Bob’s Kitchen: Low Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Posted by Rob on March 11, 2010 – 5:59 pm
Filed under Bob's Kitchen, Cooking/ Food
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Low-Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies

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This recipe I pretty much came up with on my own. I went to Cara for some advice, but for the most part I took guessed on everything and went with the flow. These cookies are a little healthier since I only use one egg, replace 1/2 the usual butter with apple sauce, and use dark chocolate chips as opposed to milk chocolate. A bit of a note though: since I use apple sauce, the cookies will come out softer and won’t get crispy due to the added moisture. It kind of reminded me of a pancake. So if you want a crunchy cookie, this recipe is not for you. If you want a tasty snack that is a little healthier, than this one is for you.

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New Category: Bob’s Kitchen

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Posted by Rob on March 11, 2010 – 5:14 pm
Filed under Bob's Kitchen, Cooking/ Food

As you may know, I enjoy dabbling in the kitchen. I don’t make anything super fancy, but I can hold my own and make some great stuff. Lately, I’ve been wanting to start putting some of my recipes on here as a step-by-step blog.

YesterdayI made some low fat chocolate chip cookies, so I decided to try my experiment here as the first of what will be several (and maybe many) of my step by step recipes. One of the best things I make is chili, and maybe I’ll share it with you next time. Be sure to check out these posts and maybe you can start making great stuff in the kitchen as well!

My First Three Days as a Substitute Teacher

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Posted by Rob on March 9, 2010 – 6:56 pm
Filed under School
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So as some of you may know, I have been on the sub list in the area since January, waiting to be called in. From then til last week, they had called me a total of three times, always in the late morning (like 10:30am) expecting me to get there by 11:00am. Well, last Friday morning I had my first call that I was able to do, and then yesterday and today this week I was also called in, so I’ve been working for the past three days. It feels good to finally be out there getting paid and getting some additional classroom experience. However, none of my assignments have been “normal” teaching assignments…

My first day (Friday), I was assigned to a school about 35-40 minutes away from my apartment. I was told to go to the high school, but when I got there they told me my assignment was subbing for a middle school Teachers Assistant (which I will henceforth refer to as a TA). So I went down to the classroom and discovered that I would spend the day working one-on-one with an autistic student. The student was very pleasant, and was not shy or over excited. We worked pretty well together. I taught him some basic math addition and subtraction through word problems (ex- if there are twenty students in the class and twelve are girls, how many of the students are boys?), helped him write a simple essay about Naruto, and read some books together. One of the best parts was when he pulled out a Simpsons comic that the regular teacher and him had been reading together! While I did enjoy working with him, as I have the patience to help him out, I did get kind of bored remaining in the same room most of the day. Granted, we got to leave the room when I went with him to art and chorus, but the majority of the day was spent in the resource room. However, I did enjoy it, and would do it again if the opportunity arose. With the difficulty I have with finding work, I’ll take what I can get.

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I Know I’ve Been Slacking Around Here…

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Posted by Rob on March 8, 2010 – 10:36 pm
Filed under My Personal Life
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Yeah, I know I haven’t done much on here the past couple of days. I have to excuses for that.

For starters, I’m finally working. Tomorrow will be my third day as a substitute teacher. So far I’ve worked as a TA for an autistic student and I’ve subbed for a Russian class (as in the language). Both experiences were interesting, but I’ll get into more detail in a future blog.

My other (somewhat lamer) excuse is that my laptop keyboard is falling apart. The s button barely works, and since it is a letter that is used extremely frequently, it aggravates the crud out of me to type for too long. However, I ordered a replacement keyboard from ebay today, so I will be fixing that little annoyance soon.

I am working tomorrow (subbing as a TA again), but I will try to sit down when I get home and start working on a blog detailing my first three days of subbing. All I know is that it feels good to be bringing home the bacon, and not totally bumming of Shell!

