Back on the food wagon

And with that title, I present two over the top food experiences.

On the left we have a plate of food from the Wynn Buffet in Las Vegas. 4 of us on this blog have indulged at the Wynn, and most of us agree that its pretty much the best part of the strip. On this plate is hard cheese, orachattia with marscapone, duck salad and some smoked meat.

The right is a Baked Alaska. Baked Alaska is one of those food items which I always assumed was a bit of lore, or something that is only found on cruise lines. My mom made this one for Palm Sunday dinner--odd I know. Baked Alaska is a layer of ice cream, a layer of cake, topped with meringue. Then it is baked until the meringue is brown, but the ice cream doesn't melt. Pull it out of the oven, pour brandy on it and light the peaks on fire. Overall, it is a lot of work and sort of silly.

Minestrone soup

I love crockpot (aka slow cooker) cooking. I had a very aromatic, tasty vegetarian minestrone soup last night waiting for me when I got home. Prep the night before and refrigerate until morning. Turn that puppy on low before leaving for work, and...look at that! My long ass day just got better. The older get, the bigger the fan I also become of soup. It is a filling and satisfying winter meal. What's in this batch I made for the first time? Zucchini, onions, carrots, celery, crushed tomatoes, chickpeas, kale, barley, garlic and veggie broth all thrown in together and simmered all day. The leftovers I had for lunch today were even better.

Roasted Chicken and Root Veggies

Pens! sent me an article on the financial (and health) benefits of roasting your own lunch meat, and I since roasting is my favorite way to cook (besides pan frying of course) I decided to go for it. So since being frugal is important too let me tell you this: Organic chicken legs and thighs are really really cheap, especially the legs. 5 legs should cost right around 3 bucks, and 6 thighs is usually 5 bucks. I also found organic breasts on sale for 7.99 for two FULL breasts (including tenders). So for 17 bucks, I had enough organic, pasture raised chicken for 4 entrees able to serve at 3-4 people, plus left over for sandwiches, which equals about 1.00 per person. Anyway, one of the ways I prepared some of this chicken was roasting it with some organic root vegetables:The root vegetables in this dish are sweet potatoes, red potatoes, carrots, parsnips, red onion and garlic. See that breast? Lunch meat. Yum.

It’s really hard for me to do anything productive on Saturdays. I always have really good intentions to get to all the things I put off all week, but mostly I just stay in bed until about noon feeling guilty about not addressing all the things I promised myself I would do. And that’s how things went this Saturday until about 1pm, when the guilt became so overwhelming that I put on a bra, and still wearing my pajamas got in my car to go to the gym. My car felt weird, so I pulled over and discovered that my front passenger side tire was no longer functionally attached to my vehicle.

So anyway, long story short, I got hungry while the guys were putting a new tire on and that’s how I ended up across the street, dressed like a frumpy crackhead, with these bean and cheese tacos and chips from my local taqueria. They were fine, whatever, pretty bland. I really like bean and cheese tacos, and in eating these, I thought a lot about this, and decided that I am going to make it a little quest to find the best bean and cheese tacos in ATX. These are not them:

I'm Not Good at Food

So you've been warned. I'm typically a sustenance eater, which should explain my first post. I do, on occasion, eat great food. I'll try to capitalize on those great food moments by embarassing my eating companions who will watch as a I snap pictures in public restaurants. All of this in the name of food, without which I might not have the energy to type these last fe w w o r d s.

Enjoy.



Tomorrow I sit for the final day of the Louisiana Bar Exam. Obviously, I'm cramming. For the past few days I've survived mostly off of redbull, cheezits -- which have an awful after-taste and can only be cured by eating more cheezits --, cereal, coffee and water. Because of my horrible study eating habits, my stomach and overall wellbeing have gone to shit. So, I've decided to employ the phrase "carpe diem" and treat myself a little better. While a gas station sandwich doesn't spell gourmet eating to most, it's hella lot better than yesterday. Plus, a non-caffeinated drink for good measure.

Note - I typically don't drink Powerade, but the gas station was out of Gatorade. Gotta work with what you got.

Been awhile

Ok, so to get things back on track I will post a bunch of shit I ate in the last few weeks or so.

The first is some really delicious tuna salad. But the bigger story here is these crackers. Made by Mary's Gone Crackers, they are are wheat free, gluten free, organic, non GMO, whole grain and if you care, Kosher. Its a whole bunch of seeds and brown rice baked together and the shit tastes good.









Next we have the classic go to in a lunch time bind: The Sunrise Salad from my favorite Co-Op, Greenstar.The Sunrise Salad has everything you want, something sweet with the poppy dressing, salty crunch with the sunflower seeds and the delightfully smooth yet chewy texture of tofu-kahn. Its dumb expensive, but it its really good shit.






Finally, so we don't have to change the name of the blog to "Shit We Eat Out of Plastic Containers", I have included an evening meal prepared just for me, by me. Lovely Stuffed Avocados. Stuffed with what you ask? Tons of tasty shit. Walnuts, chicken sausage, onions, garlic.

My bressfest today

Organic blueberries

Yogurt

Yoplait is the best kind of yogurt.



Very Vanilla indeed.

Lunch and Snack

I woke up this morning late, and then added to my lateness by spending 15 minutes packing a lunch and snacks for myself for the day. However, I was in such a rush to leave the house that I forgot my food on my kitchen counter. Fail.

Instead, I took a little trip to Sprouts and replaced my healthy tuna sandwich with these brown rice California Rolls:



They were really tasty, although I could have done without the carrot.

I also replaced my afternoon banana, with this apple and a little bit of chocolate trail mix for a special treat because I was a very good girl today:

Best. Cake. Ever.

I am not a cake eater, especially a birthday cake eater.But this blew my mind. A chocolate cake with raspberry chocolate ganash and a cream frosting.

Birthday Dinner two

Ate some of this delicious Sushi before remembering to take a pic. Lobster roll with spicy mayo on the side, and a Princess roll with caviar and wasabi mayo. Mom got birthday drunk off the warm Saki, Dad paid for dinner from Vegas. Perfect.

Birthday Dinner one

This is from my first birthday dinner. Grilled pork chops, mashed sweet potatoes, apple sauce, seasonal veggies from the East Shore Cafe. Did not appreciate the cold applesauce.

Shameful

I am too ashamed to post a picture of my lunch. I had a grilled chicken sandwhich from McDonalds, and a latte from Dunkin Donuts. Bad planning, bad Itchy Boobies.

El Chilito

Delish pescado taco and rice. Wanted a fruit cup but they were out so I
got the rice instead and I am glad because it is really tasty.

A rare January find...

Organic cherries. I wonder if PENS! gum drop was cherry flavored...

Lunch

My lunch was gross so I threw it out. It has been replaced by a diet coke and this giant gum drop.

Cream of Tomato soup and sourdough roll

Until these other biznotches start posting, I am only gracing this blog with LUNCH. Soup and salad is going to get pretty lame soon. Even though this tomato soup is bliss. Since I have no money to make me happy, I compensate with heavy cream based soup from the Ithaca Bakery Gift Certificates are available...

Some Roughage

Wings of Life salad with lemon poppy dressing, and some multi vitamins

Caribbean Black Bean Soup

Sometimes, shit we eat looks like shit. Much like this black bean soup. However, on a day such as this in upstate NY, with wind chills well below zero, this spicy fiber packed taste of the islands is just what I needed.