HEALTHY COOKING = ROBUST LIFE

Life is so short, we don't know when our time is going to come, meaning when we are going to be with God, if you believe in God. Or put it this way, life is too short, you never know when you'll take your last breath on this earth. Let's talk about health for a little while. Last week I took a foodie trip to Honolulu to visit a friend that knew some very important people in the food business. Well we ate. Lots of rich foods, which meant seafoods such as Dungeness crab, lobsters, prawns, mussels, crawdads, and gourmet sausage. We also ate lots of Filipino food earlier that day. For me, that's too much rich and salty foods. The Filipino foods were salty from the patis (fish sauce), also the fats from the pork. Now my blood pressure jacked up despite my Lisinopril (high blood pressure meds). And my Allopurinol (gout meds). Now I did not experience any faint spells on this one day in Honolulu. 

The next few days I was in Vegas and ate lots of beef! Prime rib, strip steaks, short ribs, briskets. My liver, kidneys, and heart was being put through the test. And my trip to The Heart Attack Grill eating a 1/2 pound burger with chili, and lots of bacon and fries didn't help out. The next week all that caught up to me. For a week my left big toe and left ankle was swollen big time. Gout! I needed crutches!

So this is what we need to do. Is be more positive. You see my stupid attitude was like, "Shit I can die tomorrow, so what the fuck, I may as well eat all the good foods I can while I'm here." Wrong attitude. Because to be honest with you, last week dealing with gout and not able to walk I really wish I was dead. Seriously. I had a difficult time going to the potty. Just getting up to get a glass of water was a chore and a half! What I am saying is, we should have this attitude like, "OK I'm going to eat well, so that I won't be in pain tomorrow, so that I can be productive, and not some lame cripple!" Being bed ridden because of gout is no fun period. And the high blood pressure that accompanies with it, not good at all.

Healthy cooking is what I and you need to focus on. OK if you're all vegan and organic forget you guys, but it's me and the rest of us that eats like beef, pork and all the rich proteins are going away for good, we just gotta have it! We need to eat more green vegetables, fruits, drink more water and less sodas, and high fructose drinks. If we want that half pound burger with bacon, maybe as a treat later down the road, but not every few days. I looked at some of my foodie posts, and OMG! My neck doubled in size! Shit! Fat Neck! Nope don't wanna be called Fat Neck!

So I been heading to the local market, got more celery sticks to snack on instead of pork rinds. Feeling better and lost about five pounds already. Got some cucumbers and some Annie's Organic Salad Dressings. Got more bananas and organic peanut butter. For a good dinner I been eating grilled chicken breast sandwiches, less the sauces. Dried out. That's the ticket, and me being a mayonnaise lover, I gotta cut that crap out big time. I got some Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar to add to some water before bed time. It helps lower the uric acid in my blood. Uric acid is the culprit that eats away at the joints, yes that's the gout causer. The devil of arthritis. Bought some black cherry juice too, that's been proven to help gout sufferers. My goal is to keep my uric acid level down by going natural. I don't want to be on those pills, both the Allopurinol and Lisinopril. God didn't make our bodies to be an amusement park. I plan to do more walking too, no mater how humid it is outside. I gotta get healthy again. The last few years I been getting sloppy and out of shape, even my thinking became negative. Not good.

So my goal now is to post more healthy recipes. So look for the next post for some healthy food ideas if you have a weight problem, hypertension or gout problem too. Let's live for tomorrow, and be healthy tomorrow. Like I said, I'd rather be dead than to suffer from bed ridden gout!

© 2017

ARCTIC ZERO Pint Size

A few days ago I decided to stop by Down To Earth Natural Foods on Dairy Road, in Kahului, Maui. Just minutes from the airport. In fact I had just dropped off some family and was on my way back to Lahaina. It was pretty warm, even as the sun was setting, I was kind of hungry but did not want to eat anything big, or too filling. In my mind Down To Earth was the right stop at that particular time, I was eating too much rich foods over the last week and a half, lots of red meat and crustaceans that brought up my uric acid levels, gout was a coming, even with my gout prevention pills.

So I walk in the store, and it's totally clean, fresh fruits and veggies in abundance. The grocery aisles are filled with good products for you. I used to work for this company, and loved the people I worked with as well as the clientele that shopped there, it was a totally different vibe. 

