Junk Food Confessions: Part 2

June 17, 2009 4 Comments

I’m so glad that nobody ventured on here to call me a gross pig for my first set of confessions!  It’s nice to know that the lure of sugary/salty goodness attracts more than just myself.  But…..well…..tonight’s confession just might gross quite a few of you out.  I’m going to talk about a genre of food that is generally considered disgusting.  I might get my Foodie Club card taken away for admitting this, but what the hell.  I LOVE FAST FOOD!  Now grab your antacids and prepare to be over-greased.

-McDonald’s:  The Big Mac is a great little sandwich.  I have a hard time really calling it a hamburger because I generally prefer that my hamburgers contain more meat than bread (and “secret” sauce), and the Big Mac has only two pathetic smooshed patties.  Ask me if I care.  Go ahead.  Ask.  NO I DON’T CARE!  I love that thing!  And I LOVE their French fries!  When I was in high school, I would eat basket upon basket upon basket of their French fries.  I don’t really care for much else on their menu, but I am a hardcore Big Mac fan.  Someone get me a t-shirt!

-Wendy’s:  I like those little itty bitty burgers on their $0.99 value menu.  Their fries stink, but those bitty burgers are great for a little snack.  They used to have a Bacon Burger that I loved but they replaced it with something called the Baconator and I’ve gotta say….I just can’t bring myself to eat that thing.  It looks way too gross.  Oh, and I don’t like Frosties.  LOVE their chili, however and I love their baked potatoes.

-KFC:  Original Recipe only please.  They have the best coleslaw in the world and their biscuits make me weep.  If either of my grandmother’s cooked, I imagine that it would have tasted like this.  In fact, my paternal grandmother seemed to always have buckets of KFC magically appearing on her table.  Anytime anyone even considered going to her house, a bucket of chicken appeared.

-Taco Bell:  Yes please.  I love their Mexican Pizzas and their Quesadillas.  And their Gorditas.  And almost everything else on their menu.  Except the Choco Taco.  Blech.

-Dairy Queen (Brazier):  It’s not the best out there, but something about it seems old-timey to me.  Is that weird?  My maternal grandmother used to take me there for chicken sandwiches and onion rings when I was little and eating those two things always remind me of her, and since I miss her so terribly it’s a nice way to remember her.

-Burger King:  If there isn’t a McDonald’s or a Wendy’s around, I will go get a Whopper.  I hate their fries and WILL NOT eat them.  However, they used to have a burger that they would bring out every summer called the Rodeo Burger.  It had barbecue sauce and onion rings on it and it was soooo good.  And huge.  Bring it back!

-Pizza:  I like making homemade pizza, but I also love just ordering a greasy home delivery pizza.  Why?  Because I can get chicken wings with it.  Extra cheese, pepperoni and red onion.  Nothing else!

-Hot Dogs:  I’m originally from West Virginia and I am told that the way that we eat our dogs is strange.  Ketchup, mustard, chili, and onions.  That’s weird?  Really?  Oh well, it’s delicious and it’s something that I miss terribly.  The best hot dogs in WV come from a place called T&L Hot Dog.  They also served fresh fries with cheese.

-Chinese Takeout:  This is something that can be either really good or simply terrible.  Really good is a rare find, but boy when you find it, is it ever a great indulgence!  Cheese wontons, egg drop soup, egg rolls, spring rolls, noodles, chicken, beef, pork….YUM!  I’ve been without a REALLY good Chinese takeout for 3 years now.  Philadelphia, damn it, you’d better offer it up!

-Sub Sandwiches:  I like both Quizno’s and Subway.  They offer two different kinds of sandwiches for the most part.  If I want a cold sandwich, I go to Subway.  If I want a beef dip or toasted sub, I go to Quizno’s.  Both are fine in my book.

-Arbie’s:  I love their roast beef sandwiches.  Smother them in some mayo and they’re golden.  Also, CURLY FRIES!  SQUEEE!

Wow, that’s a long list.  I’m almost ashamed of myself!  Almost.  Overall, I’d just like to say that I really enjoy “slumming it” when it comes to the partaking of food.  I cook better than what these places offer and I can emulate almost anything from these places, but sometimes that convenience is just too tempting!  It’s something that’s maybe a once a week thing.  I try to cook most of our meals but sometimes I just want a Big Mac or a Mexican Pizza.  Am I really so very different from you, mister hoity-toity foodie?  We all like to slum it!

