You Are At The Archives for 2013

Monday, December 2, 2013 in

Ribs for One

The last time I made ribs was for my mom and sister. It was tough and dry and I was sorry.

A friend treated me to his dad's recipe once and because it was multiphotofantastic (memorably tasty too) and I had watched him do it, I knew it would be a safe attempt. 

My patience again never does me any kitchen favours. I'm sure my antsiness prevented it from reaching its full rib potential! Instead of a 24 hour marinade, it went down to 20 minutes. 2.5 hours in the oven because I don't have a barbecque. I really need a barbecque. 

Verdict. Tonight, I am very happy to eat alone.

Dry rub: paprika, cumin, onion powder, cinnamon

Sauce: soy sauce, dry keen mustard, brown sugar, worchestshire

Tuesday, November 26, 2013 in

My Eyes Don't Always Taste the Good

Turkey italian sausage stuffed mushrooms. Not an attractive dish, but my tastebuds were not phased by my eyes' need to be entertained. 


When I get sick, a few things happen. 1: I deny I'm sick until I am rubbing my head wishing the scenarios in my head would stop repeating (swear not crazy, just sick, but not that way!) 2: I will literally say, 'Mommy?' outloud hoping my whimper will sound off like a mommy bat signal. 3: the only thing I can eat and am convinced work better than advil is congee.

My first time making congee (ginger and onion) and although some would describe it as mushy rice, it was bowl licking good. THREE bowls licking good. I slept for 15 hours that day. 


Monday, November 25, 2013

Take One Step Forward, Ten Steps Back

Had a night with a light wrap. One scrambled egg, pea shoots, yellow peppers and onions.


The next day, my body said 'no. You must destroy me.' A 2am Shannon obeyed. Half the monstrosity below was eaten in a half asleep sitting.


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A Savings to Remember

$6 frozen teriyaka salmon split into five lunch meals. I AM bragging. You may not feel this is a moment of accomplishment, but my future rsp contributions are cheering for me.


Portobello mushrooms drizzled with a balsamic, honey, currants and onions sauce. Two cloves of roasted garlic to freshen my breath.

Cheap > Health

It's that same battle again. Trying to eat healthy or try to eat disgustingly cheap. One day I fell into the pile of mush cheap. Pork and molasses beans and safeway brand mac and cheese. I couldn't even bring myself to spend 10 cents more to get KD. I will kill my insides before passing up on a better deal.

I bought a jar of kernals. Smaller portions, less salt and less butter or none at all. Best not to have any, but I am no best.

Healthy, An Attempt To Be

Bake your broccoli stems.



My continued effort to eat healthier than my month of meat, potatoes and beer. It was short lived.


Tuesday, October 15, 2013 in

Days 23-25 Paris

Any money saving that I had done before was pretty much thrown out the window when I got to Paris. We met up with our two other friends who had already been in the city for a few days now. We listened to them describe all their incredible meals over our own incredible meal at the Creperie Framboise. After having the lunch special of savoury and sweet crepes, I knew that the next two days would be expensive ones.

