Hamenopi

I sip on the cola flavored seltzer while writing. Fizz & Co Seltzers are similar to La Croix. By that I mean, it has a hint of a hint of flavor. If you're expecting this to be a unnoticed change, you'll be disappointed. However, if you need some carbonation in a pinch, it works. The hidden big win with these drinks are mixers. Dr. Flavor or Cola works great with spiced rum! Warning, you may want to use less rum or it will overpower the seltzer. I learned the hard way. So if you drink, try a mixed beverage with less sugar, less sugar alcohol, and less alcohol. Healthy win. At least... healthier win. Talk Soon.

Why can geese fly so far? Community. Each bird flies a little in front of the other. This reduces the resistance for all behind.  Same way, I encourage you to leverage knowledge and experience of those before you. When you discover something interesting, share it with friends. Reduce their resistance when you can. Feel free to start here. Because the lead goose isn't always the same goose. They rotate constantly. Each goose gives to the flock as they can, not over burdening themselves.  This way none get burned out.  They don't lose their path. They make the long haul because it is a long haul. And it's a lot harder to do it by yourself. 

I am sitting, day 3, in an intensive training course. 32 hours in 4.5 days of automation engineering. So intensive, we don't leave for lunch. They cater it. Yesterday's lunch was pasta. It was a less than ideal situation. You'll come across a less than ideal situation. Train for the less ideal If you are dependant on the enviroment, you depend on the enviroment. There are times you can define your environment. You can manipulate the variables in the definition. You can simulate a lack when there isn't one. You can learn to compensate for that lack. In this case, you can learn how to skip a lunch, with a lunch at the ready. Because sometimes, you aren't ready to skip the lunch. Sometimes you need that lunch. But that's not always the case. But if you try skipping a lunch, you are more likely to skip than if you don't try. With practice, you might find, you don't even need lunch. Not the food. With practice, you can go to the mexican food restaurnt with ...

Every push for change come with complications. Some hurdles are a speed bump. Others, impassible. But impassible does not mean impossible. Each day is a new opportunity to learn, to grow. And as we grow, impassible starts becoming possible. We can learn how to overcome the impassible obstacles.

Flying back from San Francisco I had a revelation. You see, we had a lay over in Dallas at Love field. However, we started descending and slowing down before Wichita Falls. I thought it odd. I mean, how long does it take a plane to stop? I checked Google Maps today and this is my result. Over 2 hours by car. I think about how others in the past have told me how they are upset. They just can’t seem to cut carbs. It’s too hard! Well, unless you are a harrier jump jet, I reckon it would be. Now, I’m calling no one a Boeing 737, but I imagine in this case a typical jet can be analog to a typical person. Some people need to descend and slow down gradually. Some people need to lap the airport a few times. Some people are gonna say “Screw this” and look for another airport. Some will tell flight control, or whoever is leading you to ‘Eff Off’ and try it themselves. And some people will decide to trust the system, get lined up, take their time, going at their ...

Last night I saw Hamilton The Musical with the touring cast at the Hobby Center for Performing Arts in Houston. Wow! Now I know pretty much the entire script by heart. And yes, I was mouthing along with the entire cast. But the genius of the choreography blew me away! There’s a ton of context in the music which just comes to life in the performance. There is nuance thread into almost every line. The Musical blew my mind. I see why people pay so much for it. What’s more, I feel like I could go back 3 more times. Each time, pulling back another layer of complexity woven into the heart of the performance. It was that good.

Hypocrisy It’s always there But more and more, I learn how to listen to it. To leverage it. I talk about non perfect diet, non perfect exercise. But where is my non perfect blog post? Where is my non perfect recipe, or get together? I’m a hypocrite, but in hypocrisy, I see places to pivot. I see room to gain ground and grow. It may be a dead end. Or there may be gold at the end of the tunnel. But I must dig to find out.

One the most recent questions asked was: Can I dink Diet Soda? If you can thrive without them, by all means drop them as soon as possible... Drink Water! Carry on! But most people who are able to do that... Those people don't ask these kinds of questions. People who ask this question, need their soda. Are you following me here? A typical person who would ask a question like this isn't just going to put down the carbonated beverage forever and never look back. They've probably tried to quit soda before and failed hard. No shame. Sugar is a hell of a drug. So, my answer to someone asking this is... Hell Yes! You can drink diet sodas on keto if you are drinking normal sodas. But this is not a permission to guzzle gallons of sucralose or aspartame a day. I want you to get off those diet sodas ASAP! Switch from soda to diet. But as soon as you transitioned to diet, pivot again to something like sparkling or flavored carbonated water. That way, if you re...

