I haven’t made a cooking video in a long time, or rather I haven’t published one. This is primarily due to the last two I made had real sound issues related to my laptop, and after 6-10 minutes in front of the camera, I couldn’t bear doing it again (and repurchasing all the ingredients). I am thankful this one turned out reasonably well as this is one of my favorite foods when a heavy meal might be too much. It also once again demonstrates the type of diet Atkins is — one that sees the benefits of both meat and veggies.
Low Carb Cauliflower Bisque: 1 small onion, diced 2 stalks celery, finely sliced 1 TBS butter 1 Medium cauliflower, chopped 3 cups chicken broth 1/2 cup cream Salt and pepper
In a large frying pan, saute the onion and celery until translucent and tender. Salt and pepper to taste. Add cauliflower and the broth; bring to boil. Change heat to medium-low for 20-25 minutes. Add Cream. Use a stick blender or blender to liquefy the soup until completely smooth and thick. Add salt and pepper, if needed. Optional toppings: Cheddar cheese or real bacon bits.
Makes about 8 servings. Nutrition Info: 102 Calories, 6g Fat, 5.8g Carbs, 2g Fiber, 6g Protein
With a resurgence of creativity or breath of freedom from long subjects, I have done a few more Atkins Diet Quick Hits on YouTube. I cover a variety of subjects that I got questions on from how long to do Induction to reacting to a user’s zero carb diet to the misconception that Induction is only eating below 20g per day. These are probably the most common questions or problems I see with those starting the Atkins Diet, and it really comes down to reading the book and understanding first. I too suffered from these mistaken beliefs when I first started the diet, so I am as much talking to myself 4 years or what I wish I would have known when starting as I am to anyone else.
Atkins Diet: How long should I do Induction?
Atkins Diet: Zero Carb Desirable?
Atkins Diet: Induction is more than just eat only 20g or less.
So far the response to these videos has been fantastic, and the comments being generated are generating more videos. All-in-all, I am extremely happy these videos are fulfilling the mission in helping others.
It will be my pleasure to pace the Des Moines Half Marathon 2:10 group. I sent my offer to Tara Thomas, who manages Van Meter Industrial, Inc. Pace Team Leaders group. Training for the Des Moines Half Marathon back in 2006 was instrumental in convincing me that I was actually a runner and could accomplish anything. If I can help someone else finish or make their goal time, I will be extremely happy. Plus I get the opportunity to carry a stick with a sign for 13.1 miles. Who wouldn’t want to do that?
So if you want to run in my group or say “hi” to me marathon weekend, I would welcome it.
As I wrote a few posts back, I had been waiting for my Fire Fighter I exam results for quite awhile. It should have been back within 4 weeks, but 6 weeks later I still had not received any notice. I did finally get word. After 6 months of class at the Polk County Fire Academy, I passed my FF I exam. I also passed my Haz Mat Awareness exam. These two exams make me certifiable (pun intended) and able to enter burning structure where more sane people are exiting. I did end up missing my final Fire Fighter II exam due to being out of the state the day of the exam. I will have to take the test later in October if I want to get that designation.
Also on the subject of certification, I still have not heard word back on my VMware Enterprise Exam. You know the one where I was supposed to hear word in 7-10 days about a MONTH ago. I heard last week it was going to be by last Friday, and then I had my VMware TAM find out this week that I should hear by Friday. Well it is Thursday night, and I still have not heard. I am not holding my breath or anything at this point.
Florida Conference / Vacation:
Laura and I just returned from Orlando last week where I attended a Gartner Summit Event on Virtualization. It was about 180 degree different from a TechEd event. It focused more on getting engineers knowledge of the virtualization landscape and where its analysts believed it and the industry were headed. I have been attending large conferences (14,000 attendees) the last few years, so this was dramatically different. It was informative; a lot of the analysts simply affirmed what I already believed. It was nice to spend 9 days down in Florida in a couple of different condos. If the kids ever return to Florida with us, that is how we are going to vacation. Laura and I did spend a number of days at Disney, which was good and a little sad to do without the kids, but we did get to go on a number of rides we weren’t able to last year with the kids. Having time without the kids is always nice and makes you appreciate the times you do have.
Exercise:
June was a month of slacking off from exercise. Besides the Clive 5k, I really did not put a lot of miles in or cross train. In fact while in Florida, I didn’t exercise at all. My total mileage for the month was a woeful 66 miles — down from averaging 100 miles per month. I haven’t done a longer than 10 mile run since May. That all stops in July though. I have started my marathon training program for the Quad City race. I only have 12 weeks left before the big race, so I really need to get ramped up in my training. I am still gunning for a sub 4, but it will be challenge. I have also decided to restart P90x as well due to missing too many days. I will be doing 4-5 days per week focusing on improving core strength and flexibility. Here is my video I made I on the subject:
I have begun a new Youtube series on the Atkins Diet and low carb in general. In contrast to my previous videos, these will be shorter (goal under three minutes) and focused on a small attribute of the diet. Most often derived from questions I was asked in an e-mail or in the comments section of other videos. These will be called “Atkins Diet Quick Hits,” or “everything you wanted to know about the Atkins Diet, but someone asked the question before you.” I hope due to smaller nature of these programs that I might be able to put these out more often.
