A Labor Day Snack

I hope all you folks in the US are having a good labor day. Today will be simply short post. I want to share with you a simple snack that I love to eat. It's really an anytime snack, but perfect for those warm summer days. Good for picnics, parties, bbq.  It's basically nearly ripe mango sprinkled with some salt and sugar. That's all. It's a healthy sweet and salty snack that's really delicious.  Mmmm...just thinking about it makes me want some right now.

Sweet and Salty Mango
 
1 large nearly ripe mango
1/3 tsp salt
1/3 tsp salt

Peel the mango and cut into chunks or sticks.  Place the pieces on the bowl and toss together with the salt and sugar. Serve chilled or room temp.

Tuna Salad Casserole

My apologies for the photos in this recipe. It was one of those "I'm uber hungry and don't feel like lugging out my camera to take a picture.  Can we eat now?" moment. On a whim I wanted to make tuna burgers, but no buns. Then in comes pasta to the rescue and it becomes a tuna salad. I later glance in the fridge and see some shredded mozzarella. The imaginary light bulb lights up and casserole comes to mind. and what you see is the result of that oddly "I can't think when I'm hungry" moment.

I served it wish a side of fresh slices of avocado.

Serves 2

Tuna Salad Casserole
1 can  tuna in oil or water - drained
1-2 c uncooked small penne or elbow
1 1/2 Tbsp mayo
1 Tbsp relish
1/3 cup pineapple tidbits - drained
Extra virgin olive oil
1/4 c Shredded mozzarella (plus extra for topping)
1/3 c panko crumbs

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package. Note" to avoid the pasta from sticking drizzle a little olive oil before cooking and stir once. Also season the water with salt. Drain when cooked and let cool.

Preheat your oven to 350˚F

In a large bowl, mix together the tuna, mayo, relish, and pineapple. Then toss in the cooled pasta, panko crumbs and mozzarella. Toss together until fully mixed. Next place the mixture into a baking dish . Baked for 15-20 minutes. 5 minutes before removing from the oven, sprinkle more cheese on top.

Serve slightly warm.

Weekend Eats

It's always fun to spend time with good friends especially when it's been a while since you've seen them. We first ventured down for lunch at Alhambra, Ca. There were four of us. Chatting it up. For those who know me, know I'm not picky about foods. So my friend chose a Vietnamese place. She was craving some pho and so was I.

Pho Super Bowl 

Located in a tiny stripmall, the place isn't large. A moderate size and not too crowded.  We situate ourselves at the table and look over the menu.

To start I order myself a nice refreshing Thai tea with boba. 

There were a few undercooked boba, but that didn't matter to me. It was still refreshing.

The server brings out the bean sprouts and greens for our soups. 

I tend to much on it while waiting. I like to eat them fresh sometimes.

One of my friends orders a couple shrimp spring rolls. Served with a side of sauce.

Our other friend orders the traditional spring rolls.

For the main dish, I order the seafood pho. Fish balls, squid, shrimp, with some onions and rice noodles in a large bowl of broth. I add a handful of those bean sprouts and several squishes of sriracha and we've got ourselves deliciousness in a BIG bowl. 

I didn't mind choosing soup as it was a really lovely day in LA, which took me by surprise from the heatwave we recently had. 

To cap off the meal, a lovely little bowl of this. 

It tastes very much like a rice pudding with baby tapioca balls. I can't for the life of me remember what it's called. But I do know that we have something similar in the Philippines.

Later that day, after venturing into Pasadena for a few hours, we head back into Alhambra. Remember last week when I mentioned I had a slushy craving? This is where i fulfilled that craving.

 Tea Station

This place is like of like a small trendy little place for the youngsters. It's a place where you have to order something. You just can't sit there, chat it up or do you reading, you have to order something. 

They serve traditional hot teas, but also an array or selections to choose from as well as various tea snacks and meals. Here's what we chose.

One of my friends orders the fried spicy chicken. Though this one didn't taste really spicy. I guess you have to request it as my friend suggests.

Another friend orders the fried buns. Served with a side of condensed milk to dip. The cool this about this is that it's the way they made it. They put strips of bread together for the center and wrap it up like a pillow with large thin pieces then fry it up. So when you tear into it, you tear it up like french fries. and dip it into the condensed milk.

My friend also orders a Mango shaved ice. That thing was large. Yum!

I order the takoyaki balls, which is a battered balls with octopus. Topped with a mix of things like some mayo, okonomiyaki sauce, seaweed.

I accidentally burnt the roof of my mouth. I have the habit of doing that. I get too excited sometimes to eat something that's freshly cooked and still steaming hot. 

To wash it all down I also order a green mango snow ice with boba. My slushy craving has been accomplished!!!! I love the way they serve it. In a little decantor...you know in case you want to share with some people. Mmmm... I love the flavor of this one. Then again...I love mangos of all kinds.

Finally later into the evening, we decide to head out for a little "snack" and decide to go Islands. I was tempted to get some of their awesome cheese fries, but I stuck with the tortilla soup. I was pretty stuffed from earlier in the day and I felt it fitting to order some delicious hearty soup.

This has some shredded chicken and fresh vegetables,
topped with jack cheese, avocado & tortilla strips.

 I ate that one right up!

Overall, it was a good day with good food which made an afternoon with friends all the better.