After posting a picture of my Scrambled Egg Muffins (or Mini Quiches), my friend Brenda asked me for the recipe. I listed what was on top of my head reflecting on what I did the night before, covering the basics. Eggs Cheese Bacon Random Spices... Job well done... Now everyone is a perpetual Gordon Ramsay now, right? Think again Justin... She asked me to clarify what random spices my random spices were. The thing is... It depends.  It's not an easy answer. I have tons. So... I figure I'd list some of them here. By The Way! Do you make Mini Quiche? How would you make yours? I'd love to know. Let's recipe swap. !!!RECIPES!!! Rockabilly Chili Mini Quiche Spice Blend: Chili Powder Garlic Powder Cumin Oregano Paprika Onion Powder Thyme Salt Ingredients: Egg Heavy Whipping Cream (or Whole Milk) Spice Blend Salt Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Shredded Jalapeno, Chopped Ground Beef Bac...

It's been a month since I've done a blog post. Sorry. Life has a habit of carrying us away, right? Well, I guess it's time to climb back on the horse.  These blogs help keep me accountable to myself. This blog I was feeling pretty Buzzfeedy. I decided to go with something easy and actionable. Breakfast eggs. I've been cooking up eggs for about half a year now, pretty much daily.  I have a lot of pictures. A lot suck, but some are nice. I'm going to share some which pop out to me for various reasons. Enjoy! Eggs 8 Ways You can only cook eggs so many ways, right? Well, I still haven't found my limit. Here are 8 of my favorite ways (so far) the make eggs. What are your favorite ways to make eggs? In a low carb taco topped with avocado and salsa In a bell pepper stuffed with salsa and cheese Wrapped in bacon, stuffed with spinach and mushrooms, baked like muffins With kalamata olive...

It's October! Today is the day! I am back on the Strict Keto train! Well, at least, I'm back to logging my food. Keeping myself accountable. All the events in September I used as an excuse. But that's okay. Cause the wagon waits. And I'm back on! Or so I thought. Morning started well with my awesome sous chef John Phillip and I making Fatty Eggs.  He loves his with a blend of shredded mexican cheese and grated parmesean (Which we pronounces Farma John Cheese).  Here's the breakdown of Fatty Eggs. After church, the kids voted on wings. It was also game day. Mistakes were made. Ha! Loaded Waffle fries apparently have a ton more carbs than I thought they did.  Still, I took my shots and kept on fighting while watching the Houston Texans do things unholy to the Tennesse Titans while nomming down my buffalo lemon pepper wings. Excellent wings! By the time we were done, we decided to discover... Disc...

So many obsessed with a perfect, a proper diet. It's a nice concept. But we need to be able to handle an improper diet to some level. Of course, it needs to be introduces carefully and gradually. Don't just be strong in a strict diet. Let's see what happens when we aren't on the diet. You need to know off diet because you'll get off diet. When will you go off diet? Today. Tomorrow. Next week. In a month. It's going to happen. Challenges are there all the time. I can meal prep and meal prep all my life, but if I'm somewhere where I can't meal prep. I'm going to fall off the wagon. But if you've learned how to diet outside of the strict dogma. Outside of the meal prep, meal planning. Then you'll be okay. People miss this because they are obsessed with a perfect diet. A proper diet. There is no proper diet. There is just improper preperation. Yes, learn the basics, develop foundations. Like if you are keto, learn your 20...

