Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

I'm so excited right now, I don't even know what to say. Tim Burton is producing a movie version of Alice in Wonderland, and Johnny Depp is in it. Now, I'm not one of those "ohh he's so cute" kind of people. Nope, I just love his acting. I love his Gonzo roles, I love his Jung role. I love them all.

I've been saying for years that someone should do a screen version of the book. It's a classic, it's interesting, it's fun, why not? And to have someone like Burton doing it, I know it will be fantastic.

Of course I can't wait for the Caterpillar. I mean, really. The caterpillar truly is my favorite character. I can't wait for the music. You know it's going to be good.

2010 can't come fast enough.

http://www.dlisted.com/node/28969

Campos Tacos

I've found my new favorite place to eat.

I love the fact that I live in a small town that is starting grow; you get all kinds of neat new things and new places to eat. We recently had another restaurant join our community, Campos Tacos. It's in the little strip mall next to CVS and Chicago's Pizza, and it's a small place, but it has big taste.

Now, if you're thinking you're going to walk in and find Qdoba, Jr. or even something like Taco Bell, you're wrong. Totally different thing. This is what tacos are all about: flat corn tortillas (soft though, not crunchy) topped with your choice of chicken, steak, refried beans, and a few things that I'm not familiar with, and instead of lettuce, tomato, and cheese, you'll find chopped white onion and cilantro as your toppings. I'm not a fan of commercialized Mexican food, and in my opinion most Americans have pedestrian views on what good food is.

Anyway, like most other Mexican restaurants, you start of with a basket of chips and salsa. They bring two kinds to the table. One is more of a verde kind of sauce and the other, my favorite, is the chunky tomato, cilantro, onion salsa. For just over 2 bucks, you can get a big glob of the best guacamole within a 50 mile radius. It's not the bird-poop kind, either. It has chunks of tomatoes in it, too. Are you seeing a pattern? Love those 'maters. Okay, so get the guac. It's yummy. And it's made fresh; I know this because I've had it twice this week and it was slightly more lemony the second time. Yummmm.

The other thing I really, really like is the fact that you can buy bottled Coke. Mexican Coke, to be more exact, which is made with sugar, not that high fructose bullshit. Of course I just get water, but Aaron loves the fact that he can actually drink a Coke somewhere every now and then. They also have non-alcoholic bottled Sangria. Yum.

Okay so back to the menu...I haven't tried it all yet, but of the things I have had (a refried bean burrito, which was huge--too huge if I'm being completely honest; and the bean taco) the taco is my favorite so far. And they're priced reasonably, too. For around $10, Aaron and I can eat until we're stuffed. And that's not easy to do! Tacos are $1.75 each, and two of them are too much for me. One and a half would be perfect. I guess that's just another reason to get a take-home box or just order one and pig out on the guacamole. The chicken and the steak is amazing as well. I have been caught breaking my vegetarian lifestyle for a couple chicken tacos.

Campos Tacos...try it! Don't go in expecting your pedestrian taco joint. It's anything but that, at least as far as Central Indiana is concerned. Go hungry and come out happy!

A New Gem

Yesterday I spent the day with the fam. They can be pretty cool to hang out with. We started off by going out to breakfast at one of the little diners here in town. We usually go to The Wagon Wheel but they were packed with people waiting to be seated. Yikes. When I first found that diner a year ago it was pretty much a regular crowd of older folks who have lived in McCordsville since before this recent population boom. We didn't want to wait (or sit in the smoking section--this town is a little behind the times), so we made the journey up the road to another small town diner, called Robbie's. It's nice to sit down with my husband and our boys, slurp my coffee and eat my vegetarian egg-white omelet, and watch their faces covered in syrup and smiles as we talk about the things they find important in their broadening worlds. Breakfast was a hit, up until Willie overate and threw up in front of the cash register. It happens....always. My kids are vomiters. Unfortunately we haven't quite gotten the hang of making it to the restrooms first. So, I gleefully (ha!) cleaned up the mess while my older two ran back to the table, announcing to the entire restaurant not once, but twice, "Willie threw up!!" Forks fell. That's breakfast for the Ongs. Overall, though, breakfast was a hit and we'll go back.