I headed to the frozen foods section, and right in front of me I saw the discount signs, those red tabs that are hung on the front of each shelf. What got me was the packaging of this one brand called Arctic Zero Fit Frozen Desserts.  I took a look at the packaging, it was white with the right colors and fonts to stand out and grab my attention. GMO Free. Lactose Free. Protein and Fiber. OK that's really good. But the flavor of this frozen dessert got me drooling, it was Cookie Dough Chip. Who doesn't want cookie dough? Now I knew that this was not real ice cream, there had to be some kind of formula for the (Fit Frozen Desserts) which is trade marked.

ARCTIC ZERO FIT FROZEN DESSERTS is creatively made to cater to diabetics, celiacs, and anyone that doesn't want unhealthy supermarket bought ice creams. The founder Greg Holtman took care of his mother who was a type-1- diabetic. Which meant he couldn't feed her anything that was really high on the glycemic index. He spent time perfecting his formula and what you get is a really healthy frozen treat, almost like real ice cream.

Just click www.arcticzero.com to read the story of this company. But let me say this, it is all natural, no GMO, and low in calories, really a great treat on a warm summer evening. The flavors were good, my Cookie Dough Chip dessert was in a pint size ice cream container, just like those premium ice creams. However there's a label once you open the top cover stating that you should wait about 10 minutes before spooning your first bite, to soften it up some because it is pretty solid upon opening, and the plastic spoon that was supplied me was rather flimsy on first attempt, you really need to wait at least 5 minutes and the product does soften, or as it says, you can stick it in a microwave oven for a few.

What I liked about it was it was not filling, it wasn't too sweet, and the cookie dough was epic, it tasted like it was supposed to. I ate the whole pint in a few minutes, I enjoyed every bite of it. You should try this out if you can find it locally where you live.

After the main cover comes off this is what you see

The unpacking of an epic product

Even the back of the pint looks informative

My serious look as I wait to devour this dessert!

Time for the Yay :) or Nay :( scale 

Quality of Product: Yay :)

Flavor: Yay :)

Website: Yay :)

Price: Yay :)

This is a Happy Face Emoji for sure! This is a Yay Yay :)!

© 2017

HAMBURGER STEAKS CUT IT WITH A FORK

Today's blog post will be the ever so popular Hawaiian style plate lunch entree called "Hamburger Steak", so what is a hamburger steak?



Some will call hamburger steaks, Salisbury steaks, a few patties weighing a few ounces each, or one big patty weighting in at 9-12 oz. Or more for that matter. Now a good hamburger steak is very tasty. That's number one. It has to be made with very good at the least ground chuck meat, with a mixture of at least 80/20 lean to fat mixture. Or 70/30, take your pick. The mixture no mater the ratio, must be seasoned with tasty flavorings. Now here's the trick. My take on a great hamburger steak, is really a meat loaf made into a patty. That's right YOU HEARD ME! You be saying, "What the ______?!" Hey junior watch your mouth boy, don't you say that cussin word round heah!

OK, not a total meat loaf mixture, just have some imagination on making that patty nice and juicy. You see, I got friends that make hamburger steaks and don't put in any flavoring, no imagination what so evahz. I got a friend who makes his with just the ground beef, he seasons it with salt and pepper, and steak sauce. But when he sears it, it is dense. Don't get me wrong, he's a great cook, and I'll eat the whole dang thing, but you see, eating his creation I need a fork and knife. Big NAY! You wanna cut the hamburger steak with a fork only, you heard me. Cut it with a fork only.

So how do you make a patty fork cut ready? You season it, and make a mixture as you are making a meatloaf, that's the trick, while still retaining the beef texture you know? Now I'm not giving you any recipe, that's your job to find one. Below are some hints for ya.


Considering 1 lb. of ground chuck beef. Making 4 1/4 oz. burger steaks.

Mixture ingredients.

A. 1 cup of mayonnaise + 1 egg + 1/2 cup of sour cream+ steak sauce + mustard + 1 cup pako flakes, salt and pepper TT.

B. 2 pieces of white bread soaked in buttermilk + 1 egg + 1 tbp. garlic powder + 1/4 minced onions + 2 eggs + 3 tbp. mustard + salt and pepper TT

C. 1 cup mayonnaise + 1 egg + 1/4 oyster sauce + 2 tbp. Sriracha + 1/4 minced green onions + 2 tbp. soy sauce + salt and pepper to TT.

 There you have 3 ideas on how to make it. Look all you got to do is get really creative, you will need some added fats like mayo, or sour cream, some ingredient like that.  Curry powder, chili powder, celery salt, just get nuts, and mental with it. There are no rules to making a great fork tender hamburger steak.

