A Love Story That Breaks Veggie Hearts

Absolutely hilarious

I try to read a lot.  Sometimes I am successful and other times, I will let days slip by me without ever cracking a binding. So, while enduring a long layover in an airport recently (I honestly can't remember where I was) I spied Food: A Love Story on the shelf, which has been on my "to read" list for quite some time.

I'm not going to give a lengthy review here - I honestly laughed OUT LOUD about every other page of this book. Most of the time spent reading this book was on a plane, so just imagine me busting a gut next to some random stranger trying to sleep. Whoops! It was so outlandishly funny that I could pick it up and read it again, right now. Instead of a review, here are my favorite jokes, which mostly happen to bash vegetables.Read more »

Pounding the Pavement and Inhaling Protein

 

My feet and legs hurt - I think it's from kicking so much butt by breaking my 10K PR a week and a half ago. Or it could be because I need new running shoes. Either or.

Whatever the reason, I better get them quick, fast and in a hurry since I'm less than a month out from the race Kelly and I are running in Kansas City on April 18. Boy howdy, it's coming up fast!

From last Saturday to this coming Saturday, I'm scheduled to run roughly 35h miles but I'm a horrible traveling runner, meaning I don't do a good job of sticking to my training when I'm out-of-state, so I'll probably be relegated to about 25ish miles. Not bad, but not great.

I'm having trouble deciding/noticing if I'm getting any faster or more resilient during this round of training. I live in a holler among the Flint Hills, so GPS reception is sketchy and at any given time my Nike+ running app could be telling me I've run 1/2 mile farther than I actually have, which [falsely] leads me to believe I'm running 8:15 minute miles for 10 miles straight. Impossible? Absolutely not. Probably inaccurate? Yes.

So while I'm not sure if I'm going to break my PR next month, one thing that I'm certain about is that this girl is getting hangry quite often. Generally after a long run.

One of my favorite beef meals - smoked beef brisket.

After a long run, which I personally quantify as anything over six miles, I have a noticeable desire for protein, specifically meat. When I say “noticeable,” I mean that I must eat some sort of meat within a half hour or I may chew my arm off to suffice. Sometimes I will eat a few slices of lunch meat to hold me over until I can prepare a full meal or sometimes I will schedule my long runs so that I arrive back at my house roundabout the time my husband has finished grilling lunch or supper, which allows me to dive into a burger, steak or chop almost immediately after my workout. If I don’t get some sort of meat or protein in my system pronto, I feel very sluggish and have a hard time functioning the rest of the day.

Give me all of the flank steak. All. of. it.

Why am I craving protein? Well, that's easy: protein helps support a strong, lean body which is obviously important to me. Furthermore, a high-protein diet helps build and replenish muscles while at the same time providing the "full" feeling meaning if I'm full from steak I'm not chowing down on Cheetos or cupcakes. I get most of my protein from beef and pork but I am also a huge fan of scrambled eggs with ham and cheese and a big glass of milk. I personally believe that breakfast for supper is one of life's underappreciated treats. Actually, I think breakfast food anytime is pretty much the bees knees.

Anyhow, since I have no desire to stop running due to my fondness of my current pant size, I've got to devise a way to get more protein into my system in order to keep the Cheetos and cupcakes out of my system. Those items tend to mysteriously disappear shortly after they are purchased. Weird.

Next week, I'll have a protein update that I'm excited to share, a new meaty recipe and hopefully, some new kicks!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

10 Gifts for A Carnivore or Meatatarian

I've seen a lot posts about gifts for farmers and ranchers, which is fabulous except I don't have a huge herd of cattle or sheep. I merely have three horses and some scruffy, lovable canines. However, what I do have is a hankering for meat and penchant for incorporating it into many aspects of my life. First, if you need a refresher of what a meatatarian is, read this post and come back. If you are familiar with this delicious and healthy dietary pattern, read on to find some cool gift ideas to buy for the resident meat lover in your family or circle of friends. These are my top 10 gift ideas for meat-loving folks and they run the gamut of Christmas gift types.

For the decorating meatatarian:

1. Beef Vintage Art Print

I would love to have this in my kitchen!

2. Meat. Yes, It's Meat.

I have purchased this for a family member but no one has bought it for me yet- c'mon folks!

For the grill master in your household:

3. K-State steak branding iron


My stepdad has this but I need one too!

4. A giftbox of Kansas City strip steaks from the Kansas City Steak Company.

Perfect for a Christmas Eve meal!

