Confessions of a Germaphobe: Ten Things I Like Least About All-You-Can-Eat Buffets and Salad Bars!

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Don't get me wrong. I LOVE all-you-eat places! I'm a big fan of Souplantation and visit the Camarillo location at least 5 times a month (also in  in Simi Valley).  They have a huge salad bar, a wide variety of soups, breads and pastas and a dessert selection that includes frozen yogurt machine (mmmm!).

Recently Souplantation introduced an automated hand sanitizer at the salad bar line.  I applaud them for that. Most people don't seem to use it (I did and it squirted so much foam into my hand that I had to wipe the excess off on my pants), but is a nice gesture for those concerned with the spread of germs. 

I'm a bit on the germaphobic side myself and the sanitizer brought to mind...Ten Things I Like Least About All-You-Can-Eat Buffets and Salad Bars...based on my wealth of observations and experience at the local Souplantation.

  1. Tong Tosser:  The servers all wear gloves yet the 974 people visiting the salad bar all handle the tongs with their bare hands. So when pimply Joe Teenager flings the tongs completely into the rice pilaf, I generally move on to the next item.
  2. The Snacker: The snacker can't wait to eat. He's tossing olives, sprouts and garbanzo beans into his mouth, crunching, smacking his lips, talking and spewing little bits of food as your appetite shrivels. There goes my appetite.
  3. Kiddy Loiter: It's great bringing kids to the salad bar!  But yechh, please keep their icky (and I say that lovingly...I've got kids myself) hands outta the croutons!
  4. Boogie Man: Picking your news is OFF LIMITS at the salad bar. Yeah right, that was more than a
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Quick and Easy Avocado and Goat Cheese Sandwich Recipe

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Yet another recipe from Master Chef, Kirk Leins. These Avocado and Goat Cheese sandwiches look delicious!  Maybe I can get my wife to watch this! Get more cooking videos and free recipes at www.NoTimeToCookDinner.com.

-       (1) 5 oz. package of goat cheese

-       1 large ripe Haas avocado, seeded and peeled

-       1 sourdough baguette (about a foot long)

-       1 Roma tomato, thinly sliced

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Credit Cards that Help You Pile Up Frequent Flier Mileage and Points!

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This is a guest post from Mr Credit Card of www.askmrcreditcard.com. Mr Credit Card is going to take a leaf from his best credit card recommendations section and list some cards that will be useful for folks who want to earn frequent flyer miles or points.

Based on the east coast, Mr. Credit Card will be highlighting credit cards for certain airlines that fly east coast to west coast (and vice versa), including United, Continental, Frontier, American Airlines and US Airways.

Frequent Flier Miles/Points credit cards can be sorted into two groups. The first group is cards that allow you to earn points that can be transferred to multiple airline frequent flyer programs. The second group consists of cards that have their own reward program and allow you to use them for travel expenses. So below are my recommendations.

Cards for those with multiple frequent flyer memberships

Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card - The Starwood Credit Card is probably the highest rated card for frequent flyers. Why? Aside from having a great frequent guest program, the SPG Starwood Preferred Guest allows you to transfer points on a one on one ratio (mostly) to over 30 airlines. Furthermore, they will give you 5,000 bonus miles when you actually transfer 20,000 points into air miles. This is one card frequent flyers have in their pockets.

American Express Gold Card - Another card to consider earning air miles is the American Express Gold Card. The Membership Rewards program has over 17 airline partners that fly from the East Coast to Los

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Preparing for the Summer: Tips on Purchasing Patio Furniture!

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We are blessed with beautiful weather almost year-round here in Ventura County. Our daily lives seamlessly blend from the indoors to the outdoors...which brings us to the topic of the day…Purchasing Patio Furniture!  More than just form and function need to be taken into account when purchasing outdoor furniture.  Don’t trip over pennies today if these decisions could cost you $$$ in the future! Here are a few tips to consider:

1) Needs vs. Wants:  How are you going to be living in your outdoor space?  You may like the look and want a “living room” outside with a sofa and chairs or is outdoor dining more on your agenda? What about sun bathing or lounging?  Consider what you NEED to fit your lifestyle outdoors before spending the money just on what you “want”.

2) Matchy-Matchy: If you are blessed to have enough yard or patio space and need all of the above then consider buying everything to match versus having a bunch of mismatched sets.  Keeping everything cohesive in style and color lends to the feeling of a vacation destination instead of mismatched sets in chunks all over the yard.

3) Woods, Metals and Wicker, Oh My!: Style, function and personal taste need to be taken into consideration in choosing what will work best for YOU. 

Wood patio furniture is beautiful and usually comes in teak or (more expensive) Mango Wood...but keep in mimnd wood furniture will require some maintenance.  Even pressure treated wood needs to be sealed and/or stained at least once a year just like a natural wood deck would need to be taken care of.  It will fade and/or splinter after 2-3 years if not properly taken care of. 

Metal furniture can come in either heavy wrought iron (more expensive) or simple aluminum (which is what you get at the big-box stores).  Both are virtually maintenance free. Look for collections that are powder coated to protect it from rust.  Do take into account Santa Ana or coastal winds when buying

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BOGOPOD: Buy One, Get One Free, Plus Other Discounts in the Conejo Valley!

