SiscoVanilla Hits The Bricks

So my post Gardein Ultimate Beefless Burgers November 17, 2018 on the Gardein line of vegetarian/vegan foods got some interesting attention. A couple of you recommended the Beyond Meat line of products as a better option than the Gardein line. I was also educated on some of the finer points of ingredients and the need to look closely at the ingredient list of products such as the Gardein line by my good friend Kesia. Kesia is the owner and MamaPreneur of the More Better Brand which creates handmade products in down in Sunny Florida. You can find her products on her MoreBetterBrand Etsy page and on her MoreBetterBrand Instagram feed. Now I am a noob when it comes to ingredient lists, additives and other items used to make some of these processed foods that, in theory, make our busier lives easier. And granted the best way to make sure that you know what you put into your body is to make the meals yourself. But in the busy world we live in, that can be a hard proposition. So I ma...

Having gone Meatless now for over five months, I'm always on the lookout for new products to try. Now I'm not one of these former meat-eaters to crave meatless foods that resemble foods that contain meat. But I believe that I have come across one. Thanks to the iBotta app, I was introduced to the Gardein line of vegetarian and vegan foods. The app gives me .50 cents on each purchase for up to five items of the Gardein line. The first one I tried was their Ultimate Beefless Burger. Here are the ingredients in this particular patty from their website: I have to be honest, I've had a number of veggie and vegan patties from different brands and this is the closest I've noticed a patty taste like a burger. I simply pan fried it on a griddle, added some provolone cheese on a potato roll with mayo and Pace salsa. I closed my eyes, took a bite and it seemed like beef to me. It was pretty damn delicious. Even had that cooked/fried taste that pan fried patties tend to hav...

Sorry for the delay in posting my weekly steps via the Fitbit app. Holiday season is upon us at the café and we are busy. Here are the steps for the period of October 22 - November 4: October 22: 20,285 October 23: 13,400 October 24: 4,785 October 25: 17,451 October 26: 21,581 October 27: 18,197 October 28: 10,869 October 29: 15,545 October 30: 13,522 October 31: 23,759 November 1: 18,984 November 2: 20,111 November 3: 17,686 November 4: 12,814 Hopefully I can get back to being consistent with the posting of the steps. Doing so creates a routine for myself which helps with my keeping track of my progress. Things are super busy and hectic at the moment. I'm all over the place and in serious need of some consistency. Hopefully a couple of things that I am looking at can come to fruition. I'll keep everyone posted. Have a great day folks. Until Then Keep Stepping, #SiscoVanilla #SiscoVanillaIsStepping #SiscoVanillaHitsTheBricks

I just finished my first week using the Charity Miles app that I downloaded and posted about on my post entitled Charity Miles App November 8, 2018 and I wanted to let you know what I think of it so far. Before I go into the mileage, I wanted to give a quick description of the app. After you download the app, open an account and choose a charity to raise funds with your miles accrued by biking or walking, you set your workout and hit the road (or the treadmill/exercise bike.) A number of articles that I've read specify that by using the CharityMiles app , you'll earn 10 cents a mile for biking and 25 cents a mile for walking and running. The money comes from corporate sponsors that back the apps fundraising efforts. The first charity I chose to back is the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (MS Society.) Let's take a look at my progress so far. As you can see from the image, I've walked 28 miles in 21 sessions over a seven day period. Now that is not to say that...

This quote by journalist Molly Ivins stands out to me. How so? Being someone whose staff is predominately half his age and having to  hear them complain about how "old" they are when they are not even 25 years old put this quote in perspective. Age is something I don't complain about. At 46 I'm thankful and blessed to have made it this far. I know a number of people who didn't have the chance to make it to 40 let alone 46. Its through living life and experiences its trials and tribulations that we become who we become. The longer we live the more we learn. We should cherish each and every day we have regardless of how hard it might be. I rather that, the grey hairs, the aches and pains to the alternative. At least I'm getting the chance to feel all that. So don't bitch and moan about your age. Enjoy life and live it to your fullest. Have a great day. Until Then Keep Stepping, #SiscoVanilla #SiscoVanillaIsStepping #SiscoVanillaHitsTheBrick...

Much thanks to my friend Elizabeth for sending me this message the other day. This affirmation by Brad Gast encapsulates everything that I do when it comes to trying to improve myself physically, mentally, spiritually and financially. The road is long, twisted and full of obstacles. Its easy to be discouraged when faces with these perceived insurmountable trials. But the key is not to fall prey to it. Keep moving forward, keep improving, and get your shit done!!!! Have a great day. Until Then Keep Stepping, #SiscoVanilla #SiscoVanillaIsStepping #SiscoVanillaHitsTheBricks

Many of you are revved up for the weekend when Friday arrives. For someone who it seems has worked the traditional weekend now for decades, as the image above says, I get fired up about Mondays in the same way that you all get fired up about Friday. Why? Allow me to elaborate. We're in the beginning stages of the holiday season at Barnes and Noble and the BN Café is not exempt from the rush. This was one busy weekend in the middle of a busy stretch. My next day off is Thursday the 15th with the Thanksgiving weekend looming on the horizon. I had all the intentions of sleeping in today before my late shift at the café. But, as we all know, best laid plans and all that jazz. I didn't sleep in, but was able to wake up naturally without the aid of an alarm. For me that is a plus. I detest having to wake up to an alarm. I find it to be unnatural. I hate alarms. Always have. Today marks the beginning of a goal. From now to January 8th, I'm going to try and make enough money...

