Sticking with Tradition?

Here I am trying to eat healthier ... I decided to skip the traditional breakfast at home of hot dog, eggs, tapa, or tocino and see what I could have when I got into work.  A few hours pass and breakfast is done so I ended up getting a turkey with cheddar on toasted white with lettuce and tomato for my brunch.  

I'm actually proud of myself for eating only half of that sandwich, I'm saving the other half for later, hopefully it will more than an hour before I end up getting "hungry" again.  

Instead of the regular snack of french fries, chips, cookies or whatever else that's so healthy, I came across some mangos in the "gourmet" deli!  Ahhh I love mangos.  With Filipino tradition it's usually eaten with bagoong or toyo, depending on which kind of mango it is or how ripe it is - that I have yet to figure out which goes with what.  

These soy sauce packets are looking awefully good right now ... I was able to hold back though!  Even though I had two pieces the traditional way with toyo, the rest will be pure mango!  I gotta tough it out and I gotta eat healthier.

Mmmmm these mangos are good, now if I only had some bagoong here.

+ mon

Hype? I Don't Get it

So there's this place in Cali that everyone raves about ... I think it goes beyong Cali but I don't keep tabs on where the franchise opens as it's not one of my favorites.  I guess you can say that it's only a favorite by association, meaning that I eat here only because the people I'm with seem to love it so dearly and it's the best thing in the world for them.

I don't understand the hype about this place, In and Out.  Yes that burger place that has the secret menu, that burger place that looks like an old fashioned fast food place from the 60's and 70's.  I don't get it???  I really don't understand why everyone seems to love this place, is it the food, the atmosphere, or both? 

It's a place that I've been eating at for a few years now and I haven't found anything special about it except the secret menu which isn't so secret anymore since the internet became popular. 

The burgers are regular, they don't even have bacon as an option!  Comeon now ... there isn't any bacon!  The one thing I do like about the burgers is that they put a whole slice of onion on them when you order the grilled onions and not the sliced up pieces, but that's about it. 

This isn't a review of the place but just a general "WTF" as in I don't understand the hype with it.  I don't understand why people think it's so good here.  I'll be honest and will compare it to the places that I've been to before, the burger places.  The one with the Quartet of Guys definitely has better food than this place.  The fries alone, cajun fries that is trumps what In and Out has to offer ten fold. 

These are the cheese fries and it was alright, nothing to write home about, that's the reason why I don't feel like writing them a review as they aren't that great to me.  They might appeal to other people and are the best thing since sliced bread, but I don't understand and I might go through life never understanding why this place is so loved.

Perhaps it's the style and the way things are presented because I do admit that I like their old fashioned look and feel.  I like watching the single person putting a potato in that chopper and pulling on the handle to make the fresh fries. 

If someone does know why these burgers are "so good" to people, please let me know ... as the only responses I got were "they are just sooo good" but never a concrete reason as to why they are just so damn good.

+ mon

Family Pasalubong

A while back my cousin Lissa from Houston came to town and as with Filipino families she came with "pasalubong." That's usually the custom when going to visit family or friends where we bring small gifts or something from where we're from. So if I were coming from NY visiting Houston I should be bringing "I <3 NY" shirts but I'm a horrible cousin so I never do.

With her she brought something that was just so awesome! It wasn't a shirt or a key chain, it was so much better than I could have ever imagined! I'm not sure if I should be sharing this as this was a huge gift and I'm not sure if she brought anything for everyone else ... but I have to give props where props are deserved!

Last year when we went there for her wedding, right before flying back to NY I went to Jack in the Box and bought about 20-30 Sourdough Jacks, froze them and packed them up to bring back to NY. I guess this stuck out and made a lasting impression not only on her but on a lot of my family members as they remember it clearly. I even got advice that I should ask them to make it without the tomatoes so that it lasts longer. Lissa came to NY with two Sourdough Jacks, that was more than enough for me! I was't expecting anything but she brought whatever she could and was that a great gift.

I didn't eat it right away as I wanted to save it for later. Only a few days passed where I ended up opening up one of the sandwiches, leaving the other one lonely in the freezer.

When I brought them back from Houston I kept it in the original packaging and then just stuck them all in a plastic bag and froze them. I had a hard time getting her packaging open ... she had each one wrapped in a plastic bag.

After the wrapping of the outside plastic bag, there was the burger wrapped in foil.  It was as close to mummified as possible.  The feeling was that of Christmas morning when you open your gifts that are under the tree, with the gift being wrapped with extreme care.  After the foil as removed there was just one more layer to get through, it was another layer of plastic wrap.  Three or four layers later the wonderful scent of the sandwich was unleashed. 