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UPDATE: BOGOPOD apparently is no longer in operation.

Happens all the time.  I get some coupons in the mail, tear a few out and place them on the desk or behind a magnet on the fridge.  But when I want to use the coupons, I can't find them, they have expired or I'm somewhere else.  Frustrating!

But there's BOGOPOD! www.BOGOPOD.com  provides online "Buy One, Get One Free, Plus Other Discounts" coupons for local Conejo Valley area businesses! 

Visit BOGOPOD.com for an extensive list of discount coupons for restaurants, shopping, kids, activities, home improvement, services and much more.  All you do it find the coupon, click it, print it and start saving money!  No signup, no cost!  I love the fact that you don't have to download special software to print the coupon.  There's also a search function on the BOGOPOD website that shortcuts the process of finding what you're looking for.

Now on a separate but related topic of saving money, check out "Places Where Kids Can Eat Free in Ventura County"  here on Conejo Valley Guide to find places where you can dine out and not pay for your kids' meals!

What Got You Here Won't Get You There; Marshall Goldsmith's 20 Behaviors That Get in the Way

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">Marshall Goldsmith's 2007 book, "What Got You Here Won't Get You There" has a list of 20 behaviors and habits that prevent people from moving forward in their careers.  In fact, when I read and review this list, I realize that these apply to all aspects of life, not just work.  So review these, print them out, live them and read the book if you want to be more successful at work and life!

As I read these, I cringe a bit at how often many of these apply to me, both at work and at home. On the other hand, reviewing this list also reminds me that we are all human and most all friends, family and co-workers also display many of these behaviors.  It helps to review and internalize these for both personal improvement and dealing with others.

  1. Winning too much: The need to win at all costs and in all situations.
  2. Adding too much value: The overwhelming desire to add our 2 cents to every discussion.
  3. Passing judgment: The need to rate others and impose our standards on them.
  4. Making destructive comments: The needless sarcasm and cutting remarks that we think make us witty.
  5. Starting with "No," "But," or "However": The overuse of these negative qualifiers which secretly say to everyone that I'm right and you're wrong.
  6. Telling the world how smart we are: The need to show people we're smarter than they think we are.
  7. Speaking when angry: Using emotional volatility as a management tool.
  8. Negativity, or "Let me explain why that won't work": The need to share our negative thoughts even when we weren't asked.
  9. Withholding information: The refusal to share information in order to maintain an advantage over others.
  10. Failing to give proper recognition: The inability to give praise and reward.
  11. Claiming credit that we don't deserve: The most annoying way to overestimate our contributions to any success.
  12. Making excuses: The need to reposition our annoying behavior as a permanent fixture so people excuse us for it.
  13. Clinging to the past: The need to deflect blame away from ourselves and onto events and people from our past; a subset of blaming everyone else.
  14. Playing favorites: Failing to see that we are treating someone unfairly.
  15. Refusing to express regret: The inability to take responsibility for our actions, admit we're wrong or recognize how our actions affect others.
  16. Not listening: The most passive-aggressive form of disrespect for colleagues.
  17. Failing to express gratitude: The most basic form of bad manners.
  18. Punishing the messenger: The misguided need to attack the innocent who are usually only trying to help us.
  19. Passing the buck: The need to blame everyone but ourselves.
  20. An excessive need to be "me": Exalting our faults as virtues simply because they're who we are.

OUCH, now that I've typed this list I realize even more how I need to work on some things.  Hope this helps you too!

Looking for a local Ventura County job? Look here.

Take Comfort With This Oven Fried Chicken with Almonds Recipe

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Here's a New Year's recipe from chef Jill Fisher! Jill has a B.S. in Food Science and Nutrition and is a licensed Personal Chef. She teaches cooking classes at Conejo Valley Adult School and Williams Sonoma in Thousand Oaks and has written articles for local food magazines such as 805 Living. In December she and her friend Merilee Iverson released their cookbook "i found my sanity in...My Best Friend's Kitchen."

CLICK HERE for other recipes recipes from Jill published here on Conejo Valley Guide!

As we roll into January, we all start thinking about the rolls around our middle!  Yet we still hunger for comfort food because it is winter*.  Here is a recipe that even my kids like!  It is a delicious and healthier way to serve chicken to chicken finger-loving kids that adults will enjoy as well.  It is also good cold for lunch the next day.  Happy 2010! - Jill

* Conejo Joe: That is debatable based on the heatwave we've been having here in January.

Oven Fried Chicken with Almonds

1 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs

¼ cup parmesan cheese

¼ cup finely chopped almonds

2 Tbsp parsley

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

¼ tsp dried thyme

pinch of black pepper

¼ cup olive oil

2 lbs boneless, skinless, chicken breast strips, 12 pieces

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a medium bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, cheese, almonds, paesley, garlic, salt, thyme, and pepper.  Mix thoroughly.

Place the oil in a shallow dish.  Dip the chicken first in the oil, then dredge in the crumb mixture.  Place the chicken on a foil lined cookie sheet, sprayed with Pam.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Serves 6