Of course, you can't forget about the style-conscious meat lover in your home:

5. Steak t-shirt

Yum!

6. Meatatarian: A Personal Choice t-shirt

This is by far my favorite!

 And let us not forget the lovers of bacon. Isn't that everyone?!

7. "Bacon is Meat Candy" - Bacon of the Month Club

Bacon every month?! Yes, please!

8. Two words. Bacon Vodka. You can purchase it in most states (sorry, Ohio and Kansas!).

And these last two are great for any meat eater - I am actually hoping to get a really nice meat thermometer myself!

9. The Healthy Beef Cookbook

 

 10. A reliable meat thermometer and remember to use it! See here for recommended cooking temperatures per the USDA.

Don't fire up the grill without it!

Do you have other ideas? Please feel free to leave them in the comments below!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

How To Manipulate A Man with Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

That caught your attention didn't it?

I have been in a very domestic mood lately - cooking, decorating, not letting six loads of laundry accumulate before I notice them etc. This is partially driven by Pinterest and all the people who seemingly live perfect home-baked, hand-crafted, designer DIY decorated lives. *not feasible for the FroBuzz household*. However, I do find a lot of joy in recipe searching on Pinterest and have been pretty successful in terms of trying new things. Among the success stories are crockpot chicken teriyaki, two-tone ziti pasta, cheddar bay biscuits (Red Lobster quality - seriously spot on moist, garlicky and cheesy) and then there are these:

I realize this is not the best quality picture - I'm not a foodie photographer 

Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies. Y'all, these are so good your tongue will come out of your face and smack you in the head. They're the perfect combination of sweet and salty and are chewy heaven.

So back to that title - manipulating a man is as easy as bacon and chocolate mixed together. Then transform two American favorites into a portable form and you have the perfect cookie. If you're looking to have someone paint your house, take out the trash, rub your back or feed your horses - whip up a batch of these. Actually, whip up a double because you can't stop at just one.

I had some extras from a Super Bowl party and decided that carnivore-turned vegan for two weeks- turned back carnivore David could use a few bacon infused goodies so I lugged a baggie of deliciousness to Tampa for Cattle Industry Convention last week and he didn't complain. At the request of several people (Mom and others) here is the recipe (which is on my Pinterest recipe board if you're interested in following):

Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

5 strips maple smoked bacon (8 strips if you want extra to sprinkle on the cookie)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
3/4 teaspoon maple extract
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until browned and cooked through.  Drain on a paper-towel lined plate and chop finely.

In a medium bowl whisk flour, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars; about three minutes.  Add egg and maple extract and beat until just blended.  Add the dry ingredients; beat until just incorporated and the flour is dissolved.  Stir in the chocolate chips, walnuts and bacon.

Drop one large Tablespoon of cookie dough 2-3 inches apart.  Make sure you only do about 6 cookies on a sheet.  If they spread and touch each other, you will have a mess.  Bake 10-12 minutes in a 350 degree oven only until the edges are brown and slightly soft in the center.  Let them finish cooking out of the oven, on the pan.  The edges will get too dark if you leave them in the oven.  Transfer to a wire rack and let completely cool.

Hope you enjoy them. I think Dr. Capper and David did judging from this photo evidence...

Already counting down to Nashville in 2014!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~ 

p.s. for the record, because I could see people making assumptions, I did not manipulate any of the folks in the photos above. I am saving that for the Ninja. but I have to remove the chocolate chips from the cookies 

Bacon For A Birthday

I am quite confident in my gift giving abilities. I work really hard to give thoughtful gifts for birthdays, weddings, Christmas etc. Just ask The Ninja, our first Christmas together I gave him a personalized leather padfolio with his initials and a PowerCat on the back. It was an awesome gift and he thought I was an awesome girlfriend (duh). I eventually became the awesome wife. But I digress.

So, I am especially thrilled to have found this next gift for the meat lovers in my life. I just haven't decided who is going to get it yet. Both my stepdad and my father-in-law have birthdays in January and maybe one or both of them are going to get a subscription to Zingerman's Bacon Club. Did you catch that last part.

Bacon. Club.

A membership that provides you a pound of artisan bacon every. single. month. What carnivore wouldn't love that?! I first saw it in the Taste of Home my mom sent me in the mail - the cover was adorned with cookies and sweets so of course I'm going to read it. I was so excited about this club that I Instagrammed the image of bacon in the magazine. Obsessed, folks.

You can order a 3-month or 6-month subscription for yourself or a friend (or a friendly blogger named Buzzard) and the varieties range from Applewood Smoked to Long Pepper. Wowza, my mouth is watering already. Yummo.