Our planned Kinda Keto Facebook Community get together 'MEAT UP' party was interrupted by Hurricane Harve... So we decided to shift it to Friday for those who could make it. It was a blast. Dinner consisted of jalapeno poppers and a home made of scratch sausage mozzarella bake.  It was Amazing! Sausage Mozzarella Bake Ingredients 1 onion 1 bell pepper Fresh mozzarella 1 package of Italian sausage 1/4th cup of oil 20+ ounces tomato sauce Directions Cook sausage 8 minutes (4 minutes each side) in oil, then set aside, Cook sliced onions and peppers for 10-12 minutes, Assemble all in cast iron or baking dish Pour enough tomato sauce to almost cover Top with sliced mozzarella Bake at 375f for 20 minutes Broil for 3-5 minutes on high Pictures

via Instagram I decided to link up Instagram with Blogger for a while. We'll see how this works. I get a lot of questions about what I eat. I take a lot of pictures of what I eat. Maybe I can recipe it out for interested parties. Taco Tuesday Keto Style Taco Tuesday has been a staple in our family for years. But how do you make a taco meal without beans, rice, and tortillas? It's actually pretty easy. Lettuce wraps I recommend romaine lettuce. Make sure you wash it first. Green leaf and red leaf also work to a lesser extent. They just don't hold the way romain or even iceberg do. Butter It also helps to add copious amounts of butter (or other fat) in the cooking process if you're keto. Butter enhances the flavor and ups satiety. When you add butter, you're full after 1 or 2 delicious keto tacos and not hungering for pesky rice and bean carbage. Queso Frecso It also helps to add cheese. Pictured in this shot is fried queso frecso. After...

Some you know along side low carb / keto, I also started dabbling in fasting. It's not something I recommend without doing due diligence. Last night I stopped eating by 8 PM (for Game of Thrones). I finished a beer during it but it was a Michelb Ultra (does that even count?) This morning I had a large cup of coffee with a single tablespoon of cocnut oil. I've been refilling a 20 oz blender bottle a little more often than once an hour. With each fill, I add a pinch of lite-salt, a sodium potasium blend for electrolytes. In the past I also added stevia blend (or mio) for flavor. Since 8 PM, I've had 120 Calories, I did a great workout for lunch. I'm kicking but at work with my project. I have had a few discomforts in the stomach which in the past I'd mistake for hunger. Later my stomach growled a few times. After about 15 minutes, it too passed. I'm not down any weight from morning to lunch by a significant amount. I'm hydrated...

I've been eating a lot of cheese on this keto diet. And people have been asking me a lot of questions about keto at work. We have a lot of people at work who eat Indian Food. Of course someone brought up saag paneer. It was in the stars! Now, my wife and I love saag paneer. What's more,  it's the perfect keto recipe. Cheam Cheese Spinach Spice Just forget the bread (or naan) and you're in business! So I found some local shops which carried paneer. And made two meals Saag Paneer At the South Asian Grocery I went to, I picked up Miracle Marsala, Chile Paneer and a block of non creamy paneer. If you don't know which one, ask. It won't always be in English. At home, I microwaved a bag of frozen spinach, then dropped in into a skillet, cooking it to reduce water. While reducing, I greased another skillet and started to fry the paneer. While frying the paneer, I added spice and cream to the spinach, tasting for fl...

July we had a Kinda Keto get together. It was just an excuse to meet up, eat meat and cheese, and play games. We also drank a few non keto beverages. That's why we're kinda. It was a great day. Benny finally got to meet The Jets. Anne Marie made this wonderful keto board (Ignore the pita chips). Burgers grilled by me and offered with both bread and lettuce wrap options. We even had a veggie tray with our two favorite veggies, sausage and cheese. Once fed and the kids playing in the other room, we broke out with the games. Cards Against Humanity is always a favorite We even tried Betrayal at House on the Hill. But we were being a little too social and not paying enough attention to give that game it's due. So we switched to Hedbandz. Great time was had by all. It even grabbed the attention of our youngest who demanded to bedelt in. I love the card he drew.

We love eggs in our house. Me, my wife, my kids. We are all fans. So for breakfast, eggs get made. A lot. One interesting thing I noticed. My kids, they are a ton more behaved, less wild, more ready to listen and respond when they have eggs. It's night and day compared to when they have cereal or sugury, carby breakfasts. That in itself is a major win in my household. Let's pay homage Ode to the Scramble Egg Scrambled eggs, ground meat, and feta Scrambled eggs and spinach. Cream your spinach for extra keto points. Scrambled egg, ground meat, creamed spinach, and cheese crumble bowl. Scramble eggs and leftover steak bowl. Served with broccoli and olives. Traditional scramble eggs and bacon breakfast. Cheesy scrambled eggs and bacon with pimento cheese. Because some days you're all about upping that fat content first thing in the morning. Scrambled egg and ground taco meat on a ...