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There is NO National Pizza Day!

Is anyone else extremely skeptical about all of these new National (Holi)days that have been popping up? Am I the only one who thinks that there were actually four National Donut Days and five National Pizza Days in 2017? Could this all be a huge scheme by major industries to get us to buy more of this and that? Is the illuminati behind all of this?

Seriously though, we’re all about trying to find a way to create balance in your life so that you can eat your pizza and look/feel great, but there are some serious challenges that come with all these days being created. While certain pizza might not be “bad” for you, they aren’t going to be the “best” source of nutrition on any given day. The same goes for donuts, ice cream and every other day that revolves around eating foods that are often considered cheat meals or guilty pleasures.

pizza

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Fast Food Alert! Yo Quiero Taco Bell

After hearing via commercial or a billboard on the road that Taco Bell had a new Doritos Locos taco, with my favorite flavor (Cooler Ranch), I had to try it out. Even though we eat relatively healthy and stay away from most fast food, we don’t mind cheating, if you want to call it that. So, late night one night last week, we drove to the Taco Bell in town for some treats. It’s challenging for Alana because she has a sensitive stomach for low quality and greasy food… and she’s a vegetarian. But she’s a good trooper and more or less went to make me happy.

So I splurged a little and got a Doritos Locos Taco Cooler Ranch, one normal and one supreme, a half a pound chicken and potato burrito, a bean and cheese burrito, and a churro. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any churros so they gave us a marshmallow cookie sandwich and two apple empanadas. By the way, we asked for some hot sauces and they gave us about 10 of each. Let me say that I have no idea what the macros were on this meal, but the amount of fat must have been through the roof.

Our feast

Our feast

Here is the review. The tacos were a guilty pleasure that I would get again, over and over. I probably prefer the non-supreme version. The chicken burrito was one of the least healthy pieces of food, if you call it that, that I have ever eaten. It was a struggle to finish. Alana ate most of her bean and cheese burrito but I finished it. She enjoyed the cookie sandwich, but I thought that the apple empanadas were absolutely disgusting.

All in all, us being hungry and fit, don’t be afraid to cheat from time to time. If you count cheat meals go for that, but feel free to indulge in a guilty pleasure from time to time. Otherwise you’ll go insane and once you have it, you’ll realize it’s not that great anyways. I don’t want Taco Bell for a while, but I was happy that we went. You can see the receipt below, it was cheap.

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You can eat fast food and still stay hungry and fit!
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Sunday Movie Day 2: Special Halloween Edition

So I know that Halloween is still a few weeks away, but it’s one of those holidays that is worth thinking about, if not celebrating, for more than one day and one night. Or half of one night depending how protective parents are of their children, or just how they dictate the celebration of Halloween.

So, in our ideal weekend fashion, we drove our 20 miles ( I’m sorry Earth 🙁 ) to the better AMC theatre in the area. We saw the 9:40 showing of Hotel Transylvania and the 11:45 showing of Frankenweenie. Here are some quick reviews: But first, let me tell you that we guiltily spent more money, almost, on snacks in between movies, than on our tickets. Nearly 20 dollars for some very greasy waffle fries, a small bag of Reeses Pieces, and a small bag of popcorn. It made us feel bad, mentally and physically. Lesson learned? Doubt it.

Hotel Transylvania: I know, we knew, what the critics said and that it has a pretty bad score on Rotten Tomatoes. But when have I ever cared what the critics say? Sometimes, I love bad movies, because they can be very entertaining. Let’s just say that I’m open to anything. So, the voice acting cast was stacked… Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg, Kevin James, Fran Drescher, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, and there were definitely others I forget. It was super cheesy and I’m sure all of the kids in the audience loved every bit of it. I enjoyed most of it. It was no How To Train a Dragon or Shrek, but it tried to do the same thing more or less and still entertained although it lacked that lasting impact which is why it probably didn’t do too well with the critics.

Nevertheless, we had our eyes glued on the screen the whole time. Good animation, voice acting, a cheesy but cute story, and every monster you want to remember a few weeks before Halloween. How much I enjoyed it? A lot. But as a movie, if I were a critic… probably a 4/10. You know what… it actually accomplished more or less what it was trying to do so I’m going to give it a 5/10. It wasn’t trying to win any awards, just put some smiles on little faces.
Frankenweenie: If you didn’t know Tim Burton directed this before stepping in the theatre, and he wasn’t in the credits, it wouldn’t take any movie fan more than two minutes to figure it out. The puppets, the soundtrack, the feel is completely Tim Burton. Again, to consult the critics, this one has very positive reviews, but Alana and I both enjoyed this one far less. It was Edward Scissorhands, The Corpse Bride, Nightmare Before Christmas… just not as good. Well maybe as good as the Corpse Bride, probably better in my book, I saw the latter in theatre long ago. Danny Elfman does a great job on the score as always, and the voice acting fits the dark feeling. There is plenty of wit behind it, but it tries to accomplish too much and some of the messages get slightly blurry, especially for young children, who can see this movie. It is not graphic or nasty. And it has good messages. To be fair, it was a fun adaptation of the Dr. Frankenstein stories. A little different. Also, a 5/10 in my book. I don’t always agree with the tomatometer.
We would have also seen Paranorman but they decided to release it in August… I’d love to know why. To avoid competition? Not worth it if you ask me. Oh well, we have our pumpkins soon to be jack-o-lanterns, candy dish of candy corn, and window decorations but we still need more! Get in the Halloween spirit if you want to, we do!
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