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Henry's World Famous Hi-Life: Must Be The High Life Indeed If Adam Richman Was Here

thankgoditsfood — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:48:55 +0000

301 W. St. John St
San Jose, CA 95110
(408) 295-5414
www.henryshilife.com

My friend of mine was in town and wanted to grab a bite to eat at this place, so I said sure. What makes this place more interesting is that it was on Man vs Food and is really close to the HP Pavillion. As with any bar-type place, this joint is sure to be filled on any big game day. The day I went there seemed to be an event at the arena but my friend and I were lucky enough to sort of beat the rush. I say sort of because we still had to wait at least 30 minutes to be seated, but there were more people after us than in front of us.

When you first enter the restaurant, it’s kind of confusing because it’s a bar area and there is no host/hostess that comes to you to ask you how many people are in your party. Are you supposed to wait? Do you seat yourself? Yea, weird but we figured it out eventually. Unique to this place, you go take a number, decide what you want to order before being seated. When your number is finally called, the busboy comes to take your order and then asks how many are in your group. Then it’s more waiting until your food is ready and you are seated.

After eating the complimentary garlic bread, which was full of buttery goodness, our orders arrived. We had ordered the baby back ribs (1/2 rack) and the BBQ Salmon, splitting everything in half so we can both have something to sample and blog about . Each dish also comes a baked potato with their special seasoned butter. YUM! No offense, but I think I’d come back just for the baked potato; the butter was just that good.

As for the main courses, the ribs are worth getting. Tender and well-seasoned, definitely one of the items to order if I am ever here again. In comparison to one of our earlier BBQ joints, I’d say that the flavor is about the same for the baby back ribs (can’t really go wrong there unless you overcook it) except that the meat at Beach Pit BBQ was even more tender and slid right off the bone while at Hi-Life I still had to get my hands dirty and chomp the meat off with my teeth.

Moving onto our other main dish, the BBQ Salmon. I wouldn’t suggest ordering this dish because there really wasn’t anything special about it and the meat was kind of dry. I usually prefer my salmon to be more moist and soft. We only ordered this dish because we figured there’s not really any point in ordering BBQ chicken at a barbeque restaurant. Overall, if you like BBQ, Hi-Life is worth giving a try. Obviously, you can’t come here expecting to have a cheap meal but it’s probably worth the food when you want to celebrate after a Sharks game .

The Cabbage Soup Diet

Janni Thomsen — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:01:03 +0000

This diet is one of the most debated diets around. It is supposed to be the absolute best diet if you want to loose weight and cleanse your body fast, and it has millions of fans. But on the other had the diet also has many many critics, including me. But I have decided to give it a chance.

The rules

The Cabbage soup diet runs 7 days (More is not recommended!!), and then you should return to your normal eating habits. You must minimum make a 2 weeks break inbetween if you want to go on the diet again. Your main source of nutritiom is the Cabbage soup, which you must eat every day. You are allowed to eat as much of the allowed foods as you want – you are not supposed to hunger yourself. It is also recommended to take multi vitamins to supplement this diet.

Recepie of the Cabbage Soup:

6 large green onions, 2 green peppers, 1 or 2 cans of tomatoes, 3 carrots, 1 container mushrooms, 1 bunch of celery, half a head of cabbage, 1 package Lipton soup mix, 1 or 2 cubes of bouillon (optional), season to taste with salt, pepper, parsley, curry, garlic powder, etc.

Slice onions, peppers, cabbage, carrots, and mushrooms into bite size piezes, and put it into the pot. Put in the wished spices and bullion. Then put in about 12 cups of water. Put the top on and let it cook by low heat for a long time – optimal 2 hours.

The Plan

Day one: You may only eat the soup and fruit. You may eat as much as you want, but bananas are not allowed! You should also drink a lot of water.

Day two: You may eat vegetables and soup. But no heavy vegetables like corn or peas, and no fruit! At dinner you should eat one big baked potato with butter.

Day three: You may eat soup, fruit, and vegetables. No baked potato.

Day four: You may eat up to 8 bananas and the cabbage soup. Also you may drink as much skim milk as you want.

Day five: You may eat up to 20 ounces of beef (chicken and fish also allowed) and up to 6 tomatoes. Drink a lot of water and eat the soup.

Day six: You may eat beef and vegetables and soup.

Day seven: You may eat brown rice, unsweetend fruit juice, vegetables, and soup.

Here we go..

I must admit I am not that enthusiastic about this diet. The anti-diet gene in me is giving me resistance. The fact that the soup itself takes such a long time to make is a mood-killer for me. But as I said, I will now try it out. So here it goes, wish me luck and strength.

"Beefy Potato Volcano"

liv — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 07:22:19 +0000

I don’t think I’d personally call it that, but while I was googling something to make with Ground Turkey that wasn’t chili or tacos or burgers, I thought this would be a nice thing to try (even though it asked for peas and carrots which I can’t stand an overabundance of, but eh), it was still good.

Here you go, Beefy Potato Volcano:

Ingredients

3 large baking potatoes, 10 to 12 ounces each, preferably Idaho, washed and dried
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 pound ground turkey or lean ground beef
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1 (8 ounce) can peas, drained
1 (8 ounce) can sliced carrots, drained
1 (8 ounce) can cut green beans, drained
1 cup canned diced tomatoes, drained
1 (15 ounce) can beef or turkey gravy

Directions

Preheat the conventional oven to 450 degrees F. Place the potatoes in a microwave-safe, oven-proof glass baking dish, such as a pie plate, that fits in the microwave oven. Microwave the potatoes at full power for 10 minutes (the amount of time it takes to preheat the oven). Transfer the potatoes to the conventional oven and bake until tender, about 20 minutes.
Ten to 15 minutes before the potatoes are done baking, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground turkey and cook until lightly browned, chopping and turning as needed with a spatula so the turkey browns evenly, about 5 minutes. Add the seasoning to the skillet, followed by the peas, carrots, green beans, tomatoes and gravy to make the stew. Stir gently to combine and simmer for 5 minutes. Keep warm.
To serve: Cut each potato in half across its equator and set each half, cut-side down on a plate so that it looks like a small mountain. Cut a slit in the top of each potato half and squeeze the sides gently forcing some of the potato to ‘erupt’ from the top. Ladle 1 cup of the stew over each potato to resemble flowing lava; serve immediately.