After breakfast we headed to Fort Benjamin Harrison. There is a state park with walking trails in the woods, which is one of my most favorite things in the entire world. We started out on our 2 mile trek and to my absolute glee, I found hanging vines! It has been YEARS since I've gotten to swing on a vine and I couldn't wait to jump on. At first the boys were a little unsure about swinging off a vine, but once they saw me launch myself up, they couldn't wait to follow suit. Matt quickly got the hang of it and A.J. did after that. Willie never really quite got his feet off the ground, but he wasn't scared to try. Aaron even got a bit of a swing in. I quit after I nearly impaled myself with the vine around my Achilles tendon. It left a bruise but I show it proudly. It's my Tarzan injury! We spent a good ten minutes playing with the vines before we headed onward with our journey.

The trails were buzzing with people with dogs. The boys had to stop each person with a pup so they could give a quick pet on the head. Sometimes I think that was annoying to people who were trying to get on with their trip, but overall it was a good day to see lots of dogs. We even saw a couple deer run right in front of us and off into the trees. I wanted to kick myself time and again for not bringing a camera.

After the kids kept up for over 2.1 miles we threw them back in the car and drove around the park to see what else was there. I was surprised to find more trails, a sledding hill, a couple playgrounds, and my favorite part: the natural history museum and horse stables. Aaron and I are planning to go back this weekend and take a guided tour. For twenty dollars each, we get an hour long horse ride. Sounds fun to me! They also offer pony rides for children under 16, and it's cheap.

The natural history museum was really fun. It's small, probably around 2000 square feet or less, but it was filled with things like stuffed animals (taxidermist stuffed, not beanie baby stuffed!), war artifacts from both World Wars and Vietnam, POW artifacts from Nazi Germans (I saw a real swastika. I mean, I'm not pro-Nazi or anything, but do you realize how awesome that is to see it?). We measured our arms up against the wall and compared them with the painted wingspans of birds (my arms have the same span as a Turkey Vulture!) and then we compared our heights with that of Elk, black bears, moose, and a few other things.

Finally, before we went home we let the kids run off whatever leftover energy they had on the playground and then rolling down the sledding hill. They were exhausted when we came home. We spent the entire day there and still didn't get to do everything. We'll be going back, soon!!

This Sounds Yummy!

It's fall. I'm recipe hunting. Today I'm making white chicken chili (and a vegetarian version for me), and I'll let you know how that turns out, but here is one I found that I am going to try.

I'll share:

From http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/recipe.php?recipeId=1749

Grilled Vegetable Pizza

Serves 4 to 6

Grilled veggies topped with feta and herbs and baked on a cornmeal crust make for a quick, light meal. Feel free to use leftover grilled vegetables for this recipe. Rely on the season to guide you; choose what is at the peak of harvest to create your own custom pizza. Eggplant, bell peppers and fennel, for instance, could replace or add to the vegetables suggested here.
Ingredients

2 cups small broccoli florets
2 cups thinly sliced zucchini
8 thin slices red onion
1/4 cup vinaigrette dressing
2 medium heirloom tomatoes, thinly sliced
2 (8- to 9-inch) frozen cornmeal or other pizza crusts, thawed
Pepper to taste
1/2 pound crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons mixed chopped herbs (such as basil, rosemary and oregano)
Method

Heat a grill. In a grilling basket, grill the broccoli, zucchini, and onions, brushing with vinaigrette dressing and turning often, until just tender.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425°F. Arrange tomatoes on the pizza crusts, then arrange grilled veggies on top of the tomatoes. Season with pepper. Mix the feta cheese with the fresh herbs and sprinkle mixture over the vegetables. Bake until cheese is browned and vegetables are crisp, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board, cut into slices and serve.

Now...here for the "fun" stuff...Nutritional Information

Per serving (About 8oz/232g-wt.): 250 calories (130 from fat), 14g total fat, 7g saturated fat, 11g protein, 23g total carbohydrate (3g dietary fiber, 7g sugar), 40mg cholesterol, 740mg sodium