Taking that deep breathe and then putting it in the toaster oven to heat it, I couldn't wait!  Well this isn't a food review, but an entry on the kindess of family and the thoughtfulness of the gift. It was wonderful as I remembered and it was just great to have that taste of the sandwich melt in my mouth.

Thank you Lissa!  The packaging was extremely efficient and definitely something that looked like it was going to last through the coming apocalypse.  I still have one left and when I do eat that I'll be ready to get it out of the packaging with a box cutter and a pair of pliers. 

I will gladly accept some more of your pasalubong next time you head up north.  I'll trade you some Hop Kee for some Jack in the Box.

+ mon

Food is my Enemy ... Sometimes

Eating a bag of cookies or chips, there is always that left over in the bottom of the bag.  All those wonderful crumbs full of so much taste!  We can't ever let that go to waste, so we find a way to get at them.

It's as simple as tilting the head back, angling the bag then letting the crumbs slide down into your mouth.  But what about those at the bottom of the bag that get stuck in that corner?  We shake the bag, we hit the bag, tap it, whatever we need to for that final taste.  

But be forewarned, do this tapping of the bag with ease and don't do it too hard.  As I have come to learn today with the left over cookie crumbs, you need to be gentle, or else they will attack.  With my head tilted back, it's a very vulnerable position ... tapping on that bag will sometimes make them pop out and jump!  Jump the crumbs did ... right over my glasses and into my eye.

Ever had a cookie crumb(s) in your eye?  Yeah it's not the best feeling in the world ... well this entry just serves as a warning for those crumb eaters.  The taste is great, but the consequences are sometimes almost not worth it ... almost.  

+ mon

Bizarre Foods With Sandra

Andrew Zimmern better watch out because my sister is coming after his show.  On his show he eats the weirdest and sometimes the nastiest things ... I won't get into detail about what he does eat but you can watch it on the Travel Channel - and soon you should be seeing my sister on that network too going head to head with Andrew.

Her experience goes way back when she used to live with us.  The first story she told me wasn't really about "eating" but it was closely related.  Here she was washing up before going to sleep and about to brush her teeth.  This has happened to everyone out there where they are brushing their teeth and the toothpaste will fall off the brush or the tube and end up in the sink.  Sometimes we forget (or are just to lazy) to wash it down and sometimes we do wash it down.  Being a frugal person that she is, she sees this glob on the sink and sees that it's clean and all around the sink is clean.  So it must have been a clean drop from the tube and the sink wasn't dirty at all.  

With her bravery and courage guiding her she scoops it up with her toothbrush, making sure that there was enough glob to brush her teeth with.  As she starts to brush her teeth she realizes something ... it wasn't toothpaste, but in the same cleaning family.  It was acutally the liquid soap that had made it's way to the sink which somehow hardened a little to look like toothpaste!  

Andrew wouldn't even attempt to do that! +1 for my sister

This morning was another step closer to her having her own show.  I get a text at about 11am this morning telling me how she just cleaned out her freezer.  In doing so she finds something in the back and burried under all the other food that's been frozen.  

Just a little back story, when I used to go to San Diego a lot, I would always bring home something and that was always bibinka.  It's a filipino pastry dessert type of cake.  I would bring them back twenty at a time since my parents liked it so much and my sister too.  

Well you can guess what she found in her freezer!  She found a single bibinka still wrapped in the foil that I had brought back from San Diego about six years ago ... yes six years ago.  You guessed it, my sister tried to heat it up as she normally would since it was still wrapped in the banana leaf.  

She ate it!

A six year old bibinka ... she ate it!  Not the whole thing but she tried it and said there were parts that were still good and that was what she ate.  The other parts were hard and had freezer burn, the rest was mushy.  

Some people made fun of me for eating year old sourdough Jack sandwiches!  Well we have a new winner with my sister eating at least a six year old bibinka.  My sister wins and we'll wait for what comes next ... whatever the next challenge is I'm sure she won't back down.  Another +1 for my sister.

+ mon

In the Words of My Dad ... "You need to reduce"

There's this thing that I call the "Raymundo" curse.  What is it?  Well it's the fact that once you reach a certain point, the weight gain starts and that sexy body that everyone loved through high school is no longer there.  I think the curse hit me when I was a sophomore in high school ... so it came a little early for me, at least that's when it started.

It's happened to other family members, but there have been those fortunate enough to stay away from the curse completely, while others have been able to battle their way back from that curse.  