Hall of Fame pitcher and Veteran of World War II Bob Feller was never shy about voicing his views. Here he is definitely not wrong. Using the analogy of Baseball, every game, like every day is indeed a chance to build on the day before. Regardless if you had a bad day or a good one, the new day that we have been blessed to have is a chance to improve ourselves. Have a great day. Until Then Keep Stepping, #SiscoVanilla #SiscoVanillaIsStepping #SiscoVanillaHitsTheBricks

I posted an article across a number of my Social Media platforms yesterday entitled 50 Ways to Walk More from the Blog at MyFitnessPal . One of my friends Migdalia reached out to me on LinkedIn to tell me about an app called Charity Miles. The way the app works is that after you download the app, open an account and pick the charity of your choice, you highlight a workout and apply the workout to raise funds for the charity. The website for Charity Miles states that the money that is raised through the app comes from Corporate sponsor agreements. Here is a short list of the sponsors that work with the Charity Miles app: Johnson & Johnson Sunniva Super Coffee Blueprint for Athletes Brooks Running Del Monte Fresh Varidesk JackRabbit Thrive Market You can choose from Walking, Running and Biking both indoors and outdoors. For someone like me who is always on the move and wants to do more to help others in terms of raising funds for charities, this app seems like a ...

From the moment we are conceived to the moment we die, we are all works in progress. Not one of us are set in stone for our entire lives. So we will find that we have moments of success and the inevitable moments of failure. What defines us is how we react to both success and failure and how we decide to continue to improve our selves when we succeed and how we change and adapt when we fail. The constant is that we keep moving forward and continue to improve ourselves regardless if we are on the top of the mountain or rock bottom. Never quit. Never stop. Never give up. Have a great and prosperous day. Until Then Keep Stepping, #SiscoVanilla #SiscoVanillaIsStepping #SiscoVanillaHitsTheBricks

Hey, guess what...today is Monday and today is the day that you need to do right by yourself. How can you do that? Follow these two simple words: START NOW!!!! That's right. If there was anything you wanted to get going, now is the point in time that you can do it. Not tomorrow, not next week, not next month, not January 1, not when the planets align...NOW!!! Just START NOW!!! Enough said. Have a great day. Until Then Keep Stepping: #SiscoVanilla #SiscoVanillaIsStepping #SiscoVanillaHitsTheBricks

I received a notice from Google Health that I was eligible for a discount if I joined the Kind Snack Club. If I followed the link provided to me by Google Health, I could get everything that the Kind Snack Club offered for 50% off my first order. I like many of the Kind Bar offerings, so I decided to take advantage of the offer. Maybe you're wondering what is actually in the Snack Club. We'll wonder no more, here is the description from the Kind Snack Club website: What's in the snack pack? Enjoy 20 delicious snacks with our online-exclusive Snack Pack! This perfect mix of KIND favorites is ready for all your daily snacking needs. Like to start your day with whole grains? Try KIND® Breakfast bars or KIND Healthy Grains® clusters. Need to snack healthy while on the go? Enjoy KIND® bars, KIND Healthy Grains® bars and Pressed by KIND® bars! Looking for plant-based protein? Try KIND Protein™ bars. Plus, all of our snacks are crafted with delicious, wholesome ingredients like ...

Sometimes people get caught up in what so and so has and what so and so wants to get aka "Keeping up with the Joneses." You know what I think about the Joneses? Fuck them and all their stuff. Let them have it and all the drama that comes along with it. We need to be grateful for what we have in life. There are many people who have much less and are fulfilled. The proverbial statement of "The less is more" is definitely true. I'm at the stage in my life where I'm content with what I have. And I'm grateful for that. Have a great day. Until Then Keep Stepping, #SiscoVanilla #SiscoVanillaIsStepping #SiscoVanillaHitsTheBricks

Stepping, posting and just trying to live life are getting harder these days with the holidays on the horizon. Between the cafe and the bar, shit has been hectic and busy. At least I've been able to keep up with the walking at a consistent clip. Actually, this is the first time in a long time that I hit my step goal for the entire week. Check that out, 140,592 steps. Why? That was in the middle of a nine day stretch without being off. That's the way the schedule plays out sometimes. Whatcha gonna do, right? Here are the steps: October 15: 16,310 October 16: 18,927 October 17: 21,505 October 18: 23,284 October 19: 20,265 October 20: 19,156 October 21: 21,145 The week after this one was also full of steps though not to the degree of 140K steps. I actually had two days off that week. 🤪🤪 Anyways, have a great day folks. Until Then Keep Stepping, #SiscoVanilla  #SiscoVanillaIsStepping  #SiscoVanillaHitsTheBricks 

With yesterday being Halloween, a number of my staff members were dressed up as characters from the Harry Potter line of books and movies. I, as usual, didn't dress up at all for Halloween. While I can appreciate the effort people put into their costumes, I've worked enough Halloweens where I don't ever want to celebrate the day. This curmudgeon over here would rather leave that to others. But a couple of interactions with customers got me thinking about something. About two or three customers asked me "Where's your mask/costume." To which I responded "I wear a mask every day, I can't add another one to the costume." After the second or third time responding in that manner it got me thinking. I work in a corporate environment where you can't say this and can't do that or speak in this manner...blah blah blah. Keeping that in mind, the person who I am while working as Café Manager is definitely not the person I am when I am working ...