Thank you whoever submitted that recipe. It was tasty

Sweet Potato Gratin

Courtney's Page — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:19:51 +0000

2 tablespoons butter

2-3 Italian sausage links, chopped

1/4 cup chopped shallots

2 garlic cloves, minced

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon fresh thyme

2 cups of milk

1 3/4 cup grated Italian cheese

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

2 medium baked potatoes

1 small to medium sweet potato

1. Preheat over to 450°.

2. To prepare to potatoes, remove the skin and wrap each one in foil. Cook potatoes in oven until almost tender for about 50 minutes.

3. About 3o minutes after putting the potatoes in the oven, melt butter in a medium skillet on medium- heat. Add chopped Italian sausage until slightly cooked; about 1 minute. Add shallots, stirring constantly; cook 2 minutes. Add 1/4 cup flour; cook 2 minutes. Add thyme. Add milk, stirring constantly over medium heat until thick. Stir in 3/4 cup Italian cheese, cook 3 minutes. Stir in peppers. Remove from heat.

4. When the potatoes are tender, remove them from the oven and foil. Let them cool for a couple of minutes. You can either cut them into 1/8 inch thick slices or dice them. Sprinkle potatoes with remaining flour. In a 11×7 inch baking pan, lay potatoes alternating between sweet potatoes and white potatoes. Pour sauce over the potatoes making sure each slice of potato is coated. Top with remaining 1 cup Italian cheese. Bake at 375° for 40 minutes.

Microwave Baked Potatoes

Ladydee — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 07:56:18 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

Do you know what microwave baked potatoes are? Or do you know how to bake? In today’s world, it seems that almost any topic is open for debate. While I was gathering facts for this article, I was quite surprised to find some of the issues I thought were settled are actually still being openly discussed.

It’s just a couple of days before payday and your cupboard is looking pretty slim. The last time you shopped for groceries, every single item on your list had gone up substantially and you had to trim your list accordingly. So what’s for dinner? As the old saying goes, when times get tough, the tough get going. Here’s an idea for dinner that fulfills all of your objectives. Tasty, filling, nutritious and quick to fix. A single large potato, bits of this and that and your microwave will provide a satisfying meal in just minutes.
The microwave baked potato provides the base for your dinner. Rather than wait 45 minutes to an hour for an oven-baked potato, try the microwave baked potato. Some purists claim that a microwave baked potato doesn’t stand up to the oven baked potato because the texture of the finished potato is a little different. Don’t believe it! A large potato takes just eight to ten minutes in the microwave. Be sure it’s fully cooked – that’s the trick to simulating the oven baked potato texture.

The microwave baked potato must be punctured with a fork all around, top, bottom and sides. This allows the potato to steam and cook just as its oven-baked counterpart.
The more authentic information about microwave baked potatoes you know, the more likely people are to consider you a microwave baked potatoes expert. Read on for even more microwave baked potatoes facts that you can share.

While your potato is cooking, assemble your dressings. Much like a salad, you can pile leftovers and gourmet goodies to make this meal both a completely tasty and nutritious dinner.

A slice of bacon or ham contributes protein. Butter is a necessity. A bit of grated cheese provides calcium. Do you have some parsley, chives or onions? Throw them into the mix. How about some sliced olives? Your microwave baked potato is coming into its own now. Look through your leftovers, too often going to waste. What about that little bit of corn, begging to be used? Pile that on your burgeoning microwave baked potato meal. One mushroom, sliced and sauteed adds a gourmet touch. Hmm. What else? Aha! There’s a spoonful of sour cream. More calcium, with the added bonus of a delicious tasting topping.

Your frig probably holds lots of bits of food that can complement your microwave baked potato meal. Herbs and spices can make this meal more than satisfying. The neutral flavor of the potato makes it a perfect partner for just about anything you want to add.

So when you think there’s nothing to eat, get that potato out and build yourself a tasty meal. Your microwave makes it quick and your seemingly bare cupboard will fill in the blanks. Eat hearty!

I hope that reading the above information was both enjoyable and educational for you. Your learning process should be ongoing–the more you understand about any subject, the more you will be able to share with others.

Mashed Baked Potato Soup with Fries

Chris — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 00:21:31 +0000

I had a couple of russet potatoes that I picked up from the store, the other day. I did it not quite sure what to do with them yet. I was thinking baked potato, maybe. Nah, what about chili fries? No, soup! I don’t know. And then it dawned on me… I’m just gonna make ‘em all!

Jeepers! I had no idea how involved it was! Talk about intense pre-planning! I kinda felt like Robert Irvine from Dinner Impossible! But I have to admit, I had fun. And the thing even turned out to be souper delicious! Even without the butter and sour cream, in fact!

And thank you for noticing! Yes, my blog is snowing and this soup is just perfect for my dinner tonight. By the way, it really is cold and snowing this very moment, here in my neck of the woods.

