Cooking Chicken & Chickpeas [VIDEO]

Cooking is so much fun.. especially when it’s super delicious 🙂

I admit, I’m a chicken guy – I definitely prefer chicken with the right spices and/or sauce over a hamburger. (don’t get me wrong, love a steak, especially filet’s and top cut sirloins).



One word: Costco.  When you’re witnessing in the video above is frozen chicken breasts and chickpeas.. both from Costco.  When combined.. the most delicious concoction is created!



Poking holes in the chicken is a little trick that does two things:

1 – Helps cook it faster

2 – Allows the spices and juices of the chickpeas (and vegetables) to enter the depths of the chicken

All and all, super delicious.. AND did I mention: HEALTHY!

Spices are awesome because at worst, the have sodium – but they don’t have fat or carbs (the two things that make you.. well, fat).

Some spices have been proven to help you fight cancer and increase your immune system (I don’t know the details of these, yet.)

I love cooking.. it’s fun, delicious, and can be healthy at the same time!

Help The Band Cross The Bridge

There are 4 band members that are trying to get to their concert.. they are late – AND – they have to cross a bridge! (don’t worry how this happened .. it just did, ok?)

This riddle is a little more difficult then the “find the heavy egg” … I think I got it from an compsci interview question.

Help The Band Cross The Bridge

The situation:

There are 4 band members that are trying to get to their concert.. they are late – AND – they have to cross a bridge!

(don’t worry how this happened .. it just did, ok?)

If they’re going to make it to the concert on time, they have to cross the bridge in 17 minutes or less.

Here is where it gets complicated:

  • It’s night time and they only have 1 flashlight.
  • The bridge is old and narrow, so only 1 or 2 members can cross at any one time.
    • The flashlight can provide enough light for either 1 or 2 band members, but whoever is crossing the bridge must have the flashlight or be with someone who has the flashlight.
  • They figured out the only way to make this happen is to have 2 people cross the bridge, then send 1 person back with the flashlight.
    • They can’t throw the flashlight.. the bridge is too long (nice try).

Meet the band members:

As stated before, there are 4 band members:

  1. Alex – Vocals – Takes 1 minute to cross the bridge
  2. Mark – Violin – Takes 2 minutes to cross
  3. John – Guitar – Takes 5 minutes to cross
  4. Chris – Drums – Takes 10 minutes to cross

Remember, 2 people can cross at once, but they will go at the slower persons speed!

So if Alex and John go across, it will take them 5 minutes.

If only Mark goes across, it will take him 2 minutes (because he doesn’t have to wait on anyone else).

How can they all make across the bridge in 17 minutes?

The format should look something like this:

Alex and John go across for 5min… Total: 5min

Alex brings the flashlight back for 1min… Total: 6min

Chris and Mark go across for 10min… Total: 16min

etc..

As you can see, with the example started above, it’s already been 16 minutes and there is still someone left on the other side.. they aren’t going to make the concert.

Your turn.. leave your questions, thoughts, and answer in the comments below.. good luck 🙂

SPOILER ALERT: The answer is in the comments below… It is blacked out .. but you can put your mouse over it to reveal it… don’t look if you want to figure it out on your own!

Edamame: “The Wonder Veggie” – WOW!

Nutrition facts for Dry Roasted Edamame
Dry Roasted Edamame Nutrition Facts

I really don’t have much to say on this one.. have you had this Edamame stuff (specifically “dry roasted” edamame)?

If you’re about eating healthy.. and like to get a good dose of protein and fiber in your day… CHECK OUT THESE NUTRITION FACTS!

Long story short, I really don’t think you can beat that..

And if you have something that can beat this dry roasted edamame in terms of NO FAT – NO SUGARS – HIGH PROTEIN – HIGH FIBER… please tell me about it!

PS – look at the ingredients… no preservatives or anything!  I buy this 29oz box from Costco.

Find The Heavy Egg

Heard this one from the taxi driver taking us from Esfahan to Tehran.

