Yes, ME, Wackydad! I have become a foodie. #foodie #meatheadforlife #foodobsessed #nowheat

I have to admit it.  I have become a foodie.  Yes, a foodie.  Stop shaking your head and laughing.  I'm serious.  This here obesession is real (Not that I need another obsession,   Just ask the wife).  

I am obsessed with all things food lately.  

I have written here in the past about my cooking as well as about my pressure-cooker obsessio, but now I am seriously neck deep in this stuff.  

I cook Every night.  

I sing while I am cooking.  Like happy-singing.  Like whistle-while-you-work kind of singing.  

I even regularly announce loudly, for the whole family to hear, that I am "Deglazing the Aromatics".  (What do you mean you don't know what Deglazing the Aromatics is....Oh it is amazing, and makes all food taste 1000 times better...Oh, I will have to share more about  that in another post) 

I even proclaimed in all seriousness the other night that I should have been a Chef.

Yup, OBSESSED!!!!!  

So, I figure, there is no place better to share all about my recent culinary escapades then here on good old Wackydads!

Just sit back, relax and check out some images from my recent handy-work.  You're gonna get hungry!!!

BEFORE - My homemade Chicken Chilli made with chicken I ground up myself.

AFTER - (SOOO GOOOD)  My homemade Chicken Chilli made with chicken
I ground up myself.

 

Fresh summer squash, balsamic, oil and butter.

Here's a picture of some fresh, local clams we dug ourselves, that are ready to be steamed and cooked in all different ways.  Love Narragansett Bay!

Steamed Clams with hot pepper flakes, beer, and pepperoni, thrown in during the
steaming processes for an Oh-So-Good flavor!

Home made Clam Chowder, steamed cherrystones, pasta with clams sauce, garlic butter, and hell, a Mexican Pizza thrown in for good measure. #food #rhody #narragansettbay

Eggs, steak, broccoli, black beans, healthy seed mix of some sort, and hot sauce of course. I ate two helpings!

Gluten Free Banana Bread made with help from my middle girl Ailey.  It was really good,
especially heated with butter the next morning.
 

Here is Ailey and I grinding up venison with our grinding machine
so that we can make all kinds of good stuff, like Venison Bolognese sauce.
This was sooo worth the work!

All the ingredients for my homemade Venison Bolognese sauce.

DONE - Venison Bolognese sauce.  Seriously good stuff.
My 6 year old had two huge helpings.

DONE #2 - Venison Bolognese sauce over gluten free pasta (gotta use
gluten free since I Gotta keep my girlish figure)

One of my Easy-to-Do favorites that the whole family loves.  Italian sausage roasted over regualr and sweet potato cubes.  The potatos get so delicious, with the sausage almost glazing them while they all cook together. 

A little change here from above.  Regular potatos and Winter squash prepped for roasting with olive oil, salt and pepper. 

Another Go-To favorite in our house all complete.  Country-style ribs
on the grill with roasted potatos and winter squash along with a Tomato-heavy
 tossed salad.  And of course GOOD SEASONING ITALIAN
DRESSING...since there is No Other salad dressing that compares.

More to come in the future.  Hope you enjoyed this "Eye-Candy" of delicious Food that I have created over the last few months.

Buon Appetito!!!!

- From Wacky Dad 

Wacky Wheat Belly

Yup,  I'm on a new diet.  I read both the Wheat Belly book, and the for Wheat Belly Cookbook and I have been intrigued enough to strictly follow the diet for the last 2 weeks. My first impressions are really good.  Basically the diet is a traditional low carb diet, which has always been my diet of choice, and one which I have been on and off for years. The big difference with Wheat Belly is that your intake of any wheat products is totally cut off, as opposed to the Atkins diet, which allowed the use of wheat gluten in many of its recipes. I have lost about 9 holiday pounds since starting the diet, but that isn't what strikes me as most impressive about this diet. I have noticed several beneficial side effects that I would not have expected as a result of a change in diet. Here they are.

1. I'm historically a terrible sleeper. I have take meds of varying types for many years in order to sleep, with varying success. Even taking enough meds to put down a rhino, I never make it through the night without a period of wakefulness. I've never really been able to figure out a true solution to this problem and have always chalked it up to having too much on my mind. Although I haven't stopped taking my usual sleeping meds since starting the diet, I noticed starting about the second week I was on the diet, that I started to sleep uninterrupted through the night. Amazing! When you spend literally 15-20 years of your life waking up regularly at 2-3 in the morning for an extended period of time, and then actually sleep straight through the night for multiple nights on end, you definitely notice! I'm not sure what the reason for the change is, but I'm loving it!

