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Here is a recipe from the Lake Austin Spa that I recently tried and loved. I’m a chili fan, but I don’t eat it often because usually its not made very healthy. This is a vegetarian version, but still tastes great! Especially if you love lentils. I’m amazed at how thick and filling this recipe is, considering its made primarily of water and spices! However, there are a few tweaks I made to the recipe, for simplicity’s sake…
*I bought my lentils from the bulk section at Whole Foods. I used green lentils for the first batch of chili I made. The second batch I used orange. It just depended what was in stock! I’m not a lentil expert, but I am guessing they are one in the same.
*I used tomato paste, not puree. Not really sure where to find the puree and the paste does the job just fine!
*When the recipe first calls for you to add water, I put in 4 cups. I added a 5th cup at the end when it calls for you to check the seasonings.
*I skipped the food processor step the second go round and really, I don’t notice a big difference.
I’ve been an Elvis fan for 21 years and I finally, finally attended Chuy’s Annual Elvis Birthday Bash. And let me just say… I felt like a kid in a candy store. The whole time my face most likely resembled Charlie Bucket as he wondered through Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. It was amazing.
Amy, her mom, Suz, Jay and I attended the celebration. I’m sure it was much more fun for me than them, but they looked like they had a good time.
They had a real live Elvis impersonator there who was actually one of the better ones I’ve seen. Nothing will ever top the impersonator at my 7th bday, but I have seen a lot worse. He took breaks during the set to ask random Elvis trivia questions and hand out prizes. Being the nut that I am, I was determined to win. I used Amy’s height advantage, making her raise her hand when I was ready to answer the question, figuring that since she’s taller he’d see her first. I think I definitely achieved dork status during this game. The audience was pretty stunned at my ability to answer the question, without having been read the entire question. The sequence looked like this…
Elvis: What was the tropical movie…
Emily: [Elbow to Amy's arm!]
Amy: [Hand raised!]
Emily: BLUE HAWAII!
Elvis: did Angela Lansbury co-star?
Can I get a boo-ya? Elvis was impressed and handed me a sweet coaster as my prize. That’s not the only Elvis item I ended up taking home with me. You know I also got two t-shirts, three cups, two buttons, a fake tattoo and an Elvis mask. By the end of the night I resembled either a bag lady or a kid walking out of Disneyland for the first time.
After dinner, we took an Elvis Presley Memorial Combo dinner back to Perry and watched the rest of the big game. We also dove into my Elvis Pie, which will become a tradition, and let me tell you… it was good. It’s not the prettiest lookin’ thing ever, but it sho’ did taste fine.
And don’t think I skipped out on the PB&B sandwich yesterday. I had one for lunch…
This was probably the most festive Elvis’ birthday celebration I’ve ever had. Thank ya, thank ya very much, friends!
Today is a real special day. Not only is it Elvis’ Birthday, but its also my 100th blog post. I think its fitting. Elvis would have been 74 today.
Today is a day of celebration. A time to reflect on how the world is a better place having had Elvis, even if for just 42 short years. I honor his birthday in a number of ways. I Tivo all the Elvis movies that are set to air. I eat a peanut butter and banana sandwich. I listen to Elvis all day long. And this year I’m adding two new traditions to the list. Amy and I are going to Chuy’s tonight for their Elvis Bash and afterwards we are going to eat some of the chocolate/peanut butter/banana pie that I made last night. It has at least 10,000 calories in it, I’m sure.
Continuing with the tradition I started back in August, I have a new Top 10 Things Elvis list for you. Drumroll, please……………
Top 10 Facts About Elvis You Probably Didn’t Know
10. Graceland is the second most visited house in the United States. Coming in right behind the White House, of course.
9. Elvis was born in a shotgun shack and lived in housing projects as a child.
8. Elvis had a twin brother, Jesse, who died at birth.
7. Elvis and Priscilla first met and began dating when she was 14. He was 21.
6. Elvis didn’t drink. He drank too much brandy one night and it scared his mom, so he refused to ever drink again.
5. His typical breakfast included a pound of bacon (even in his thin days).
4. He once flew 22 friends to Denver on a whim to get peanut butter sandwiches. These particular sandwiches were made of a load of white bread, jar of peanut butter, and a pound of bacon. Estimated at 13,000 calories each.