Update on the Adventures of Loki & Odin

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Posted by Rob on March 4, 2010 – 4:37 pm
Filed under Pets
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So I would say for over a week now, the cats have been fully integrated together. We no longer close Odin in by himself at any point, as the two of them have come to love each other. It is not uncommon for Odin to walk over to Loki and start licking his face, or for Loki to come over and lay down next to Odin. They continue to fight occasionally, but I think it is more playing around than anything. They can be near each other without having a fuss, so I think they are just rough-housing as any siblings do.

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Odin’s personality is definitely starting to come out. He is a bigger mush than Loki, and will never object to be held or cuddled. He is constantly laying with us at night, where as Loki always preferred to lay down wherever he wanted, usually not with us. One thing is for sure…he likes food. While he is a fan of his cat food, he prefers “people food.” Last weekend Shell baked some fresh muffins, and placed the extra in a plastic bag. A little later on I was chasing Odin through the apartment as he had the bag of muffins in his mouth, took them under the futon, and tried to eat them. And let’s not forget the time he started drinking milk out of Shell’s glass, got his head stuck, and ended up shattering the glass (no worries- he was unharmed.) I have also caught him going through the garbage, which led us to have to go to Wal-Mart and buy baby-proof cabinet locks. He’s definitely been a handful, but his love and cuteness make up for it.

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Futurama Returning in June to Comedy Central!!!

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Posted by Rob on March 4, 2010 – 4:10 pm
Filed under TV Shows
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So Comedy Central officially announced today that they will be airing a new season of Futurama in June. The four movies that were made were decent, but not necessarily classic Futurama (with the exception of the first, Bender’s Big Score), but hopefully they will be more successful in creating 22-minute episodes. I have high hopes for the series. I really missed the show…it’s so under-appreciated.

Can’t wait til June!!!

PS3 Review: Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce

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Posted by Rob on March 3, 2010 – 6:08 pm
Filed under Video Games
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Once of my most favorite games from the PS2 was Dynasty Warriors 4. I had never played any of the previous games in the series, and it was by far one of the best co-op games the PS2 had to offer. It was a perfect hack-and-slash game where you and a friend could just run around with swords and cut up minions and tough bosses. I’m not joking when I say that one of my most fond gaming memories was when Steve and I first laid eyes on the badassness that is Lu Bu. That being said, I have played the older and newer games from the series, and I have always compared them to Dynasty Warriors 4. The older ones were a bit too slow, and the newer ones tended to focus more on strategy and unit management more than just tried and true mindless hack-and-slash action. Luckily, Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce is extremely successful in focusing a lot on the action, while at the same time intergrating a great RPG aspect, bringing the game to be the best in the series.

For those who are not familiar with the series, let me just take a moment or two to explain why it’s so awesome. Dynasty Warriors is loosely based on actual Chinese history, and you take control of one of many historical figures who were in China when the game takes place. To be more specific, it is based on the text “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” Now, I say loosely because there are near-invincible characters, magic, and, depending on which faction you play as, may not be entirely accurate (ex- your faction lost a battle historically, but you won that battle when playing.) So the game revolves around you choosing a faction (Wei, Wu, Shu), and taking their officers into battle against rival forces. Since it takes place in ancient China, the weaponry is basically swords, spears, bows, etc., with some other ones thrown in (like fans and clawed gloves.)

But enough of that. Let’s get into what makes Strikeforce such a great game!

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Playstation 3/ PSN Still Glitched Out

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Posted by Rob on March 1, 2010 – 6:27 pm
Filed under Video Games
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So last night, it was around 10:00pm, and I was ready to get my game on. Before I hopped on, I checked my e-mail and checked out joystiq, and I saw a notice that the PS3 was busted, and warned against turning the PS3 on. While it wasn’t entirely clear what the issue was, I didn’t want to risk anything, so I didn’t go on.

It has now been about 22 hours, and the PSN is still messed up. Reports have been flying around that you can’t play most games, and that you will run the risk of losing trophies and save files. While I did not experience any of this personally, Steve happened to be on his PS3 last night.

