Ooh, I’m in big trouble. It’s been way too long since I’ve posted but maybe it was necessary. This year probably has made everyone re-evaluate their lives. But anyways, I realized that cooking and eating is a big deal in my life but sometimes my mood would take hold of me and I would either not eat or cook and it became a chore for me. Long story short, I took this free box from Hello Fresh and it has been a game changer for me!
It’s been so much fun cooking and doing a little presentation. Not only that, they taste pretty darn good! If y’all are trying to save some time and money, I highly recommend this. It seems expensive at first but I think if you try for a week or two, it helps take out the thinking of what to eat for dinner.
Mm, this was a great lunch. Andy picked this one out. Glad he did!
Back in the kitchen! Actually, I was borrowing my friends kitchen so I could cook again. So I took the initiative to invite myself and cook. Thank goodness they were so thankful for me to come over and cook. It was fun! I do apologize because there was no effort for photos for during the process. I was too deep into conversation and there was a moment where I forgot an important ingredient. -.-
The final photo
I added a couple chili peppers and man, there was a lot of heat!! I am glad I did it cause it tasted SO GOOD!!
Here is the Top view of the main course. ^_^
I added a Russet potato to get some starch, carrots, yellow bell pepper, green peas, and grilled chicken for the meat. Oh man, I’m actually excited to eat some for my lunch tomorrow.
Anyways, thanks for stopping by! I gotta get my kitchen back into shape (cries internally) but I’m afraid it’s gonna be a while. I’ll update you guys about the disaster I call the kitchen.
GREEN CURRY: 👍🏼👍🏼 GARLIC STRING BEANS: 👍🏼👍🏼
=================================================
👍🏼👍🏼 – Damn tasty; definitely will make again 👍🏼 – Good; will make again, eventually 👎🏼- Eh; may not make again.. might need adjustment 👎🏼👎🏼 – Ew; don’t like and will not make again
After this long week, and a hurricane on the way… I decided that I needed a day to myself. As I’ve shared before, I’m learning how to heal my emotional and mental state as there are things that can trigger them easily. As much as I can grind away at work, sometimes those wounds burst open and today happens to be one of those days. I decided that I wanted to listen to my body and thoughts. Thankfully, I booked myself a massage earlier in the week and then I decided afterwards that I wanted to get a nice breakfast. I kept the budget for my breakfast under $20, and that’s including tip. I wanted something healthy but nothing that I could make or have at home.
920 International Pkwy Lake Mary, FL 32746 – Another Broken Egg Cafe
Looking at you, Lucy!
Another Broken Egg Cafe is a breakfast place I enjoy coming for breakfast/brunch/lunch. Their menu changes with the seasons and so it’s nice to know you’ll have at least 4 new creative dishes that you haven’t seen. I appreciate that. It encourages customers to try something new.
I enjoyed sitting outside during my meal, but at the end, I was definitely becoming the meal for a couple mosquitos. (>.<)
Classic BEC coffee cup.
Have you ever drank your coffee as is? I don’t do it often but I tried drinking my coffee without any sugar or milk and it was quite delicious. It wasn’t too dark so the coffee after taste didn’t linger much on the tongue.
Product piece
Here I ordered the “Hey Lucy, Omelette.” It consists of breakfast chorizo, onions and green chilies omelette, topped with Cheddar Jack cheese and avocado. Sides of salsa and sour cream. English muffin and home fries.
I don’t know what had more “sustenance” between the home fries and grits, but I guess my heart will have it for home fries. Ordering the English muffin makes me feel chic for some odd reason. I think I felt as if that’s the proper way to have toast. The omelette was good but I have to comment… either the salsa had cumin/paprika or something (perhaps the green chilies?) in the omelette really made the flavors come through out. I enjoyed it very much. It was a very fulfilling breakfast. I couldn’t even finish it all.
I know when I start to get homesick and eating “healthy” just isn’t making me feel any better, I turn to what I’m used to eating. Unfortunately, having food prepared by mom hasn’t been readily available in over 10 years. So I have tried to recreate certain dishes to sate that craving. It’s a simple dish and since most people are getting sick and it’s just a very homey dish that “feeds the soul.” That dish is called Arroz Caldo (aka: rice & chicken porridge.)
IG: MMK10Q
Side note: Still working on the documenting the process of cooking. Sometimes I get so caught up in the prep and I start cooking that I forget to document from the start. Anyways, it’s pretty simple, like I said. This is pretty much halfway done.