Okay, here’s some tips! There are two ways you can bake your potatoes. If you simply place them in the oven rack, naked, the skin will turn out crispy. If you wrap them in foil, steaming will occur, hence, it will keep the skin soft. It’s your choice. I like it crispy. Also, to emulate a deep fried texture, the fries need to be soaked in water and boiled before baking them. It’s still not exactly the same but it’s as close as you can get. Not bad, actually. And finally, a great and no-fuss way to mash potatoes is to use an immersion (stick) blender. As opposed to a hand mixer, that is, which can be a messy proposition. Now, get cookin’!

Here’s the recipe for 1 serving. Don’t be afraid to experiment and put your own stamp on it.

Ingredients: 1 Small and 1 Medium-Sized Russet Potatoes, Minced Garlic (1 Clove), 1 tsp. Finely Chopped Leeks, 2 strips of Extra lean Turkey Bacon (Diced), Chopped Fresh Chives, Olive Oil, Low-Fat Milk, Low-Sodium Chicken Stock, Grated Parmesan, Grill Seasonings, Salt & Pepper

Directions (1 person serving):
1) The baked potato – Scrub clean the medium potato while rinsing under cold tap water. Use a fork to pierce the potato as deep as you can and all around. This will allow for steam to escape and prevent the spud from bursting open and making a mess inside your oven. Wipe it dry with a paper towel. Now, coat a little olive oil around it and sprinkle with a little salt. Place on a baking tray and stick in the oven for 1 hour turning over halfway through.

2) The fries – Peel the small potato and cut lengthwise into thin slices. Put in a pot with cold water and bring to a rapid boil. Once the water starts to boil, turn the heat off and drain the fries. Dry on a paper towel and place on a separate baking tray. Coat with a little olive oil and dust with grill seasonings. Place in oven along with the baking potatoes. They must have been baking for about half hour by now, so turn the baking potato over if you haven’t already.

3) The soup – Meanwhile, cook diced turkey bacon in the same pot with a little olive oil. When done, transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to drain off excess oil and set aside. In the same pot, saute some minced garlic and leeks adding a little more oil if needed, for a few minutes. Add a cup of chicken stock, stir until boiling and then, turn the heat off.

4) The mashed potato – By this time, both the baked potatoes and fries should be almost done, if not already. Take both trays out of the oven. Cut open the baking potato, scoop out the flesh and place in a mixing bowl. Add a sprinkle of parmesan, fresh ground pepper, some diced bacon, chopped chives and a splash of milk and start mashing. Transfer the mashed potato into the pot, turn the heat back on to medium low and stir until warm. Add more stock, if needed. You want the consistency of a thick creamy soup.

5) Putting it all together – Place the fleshed out potato skin in a soup bowl and ladle the soup in it. Dip a few pieces of fries (serving the rest on the side) and garnish with more bacon and chives. Enjoy this hearty meal quick, while the skin is still crispy!

Ingredients: 1 Small and 1 Medium-Sized Russet Potatoes, Minced Garlic, 1 Tbs. Finely Chopped Leeks,2 strips of Extra lean Turkey

Bacon (Diced), Chopped Fresh Chives, Olive Oil, Low-Fat Milk, Low-Sodium Chicken Stock, Grated Parmesan, Grill Seasonings, Salt &

Pepper

Directions for 1 Serving:
1) The baked potatoes
Scrub clean the medium-sized potato while rinsing under cold tap water. Use a fork to pierce the potato as deep as you can all around.

This will allow for steam to excape and prevent the spud from bursting open and making a mess inside your oven. Wipe it dry with a

paper towel. Now, coat a little olive oil around it and sprinkle with salt. Place on a baking tray and stick in the oven for 1 hour

turning over halfway through.

2) The fries
Peel the small-sized potato and cut lengthwise into thin slices. Put in a pot with cold water and bring to a rapid boil. Once the

water starts to boil, turn the heat off and drain the fries. Dry on a paper towel and place on a separate baking tray. Coat with a

little olive oil and sprinkle with grill seasonings. Place in oven along with the baking potatoes. At this point, they must have been

baking for about half hour already, so turn the baking potato over if you haven’t already.

3) The soup
Meanwhile, cook diced turkey bacon in the same pot with a little olive oil. When done, transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to

drain off excess oil and set aside. In the same pot, saute some minced garlic and leeks adding a little more oil if needed, for a few

minutes. Add a cup of chicken stock, stir until boiling and then, turn the heat off.

4) The mashed potato
By this time, both the baked potatoes and fries should be almost done, if not already. Take both trays out of the oven. Cut open the

baking potato, scoop out the flesh and place in a mixing bowl. Add a sprinkle of parmesan, fresh ground pepper, some diced bacon,

chopped chives and a splash of milk and start mashing. Use a hand blender, if you have, one to make it easier to mash. Transfer the

mashed potato into the pot, turn the heat back on to medium low and stir until warm. Add more stock, if needed. You want the

consistency of a thick creamy soup.

5) Putting it all together
Place the fleshed out potato skin in a soup bowl and ladle the soup in it. Dip a few pieces of fries (serving the rest on the side)

and garnish with more bacon and chives. Enjoy this hearty meal!

baked in a bowl

whitneyinchicago — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 01:56:22 +0000

Sorry that I haven’t been adding much content to this place lately. The early (like 4:15PM early) darkness makes it hard to ever take good evening pictures (hence the less than stellar ones on this post), 5 days in Philly for Thanksgiving, and then starting a full-time (albeit somewhat temporary) job this week has given me less time in my kitchen. Winter has actually arrived in Chicago with freezing temps and light flurries swirling in the loop. Its probably no surprise to you that I am talking about another soup recipe.