When we arrived, Anthony's aunt and uncle greeted us with a Chinese dinner. Duck, bak choy, tofu, shrimp and rice. I had five bowls of rice. Even after consuming an entire bag of rice, we were still craving Asian cuisine. This was the first city that we dared tried anything other than the local food. Sushi in Istanbul just didn't sound right. Paris is known to have a pretty good Vietnamese community, so we heard that Pho is safe choice. We had the most expensive Pho we will ever have. Two large bowls of Pho, one order of spring rolls, one order of shrimp salad rolls and two beers: 44 euros (before tip). It tasted fine, but their 10 euro Pho did not come close to our Vancouver $8 Pho that is twice the size.
On our last day, we met with Anthony's cousins at Baroche, a brasserie that his cousins frequent and are familiar with the staff. Here we had the French meal experience. That meant, a three hour meal. There was no rush to take or orders, or for us to have our order taken. This is the perfect setting for catching up and meeting new people, but not if you need to be anywhere. Along with visiting the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and the Musee d'Orsay, having a long (regular French) meal was part of the Paris To Do's, so I wasn't worried about the time at all. Anthony's cousins ordered the appetizers for us: homemade duck and foie gras pie with figs and red onion marmelade, and a plate of different types of sausages (morcilla, chorizo, paleta bellota). Their menu had many choices for plats, but Anthony and I went with the special which was a slow cooked beef brisket with tagliatelle. Each having our own of course.
And to round off our final hours in Paris, we went to Montmartre and picked a random brasserie on a corner. It had a busy patio, red moody lighting and we were tired of walking. Because I had a last minute switch from duck to the beef brisket at lunch, I decided to make up for that void by getting the confit canard. It was a bit dry. I added two mojitos to my order and for once on this trip, I did not feel bloated after a drink. Or two.

Friday, October 11, 2013 in

Days 20-22 Istanbul

As always, we celebrated our arrival in a new city with a beer. The Palatium was next door to the hostel and it had bean bag chairs, so it made sense for us to go there. I was fairly full from all the bread I had been eating the day before and that morning. I could only fit in a lentil soup.




We trusted trip advisor and went to the Meat House for dinner. The first of many kebaps was had that night. Our spicy lamb kebaps were satisfactory, but what we are looking for are exceptional kebaps, not satisfactory.


Our second day was pretty packed with sights and our lunch had to be quick. A point and choose store caught our attention. As long as you're not afraid to try new food, these places are an easy option. You don't need to butcher names of dishes. Just point at the food you find the most appetizing in the window and it'll end up on your plate. I had more lamb kebap with fries. 

Back in Warsaw, we met Rhys from Australia who had been to Istanbul recently. He warned us of the cheap donars on the street. He said cheap street meat could be pigeon and not regular beef, chicken or lamb. I was actually on a mission to find some street meat. Even if it was slightly questionable, I wanted to make it part of the experience. After breaking past the Spice Bazaar, we took some lefts and rights before stumbling across a small square that had exactly what I was looking for. 2tl for a chicken donar. That's $1. I ate it, I felt fine after, and I'd do it again. 

We were staying in the main tourist area, Sultanahmet, and wanted to get in some local night life. Our answer was Taksim. Taksim is where people go for a good meal, then go finish their nights at clubs and bars. Beer isn't always served in Turkish restaurants and we had to face that reality when searching for a place for dinner. We finally found a cafe that would meet our food and drinks requirement. It actually served american food. It's theme was NY and less Turkish, but we didn't mind the break from kebaps. Soup and sandwich was what I needed at the moment and not more greasy meat.


This night ended with beers at a bar with live Turkish folk music. I couldn't understand a word being sung, but it sounded wonderful to my ears. The day would have been considered an absolute success except for our bed bugs scare at 3am in the morning. When we returned to the hostel, a guest was leaving because of his bed bug bites all over his body. Anthony had red marks, but wasn't sure if they were from bed bugs. Either way, the hostel had them and we had to check in to a hotel at 4am for our last two nights. I tell this story to cover the free breakfast that came with the stay. It wasn't big denny's still breakfast, but it was better than the free or paid ones provided by the hostels. I woke up for 8:30am the next two days just to get the breakfast. Only to fall asleep right after before having to leave for the day.



On the second day, we were at the Bosphorus pier and saw many restaurants selling 6tl fish sandwiches. I made Anthony go there with me for lunch. It seemed another locally loved item. I felt more sketch eating this over the 2tl donar. The type of fish isn't specified and they always have a dozen filets on the grill. Although that meamt it took 1 minute for ys to get our sandwiches from the time he took our order, that just meant our pieces had been grilled long before we arrived. Fish sandwiches were consumed and never will be meet again.


Turkish tea is very popular and is inexpensive. Most places will sell it for as low as 1tl and some will give it out as part of the meal. I had one on our 2 hour cruise along the Bosphorus.