Once again, I’m going to be shaking in my boots all night long wondering when the comments about me being a gross pig will come rolling in.  Name-call all you want, you will not shake my foundation of fast food love!  And yes, in case you’re wondering, I DID watch Super Size Me and didn’t eat McDonald’s for a month after.  And that was the hardest month of my life up to that point.

  • Print
  • email
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Technorati
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
Filed Under Eating Out, Miscellaneous Tagged With fast food

A Hawaiian Dive is a Good Thing

May 29, 2009 5 Comments

When I was 7 months pregnant with my son, my husband and I took a last vacation as a couple to Hawaii.  To be perfectly honest, we weren’t all that impressed with all of the cheesy tourist-y stuff, but we did get a chance to taste some really great food.  The pineapple there was so ripe and juicy and sweet (nothing like the stuff we get here in the mainland), and the things they do to pork over there is so good I’d dare call it “naughty”.  When we came back home, it wasn’t long until we started really missing the food.  Luckily, we live in the age of information and a quick search on the internet pointed us to a little Hawaiian place called L&L Hawaiian Barbecue.  Boy am I glad that we found this little gem because they have THE BEST Kalua Pork and even my 20 month old baby loves it there (at that age, toddlers refuse to eat just about everything but this kid thinks that Kalua Pork is the best thing next to chocolate).

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue

My local restaurant is located in an old strip mall.  It’s actually funny that it’s located next to a Curves because their food isn’t exactly *ahem* figure friendly.  That’s ok because it’s really good and totally worth the splurge.

Cheesy Decor

More Cheesy Decor

The decor in this place is beyond cheesy.  But, if you’ve ever been to Hawaii (Waikiki in particular) it’s not that far off base.  That whole town was cheese-tastic and this restaurant reflects that perfectly.  Every time I have been in this particular restaurant the floors have been very dirty and the red booths are so smooshy, you sink down so that you are nose-level with the table.  The food is so good that these things are easy to ignore.

Lots of Food

The serving sizes of the meals are simply enormous.  I have a hard time eating a full serving, and that’s rare for me.  Listen, I’m not one of those tiny super skinny people that tries to brush off my super skinny-ness by saying I eat a lot.  I really do pound it back when I sit down to a meal.  I’ve actually frightened people by how much I can eat.  There’s a reason that I can’t fit into a size 2 pants, folks.  And yes, that’s my son trying to dig into the food.  He loves it so much that he couldn’t wait 2 seconds for me to snap a picture.

Spam Musubi

This place serves Spam Musubi.  As you may or may not know, Spam is a very big thing on the islands.  Under normal circumstances I don’t really care for this stuff.  Maybe it’s the novelty of having what is basically a Spam sushi, but I really like this stuff.  It’s salty, savory, and the dried seaweed goes perfectly with the Spam.  I like it, so shoot me.

My Meal

This is what my meal looked like.  Smokey Kalua Pork, rice, and a delicious pasta salad.  Maybe it doesn’t look all that intimidating here, but all those carbs really can weigh a person down.  It’s a delicious meal, I adore every aspect of it.  They serve a Kalua Pork with or without cabbage but I just don’t care for the texture of the option that comes with cabbage (and with Irish and German ancestors, I’ve had cabbage many many ways).  I like my pork straight up.  I’d like to think that the afterlife is fully stocked with Kalua Pork.

The first time I came to L&L, I found the side of pasta salad a little odd, but I went with it.  I’m a sucker for any carb smothered in a mayonnaise sauce so the pasta salad and I made quick friends with each other.  It goes oddly well with the intense smokey flavor of the Kalua Pork.  It’s weird, but it works.

I urge you to please visit the website and see if there is a franchise near you.  It’s still a small restuarant chain so if you are left without one of these little gems close to you, my sympathies go to you and your families.  You’re missing great food in a total dive.

  • Print
  • email
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Technorati
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
Filed Under Eating Out Tagged With Eating Out, food, kalua pork, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, musubi, pork, restaurant, Spam

The Tiffin

April 27, 2009 10 Comments

Last week on my personal blog I created a post that discussed plastic and alternatives to plastic.  I casually recommended that people use a tiffin box in place of styrofoam take out boxes or doggie bags when eating out.  Since then, I have been asked several times to talk about the tiffin boxes in more depth.  Hey, it pertains to food and eating, and doing our part to help the planet is everybody’s responsibility.

See my original post here.