During college years I was able to maintain and keep to my 180-190 pound range.  With little to no working out I was able to maintain this for a few years ... but it snowballed from there.  With my mother passing away one of my many defense mechanisms came up ... it was to eat.  The amount of weight I had gained in the months after her death I'm not really sure of, but all I know was that when there was food, I was there too, so food was never lonely when I was around.  Even if I just ate, I'd welcome more food to come my way.

This weight gain continued until I hit about 235 ... yeah you read that number right!  I was 235 for the good part of the middle of 2008.  Usually when I go through tragic moments in my life that will increase so easily, but in September I was actually able to get away from the curse!  Triumph, for once in my life!

Going through a break up I found myself unable to eat.  Yes, this is a true story, for those of you who know me, this is extremely hard to believe but I really couldn't eat, no matter how much I wanted to.  Whenever I would be around food and wanted to eat, after two bites at most I started to feel nausiated to the point of not eating anymore.  This got really bad where I was only able to eat two spoon fulls of rice and ulam a day for about a month.  A crash diet in the worst of ways, and unvoluntary too.  

There were parties going on where the most I could do was smell the food, what a tragic time where I wasn't able to enjoy in the many feasts that were going on.  Even a short trip to California didn't fix it for me, I wasn't able to eat that wonderful Caliornia goodness.  Jack in the Box and Royal Mandarin definitely missed me.

In the span of about a month and a half I was able to lose 35 pounds.  Almost one pound a day ... and I was still alright physically, no dizziness or fainting.  I dropped to 200 pounds for the first time in a long time.  Here I was content to keep this weight and maybe I could go a little bit lower!?  Do I dare try and was it too much to do?!

After the regular meals started again I was actually able to maintain the 200 pound mark.  My clothes fit me better, I had less of a gut when I sat down, I started to turn some heads on the street (ya know the deal!), I started to play sports again and I wasn't winded running up the stairs on the subway!  Definitely an improvement from where I was healthwise.  I even joined three or four different volleyball leagues and it did me well.  The lowest I got was about 195 but it would usually stay at the 200 pound marker.

Introduce Holy Week 2009 ... here is where the Raymundo curse decided to hit me hard.  It was more of Lent 2009 than just the Holy Week.  The weeks leading up to Holy Week I was going out and eating food that I really had no business eating, you can tell from the reviews on my blog.  I wasn't reviewing salad places, they were burger joints, chinese food, and whatever else you can think of that would make you smile from the pure unhealthiness of the food.  I thought it had peaked when I went to Cherry Valley ... but I was wrong, so wrong.  The trip to Cali was supposed to be a spiritual one, and it was, but the curse took hold of me.  The only day from that week long trip that I didn't eat a burger was during Good Friday, but the other days were filled with burgers, chinese food, hot dogs, ice cream, soda, more burgers and chinese food.  It was just filled and so was my stomach.  

The weight that I gained was invisible to me until I got back to NY.  Here I am going through vidoes from the trip and I see myself on Easter Sunday huge as a ball!  I did weigh myself when I got back home, but it said that I was only 209 pounds ... so about a nine pound trip to Cali, not bad I thought.  I'll just play some more volleyball and eat less.  But how can you eat less with a tray of Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings in the fridge!?!?!?  How I ask!?  It's not as great as when you have it fresh, but it's still good!  Crack chicken is crack chicken to an addict.

Today was another losing day for a diet, I thought I would start today by just eating soup and rice.  That quickly turned into another fantasy, it turned into a foodfest for me.  First breakfast that my dad cooked, then Ikea for more food ... here is where we actually loaded up on food and came a wake up call.  Walking through Ikea, there was a scale on the floor (I believe that this scale was put there by God Himself to tell me to stop eating so much), I confidently walk on the scale waiting for the 210 to come around ... and around it came, and went.  It kept on going ... up to 220 pounds.  I'm not sure if this was wrong or not ... but my dad tried it out and he said it was wrong because it was ten pounds over what he knows his weight to be.  But with that explanation ... he was with me the whole trip so him gaining ten pounds is not out of the question whatsoever!  That was not the end of the day as I tried to eat soup and rice for dinner ... but the chicken just called my name so loudly that resistance was futile.  

Here I sit, shirtless and typing away seeing my belly come up again and my moobs (man boobs) and stomach forming sort of what would look like a chubby bear with big cheaks.  The Raymundo curse has his me a number of times already and I think that Dudoy is next on it's list.  I hope it moves on already from me and goes to him so that I can "start" my diet again.  I don't have a magic number that I want to hit but I do want to go under the 200 that I was just a few short weeks ago.  The summer if coming up and I don't want to be sexy ... I just want to be sexier because everyone already knows that I am sexy. 