Find The Heavy Egg

There are 8 identical eggs laying on the table (don’t worry about why).

They are all identical in color, shape, smell, etc.. identical in every way except: one of the eggs weighs just slightly more than all the others.

You can’t tell by feeling it in between your hands.. but you do have a scale (no, it’s not digital).  It’s an old-school scale, like this one:

With ONLY 2 WEIGHS – Each weigh can have any number of the 8 eggs on either side.  You must determine which eggs you are going to weigh against each other before putting them on the scale.

YOU ONLY GET 2 ATTEMPTS AT WEIGHING THEM…

How do you find the heavy egg?

Leave the answer below, don’t holler it on Facebook, I want to see who can figure it out =)

SPOILER ALERT: The answer is in the comments below… It is blacked out .. but you can put your mouse over it to reveal it… don’t look if you want to figure it out on your own!

How To: Add 3 Months To Your Year

Would you like to get 15 months worth of stuff done in only 12 months?

Let me explain how I’m planning on adding 3 months of productivity to my year..

Assume you wake up and start working (productively) at 9am.. and like everyone else, your productivity starts to fade when 5pm starts to roll around.

Without a lunch break, that’s about 8 hours a day.  Not bad.

That isn’t cutting it for me though, I need more time in the day.. there is a lot more to do than 8 hours allows, so I’m looking for 10-12 hour days.

But I’ve noticed that after 5pm, I am no where close to as productive as I am in the morning since I’m starting to get tired and hungry, and feel like I should do other things like work out and socialize…

Therefore, I’m instituting a rule where I have to wake up by 6am.. why?

Because If I’m up and productively working by 7am, that adds 2 hours per day!

Not to mention, these are probably the most productive hours of the day! …

  • No social threads are being updated
  • No phone calls coming in
  • No meetings scheduled

So 2 more hours per day = 10 more hours per week = 1+ extra 8-hour work days per week!

Rough Calculations…

So if you work 2 extra (wicked productive) hours per day.. you get 10 extra hours per week…

4 weeks in a month * 10 hours per week = 40 extra hours per month…

40 hours per month = 1 extra week per month…

1 week per month * 12 months = 12 extra weeks per year!…

and of course, 12 weeks per year / 4 weeks per month = 3 extra super productive MONTHS PER YEAR!!

You don’t have to follow the math, or be as excited as I am.. just know this:  If you start working earlier, you WILL get more done, in less time..

“Work smarter, not harder”

Nothing good happens on weeknights after 10pm anyway, you’re either drinking, watching tv, or bullshitting on the internet.. go to bed, wake up early, get more done, be happy.. and take more vacations with your new found time!

Your thoughts?  Don’t be scared.

Chamber of Commerce & Tech Council Networking WORKS!

My company (WebMechanix) is part of several different chambers of commerce and tech councils.

We joined these organizations for several reasons:

  • To get our name out there
  • Benefit from the resources available to members
  • Make new connections within our community
  • Give back to the community with volunteer and pro-bono work
  • Learn from seminars put on by the chamber/tech councils
  • Network with local businesses who have products/services that we need as well as provide them with our services

That last one could be categorized as business development.. and that’s exactly what I wanted to write about here…

Here is my testimonial to the Howard Tech Council (specifically Larry Collins):

Dear Howard Technology Council & Larry Collins & Linda Burger,

I wanted to write this to show my thanks for your valuable, continued support!

You guys certainly know how to kill two birds with one stone.  I attended the recent “Facebook for Business” seminar where there were a few dozen professionals that came to learn how to use social media for their businesses.

WebMechanix came to participate in the discussion and network with local businesses.  During the networking portion after the seminar, I made a connection with the marketing manager of a fellow HTC member and scheduled a lunch meeting with them later in the week.

Long story short, they expressed their interest in learning more about the internet and social media (our specialty) and they became a client!

Both WebMechanix and the new client received a pretty dramatic ROI from the seminar.  WebMechanix got a new client and the client now has a dedicated team handling their social media and web marketing strategy.