To that end, I have already made two videos in this series. The first one deals with how to start the Diet. It can be pretty intimidating to some, and some people just need a checklist on how to get out of the gates. The second video is about a common affliction that most low carb’ers face from time to time — gastronomic ailments, such as constipation and diarrhea. Often these are a TMI (too much information) subject or too embarrassing to ask in real life, so I hope this video helps some newbie who might feel bloated.
It has absolutely been stressful in Iowa this week. While watching the level of Saylorville Lake advance might have been interesting as the amounts went higher and higher. We aren’t boaters, so the loss of boat ramps meant little to me — except maybe for less boats and pickups trying to pick me off while running in Polk City. It however went from just an interesting diversion to woeful last week.
This week obviously had the tragedy of Cedar Rapids and the going over the spillway with the recent levee breaks in Des Moines. Polk City, despite being remarkably close to Saylorville, was mostly unscathed by the constant rain fall. There were the residents with water in the basements, but certainly not to the scale of Johnston, Des Moines, Ames, Pleasant Hill communities. That however changed on Thursday when the waste water treatment was threatened by the overflow area. I in fact had responded to a call for sand baggers on Wednesday for North High School in Des Moines. Polk City Fire Department led the community and 500 other volunteers in sandbagging around the two lagoons. I was there for nearly 12 hours and was pretty much shot afterwords. It wasn’t high enough, so we had to sand bag again on Friday for another 4 hours. Friday was a family affair as I brought my wife and eldest kids to help.
Unfortunately, sandbagging is not conducive to running. My back after two days was pretty much shot, so my plans for the Clive Running Festival changed. I had planned to do the 10k, but with tight hams and the sore back, I changed to do the 5k. My goal for the race was 22:30 (7:14 pace), but that was a really ambitious goal. This was my first 5k ever, so if you are going to go, go large.
Time
Distance
Split time
Split distance
Split pace
Pace chg. last
7:11
1
7:11
1
7:12
14:57
2
7:45
1
7:46
00:33.7
22:35
3
7:37
1
7:38
-00:07.93
23:19
3.11
0:43
0.11
6:38
-00:58.85
As you can tell, my first mile was right on track, but that was probably due to mega-hill rather than speed. After that, I worked through the pain and swore I was just going to run it out. It was beautiful day for running. I forgot how much that 5k can beat yourself up in a completely different way than endurance races. I did not meet my goal, but I am happy enough considering the past few days of sandbag cross training. Here are the official results:
I just got back into town after heading to Chicago for my VMware Enterprise Administration Exam on Monday. I was one of three people in the afternoon session taking the exam. My hopes were not too high for a positive testing experience as even though I was assured this was ready for production exam I heard lots of telephone conversations back and forth to corporate on the morning group of examinees. I did meet however someone from Server Centric in St. Louis I had not seen since VMworld 2005 house party.
I need to clear up some misstatements that I made from my former blog entry, which were from VMware certification department. I am not sure how much I can disclose, but I am only clearing up the confusion on incorrect information released to me. There are not 100 questions on this exam, there are approximately 75. The vast majority of the questions were multiple choice — often being syntax or command related NOT “scenario questions.” This was not a “Design” type exam — think more VCP exam on steroids with a practicum thrown in. In my experience, the practicum was the easiest part of the exam, but perhaps the most “real” of the exam. There were also technical difficulties on the Practical side. My feelings are a bit mixed at this point, but I will be awaiting my results in the reported 7-10 days.
On the topic on exam results, I STILL have not received my Fire Fighter I results. I tested nearly 5 weeks ago on a simple optical scan exam, but the Iowa Fire Service Training Bureau has not seen to scoring or reporting the scores. Given my general lack of patience, the original stated 20 working days has gone and past last week. I have called and e-mailed, but I remain unanswered. It’s either that, or my postman hates me.
Since someone seem to think I am “a total bad-ass,” which incidentally is really funny, I was made featured Fire Fighter of the month for the Polk City Fire Department. I have to admit to one outright lie in story — there is no patiently waiting by the mailbox. The picture to the right was taken shortly after the fire at Continental Labs in Madrid, Iowa in the early morning hours of June 5. It was my first real fire that I actually got to fight and put “wet on the red.” The original alert said the fire was in a corn crib, but it was certainly no corn crib. Continental Labs is animal chemical place, and just as I was walking up to the building with the hose, a HAZMAT container blew up inside — next to some fellow Polk City firemen. Needless to say, the photo (and a larger version) show how dirty overhaul can be.
Well wish my luck in this week’s race, the Clive Running Festival 10k. That is if the Clive park doesn’t get rained out.
My real name is Kent Altena. I am a network administrator for financial services/insurance company after years of being a network engineer for regional consulting firms and a security administrator. I am married to my wife Laura for 18 years, and has 4 children. I graduated from Dordt College (B.A.) and University of South Dakota (M.A.).
Certifications held: MCNE, CNE- NW6, NW5, IW MCSE- Windows 2003 & 2000, MCSA- Windows 2003, MCITP - Vista, MCTS-Vista, MCTS-Server 2008: Networking & Active Directory VMware Certified Professional (VCP) TICSA, CCNA, IT Project+, Network+
It will be my pleasure to pace the Des Moines Half Marathon 2:10 group. I sent my offer to Tara Thomas, who manages 
I hope due to smaller nature of these programs that I might be able to put these out more often.
Since 