I love soup. Soup usually isn’t too much active work in the kitchen with lots of rewards. A pot of soup usually yields to a dinner for me and Dave, plus a couple of quarts frozen to have for a quick weeknight dinner. As I write I currently have a pot of different soup simmering on the stove. However, I want to tell you about this Baked Potato Soup. This soup was actually one of the first things that I made for me and Dave when we started living together, and I have made it many times since, but somehow its managed to stay off the blog. I originally got this recipe from Yum Sugar (which I read before I had filled my reader with awesome blogs) but its from Cooking Light. This soup really does taste like a perfect baked potato in a bowl. Perfect with a salad or a side of vegetables.

Baked Potato Soup
Adapted from Cooking Light

Feel free to use whatever fat level cheese and milk that you wish. I used 1% milk because thats what I keep and full-fat cheese, because real cheese is GOOD.

4 baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups milk
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded extrasharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided
6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
Cracked black pepper (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°.

Pierce potatoes with a fork; bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool until you can handle them. Cut the potatoes in half and scoop out all the “meat” leaving the skins in tact into a bowl. Then mashed them up to the point that they are still chunky.

Place flour in a large Dutch oven; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8 minutes). Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.

Stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup onions. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated Be careful, I’ve burned the bottom of the soup more than once because it really is kinda thick so don’t leave the stove and stir every minute or so. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons onions, and about 1 tablespoon bacon. Garnish with cracked pepper, if desired.

It's Monday....once again.

nicole827 — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:50:53 +0000

Hey! What’s going on? Happy Monday everybody! Hope you all enjoyed your weekend! I did! Yesterday (Sunday) I finally had the day off, FINALLY (it seems like having Sundays off will be a rare occurrence now), so I took advantage and spent the entire day doing hw. So much in fact that I completed my English HW that I thought I never get done. (in fact I told myself that if I didn’t finish it, I wouldn’t go to class, lol sadly I did)

Today….was a crappy day (weather wise). It rained all day and it was cold, I can’t even imagine walking to my car in the winter at the school, its going to be brutal! I had classes today, English and Math, but once again no work! (off til Thursday! WHOO HOO!). Today in English we did a little pre test of the departmental final, because that is what we are doing Wednesday! (what fun!) I hope I pass! In math, the same…as usual, what else is new? lol. After school, went home did some hw, chilled, yeah…..its the life! lol.

Here is what I ate today:

BREAKFAST: Bowl of Life Cereal

LUNCH: A Chef Boyardee Mini Bites Micro Ravioli

SNACK: A pack of 100 calorie Emerald’s Cocoa Roasted Almonds

DINNER: Some grilled chicken, broccoli, a baked potato, and some milk

DESSERT: At Wal Mart yesterday I had bought some Edy’s Slow Churned Double Fudge Brownie Ice Cream. I wanted take the cake, but they didn’t have it! UGH! but this stuff was really good! no regrets buying it!

LATE SNACKS: A Jello Pudding and an apple

And that’s about wraps Monday! Hope you all enjoyed a nice day back to work/school, whatever!

Goodnight everybody!

Mon., Nov. 30 - Today's Specials

bittersweetkent — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:42:11 +0000

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend! Here are today’s specials:

Baked potato with sour cream, bacon & chives w/side salad
Penne pasta with tomato and basil in a creamy garlic sauce w/side salad
Quiche with spinach, ham, onion and cheddar w/side salad
Ham & mushroom melt with chips
Soups: corn chowder and vegetable beef

Please stop in…we’d love to see you!

Now it's Saturday!

nicole827 — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 04:38:37 +0000

Hey! Hey! Happy! Happy!

What’s going on y’all? Its the last weekend of November! Can you believe it? OMG! November really did fly by didn’t it? Man…the last time I remembered it was Halloween? lol! And now we are getting ready for Christmas? AHHH! it’s kind of scary how fast life is going now a days, pretty soon it be 2012 (apparently the “end of the world”). Honestly, do any of you believe in that shit? I mean come on really. They said the world would end in 2000, and did it? Hell to the no! The earth just proved us wrong, and it will prove them wrong, because the earth is not going anywhere, anytime soon!! 2012, the end of the world? Kiss my ass! it ain’t going to happen!

Sorry, had to vent out my frustration on that subject. Anyway my day was pretty much original….up early, laundry, hw, work. As usual, and as always, nothing uncommon here.

Here is what I ate today:

BREAKFAST: A bowl of Life Maple & Brown Sugar Cereal

LUNCH: Progresso Traditional Chicken Noodle Soup

SNACK: Clif K Organic Z Bar Chocolate Brownie for break!

DINNER: I believe pork roast, some corn, and mom made me have a twice baked potato! UGH! (and a glass of milk as well)

DESSERT: A Clif Chocolate Chip Bar

LATE SNACKS: An apple and some Stauffers Animal Crackers

That’s it! Now its off to do HW! (what a shocker!) I am so thankful I have the day off (knocks on wood) to do my hw! I think I am actually going to get it done! (YAY!) we’ll see!

Enjoy your weekend everybody! Goodnight!

Sour Cream, Milk and Whipped Cream

Cathryn — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:27:45 +0000

Baked potatoes with a few pats of unsalted butter are one of my favorite comfort foods. Last night I had dinner in a steak house and forgot to ask them to leave off the sour cream so I could wallow in my butter and potato. I scraped most of the sour cream out, so my potato was still able to offer a satisfying carbohydrate calm.

