Friday, March 29, 2013

Qrunch Spicy Italian Quinoa Burgers


I don't visit the healthy section of the supermarket to be healthier. That's just an added bonus. I like food and go there to find interesting and new foods. That's where I found these Spicy Italian Quinoa Burgers in Wegman's.

Originally price is what held me back. They're actually not that expensive, under $5 if I remember correctly. I mean, I like Quinoa. I like Hot Italian Sausage. But, what if I didn't like them?

A week or two ago I finally bought them and am happy to say I love them so much. The flavor is spot on. Kind of tastes a little like Italian Sausage. I like hot foods and this had a good amount of heat without being too heated... so they'll be good for most people.

You can fry them in a pan, bake them in an oven or toaster oven, or you can send them through a few cycles in a regular toaster! Microwave not recommended. I did a quick fry of mine in a pan with a little oil. They came out nice and crispy and held their shape without falling apart.

So far I tried them plain, with a little ketchup, and one time I made a side of home fries with hollandaise sauce. The sauce was amazing. The lemon was very nice with the spicy Quinoa Burgers.

You can see a picture of my dinner here:

http://instagram.com/p/Xay5ZNvQj7/

The hollandaise sauce I made in a cream whipper, which uses cartridges similar to what you'd find to shoot BB's out of a BB Gun. The air and sauce mix together and make it very light and fluffy.

Anyway, I think I'm going to keep buying the Spicy Italian I like them so much, unless I decide to make some sort of topping then I'll try Original flavor. I don't think the Wegman's by me carries original anyway, but maybe Whole Foods.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

KABANG Energy Candy



These things were an impulse buy at the counter. They were 59 cents each. They come in Apple, Cherry, Watermelon, and Grape. I had Cherry (and later Apple) and a co-worker had Watermelon (and later another co-worker Grape). They contain 100% of the Recommended Daily Allowance of vitamins B6, B12, and C, plus Ginseng. They're only 3 grams of sugar, 15 calories, 5 carbs, and no caffeine.

The outer coating kind of tastes like a flavored energy drink. I don't really like energy drinks to begin with, but this wasn't as bad as some of those drinks taste. Once you get to the center your tongue starts to tingle. It has sodium bicarbonate in it. At first, I loved the center and it was kind of neat to have my tongue tingle, because it was unexpected, but then I got massive heartburn. That's why I don't drink soda and why I won't eat these candies again.

I don't know if it's how they're made, but the apple one I had later had a stronger inside. It actually tasted like my tongue was on fire and I spit it out. My co-worker enjoyed her Watermelon, while the other person didn't like Grape. She liked the outer coating, but once she got to the middle she spit it out. She said it tasted like a sour candy.

Can I say this gave me energy? Nope. I was still at work yawning afterwards.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Destination Dogs - New Brunswick, NJ


Destination Dogs is in New Brunswick, NJ. They've been open over a year now. The three owners met while working at another restaurant. One of them had the idea through his love of travel, another had the skills as a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, and the third was the business end of the business.

As you can probably tell by the name and logo of the restaurant, the theme revolves around travel. Everything you eat represents a different area of the world. From New York to Texas, Canada to Greece, a lot of different places get represented here. What isn't currently represented, might show up as a limited edition thing as they are always experimenting.

My Mom ordered me a gift certificate for my birthday, so the other night I decided to take a friend for food and we made Destination our destination. As I mentioned earlier, the place is in New Brunswick. It's a busy college town. So, expect circle the block a few times in order to find parking, or park a few blocks away. If you're only going to be an hour or less, the parking garage is a cheap option at $2. Up to two hours is $4. Prices head up from there. It's only a short walking distance.  It's also close to the train.

As soon as I entered I was greeted by one of the owners, Sean Hosty, I believe. Kind of funny that the host's last name was host. That's like an ice cream man whose last name is Cone. I had already browsed the menu on their beautiful website you can see here. While the website is nice I'd have liked to see more pictures of the food. My friend needed a minute to decide what he wanted and as he was deciding I was second guessing my decisions. Just about everything on the menu sounds good! We took a good ten minutes of argument and debate to finally make our way to the cash register.

After ordering Sean introduced me to one of the other owners, Jimmy. He liked our debate. Do we cut the dogs in half to share or not? Do we order only their exotic sausages or do we get a good old hot dog to see how they treat it?

