Dr. Mike Oslund and his wife Janna Oslund organized a “Pig Run” in efforts to raise money for the Spring of Life Early Learning Center.

“There is such an overwhelming demand by local families to get their young children into this school that they are trying to raise money to install portables to be able to welcome in more young piggies! WE CAN HELP!!! Please continue to spread the word!! This is shaping up to be an AMAZING event!! OINK” –Dr. Mike Oslund.

What is the Pig Run of Lake Nona?

The Pig Run of Lake Nona involved running, eating and having fun!

The Challenge:
To complete the Pig Run of Lake Nona, participants all start at the parking lot of Tijuana Flats and begin the race with the task of eating a whole Tijuana Flat’s burrito. After consuming a their burrito, they are to run 2 miles down Innovation Way. Once they have reached the half way point, they are challenged to eat half a dozen of Dunkin Donuts’ Sugar Glazed donuts and run 2 miles back to the finish the race.

Of course, the participants who registered to run did not have to eat the food, but it was available to those who were brave enough to try it!

Dr. Mike Oslund received much response from the community. He successfully reached out to local restaurants and businesses around to help sponsor the event by either donating money, raffle items, or by providing food for the race.

First Place Runners!

How the Community Responded!

Sponsors from:

Tijuana Flats for providing the space and the burritos. -Thanks to Larry, General Manager
Dunkin Donuts for providing over 500 donuts. -Thanks to Larry and Sonia Lemos.
Nona Tap Room for providing gift baskets and $1/drink during the After Party went to the ELC, which totaled $230. -Thanks to Oliver and Lindsay LaRouche.
Papa Johns of Lake Nona, during Papa John’s Pizza Night on June 1st, 20% of their proceeds went towards the charity. -Thanks to Liliana Pickens and Matthew Stoddard (Papa John’s GM)
Carmela’s of Brooklyn provided fellow “Pig Runners” 20% discount off total bill and $15 off their next tab. They also made a donation that helped pay for nearly half the shirts for the “Pig Run.” – Thanks to Keith Lyons, GM

Sponsors for Their Monetary Donations:

Bay Vision Realty, Mega Yummo!, Oral Facial Surgical Arts, Lake Nona Dental Group, Renee’s Photo Studio, Bodies by Badger, Nona Sushi and Anderson & Moopen Orthodontics

Raffle Items Donated by Businesses:

The Sweet Stitches Shop, Nona Tap Room, Larry’s Giant Subs, Fat Cat Gourmet Foods & us, Mega Yummo!

Auction Items Donated by Businesses:

All Star Dance Academy, The Sweet Stitches Shop, Nona Tap Room, Graeme McDowell, Justin and Kate Rose, Renee’s Photo Studio, Lake Nona Boot Camp, Lake Nona Dental Group

Big Thanks to the Volunteers!

Over 15 volunteers that helped make everything run smoothly!! And to Renee Friedel from Renee’s Photo Studio for being our official photographer.

Here is What We Donated!

$40 Gift Card to Shell Gas Station
$30 Beer Tab to Nona Tap Room
$25 Gift Card to Cariera’s Cucina Italiana
$25 Gift Card to Nona Sushi Restaurant
$25 Gift Card to Durian Durian Thai Fusion Restaurant
$25 Gift Card to Sweet Mama’s
& the owner of Larry’s Giant Subs donated a $25 gift card for the raffle.

There was an amazing turn out and there were at least a 100 people who ran the Pig Run. Dr. Mike Oslund, his wife Janna and his team of volunteers successfully raised over $3,000 for the cause!

Did Anyone Actually Eat ALL the Donuts?

Yes, this guy!

Want to see more pictures from this event? Click here!

My co-workers and I really like to go there for lunch. They have great lunch specials with offerings of a choice of soup or salad with you lunch entree. Lunch for under 10 bucks, including tip, is looking pretty good on the wallet. We like to get their Beef Noodle Soups, Spicy Angry Chicken, or the Drunken Noodles. But the last time we were there, they were featuring some new items for their menu. They offered Malaysian Curry Laksa Noodle Soup, Jicama Salad with Taramind Dressing, and Fried Eggplant with Thai Spices. My friends and I ordered the Malaysian Curry Laksa Noodle Soup and I ordered the Fried Eggplant for the table to share.

Jicama Salad with Taramind Dressing

The fried eggplant is fried Japanese Eggplant with a little sprinkle of salt and topped with Shredded Dried Pork. All simple ingredients but the taste is surprisingly unique. I am officially addicted and highly recommend you give this dish a try!

Fried Eggplant with Thai Spices

The Malaysian Curry Laksa Noodle Soup comes in a large bowl with a coconut based curry soup broth. The Malaysian Curry is less mild than you would expect from Thai/Indian Curry but carries it own strength in the coconut soup broth. It comes with rice vermicilli, bean sprouts, green onions, shrimp and chicken. Super Tasty and very Mega Yummo!

The Malaysian Curry Laksa Noodle Soup

It is part of their campaign to get the word out about their new offerings for their menu. I only knew Dunkin’ Donuts to only serve doughnuts, bagels, and coffee.  But now, they are pulling out all the stops. Their campaign is that you can just get more than just breakfast snacks at Dunkin.

“IT’S SNACK TIME ANY TIME AT DUNKIN’ DONUTS WITH NEW “HEARTY SNACKS”

New menu items includes Warm Apple Pie, two varieties of Bagel Twists (Cheddar Cheese and Cinnamon Raisin), &  Stuffed breadsticks (cheeseburger, pepperoni, and cheese).  They are all pretty good.  Especially since I am one of those people who need coffee in the middle of the day and to my surprise I can get a little snack to hold me over till dinner. ;o) (Shh! don’t tell Al! He will have me work extra hard at the gym.)