Diet here I come to fight off the Raymundo curse, I'm just not sure if the diet can win.  I hope it doesn't take another tragic event in my life for me to lose the weight and win the fight.  So ... I need to reduce.

+ mon

Detox ... Attempted Again

So you've probably read about my detox attempt before where I tried to eat "healthy" after eating a whole bunch of non healthy food for a little while and how well that all worked out.  Today was my second attempt at this and hopefully it was going to work.

You can see from all the past entries being about food and what I've been eating, it's definitely time to detox!  I really tried, really I did ... for lunch I went to the gourmet deli and was at the salad bar, but then gravity drew me into the regular food bar and I loaded up.  Not on the super bad food, but not the "healthy" ones either. 

Look at the evidence of the healthy food attempt with the salad!  Then I ended up getting some shrimp, then rice, and finally the two meatballs.  Not so bad right? 

Tomorrow's another day, we'll see how that all turns out.  I have to eat "good" tomorrow since we have our volleyball game, that's motivation for me!

+ mon

Adjusted Diet

I saw something last week that shows how people are trying to cope with the changing lifestyles that people want to lead.  It seems that everyone wants to be "healthy" and people are trying their best to be that way, they even have all the calories listed on the menu's at a lot of fast food places now. 

For me, I've never been able to jump onto that "healthy" bandwagon, I can eat some of the healthy food out there, but add some bacon strips to that instead of the bacon bits, then we can make it work.

Even the Chinese food places are getting into the healthy diets, I've seen some that have "special diet" menu's where everything is steamed, but this was a first for me, and I've been in many Chinese food places! 

Who can blame them??!  They are taking what they know and love to do ... and mixing it to make it "healthy" for those people who want to go that route.  Four wings with salad, not too bad and considering it's only $4.75, if you tried to get that in the city you'd get half a wing if you were lucky.

This sounds like you're getting more with the half fried chicken salad ... but in actually if you think about it, "more is less."  If you got the four piece chicken salad instead, there's more skin to eat than just eating the skin of the half chicken!

Of course I didn't get this, but I'm glad that they do present the option.  I mean, how could you not have rice with the fried chicken!?  It's just unconceivable!  Props to Jade Garden for TRYING to be healthy, or having the appearance of it.

Now I want some wings ...

+ mon

Wrong Place and Wrong Time

You know me ... I'm an eater, a big eater and I really don't have any "rules" about eating, but I do have one.  Subways are off limits with me eating, there's just something about the place of the subway that's dirty and sometimes the people that are in the train with you.

As I sit there minding my own business (after taking the picture of the guys crotch), I look across from me and see this lady just sitting there.  The train was a little crowded and people were around her, but she decides to whip out a sandwich!

Comeon now!  That sandwich is sacred and should be treated as such, but I guess when you're hungry, you're hungry and who am I to argue with that? 

She ends up eating the whole sandwich ... well most of the sandwich in "stealth" mode.  Taking little bites as if she's really not and trying to hide the fact that there's a sandwich in her hand.  All the dirty particles from the subway and the people who are in it, and have been there, are now sticking to that sandwich. 

The sandwich is consumes almost fully before I get off my stop, lucky for me since I get to take another picture of her making "baon" (doggy bag) with some of the sandwich.  I guess she was saving it for a late snack, but she kept some of the turkey on her jacket.

See I'm not that mean where I'll take pictures of you eating on the subway, complain and blog about it, without telling you that there's some meat on your jacket!  Comeon now people, I had to tell her!  If I didn't, she would have gotten up, that piece of meat would have fallen on the floor and it would have just gone to waste!

Here I am, trying to make eye contact with her to let her know that there's something on her jacket.  She is refusing to make eye contact with me, so I wave my hand towards her and point to her jacket and then do a gesture of me brushing it off the jacket (using my own jacket as an example).  Miscommunication is one of the things that cause a lot of conflicts and there was a big miscommunication with her last night.  Apparently she thought I was asking for some food!  But to her credit, she was nice enough to just offer some even though she didn't know me.  There was some left in her plastic wrap and she reached out to give me the rest ... but I said no.  Everyone on the train was now looking at us having this pantomime conversation only using our hands and gestures. 

