Lovely Eats: Greek Yogurt with Honey

Ever since I started exploring vegan foods, I started exploring the different types of yogurts.  Although the point was to experiment with non-dairy yogurts like coconut or soy yogurts, in the process I've realized that those ones taste like shit, and Greek yogurt is the bomb!  Non-fat greek yogurt, plain, with honey, to be specific.  Although some greek yogurt brands come with honey on the side, Yoplait is much cheaper, but their honey flavored yogurt seems to have the honey mixed in, which is a lot less fun than getting gobs of honey you can actually almost chew on.  So I just buy the plain Yoplait and add my own.  It's yummy, smooth, creamy, healthy (aside from the fact that honey is not used in moderation for this recipe, it's probably still better than the artificial sweeteners they use in other fat-free yogurts), and has tons of protein and calcium.  I've honestly never liked honey before, but now it seems I can't get enough of the stuff.  

Honey is my new obsession!

Lovely Eats: Portillo's Hotdogs

(I cannot remember what sandwich is on the left, but the Chicago Dog is on the right. There's tomatoes, mustard, pickles, peppers, relish, and onions in it.)

Four of us went to a conference for work in Schaumburg, Illinois. It's about a 45 minute drive to Chicago, but it was a nice area. We went to Portillo's because we wanted to eat a Chicago dog and someone at the conference recommended it, and it was sooo good! For someone who doesn't like hot dogs, I was amazed that I absolutely loved it.

Lovely Eats: Texas State Fair

J & I made it a point to visit the Texas State Fair while we were in Dallas. We were dying to sample all the unique and yummy deep fried food that we would never be able to find here in the Islands. Our favorites included the chicken fried bacon, deep fried frito pie, and fried green tomatoes. The deep fried beer was a soggy-cracker-miss, and the deep fried butter was surprisingly yummy - but only in a one bite and you're done sort of way. We even stopped in at an aquarium where we saw an albino crocodile and fed stingrays (super cool but sorry, no pictures for that) and also visited a petting zoo where we had fun feeding all the animals.

{Big Tex - he even talks!}

{tons of animals at the petting zoo}

{deep fried butter with garlic butter sauce}

{caramel apple; fried green tomatoes (top); deep fried beer (bottom)}

{deep fried frito pie}

{chicken fried bacon}

Lovely Blogs: Jennifer Causey's Simply Breakfast blog

{all photos via Simply Breakfast blog}

Isn't this just so inspiring?

I think my mornings would be much brighter if they began with breakfasts as vibrant, colorful, and fresh as these.

Lovely Eats: Coconut Hello Kitty [Animal Cracker] Cookies

These Animal Cracker Cookies looked so cute on the 101 Cookbooks blog (although obviously I used my own Hello Kitty cookie cutters instead of animal shapes-- and they're still so cute!) and the recipe sounded so delicious. I love coconut flavored anything, and I love animal crackers, so I had high expectations for this cookie recipe and it did not disappoint! The cookies have a decently strong coconut flavor to them, and they're sweet but not as sweet as your typical cookie (just like animal crackers). Now I just need to find me another use for the rest of the $10 jar of Organic unrefined Virgin Coconut Oil I bought just for this recipe... I guess I'll just have to bake another batch (since I've already eaten almost all of them)!

Anyway, you can find the recipe at 101 Cookbooks.

Lovely Eats: Independence day Indulgences

J came to visit the OC for 4th of July weekend and we (R, M and myself) made sure to take her to some of our favorite places and hopefully help her pack on some much needed poundage. All I can say is I am still trying to un-do the damage from a weekend of incessant girly drinks, greasy food, sugar-loaded desserts, and uncontrolled shopping. Thanks so much for coming up to see us, J! I can't wait for more excuses to drink, eat, and shop my way through another indulgent weekend...