A woman dined alone in the next booth. I never saw her face, just her wavy, shoulder-length gray hair. Along with her baked potato and steak, she ordered a glass of Cabernet. Mmmm. Just like me. She also ordered a glass of milk. I know people who have eaten mayonnaise and peanut butter sandwiches, pineapple and peanut butter sandwiches, but milk and Cabernet are right up there with foods that should never be joined. I can’t imagine either one of them tasting very good – dulled taste buds from a glass of cold milk followed by wine? Savoring the blackberry and earthen aromas of a Cab then drowning them in milk? I sipped my own wine and tried not to think about it.

One of my dinner companions ordered a frothy, fruity, icy drink topped with a few tablespoons of whipped cream. I can do without the fruit blend, but I adore whipped cream. A few dollops on a piece of pumpkin pie, swiping my finger through the bowl after whipping the real stuff, or un-whipped cream poured over apple crisp. Yum.

Across the aisle were two women finishing their dinner. One of them leaned across the aisle and asked what the drink was called. Then she attempted to sell us on her favorite food combination of all time – whipped cream with steak.

I said I’d hold off on blogging about food for awhile, but I couldn’t let this pass. You can’t make this stuff up. Surely one of these will be appearing soon in a piece of flash fiction.

Bitten By The Green Monster

Laura — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:27:58 +0000

I tried a Green Monster today for the first time ever. I’d been craving spinach (a first! Probably a good thing because it means I am eating healthy consistently enough that I am starting to crave the nutrients I need in those healthy foods. So I am craving the iron in spinach instead of a hamburger; it takes TIME to get there, though, so be patient!), so I figured it would be a good pre-workout lunch. I was right! I liked it! I put these ingredients in the blender (in this order):

1 Tbsp flax seed
1 Tbsp. protein powder
1 Tbsp. Cashew butter (you can use peanut butter or almond butter, or any kind of butter you want!)
2 handfuls of baby spinach
1 banana
1 tray of ice cubes

It sounds disgusting, but it wasn’t! It was sweet and light and filling. Trust me, I’m a junk food addict! If I liked it, then it really is good! It doesn’t taste spinach-y. I think I might try it tomorrow with acai instead of ice and nut butter.

Cost: about $0.60, if that (the one with acai tomorrow will be a bit more expensive. Probably closer to $1.)

Time: About 3-5 minutes

After that, I went to the gym. I am probably just past the beginner stage of exercising and into intermediate. Here is what I did:

Warm up: 10 minutes on a stationary bike
20 minutes on the treadmill, including running a mile in 11:55 (that is really good for me!)
10 minutes on a rowing machine
10 minute slow walk to cool down

Then cleaning, blogging, showering, and a post-workout lunch of a baked potato topped with kidney beans, bell pepper, and cheese (yes, it was Velveeta because Velveeta melts. It was made with 2% milk, though, so it wasn’t quite as terrible) with a side of Tazo Passion tea to drink. Yummy and filling, but wouldn’t spoil my dinner.

After all that working out and running around, I fell asleep, goshdarnit. I woke up at 8:15 and Steve had already eaten. So I ate a banana, an Amy’s enchilada, and about half a cup of leftover pumpkin soup. Kind of a weird combination, but tasty nonetheless.

I am in a baking mood! But I think I will pass since I will be making treats on Thanksgiving.

Monk's Birthday Dinner at Home

chefsnightout — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:48:44 +0000

A couple of nights ago was “Monk’s” birthday dinner. Because we just recently had “Jazzy” and the effort and pain associated with childbirth are still fresh in her mind, “Monk” chose to honour her Mom on this particular day. “Monk’s Mom” didn’t want to go out to eat, instead she wanted to have prime rib at home, so that was my mission, if I so chose to accept it.

“Monk’s Mom” had a 3″ bone in rib steak that was perfect in size for the three of us. “Godfather” left his blowtorch at my house the other day, so I quickly torched the prime rib, seasoned it generously with Montreal Steak Spice and I put it into a 225 degree oven. At that point I scoured the fridge for things to use up. One of my pet peeves is having a cluttered fridge and freezer, so a lot of times when I cook at home, it’s about utilization. In a perfect world, I’d love to shop daily for fresh ingredients and only buy what we need for the day. The reality is, particularly with a newborn in the house, “Monk” shops for a few days at a time and freezes things as she sees fit.

On this particular search and destroy fridge clean up mission, I found half a zucchini, a Japanese eggplant, half a cucumber, half an onion, a red pepper, a melange of herbs, some balsamic vinaigrette, enoki mushrooms, button mushrooms and a few other odds and ends. In the freezer, we found some deer steaks, dried mixed mushrooms and veal stock. ”Monk” really wanted me to cook this mystery deer meat, so I quickly marinated it with some garlic, thyme, soy and Worcestershire sauce and planned on pan searing them when the prime rib was ready. I also decided to make a mushroom jus for the deer steak and used up all the dried and fresh mushrooms we had in the house. The sauce was super simple, a little red wine, some aromatics and a little truffle essence at the end.

Fridge clean up ratatouille

All the left over veggies were screaming ratatouille to me. They were yelling; “Save us… make us into something delicious and special. We don’t want to die slowly in your perfectly organized fridge.” I quickly diced all the vegetable, prepped some garlic and onions and then realized I had no tomatoes. You can’t have ratatouille without tomato. I did find some Old El Paso salsa in the pantry and decided to use that as my tomato component to bind all the veggies together. I must say, when it was all done, the ratatouille tasted pretty good and you never would have guessed there was store-bought salsa in it.

Nuked potatoes with "facon bits" and sour cream. I'm not remotely embarrassed!

“Monk’s Mom” also really likes baked potatoes, so I baked a few off (I cheated, I actually used the microwave, I had the oven low for the prime rib). We topped them with lots of sour cream, scallions, Maldon sea salt and fake bacon bits. I know, I know, I know. Talk to “Monk”, it wasn’t my idea. I actually had three packs of bacon in my freezer, but she wanted the soy product, pseudo, bacon food stuff. Apparently, it’s all about the texture. Listen, I’m no snob, I sprinkled my fair share of “facon bits” on my potato.