While waiting for our food we all discussed other hot dogs in the state, and around the country. As we talked, I name dropped my friend Hawk Krall who draws awesome hot dog art and showed them some of his work, and Sean name dropped New Jersey Hot Dog Celebrity, John Fox, whom I'm very familiar with and have spoken with on occasion. Throughout the whole conversation, it's very clear these guys are lovers of encased meats.

All of their sausages are hand made on premises. You can order pre made combinations from a Destination around the world or you can make up your own. They make Duck, Shrimp & Alligator, Lamb, Spanish Chorizo, Wild Boar, Bratwurst, Breakfast, Swedish Meatball, Chicken, Pork, and also a Vegetarian Sausage. They do have a hot dog on the menu, but currently it's a Sabrett's 8/1. They're working on their own hot dog recipe, but are still tweaking to get it just right. You should mention the not on the menu "Gucci" dog whose full name I can't spell. It won't set you back a fortune like the leather hand bag maker of similar name. From time to time they make other sausages out of other things like antelope. I live over an hour away now, but I'd gladly make the drive if they had some other interesting meats.. reindeer, venison, black bear, kangaroo, iguana, am I listing stuff that's even legal in the United States?


We ordered truffle fries, onion rings, a Conquistadog (Spain), The Slum Dog Meal-ionaire (India), The Completo (Chile), and a Swede-Dreams (Sweden). All of the other names are funny and well thought out.

The buns are kind of like a good bread you'd use for a grilled cheese. One side looks as if it was buttered and perfectly grilled. Everything we received was pretty good sized.. kind of hard to fit it all in my mouth. What you see above have been cut in half so my friend and I could share and try every dog. They also come with some potato chips.

First up, I'll get the bad out of the way. The truffle fries. While the fries were fresh, thin, skin on, and cooked nicely, they were too salty and I got no truffle flavor at all. A little disappointed because I love truffle! I even love truffle oil which usually isn't even truffle. Next up is the good, EVERYTHING ELSE WE ATE!!

Onion Rings - Fantastic. One of the best onion rings I've ever had. They were nice big slices of onion, thick batter, and well coated. The whole onion was coated, no open spots, which I think made them a little less greasy.

Swede-Dreams - This is the sausage in the lower right of my picture. It's a swedish meatball sausage topped with gravy, mashed potatoes, and lingonberry jam. The sausage had a great flavor and I definitely recognized the Swedish meatball in it. The mashed potatoes were nice and fluffy, and that jam really gave it a nice touch. I would have liked a tad more jam. My friend is not totally a fan of swedish meatballs or salisbury steak, so it's understandable that he might not try this one again, but I'd order this one again for sure.

The Conquistadog - This is in the top right. It's a spicy chorizo sausage with fried potatoes, spicy mayo, and scallions. I've got a love/hate relationship with chorizo. I either love or hate it. I've had it before where it had a good consistency, but I've also had it with chunky, hard, and fatty pieces in it, which was a big turn off. The chorizo here was very good. It seemed a little thinner than some of their other sausages. Even without the spicy mayo the chorizo was hot. Both of us would gladly order this again.

The Completeo - This is an all beef dog topped with avocado, tomatoes, cheese sauce, onions, and cilantro. At first I didn't even know the dog was a Sabrett's. The whole combination was so tasty, I thought they made it by hand as well. I think it was a combination of the toppings and the ambiance. Hanging out with a good friend of mine and making new friends with the owners. Another winner, but we both agreed it could have used some more avocado.

The Slum Dog Meal-ionaire - I saved this one for last because it was our least favorite out of the bunch. But don't blame the vegetarian sausage. I just think we both weren't in the mood for a samosa. This sausage is topped with samosa filling and a red curry sauce. From what I saw the sauce was yellow. I think I would have enjoyed the vegetarian sausage more on it's own or made as another Destination, which they will do if you want. From what I could tell the vegetarian sausage wasn't quite held together. It holds together well on a bun, but if I tried to hold the actual sausage in my hand it would squish. It kind of has the consistency of mashed potatoes with a vegetable flavor. Next time I visit Destination I'm going to fly this vegetarian sausage solo.

After we ate my friend had a Cyclone, which is a hot dog with chili, onions, and spicy brown mustard. I can't really comment on this since I didn't try it, but from what my friend said the chili was very meaty and not greasy. I could definitely see it wasn't greasy.