Steve was playing Fallout 3, and he had no problem actually playing the game. He did realize two things though. First, his save files were getting the wrong date imprinted on them. Secondly, he was unable to see his Fallout 3 trophies. What will become of his saves and trophies?! We will not know, until it is safe to turn the system back on and to look over the damage.

The worst part is that I received Dynasty Warriors: Strike Force in from Gamefly, and I can’t play it!!!

Top Reasons Why I Hate “Cindy” Crosby

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Posted by Rob on February 28, 2010 – 8:47 pm
Filed under Sports
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So I’ve never made it a secret that I hate Crosby, as I have complained about him in the past. However, after my last post about him winning the gold medal, I realized he never made my Shit List. Well, I just remedied that. So in writing that last post, I really had a blast finding awesome images on Crosby online, and I decided to devote this post to the various reasons I hate him. Mind you, some of these images will be repetitive from past posts, but most will be new.

  • He’s a baby- probably my most-used pic of him. I just love his stupid little face as he is probably whining because someone just called him Cindy, or because someone pushed him a little too hard, and he skinned his widdle knee

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But here is a new pic of him being a baby:

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Canada Wins 2010 Olympic Hockey Gold Medal…Crosby’s Massive Ego Grows

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Posted by Rob on February 28, 2010 – 8:05 pm
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There were only 24 seconds remaining in the third period. Team Canada was in the lead by 2-1, and they were certain that victory had been achieved. Suddenly, to the shock of all, Zach Parise comes out and nets himself the tie-breaking goal, allowing the game to move into overtime. It was something out of a movie, with a team coming back with seconds to spare, and tying the game up so that there would be a chance to win in overtime. Unfortunately, this would have been a messed-up movie, because the evil antagonist prevailed. He’s the guy you love to hate, ugly, arrogant, egotistical, over-rated…it’s Baby Crosby. And he was the one who scored the game-winning goal for Canada, making him a national hero.

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While I was obviously rooting for the U.S. team to win, I would not have been upset if it had been anyone else but Crosby who scored the winning goal. I have nothing against team Canada, and I will attest to the skills of all the players. It’s just that I hate Crosby, and the fact that he is the reason Canada won is why I am taking this so hard. Crosby didn’t need this to inflate his ego any more…I’m in shock that his head didn’t explode when they placed the gold medal around his ugly neck.

He’s been an over-rated player for years. Sure, he has some skills, but people who say he is “the best in the NHL” are sorely mistaken. Also, as the above picture states, he is a big baby. He is always complaining about how the other teams attack him. Of course they are…being the “superstar” that you are makes you a target. He’s also not beneath taking a ridiculously over-the-top fall and hamming it up just to get his team a measly two-minute power play. So take his “legend”, and add the fact that he was the youngest captain in the NHL, was the youngest captain to win a Stanley Cup, and now throw a gold medal into the mix, and you have yourself one hell of an egotistical moron. If the above doesn’t prove it, then this magazine article will:

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And hey, if you don’t see it yet, at least this guy does:

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I congratulate Canada for a great game, and a job well done. It was a really good game, and both teams were in excellent form. It’s just a shame that Canada owes more to its precious Baby Crosby than it did before today…

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Our Massive Movie Collection

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Posted by Rob on February 27, 2010 – 6:14 pm
Filed under Movies
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I just got finished cataloging our movies, and we own 357. To me, that’s crazy. I had gotten rid of at least twenty movies since we moved in, mostly crap movies that I purchased impulsively from Wal-Mart’s $5 discount bin, but I am still amazed that we own so many. Mind you, this is our movie collection, not our DVD collection. Not included in this count are the various other DVDs we own, whether they are TV shows (Simpsons, Futurama, Sopranos, etc.), music specials, TV specials (all the Christmas specials), and others.