Slow cooked prime rib, some with Stilton!

When the rib hit 130 degrees, I pulled it out, rested it for about twenty minutes and then carved it up. The meat was perfect, completely pink throughout. Slow cooking your beef is definitely the way to go. We had some Colston Basset Stilton left over from the previous evening’s festivities, so “Monk” requested some melted blue cheese on her meat. You got to love a girl who likes blue cheese with her beef. I also quickly seared the deer steaks that were marinating and they turned out surprisingly tender and tasty.

All and all, not a “fancy schmancy” meal by any means, but “Monk” was happy, “Monk’s Mom” was happy, “Jazzy” was happy, so therefore I was happy. That’s my job, making people happy.

Wed., Nov. 18 - Today's Specials

bittersweetkent — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:52:50 +0000

It is a beautiful sunny day in Kent, so we hope you’ll come downtown to check out today’s yummy specials! Today we have:

Baked potato with side salad: chili, cheddar cheese & onion – only $5
Chicken a la king over biscuits – just $5
Turkey sandwich with cranberry cream cheese – $7.50
Quiche with broccoli, cheddar, mushrooms, bell peppers
Chicken fettuccine with pesto
Soups: corn chowder and beef noodle

What are YOU going to order today?

Mon., Nov. 16: Today's Specials

bittersweetkent — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:32:30 +0000

It is a blustery day in Kent today, but if you venture out, be sure to stop by Bittersweet. We have some tasty specials to keep your body warm and your tummy full!

Baked potato (just $5) with your choice of broccoli & cheddar OR bacon, sour cream and chives
BBQ pulled pork sandwich on a toasted bun with cole slaw & chips
Chicken fettuccine alfredo
Quiche of the day: mushroom, spinach, chives & mozzarella
Soups: Cream of broccoli cheddar and French onion

And we just pulled a batch of our Reese’s Peanut Butter cookies out of the oven, so stop to get yours before they’re gone. They won’t last long!

Thurs., Nov. 12: Today's Specials

bittersweetkent — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:55:55 +0000

Today’s delicious specials include:

Our popular new Baked Potato, today’s toppings are broccoli, green onion, bacon & cheddar, served with a side of sour cream – only $5
Pot roast with carrots, celery, potatoes & gravy, served with a side salad
Fettuccine Alfredo
Corned Beef Sandwich with Horseradish Cheddar on rye, served with chips
Quiche of the day: broccoli, mushrooms, red pepper and cheddar cheese
Soups du jour: Beef lentil and cream of spinach

Here’s a pic of yesterday’s Baked Potato of the Day. Yummy!

Wed., Nov. 11: Today's Specials

bittersweetkent — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:31:45 +0000

Our popular new baked potato special with your choice of toppings – for just $5
Chicken curry fettuccine
Quiche with broccoli, mushrooms, red pepper and cheddar cheese
Turkey sandwich with horseradish cheddar
Spinach Salad
Soups: 15 bean and cream of spinach

Pan-fried Rib Eye Steak

tinkande — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:58:27 +0000

I'll have that with a side of angioplasty.

Me: “So, what should we have for dinner tonight? We have chicken – I could make a stir fry or something. We also have some ribeye steaks and ba….”
My Roommate (not waiting for me to finish my sentence): “Steak. Definitely steak.”

That settled it. A true meat n’ potatoes dinner. Classic, reliable, yummy, and easy! We served these ribeyes with baked potatoes and green beans on the side. I baked the potatoes in a 350 degree oven for about an hour. Everything else took less than fifteen minutes to prepare! We garnished the baked potatoes with the works: butter, salt, pepper, sour cream, cheddar cheese, and (because a full cut of ribeye wasn’t enough meat) bacon. Wow – we’re lucky we’re still breathing!

Note: the amount of seasoning was a bit too salty for my tastes, but that could be just me. It depends on what you like.

Pan-fried Ribeye Steak
Source: Cooking method inspired by The Pioneer Woman

2 ribeye steaks (about 8 oz. each), at least one inch thick
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 Tablespoon Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon olive oil

Season the steaks with the salt and steak seasoning, massaging it into the meat.

Bring a skillet (I used my cast iron skillet, but anything other than a nonstick pan will do) to medium heat and add olive oil and butter. When the oil and butter are very hot, add the steak to the pan.

Cook for about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on the first side and then flip and turn the heat down to a medium-low to finish off the cooking. Cook for about 2 minutes on the second side to yield a medium-rare piece of meat. Remove steaks, cover with foil, and allow them to rest for about five minutes before serving.

As The Pioneer Woman reminds us, you cannot “undo” over-cooked steak. It’s better to under-cook it and then toss it back in the pan if you want it more well-done. I’m especially paranoid about over-cooking steak because I had an unfortunate – ahem – incident the first time I tried to cook one. It was an apartment-filled-with-smoke, bounce-your-steak-off-the-floor fiasco and I swore I would never let that happen again. I always cook steak for less time than recipes indicate to make sure that it’s cooked to our desired done-ness!

Mon., Nov. 9: Today's Specials

bittersweetkent — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:24:16 +0000

Today we are introducing a baked potato special for just $5.00! Enjoy it with your choice of toppings including broccoli & cheddar cheese sauce, bacon, sives and sour cream!

