Sunday Game Plan – Happy New Year – 2017 Good luck meals 

Posted on by

Happy New Year 2017! As we approach the one year anniversary of Tablespoonsandteaspoons, this experiential journey was filled with trials and errors, mastering food photography, extensive food and health research and experimenting dishes. 

As 2016 ends and 2017 begins, we decided to prepare meals utilizing what is considered lucky foods to consume for the New Year. After evaluating the significance of the lucky foods, there were some health benefits in consuming them. 

This time around we were lucky enough to prepare these meals successfully ahead of time. 

The lucky foods to consume New Year’s include:

Black Eyed Peas

Spinach (Greens)

Pork

Udon (buckwheat noodles)

Lentils

Below is our successful Game Plan for New Year 2017. 

In addition to the game plan, we prepared our traditional 13 round fruits, a Filipino tradition because 13 was considered a lucky number. 

So excited to share our meals for New Years with all of you. 

Cheers to a happy, healthy, properous and successful 2017! 

Meatless Monday – Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Posted on by

Recovering from yesterday’s holiday dinner, today I personally decided to eat my leftover brussel sprouts that were made in bulk using the recipe posted back in March. 

Keep in mind that there will be a strong odor that is released when roasting brussel sprouts.  Leftover brussel sprouts can be consumed either hot or cold and a salad can be created.  Roasted brussel sprouts go well with other green vegetables such as kale or whole grains such as farro and quinoa.  Brussel sprouts’ versatility offers a wide variety of options as a side dish, main entree light healthy vegan dish or even a snack. 

Christmas Day Game Plan

Posted on by

On behalf of Tablespoonsandteaspoons we wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.  Since Christmas is on a Sunday this year, we decided to devise a meatless game plan that is comforting yet luxurious.  This game plan is my contribution to this year’s family holiday dinner.  My cousin and aunt are handling the meat dishes. 

Anyways, this year’s game plan includes the following: 

– Roasted Brussel Sprouts 

– Truffle Mustard Macraroni and Cheese (recipe from Food52)

– Merlot Dark Chocolate Fudge Brownies

We will elaborate on the recipe details during the last week of 2016.  Stay tuned. 

Happy Thanksgiving 

Posted on by

On behalf of Tablespoonsandteaspoons we want to wish you and your family a very happy, healthy and Blessed Thanksgiving. So thankful to God, family and supporters for the blessing and opportunity to share this journey with all of you.  

Working on developing new ideas for the holiday posts coming up. Stay tuned. 

Flashback Friday – Hair of the Dog 

Posted on by

Happy Friday! Happy Candy Day! Today I am revisiting an afterwork Friday happy hour experience at the Lower East side sports bar called Hair of the Dog. This bar is part of a chain called NYC Best Bars is known for their happy hours and brunch. Happy Hour is half price of every drink at the bar until 8pm. For brunch they offer “BYOC” Bring Your Own Coffee.

In addition to the happy hour offer, I had to taste the food. The menu had a great variety of bar food. I was there for a co-worker’s birthday party and I had dinner plans after so I only ordered one appetizer and their only dessert item on the menu.

For appetizers, I went with the combo of onion rings and Tater Tots ($7), portions were pretty big so it is great for sharing. Both tater tots and onion rings were crisp to perfection; the grease complemented and absorbed the vanilla vodka and ginger ale cocktail I had.

The bar menu only had one dessert, which was Deep fried oreos. Given that the other bars that is part of the chain offered Deep fried oreos, I had to order it. After consuming 2 cocktails the fried oreos definitely hit the spot and covered up somega evidence of my alcohol consumption.

After looking at this food picture, I did a little research on any healthier options to make these dishes. Below, are three reasons recipes I found online that I would like try:

Healthy version of Deep Fried Oreos: Baked “Deep Fried” Oreos

Tater Tots using sweet potatoes (healthy alternative): Baked Sweet Potato Tater Tots plus Baked Onion Rings

Stay tuned for updates. Also find me on Instagram (tablespoonsandteaspoons).

Throwback Thursday – National Sandwich Day

Posted on by

Happy Thursday! First I want to congratulate the Chicago Cubs for finally breaking the curse and winning the World Series after 108 years. Anyways back to food it is National Sandwich Day. 

As I was watching world series history, the commercial for Subway came up with their promotion of buy 1 sub and drink get 1 free sub.  With all due respect to the bargain eats and listing of calories promoted by Subway, I am going to share two different sandwich experiences. 

Both sandwiches were purchased in the Financial District during lunch both were under $10 and it feels like eating a meal for two. Both sandwiches is a perfect quick meal as you consume protein, vegetables, with or without calcium and carbs in one shot. 

The first sandwich I had was a vegetarian sandwich from Num Pang, a Cambodian sandwich shop. There are six locations throughout the city. The shop had a great variety of sandwiches along with rice balls and drinks such as watermelon juice and Vietnamese coffee. All their sandwiches consist of freshly made semolina or quinoa baguette with pickled carrots, cucumbers, cilantro and chili mayo.  One of their cheapest sandwiches that appeared to be healthy yet very tasty was their Spicy Organic Tofu ($7.95). The sandwich was freshly made and served warm. The sandwich had a perfect balance of the firm tofu and vegetables, well worth the price.