So I figured I would share our movie collection here. There is a lot, and it may not all be in perfect order, but I got tired from just removing our old movies and adding in the ones we have received since moving. Just remember, I do live with Shell, so you know that the nerdy sci-fi movies like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings are hers, and all the really, REALLY cool chick flicks like Footloose and Dirty Dancing are mine…

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Boycotting the God of War III Demo (for good reason)

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Posted by Rob on February 25, 2010 – 9:10 pm
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Today’s PSN update includes a demo for God of War III, and I for one am not downloading it. Not because I hate God of War, but because I don’t want to ruin the experience. I have the game pre-ordered from Gamestop, so I am definitely going to be owning it when it launches in a few mere weeks. I don’t want to spoil it by cheating and taking a peek at the demo before playing the finished game. That being said, I am not going to play the demo.

But I know it is going to rock!!!!

My Thoughts on Alkaline Trio’s New Album: “This Addiction”

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Posted by Rob on February 24, 2010 – 6:32 pm
Filed under Music
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I visiting my friend from High School last week, and we were reminiscing about music and stuff. Eventually we started talking about how, as you grow older, some people tend to stop listening to new bands, and stick to the stuff they are used to. I don’t know how accurate that is, but for me, that is true. I don’t listen to the radio, so I do not hear any new up and coming bands. Instead, I use my iPod, and it just happens to be filled with only older bands. Anywho, what I’m trying to say is that due to this, I do not buy many CDs these days, and will only do so if a band I have liked for a long time comes out with a new album. Thus, when Alkaline Trio’s new album “This Addiction” released this week, I had it pre-ordered, and it got delivered today.

Alkaline Trio are an odd band. I can’t really put my finger on why I enjoy listening to their music…I just do. Their music was always a little “darker”…a little out there. Or at least that was the case until their previous album “Agony and Irony”, in which their music took a lighter side, to a degree. It was not as aggressive, and I enjoyed how the band matured to where they were. Their new album “This Addiction” continues this new phase in the band’s life.

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Tuesday Night = Uncharted 2 Co-op Night

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Posted by Rob on February 24, 2010 – 9:14 am
Filed under Video Games
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The past couple of weeks, after Lost (which is 10pm), I have been meeting up with a couple of guys from co-optimus, and we have been playing Uncharted 2 online. For the last two-three weeks there have only three or six of us, so we broke into teams of three to play either the survival mode or the gold rush mode.

Last night started out with just three of us, and we played through one mode of survival. After that, four others joined us, and we started playing a variety of different team elimination matches. Unfortunately, all the true co-op modes only support up to three players, so with seven we had to abandon co-op for the greater good of everyone playing together.

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All in all, Tuesdays prove to be a fun night where I get to play with some fun people. I have been having a blast playing Uncharted 2 online (which I haven’t been doing so much before I started playing with the crew), and it is a great game to play online with friends. The co-op modes are definitely best played with people who you know and can talk to, because communication is key.Whether you need to be saved from a “ninja attack” or you need to be warned of incoming chain gun-wielding enemies, communicating with the others is the only way to successfully survive the co-op modes.

Bioshock 2 = Great Multiplayer Experience

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Posted by Rob on February 22, 2010 – 6:29 pm
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Now I know that in the past Ive said that I hate playing FPS in online competitive matches. This is due to the fact that I tend to just really suck. I don’t have enough experience playing against other players, and that leads to me generally getting killed more than I kill others. Now I received Bioshock 2 when it came out, but I had not checked out the multiplayer mode since I hate playing online. But I was bored last night, so I decided to give it a whirl. I was not disappointed.

Between last night and today, I have logged in close to two hours online. I have definitely been doing well, and often come in within the top three places in the team-based deathmatches. Since I do fairly well, I enjoy playing it. There are a few traits to the online mode which I think are what attract me to it.

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PS3 Review: Aliens vs. Predator

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Posted by Rob on February 20, 2010 – 5:27 pm
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As you may know, I had some real issues with the AVP demo that came out two weeks ago. While the demo proved the game had a good premise and some great ideas, complex controls and the fact that it was impossible to get a game going left me a bit concerned for the final product. Well, I received the disc from Gamefly on Thursday, and have since then given most of the different game modes a whirl. Unfortunately, the demo gave a very accurate pretense on how the finished game would be…a game with great ideas, but executed badly.