After a few back and forths, I again signal to her jacket where she finally sees the meat.  With some embarassment (but not that much embarassment) she picked it up and ate whatever was left on her jacket.  For the next 2 minutes of my train ride, she refused to make eye contact or even say thank you as she was probably embarassed from the whole ordeal.

Geeze, I can only imagine what kind of dirtiness she ate with that sandwich!  And she had the nerve to offer me some ... trying to make me break my one and only rule about food!  For shame sandwich eaten on the subway lady!  For shame!

+ mon

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

What would you do if you were locked up in a cage and you were forced to sit there and watch people eating your family? 

Strong and strange question huH?  It was something that I thought about when we went to Red Lobster today and as we were being brought to our table two things caught my eye.  Close to the front of the restaurant was the tank with the lobsters, just sitting at the bottom with their claws rubber banded (geese, I still find that cruel too, it's like duck taping our hands!).  A little further on the trip to our table was another tank, but this time with goldfish swimming around. 

I'm not sure what the mental capacity is of fish, lobsters or any other animal, but I can only imagine how crazy it must be to be stuck there in those tanks and being able to see people eating relatives and family members!  I felt kind of bad having my lunch ... but not enough to eat everything on my plate and Diday's plate too!

The shrimp, lobster was way too much and now I suffer the consequences.  I feel so tired and so slugish that I don't want to do anything, but I must.  I'm actually off to iron some shirts for the work week ... yes I am not going to do the 5 day shirt this week (well at least I hope I don't). 

I digress, whomever thought of the "design" with the tanks in Red Lobster ... must like torture!

+ mon

Food Combinations - Good or Bad?

A friend of mine suggested a topic for an entry and I definitely agree that it's a good topic of having different food combinations and if they are good or bad.

He reminded me of the back in the day sandwich, this was good anytime and anyday!  We could eat this after our day full of activities as a kid, and even as "adults' we can still have these.  It's quite cheap too, really cheap!  I know that a lot of people reading this blog know what I'm talking about ... it's crunchy (depending on if the bread is toasted), it's sweet and it has a buttery taste.  You got it!  Butter and sugar sandwich!  These were one of the best things EVER!  I prefer to have them toasted and with the edges cut off, omg these were so good.  I haven't had them in a while, but I think I'm going to be making some soon!  They are also Lent friendly MmMmMmmmm ... I wonder if we can use Splenda and if would taste the same?

Another weird combo that people might find is seen in this one particular movie.  This overgrown man who wears this suit and is just happy as can be!  It was his first time in NYC and he was just having a great time and doing everything and anything, sharing his special recipes with his loved ones ... one of them being Spaghetti and Maple Syrup!  Yes it sounds horrible, but it is good!  At first I tried this treat with Gerard on regular spaghetti noodles and then maple syrup on top which was good in itself, but during the youth fellowship I tried to have it, as you're supposed to have it with the spaghetti, the spaghetti sauce and then the maple syrups.  Oh man, it's some good stuff but it has to be maple syrup and it can't be the cheap syrup.

This next one I found accidently when I'd go with my parents to McDonalds in Queens Center back in the day.  We'd be sitting there having the breakfast and once I found out this mixture there was no turning back!  Having the hot cakes sitting there with the sausage next to it, I'd pour the hot cake syrup on the hot cakes and then it would trickle onto the sausage without me knowing ... until I take a piece of the sausage and it has that sweet taste to it!  Oh my was that good!  Now everytime I have sausage, I put maple syrup on it ... and you can do this with bacon too!  So that's another one for you sausage and syrup or bacon and syrup.

This made a great afternoon snack that I thought everyone knew about until someone saw me doing it but then they had that "wth" look on their face.  It's another quick and easy merienda that you can have, you probably have the food in your house too!  Scrammbled eggs with kethup and toast mMMmMmm I want some now!

My mom taught me this and it seems everytime I bring it up people have this weird look on their face.  The norm from what I can tell is grape fruit with sugar ... but my mom showed me the grape fruit and salt way and I've liked it ever since!

Oh man my list is running out but I'll add this to it!  Mango with soy sauce or bagaoong!  See that's how you get me to eat fruit, you gotta do something like this with the mango or like with the grape fruit.  Now my mouth is watering just thinking about it!  Oh damn ...... I was opening my mouth and now my lips just cracked - dammit!  Now it hurts when I open my mouth and I won't be able to eat that salty food until it's not cracked anymore.  Dammit!

I have more on my list but am forgetting right now because I'm upset that I cracked my lips and now I won't be able to eat anything on this entry without being in some sort of pain!