Thank you very much HTC, Larry, and Linda!

Sincerely,

Arsham Mirshah
Chief Technology Officer
WebMechanix

WGS Is The Better GTL

GTL comes from a reality TV show where a bunch of idiots are video taped being themselves.

The male characters from the show made this “GTL” thing up and claim they live their life by it.

Let me define the terms:

G = Gym
T = Tanning
L = Laundry

They go to they gym (G) to have nice bodies.. go tanning (T) to “look good”.. and do laundry (L) to have fresh clothes for when they go out.

Not the worst priorities in the world.. also not the best (that statement is obviously subject to opinion).

My guess is that GTL works if your favorite thing to do is try your best to have more one night stands than your friends.

When I heard about this GTL nonsense, I immediately thought about something a friend told me a couple years ago .. “A balanced life comes down to Work, Gym, and Social” – hence WGS.

More term:

W = Work
G = Gym
S = Social

Following the same pattern, one would work (W) during the day, exercise regularly (G), and have a social (S) life as well.  Generally speaking, these three things performed in combination should lead to a happy/balanced life.

And of course, this isn’t a concrete framework which works for everybody — for instance, if you’re a stay at home mom (or dad) – then your W would be taking care of your children and home.

None the less, all the components are necessary in some shape or form. ..

Whether you go to the gym or do push/pull ups in your house doesn’t matter, so long as you get exercise.

Whether you go out to bars and clubs or your hang out with your family on the weekends, it doesn’t matter as long as you have that social aspect in your life.

That is my take on this balanced life stuff – I would LOVE to hear yours! Comment below 🙂

What If Everything Was Like A Buiness Transaction?

Could you imagine!?

If not.. think of it this way…

Business transactions are based on facts, science, numbers, legalities, etc.. there is rarely too much emotion that goes into a business decision..

Whereas on the other hand, personal decisions usually have more emotion or feelings involved.

Here is an example:

Say you’re dating a girl.. and you like her, so you want to make her happy.  What if making her happy means spending a lot of money on her, and you don’t have that much money.

Wouldn’t it be a little taboo to say to her: “Hey I like you, but I don’t have that much money.. so I’m going to spend 10% of my income on you”

I don’t think she would like that very much (correct me if I’m wrong).  But in a business decision, that would be a BRILLIANT move.. “We are going to spend 10% of our EBITA on marketing”, for instance.

I guess a prenuptial agreement is somewhat like a personal business transaction.

Note: Since writing this, I spoke to some friends who live down the street (near Baltimore, MD).. they said that when they were looking at getting a home addition – they broke down their finances and made a decision as though it was a business transaction. But in that case, it is.. so that doesn’t count.

The reason this is interesting for me is because business decisions are easier to make (for me at least) than personal ones.  I get too tied up in the emotions and feelings when it comes to friends, family, and relationships.

If I were able to make personal transactions with a similar attitude as business, I THINK life would be easier.. not sure though.

Would love to hear your thoughts 🙂

Blogging Is Too Easy

Who needs a netbook and a webmaster? Grab an iPhone and throw up a wordpress blog.. Boom! Done!

Not that easy obviously, but also not too difficult.

I just thought it’d be cool to write a blog post from my bed.. Call me weird.

I can’t type as well using the horizontal iPhone keyboard as compared to when holding it vertically.. Even thou the buttons are bigger, I’m just not as used to it I guess.

So thanks to wordpress and smart phones for making blogging so easy.

Night.

Skiing Is My Favorite Activity

There is no hiding it.. Skiing is probably my #1 favorite activity.

As for ski slopes in Maryland, I don’t think there are any (are there?) – But close by in Southern PA, we find Whitetail, Liberty, and Roundtop.

Those are the 3 “sissy” slopes (as I like to call them) closest to me.. but not far away is 7 springs and Wisp, which are both good fun, but I’m not sure they are worth the drive unless you have a good group (would love to hear otherwise).

Other than the local places, let’s talk Canada and Vermont!

Continue reading “Skiing Is My Favorite Activity”