxing and stress free environment, and I'd be lying if I didn't admit, it gives me a chance to show off my cooking skills.

One of the side dishes I searved that night was a crok-pot casserole I came across in a
cook-book I found at the local Good Will store. I made a few subtle changes, tyring to make it even healthier while at the same time even more filled with deliciousness.

POLENTA-STYLE CORN CASSEROLE

• 1 can (14 1/2 oz) low-sodium chicken broth


• 1/2 cup cornmeal


• 1 can (7 oz) corn, drained


• 1 can (4 oz) green chilies, drained


• 1/4 cup each red, yellow, & green bell pepper diced


• 1/4 cup diced white onion


• 1/2 tsp salt


• 1/4 tsp pepper


• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Pour chicken broth into a 2 to 3 quart Crock-Pot slow cooker.

Whisk in cornmeal.

Add corn, chillies, bell peppers, onion, salt and pepper and stir well.

Cover and cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours (best results)

After cooking, stir in cheese and continue cooking for another 15 to 30 minutes or untill the cheese melts.

All of my guests really liked this dish, and said it went well with the BBQ salmon and roasted vegetables. I'm sure you'll all enjoy it as well.

Till next time, remember; "Eat and enjoy".

Correct or A Prude?

While I was at the gym (24 Hour Fitness) earlier today, something happened that is making me ask "Was I right, or am I a prude?"

I had finished my work out and had gone into the locker room to change out of my gym clothes and into my regular clothes like I always do, when another one of the club members brought his young daughter (3 to 4 years old) into the men's locker room.

It just didn't seem right to me somehow, bringing a small girl like that into an area where fully grown men are in various states of undress.

I spoke to the manager about it, but he just looked at me like I was some sort of crazy person and said he would look into it.

Now, I ask you, was I right to say something, or am I just being a prude?

Sad and Disappointed

I don't expect my efforts will yield positive results. I've never fooled myself that my dreams would come true. Being used to rejection, I anticipate it. But all the same, I hate it. Wouldn't you?

So what happens now? So, what happens now? What am I going to do?

Time and time again, I say "I don't care". I pretend that I'm immune to gloom, and I'm hard, through and through. But every time it matters, all my words desert me. So, anyone can hurt me, and they do.

So what happens now? So, what happens now? What am I going to do?

Give me a little time, and I'll be fine some how. Well, maybe not that fine, but I'll survive anyhow. I won't recall the names and faces of this sad occasion. But, that's no consolation, here and now.

So, what happens now? I'll get by, I always have before. What am I going to do? Don't ask, because I don't know, anymore.

From the Tao Te Ching: Chapter One

The tao that can be told is not the Etneral Tao.

The name that can be named is not the Eternal Name.

The unnamable is the Eternally Real.

Naming is the origin of all particular things.

Free from desire, you realize The Mystery.

Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.

Yet mystery and manifestations arise from the same source.

This source is called darkness.

Darkness within Darkness.

The gateway to All Understanding.

A Confession of Weight

I know it's only been two weeks since I started my Nutrisystem diet program, and only two weeks since I started getting back to the gym (24 Hour Fitness) on a regular basis again, and YES (to all the put down artists who love raining on peoples parades), I know I still have a long way to go, but I've had some great progress in this last two weeks, and I wanted to share it with all of my readers.

In the two weeks I've been on my diet and exercise program, I've come down from 256.5 lbs to 248.0 lbs, and my body mass index (BMI) has gone down from 37.96 to 36.7.

That's a loss of 8.5 lbs and a reduction of my BMI of 1.26.

All this means, of course, is that I am still technically obese (I hate that word), but if I were to extrapolate (and I love that word) forward, using and average weight loss of 4.25 lbs per week, and a BMI loss of .63 per week, in 23 weeks I will weigh 160 lbs with a BMI of 23.47. This would put me in the normal weight range.

So, if I can keep up this pace, by my birthday I'm gonna be looking good.

I know delays will occur, I know I will reach temporary plateaus (at least the sensible part of my brain knows this), but I am determined to not think about that for now. I'll think about that tomorrow. After all, "Tomorrow is another day".

Theatrical Review - "Run for Your Wife"

Last night I went to see the Stockton Civic Theatre production of the Ray Cooney play "Run for Your Wife". It was FANTABULOUS!

I won't go into a lot of details and write out a whole synopsis, but at it's core, it is about a cab driver in London, England, who has two wives (at the same time) in different parts of the city. Trouble ensues when the carefully orchestrated schedule he keeps to prevent both wives finding out about each other is thrown all out of wack by a chance encounter with two muggers and an old lady's handbag. The lies on top of lies just get more and more outrageous, making it a true comedy of misunderstanding.

Now, while all the actors were truly outstanding, I have to give props to the two actresses playing the wives, and most especially in the opening scene. Their timing was perfect.

I must also mention the fantastic set that was designed by Brian Johnson. I found it incredible, tasteful, and artistic. Mr. Johnson is a genius.

I really recommend this play if you're looking for some good family entertainment. True it is written PG-13, but that's just for the double entendres, but there is absolutely nothing dirty. See this play, and you'll understand why Mr. Cooney was given his OBE.

A Good News Day

So many wonderful things either happened, or I became aware of them, today. I hardly know where to begin.

First (gotta start somewhere) I had a great cardio work-out at 24 Hour Fitness today. I was on the treadmill for an hour at 3.6 MPH and burned off nearly 500 calories.

Then, when I got home, I weighed myself before I ate breakfast, and to my delight, I was down, well, I'm not going to tell you the weight I'm at, but lets just say that I've lost a total of 7 lbs since 1/2/2011. For those of you too pretty do be able to do math, that's an average of 1 lb per day. I was ecstatic.

Then, after breakfast and my other usual morning routines, I had errands to run and bills to pay. One of those bills was my car payment at the Golden 1 Credit Union. As I was handing the teller my check and payment coupon, I noticed something that made me stop and look again before she took said items from me. The number on the payment coupon was 40. That means I've only got 20 payments to go and my car is paid-off! That means that 2/3 of that car is MINE!

Then, to put the metaphoric cherry on my equally metaphoric hot fudge sundae, I checked my mega millions lotto ticket on the way home and found out I had won $10.00. O.k., it's not the jackpot, but it's still kind of nice.