Eating Across Kansas

So, eating is great - it can be an adventure, a way to bond with friends and share memories. However, as I've come to learn, if the focus is always food, especially high-fat, high sugar and processed food, eating can be an unhealthy habit. A good way to deal with the negative effects of unhealthy eating is to eat healthier. However, diet alone does not good health bring. I'm learning more and more how essential physical activity is for both mental and physical health. It can be a pain to get started on an exercise program - the key is finding an activity that you find enjoyable that doesn't put too much stress on unused muscles too soon . For most of us, if a workout is too boring or if we're too sore the day after, we won't keep doing it. If you live in the Hutchinson, Kansas area and you want to try some different ways to get fit, this Sunday, April 18 is the perfect opportunity for you to try different fitness lessons. The Don Michael Field Community Workout wi...

Each year for Easter, my mom sends me 2 types of candy: Peeps and Cadbury Crème Eggs. Over the years, I have grown to be fond of stale peeps. However, a recent discovery has changed my outlook on Peep consumption. I can’t remember which website I got the idea from, but somewhere on the interwebs, there was a posting that detailed how to have a Peep War. 1. Place two Peeps approximately 2 inches apart on a microwave safe plate. 2. Have each person choose a Peep and place a toothpick in a sword-like position approximately where the Peep’s “arm” would be. 3. Place plate in microwave on High for about 2 minutes. If you have a microwave with a rotating table, be sure to mark which Peep is which, because when they’re spinning, it can be hard to remember which Peep is which. 4. Watch carefully as the Peeps swell. The first Peep to stab the other “wins.” If the Peeps get much bigger than an orange, turn the microwave off. I’m not sure how big a Peep will get before it explodes, but no...

Everyone knows one, everyone wants to be one, but only some people get treated like one – VIP. You don’t necessarily have to be a high-roller to be one, but it does help. I was never too concerned with being a restaurant VIP until I moved to Kansas. In Hutchinson and most other places I’ve visited in central Kansas good service is hard to find. I grew up in the south, where “Southern Comfort” was not just bourbon and “Southern Hospitality” wasn’t a cliché but a way of life. Couple that with 4 years at college in a southern tourist town, and I was spoiled. I rarely saw a glass less than half full, I never had to ask for silverware, and I never, EVER started a meal without knowing my server’s name. Once I moved to Hutch, I learned that there are places where the service industry is less of an industry and more of a state of limbo for people who are waiting for a better job. I knew my fair share of people in college who were waiting tables just to get by, but almost everyone was always “...

It’s fire season here in Central Kansas. Before moving to Hutchinson, I was not aware of a fire season. I had never heard of a “controlled burn” and I’d never seen hundreds of acres of land purposefully set ablaze. Where I come from, if you see a big column of smoke in the sky, it means a building is on fire. Someone’s home is gone. 300 jobs lost unexpectedly. Local schools evacuated because of haz-mat fumes. Before moving to Kansas, a big column of smoke on the horizon was a weeknight tragedy, in retrospect, an event marking the end of my childhood and the loss of my religion. It was a Thursday evening the summer after my freshman year of High school. Classes had just ended for the year, and I had just gotten my restricted license. Those first hot days of my first summer as “real” teenager were full of promise and temptation. My parents had just gotten home from work, and we decided to go get something quick for dinner. As we drove out towards Woodruff Road – a major comm...

In Hutchinson, Kansas at 13 W. 6th there lies a place where few people go. Well, I assume that few people go there because I’d never been there, and aside from a co-worker and a friend who recently started working there, I’ve never heard anyone say “Hey, you should go to Jackson’s.” What exactly is Jackson’s? I’m not exactly sure. The sign out front says “ Jackson Frozen Food Center ,” as does a Google search for “Jackson Meats” or “13 W. 6th, Hutchinson, KS.” This is part of the reason I never went in. I’m not a huge fan of frozen meat. I keep some in the freezer for times when I’m “in a pinch,” but, like many people, my preference is definitely for fresh meat. I know that a co-worker swears by their hotdogs and has procured them a couple times for cook-outs and retirement lunches. Other than that, I knew nothing else about them until I ran into my friend Ben last Thursday. Over the course of conversation, I found out that Ben had started working for Jackson’s. When I asked...

Last Tuesday, my roommates and I went to Lyons, Kansas for dinner. To you non-Hutchinsonians, it's about a 45 minute drive. Lyons is significantly smaller than Hutchinson and only marginally closer to Hutch than Wichita, so why on earth would we go there for dinner? Empire China Restaurant, 105 West 1st Street is why. I discovered the Chinese place in Lyons several months ago when I went out for a drive with my friend Danielle and we just happened to stumble upon the place. The food was excellent and the service was great. There are two Chinese restaurants in Hutchinson. They both center around dismal buffets with inexcusable amounts of American food. Really, if I wanted to eat ham, I'd go to Sirloin Stockade. Mikaela and David (aforementioned roommates) wanted Asian food, I made the suggestion. It was a sunny daylight-savings-time early evening. We surrendered to wanderlust and the quest for good food and hopped in the car. Once at the restaurant, we started off with egg roll...

The other night I made a run to the grocery store (which, here in Hutchinson, Kansas means Dillons - in this case, 5th Avenue location) to pick up a few things - bread, milk, eggs, fruit, cold medicine. As I was rounding the corner up by the eggs and butter, I happened to glance over at the organic foods section. That's when I saw it. THE juice. I'm talking about R.W. Knudsen Family Organic "Just Tart Cherry Juice." I've been a fan of this juice for about a year and a half. It used to be available only at the 30th Avenue Dillons, then all of a sudden about 6 months ago they stopped carrying it. No more Just Tart Cherry juice. There were other cherry juices, even cherry cider, but they no longer had THE juice. Why all the excitement about a 32 ounce, $6 bottle of juice? The flavor of this stuff is great on its own, but it is also incredibly versatile. It has this great balance of sweet, tart and bitter that is almost reminiscent of a ruby port or a fruity-sweet ba...