We also have these tasty delights to keep you warm on this damp Monday:

Chicken Pot Pie
Roast Beef Sandwich with a White Cheddar Horseradish Cheese, Lettuce & Tomato on Whole Wheat
Quiche Lorraine
Spaghetti & Meatballs
Soups: French Onion & Cabbage Patch

Receita fácil

dricamillo — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:45:09 +0000

BAKED POTATO

4 batatas grandes

200 gramas de bacon picado e frito

1 bisnaga de requeijão de 200 gramas

4 colheres de manteiga

salsinha picada

sal

Cozinhe as batatas na panela de pressão não muito moles, depois, leve ao forno com a casca. À parte, tempere a manteiga com a salsinha picada. Retire as batatas do forno na hora de servir, corte cada uma ao meio, raspe um pouco o recheio, coloque sal, a manteiga temperada, o requeijão, e o bacon frito por cima. Sirva imediatamente. (se quiser variar o recheio: frango com catupiry, camarão com catupiry, strogonof, cheddar, etc)

Bacon, leek and cheese stuffed potatoes

hungrywoolf — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:49:44 +0000

Yesterday I was going to make a Leek cheese and bacon tart from the October issue of BBC Good Food magazine. I thought it would be a perfect use for my Wayward Seed Farm leeks and some Heini’s lacey baby Swiss cheese that AD’s mom gave us on Sunday. Unfortunately poor planning (or more accurately procrastination) got the better of me and when I went to the grocery store at the last possible moment to buy the puff pastry, all they had were vol-au-vent shells. Perhaps I should be more ambitious and try making my own puff pastry, but that’s a project for another day.

I bought some of the puff pastry shells thinking that I might be able to improvise but after failing to find any recipe in my quick search that didn’t call for Campbell’s soup, and fearing disaster, I grumpily gave up.

Today I remembered Nigel Slater’s latest article about baked potatoes and inspiration struck. I could use all of the topping ingredients for the tart and make a stuffed baked potato. Thank you Nigel!

2 large baking potatoes, scrubbed and pricked with a fork
1lb of leeks trimmed, washed and thinly sliced.
6 rashers of smoked bacon + the bacon fat
150g cream cheese mixed with chives, parsley and garlic
200g approx grated Swiss cheese
1 egg beaten (Nigel called for just the white so save the yolk if you want)
salt and pepper

The recipe called for a garlic and herb cream cheese. I decided to make my own based on what I had in the fridge. I mixed half chevre (soft goats cheese) from Lake Erie Creamery, half Philadelphia cream cheese and added crushed garlic and finely chopped parsley and chives. We ate some of it on crackers and it was really good. Worth making just for that. For the potatoes, I would probably use all cream cheese but still add my own garlic and herbs.

Bake the potatoes for an hour at 400ºF and then slice in half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh.
Snip the bacon into small cubes and fry until crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and saute the leek in the bacon fat. Cook the leeks until they are soft (about 5 minutes).
Mash the potato flesh in a large bowl and then add the cream cheese mixture, bacon, leeks and bacon fat, half the grated cheese and the beaten egg.
Season to taste. Fill the potato skins with the mixture and place into an oven proof dish. Sprinkle the remaining Swiss cheese on top.
Bake for 20 minutes at 400ºF until the cheese is golden brown.

Now I have vol-au-vent shells to use up – any good ideas? … maybe I will wait for the next oyster mushroom crop.

A Crash on Sunday and Another Average Monday

nicole827 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:58:49 +0000

Hey Everybody!

Let me first off by saying, Happy November!!! Can you believe we are almost done with 2009? I sure can’t. Where has time gone by, seriously! The last time I remembered, it was still 2008! lol. I don’t know but I am glad its November, which means that winter break is coming up real soon! (can’t wait, but it won’t be a break with work though, so its kind of a good thing and a bad thing all rolled up into one!) And I want to apologize for not posting last night. I did write a post, but the internet on my laptop crashed and it erased everything I had, and it was real late at night, so I didn’t bother rewriting another one (it did however piss me off to no end!) But whatever, you guys didn’t miss much. I went to work in the AM, came home did some HW, and ate dinner with dad, bro, and grandma. Nothing amazing, just an ordinary Sunday (except I wasn’t closing Sunday night for once, thank god!)

Here is what I ate yesterday:

BREAKFAST: A Bowl of Cheerios

LUNCH: Since I was at work, and only had 15 minutes, a Caramel Nut Brownie Luna Bar

SNACK: A Kashi TLC Trail Mix Bar

DINNER: (sorry no pic, the restaurant that we went to was really, really dark) Grilled Chicken Sandwhich, with a side of mixed veggies.

DESSERT: A 100 calorie Reese’s Peanut Butter Waffers

LATE NIGHT SNACKS: A Jello Pudding, and a serving of Stauffer’s Animal Crackers

And that is pretty much it for Sunday. Now onto today, Monday.

Once again, nothing amazing or spectacular happened today, just an ordinary Monday, ordinary school day. Luckily, I had the day off from work (yay!), so that made things good, and kind of boring at the same time. Went on a 40 minute bike ride this morning, it was nice, chilly but nice, I just love the fall. Sadly, shortly, its coming to an end and the dreadful winter is coming! (which reminds me I have to get my tires changed soon because it is November now, oh boy!) Honest to god, I don’t even want to think about winter, but I am going to have to face it sooner or later because, like I said before, it israpidly approaching us. : ( BOO!!

Here is what I ate for the day:

BREAKFAST: Bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats

LUNCH: A Smart One’s Broccoli & Cheddar Roasted Potatoes

SNACK: Emerald’s Cocoa Roasted Almonds 100 Calorie pack

DINNER: Meatloaf, with some mixed veggies, a naked baked potato, and some milk

DESSERT: 2 fun sized Snicker bars (70 calories each, so 2 equals 140 cals, not bad people! its better than eating the bigger version!)

