JFG Nation, things have been crazy in my life. But I’m here! I wanted to open up today’s blog post with a question: What podcasts are you listening to? Of course you listen to the Nosh Show, DUH. But what else? I asked two co-workers and got the following suggestions:

1. Freakonomics
2. More Perfect
3. 99% Invisible
4. Planet Money
5. How We Made This
6. Hidden Brain
7. Here’s The Thing
8. Radiolab

Not a bad start. But what else? Sound off in the comments below. I WANT TO FILL MY MIND WITH KNOWLEDGE.

Meanwhile, with football over, baseball still sleeping, and March Madness not close yet, my current focus is on basketball and hockey. Full steam ahead on those joints. And I am MOST proud of my Wiznuts. My Wizzies. My Washington Wizards.

I’ve mentioned it before, but growing up I never rooted for any particular basketball team. My town had approximately 13 channels when I was a kid, so the only I could watch was regional coverage on NBC on the weekends. That meant a lot of Knicks, Bulls, and Pacers games. And a lot of this song:

OOOH YEAH LOVE THAT ROUNDBALL ROCK. All of my friends were Bulls fans or Knicks fans, but I didn’t watch either enough, so I felt like a false fan. Plus, I HATED John Starks. After Reggie Miller scored 8 points in 9 seconds against New York:

…I was all of a sudden a Pacers fan. I rooted for the Pacers through college, partly because my friend Darren was also a Pacers fan.

Once I moved to DC, however, basketball faded again…becoming a lawyer became my sole focus and the Bullets/Wizards were sort of meh. MORE than meh. But then they got better. And better! AND BETTER! Three years ago, I found myself swilling Jack Daniels on a United flight to LAX watching a Wizards playoff game; that’s how good they were!

After an awful setback season last year, they have come ROARING BACK this season, winning 8 of their last 10, and 17 straight at home before that heartbreaking loss to the Cavs on Monday. Thankfully, they won last night (against the Nets, puke) to right the ship again. I’m worried about their minutes, but I’m super optimistic.

Any thoughts on the Wiz, or any basketball thoughts? Hit me in the comments below.

Today’s junk food: Beanitos Baked White Bean Mac n’ Cheese Crunch!!

 

I must admit, I’ve had Beanitos products before and haven’t been a fan. I tried them a lot of times at the Fancy Food Show, and my reaction was always, “These are fine.” Mainly they come in the form of tortilla chips, and I was always just sort of “meh” on them. But when I saw these faux Cheese Puffs / Cheese Curls, I was intrigued.

DOES THIS TASTE GOOD? YES.

WHY OR WHY NOT? When I opened the bag, these straight-up smelled like Cheese Curls. Very bright biting cheese aroma. But even though these had the LOOK of a cheese curls, they were more dense and compacted, like a Cheeto. So, these were a hybrid of the two – crunchy like a Cheeto, shaped like a Cheese Curl. I crunched a bunch, and the flavor was not as salty or as FORWARD as a Cheetos, but still had very good cheese coverage and flavor – very sharp cheddar-y. As I chewed, my mouth felt like it was eating Cheetos. But these have less calories, less fat, less salt, etc. Really really good alternative to Cheetos/Cheese Curls.

ANYTHING ELSE I SHOULD KNOW? Theese say they are made with bean, but you won’t even notice – no bean flavor at all. These felt like the corn-based Cheetos. A little stiffer, a little crunchier, but still good. I was surprised how much I enjoyed these.

PURCHASED AT: Wegmans, Germantown, MD

WHERE FOUND I STORE? Organic food section, large cardboard displays in the middle of a wide row.

COST? $5.99 for a whopping 21 oz!

Sincerely,

The JFG