Fatboy Challenge: Juicing(?)

I really should never let old friends meet my wife.  When I do crap like this happens.  When Coop and I ended our Fat Boy Summer Road Trip a couple of weeks ago it gave my lovely wife a chance to get to know him.  That led to him talking about healthy living, the polar opposite of the Fat Boy lifestyle.  He encouraged her to watch a documentary made by a man named Joe Cross entitled "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead".

In the movie he details his incredible weight loss achieved by going on a juice only diet.  The success of the film caused him to write a book of recipes, sign a deal with a juicer manufacturing company, and exploit his success.  Suddenly my darling wife wants me to order her a juicer, and a new series for Fat Boy Heaven is born.​

Over the next week I will compare two popular juice based cleansing diets, the "Reboot with Joe" made famous by Joe Cross, and The BluePrint Juice Cleanse, ​a very popular brand of pre-made cold pressed juices that sell for a huge amount ($7-11/each) and whose recipes have been widely copied and published via the web as a result.

Each plan is a three day cleanse, and we will compare taste, variety, cost of ingredients, and weight loss/health changes to determine which plan works out best for me and proves most time and cost effective.​

All of this for just 3 days of juice?  This is more vegetables and fruit than I ate last year!

First up starting tomorrow will be a DIY version of the BluePrint Renovation Cleanse, their most varied and flavorful package intended for those of us new to Juicing.​

BluePrint has an iOS app to help you track your cleanse

Thrillist Strikes Again: Portland's 8 Best Whisky Bars

Thrillist today posted their choices for the eight best whiskey bars in Portland, and they took the easy way out in a town known for great food and drink by naming their favorites in eight categories instead of ranking the top eight.

From the article:  

PDX's 8 best whiskey bars

You can drink whiskey pretty much anywhere... except in your car, or at work, or in public, or at the library (unless it's Multnomah Whiskey Library!), but literally almost ANYWHERE else. Portland's best places though, are right here...

Breaking News: Japanese Suntory buys Beam Global

Just two weeks before the Bourbon Classic, the whisky world caught fire this morning when Beam Global announced that they were being acquired by Suntory Group of Japan, creating the third largest spirits company in the world.  While many in the American whisky market are shocked by the news, it really is just the continuation of a globalization that has been ongoing in the spirits market for quite a while.  
Beam Global had already branched out, and as of the time of this announcement included Jim Beam Bourbon, Maker's Mark Bourbon, Sauza Tequila, Pinnacle Vodka, Canadian Club Whisky, Courvoisier Cognac, Teacher's Scotch Whisky, Skinnygirl Cocktails, Cruzan Rum, Hornitos Tequila, Knob Creek Bourbon, Laphroaig Scotch Whisky, Kilbeggan Irish Whiskey, Larios Gin, Whisky DYC and DeKuyper Cordials.  In recent years we have seen other high-end spirits mergers with acquisitions of Pernod and Diageo bringing other American whiskey brands into their portfolios that had already included premium scotch and blended Canadian whiskey products.
he deal agreed to by both boards in this case gives Beam Global stock holders a 25% premium over last Friday's closing stock price, and comes in at around $16 Billion, making it the second largest single spirits acquisition to the Pernod deal in 2005 that came in at around $17.8 Billion.
While only time will tell what this merger will do to the brands included, the fact that there is almost no overlap between market footprints of the two companies means we should see little change according to market insiders.  Just as Beam's acquisition in 2011 of Maker's Mark did not change the way that great bourbon was produced, the overall impact should simply be one of increasing distribution and marketing reach of great traditional brands.  The greatest fear of most American whisky insiders is that this increased marketing will make already scarce premium Bourbons in even shorter supply domestically, which in the short term is a definite reality.
 

Here is the official Release

Fatboyheaven goes BIG for The Pantry at Rock Creek Church

This morning the family and I got up early and headed down to Rock Creek Church to cook Fat Boy Stew for 115 people at their Food Pantry for the 2nd Saturday meal. Just take the recipe for Fatboy stew and multiply it by 10 and you have the idea. It was great to give back and help with what has become a family project at the Pantry, and we had a lot of fun catching up with a great group of volunteers.  

If you would like to help this holiday season, the Pantry at Rock Creek Church provides food for more than 100 families every week through their partnership with The Oregon Food Bank.  Donations to The Oregon Food Bank can be designated to benefit The Pantry, as can gifts to Rock Creek Church at 4470 NW 185th Ave., Portland, OR 97229.

Here was the grocery list:

230 cups total volume

5lbs sausage - polish links/ brats
10lbs hamburger -
12 lbs frozen mixed veggies
12 cans diced tomatoes
24 cans pinto beans
10lbs potatoes
5 large onions
Chicken stock base
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Sea salt
Ground black pepper
Cumin
Chili powder
4 gallons water

Brown the ground beef and sweat the onions until translucent

Add the sausage

Add the tomatoes, mixed veggies, and beans

Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for at least an hour

Kickstarter Food! - The Pie Spot

I was at the Feast Oregon Grand Tasting yesterday (and will post more later on that topic and the great things I tasted), and met the Ladies responsible for The Pie Spot.  They have a KickStarter campaign that is about to run out, and I'd love if my readers could help them meet their funding goals.

Their story is on their KickStarter page, so I won't tell it here, but I can tell you that I was impressed by their offerings at The Grand Tasting.  They brought a Marion Berry pie, and the amazing Chocolate Hazelnut.  The Chocolate Hazelnut was messy but delicious, with chocolate chipts that were distinct enough to stay suspended in the brown-sugar and corn syrup filling without melting together and becoming a gooey mess.  Think a pecan-pie, with hazelnuts and chocolate chips rather than pecans.  Easily the best desert of the day, even considering the presence of Salt & Straw at the event.

Lets see if we can help these folks out with getting their store-front open!  

On the road! Green Bay, WI

I'm in Green Bay, WI this week for the Packer's annual shareholders meeting and to see a couple of days of training camp while I'm here. That means lots of new restaurants for me to explore. Stay tuned!