NYC Trip!

Here are the photos gathered from my latest trip to NYC. There were some really, really good dishes.

 Venezuelan sandwich at Cocotera. Filled with this wonderful "farmer's cheese" that was quite mild tasting, like a mozzarella, as well as some assorted vegetables. The bread was pressed after the sandwich was made, which gave it a nice crispy texture and was quite yummy. 

This is the Peruvian lemonade from Cocotera as well. It was very very yummy! Tasted like tamarind, not really like lemonade. So refreshing! Too bad it was the middle of winter....

Wine served at Pates et Traditions

This is my favorite food. Ever. I know, its a crepe. But it uncanny blend of my favorite things, all while being eating in the cutest restaurant in the world, make it wonderful: Buckwheat crepe with goat cheese, rosemary, caramelized onions, figs, and honey. How could that not be wonderful? Please, if you go to NYC anytime soon, go to Pates et Traditions. 

easy college lunches

Hi so I know many people at school wonder where I find the time to make lunch for my boyfriend and I every day. Well, the secret is that I make pretty easy stuff that travels well and that I can make the night before. Qualification number three is that it is healthy as well, of course. For example, here is what I made today:

Easy vegetarian breakfast burritos (for lunch): this is one burrito

• 1 egg or 1/4 to 1/2 cup egg substitute 
• 1 large whole wheat tortilla
• 2 soy veggies sausage links
• salsa
• cumin, garlic, chili pepper
• salt

What I do:
First, add a little olive oil or Pam to your small saute pan. Cook the egg, adding some salsa into the pan as well, usually 1 to 2 tablespoons and stirring it around some. If you are using a regular egg, I would scramble it first before putting it into the pan. Then I add some cumin, salt to taste, and some mexican chili powder to the egg, just a dash of each, and stir it around. Once its all scrambled up and cooked, I put it on the tortilla. Usually I use whole wheat tortillas, I found these ones at Costco that have 12 grams of fiber! Crazy. While I am cooking the egg I defrost the sausage links in the microwave, depending on the links that is like 1 minute basically. Anyways, then I chop up the veggie sausage links and put in the same pan. I cook them until they are crispy, around three minutes, if that. They seem to cook up very quickly in the little pieces. Then, I add that to the burrito and put it in a little to-go container, and voila. Do that three times and you have lunch for you and your boyfriend in under 15 minutes. Next day I just heat them up at the microwave at school, and maybe bring a little salsa for extra yumminess.

Of course, you can easily make this a much better recipe. If I had had onions last night at 11pm, I would have sauteed those as well to add. If I had my spinach as well I probably would have added that too. Maybe a little lettuce? Well that's not really in breakfast burrito style, so probably not. But they do make soy chorizo, which is delicious. so maybe I will use that next time in the burrito.

okay so I hope next time you are tired of paying way too much for Panda Express on camups, you think of my healthier alternative!

Give Me Cream?!

No, not that kind...

So after Four Loco went out the window, and off the shelves, (lest we forget), the market was wide open for another product that young people will get drunk off of, but also get really, really energetic. I'm not sure exactly which jitters inducing ingredients were in Four Loco, but in "CREAM", I think its sugar, plus some really frightening chemicals. Let me explain...

Rules for dealing with Cream:
1. NEVER put it in the fridge
2. If you put it in the fridge, take it back the next day to Total Wine and More at 9am, have them laugh at you, and then have them give you a new can, for free, in pity.
3. try it on brownies!

So it doesn't work if you put it in the fridge...like normal whipped cream...which is frightening, because of the chemicals that must allow this to happen. But the new can worked great! Trying it out, my friend and I decided it was good, but you could definitely taste the alcohol, this is in the caramel flavor. They also had at Total Wine the vanilla and chocolate flavors. They also have raspberry and cherry online, but those seem gross to me, after tasting this. It also has kinda an oily aftertaste, but all in all they did a pretty good job.

So stock up now, before it banned!

Food 2011 Predictions?

I was standing in line at the grocery store and I saw that Food and Wine did their 2011 food trends to watch for. Much to my happiness, they showed my all time favorite food: the breakfast sandwich. Of course, it was on a biscuit-y type thing, which is not really my style, but I'm glad that my favorite food is now acceptable as mainstream restaurant fare. Perhaps even trendy, as it has evolved from the fried egg sandwiches that my mom used to make on Sundays?

The kind I make usually include: sourdough english muffins, fresh eggs, tomato, sometimes avocado, sauteed onions, salt, pepper, and my favorite, sprouts. I love love sprouts. Anyways, I make it for me with the yolk on the egg really runny, so that it dribbles out all over the plate and is really messy. For my boyfriend, I usually cook the egg just a little bit more, maybe flip it over, even, so that its pretty cooked. He's not into that whole semi-raw egg thing I suppose. I usually top the sandwich with mustard, by favorite is spicy dijon, or some ketchup. Since I figured out how to make my own ketchup, its been quite nice!

I suppose next time I make some, I will have to post pictures here!