2. I'm not hungry. It's true! Most of my friends and family know me as a guy who can put down epic portions of food, and can do it with panache! I can still do some damage when I want to, but that burning desire I've always had to pound down everything on the table has dissipated immensely. Satisfying myself at table has become a much easier prospect. I have to say, I have not tried to cut calories back at all, just cut out processed foods, starches, and of course the devil of all foods - Wheat. I've had a couple of crazy days at work where I never had a chance to eat until dinnertime. Usually you'd be taking your life in your hands to be in my presence on a day where I hadn't eaten. Now I feel a sense of hunger, but it is manageable and when I do finally eat, I can do it without gorging like a great white shark. I've also lost midnight snacking tendencies. A handful of unsalted in the shell peanuts are great after dinner, but no burning desire for cookies, etc. I totally love this new found sense of freedom from food!

Ailey cooking up a batch of low carb/wheat free Banana Foster.  Delicious!

3. My chronic upper back muscular pain is gone. I have historically had tense muscles to the inside of both of my wing ones of my back. Again I chalked this up to stress. My daughter Abigail has spent many a night digging into those particular muscles on my back to try to help loosen up her old dad. I'm hoping she doesn't read this, because those awesome night time back rubs are really the bomb, and still feel good even though I don't have the pain like before.

These three changes have been enough to convince me that there is something to this lifestyle change. One thing I do notice is that my need for water seems to have increased. I have found myself becoming dehydrated more, and I am making a concerted effort to drink water on a regular basis throughout the day. So far I can't say enough about the diet.  I'm hooked, and I think I'm going to be on this one for the long haul.  I'll continue to update you on whether I feel this is a sustainable lifestyle, but so far I am not having any problems whatsoever! I'd love to hear some of your experiences with a restricted carb/wheat diet. Comment away!

Happy Eating!

Wacky Dad

Radio Shack For the Holidays! #sponsored #MC

"I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for RadioShack. I received a gift card to facilitate a shopping trip and promotional item as a thank you for participating."

Holy Moly this year's holiday season has been a whirlwind!  I think that Thanksgiving being so late this year has made everything much more bunched up and hectic than usual.  I finally made it out tonight to do some Christmas shopping, and Radio Shack was my first trip of the season.  I actually went in with my oldest daughter Abby yesterday, but had to take notes and come back, because a lot of the things I saw were actually perfect for Abby.  Teenagers love electronics(so does their dad)!  I can't give away too much, because my family reads this blog, and I shopped for them!

 But I will give some vague hints.  For my oldest daughter I got her an all important Ipad accessory.  Abby actually has an Ipad program at her school.  They provide the Ipads, but we need to provide chargers, cases, etc.  There are so many cool products that help you become more productive on the Ipad, and Abby scored one of these.  That's as detailed as it gets!  My famous middle daughter Ailey is going to be the proud recipient of a cool new Bluetooth accessory for her Ipod (actually I think the whole family will be able to use this little beauty). Hint Hint - its electronic and you can use it in the shower!  Finally I picked up a creative electronic toy for my youngest Mia.  I can't wait to see her reaction to it!  I will share this since odds are she won't catch me (if she does I'll let you know!)

 http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102914&znt_campaign=Category_CMS&znt_source=CAT&znt_medium=RSCOM&znt_content=CT2032058ProjectKits

We were at a family gathering this past weekend, and one of the kids got one of these as a gift.  It was a total hit, and the kids were at it all night long with it!  Nothing like playing with batteries, motors, and horns!

As always I was struck by the level of personal assistance I got when I walked into the store.  I was immediately greeted by an employee.  I noticed right away that he had his coat and hat on - odd.  Turned out that the heat was on the fritz, but even though he was bone cold he was still cordial and knew his stuff about the stores products!  Another thing I noticed was that Radio Shack has gotten a facelift.  It has a new fresh product line that is very relevant to the times, and everything was displayed very nicely.  All in all I couldn't have been happier with my experience.  I was in and out quickly, I got two of the three items I bought at aggressive sale prices, and the customer service was tops.  I highly recommend that all of you last minute shoppers like me head on out to Radio Shack for all of those crowd pleasing electronic stocking stuffers and more!  Visit the Radio Shack Holiday Hub to research before you go out in the cold!

Happy Shopping!

Wacky Dad

Radio Shack - Old Fashioned Values On New Fangled Products! #sponsored #MC

Disclosure: I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for RadioShack. I received a gift card to facilitate a shopping trip and promotional item as a thank you for participating.