Pho Super Bowl
1300 E. Main Street
Alhambra, CA 91801
626.293.7018


Tea Station -- Alhambra
560 W. Main St.
Alhambra, CA 91801
626.289.7389

Islands -- Glendale
117 West Broadway
Glendale, CA 91204
(818) 545-3555

production Eats - No. 26

This week I worked on the show Greek. I've never seen it, but let's just say I played a college student. The past week has been in the 100+ degree range here in LA and shooting outside in the heat while wearing a thin sweater was too enjoyable. Luckily, there was a little bit of a breeze on the day, but it was still a long and tiring day. By the time I got to go home I was craving myself a slushy!

Diner roll, grilled chicken. Steamed veggies, Mexican rice.

I enjoyed the rice and veggies. Though, the chicken was slightly dry. I remedied that by stuffing it into the dinner roll with some butter. 

The plain ol' salad with balsamic dressing

Dessert. One oatmeal cookie and one sugar cookie. The cookies sort of made up for the dry chicken. :)

Pasta Salad

It's been a while since I've posted a recipe on there. With things somewhat calming down, I'm slowly but surely getting back into the kitchen. Though, with the summer heat beating down right now...cooking seems like a second option to everything else at the moment. But luckily there are those dishes that don't really require slaving over a hot stove. Pasta salads are one of them. Cooking the pasta is simple enough. Toss in some other fresh ingredients add some dressing and voila. The dressing I used for this one was Girard's Champagne flavor that I had gotten to sample.

I've got to say...it was a good choice to add into the mix of piccolini pasta, tomato, avocado, pineapple, almond slices and fresh garlic. Chilled in the fridge for a little bit and a delicious meal for any weeknight done in less than 30 minutes.

Pasta Salad

1-2 c Piccolini pasta
2 medium tomato - seeded and chopped
1 large ripe avocado - seeded, peeled and chopped
1 - large garlic clove - minced
1/3 c pineapple tidbits
1/4 c almond slices
1/3 c Girard's Champagne Dressing
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
pepper to taste

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package. When cooked drain the pasta and let it cool completely before adding any ingredients.  Place the pasta in a large bowl and add the extra virgin olive and garlic. Toss together until completely coated.  Then add the tomato, avocado, pineapple, and almond slices. Drizzle the dressing and toss together completely. Season with a little pepper and toss once more.

Served chilled.

Some random eats...

...that fulfilled my hunger.Some misc eats that quenched those hunger pains and satisfied them to the fullest during by every busy schedule. I'm seriously craving to be cooking once again, yet time and life has a way of stomping it foot down and say "bwhahahaha...no cooking for YOU!" I cringe at that thought. I shall cook I tell ya...I shall. Anyway...onto the food!!

 Monte Cristo Sandwich with some onion rings from Telly's in Santa Clarita. One thing I loved about this sandwich is that the bread is fully coated in batter, kind of like french toast. Compared to some places I've had the monte cristo at, where the out layers of the bread are slathered with batter.

Two Sunday's ago my BFF and I went to brunch at the Coffeeshop 101 in the Los Feliz area. I've written about them before on this blog.

 I ordered the omelette once again. This time the fillings were spinach, cheese, muchroom, sausage and bacon. I guess I was pretty hungry. hahaha... Served with a side of hash browns and toast.

My friend orders up some pancakes. Which were pretty tasty, too. with some butter and maple syrup. Somehow there was a lone slice of strawberry underneath all that. How it got there...we don't know.

That very same day I attended a friend's grandmother's 81st birthday party. It was a Filipino gathering...so of course it was the cuisine of choice. I was still slightly full from brunch so I had myself some of the spaghetti, palabok and lumpia with chili sauce. I swear I need to go on a detox after all this eating!!!!!

My mom had accompanied me and she had more of the food there than I did. Aside from the spaghetti and lumpia there was also some herbed salmon, menudo, fried chicken, fresh fruits. 

I always forget what this is called but it's a delicious crunchy treat. It has a consistency of crackers, but it's like a cake with a mocha like filling. I need to ask my mom. Have I mentioned that I love crunchy stuff? 

This past weekend...another friend of mine invited me to a small birthday dinner for her step-daughter. I had nothing else to do since I had been working from home all day, so I figured why not. THe place of choice was at TGIFriday's. Everytime I think of TGIF, I think of the movie Office Space. hahaha...

Appetizer that was shared all around. Spinach dip with tortilla chips. I've been meaning to make some kind of spinach dip on the blog. Anyone know of a good recipe?

 I order the BBLT with a side of fries. BB = a double bacon fix W00T!! I do love my bacon! The bread felt like it was toasted a little too long. Then again what restaurant doesn't do that. I kept referring to them as croutons while eating. 

I'll end this post with a personal sized cup of haagen-dazs vanilla ice cream. Thank goodness they created the single serving cups with attached spoon, otherwise I'd devour the pint sized ones. That wouldn't be a pretty sight. :)

Production eats - No. 25

Last week... I worked on the show Bones. I got to play a lab tech which was pretty cool. A lot of shows are beginning to shoot their new seasons now so hopefully things will start to pick up again. When lunch rolled around I ventured into the News Cafe on the Fox lot.

 I order their veggie sandwich. Which had some grilled bell pepper, squash and zucchini on slices of wheat. Yum!! IT also had some lettuce and tomato slices. I should have asked for the bread to be toast as untoasted gets stuck to the roof of my mouth. Aside from that I enjoyed the sandwich. It was veggilicious!

Of course the usually salad with corn, fresh mushroom slices, with balsamic dressing.