Majority of the recipe!
I didn’t quite follow the recipe to the tee, to be honest. I pretty much just adjusted it to what I wanted it to be and used my taste memory of what my parent’s cooked it like. Also it didn’t come out “soupy” because the rice ended up absorbing the liquid so I would just have a side of the “broth” (or sabaw, what we say in Tagalog) and pour it on when I was ready to eat.
Final product
I also improvised and improved the dish to my liking. It’s important as one cooks, to make a dish that YOU would like to eat.. not necessarily for others. So for me, I like texture and flavor so I’ll do my best to add what I think will meld flavors together. I fried up some turkey bacon because I like the crunchy texture, especially when it comes to something soft. I prefer turkey bacon versus actual bacon because it’s less greasy and slightly healthier. I also added a boiled egg because it’s freaking good. Heh, I’M KIDDING! Nah, it’s what I grew up eating when my parents make this. We would eat this mostly for breakfast and so it coincidently pairs well with the turkey bacon! Also, the secret ingredient… citrus. Back home, we have our version of citrus called “calamansi” or I believe they call it “calamondin” here in the States. Unfortunately, these guys aren’t easily readily available for my beckon so I used lemons. Mmm, I tell ya.. when you eat this, it’s kind of hard to stop.
FINAL PRODUCT!
ARROZ CALDO: 👍🏼👍🏼
=================================================
👍🏼👍🏼 – Damn tasty; definitely will make again 👍🏼 – Good; will make again, eventually 👎🏼- Eh; may not make again.. might need adjustment 👎🏼👎🏼 – Ew; don’t like and will not make again
I remember when vegan food was still a new “concept” in the food world and I remembering it being “hoity-toity” because it was expensive (broke college kid!) and tofu/seitan/chickun was considered a “fancy” meat alternative.
I also grew up eating seitan/gluten. So I wasn’t exactly impressed with the “clean meat” movement. I was raised to pretty much eat what was served to me, so I didn’t question much of “What is this?” or “What is this made out of?” If it tasted good, I’ll most likely eat it.
Now I have more of an appreciation of the food that’s being served. I was exposed to a lot of different types of food and now I enjoy sharing that knowledge with others who are open to trying new food.
I think vegan food is still being resisted despite all the exposure it’s been getting lately. But it’s slowly growing on the population. It’ll get there, I believe.
Ethos Vegan Kitchen – 601 S New York Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789
This is a small pano of the front when you step inside
We had to wait for a little bit so I decided to take a couple photos of the place.
One of the art pieces I found captivating!
I believe that they support local artists so they’ll hang their art around the restaurant.
Gyro Your choice of marinated, grilled chickun or seitan stuffed into a warm pita and topped with lettuce, red onions, tomatoes and housemade tzatziki sauce.
I ordered the Gyro with seitan and I was very pleased. I personally enjoy seitan because it reminds me of the gluten I grew up eating so it was a nice twist as a substitute for falafels. *happy dance*
Tofurkey Reuben Deli tofurkey sliced thin, sauerkraut, jack cheese, and thousand island dressing piled on housemade rye bread and grilled until crispy brown.
So I’ll be frank with y’all. I haven’t had a real Reuben.. yet. At least from what I remember, I may have had a bite out of one but not to where I can remember from memory. This is RR’s and this one was a stretch for ’em so I got to eat a good portion of it to say it was a decent sandwich. I honestly enjoyed it. I don’t think I would come back again for this specifically but I’m glad I got to try it.
Bourbon Maple Cake A cake… haha. Idk what to add here.
If you get to know me, you’ll know that I’m not the biggest cake eater. I’m particularly picky with my dessert yet I am trying to grow out my picky-self. I prefer Asian desserts/cakes compared to American desserts/cakes. So this to me was my first step into eating cake. (Yes, even birthday cakes.. I’m not a big fan. I’ll typically eat a couple bites and call it quits. I’ll probably stick to that part of being picky.) Moving on! The cake was tasteful, and moist which is a big deal for me. I dislike dry cakes. blegh. So it was a nice balance of moist and sweetness. It wasn’t overpowered by anything specifically. Again, I probably won’t order this again but I did enjoy it.
Overall, Ethos is a place I would take people who claim that are Vegan and I’d probably will only go eat with people. Haha. I haven’t had a craving to go back and it’s probably been over 5+ years since I’ve been there.
