My Opinions on Stuff: Part I

I recently received an interesting comment from Anonymous. Yes, it seems that Anonymous gets around.  Here was the comment:

Anonymous said...

You have to express more your opinion to attract more readers, because just a video or plain text without any personal approach is not that valuable. But it is just form my point of view

 

Oh dear!  I hadn’t realized that I was not forming opinions.  Moi?  Opinion-less?  Wimpy?  Politically correct & careful not to offend?  Yup.  Guess so. 

I also missed the memo that my blog lacks a ‘personal approach.’  This somehow translated into my mind to mean:  ‘You have no personality’  What?  With my cute little curly/swirly doo-hickeys at the top?! Not to mention the lack of ‘value’. Man, reality bites.

After giggling with Derek over a whole host of possible snarky retorts, I decided instead to respond with the following non-inflammatory comment:

Deb (Smoothie Girl Eats Too) said...

.
Anon- you have a very valid point. I'll try to inject some personality into my future posts.

 

Truth is, I love the fact that any reader has the opportunity to freely speak his mind.  This is America after all!  No, wait, it’s even BIGGER!!  IT’S THE INTERNET!!

Yes, if you caught that small detail, my first official opinion on my blog is that this particular “anonymous commenter” is a man.  This should offend a whole bunch of people and therefore get me more readers, right?……….(?). 

So as per usual, deep in REM sleep, the topic for a post hit me, thanks to Mr. Anonymous:  I would do a whole post based on my opinions!  But I would need to somehow tie it into my Good, Bad and Funny Photo contest/ Nut butter Giveaway to remind peeps that there are only a few days left to enter your photos.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but nothing screams “forming an opinion” like assigning ‘Labels’. Hey, how about highlighting the Good, Bad and Funny aspects of common topics I discuss on my blog? Sounds like a plan to me.

 

SMOOTHIES:

(deep, I know)

The GOOD:

• Smoothies are yummy, filling, and healthful.  My opinion: Smoothies helped me to lose about 90 pounds and make it easier to keep the weight off (Notice I said “easier'”, not “easy”).

An oldie but a goodie:  The Cookies N Creme Smoothie.  This version is drinkable.

 

 

This version is “spoonable”

My opinion:  there is no such word as “spoonable” except when my friend Allie over at Pimp My Protein Shake describes Chile Pepper, her sleeping partner…

Oops, it would appear that one of Allie’s Photo entries has found its way onto this post. (Note:  Chile Pepper is on the left)

 

 

The Bad:

• I heart Xanthan and Guar gums, as they make smoothies much fluffier and creamier.  Without the gums, my shakes turn out BAD. Behold:

Separation Anxiety:  Ack, ran out of my gums

 

 

My opinion:  Ahhh, better with the gums

 

The Funny:

• Well, funny for the grocery clerk and dry cleaner maybe.  Confession:  I sometimes have an unladylike habit of finished off the “extra” last sips of smoothie straight from the blender.  Eek, what would Emily Post say!? One day I came home from a full day of errands and looked in the mirror to discover that I had a chocolate circle on my face from the morning’s smoothie. Sigh:  My opinion:  Serves me right.

 

NUT BUTTERS:

 

The Good:

• Nom nom- Unless you are allergic, my opinion is that nut butters are nummy.  They also contain good fats and other vitamins and fiber.
• You can possibly make them in your Vitamix or Food Processor and save a buck or two.  Roasted nuts of all kinds work well.  Pecans especially. And Roasted sunflower seeds. Nom. 

• For the best ever recipe, here is Heab’s brainchild, the Spiced Nutella aka “The OMG OMG OMG”: Hazelnuts,  cocoa powder, stevia or other sweetener, cardamom powder, hazelnut chunks (stirred in at the end),

 

The Bad:

• Sometimes you can not make nut butters in your Vitamix or Food Processor and they just turn out gross or melt your Vitamix Tamper.  This happened with raw almonds and raw sunflower seeds.  My opinion:  making raw nut butters is tricky.  I am not a huge fan. 

This was the result of attempting to make raw sunflower butter.   

This is the result after roasting the mess pictured above.

 

Major meltage from a nut-butter-making frenzy over the holidays

 

 

The Funny:

• Sometimes there can be a little drop a highly-coveted nut butter on the countertop that you dare not waste, so you pop it into your mouth.  Then you realize that it was cat food. I opine that this is hilarious, especially when it happens to me. 

Honest case of mistaken identity

SAMANTHA

( I know I know, soon the Huffington Post will be contacting me to do some writing for their blogs)

The Good:

• Our Fur-Baby is 15 years old as of Monday Feb 22, 2010!!! Woot!  Happy Birthday Samantha!! And just think, even though she’s 15, she doesn’t want an iPhone, a Facebook account or skanky clothes. Good girl, Sam.
• My opinion?  She’s darned cute.  How’s that for making a statement and bring value to this blog!

My little one about 14.8 years ago <3

 

 

Looking cheeky with the little mouse from Auntie Heabie

 

The Bad:

• Climbing into cupboards filled with edible items and walking on countertops=baaaaddddd kitty.  This is not my opinion however.  It is a fact.  She also eats plastic of all kinds, as well as iPhone charging cables (she may not want the phone but she wants the cables).  She sometimes screams at me while I’m sleeping because obviously I was put on this earth to brush her night and day.  Actually, her “bad” list goes on and on.  In fact, I could devote a whole post to it.  Perhaps an entire blog.  I’ll spare you.

Bad, bad kitty

 

Stretched out on the countertop :-(

 

The Funny:

• Until a year ago when Charlotte got sick, both ‘girls’ did their business on the potty.  Even after 14 years the “tinkle tinkle” killed me every time.
• My opinion:  dang hilarious, not to mention green and practical.

Tinkle tinkle tinkle

End of Part I.  I have more opinions on the following topics for my next post:  Travel, Exercise, Social Media, and maybe more. 

GOOD, BAD & FUNNY PHOTO Contest/ Nut butter giveaway Update

While you guys are compiling your fabulous photos, each of my Good, Bad and Funny Photo contestants currently have a one-in-six chance of winning the nut butters.  Can I bottom line it for those who might be mathematically challenged?  Six people have entered thus far.  My opinion? 

 

I wish you’d join the fun!

 

Keep in mind that the entries have received are utterly priceless. (Case in point, Allie, above)

To win a whole bunch of my home-made nut butters, you’ll need to submit your good, bad and funny photos by this this Sunday, Feb 28, 2010.  TO DO SO, LEAVE ME YOUR CONTACT INFO IN THE COMMENTS SECTION of any of my posts!

Oh, and I’m still working on that ‘personal approach’ thing.  Be patient.  These things take time.

Q: Do you ever form opinions?  Do you have anything good, bad or funny to report?