     It's not often that you get an opportunity to write about a brand/company that you truly love.  As a kid I remember going into The local Radio Shack with my father, and remember being mind boggled by all of the transistors, capacitors, and every other manner of electrical gadget known to man.  My father was deep into electronics of all sorts, and Radio Shack was like a candy store to him.  Of course I thought it was all the coolest stuff as well (even though I had no clue what most of it did!).  Things haven't changed much over the years.  I still have trouble driving by a Radio Shack without stopping in to check out the latest gadgets, and when I bring my kids in to the store they're just as mesmerized as I am by all of the neat things in the store.  I bought my wife's Laptop at Radio Shack 2 years ago after striking out at all of the big box stores.  They had the best price and the most knowledge.  Radio Shack always seems to hire smart individuals who are truly passionate about electronics.  It refreshing when you go in the store and you don't get some bonehead that does't even know the difference between Android and IOS, or a transistor and a capacitor for that matter!

     This year Radio Shack left all of the fun up to the buyers to actually vote for, and ultimately pick all of the sale items for it's Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales with their "Name Your Deal" promotion.  What an amazing idea.  Let the consumer decide what they want the deals on!  The nation has voted, and the scores are in!  Visit the following link to find some awesome deals!  http://www.radioshack.com/home/index.jsp Whether you're looking for a new tablet, headphones, or a new phone, Radio Shack has a deal that you'll love, and I know you'll totally dig the shopping experience!


Happily Shopping!

Wacky Dad        

Keep It Cool and Dry With Gold Bond Powder Spray

“I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Gold Bond. I received product samples and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.”

I was totally pumped when I recently got asked to try out a new Gold Bond product.  You see I grew up with Gold Bond in the house.  Dad was an active guy, and he always had a bottle of Gold Bond hanging around.  Whether it was for riding the bike, running, or just plain trying to stay dry on a hot day, he almost always had a bottle on hand.  In turn I have used it as an adult, and have always love the product.  In my mind, Gold Bond is truly a "Man's Man" product.  I am often ribbed by my father Leo for writing posts about products that don't measure up on his "Manliness Scale".  Of course I ignore the meat head, but sometimes it does make me wonder!  I know that won't happen this time.

Quite simply, the new product that Gold Bond has out now is a spray powder.  What I love about it, is that when you apply it, it goes on a little wet.  It allows it to stick right where you need it, and then it dries out and is just like the regular powder product.  For most of us that need this type of product, you need it to stick "where the sun don't shine"!  Most of my readers know that I'm an avid cyclist.  If you're a rider you know what I mean, but if you're not a rider, you can probably appreciate what goes on inside the cycling shorts after 100 miles on the bike.  Heck, maybe the thought of it is why you're not a rider!  As an aside, I'll be riding 200 miles in one day in less than a month.  This ride is to honor my friend Karen Petty who passed away from Pancreatic Cancer.  All proceeds from the Karen Petty Double Century  will support the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.  You can bet your bottom dollar that I'll have a can of the new No Mess Gold Bond Spray along in the support vehicle on ride day, just imagine how nice that cooling spray will feel after being in the saddle for 14 hours!

I've been using the Gold Bond spray for 2 reasons.  Keeping my feet dry while at work is first.  I'm a project manager for a construction company, and I always where boots to work. That coupled with driving around in my old beat up 1996 Chevy Truck with no air conditioning is a recipe for stanky feet and athletes foot.  Since I've starting using the Gold Bond Spray, there has been an incredible decrease in the gag factor from my wife and three daughters, when I take off the boots at the end of the day. Also my feet are starting to approach something that I can present in a public setting, for example flip flops.  I could clear a path in a crowded room when people used to see my "dogs" headed their way - before the Gold Bond Spray worked it's magic on my feet for the last 2 weeks. Secondly I've been using the spray pre and post ride for all of my cycling outings.  I have noticed a marked improvement in chafing that normally occurs, and an improved heal time between riding efforts.  As a rider this is important when you end you're summer a little plumper and more out of shape then you should be, and you really need to squeeze extra rides in to make up for it!  200 miles in a day is no joke!  The beauty of the spray can is that you can direct that cooling and sweat absorbing spray where the sun shines least, and it is darned easy to do!  

The short story is, if you ever sweat, then this stuff is for you.  Whether you're a man or a woman, this product deserves a place in the medicine cabinet.  I highly recommend this new innovative product from a company that has been the "Gold" standard in keeping us cool and dry for over 100 years! Well done Gold Bond!

High and Dry!

Wacky Dad