Gyro: ♥♥♥♥ Tofurkey Reuben:♥♥♥ Bourbon Maple Cake: ♥♥♥
I’m learning that as I continue to blog out my adventures, I’m taking more, and more, and more photos and I’m trying to stay consistent when it comes to the content. Bear with me! As my friend once said “You have to ****/mess up.” Especially when it comes to learning in this day and age. I suppose the hope is to have everything right in the first place but then growth doesn’t take place! So the goal is that you want consistency and growth.
Padrino’s Cuban Cuisine – 2500 E Hallandale Beach Blvd. Hallandale Beach, FL 33009
It was a hungry day for us weary travelers (heh). It was cold, and we all we had taken a dip in the Altantic Ocean so we were a bit famished. Like all other travelers, we looked online to see what was the closest yet most rated AND high starred food and *voila.* That can’t be just us. I’m positive a majority of people do this so that’s why I admire people who do take the time to write honest reviews, take photos, and give reputable feedback.
I won’t mince anything. Majority of the photos are really as is. I try my best to not “adjust” anything because it’s only fair to show you as much as I’ve experienced. I don’t have TOO much opinion on decor and “mood” as far as reviews. If the food is good, that’s MAJORITY what I care for. That’s why I’m out.. to eat. Yes, the ambiance is a plus but I want to focus purely on food because that’s what I’m “passionate” about. (Bleh, we will see how it progresses!)
The menu
This is another reason why I appreciate Yelp/Google reviews. I can imagine what is going to be served to me, YET I do appreciate photos. It’s just the enticing and then comes the anticipation..
Guava mojito (not mine!)
Not mine, but I had to comment on the mojito. It’s a guava mojito and I’ve never had one and it was very refreshing. Again, doesn’t it make you curious as to what it taste like? You’re looking at it and it makes you think “man, I want to try that.” I still want to drink some more!
Combination Cubana
*Drools* This lovely platter was just a delight when it came out. I quickly snapped a shot and dove right in. The Picadillo Empanadas, Yucca croquettes, Ham croquettes, and Tamal Cubano were just a great starter for us to get started with the meal. Plus it came out piping hot so even better to get us started with the meal.
Croquetas de Yuca
Croquetas de Yuca. If you’ve eaten yucca, just shut up and order this. It’s great. Just eat the goodness! And if you haven’t eaten yucca, shut up and eat it still.
I ordered the Paella with a side of yucca and maduros. Let’s be honest.. this one (pointing to self) ain’t about the process of making a paella. The shrimps on it were HUGE, so that was a plus! And I ordered a side of (more) yucca and maduros. I found the paella very tasty and the left overs I had was still delish.
TL ordered the special, salmon and shrimp. I was a little perplex with the amount of shrimp that was given. It was slightly more but the size was “meh” but definitely a clean meal if you’re looking at a keto diet.
Arroz Relleno with Blackbean rice and Maduros
I was able to try HB’s Arroz Relleno. I was surprised by how it was presented and I think it was a cute attempt to make it look appetizing. It’s appears to be cheese melted on top of a mound of rice (but there’s more to it, of course!) They even put 2 peas and a slice of red pepper to make eyes and a mouth. We laughed because she ordered the black beans and rice (LOL) but it was tasty as well! She too ordered the maduros as her side along with the black bean rice.
Overall, it was a good place to eat when you’re starving. You get a lot for your buck and the leftovers are quite delicious in the morning.
Combination Cubana: ♥♥♥♥♥ Croquetas de Yuca: ♥♥♥♥♥ Paella: ♥♥♥♥ Salmon and shrimp: ♥♥ Arroz Relleno: ♥♥♥
There are very few things I would want to do and if money wasn’t a thing that stopped me, I would want to be a “professional” food tester. Haha, is that a thing? (It is. I looked it up.) Then again, I say this because I have no clue what exactly happens in this field.
Today was a very cold and windy day. So JW and I looked up a new place to try out.
“What are you feeling to eat right now?” “Mm, soup? Sounds good since it’s pretty cold.” “Ooh, okay!” “Have you tried *****?” “Mm, I have.. wasn’t impressed by the service last time I was there.” “What about this place?” “What’s it called?” “KAI Asian Street Fare.”