3. On the day he died, he sang one final song, “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain”.
2. In December of 1970, Elvis met with President Nixon in the White House in order to become a “Federal Agent-at-Large” in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Elvis obtained the badge and in return thanked Nixon by giving him a handgun. This photo taken of them remains the most requested item from the National Archives (more requested than the Bill of Rights or the Constitution).
1. When Elvis died, he had about one million left in the bank. After his father died two years later, Priscilla took over the estate and decided to open it up to the public. Since then, Elvis Presley Enterprises has grown to be worth over $250 million dollars. Elvis routinely tops Forbes list of highest paid dead celebrities, clocking in at around $40 million a year.
Happy Birthday, Elvis.
Just as my day was starting to take a sour turn, it quickly changed with a walk, the sunshine and a phone call. I stepped out of the office today to take a little jaunt around the buildings on my block. The weather is absolutely delightful today and it help put me back in a good mood. That, and a phone call with Amanda… something that usually makes me laugh.
A couple of days ago she found something at her parents house that she emailed me. Why she still has this item is beyond me, but it was an “About Me” page I had created when I joined AXO, as a way for us all to get to know each other a little better. I’d like to think that I’ve been a pretty original person my whole life, but I am starting to think I may have taken a hiatus from originality when I first went to college. This is probably the lamest page I could have ever created. Dave Matthews? Friends? REK? Hates studying, class and cheap/fake/rude people?
I also can’t help but notice my inability to write in a straight line. I think if a handwriting expert were to analyze my writing, they would prescribe me as clinically depressed because I wrote sloping down.
If only I had stuck with Psychology.
R.I.P. Sarah and Sunny 
One of my favorite childhood movies was on TV yesterday. A League Of Their Own. My friend, Sarah, and I used to quote this movie back and forth all day, every day in 5th grade. I remember passing notes to each other in class where we would just quote the movie the whole time. A typical exchange would look like this…
Sarah: Lay off the high ones!
Emily: I like the high ones!
Sarah: Mule!
Emily: Nag!
[Giggling]
Sarah: Did you promise the cows you’d write?
Emily: Hey cowgirls, see the grass? Don’t eat it.
Sarah: Hey, no skin off my ashtabula. You want to stay here plucking cows, that’s your business.
Emily: Let’s make like a bread truck and haul buns ladies.
Sarah: Gracefully and grandly, gracefully and grandly.
Emily: Yeah, I’m just going home, grab a shower and a shave, give the wife a little pickle-tickle and I’m on my way.
[Uncontrollable giggling]
Sarah was the queen of note writing. Everyone traded notes with her and so she was constantly busy scrambling off responses to everyone. I attribute this to the fact that she was like the Kelly Taylor of our class. She used to “go out” with a Dylan-esque guy, she had white-blonde hair and she knew all the gossip. I’m pretty sure one time I got upset with her because everyone else was getting notes with juicy gossip, whereas I was stuck with A League Of Their Own quotes. Such is life.
It wasn’t until high school that we came across probably our most favorite line from that movie. And out of context it’s not really that funny. But when you watch it, it’s pretty darn goofy. Dottie and Kit are in the middle of an argument when Helen, all proper-like, comes around the corner, where everyone has gathered to listen to the fight, and asks with a giddy excitement…
Helen: Has anyone seen my new red hat?
Dottie: Oh piss on your hat.
Helen: Well, that was uncalled for.
I tried to find a clip of this exchange on youtube, but was out of luck. If you want to see an impersonation sometime, just ask me.