+ mon

Update on Friday, March 27, 2009 at 10:51AM by MONStar

One thing that I did forget to add on here was something that my mom had introduced me to.  I didn't want to try it when I first heard it ... but when I actually gave it a shot, it was good shiz!

Have you ever made pancakes only to find out you don't have any syrup!?  That's one of the worst things ever ... really it is.  But there's a remedy for that problem!  It's quick and easy, and you probably have it laying around your house!  Simple milk and sugar ... that's right folks!  All you need to do is drizzle the desired amount of sugar on your pancakes, it's up to you as to how sweet you like them, then put some milk on top!  It's that simple and it's so good!

Sorry about that, I got into my little infommercial moment there.  The pancakes get a little soggy, but it's really good stuff - try it!

As for some of the suggestions and the things that you have tried and are still trying ... liver spread with mayo and then dipped in Coke!?  I think you beat me with the strangest combinations of food!  OMG ... I can't even think of how that tastes!  Well maybe it actually tastes good now that I think of it, the only thing I would need to overcome is eating "liver."

Never had the powdered sugar and then drinking soda afterwards ... it's not like that myth where you eat poprocks and then a coke you'll explode is it!?

One thing I did ... again accidently was having smoked salmon which was really good, I didn't think I'd like that but I did!  The mistake was when I was offered red wine or white wine, the only wine I know is the red wine from church so that's what I chose.  It actually brings out the fish taste like there's no tomorrow, as if you have just licked a fish straight out of the ocean, but if you don't believe me, you have to try it!

Update on Friday, March 27, 2009 at 11:47AM by MONStar

This morning being a Friday in Lent made me think about what I could have for breakfast and it was like a light coming down the from heaven that made me think about the butter and sugar sandwich!

Off to the deli I went after getting into work to get two slices of white bread toasted with butter on it.  I got a few Domino sugar packets and back to the office.  It's been a while so I forgot the portions of the sugar that needed to go onto the bread.  I tried a little at first then adjusted the sugar until I got the right taste.  

It's just like Old School, once it touches your lips ... it's just so good!  The only thing is that I only had two slices!!!  I wish I had gotten more ... I remember that I could eat 6 slices of this stuff when I was younger (and that's when I was skinny!), just imagine what I am capable of now ... perhaps an entire loaf of butter and sugar bread.

Forget the garlic bread, we be makin' butter and sugar loaves from now on!

Happy Thankgiving!

Thanksgiving is in November, but sometimes when it comes to the our family it seems that Thanksgiving like dinners or just meals can come at anytime.  

It all started out on Friday when we had FNL (Friday Night Live) and got some pan fried seafood noodles, shrimp shumai and crab meat shumai.  The food didn't last long and considering we stuck to no meat since it was a Friday in Lent, we did pretty well.  

I would have been alright there but as we were going to drop off Lisa and Erick, we decided to go to Rutgers to get some fat cats!  Yes ... we went all the way down to Rutgers just for some fat cats and got there at 2am.  The grease trucks were closed and we ended up going to RU Grill that was open till 4am.  

As the weekend progressed corned beef and fried rice was on the menu for a very late breakfast, it was actually breakfast at lunch time.  Lunch on Saturday came at round 4pm since there was a late start to the day, so this can be considered merienda ... bacon and liptons chicken nooodle soup.  Gotta love that combo, my mom used to make that for me when I was sick and didn't want to eat (yes there was a time when I didn't want to eat!).  It wasn't over there ... the night continued with Bea's sweet 16.  There was a buffet of food and damn was my plate heavy!  I went back three times and did a good number on the  chicken with mushroom and peas wrapped in a crepe.  

That sealed the deal for Saturday but I wasn't ready for, nor was I expecting what was to come for Sunday.  

Hop Kee ... the place to be, anyday and anytime, especially at 4am.  Our table was lined with salt and pepper pork chops, salt and pepper squid, young chow fried rice, beef lo mein and peking pork chops.  It was definitely a healthy meal!

These did not survive on the table for very long but we did have some left overs.  If only I were 18 again, I would be able to take down all that food with ease, but now we have to watch the calories and the cholesterol.  Well ... not so much as watch and regulate, but moreso of watching it on our plates and eating them ... oh those tasty calories!

There was a quick nap from Hop Kee and then off to Corpus Christi for the early mass, where I ended up eating a bacon, egg and cheese McGriddle (love these!).  As the mass went on I tried to convince myself that I would be eating healthy for the rest of the day ... well starting from that point on.  As I got home, I smell this wonderful aroma in the air and thought that someone from the neighborhood was bbqing.  Stepping into the house I smelled it was coming from our oven ... my dad had finally cooked the bbq that he had been marinating for over a week!  Oh yes one week, and it soaked up all the juices and flavor that he put into that marinade.  