The picture below is from Google Search and is not mine. Just to give you an idea on what a fork tender hamburger steak looks like. Making a pan gravy with the drippings his a winner too.

Just looking at this, I know it's fork tender

If you look closely, you can tell there is a mixture in there. Oh look, minced onion coming off the patties, that is good. Now when the cook wants a pan gravy, all them drippings will make a fine delicious topping.

© 2017

PRIME RIB at THE MARKET ST. CAFE

I've blogged this dish many times before, the Prime Rib dinner at the Market Street Cafe at the CALIFORNIA HOTEL & CASINO , and it was very good, and what made this even better was the fact that the coupon from the meal coupon book from Boyd Gaming took care of this delicious meal, I had fries with this, it came with green beans and the au jus. After the dinner the Cherry Jubilee was a treat. Sorry that picture isn't here but I blogged it on another blog. Vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, with cherry compote underneath.

The total meal with fries

What did I like about this particular cut? Well-notice the piece of marbleization in the center, do you see it? Yes sir, that there piece of tasty, mouth watering, tender fat! I sliced around the fat, and saved it for last. The guy sitting next to me at the counter got a lesson on savoring the meat. I took my time, like a surgeon performing a quadruple by-pass. Call me Dr. Ronaldo. I took the horse radish and set it aside, I'm sorry all you PR purists, just not a fan of that condiment on a good piece of bloody meat. I just sprinkled salt over it, perfect.

Hold on, I got to find that Cherry Jubilee it's in a folder, hold on....oh yeah here we go, I found it, look at this what a dessert after a Prime Rib meal!

Cherry Jubiliee

Now it's time for the foodie Yay :) or Nay :( scale.

Cleanliness at counter: Yay :)

Service: Yay :)

Quality of food: Yay :)

The result is all Yay Yay :)!!!!!

But the evening wasn't done just yet, I headed over across the street to the Fremont Street Experience, and stopped by the First Street Stage to watch this 80's cover band called 80s Station. They played everything from Wham, Blondie, Rick James, UB40, Van Halen, Rick Springfield, and I forget who else, they were very good for a cover band. Since Tuesday, I've seen a few cover bands here in Down Town Las Vegas, and all of them were kick ass. OK, they covered other bands, but that's entertainment. Good bands play good covers, and all the bands that I've seen play party rock music, shit that makes you jump up and down and boogie, non of that progressive stiff shitty rock. Well I like that prog stuff too, but not on Fremont Street, on Fremont Street you want people to boogie!

80s Station a 5 piece band the chick can sing!

The guy with the guitar is a good player too

So is the drummer in back, and the other guy that 

sings, and the bassist, all good!

The guy with the mic and Devo hat does a good job

entertaining, the bassist far right is a good Rick

James copy

© 2017

The California Noodle House California Hotel & Casino

Located on the casino floor inside the CALIFORNIA HOTEL & CASINO is a noodle house simply called California Noodle House. If you travel with Boyd Gaming from Hawaii, you get a meal coupon book, and certain items on their menu works with those coupons.

I waited three days to try this place out because they open on Fridays and the weekend, but not Monday to Thursdays. I kept passing by this restaurant on the way to the elevators, it's wide open, lots of lighting, and very clean, looks alive even when no one is inside. Well today I got a chance to have a bite, I looked at the menu and the prices are very affordable even without the meal coupons, I could afford this place even if I paid for two others. The menu isn't too confusing, there's noodle dishes, fried rice, and stir fries.

When I opened the door there was a local Hawaii couple taking what looked like their doggy bags, that's a good sign, when locals from Hawaii are smiling after they eat, that's a good indicator that the food is good enough, if they come out and see the first person, which in this case would have been me and said, "Screw this place brah!" Then I would not even enter. I looked inside and noticed a few booths were taken, I'd say maybe a third of the restaurant was taken.

The hostess asked me if I wanted a table, and I said yes. She sat me against the wall, a whole table for myself, there was this other dude three tables down and inhaling his ramen soup, good I thought, he's whacking it. Ah maybe whacking it isn't a good terminology. Ooops. You get the picture, he's mopping his food how's that? Yeah forget the whacking part! Good the food is good he ain't spitting it out.

The bus person comes over, "What can I get you to drink sir?" I told him, "Ah I'll take a Coke." Then he says, "Pepsi OK?" Then I said, "Yeah man that will do, thanks."

Then the waitress Christine comes over hands me a menu, "Hi sir here you go." I look at the menu, hmmm. What should I get?

