Quinoa Power!

OK, so maybe you've already heard of quinoa (pronounce it "keen-waa"). It's a grain apparently discovered  by the Incas that was a stable of their diet. The cool thing about quinoa is that it has all seven of the essential amino acids that make up complete proteins. It may be the only grain that has this. Usually to get a full complement of protein amino acids  you have to mix two other ingredients (like say, rice and beans), or just take the easy way and grab a burger, because all seven are in meat.

OK, but here's some other cool stuff about quinoa (and please remember, I'm talking off the top of my head and reading from the box and from stuff I've seen on the Internet and specifically on Wikipedia. I'm not an expert on food and nutrition or health or any o' that cool stuff. Which means you oughta check for yourself, realize your mileage may vary, and I'm a professional driver on a closed course...but this is cooking, so don't take my word for any health stuff, ok?).

Anyway, besides being a "complete" protein source, quinoa is:

• gluten-free
• high fiber
• low sodium
• low fat, including no saturated fat or trans fat
• low cholesterol (like none)
• easy to prepare
• easy to digest. 

Cool huh? And I'm not even selling the stuff - nor do I care to.


I also think it tastes pretty good but you're reading this from a guy who likes the taste of everything but crab apple, so take that into account.

So here's what I've been having for breakfast lately:

Quinoa Power Breakfast

Ingredients:

• Ancient Harvest Quinoa (mentioning this brand because it's easy to find, organic, AND prewashed - which saves step)
• Ground Coriander
• Ground Cardamom
• Chili Powder
• Garlic Salt
• Tumeric
• Ground Cumin
• Dried Minced Onion
• Ground Ginger
• Fresh ground pepper (I use Tellicherry peppercorns)
• Tap Water
• Pastor Karl's Fit to be Thai'd Chili Pepper Oil made with EVO and Thai Chili Peppers

Easy to make:

I just dumped a box of Ancient Harvest Quinoa into a bowl and added some of the spices (not the water or oil yet). Please note, I'm an ingredient cook, not a recipe cook, so I just dump some in in an amount that feels and looks right from past experience.

I mixed it up and then put 1/3 cup portions in sandwich bags. Turned out I ended up with seven bags worth (which means one week's mixture ready to rock).

Then, I took one of the baggies, dumped it in a sauce pan, added 2/3 cup of tap water, and a healthy dollop of Pastor Karl's Fit to be Thai'd oil.

Stir it all up.

Bring it to a boil and let it boil pretty much wildly for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and cover, let sit for 15 minutes.

It's done.

I cut up some red apple and some walnuts to add to the cooked quinoa and that's it.

Total prep time (for a week's worth of servings), about 5 minutes.

Total cooking time, about 22 minutes (2 to get the water boiling, 5 to boil, 15 to sit - a good time to take a shower and get dressed).

That's it, folks. I think it's tasty. I used dried spices, and of course you get more of a kick out of fresh spices (and it takes more time, too).

I think it's pretty tasty. I KNOW it's healthy (subject to the above disclosure, of course).

Business Networking Events Aren't One Night Stands

I was reminded late in the year that while many people who can and do benefit from building their business by adding business networking events to their relationship marketing mix, there are many who just don't get it. They just show up, see some people they know, say "Hi", maybe have some appetizers and a beer or glass of wine and then leave. Later, they say, "Nah, business networking events don't work."

Sorry, but you've got the wrong idea.



If you'd like information on how to really make the most of business networking events, well, I do have a book about it, 31 Days to Networking Events Mastery.

It's available on Amazon.com in both print and Kindle versions and, if you live in southeastern North Carolina, Clif Bridgers also carries it at RBR Books in Leland, NC.

Cool House for a Christmas Party - Augusta Greene at Shelmore in Brunswick Forest

Even though I'm no longer working in real estate Marge and I were happy to be invited to see Plantation Building's newest model in the Shelmore area of Brunswick Forest today. I've known David Spetrino, Plantation Building's owner, for 7 years and am a fan of his designs and his quality work.