We had a lot of this so this ended up becoming Sundays lunch, merienda, merienda #2, dinner, pre midnight snack, and finally the midnight snack.  

As you can just from the pictures above, all that food that went into me this weekend was like that of a Thanksgiving dinner.  With variations in cuisine and location, it was as if we hit a few houses on Thanksgiving day and am I ever thankful for all that food!  

I can't forget about the addition to my EOTW (end of the world) kit that my cousin Lisa brought over from Houston ... Jack in the Box sourdough Jacks!  These I must save as my ration for when time comes, she even wrapped it as such!  Thank you again!

Well ... back to the start of the work week and the start of detoxing from all that wonderful food.  It's going to be hard even after reading this entry and seeing all these pictures makes me want to go out there and get something good for lunch!  But I must resist, detox starts right now, but for how long that will last, no one is sure, perhaps only a few minutes.  Even if it is only for a few short minutes, those minutes will be my victory in keeping away from the wonderful foods of this weekend.  It's all about baby steps ... then running for the food again.

Granola bars for lunch ... damn that doesn't sound appetizing at all!  Wish me luck as I try to exhibit some sort of self control today!

+ mon

Mmmm Mmm Good

I was going to put this entry in last night but ended up watching Lost after the game instead. 

So after a long night of volleyball games, about 3 hours worth, I got home and was hungry!  I had eaten before the game, but was starving by the time I got out and after all the games [that we lost!]. 

I was going to fight the urge for almost a midnight dinner/snack but drivign home all I could think about was bacon, and well I just had to have it!  I had no other choice than to cook up 5 strips of thick cut bacon (mmMmMmmmM), just thinking about it makes my mouth water!

I figured that it was an even balance, the gym was extremely hot and I think I had a really good workout, so balance it out with this healthy meal just caps off the night!  This picture was pre soy sauce, I didn't want to take a picture with the soy sauce on it because some of you out there might not be able to resist the goodness of this meal, like me!

+ mon

Update on Thursday, March 19, 2009 at 12:17PM by MONStar

And I like the bacon when it's not too crunchy but when it's a little softer!  Sooooooooooo good!  I can't forget about maple syrup ... yes maple syrup on bacon is insanely awesome!

+ mon

Jolli freakin' Bee

One of the things that I gave up for Lent was Jollibee, but I found out last year that Sunday's are not counted during Lent because they are like mini Easters, so I can have Jollibee on Sunday's but it's a good idea not to since you don't want to fall into it and want it even more.

It started out as a stop for some food, and I noticed a Jollibee in the middle of the shopping plaza.  Immediately I made a "bee" line (get it ... bee line hhAHA!) towards the front door.  They were about to close in a few minutes and there was still a good number of people there.

I got in line and noticed that there were some new things on the menu.  The thing that caught my eye was the Orange Mango pie.  Finally got to the register and I was served by Alfredo who thought I was white and tried to talk to me with the best "white" accent he could.  The lady behind me in line even said something about it being time for the English menu.  

Then I started ordering in Tagalog and he was pleasently surprised and I proceeded to order five Orange Mango pies, five Banana Lanka pies and one order of Spaghetti Joy.  I tried to order fried rice, but Alfredo said that since it was so close to closing time that they didn't have any.

I waited for a little while and then got my food.  Before I walked out the front door I took out one of the Orange Mango pies and opened the carton to take a bite.  As I was about to take a bite and I could smell the pie ... my alarm clock goes off and it was all just a dream, dammit.

A Terrible Weakness

With all the temptations out there this one always gets me all the time.  No matter how hard I try to stay away from it, there it is right in my face all the time.  And I can't resist, and I must yield to the temptation ...

McDonalds has a lot of things on their menu that I'd want, but the one thing that constantly gets me all the time is the Sweet Tea.  It's sooo sweet and so good, so refreshing and it's only $1 !!!

I got two sweet teas last night after volleyball and then again this morning to last me throughout the day.  I figure that I'd be efficient and just buy my lunch while I was there and I ended up getting the bacon & swiss angus burger - yeah I'm definitely trying to eat healthy!

Ahhhh sweet tea, sooooooo good.

+ mon

Free Lunch!

Gotta love meeting that get cancelled and it's too late to cancel the food order!  So today we have free lunch, MmmMmmMm and yes that is fruit you see on my plate!  I'm trying to eat a little bit healthier.