Recently I was exploring Eater’s top 60 cheap eats in New York city right now. One of the restaurants listed was Grotto Pizzeria and Restaurant also located in the Financial District. This hole in the wall restaurant has been around since 1985. You have to go down a several stairs. As you enter the place looks like a regular pizza takeout spot where pizzas and sandwiches are separated and ordered separately. The guy behind the counter pointed me in the right direction to the sandwiches. I went with the sandwich suggested by Robert Sistema and Eater, which was the the sausage, broccoli Rabe and mozzarella sandwich. I waited and ate half of this filling sandwich ($9.75 with tax). This sandwich has to be eaten with all its components in it as it had the bitterness of the broccoli Rabe, the saltiness of the sausage and the creaminess of the cheese on a fresh roll. 

Although I am not a sandwich person, I do enjoy a really good sandwich once in a while especially from Katz, Carnegie or Russ and Daughters. Definitely want one check out other cheap eats listed on the Eater’s top 60 cheap eats. 

Throwback Thursday – Pizzeria Forno E Trattoria

Posted on by

Earlier this spring I decided to try a neighborhood spot in Maspeth NY called Pizzeria Forno e Trattoria. I always pass by during my bus ride to Jackson Heights or doing my walk. The restaurant felt cozy and homey. The food looked really good and fresh. I even got overwhelmed with the options that I had to get recommendations from the manager and owner. 

So my guilty pleasure is cheese, I love cheese so given my cheese craving that day everything ordered had cheese in it. Therefore is what I ordered. 

Top photo: CREPE DI SPINACI $8.50 Crepe stuffed with ricotta and spinach topped with white four cheese sauce. 

Overall the dish was to die for the stuffed crepe just melts in my mouth and tasted all five kinds of cheese. It hit the spot. 

Bottom photo: Half Sopressata and half Quattro Formaggi pizza pie $23.50 

The pizza pie was freshly made and the pie crust was perfectly thin. I did not feel guilty consuming four different cheeses and the spicy salami. 

Sunday Game Plan

Posted on by

It has been awhile since I posted a game plan for meals of the week. For the past two weeks I have been exploring cheap places to eat and new restaurants. Now it is time to get back to business and proceed with my weight loss plan in order to reach my weight goal by the end of the year which is easier said than done at this point. 

 Today’s game plan include recipes for vegetarians, pescatarians, paleo eaters, and gluten free consumers on a budget. This week’s recipes are inspired by Physique57 Solution, The Food Babe Way and The Pound a Day Diet. 

In addition to the food consumption I will be doing at least 30 minutes of cardio with strength circuit training. 

Let the weight loss journey resume. Stay tuned. 

 

Flashback Friday – Dosas

Posted on by

Happy Friday! Although it is National Dessert Day, I have been fascinated about the popular Indian street food – Dosa.  When I first saw this dish, I was overwhelmed by the how big it is.  It is mostly served as a meal for a good part of the day.  Personally I have consumed it as an early dinner.

Dosas also known as Dosai is an ancient Tamil dish.  This gluten free, vegetarian street food dish is made up of rice and lentils.  Therefore, there are health benefits in its consumption.   Dosas are a good source of carbohydrates and protein that will last the whole day.  It is a lengthy process to make dosas and I don’t think that I will be making one anytime soon.  Therefore, I will be leaving this up to the pros.

Recently, I have had the experience of consuming this vegetarian dish at two places in New York City.   One famous spot world is Saravana Bhavan.  There are two locations in New York City (Manhattan).  This restaurant does not need an introduction because it is well known throughout India; the establishment of this franchise was made a controversial person who is banned from leaving India because he was convicted of murder.  This is to show that as long the food is good it does not matter where it originated from. But if you don’t want to be traumatized,  I visited another spot, which is located in Queens called Hillside Dosa Hutt.  This neighborhood spot is in the heart of the Indian community. The cashier that served us was hospitable and knowledgeable about Dosas.  Hillside Dosa Hutt was recently listed on the Eater list of the top 60 cheap eats places in NYC. 

Hillside Dosa Hutt – Marsala Dosa $5.50 (Top Left) and Paneer Bhurji Masala Dosa $9.00 (Bottom left) Saravana Bhavan $9.99- Marsala Dosa (Top right)  and Onion Chili Rava Dosa $10.99 (Bottom right)

Portions of each dosa were huge. I have not been able to finish a whole dosa in one sitting.  If you want more variety then Saravan Bhavan is the place to go, but for a quick meal on a budget then Hillside Dosa Hutt will suffice. 

 

 

 

Throwback Thursday- Family Style Chinese food

Posted on by

Ever since I was a child I would have family style Chinese food. This is not your typical Chinese American cuisine. Majority of authentic Chinese restaurant are identified based on the number of Chinese customers eating there. There are two family style Chinese cuisine I have eaten at, both in Elmhurst. Every year I always have to celebrate my birthday with Chinese food. I grew up with the belief of consuming noodles on my birthday signifying long life.  When I eat at these family style Chinese restaurants I always request an order of pan fried noodles. Recently I had a craving a found a recipe to make it on own, which was recently posted here under Traditional Tuesday. In addition to the pan fried noodles we would order a crusted t-bone steak and honey walnut shrimp.

The top collage was taken place at China Pearl Chinese Restaurant, one of the original Chinese restaurants in Elmhurst. Total meal cost including tip was $300.

The bottom collage was taken place at the recently opened Broadway Seafood Chinese Restaurant also located in Elmhurst. Total meal cost including tip was $170.

The major differences between the two restaurants is the quality of food. China Pearl had the better house special soup, steak and honey shrimp walnut while Broadway Seafood had more street food options such as lamb chops and roast pig and duck and soy sauce chicken.

The pan fried noodles with seafood is better at Broadway Seafood than in China Pearl.

Stay tuned for more eating journeys…