So, we took a tour, had a Christmas cookie or two, and grabbed these quick photos. This model is the Augusta Greene and it has a loads of standard features for comfortable, bungalow-style family living with 1718 finished square feet on the first floor with two bedrooms, two full baths, and an open living/dining/kitchen area plus a rocking chair front porch, spacious screened porch, and rear entry, oversized two car garage.

Upstairs there are four optional plans, with the base plan adding 950 square feet, a sitting area, two bedrooms, and another full bath. If you add the optional flex room, which increases the second floor square footage to 1432 (for a house total of 3,150 sq. ft.), you will have space for everyone. Marge said four sets of bunk beds in the finished bunk room would easily accomodate 8 visiting grandchildren (which is a bit odd because at last count we only have 3, but maybe she knows something I don't).

So cruise these photos and take a tour. There's plenty I left out, including the built-in banquette in the kitchen, screened porch, and all the upstairs. This house has many many large closets and more walk-in storage on the second floor than any four families should ever need.

First look inside, the tree, with a view of the oversized front windows.

Just inside the front door looking back through the living room and dining room to the kitchen.

Living room with built-ins and gas log fireplace.

Here's David.

David and some other folks in the dining area.

A partial view of the kitchen - that granite topped island will seat 6 plus the banquette, which isn't  seen but is on the left of this area, seats another six. So overall you have room for seating about 20 within talking distance of each other.

A partial view of the first floor master suite, with two walkin closets.

 

This master bath is as large as some Manhattan apartments.

So as we left Marge was careful to grab a brochure of this fun, classy, spacious home.

And I chilled on the porch with some guy in a red suit.

Thanks for the invite, David, nice job on the house (we'd expect no less).

What a Birthday! - Videos, Photos, and an Award!

First of all, I just want to express my deep-felt gratitude for being alive, for being healthy, for Marge and our extended family, and for all my wonderful friends. So thank you. Many of you helped make yesterday a special day for me.

In this blog post I'm going to share news about the  book award voting and some video clips and images people sent.

First off, since December 8th I was highly focused on gathering support for my entry in The Small Business Trends Book Awards 2010 voting.

 
My book 31 Days to Greeting Card Marketing Mastery

was a late entry in the voting, which started December 1st, but in the end, of the 107 books in the voting, this book was voted 8th in the overall voting (all categories) and 3rd in the Marketing category. So thank you. Many of you saw this  image so often  you likely can use a break from it, but I'll show it one more time (lol):

I received many birthday wishes on Facebook. I don't know the number, I started to count but lost track and realized the total doesn't matter (I need to get out of voting mode, lol). Each birthday wish was important and special to me.

Many many of you, via Facebook and otherwise, sent me personal messages, either in clear or privately and that was really sweet.

One person even (I think temporarily) changed the person's FB profile image to a barely (sic) covered birthday suit image - but I won't display that one here.

Overall, I had a lot of laughs, a bunch of smiles, and, admittedly, even a few tears. You guys rock.

And in keeping with that sentiment, here's a video that Lynn Shoemaker sent that had me on my feet rockin':

The BEATLES birthday song

Sir Paul McCartney "live" With Rusty Anderson - Lead Guitar Abe Laboriel Jr. - Drums Paul "Wix" Wickens - Key board Brian Ray - Rhythm guitar/bass Red square, Moscow

Moxie Floral Design's Cynthia White Lee sent Marilyn:



Marilyn Monroe sings Happy Birthday To J.F Kennedy.

And Cheryl Janecky sent this video: "Happy Birthday" by Aaron Copland, played at 70th Birthday tribute to Leonard Bernstein at Tanglewood, 8/25/88.



We have some cute aliens from Janelle Manton:



And more aliens from Nick Kentrolis:




Plus these cute little non-alien granddaughters, Libby (who lip synchs)and Annabel (who actually sings):



Got some cool images, too.

Thanks to:

Lounge-A-Rama for the letter candles,

Susan Holsinger for the kaleidoscope that she said reminded her of me (which I loved):

Steve Rassin for the cupcake with candles:

and my friend Lori Chappelle who decided I needed a crown!

