Our Week of Instafood: 4/7/13 to 4/13/13

Hi all! This is going to be a new series on GT. We don’t seem to update as much with real posts because our traveling is limited right now and we just haven’t found any exciting places lately. But this will be a good way to show where we have been, or rather where we are eating each week. Yup, we’re some of those people that like to take pictures of our food and Instagram is addicting. Search for or hashtag GRUMBLINGTUMMY with us!

 

 

Starting from the top (L to R)

1. Guppy’s on the Beach – Indian Rocks Beach, FL – Lobster Ravioli, Braised Pork Chop, Potato Crusted Salmon

2. Alesia Restaurant – St. Petersburg, FL – Beef Salad

2.  Alesia Restaurant – St. Petersburg, FL – Asian Style Beef Stew

4. Grub on Laos New Year at the temple!

Our Newest Hobby: Juicing!

Our first juicer, a Black & Decker $30 one, has become our new healthy habit. We knew that we never get the proper amount of veggies and fruits into our diet and so we turned to juicing. The whole process has nothing but good AND healthy benefits. We will periodically add more of our favorite recipes to show you guys.

Why Juice?

• You get the servings of veggies and fruits you would probably never eat in one day… in one cup. This means a denser amount of those vitamins and minerals you need so much.
• Your body gets those nutrients in less energy. Feel that food coma after eating a large meal? Imagine the energy spent your stomach goes through to digest and break down that large steak. Instead, you are able to absorb essential nutrients in a much faster way.
• Detoxes your body & improves your immune system. Your liver is the center of detoxing, and juicing gives your liver everything it needs to maximize this. Your energy levels increase and your immune system can have all the right nutrients to fight off disease.

Juicing Diet?

While we haven’t tried a 100% juicing diet (usually a 7 day cleanse) we’ve heard a lot from people we know that have had amazing results from it. After about 3 days you may start feeling some withdrawals from solid foods, but after that everyone says your body feels amazing. One person lost 15 pounds in just a week, another had chronic migraines which stopped after she started juicing. We think we might try it soon. If you guys haven’t already there is a great documentary on Netflix: Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. Watch it.

Note on our Juicer: It hasn’t failed us. We think it is a great one for beginning juicers. The only thing is we do have to cut our fruits and veggies into smaller pieces to fit it into the feeder. The catcher is also too small but we usually replace it with a larger cup. We have our eye on that high class Breville  :).

Easy Japanese Curry Recipe

We crave the Japanese curry from the authentic Japanese restaurants on the West Coast and Muracci’s in San Francisco. We have yet to find a place here in Florida. For now our taste buds do well with this easy recipe. You can find the curry mix in most Oriental markets.

Ingredients: Servings 4-5

• Instant curry cube mix
• 1 onion
• 2 large carrots
• 1 large potato – peeled and cubed
• Chicken breast – sliced thinly and pounded out
• Rice
• Furikake
• Salt & pepper
• Panko
• Flour
• 1 Egg

For the Sauce:

1. Caramelize onions in a large heated pot.

2. Add  3 cups of water for one packet of curry mix.

3. Add carrots and potatoes.

4. Bring to a simmer and then add the curry mix.

5. Stir mix until completely melted and sauce becomes thick.

For the Chicken:

There is a method to frying with panko: Flour, egg, then panko.

1. Cut chicken breast into thinner parts, pounding the meat may also help to cook faster and evenly.

2. Season meat with salt and pepper.

3. Coat chicken with flour, then egg, and finally cover entirely with panko.

4. Pan fry each chicken breast until golden brown.

Serve with rice and furikake on the side. You can also substitute for any type of meat (IE – pork) as well as add any type of vegetable you wish.

If you all try this recipe let us know how it turns out!!

White Chocolate Cranberry Oat Cookies

These were fast, easy to make, and were a favorite during the holidays. The original recipe didn’t include the oats (we threw that in) and we used fresh cranberries instead of dried.

1/3 cup softened butter
1/2 brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1tsp vanilla extract
1.5 all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup fresh cranberries
1/2 cup white chocolate
1/3 cup oats

1. Add butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla together.

2. Combine flour, salt, baking soda and add slowly while mixing.

3. Add the cranberries and oats.

4. Bake for about 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees F.

Caprese Bruschetta & Pesto

After making dessert, we decided for our appetizer to make a fusion of bruschetta and caprese salad.