If you're in the area, give this place a try. There's lots of other stuff in New Brunswick like bars, or Court Tavern where they have live bands play, so you can make a trip out of it or if you're just a foodie like me you can just go for the sausages.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Life Recovery Wellness - Time Recovery Protein Mix


I bought some Time Released Protein mix the other day from Life Recovery Wellness. Their protein powder comes in 6 flavors: Chocolate, Vanilla, Cappuchino, Strawberry, Banana and Cookies and Cream. They also have a customized diet plans to help you lose weight.

The protein powder is $45 for a thirty servings. That comes out to $1.50 per serving. I could post a lot of information from their website on how it's a 4 hour time release, has 24 grams of protein per serving, but honestly I don't know much about the subject. I've never had a protein mix before. It's best to visit their website for that kind of information and leave me to tell you what I know.

Today I received my Cappuchino. Tomorrow was be the first day trying it out, but I opened the container and it smelled so delicious I had to try it. Smells just like a cappuchino should. It's 9:15 PM here, but whatever I had to.

So, first off the packaging. It arrived safely via USPS Priority Mail and was shipped quickly. Erik was quick to answer me back of when my product would ship and if he's out of stock on a particular flavor. It weighed less than a container that size I'd have thought weighed. What do I know.

You'll want to read about why you should use almond milk instead of soy milk. The only thing I had in the house was regular milk. Since the supermarket is so far away, regular milk it is. I put in two scoops of powder and some milk. Check inside. Your scoop may have settled a little.

The company says this mixes in as little as 4 ounces of liquid, mixes quickly, and has no chalky taste. They've spent many years researching this. As I said before I've never had a protein mix so I can't say how it compares to others, but I can say it's everything they claim. Mixes easy, not chalky, and tastes great. I'm not a big milk drinker, so this will help me get that in my system too.

I first mixed it lightly for a few seconds and was left with a little residue in my glass.. even that reside was delicious as I took a small lick of the side of the glass. Not once did I ever think of chalk. Products like Nestle quick leave you with some clumps of powder in your drink sometimes. Not thing stuff. I then lightly mixed a few more seconds and my drink was ready to go. I promptly downed the rest and am going for a walk.

I've always been a skinny kid (very skinny), but getting older you know how that goes. I'm 229 - 230 pounds! Much more than I've ever been. I'm going to replace breakfast with a shake.. I'll have two or three shakes a day along with two meals and hope to get my life back soon. My next purchase will probably be.. oh well I want to try almost every flavor I can't decide. I'll probably just play a game of protein roulette to decide.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Burger King Bacon Sundae


I love bacon and would love it in a sundae. I admire Burger King for trying to win over customers, but this could have been executed better.

First, it wasn't even on any menu that I could find. How are you supposed to sell it? I asked if they were doing it, ordered two, and then got looks from the other customers once they saw it. They were probably thinking, wha, what, where's that on the menu?

Second, nobody knew how to make one except one person. It's vanilla ice cream, chocolate and caramel sauce, some crumbled bacon, and a strip of bacon on top. The crumbles were only towards the top of the sundae and needed a few more to evenly distribute them throughout. After I ate the strip of bacon and got through the top few bites, I was left with nothing but a normal sundae. Big whoop. Just a little more crumbles to evenly distribute it throughout would have satisfied me.

I'm also going to leave a note here on two other things. Their advertisement talks about crispy sweet potato fries. They were soggy (what I expected, because I recall some other fast food place having the same fries). The other thing is the Coke Freestyle Machine. It has over 100 flavors of soda/water/juice/etc in one little machine. The cool thing is you can mix whatever flavors you want. The uncool thing is the ice button must sense what size cup you have. What if I only wanted a little ice? It kept coming out and all over the floor.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Ziegler's Southern Style Sweet Tea





I'm showing you a half gallon container, but the one I had was single serving size around 16 ounces or so. This was the only picture I could find. The container was made from a different material and left a plastic taste in the tea.

I probably wouldn't buy that size again, but will consider the half gallon if I see it, as I've had some of their other products in that same size and liked it. Problem aside, the tea still tasted better than a lot of other brands out there.

Sorry I can't comment any more.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Dirty Bloody Mary



I always think I'll like a bloody mary, but I find very few recipes I like. This one is one of my favorite.
 
Ingredients:

1 ounce Dirty Martini Mix
1 ounce Vodka
3 ounces Bloody Mary Mix
Few drops Sriracha sauce
Ice

Mix everything in a cocktail shaker and serve.