From the Inside Out

I know Jesus can appear anywhere, at any time and in any form, but the “Jesus sightings” are getting out of control. Seriously, do you think he chooses to reveal himself on a rock, in wood paneling, a tree, planter, fish stick, mug, pumpkin, spoon, grilled cheese sandwich, window, telephone pole, cat, cloud, frying pan, sink, moth, sonogram, french fry, or turtle shell?

C’mon…really?

What are these people smoking? Is it an attempt to get 15 minutes of fame, or are they crazy? What’s even more disconcerting are all of the people who come out to see it or take pictures. Some are emotionally moved by the experience — crying and saying it’s Jesus talking to them or giving them a sign.

Now, if someone finds deep meaning by seeing Jesus in a frying pan, who am I to judge? God does work in mysterious ways; however, I am, and will always be, skeptical.

I groan each time I hear about one of these “sightings” because I don’t think God creates images of himself on rocks, screen doors or grilled cheese sandwiches.

Why, oh why, do the news stations continue to cover these crazy stories? It’s beyond me. I just don’t get it.

The latest claim is from a North Texas family who says they discovered Jesus in a bag of 99-cent Cheetos. Dan Bell and his wife have lost their minds and claim that a two-inch tall figurine with extended arms is “Cheesus.” They aren’t the first family to make this claim, and they probably won’t be the last. Another family found “Cheesus” last year too.

So, what do you think: is it Cheesus or just plain Cheesy?

A few days ago, I wrote about an exciting new treat, the Holey Donut, a donut that is reportedly low in fat and tasty. I wasn’t sure if these donuts would live up to the hype so I decided to order a few and report back to everyone about them (oh, the sacrifices I make for my loyal blog readers).

Well, I’m happy to report that the donuts arrived today! They are prepared by hand and shipped straight from the store in New York, arriving via FedEx in a special cooler. Because they do not contain any hydrogenated vegetable shortening (bad, unhealthy stuff…yuck), they must remain frozen until they are consumed. It locks in the freshness and keeps them tasty.

I was excited about the experiment so I grabbed the container and ripped it open to inspect my little goodies. I had ordered three boxes — lemon-filled donut holes, glazed donuts with strawberry icing, and cinnamon strudel. The instructions state that the donuts are best served slightly warm and moist, so I popped the iced donut in the microwave and nuked it for about 15 seconds. I also left a few donut holes on the counter to allow them to thaw naturally.

Time for the experiment! The donuts looked tasty, but would they live up to the hype or taste like a cardboard TV dinner? I heard the saying, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” playing in my head. Undeterred, I grabbed the warm donut, raised it to my lips, and took a bite.

It was….fantastic! I don’t think anyone would be able to tell the difference between this treat and a normal, fat laden donut from a local specialty store — amazing!

When Gary arrived home, he agreed to sacrifice his taste buds for the sake of my blog experiment also. He sampled all of them and gave each an emphatic thumbs up. His favorite was the donut with strawberry icing and sprinkles. Yummy!

Do you love donuts, but hate the calories that come with them? Well, now there may be a way to have one without the other. The average donut has up to 20 grams of fat and as many as 480 calories. Whew, it takes a full hour of high impact kickboxing to burn off that one little donut!

Enter Holey Donuts, the holy grail for donut lovers. These low fat, low calorie donuts only have 3-4 grams of fat and 150-200 calories! What’s even better is that the reviews and testimonials state that these treats actually taste good — unlike many low fat alternatives. Holey Donuts attributes this to a revolutionary cooking process that avoids the deep fryer.

A wide variety of yummy selections are available including coconut cream pie, blueberry crumb cake, Boston cream, velvet strawberry frosted, and more. Traditional favorites like glazed donuts and donut holes are also available. It’s like a smorgasboard of low fat snacks.

I can’t endorse them personally since I haven’t eaten any yet, but I will order a few and report if they live up to the media hype. Stay tuned for my review in a future blog post. In the mean time, you can check ‘em out and order your own here.

Have you ever wished you could recreate your favorite dish from your favorite restaurants? Would you like to know how to make a Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll at home? If so, you may be in luck. In his books, author Todd Wilbur reveals secret formulas for duplicating the taste of dishes from America’s biggest restaurant chains.

Todd spends days at a time and dozens of attempts creating the perfect clone of famous brand-name products, and now you can benefit from his efforts. The recipes are simple and easy-to-follow. According to his website, these clones will fool even the most critical connoisseurs at a fraction of the cost of eating out. And it’s not just marketing hype, reviews from real consumers confirm that these formulas are remarkably close to the original.

You can buy the “Top Secret Restaurant Recipes” books, or you can peruse a list of Todd’s recipes online and purchase only the ones you want. Todd also shares a large number of his recipes for free on his website.

Here’s a short list of some of the restaurant chains that you’ll find on the site: Applebee’s, Chilis, Cheesecake Factory, Olive Garden, Outback Steakhouse, T.G.I. Friday’s, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, and Macaroni Grill. You can also find famous candy bar recipes, Girl Scout Cookie recipes and recipes from fast food joints such as Little Caesar’s, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Burger King, Panda Express, Wendy’s, KFC, Taco Bell and Auntie Anne’s Pretzels.

For those of you who are watching your weight, Todd even shares how you can re-create your favorite brand-name foods and restaurant recipes at a fraction of the calories in the privacy of your very own kitchen.

To learn more, visit the website here.

It happened slowly, an imperceptible change at first, but over time it became apparent something was terribly wrong. Who knows how long it had been happening before someone noticed — days, weeks, months? There’s no way to be certain. Even when I noticed, I wasn’t aware of the full extent of the problem. I thought it was user error — a door left ajar or a temperature gauge gone awry. After all, I had never experienced this before. I was in denial. Surely, it couldn’t be that bad.

I was wrong. It was fatal. My refrigerator had completely lost it’s cool. The problem started in the freezer and eventually spread to the refrigerator. Nothing was safe. In the end, the chill was gone away.

It’s funny how little you appreciate something until it’s gone. I feel like singing the old 80s song by Klymaxx, “I miss you” because I really miss ice, cold soft drinks, fresh fruit, and sandwiches — all the little things I take for granted during the week. Wow, a refrigerator is more important than I thought.

The good news is that we’re getting a new refrigerator. The bad news is that it will take two weeks to arrive. We selected a counter-depth fridge with french doors from Maytag. It’s a nice choice, but not your standard fare, so it had to be special ordered.

“No problem,” I thought. “I don’t cook, and we don’t use the fridge that much anyway.”

I really didn’t think it would impact my life in any meaningful manner. Once again…wrong.

Luckily, we have the vending machine upstairs to keep our drinks cool. Otherwise, I’d be going “European” with warm soft drinks. Yes, I can do it, but I don’t like it.

What I miss the most is the ability to grab a quick sandwich and fruit for lunch. I’ve gone back to fast food for the week, and I hate it. I can’t wait to get my chill back. Only 10 days and counting….