The hand held menu, look at the prices it's good

I saw the Chap Chae Dumplings, Korean dumplings, I can eat that, Chap Chae. Made with Korean glass noodles, stir fried in sesame oil with veggies. And it came with a sweet flavored soy sauce, totally Korean style.  And when it came, there were 6 hot rectangular deep fried dumplings, nice plating, and steaming hot! That's what you want, hot! You know when the place is crappy it's when the food comes to the table in a minute and it's luke warm. Not here, it was fresh hot, and the aroma was nice. No this is good stuff.

6 dumplings piping hot! With the sweet soy sauce

I put 3 on my plate, and spooned the sauce over each one

The flavors were just right, I could taste the sesames, and there was beef and pork inside, this would be great with beer. However I went for the cold Pepsi, it was too hot outside, 105 degrees F, the beer would have made me sick. I would suggest these dumplings, very freshly made and tasty. If you love Korean food, this will work for sure, and for this blog, they did not invite me like some places, so I'm not blowing smoke, these are really good!

Then the other dish I ordered was the Miso Ramen. Made with shiro miso, fresh beef broth, a whole boiled egg sliced in half, and 4 pieces of thinly sliced charsiu pork. And of course the noodles, it was very filling. In fact I was stuffed I couldn't finish the last slice of egg. But the ramen was totally miso, just look at it. Look at the shiro miso in the broth. I had good ramen before, and I gotta say this, it was very very tasty. And your coupon book works for this dish, no payment necessary, it is covered under the lunch ticket. Gamblers make out I'm telling you. The broth was hot and fresh, I can tell, as a matter of fact, the chef brought it out, a guy in a red chef's coat. Now this place rocks, the chef coming out to hand me the dish? Rock and Roll baby!

The Miso Ramen, the presentation was perfect 

before I took the picture, when I moved the bowl

the pork charsiu sunk deeper into the broth

I'm all happy because the food is hot and fresh

Before my food came to table

Asian ambiance

Yeah man my game face on, all done baby! Full stomach!

The window from the casino side

The sign on a framed stand on the casino side

So here we go, it's the Yay :) or Nay :( scale.

Cleanliness: Yay :)

Service: Yay :)

Promptness: Yay :)

Food quality: Yay :)

Price: Yay :)

Overhead music: Nay :(   

 Yays :) 5    Nays :( 1

The Yays :) have it, go there and have a Yay Yay time!

© 2017

EGOS OF CHEFS CAN SPELL DISASTER

Today as I sit in the THE CALIFORNIA HOTEL & CASINO cooling off in my room. I just wanted to share some thoughts on the food service industry, and (the chef), why? I'll tell you why, how many times have you gone out to eat at a restaurant that markets (the chef), he may have been on a food show, or hailed by an airline magazine, and your social media friends are all over this (chef). OK let's go to (whatever name the restaurant is), and have a go at it shall we?

Now before I rant like an old geezer hear me out. Media sensationalism preys on the less informed. CNN rants on Trump's presidency, "He's a bigot!" But Fox News will counter, "He is making America great again!" Well, have you ever met Trump? You get my point. My point is we all have our own opinions, however the social media and mainstream media kind of plugs all this crap into our heads, and if we are not careful we will sound exactly like them without voicing our own opinions.

Take sports, my team is the L. A. Dodgers, but I really don't have much time following every at bat, every foul ball, every strikeout the players rack up. All I'm concerned about is the wins, "Are we heading towards the World Series?" OK let's talk about the chef. Until I taste his stuff, I can't really say he or she is good for me. After all it is I that will be eating the food, and I really don't care what you think of the dish. Let me offer my opinion. But with the standards and brain washing going on these days, if I don't vote yes on a dish like the rest of the Facebook crowd, "Hey there must be something wrong with Ron, what is his trip man!" No, if I don't like the way some chef made the béarnaise sauce that he smothered over a thick sirloin, I'll be the first to say, "Maybe next time he should really put that sauce in a ramekin because it didn't jive with that steak. I'd be better off just with the salt and pepper to be honest."

Here's the thing I wish chefs would do, be more humble. OK I get it, they are trained, and we have to say, "Oh well we need to give him or her a shot tonight, let's see if it's really that good." So let's say the chef has a five course going on. And the first is an appetizer that's deep fried, like a Filipino lumpia. But the chef goes overboard and claims, "I have a filling that consists of ground pork, ginger, garlic, lemon grass, peanuts, olives, with a mint sauce inside, with some dried shrimp, and it will be topped off with a sauce made of reduced red wine with duck intestines." Sounds interesting, but also sounds like there's too many people at this party don't you think? So when the lumpia comes to table, it looks interesting. You take a bite, and it's not bad, you don't vomit it out, you eat the whole plate, but interesting. It's good, but- you won't order that again. You'll stick to your simple good lumpia your mom makes or the ones you get at your local Filipino market. It was interesting, not bad, but you won't bother paying $25 dollars for that, because at chef's place if you ordered that by itself it would be $25.