First off, the story/background to the game is virtually non-existent. The game takes place shortly after the events of Alien 3, but I would not have known that had I not read it somewhere online. There is no background story at all, and the cut scenes, while looking and sounding good, do little to explain what the heck is going on. Im going to take a stab at it and say that humans find some ancient Alien/Predator temple and start creating mutant Aliens. The Marines and Predators come in to put a stop to it, resulting in a three-way battle royale to be the last species standing.  There are three single player campaigns (Marine, Alien, Predator), and each three tell the same story through the respective species point of view. For example, as an Alien you are defending the hive from the invading factions, and as a Marine you are called in to clean up the mess. That being said, I’ll start this review up with the single player campaigns.

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Movie Review: Stardust

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Posted by Rob on February 20, 2010 – 12:23 pm
Filed under Movies
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We got Stardust in from Netflix kind of on accident. I had been interested in watching it, but I hadn’t intended on seeing it yet. Needless to say, I didn’t keep an eye on my queue, and in it came. However, it ended up being quite a pleasant film, and if anything I was mad at myself for not renting it sooner.

Stardust is a romantic/fantasy/comedy movie, and definitely reminded me of The Princess Bride in terms of how it is presented to the viewer. The basic plot is that a star (that for whatever reason is human) falls from the sky, and everyone wants a piece of it. The protagonist Tristan wants to bring a star to the local woman he has his eyes on to prove his love for her. Some witches want her because, in this fantasy world, witches eat the hearts of stars in order to regain youth and magical power. There are also two princes who are attempting to get the star, because whoever has her necklace will become King. Tristan gets to her first, and attempts to escort her back to his town while avoiding the wily witches and greedy ruthless princes. As might be expected from a romance movie, along the way Tristan falls in love with the star, which eventually leads to a happy ever after.

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Another Loki and Odin Update

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Posted by Rob on February 16, 2010 – 7:13 pm
Filed under Pets
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The process of introducing Odin to Loki is moving along at fantastic speed. Today has been a major milestone. From 1:30pm until now (6:00pm), the two have been out and about together entirely. They were out this morning together for a little bit, but I separated them while I was not around to supervise (had to do car stuff, get a haircut, etc.)

So the last few hours has seen great strides in Loki/Odin relations. The two get along quite well now, and I have not needed to separate them. The two of them will still chase and swat each other, but Ive decided to let it go on, so long as there is no true violence (which there has not been.) Loki still continued to hound Odin’s every step for most of the day, but there was a half hour of peace at one point.

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AVP is on the Way

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Posted by Rob on February 16, 2010 – 10:43 am
Filed under Video Games
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I just got the notification from Gamefly that Aliens vs. Predator has shipped, so I should be enjoying that by Thursday afternoon. Im looking forward to playing it since the demo was so lame and busted up. I have yet to check out the Predator, and I cant wait!!!

How I Spent my Valentine’s Day

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Posted by Rob on February 15, 2010 – 8:49 pm
Filed under My Personal Life
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Heres what Shell and I did for Valentine’s Day!

  • Woke up. I made an egg breakfast
  • Exchanged chocolate (she got Hershey Pot o’ Gold, I got Russle Stovers)
  • Showered and got dressed
  • Went to church
  • After mass, met with the church director to begin the interview process for our wedding
  • Came home and had lunch
  • Watched “Pretty in Pink” (I had never watched it before…I kept thinking it was Sixteen Candles)
  • Hung out on the couch and watched TV
  • Went to Paolo Lombardi’s Ristorante (fancy Italian place) for dinner
  • Came home and watched “My Best Friend’s Girl” while eating chocolate-covered strawberries and spumoni
  • Went to bed

So yeah, we had a pretty busy day. Well, not necessarily busy, but we had stuff going on all day. It was a fun Valentine’s Day that I spent with my sweetie!