+ mon

Warning: Bowl WILL be hot

Usually when there's a warning label, there's a reason for it.  I bought this miso soup at the Christmas Tree Store in Delaware, yes they had miso soup there.  It was cheap too, only $1.99!  I actually ended up buying more of them even though I hadn't tried it out, darn their yummy pictures on the box.

I decided to bring it into work today to "save" some money on lunch, and followed the instructions as directed on the box.  It said that the bowl would be hot once it came out of the microwave.  Yeah, I've read that places before and it can't be that hot.  Well it is that hot!  The bowl isn't those styrofoam bowls, it's a plastic bowl which heats up pretty fast. 

I ended up spilling some of the very hot soup on my hand while carrying it out of the microwave, of course, I couldn't just let go of it or else all the soup would have spilled.  So as I'm there holding the bowl of hot soup with two hands, one of them red from the burn and trembling from the pain, I notice a line start to form behind me for the microwave. 

Of couse I had a little audience that I was unaware of because I was just so focused on the soup.  Cleaned up the spill, then put about 20 - 30 napkins on the top and bottom so that I could hold it and walk back to my desk as fast as I could! 

Had to let my fan blow on the soup for a few minutes to let it cool down, since I already had a burnt hand, I didn't want a burnt mouth either where I wouldn't be able to taste anything.  The soup is pretty good, had some udon noodles too which was a good touch.  It wasn't the dry noodles that I'm used to with "Cup O Noodles" but it was actually in it's own packaging within the bowl. 

Good stuff, but next time I'll go when there's less traffic, so that I won't put on another spill and burn show for the office.

+ mon

Snacking too Early

If you take a look at the time of the posts, you'll see that it's not so far apart from when I ate my breakfast and from when I started to eat these!

I brought these in so I could eat them as a snack for later ... repeat ... later.  Well that didn't happen and I ended up opening it early and eating a few sticks.  Ahhh the temptation of chocolate!

This reminds me of when I bought potato chips at Duane Reade, the big bag to save money from the vending machines.  Needless to say that bag was done in about an hour or two ... I hope this isn't the same with this can of Piroulines.  My coworker is giving it a lifespan of only two days.

+ mon

Update on Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 4:51PM by MONStar

Ummm ... I find myself saying "just one more" about 5, or 10 times today.  I need to duck tape this lid shut so I can't get anymore!  Help!

+ mon

Longsil without the og

I was runing a little bit late this morning and didn't have time to eat breakfast at home.  So I decided to bring it into work instead of buying the $8 sandwich from the "gourmet" deli.  I packed longanisa and fried rice, but not just any old fried rice.  It's the fried rice my dad likes to make every morning that has garlic and patis (fish sauce) in it ... so you know it tastes good!  But the smell ... well people who aren't used to it will have that look on their face like "who just farted."

So I get into work and wanted to eat it right away as that was all I could think about on the train ride in, good thing I didn't eat it on the train.  As I opened the tuperware the wonderful smell of garlic, patis and longanisa fill my nasal passages and what a great smell it was to me.  But I'm not sure how it smelled to the other people in the office and was hoping that they can't smell it!  Sooo to "cover up" the smell, I start to clean my desk with the antibacterial for the hands which smells like watermelon.  I put a good amount where there was a small puddle on my desk and let it sit there so it could fill the office for a little bit with it's familiar smell.

After cleaning up, I went on to eat my breakfast ... damn this is good stuff!  Of course, for those that know me, I had to put some toyo on it.

+ mon

It's in the Bag

Everyone knows I'm not a health nut or even close to that, so it comes as no surprise that one of the best foods ever is french fries!  Yes those crunchy, golden yellow, nutritionless sticks that you dip into ketchup ... MmmmmMmmm just blogging about it makes me want some (I actually have some from Burger King that my dad didn't finish in the kitchen!).

But what is better than french fries though?  When you're going either one by one, or a handful of a fries at a time.  Just watching the fries disappear from that carton box they come in ... it's sad when you don't have anymore left.  But ... but but ... one of the greatest feelings in the world is when you look inside the bag and see that there are more fries that had fallen out of that carton box and were just waiting for you to find them! 

Ahhh yes, the fries that are at the bottom of that bag are the best fries ever.  They are like a surprise, I was going to compare them to the prize in the Crackle Jack boxes, but that one is expected.  The fries at the bottom of the bag, are definitely unexpected.  It can either be one fry, sometimes non at all if you get super effecient employee that makes sure there's no spillage, or there could be a ton of fries!  I prefer the latter.

+ mon