This club has been so successful that it has recruited six vegetarians. Six people who have sworn off meat as part of their value system were brought back from the dark side by bacon. Lovely sweet bacon - it must be why they call it the "crossover meat." I love bacon almost as much as I love beef jerky. And this is my favorite brand of beef jerky (my birthday is in April y'all) and it's made in God's country aka southeastern Kansas. Wow - this post has gone from gift giving to beef jerky. Great transformation.

So what do you think? Is a bacon club membership a good gift? What are some of the best gifts you've given (or received)? Was food involved?

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Bacon's Debut at Racetrack

Are you a bacon fan? Me too and I miss it tremendously down here in Australia. They have bacon of course, but it's nothing like our good ole' corn fed, hickory smoked, crispy American bacon.

Sidenote: I've noticed after being in Australia that Americans really like to combine sweet and salty flavors -- I love bacon and syrup, for example.

 Anywho, the Charlotte Motor Speedway has their own take on the sweet/salty flavor combo, the "funnel bacakonator." Yes, a funnel cake with strawberry and chocolate syrup and bacon pieces all over. The writer of this article isn't sure of combining strawberry flavored syrup with bacon but I can confirm that strawberry jam and bacon on toast is to-die-for.

Here is a picture of the amazing creation, courtesy here:

I'm drooling at the sight of it.

What's your favorite bacon creation? Check out these posts for more bacon on Buzzard's Beat.

http://buzzardsbeat.blogspot.com/2010/07/bacon-do-i-smell-bacon.html

http://buzzardsbeat.blogspot.com/2011/04/do-you-have-phb-in-baconology.html

Until next time,

~ Buzzard ~

Do You Have a Ph.B. in Baconology?

Are you a bacon lover? I sure am and boy, do I miss American bacon. It's just not the same over here in the land down under but, I digress.

This evening, I was catching up on some reading and saw a post on www.meatingplace.com about the Android phone market coming out with a new application...... FOR BACON!

In the new app, Baconnection, (which has already been launched and can be downloaded for a mere $0.99 - can you say 'bargain'?) users will be able to peruse bacon facts, play a bacon game (where they will earn “bacon badges”) and download recipes.
Reader's Digest Association, the company responsible for the amazing new app, noted that "players will aim to connect ordinary ingredients to bacon recipes in 6 steps or less, earning Bacon Badges along the way, such as Super Swine, Porker, Swinestein, Piglette and Boss Hog. With Bacon Bits Trivia, players can become Baconnoisseurs or earn a Ph.B. in Baconology."

Holy crap. I can't wait to get back to the states and get a Droid. Please, if you download this, message me and let me know how utterly epic it is.

Oh, iPhone users, it will be available to you soon. But not soon enough.

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Bacon? Do I smell bacon?

It's kind of hard to get that Beggin Strips commercial out of your head.  Bacon? Do I smell bacon? Makes me hungry thinking about it.  Is there another food that is so commonly used to make stuff better?

Think about it?  Want to instantly make a filet mignon even more delicious?  Wrap bacon around it.
Guess what adding bacon to a salad does?  Transforms that salad into a meal.  I can never get enough bacon and in honor of my friend Brandon, who is affectionately nicknamed "The Baconator" because of his graduate work on the savory dish, I have decided to compile a list of all things bacon. Enjoy!

Bacon flavored vodka -- I discovered this while traveling abroad in Europe last March.  Not exactly my cup of tea but at least it's unique.

The Bacon Explosion - the Ninja and The Baconator made this heart-valve-clogging concoction last fall and it was really good!  (This has sausage in it too - doubly good)!

Jim Gaffigan loves bacon and has done several hilarious stand up shows involving the delectable meat.  The salad becoming an entree joke is from one of his shows.

Foods I think are made much better with bacon:  mac n' cheese, loin eyes (pork and beef), salads, any kind of pasta, toast and strawberry jelly (don't knock it till you've tried it), lil' smokies -- the list goes on and on. 

and for man's best friend - don't forget coupons for Beggin' Strips! 

For more cool bacon recipes, information and fun ideas go to http://bacontoday.com/  You'll love it!  There are also health facts on there that state that we must have fats in our diet to absorb fat soluble vitamins, aid with digestion by lubricating the intestine walls and fats aid with nutrient and metabolite diffusion across cell membranes.  Check out the rest of the healthy fat facts!  Remember to consume in moderation, of course.

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~