Travis' Adventures

240z

2011-08-21T21:18:00.004-05:00

I've started working on my 240z conversion. At this point, I'm just trying to get it running with the parts that I already have. I'm putting in a 400 sbc with a T-5 manual transmission. When I bought the car in 2007, it was have taken apart and came mostly in boxes. Now I'm finally getting around to working on it. I've pulled out my welder and plasma torch and started making it happen. Here are some pictures of the car.

Most of the front body parts are removed and placed where they won't get hurt during all of the work.

New Kitchen Equipment

2010-01-07T21:31:00.007-06:00

Hello there. It's been a while since I've blogged given finals at school in December and then the holidays. Holiday's were great and we saw a lot of family, but didn't get to visit everyone that we wanted. Last week, we found some bakery equipment for sale from an old lady who had a bakery in her house and passed away.. I've always said that a bakery and a pizza shop really have the same equipment, and luckily, I have both hobbies. We decided to buy the equipment, and picked it up last weekend. I've installed it in our tiled former dining area. The items we bought are a Hobart 20 quart floor mixer, a Blodgett 1/2 size convection oven, a stainless steel work table, a proofing cabinet, and a standalone dishwasher.

The mixer is the coolest item. I made a batch of cookie dough for about 16 dozen cookies. It whipped up the dough so fast, I was amazed. I also made some cinnamon rolls with the dough hook, and that made the most consistent dough so fast...I'm so happy with the mixer. It came with a paddle, whisk, and a dough hook. It also has 3 speeds.

The oven is a close second coolest item. I have already made stuff in it that I've not been able to do right in my regular oven. It currently has 3 racks in it, but I would like to get 2 more racks (but I'll wait on that). It goes from 250-550. I usually baked cookies in my regular oven, one sheet at a time at 350 for 12-15 minutes. I baked 3 sheets in the new oven at 275 for 9 minutes, and they were all evenly cooked.

The worktable is great and easy to clean. The proofer comes in handy when letting dough rise. The dishwasher was thrown into the deal, so I went ahead and hooked it up. It's nice when you have lots of dishes.

I also built a partition around it to keep Ashton out. I'm sure I know who will be participating in bake sales. Anyone ready to make cookies?

Cinnamon Rolls

2009-11-28T21:56:00.003-06:00

Mix in some shortening and egg yolk and more...

Add yeast, milk, flour...
Roll out into big sheet. Spread butter, sugar, cinnamon on top.

Roll into LARGE roll. Cut small slices...

And prepare to eat. I did top with a powdered sugar/milk mixture, but didn't document that.

Olive Garden

2009-11-16T22:46:00.002-06:00

We hadn't been out to eat in a long time and we both love Olive Garden, so when they had their all you can eat pasta, we signed up. I had one plate and took the second plate home.

Bridget enjoyed herself too.
I was full here after only one plate.

Should I try to finish the second plate.

My stomach said no way.

Here is a video that Bridget took of me sampling the hot pasta.

MRE Night

2009-11-16T22:36:00.003-06:00

It's been more than a while since I blogged about my food adventures, so I'm going to catch up this week. This was an MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) night that we had. The MRE's, if you didn't know, come in a sealed package which lasts for years. Bridget and I each had one.

Inside the package are individually packaged bread, drink mixes, main dish, spreads. Certainly, the person who designed this was not concerned with the human footprint like Al Gore...
You fill this bag with water and a chemical heater which is activated by water. After about 8 minutes, the main dish is warm, and you didn't have to light a fire.

Me opening the package...

The presentation of the MRE meal. It's actually quite good.

Grilling Chicken Fajita Meat

2009-09-18T10:39:00.005-05:00

I love food and HEB had a sale on chicken fajita meat, 99 cents per pound. So we bought like 3 bags. Well, my cousin and his girlfriend (now wifey) were coming over for dinner and chicken fajitas is a easy large meal to make. First, I marinated the chicken for about 4 hours in Italian dressing.

Then, I grilled them up and sprinkled some Montreal chicken seasoning.

Then, bring them into the kitchen and cut them into thin slices.

Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of the fixings. This meat is also good in quesadillas.

Cream Puffs

2009-08-19T17:58:00.000-05:00

These cream puffs are delicious. They were made for us when Ashton was born, and, I was in love. I've made them with chocolate filling before, just replace the vanilla with chocolate. So here's the ingredient list; Milk, heavy cream, instant pudding (vanilla), eggs, bread flour, butter, water, salt.

First, mix the instant pudding, milk, and heavy cream together in a bowl.

After it's mixed thoroughly, set aside in the refrigerator.
Put butter and water in a pan...
and bring to a boil.

Add the salt and bread flour...