=================================================
KAI Asian Street Fare – 1555 State Road 436 Ste 1171 Winter Park, FL 32792
The atmosphere of the place had such a good vibe. They were playing 90’s hip-hop. The kitchen was little so you can see the cooks, obviously doing their thing, and jamming out to the music. It wasn’t busy at the time we went so it was not crowded. I chuckled at the signs they had about how certain orders take time and quotes about being patient and how they have feelings. I liked that because it gave a reason to want to be patient because they only wanted to serve the best of what they have, and if that included us (as the consumer) to be patient, we were going to have to respect that.
Where we sat, facing the kitchen. Specials were written on the far left on the chalkboard.
I was telling JW how in NYC, there’s this place in Koreatown where they have these dank chicken wings. (It’s called: Pelicana Chicken, btw.) Then I looked at the menu and I was shocked. No freaking way. I was thinking about these wings and there’s a possibility I can get my craving fulfilled?! Get. The. Chuck. Out.
IN LOVE WITH THE PHO PHO Vietnamese beef noodle soup
LEGENDARY NOODLES Developed in a secret lab, this special garlic noodle with shrimp or crab may cause a noodle addiction
KOREAN-STYLE CRISPY WINGS SOY GARLIC The Original
DESSERT Toasted bread with vanilla ice cream dusted with matcha powder and drizzled with honey
DESSERT Toasted bread with vanilla ice cream dusted with matcha powder and drizzled with honey
JW committed to getting soup and it exceeded expectations. It was comparable to a Vietnamese restaurant version. Pretty decent for a fusion place! You could say it hit the spot when it came to the soup, especially when we didn’t go to a place specifically for Pho.
I ordered the Garlic Noodles with Chicken. Well, I suppose I could make this so why did I order this? Cause it’s garlic and I LOVE garlic. I don’t love the process of have to cook with garlic all the time so here’s my chance to just eat a dish with LOTS of it without the smell stained on your fingers. I’ll probably make this in the future though. Mmm…
We shared the 10 piece Korean style Chicken Wings with the original Soy Garlic sauce. Listen you, I don’t say this often but this beats any version of chicken wings you’ll ever have in your entire life. No one does freaking fried chicken like the Koreans do. Do you want fried, yet light, crispy, delicious fried chicken wings? Try it the Korean style. Forget that fast food style. This is the stuff you want to upgrade to.
“It’s freaking steaming!”
The chef saw us enjoying the food so much, I waved to them and yelled out with my mouth filled with the food, “What’s in this? And why is it so good?” You could say they had a good chuckle at us; stuffing our faces like hungry goblins. (Well, more like me.. heh.) So they threw us a bone and made a dessert for us since we enthused them with our eating.
We were stuffed by the time we left the place. We will most likely be back and I can’t wait to try the other stuff they have.
I’ll admit, I’ve been out of the food scene for quite some time. I thought I’ve hit most of the “popular” joints of Orlando and that there isn’t really any places worth trying out. Whoo! Boy, was I super wrong about that, and I’m glad for it.
garp & fuss – 348 N Park Ave #5, Winter Park, FL 32789
Sign for those who are visually impaired. o_o
Garp & Fuss is definitely a new hot brunch place that perhaps not very many native “Orlandonians” (Err.. not sure what to call locals?) know about. Wait.. I could be wrong! (Whatever. I’m just making this part up. Haha!) It has a certain low-key yet sophisticated vibe happening. It felt like I was in another city other than Orlando and I liked that very much! Here’s what I mean.
Hanging plants, open skylight, outdoor seating, brick walls!
Next, the drinks were great as well. I’m not particularly picky with my beverages. I don’t like them too sweet. I did order a mimosa and asked the waitress to surprise me with whatever flavor. I believe I got pineapple (mm!), and JW got a grapefruit mimosa. VB and AB both ordered the “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” and it was a very good cocktail. I would definitely recommend if you need some direction where to start. (Sorry, no photos!)
Here we go.
Garp – $15 our spin on the Chi-town classic Italian beef with homemade hot giardiniera served dripped or dry, with fries
Fuss – $14 fried chicken, hot honey, marinated cucumber, arugula, boss sauce, blueberry relish
Banh Mi – $13 roasted pork, house-pickled veggies, cucumber, herb trio, pho mayo, jalapenos
JW and AB got the Garp. AB recommends you ask for it “dipped” which I believe is the meat portion is “dipped” in the sauce it comes with. So it should come “wet” in some aspect, but it gets messy anyways as you eat it anyways! Use caution when eating or be prepared to use your hands. If you are a heavy protein eater, I suggest this one. You’ll devour it in no time!