Yesterday, I met with a new trainer at a different LA Fitness in hopes of maybe starting to get my money’s worth out of them. I’m still bitter about the hoodwinking, so I just want to get the THIRTY sessions I have left over with. And maybe get ripped (as ripped as this body can get) in the process.
My new trainer, Odell, played football in college and in the pros a bit. He has a degree AND certification. I don’t know what my old trainer had, but so far Odell is the man. I can barely walk today. I am in pain. It feels like someone is stabbing my quads with a large knife every time I stand up. He only had 30 minutes with me yesterday and not only was I spent, but so was my stinky t-shirt. It was drenched. Each time I would do a pushup, three drops of sweat would fall, forming a puddle underneath me. I warned him, “I’m sorry but I sweat a lot“. He said, “It’s cool”.
As good as this news is, I’m slightly concerned that its going to get back to my old trainer that I thought he didn’t do a good job. Odell asked me who I had been training with and why I was switching trainers and I told him I wasn’t getting results. And, there was a trainer at the gym yesterday who is friends with my old trainer, so yeah… I think I am screwed. I know they must all talk. Everyone talks at work, its a way to get through the monotony of work. So, now I’m not sure whether or not I can step foot in the Las Colinas LA Fitness again. I liked my old trainer as a person, he was cool and I thought we were tight. I just wasn’t satisfied doing the same 4 machines every time. Odell didn’t use one machine.
I can feel the bitterness slowly melting away… as well as my ability to walk normally.
Rocky and I went for a walk this evening, braving the arctic blast that’s blown through. I felt a lot like the Tin Man during his first scene in the Wizard of Oz when he’s starting to move around for the first time in years. Since today I am unable to bend my knees, every time the wind blew I’d get top heavy and start gaining momentum in one direction until the wind would blow me the other way. It was slightly dangerous.
Oil can. Oil can.
Happy New Year my fans! I hope everyone had a wonderful time ringing in the new year. We sure did. Over the last couple of years I’ve realized that I am not a huge fan of New Year’s Eve. It’s not so much the celebrating of a new year, its more that I think its a highly overrated night. Last year being a prime example. We went out fancy and ended up getting kicked out of a club into the freezing cold and then having to sit through a gentleman’s only poker party until 4am. Where’s Dick Clark when you need him?!?!?
This year, we resorted to just going with the flow. And it was just right. Amy, Mary and I went out to dinner at Coal Vines and then headed over to good friends of Suz & Jay’s to ring in the new year. We played Mexican domino’s, ate Laurie’s delicious peanut butter something-er-others and made loud noises with all the goofy instruments you make loud noises with when the clock strikes 12 on New Years. Amy desperately wanted an after party, but at 2 am it was way past grandma’s bedtime.
New Years Day was spent pretty swimmingly also. Mary, Suz, Jay and I went to Cafe Brazil for a late breakfast. We exchanged Christmas gifts and caffeinated little old me got another Starbucks giftcard. In classic a-hole style, I rambled on for 5 minutes about how I had gotten at least 5 Starbucks giftcards over the holidays. And then I open Suz’s gift. Do’h. But, really, someone like me can never have too much coffee. I only wish wealth could be measured in Starbucks money.
We all then went over to Suz’s afterwards to watch a movie and hangout, we even brought our furry friends along! We watched “Dan In Real Life” and apparently it never crossed my movie radar, but I really liked it. After the movie we watched 2 minutes of football and then The City. The beauty about MTV reality shows is you can never watch an episode too many times. Maybe because the shows are so real, it almost feels like people watching. Which is one of my favorite pastimes.
After a while of vegging on the flowered sofa, Daddy started cookin’ dinner. Baby, grandma and myself then took a walk to the store to get a few more ingredients. We had chips and guacamole to start. And dinner was Daddy’s famous black eyed pea goulash and some moist CORNBREAD. You just have to say it like that. Cause its CORNBREAD and it’s fo’ real.
It was a delicious meal and we felt like such a happy little family spending all day together. It was the perfect start to the new year and I am once again reminded about what wonderful friends I have!
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