Tiffin

Behold the tiffin.  This is a marvelous little invention that is used in India and China as an everyday lunch box.  In the case of my tiffin, there are three bowls that fit together and are clamped together by a carrier.  I got this for $9.99 here.  It’s also dishwasher safe.  Yeah, now you’re out of excuses to NOT get one of these.  If you do some browsing and have no problem with paying a little more, these can come with a more “designer” feel to them with colors and patterns.  For me, the stainless steel is fine.

Tiffin Disassembled

These are the three tiffin bowls and the top lid.

Filled Tiffin Bowls

Here I have some Chinese takeout in the tiffin bowls.  These bowls actually hold quite a lot of food.  They hold just as much, if not more than those little takeout containers (which, depending on your takeout provider can be paper or styrofoam) usually provided.

Juxtaposed

Here I’m showing my hand next to the tiffin bowls to give a to-scale comparison.  These bowls are not tiny and they are great for takeout.  I warn you, you’ll have to argue with your provider to get them to use your own container instead of theirs.  They get confused.  Just try to explain to them why you are against using the styrofoam or paper and they usually cooperate.

I don’t know about you, but almost every time I go out to eat at a sit-down restaurant, I always have food leftover and the waitress/waiter is always offering me a box.  These “boxes” are styrofoam and completely wasteful.  Keep a tiffin on you and tell your server that you brought your own box.  You paid for it, it’s your food and I seriously doubt you’ll get any resistance.  If anything, you’re going to hear how cool that it is and how clever you are.  Who doesn’t love that?  Just remember who gave you the tip, huh kids?

TIFFIN.  You know you want one….or two.  Go on, save the world one tiffin at a time.

  • Print
  • email
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Technorati
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
Filed Under Eating Out, Miscellaneous Tagged With doggie bag, doggy bag, Eating Out, eco-conscious, green, restaurant, take out, takeout, tiffin

A Lovely Seattle (East Side) Hole in the Wall

April 21, 2009 2 Comments

On the outskirts of Seattle, in the city if Kirkland, WA is the most wonderful little hole-in-the-wall sushi place in the entire area.  If nobody points this place out to you, you would never know it’s there.  It’s hidden in a small strip mall next to a Pet Smart and a head shop.  The tiny sign reading “Momoya Sushi and Sake House” is all that  can tip you off.  If this tiny sign should happen to catch your eye, then for the love of all that is holy STOP your car and go get some sushi!

I got a Tuna Roll and a Cucumber Roll.  I know that this is painfully tame to some of you, but I love these rolls and that they are so gorgeous in their simplicity.  I was a happy girl.

Tuna and Cucumber Rolls

Of course this came with green tea (flavored with dark sesame oil for a smokey taste) and a salad and miso soup.  I love miso soup!

Bento Box

My husband got a gorgeous Bento box.  Of course I nibbled a little bit of everything from this meal and it was all delectable and perfect.  Seriously, this sushi man knows what the hell he’s doing.

Since we are leaving the Pacific Northwest in August, we thought it would be a good idea to try a local seafood called Geoduck (pronounced “gooey duck”).  It’s basically a clam that looks….uhhh….like a certain part of a man.  It’s a freak out, but they are supposedly sweet and great for sushi.  Unfortunately, Momoya did not have this native mollusk so we decided to try another fresh seafood.  We tried raw Sea Urchin.  Let me be straight with you.  This Sea Urchin was FRESH FRESH FRESH.  The taste was sublime.  It’s everything good about the ocean and seafood wrapped into one.  HOWEVER, it is the consistency of peanut butter.  Some people call it the Foie Gras of the sea, and I can see that.  Despite the taste being as heavenly as it was, the consistency just freaked me out a little bit and I couldn’t help but gag.  I did that the first time I tried raw oysters on the half shell too…but now I’ll suck down raw oysters with the best of them and slurp the liqueur like it’s mother’s milk.  (Sorry I didn’t get a picture of it.  I was too excited and my phone was in the hands of a phone-happy toddler.)

The best part about this last trip to Momoya’s was that our soup and salad were given to us on the house.  I don’t know why.  Maybe because we were the first dinner guests?  I would have happily paid!  And when we ordered the Sea Urchin, we were given a hand roll, also on the house.  I would have paid for that too!  This place is fantastic.  It’s tiny, family owned, friendly, and completely non-pretentious.  I wish I could take it back East with me.  I will miss it.

  • Print
  • email
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Technorati
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
Filed Under Eating Out Tagged With Japanese, Kirkland, Momoya, sea urchin, Seattle, sushi