The recipe follows:

Ingredients:

French Bread

Olive Oil

Fresh Basil

Roma Tomatoes (or cherry)

Fresh Mozzarella

Balsamic Vinegar

1. Cube the tomatoes  and chiffonade the basil (stacking and rolling to slice the basil into fine strips). Mix both tomatoes and basil in a bowl with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

2. Slice the mozzarella into thin strips along with the bread into small disc shaped pieces.

3. Set the oven to broil, then drizzle the bread with olive oil and place on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Be careful not to burn the bread, it doesn’t take too long to toast the bread. About 5 minutes or less.

4. Once toasted to your desire, the bread out of the oven, place the mozzarella and caprese mix on top and you’re good to go! Enjoy.

Jimmy and Precious were responsible for making the Pesto topped pasta!

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

We decided to have a night of cooking with one of our favorite couple friends; appetizer, entree, and dessert. We are starting with the dessert because it was our favorite dish of the night :). The cheesecake stuffed strawberries found here were easy and fun to make.

Ingredients:

• A carton of strawberries
• Graham crackers (crushed)
• 8 oz cream cheese (softened)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Core strawberries by using a small knife. Be careful not to cut through!

2. Combine and mix the powdered sugar, softened cream cheese, and vanilla. We added a little more sugar to taste :).

3. We used a piping bag to place the cream cheese mixture into the empty strawberries.

4. Crush the graham crackers in a small ziplock bag. After filling the strawberries with cream cheese, dip the tops into the crushed graham crackers.

5. Melted chocolate chips were then used to drizzle over the strawberries.

6. Refrigerate until time to serve.

The finished product!

Watch out for what else we made for dinner and let us know if you try out this recipe!

Source: SugarDerby

Filipino Spaghetti

Filipino-style spaghetti has a distinct taste from the traditional Italian style sauce… It is much sweeter! Jufran, or banana ketchup is used by many Filipinos as a regular dipping sauce. Until this day, my Dad cannot eat his omelette for breakfast with his Jufran. The popularity of banana ketchup spread during World War II when regular tomato sauce was scarce. The ketchup itself is made from bananas, sugar, vinegar, and spices. Over the years, I have edited the recipe to my liking. You can definitely skip out on the brown sugar and add more tomato sauce if you do not like too much sweetness.

Ingredients: (4-6 people)

• Spaghetti noodles
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 green bell peper, diced
• 3/4  of a head of garlic, minced
• 1 lb hot dogs, cooked and sliced
• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 small bottles of Banana Ketchup
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• 2 small cans of tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• Black pepper  & salt
• Bay leaf

Instructions:

1. Cook spaghetti noodles & pan fry hot dogs.
2. Sauté onions and garlic with oil in a large pan.
3. Add ground beef and cook until brown.
4. Add the 2 cans of banana sauce, tomato sauce, and water. Simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Add the 1/4 brown sugar, tomato paste (to thicken sauce), green bell peppers, hot dogs, and bay leaf. Simmer for another 5 minutes.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Written By: Charmy

Jai Lao Papaya Salad

We are honored to dedicate this post to the Jai Lao organization, based in San Ramon, California. The organization helps alleviate financial hardships for Laotians in Laos. Specifically, they hope to improve schools and education for disadvantaged children.

Papaya salad is a Laotian dish that stands out the most. One of the prime ingredients is padaek, a thicker fish sauce made of fermented fish. It doesn’t sound so elegant but don’t knock it till you try it! The ladies of Jai Lao makes the best papaya salad I have ever had (sorry mom). They brew their own padaek, from scratch. Everything in the papaya salad blends well together but the padaek adds that extra kick.

By the way help their cause by checking out their website and donating here: Jai Lao.

-Roger

A Special Treat: Chico!

Very rarely do I get to indulge in Chico and was surprised to find some while visiting my parents. This fruit has a combination of unique flavors, a grainy and soft texture with a brown sugar, pear taste!

I found them hidden in the rice bin. Commonly for fruits like chico and mangos, the rice acts an as an environment that traps the plant hormone ethylene produced by ripening fruit. This allows for speeding up the ripening process while preventing rotting by absorbing extra moisture. Once the fruit is soft to touch it is ready to eat!

-Charmy