Thank you folks. Thank you for your votes, for your birthday wishes, for your friendship, and for Being You!

Please vote! One of my books is up for an award - Update 12/13/10

Wow, we're in 12th place! At the home stretch, voting ends Wednesday night. Every vote counts.

In the past year Marge and I have published six titles in our 31 Days Mastery series of business and personal development books. One of them, 31 Days to Greeting Card Marketing Mastery, is in the voting for the Small Business Trends Book Awards 2010.

I'm pretty excited about this but we got a late start, I just received notice December 8th that the book is in the running. I starting out behind 29 other books in the same category (Marketing) and 105 books that have been getting votes since December 1st.

Update: As of this morning, my book has 670 votes, enough to put it in 5th place in the Marketing category and 12th place overall. Turns out the place to be is in the top 10 overall in order to be able to get an award to display online and for bragging marketing rights.

I really appreciate your support and ask that if you would, please continue to vote each day through the 15th, which is the end of the voting and (coincidentally) my birthday! I fully expect many of the other books in the voting to have big surges of support during the last few days, so your vote(s) will totally count. Thanks again.

I would very much appreciate your vote. You can vote every day from now till 11:59PM December 15th (which coincidentally is my birthday). I'm sending email to friends and using social media to ask for votes but believe me your vote(s) will count. If you'd like to forward this to other folks I'd appreciate it. And when you vote, you can also hit the Tweet This! button and maybe that will help me get some more votes, too.

Thanks in advance for your support.

Of course part of the reason to participate in this voting is to sell books. If anyone is interested in buying 31 Days to Greeting Card Marketing Mastery, it's available in two places:

From Amazon.com at this link.

And from RBR Books in Leland, NC, a small, independent, totally awesome bookstore owned and operated by my friend Clif Bridgers and his wife Laura.

Trying Out an Olive Oil-Based Shaving Gel

In early March 2009 I posted a YouTube video about using Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVO) as a moisturizer.



Since then I've had a few inquiries about it and several thousand views of the video. A couple of weeks ago the folks from Oliveology, Inc., in New York, wrote to ask if I'd like to try their olive oil-based shaving gel and, if I liked it, if I'd put up a YouTube video. So I said, "Sure."

So they sent me sample (meaning I didn't pay for them)one 8oz and one 2oz travel size bottle of Oliveology ShaveGel.

ShaveGel is a 3-function product: it conditions, lubricates, and moisturizes your skin.

I've been using it since Saturday now and will continue using it. First, on Saturday, I used it with a brand new (disposable Wilkinson) razor. Here's the video I posted after that:



And then on Sunday I used an old razor (same brand) that I'd used for probably a month.

Here's that video:



So here's the bottom line about my testing and very subjective reactions:

• You use very little of the product, a small drop is enough, so it ought to last a long time
• It's clear, so you can see what you're shaving
• When I used the new blade it felt great, and I didn't catch my skin anywhere and cut myself, which I often do with a new razor
• The old razor didn't drag on my skin, which was why I stopped using it earlier - but I saved it for this test.
• As far as I can tell there's no odor to this product, so you won't walk around smelling like a salad (although my sense of smell is pretty dismal, so don't count on it. I did ask Marge, however, and she didn't smell anything either). 
• It's very convenient not to have to use an aftershave or moisturizer after shaving -this is really two products in one. What I did was just sort of rub my face a once after shaving. Didn't  need to rinse off extra shaving cream.

So that's it:

• It feels good
• Works as promised
• Saves some time and maybe money (because you use so little and because it's also a moisturizer)
• I like it.

After I posted the videos on YouTube the folks at Oliveology wrote to say that after I've used ShaveGel for a week or more my face will be smooth as a "baby butt". Okay, I guess that's a good thing. Mostly I just want a close shave without cutting or burning my skin.

If you're interested in this product, check out the Oliveology website.