LATE NIGHT SNACKS: Jello Pudding Cup, and an apple

Yeah, and that pretty much wraps tonight’s blog. I hope all of you enjoyed your Monday back to work/school whatever from this Holiday’s weekend (if you want to consider it that).

You all have a goodnight. Blog back at ya tomorrow! PEACE!

Mackerel and feta stuffed baked potatoes

theordinarycook — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:07:20 +0000

We are a meat-eating family and there’s no doubt about it. If I, or my husband, had to choose whether to eat a fillet steak or a fillet of salmon, we would both choose steak pretty much nine times out of ten. So in an effort to get more oily fish into our diet I came up with this meal. It’s very easy to do and it was lovely eaten with my pickled damsons.

4 baking potatoes
2 smoked mackerel fillets
200g feta cheese

Preheat the oven to 180°c (gas mark 4, 350°f) and bake the potatoes in their skins (pierce each potato with a knife a couple of times before putting in the oven to prevent potato explosions) for 1 to 1½ hours until crispy skinned and cooked all the way through (test by inserting a skewer into each potato). In the meantime flake the mackerel and slice the feta into cubes.

Allow the potatoes to cool until you can handle them easily without burning your hands. Split them in half and scoop out the flesh into a large bowl. Put the empty shells into a baking dish ready to be refilled. Add the feta and salt and pepper to taste to the potato flesh and combine well. Add the flaked mackerel and stir gently to combine trying to keep the fish in flakes. Spoon this mixture back into the potato shells and put back in the oven for 20 minutes until golden brown on top.

Get printable version

what are you craving?

Kara-Kae — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:37:40 +0000

Pregnancy is…. interesting. I made it through the phase of hardly being able to eat anything and have now entered the phase of wanting to eat EVERYTHING.

Yesterday I was craving one of those GIANT Baked Potatoes smothered in Chopped BBQ Beef.

My favorite is from Jason’s Deli, but the closest Jason’s to us was at least 2 hours away. So my amazing husband did all he could to find me one, and he succeeded. He’s got this pregnancy stuff down. What a good man I have!!

Some may think it looks gross…but I think it’s a little slice of heaven. And Baby Girl thought so too! YUM.

Pregnancy sure brings on some interesting cravings, and they don’t ever seem to go away until you satisfy them. So I’ve been doing my best to satisfy

Another major one of mine is chocolate milk. However, I’m lactose intolerant. Awesome. I drink Lactaid Milk, and I swear I am responsible for keeping them in business. You’re welcome, Lactaid.

If you’ve been pregnant or your significant other has, what have been some crazy cravings you or she has had?

Potato Day

365foods — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:00:10 +0000

Bread and salt.

If you walked into a Ukrainian prairie household in 1902, when my great-great grandparents immigrated to Mazeppa, Saskatchewan, you would have been greeted with bread and salt.

It’s potato day. I’m a Canadian mongrel, made up of semi-equal parts English, Ukrainian, Romanian and not-sure-what-else. If you ask me my ethnic background, though, I’ll say “Ukrainian”. After all, I’m short and round. It fits. Mostly, I like vodka, but to be quite honest, it makes me fall asleep. In the middle of the party. I don’t know on which of my other heritages to blame that particular party quirk, but I’m sure my Ukrainian ancestors roll over in their graves watching me doze on the couch while the fête rages on around me.

Did someone mention potatoes?

In honour of potato day, I turned to my Ukrainian Daughters Cookbook. For real. According to the cover, it’s a “Canadian bestseller”, published by the Ukrainian Women’s Association of Canada, Daughters of Ukraine Branch, Regina, Saskatchewan. I have the eighth printing, from 1992. I made the Potato Bread. According to Ukrainian Daughters, it’s “a delicious fine-textured bread with a crisp crust”.

potato bread (it really did have a crisp crust)

There’s something about the smell of bread baking, isn’t there? Jim is a reformed Cathoholic. Once, early in our relationship, he was sleeping over on Good Friday. Fasting, but sleeping over. It was a rare day off, so I made bread. I think I made 8 loaves: some plain, some with cheese, some with garlic. Jim, fasting, ate none. The next day, while I was at work, Jim ate an entire loaf of bread. He ate it with butter. He ate it with jam. He just ate it. I sort of think bread is why Jim proposed. I know it’s why he bought me my KitchenAid stand mixer.

Potatoes are actually pretty darned bland when you get right down to it. Funny that they should evoke such a passionate reaction in so many cultures. What about the good ol’ baked potato, for instance? Jim likes his tossed onto the barbeque about 20 minutes before the steak. No butter, sour cream, bacon bits or chives for him; the potato’s role is to soak up the juice from his extremely rare steak (ugh).

the way Jim likes it

Then there is the perfect Italian pillow of deliciousness: gnocchi. Basically the Italian “pierogi” (a misnomer, really; the proper word is “varenyky” or варе́ники, but don’t trust the Ukrainians, Cheemo must be right). I had my gnocchi (yes, hand-made. can’t you tell?) tonight with a brown butter sage sauce. An adaptation from one of Mario’s recipes.

Italian varenyky

Jim had his potato exactly how he liked it. I guess I should come clean now. We often have two dinners at our house. I don’t like to eat four-legged animals. Jim does. Due to an unfortunate university experience, Jim likes neither varenyky nor gnocchi. We did, however, share a salad tonight.

And for dessert, some Ukrainian Daughters potato bread, finely textured with a crisp crust. I had a slice with some hazelnut honey from honeyshop. Jim had his with raspberry jam. Not sure if they were my mom’s raspberries, or his mom’s. He’s a bit of a jam hoarder, actually.