And the other four dishes were interesting, again you ate it all but will not bother seeking that out again to pay for it. Don't get me wrong guys, I believe chefs need to be creative, but I'm over it. Call me a grouchy old geezer that's OK. But if I go out, I really hate sitting down and a waiter will go, "The chef traveled to Malaysia, and he has a Malaysian inspired sauce that he tops over the prime rib." I'll be the fist to cut this guy off and tell him no need for that, if he wants just put his art work in a ramekin thank you.

As far as steaks, beef, or even fish or chicken, all of those proteins have a flavor when you cook them, the juices render out, the fats drip, the skin gets crispy, there is flavor, there is an aroma. And really, that's the beautiful side of proteins, it is unique. Salt and pepper can enhance it, maybe wine and butter and a few chopped herbs. But when chef goes overboard with sauces, drizzles and that. Too much sometimes.

Or take for example a good vanilla ice cream is ruined when chef takes a strawberry compote and adds too much stuff to it, you can't taste the strawberries, and then for the love of Jesus, smothers the vanilla ice cream and you can't even taste that!

OK I gotta go now. Have a nice day as this old geezer goes for a walk in 100 plus degrees heat.

© 2017

The Garden Court Buffet Main Street Station

All you can eat lunch buffet at the Main Street Station's Garden Court Buffet, from 11am-3pm, all you can eat. The THE GARDEN COURT BUFFET located on the casino floor at the Main Street Station Casino Brewery Hotel located right across the street and joined by a walking bridge with the California Hotel and Casino, both properties are sister properties with the Boyd Gaming Corp.

Most buffet foods are mass produced for obvious reasons. Foods sit in steamer pans to keep warm and safe to prevent food poisoning, and for lunch the food items are what most people want. From stir fries, island fare, Asian style, Mexican style, Italian style, American style, a full salad bar with veggies and fruits. Any beverage you want (you may pay extra), and a dessert spread that really does the job. There's a soft serve ice milk machine with vanilla and chocolate as the primary flavors. And yes there is sprinkles for one to put over the ice milk. I was watching people, and most went for desserts, I mean paying about 10 bucks per person, you might as well.

First thing I did was sit down, and a waiter asked me what I wanted to drink, and I ordered Pepsi. Then I went to the brisket station, there a carving master sliced me two slices of BBQ brisket. Then I got a few hot wings and some mashed potatoes.

Mash, Hot Wings, and BBQ Brisket

The brisket was actually pretty tender and tasty

Next I got myself some pizza, now this was like maybe frozen stuff they buy in bulk and just stick it in a cook and hold until the display needs more pizza.

Not the best but for an all you can eat what should I expect?

\

Beef Tacos

After the pizzas, I got some beef tacos with no toppings, I didn't feel like toppings. Again for an all you can eat, don't expect gourmet beef tacos. Don't expect spicy stewed beef or pork and filled in a fresh corn tortilla, no sir, expect food service supplied tortillas and filling. It was ok for a buffet.

Now for dessert, and I went for the soft serve vanilla ice milk, look at it, my swirling technique sucks for sure, but I am not working at a DQ. And believe it or not, I loved it. Not Roselani Ice Cream from Maui, or Baskin Robbins but it satisfied.

Vanilla soft serve ice milk, it was good. For what it's worth

The inside is nice and clean

Very clean at the least the way it should be

On the bridge connecting the California to the Main Street

Heading back to the Cal

Looking south from the bridge

Looking north from the bridge

Over all, the Sam Boyd properties are cool, the Hawaiians make out on these trips, free food for gambling, flights, room, and transportation included, makes for a good few nights getaway.

Now for the Yay :) or Nay :( ratings.

Price: Yay ($10.00)

Cleanliness: Yay :)

Service: Yay :)

Food variety: Yay :)

Accessibility: Yay :)

Food Quality: (For a $10.00 buffet) Yay :) * If you are looking for gourmet then it's a Nay :(

There you go, The Garden Court All You Can Eat Lunch Buffet for $10.00 is alright for what you pay for.

© 2017