Two Stuffed Pizzas in Chicago

My favorite pizza is usually Neapolitan Style.  Very thin crust and a cracker like crispness.  But that’s not what Chicago Pizza is famous for.  The big item is Stuffed Pizza with thick crust and a two inch tall wall of crust around the edge.  Lots of gooey cheese and lots of options, each costing a couple of dollars, that can be added.  I like sausage.  While in Chicago recently, I tried two pizza restaurants.  Allegretti’s Pizzeria & Ristorante and Giordano’s Pizza. Stuffed Pizza is one of those foods that doesn’t translate well with a photo. The aroma, the mouth feel, and the amazing…

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Genghis Grill-In Awe of The Master

I’ve always been a fan of all you can eat places-who doesn’t love having more food than they can possibly eat?  Genghis Grill sell their buffet as either one bowl-about the size of a cereal bowl- or all you can eat.  The result is that some people don’t want to spend another couple of dollars and do their best to get all their money’s worth out the first bowl. I tend to get about one third meats and two thirds veggies and spices.  There are 13 different forms of protein from shrimp and scallops to beef and sausage and chicken.…

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Food Rules by Michael Pollan

One of the first books that really got me thinking about what I eat and how I eat it was Micahel Pollan’s In Defense of Food.  His mantra for this book was simple-Eat Food, Not Too Much, Mostly Plants.  Michael doesn’t care about Carbs or Fats-he cares about the chemical and the artificial hiding in plain sight pretending to be food.  The villain in his stories is The Western Diet-lots of processed food, lots of the holy trinity of fat, salt, and sugar, and not too many vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Food Rules contain a list of 64 guidelines…

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Why We Get Fat

Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It talks about how the world changed after World War II and how everyone who has been drinking the Calories In/Calories Out Kool Aide is wrong.  Once upon a time some serious people studied why humans get fat, why rats get fat, and why old Doc Atkins was right.  I have my own theories as to why no one cares-it has to do with the billions and billions of dollars made from fast food, dieting, supplements, exercise products, and doctors who have no interest whatsoever in curing anyone of anything. Ok,…

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A Fistful of Vitamins

After a month or so on the UltraMind Solution diet and lifestyle plan, I am feeling much better.  Of course, feeling better is one of those things that is often hard to put a finger on.  I used to be really big on trying every kind of vitamin and supplement I could find.  A lot of this stuff worked wonders-for the first week or two.  Bee pollen, royal jelly, phosphatidylserine, CoQ-10 & N-Acetyle-somethng, B vitamins, and of course, coffee in all it’s wonderous forms.  I am also a huge fan of Taurine, the stuff that give Red Bull it’s kick.…

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Ratatouille, Three Bean Chili, and Sweet Potato Hash with Eggs

The second week of my Six Weeks using the UltraMind Solution has seen me tempted a few time.  Mainly it is bread and crackers and not double whoppers that I am thinking about. But, as with most things, out of sight and out of mind works for me.  And there is a lot of gluten free stuff out there.  The recipes are all pretty amazing as well. My favorite dish so far is the Three Bean Chili, which is very good and keeps well in the fridge while I am traveling.  Finding those flax crackers at one of my cheapie…

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Prosciutto de Parma on The Cheap

There are two famous types of Italian prosciutto crudo exported abroad: prosciutto di Parma, from Parma, and prosciutto di San Daniele, from the San Daniele del Friuli area, in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. The prosciutto di Parma has a slightly nutty flavor from the Parmigiano Reggiano whey that is sometimes added to the pigs’ diet. The prosciutto di San Daniele, on the other hand, is darker in color and sweeter in flavour. ~wikipedia I don’t recall the first time I had prosciutto, but I do recall being very impressed with the aged ham.  It is usually slice very thin and…

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Two Frogs Grill

Over the past few years we have seen the billboard for Two Frogs Grill on our way to or from Oklahoma City.  This is a picture of two smiling frogs tied together. This billboard gives no hint as to what, exactly, the Two Frog Grill is. I was expecting either a home style place like Cracker Barrel or maybe an S&M club with a lot of leather and chrome. Turns out that the Two Frog Grill is a blues club, or at least it seemed to be the day we were there.  There is a small stage and the walls…

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Trading Almonds for Fritos

Not long ago I read Change Your Brain, Change Your Body: Use Your Brain to Get and Keep the Body You Have Always Wanted.  This is a peppy little book with an agenda, to get the reader-in this case me-to stop poisoning himself and start eating foods that will heal what ails him.  At one point he mentions how hard this process was hard for him, because everywhere he went, he found that people wanted to kill him. Ok, maybe kill him is a little bit of an overstatement.  He found that everywhere he went, people wanted to feed him,…

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James Coney Island

I like hotdog places.  They all have that kind of carnival feel to them.  Bright colors and outgoing people working beind the counter. And then they sell hotdogs, so what’s not to like? The James Coney Island is a Houston hotdog place that started doing business 1923.  For some reason a couple of Greeks opened a New York style hotdog joint in Texas and I’m glad that they did. I had a couple of Sonora Dogs and those were pretty sweet.  This is a hot dog that is pretty popular in Mexico, hence the whole Sonora thing.  It’s a hotdog…

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