I recently made a pit stop to Dunkin’ Donuts of Lake Nona on Friday. I was looking for a snack but I was actually in the mood to try their new Big & Tasty breakfast sandwich. I was interested because I missed my chance to try it out at the sampling event so I got one and I got a large latte with whip.

First let me just say that I am digging their iced latte. It looks really light and sometimes it almost seems like there isn’t any coffee in it but don’t let that fool you…. because it is strong and I love it! Al calls their large iced latte a Big Gulp of Coffee. ) Yes, it is really big especially when you add the whip on top which gives it some mad height.

Anyways, the Big & Tasty is indeed big and tasty–Go figure! The thing that I didn’t like about it was that the Texas toast definitely holds in a lot of oil so it makes the sandwich pretty greasy. I ended up eating the entire sandwich but I dropped a slice of bread because it was way too much bread for me.

This isn’t a deterrent for me. I will be back to try other items on their menu, like their blueberry waffle sandwich. For all my healthy friends… Don’t judge me! I will just run those extra miles for my right to eat! I just have a weakness for sugar glazed doughnuts.

This past Friday, we went to Nona Tap Room. This is a new sports bar in the Lake Nona area. I think this place is pretty good and here is why….

• Sports bar in Lake Nona with 50 beers on tap, those of you who live in Lake Nona area will appreciate the new addition to the neighborhood.
• Food is decent, taste like any other bar food, but what sets their food apart are their homemade chips. Not going to lie, they are pretty Yummo!
• Their beer selection is decent

Their menu has a good selection of appetizers, burgers, and sandwiches, but skimpy on the salad listings so those of you who are on a strict diet, this may not be a good choice for you unless you are on a liquid diet. ;o)

Their prices are fair on the food menu but one thing we noticed that the beer menu, on craft beers, were priced a bit on the high side. They couldn’t compete with Redlight Redlight’s prices and selection but they are competitive, on some, with House of Beer’s prices.

Great ambiance and awesome flat screen TVs with HD sports channels but limited seating. Be warned that if you are going there at a peak dining time, you may not be able to find a seat.

We enjoyed ourselves and we were satisfied with our meals. Here is what we had:

Mega Yummo definitely would recommend this place for those who are in the area. I know the locals are loving the fact that they don’t have to drive more than 10 miles to get to decent place to eat, drink, and hang out with their friends and family.

More information can be found here and participating restaurants and menus listed here

For more information about Orlando Magical Dining 2011

Store Front

It is lunch time and you work by the airport…. You get the infamous question,

“What do you want to do for lunch?”

As some of you may know, the choices are pretty limited by the airport aside from the obvious franchise/chain selections.

But just recently, my co-workers and I wanted to do a little digging and go find a new place to try.

Nona Sushi, located in the Lake Nona area, served up a pretty MEGA YUMMO sushi and bento boxes. The lunch menu is reasonably priced and fair.

Inside Nona Sushi

Our waiter, Mike Pham, helped us out a lot with the menu. He did a great job breaking down the essence of each roll which helped all of us decide on what to get for lunch. There were 3 of us and we were determined to each get something different.

This is what we got from the Exotic Specialty Rolls:

Jade Dragon Roll:

Eel, cream cheese, and cucumber wrapped with avocado topped with eel sauce.

The Jade Dragon Roll

This had a very light and refreshing taste. The avocado flavor dominated the subtle hints of cream cheese and eel. For who loves the taste of avocado would like this roll

Special Crunch Roll:

Salmon, tuna, escolar (white tuna/butterfish), imitation crab, scallion, cream cheese, and asparagus, deep fried with spicy mayo, caviar, eel sauce.

The Special Crunch Roll

This roll was very interesting. It was lightly fried with tempura flakes but yet it did not cook the fish all the way through. The touch of spicy mayo and the contrast of the sweet eel sauce complimented the flavors of three fish. For someone who is interested in something unique, this would be the roll to try.

Bubble Roll:

Shrimp tempura, cream cheese, topped with shrimp, avocado, tempura crunch, spicy mayo, and eel sauce. I still do not know why it is called the Bubble Roll.

The Bubble Roll

It is crunchy and tasty. This is a roll for all those fried shrimp tempura lovers like me.

Fire Ball Roll:

Spicy tuna, cucumbers, tempura crunch, escolar (white tuna/butterfish), served with spicy sauce.

The Fireball Roll

I love spicy foods. I highly recommend, for anyone that can handle spicy foods, to always order something with a crunch and something with a little SPICE. The sauces that topped this roll did an awesome job accentuating the buttery flavor of the white tuna and then you get that last burst of the crispy tempura buried in the soft sushi rice.

For those who are not a fan of raw fish, this is a great option to try, from their bento box menu:

Bento Box:

Steamed Chilean Sea Bass with Ginger Scallions served with a Ginger salad, vegetable tempura, steamed rice, and a California roll.

The Chilean Sea Bass

Pairing steamed fish with ginger is always a good idea. It creates a sweet aroma that will make every bite worth taking. The sea bass was sweet and tender and paired well with the bright green zucchini and ginger scallions. Great combination, definitely worth trying!

This place has made it to one of my favorite places to eat for lunch. It is a bit of a drive but it is all worth it. They service is fast and prompt. They are knowledgeable and friendly and their taste and quality is superb.

Tuna Sashmi Rose

All and all, I would recommend this place to anyone who is around this area who has an undying love for sushi or Japanese food. Because this place is MEGA YUMMO!