A perfect dish for Earth Day!

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Happy Earth Day! In honor of today, a posting on the perfect dish- a Burmese salad from Piggy Smalls, sister restaurant of The Pig & the Lady. I love both restaurants. Their cuisine is Vietnamese-fusion. The Pig & the Lady started out at a couple Farmer’s Markets on the island. After taking off, they decided to open a physical restaurant, which my girlfriend and I were so excited for! Finally!! Their phở is unlike no other. It’s different and so tasty. A few years later, Piggy Smalls opened. Yay! Love that there’s so many options now. The Pig & the Lady still appears at Farmer’s Markets and community events.

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Doesn’t this look refreshing? Lots of variety.

The “Weekend at Burmese salad” consists of the following ingredients: green papaya, tomatoes, garlic, sesame, various toasted nuts & sprouting seeds, preserved lemons, and Serrano peppers, with fermented lahpet dressing.

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This is the salad, mixed together. Mmm!

Here’s some facts about Earth Day: https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-earth-day.

If you haven’t tried one of the Piggies, you got to!

Piggy Smalls
Ward Village
1200 Ala Moana Blvd.; Honolulu 96814
http://thepigandthelady.com/piggysmalls/

The Pig & the Lady
83 N. King St.; Honolulu, 96813
http://thepigandthelady.com/welcome

 

 

 

The cheapest meal deal thus far!

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Happy Travel Tuesday!

I came across a Turkish restaurant in Ikebukuro, Japan called Turkuaz. I was so excited that I came across it; it was a hole-in-the-wall. I had to eat there! I love Turkish food. All thanks to my trip to Turkey in 2010. Oh, the wonderful memories and experience.

How sweet is this deal? It was ¥900, which is approximately $8.39 USD or so. It comes with soup, salad, the main dish, and tea. I ordered the spicy beef and lamb set. Where can you find that kind of deal?! Especially in Hawaii? I love how the meals in Japan are reasonable and filling, too. Not to mention, delicious.

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Turkuaz is located outside of the West gate exit of the Ikebukuro train station.

https://gurunavi.com/en/gdbt900/rst/?__ngt__=TT0e3212595008ac1e4ae4c1PXDqjK-duAYSSH0zpKDQlG

Hard core balsamic vinegar!

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Boy, oh boy! Balsamic vinegar is where it’s at! It’s potent, but oh-so-good, and healthy for ya. Did you know it’s made from grapes?! I had no idea! Where was I? Haha! Makes me think of wine.

I was inspired by our Easter luncheon to make a dish with balsamic vinegar. I also learned how healthy it is for you. Time to use this ingredient much more often.

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I made a honey-balsamic chicken dish, courtesy of AllRecipes.

It was a very simple dish. I, of course, added onions and garlic to my dish. My must-haves!

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I baked the chicken for an hour and 10 minutes at 375 degrees. It was really good! Best to marinate the night before- not required, though.

I also made a spinach, quinoa, and strawberry salad with homemade oil and vinegar dressing. Oh, to-die-for!

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Ingredients for the dressing. I measured 1/3 c oil and vinegar and 2 tsp. sugar. The garlic powder and pepper are bonuses! Hehe!

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Beautiful salad; beautiful colors. You can cook the quinoa in a rice cooker or on the stove. I cooked it in the rice cooker- one cup of quinoa and measured two cups of water, as instructed, but the quinoa came out a bit mushy. Next time, I’ll put 1.5 cups of water instead. Can’t always trust the instructions. That’s why I always cook by taste, rather than following a recipe to-the-tee. I use recipes as a guide.

Happy Friday and upcoming weekend! Relax and unwind…

 

Easter pies!

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I made some yummy pies for our Easter dinner last weekend. It was a hit!

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Thee ingredients. A very simple pie to make. Trust me.

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All you do is mix the powdered sugar (1/4 c), peanut butter powder (1/2 c), cream cheese (8oz), and cool whip (entire tub) together. Voila! There’s your pie filling. Chill after it’s poured into the pie crust.

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Onto the next pie. The ingredients. Another very simple pie.

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Bam! Another success! I melted the ice cream, then blended the frozen strawberries and fresh bananas together. That’s all there is to it! Freeze after poured into the pie crust.

Yee haw! We going country!

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The other weekend, I made a country hamburger dish. It was fairly simple; only required several ingredients.

Here is the recipe: https://www.copymethat.com/r/ItaR9ec/country-hamburger-skillet-dinner/

I used hash browns instead of what the recipe called for, which was Yukon potatoes. It turned out pretty good!

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Of course I had to add onions and garlic to the dish! Those are must-have ingredients.

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Let’s get cooking!

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I first placed the hash browns onto a 9×13″ pan. You can pan-fry them first to get them golden brown. Then, layered the cooked hamburger before baking at 350°.

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After baking it for about an hour, I sprinkled cheese and put it back in the oven for five minutes, so it could melt. Garished some chives for some extra taste!

Bon appétit! Have a great weekend.

Over the hills on this Good Friday

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It’s Easter weekend. Happy Good Friday!

My friend and I had lunch at Vegan Hills Hawaii in Kaimuki. Every week, I would pass by the restaurant on my way to yoga, and was always curious to try their food. Even though I’m not a vegetarian or vegan, I’m always up to trying different foods and exploring a different lifestyle, if you know what I mean.

Well, I finally tried the place. We loved it. Especially my friend, since she is vegetarian. She ended up going back the next day.

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We ordered the hot and cold versions of organic raspberry and peach teas- with agave. I had the iced tea. Yum! I love how they use metal straws. We should do away with paper and plastic straws- for our environment’s sake.

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I ordered The ‘Lox on country bread, instead of the sesame bagel that it usually comes with. The dish also includes: organic tofu ricotta, original salmon-like pate, organic lemon, capers, and dill.

Their food was awesome! I think the “salmon” was carrots. I also ordered potatoes with Parmesan cheese. I would love to go back to try more dishes! Their breakfast menu looks interesting.

Vegan Hills Hawaii
3585 Waialae Ave.
Honolulu, HI 96816
http://veganhills-hi.com/

Have a blessed Easter weekend!

 

 

It’s a chick pasta dish!

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Happy Hump Day! I’m so glad to be cooking weekly again. It’s been a while, as life got busy. Happy and excited to be sharing my homemade dishes with y’all again! Thank you all for your support, Readers!!

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I used these roasted garlic chicken sausages to make a hearty pasta bolognese dish.

This dish was very simple to make. I mainly base everything on taste. I don’t really follow recipes, to the tee. I may use them as a guide to make my dish, but I don’t always rely on them.

I boiled large sea shell pasta. The ingredients used for this bolognese dish were: roasted garlic chicken sausage, broccoli, onions, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and red pepper flakes. I always season my dishes with Himalayan pink salt and pepper. Got to have that pepper!

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Bam! It was very light! Sauce blended well with the pasta and ingredients.

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Next, onto the chicken dish. I made an Italian-Parmesan chicken bake.

Seasoned the chicken with Italian seasoning, black pepper, extra virgin olive oil, Italian dressing, and Parmesan cheese. Yum! Another simple dish!

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Yea! So, so good!

I placed the raw chicken (I used boneless thighs) in a baking pan, drizzled olive oil, and sprinkled the pepper and Italian seasoning on both sides. I then added onions and garlic, and poured the Italian dressing on top. Baked at 350º for about 60 minutes. Before serving, I sprinkled the Parmesan cheese.

There you have it! Easy, huh?

Happy cooking!