VB got the Banh Mi and says it’s one of the favorites that’s been ordered so far. The pickled veggies tasted very good and there is a good amount of meat in it! Perhaps the most refreshing Sandwich of the three.
I ordered the Fuss… and if you like fried chicken like I do.. you better just spare yourself the menu and order this. Look at the menu next time you come back. For me, I have not seen honey described as hot. Usually it’s described as spicy. Hot as in temperature or hot as in spicy? (It’s the latter!) And boss sauce? I can’t tell you what boss sauce is but I’ll tell you it’s freaking good, along with the blueberry relish!
Again, I was pretty much blown away with the dishes we ordered. I’d like to say we all have a good idea when it comes to ordering food but I think the whole concept of ordering food you can’t make really makes a difference!
Every now and then, a group of my friends and I will go eat dinner together randomly and the theme is to find “hole in the wall” places or just food worth trying out. I love Thai food.. authentic Thai food especially. So I can be a smidge picky when it comes to Thai food but I’m also understanding to how difficult it is to get that distinct taste. With that said, here’s the review!
This place was just great! My experience was just about as good as it could get at a sit down place.
Again, I’ll start with what I ordered.
I love me a Tom Kha. The tricky part is to get a sense of “balance” to this beautiful dish, and I’ll be honest with you.. this place gets it. I did make it mild as far as “spicy” yet it wasn’t the spicy that hurts. Nothing was over powering each other; the coconut milk, lemongrass, galangal, kaffir leaves with the mushroom and chicken.. it was refreshing. Period.
So once again, I tried something I knew I couldn’t make or at least I wasn’t confident in making so I ordered me the Pra ram with tofu. There are only a few places in Orlando that have the “house peanut sauce” with a protein as a main dish (at least that I can think of.) Oh boy, when it came out.. it was such an inviting dish. Again, I got this mild as far as spicy but I think it could have gone up to a medium. It’s a simple dish that hit the spot.
Now I’ll make comment on some other dishes I was able to try!
Oof, I think the Green Curry was DIVINE! If you are a curry fan, I encourage you to get this. Like the Tom Kha, this too had a sense of balance with flavors. I mean, it was so light yet really eased in the flavors gently on your tongue. I can make green curry but I would order this just because of how thoughtful it was put together.
The Pad Thai was a good and the Pad Se Ew was great, but.. Drunken Noodles.. oh baby! This was good. Almost TOO good. And I would hate for you to think I may be easy to please.. but deng! This wins the noodles category.
Anyways, next time I come back, I’ll order something different to add to this review. Thanks!
I was talking to friends about how Orlando is coming up with great food places. It’s not quite there with all the other major cities BUT it has gotten much better over the past 5-6 years ever since and it’s been a quick change as well. I am well aware of other social media of bloggers and foodies putting out their stuff so I wanted to be part of content creating!
With time, you’ll see what kind of “foodie” I am. I’ll explain more later. Let’s get into it!
The space has been changed several times and it hasn’t found an establishment that can stay put so perhaps Hangry Bison is the one that plans to stay. With that said, it’s a great place for drinks as well as food! Tonight I opted out the drinks.
This little gem here above is called “The Sockeye.” Salmon burger, honey mustard, bibb lettuce, fresh tomatoes, red onions, swiss cheese, balsamic reduction, brioche bun with roasted corn cobb.
If you are curious with what burger is in the background, it is the place is named after, “The Hangry Bison.” I didn’t try it so I won’t post or have an opinion on it so unfortunately, I can’t tell you anything about it. I think I will purely write on things I have tried.
My “rule” for ordering (when eating out) are typically things that I can’t make myself at home, or things I don’t typically like to prepare at home due to perhaps how complicated the prep is, or I’ll order it because they made something I’ve never seen made before and I’m genuinely curious.
Back to MY choice, the Sockeye was delicious! It was light and it wasn’t seasoned heavily so you can really taste the flavor of the salmon. If you’re trying to not eat something heavy, this is definitely the one to choose out of all of them. I suppose the bun was appropriate for the burger. [ I majority feel like there is more bun versus meat or things in-between in burgers but that’s a personal opinion. Heh.] There was also a honey mustard sauce added on the side. I kind of just poured drops on my burger with each bite (otherwise it gets pretty messy!) I like that the ingredients were simple yet all tasted great and fresh altogether. Also the corn on the cobb was pretty bomb. [ Yes, I am a corn fan. ]
mmk10q || "mmkay, thank you" 