Grab a wooden spoon and vigorously stir the mixture. The bread flour soaks up the liquid very quickly. Stir, stir, stir the mixture. When it seems like all of the liquid is soaked up...

Transfer to a mixing bowl. Finish rolling the lump of dough around trying to spread the moisture around.

Beat in the eggs one at a time until completely mixed.

Spoon onto a tray in about 1 inch dollops.

25 minutes in the oven and the pastries look inviting. Allow them to cool for a few minutes.

Put the pudding mix in a Ziploc bag and snip a corner off with some scissors.

Cut a slit into each puff, and squeeze the cream into each one.

The last step is to eat them. I never forget this step, lol.

Chicken & Rice

2009-05-12T15:06:00.000-05:00

This dish is wonderful. I love it so much. Wanna come over for dinner?

Brown some rice...

Chop some onion... slice it up finely...

Add onion, cream of mushroom, and chicken broth to rice...

Pour into a 13x9 pan...

Add chicken on top, cover with foil and bake for 2 hours...

And then eat it up.

Brownies

2009-05-12T15:00:00.000-05:00

I made some brownies on Saturday. There sure go good with vanilla ice cream, yum.

Have you met my friend Pam?

Warm Chocolate Melting Cake

2009-05-09T00:34:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite desserts is warm chocolate melting cake. It's low calorie (NOT!!). The recipe is very simple; eggs, flour, sugar, chocolate, and butter.

Pour them into buttered ramekins.
Serve warm with cold vanilla ice cream.

and sprinkle powdered sugar on top. yummy

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie

2009-04-26T18:33:00.000-05:00

A few months ago, I made enough cookie dough for about 15 dozen cookies. I rolled them in parchment paper and froze them for easy baking. Today, I baked my last 2 dozen. The recipe is called "Monster Cookies" and can be found on foodnetwork.com. Elaina really likes these cookies.

Nachos

2009-04-22T22:29:00.000-05:00

There was a time where for at least 3 times a week (usually more), I would make myself some variety of nachos. I would usually start with HEB round corn tortilla chips on a paper plate.

Plop on some Bush's Refried Beans... Add some taco seasoned beef (made in advance)...

Top with some mozzarella cheese... Microwave for about a minute...

Add some salsa...

and some guacamole if you got it, and that's some good nachos. You can also use canned chicken instead of the beef.

Eating Milestones

2009-04-22T19:10:00.000-05:00

Most people are passionate about something. Some people train for months to compete in a 5k run. Others train for years to compete in a triathlon. Some people may train their whole life to compete in the Olympics. Me... I like to eat, and I have always been training for this. My weight fluctuates a bit, but I usually keep it under check, otherwise, I'd have to have a lot of clothes.

Here are some of my feats of strength:

August 2008 - Bridget and I went on our baby-cation. It was a 1 week cruise in the Caribbean. My goal was to eat as much as I could each day, after all, I had to get my money's worth, right? Well, I am happy to report that I was able to gain 14 pounds during that trip. That boils down to 2 pounds per day. I have to admit, I was quite astonished that I had gained that much, but Bridget said she could tell...

Oct 2008 - At an evening at Red Lobster, I was able to eat 1 salad with dressing, 2 biscuits, A baked potato with dressing, shrimp alfredo, and 60 fried shrimp. I almost didn't think I was going to finish, but Bridget, being the good wife that she is, encouraged me to finish, and I was able to stuff the last 4 in. This outing was kinda rushed too because we were trying to make a movie time right after.

March 2009 - Well, after boasting about my eating abilities, Elder Welms felt the need to challenge me. So, we decided to eat at incredible pizza. Unfortunately, he beat me bad. Needless to say, I was disappointed in myself. I had been watching my calories for about 3 weeks and blame my shameful defeat on a smaller stomach. But here were my results (We kept tabs):

12 pieces of pepperoni pizza

3 pieces of pan pepperoni pizza

2 glasses of Barq's rootbeer

5 beef tacos

6 cookies

3 cinnamon rolls

1 cup of ice cream

Travis Eating

2009-04-22T15:04:00.000-05:00

This is a picture of me enjoying the hospital "romantic dinner for 2" during our stay when Ashton was born

Just me drinking some water during my lunch break one day. Here is me enjoying a free hamburger at Bennigans.

Trail Mix Recipe Exposed

2009-04-22T14:44:00.000-05:00

I love this type of trail mix. So I went to Wal-mart and purchase the trail mix. I separated the different ingredients out and measured the proportions. Here is what I got:

Raisins 1-1/2 cup

M&Ms 3/4 cup

Cashews 1/3 cup

Almonds 2/3 cup

Peanut 1-1/2 cup

**********NOTICE***********

Sun Harvest currently has a nearly identical trail mix for only $2.69/pound good until 4/29/09!! This mix includes M&M's, plain and peanut.