 Please note that I'm not connected with this company, they're not paying me for this, and I don't get a cut. I did, however, get some nifty free shaving gel, but I basically did this because I was intrigued by it and because of my earlier video.

Small favor, if you're able - Looking for some feedback on some audio files

Hello folks,

I've been encouraged to work on my personal introduction and both 30-second and 60-second commercials for my coaching. So I got busy (there I am below, being busy with the microphone!)

I've spent some time on these and would love feedback if anyone could help. They're business-related so feel free to skip this post, please, but any feedback I can get will be appreciated.

This first one is (roughly) what I'd say if I met someone at a networking event or on the street and they asked, "So, what do you do?"



The next two are 30-second and 60-second versions of an "elevator speech". I attend a lot of meetings and networking events where the attendees are invited to stand up and give short intro (time is usually suggested by the host). I should have each version memorized but then be able to be comfortable not making it sound too plastic or commercial. But anyway, I'd love some feedback on these, as well.

The 30-second version:



and the 60-second version:



[[BEGIN - Semi-Techy Tutorial for anyone who wants to know how I added these files to this blog post follows]]

For those who wonder how I made the recording and added it to this blog post, btw, what I did was use Audacity (a free download audio recording program with a free utility for converting to MP3 format files). I used a low-end DJ-quality Alesis microphone, but otherwise nothing special. Then I uploaded the MP3 files to Box.net (a free online storage program) and used the Embed code for each MP3 file.

[[END - Semi-Techy Tutorial for anyone who wants to know how I added these files to this blog post follows]]

Thanks again, in advance for any feedback.

Pecan Pancakes - Breaking Rules Never Tasted So Good - Recipe

This weekend on Saturday Marge made a suggestion to add to our (former) favorite pancake recipe and it was a winner. I added another twist and the results were over the top. In order to take the photo above I had to mix another batch Sunday just so I could have something to shoot.

So here's what we did: basically we just used the pancake recipe on the back of the Bisquick box, adding every one of the "make it special" ingredients they suggest - that's how we usually (used to) make pancakes that we, our family, and guests have always enjoyed. Marge's idea was to add some finely chopped pecans. My addition was to cook them using Extra Virgin Olive Oil - (yeah, I know, it's not supposed to taste all that great in a pan like that and some say EVO only delivers its healthy goodness served cold or at room temperature. But guess what? They were easy to make, easy to cook, and awesome!

So here's the recipe:

Bruce and Marge's EVO Pecan Pancakes

Ingredients:
2 cups Bisquick
1 cup milk (actually I used Lite Silk)
1 egg
2/3 cup finely chopped pecans
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla (I used a strong flavored Mexican vanilla brand)
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
Note: this recipe makes about nine 4-5 inch diameter pancakes each about 1/2" thick.

Preparation:
Dump all the ingredients in a mixing bowl in (in any order) and mix 'em up. The more finely you chop the pecans the smoother the mixture will be, but it doesn't effect taste or cooking time, just the crunchiness.

Cooking:
Preheat a medium hot skillet (or griddle or frying pan or whatever)
Add a generous amount of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Put about a 1/3 cup of mixture on the skillet
Cook 'em for a while on one side, then flip 'em. (They likely will be thicker than your usual pancakes so maybe turn the heat down a smidge if you're concerned about them getting overly dark before cooking all the way through. I find it takes about 30 seconds  per side, maybe a bit more)

Eating:
 Serve and eat. I suppose you can add butter and syrup if you wish, but I like them just as they are.

Hint for next day cold pizza lovers: Make extra pancakes and store covered in the refrigerator, they're firm enough that they're easy to eat just holding them with a cup of coffee the next morning.

The Pecans add texture, taste and flavor and (for Marge and I anyway) the EVO adds a wonderful flavor and feel to them.

Of course I'm a big fan of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and even made a video a year or so ago on using EVO as a moisturizer - let me know if you'd like those instructions or for the video link.

Some fun cards we've sent recently - Week 3

More and more, Marge and I utilize custom printed greeting cards we create with SendOutCards to send heartfelt messages to people.