{Javier's at the Irvine Spectrum}

{Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles}

{Happy hour at Charlie Palmer}

{Sunday Brunch at Plum's Cafe in Costa Mesa}

{our rendition of K's Japanese Style Sweet and Sour Salmon - recipe to be posted soon}

{Mochilato}

Lovely Eats: Bow Tie Pasta Salad

Found this recipe randomly online. The name and the simplicity of this recipe makes it quite unappealing, but luckily I gave it a try because it was surprisingly tasty and super easy!

Ingredients
1 (16 ounce) package bow tie pasta
1 (6 ounce) package spinach leaves
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 ounces prosciutto, diced
salt and ground black pepper to taste
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts


Directions
Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the bow tie pasta and return to a boil. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Rinse with cold water to cool. Drain well in a colander set in the sink.

Toss the spinach and basil together in a large bowl. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook and stir the garlic in the hot oil; stir in the prosciutto. Remove from heat. Add to the bowl with the spinach and basil mixture; toss to combine. Pour in the drained pasta and retoss. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and pine nuts to serve.

Lovely Eats: Fukada

Over the weekend I had a hankering for some fresh, home-style Japanese food. To satisfy my craving, D and I went for a quick dinner at one of our favorite Japanese restaurants in town before seeing Toy Story 3 (which was great! highly recommend it). Fukada is known for their homemade udon and soba noodles, organic ingredients and authentic Japanese dishes and everything we have tried there has been absolutely delicious.

{hamachi sashimi}

{sweet potato tempura}

 {seafood salad}

{cold udon with hot dipping broth}

Lovely Eats: Cream Pot - Honolulu, Hawaii

{photos by H}

I keep daydreaming about going back to Cream Pot in Hawaii.

I hope I can make it there when I go back in July. I am dying to try the souffle pancakes!!!

Lovely Eats: Le Guignol

Appetizers: French Onion Soup, Grape Tomato Salad with Blue Cheese & Walnuts, Bone Marrow

Entrees: Rack of Lamb, Seafood Boulliabasse

Desserts: Chocolate & Espresso cake, Cracked Black Pepper & Olive Oil Cake with Blue Cheese Ice Cream, Cinnamon Croissant Pudding

On Saturday, my J & I went to dinner at Le Guignol, a quaint French restaurant in town. We both aren't real fans of French food, but heard this restaurant was fantastic so we decided to give it a try. The food was fantastic! So flavorful and delicious, with perfect portion sizes and affordable prices. The restaurant is also BYOB so we enjoyed a bottle of Du Mol "Ryan" Pinot Noir ~ one of my faves! We definitely plan to go back again soon.

Lovely Eats: Mercury Levels Rising

Donburiya

[Midtown East - NYC]

salmon sashimi

soba

Sasabune

[Upper East Side - NYC]

sasabune daiginjo sake; ahi sashimi

ahi; oyster, stuffed squid

fluke, amberjack; chilled toro, butterfish

hamachi; salmon, scallop, uni

white tuna, bass, salmon roe; mackerel

Happy Anniversushi to G & me!

Izakaya

[The Borgata Hotel - Atlantic City]

peking duck buns; oysters

hamachi roll, toro, hamachi, uni, ikura; kobe beef carpaccio

asparagus, lobster; butterfish & beets

Sea Blue

[The Borgata Hotel - Atlantic City]

velvet glove shiraz; table bread & assorted dips

raw tasting trio

grilled mahi; chocolate trio dessert

Lovely Eats: Earth & Sea

Blue Hill at Stone Barn
(Top L-R) hakurei turnip, easter egg radish, carrot, baby bok choy, ficoide glaciale; fiddle head ferns; (Mid L-R) mini asparagus burgers & citrus shots; brioche with ramp & ricotta; (Bottom L-R) pork marrow & caviar; tilefish

...and then it became too dark to continue with photos (it's a no flash restaurant).

Chelsea Market
lobster roll

Hill Country
green bean casserole, white shoepeg corn pudding, chili, longhorn cheddar mac & cheese
whiskey sampler
brisket & ribs