We love to take photos of folks and put those pictures in cards that we later send as thank you's or notes of appreciation.

Here are the fronts and insides of some of the cards we sent recently.

Here's the front of a birthday card to our granddaughter:

 

A card we sent to Joe Gaugham or WECT and Mike Triggiano of Mail Express in Leland:

 

A card I sent to Tom Hemphill, Director of the Brunswick Community College Small Business Center:

A card I sent to Jerry Helms, Manager of Brunswick Forest  Realty, the front of which was a photo of the community entrance as it looked four years ago:

 

And a similar card to a neighbor of the street where he now lives:

Here's the front of a card I sent to Jon and Amy David with their son:

And this last one, a 90th birthday card to Marge's Uncle Morgan, with the card front and inside three panels:

 

 

If you're looking for an effective, easy, low cost, and very personal way to keep in touch with friends, family, contacts, clients, and referral sources, using cards like this can be highly cost effective. And they sure are fun to create and send.

We invite you to send a card on us, absolutely free, to see what it's like.

Just go to our web site www.FatCityCards.com and click on 'send a free card'.

If you're wondering about whether using the SendOutCards service would make sense for you, answer these 3 questions:

1. Do you send cards and gifts?
2. Do you know anyone who sends cards and gifts?
3. Would you like to make money whenever you or anyone you know sends cards and gifts?

If you answered 'yes' to the first question, it might make sense for you to be a SendOutCards customer.

If you answered 'yes' to questions 2. and 3., it might make sense for you to be a SendOutCards distributor.

All it takes to find out if either does make sense for you is to watch a 15 minute video, which you can see on our site www.FatCityCards.com. After you watch it you'll know if it makes sense for you.

We have a ball sending custom cards - Week 2

As you know, Marge and I utilize custom printed greeting cards we create with SendOutCards as one of our primary ways to keep in touch with people.

We love to take photos of folks and put those pictures in cards that we later send as thank you's or notes of appreciation.

Here are the fronts and insides of some of the two dozen or so cards we sent in the past two weeks:

Here's the front of a card we sent to Monica Clark and Kerry Kasotsky of K&M Speed Networking:

 

Here's the inside:

 

Here's a birthday card we sent to Dana Fisher:

The inside:

 

Johnny Mercer, Director of the Wilmington Regional Film Commission spoke at a meeting I attended, so I sent him this card:

Here's the inside:

Our friend Sidney Rabon of Cape Fear Chem-Dry Carpet Cleaning (whose passion is cooking for crowds):

The inside:

A card I sent after meeting Rita Tatum and Amy Lowrance of the Ocean Isle branch of East Carolina Bank:

 

The inside:

A card we sent to Brandon Sneed after meeting him at his book signing at RBRBooks in Leland:

 

And last, the front of a card we sent to several friends for Halloween:

 

 It's fun to use custom greeting cards for business (as well as for personal use). All you do is create them on your computer and then hit send and the company prints, stuffs, stamps, and mails them. And, to top that off, each of these cards costs only .93 (plus .44 in postage with a real, first class stamp on the envelope).

A great deal.

If you're looking for an effective, easy, low cost, and very personal way to keep in touch with your clients, contacts, or referral sources, using cards like this can be highly cost effective.

We invite you to send a card on us, absolutely free, to see what it's like. Just go to our web site www.FatCityCards.com and click on 'send a free card'.

If you're wondering about whether using the SendOutCards service would make sense for you, answer these 3 questions:

1. Do you send cards and gifts?
2. Do you know anyone who sends cards and gifts?
3. Would you like to make money whenever you or anyone you know sends cards and gifts?

If you answered 'yes' to the first question, it might make sense for  you to be a SendOutCards customer.

If you answered 'yes' to questions 2. and 3., it might make sense for you to be a SendOutCards distributor.

All it takes to find out if either does make sense for you is to watch a 15 minute video, which you can see on our site www.FatCityCards.com. After you watch it you'll know if it makes sense for you.