I continued to indulge my street food curiosity and had a boiled corn on the cob. Corn stands for 1-1,50 tl cobs are everywhere. Same with roasted chestnuts, pretzel-like things and even mussels. I almost had mussels, but I chickened out. My stomach hasn't been disturbed too much on the trip and I'm too close to the end to start. Corn with an unreasonable amount of salt (sprinkled by the vendor) is what I'll dare take for now.


Our last meal in Istanbul was recommended by two gals back at the hostel. They had been there three times since arriving. It was a few tram stops away from Sultanahmet, but it was worth it and we understood why the gals kept returning. We were clearly away from the tourist area and that explained why we had not seen a restaurant like this before and also why the bill came out cheaper than expected. We ordered kebaps, but the place also provides toppings, seasoning and condiments for free. Turkish tea as well! With pops, it came to $10 each. We were full in to the next day.


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Days 17-19 Bucharest

Bucharest. At the bottom of the list for locations on this trip. We had two days too many and the weather was shit. There wasn't much to do or see. To be fair, after a while, much of the buildings start looking the same from place to place, so it's unfortunate that this was near the end if the trip. It really had to blow me out of the water.


Even though we had three days, we didn't have much opportunity to venture out for Romanian food. It was mostly due to us trying to save.

When we arrived, I grabbed a can of beans and sausage. My thriftiness was completed with a leftover bun from the train ride.


Penne arrabiata for dinner. We were out and needed something quick, and I meeded it to be less than $10. 17 leis = $6!

It was street meat for lunch the next day. My lunch meals had to be under $5, so sit down was off the menu. We hit a shoarma stand. The menu was in Romanian, so I just picked the item that was the cheapest. 12 leis, $4. I believe it was lamb. Lamb, lettuce, garlic sauce, pickles, onions and french fries (inside the bun). I sat my butt on the curb and indulged. A mess was made and so was happiness.


My favourite dinner EXPERIENCE was in Bucharest. The moldavian stew with polenta tasted good, but it's what the restaurant provided aside from food is what made my day. The Caru 'cu Bere had cabaret dances performing in the lobby every so often. Waiters would continue to serve while the dancers entertained. Why isn't my life a musical yet?



The Caru 'cu Bere meal was my one "splurge", so the next two meals had to be from my own kitchen. Fried rice and potato thins. They're not normally a combo, but my taste buds said it was all good.


Not that I needed it, but I granted myself two pastries. I was supposed to save the second for the next morning before the Istanbul flight, but the pastry monster emerged.


Thursday, October 3, 2013 in

Days 14-16 Budapest

It's tough to follow up the halusky, and Budapest did not come close. For our first meal, our hostel suggested a place called, Pozsonyi. Hungarian cuisine for a good price and generous portions. So for about $5, I had a chicken schnitzel over a mound of spaghetti. On top of that was another large mound of cheese that I didn't find necessary. The dish was extremely salty and cheese couldn't save it. It was cheap, but not worth it.


Hostels often have free meal days and the first night we landed on the Hungarian meal! It was basically a beef, potatoes and carrots stew. It was satisfying, but the family like eating setting is what I'll remember more. The hosts also gave us a couple of shots to share all around. 


The second day, we grabbed a quick breakfast at a bakery. Anthony had a breakfast pizza slice for 200 forints ($0.66). Although I was tempted by an apple strudel, I went for the pastry I'd never tried before. It was shaped like two cinnamon buns filled with vanilla and strawberry jam. Not extremely adventurous, but I'm not a jam person, so I thought I was pretty extreme.


Dinner was just at the quickest restaurant we could find. I had goulash soup (first goulash of the trip!) and coleslaw. The pickles cabbage was the best slaw I've ever had. Then again, I only have KFC, Safeway and White Spot as past competitors.


After dinner, I basically had $8 left in forints to spend for our last day. I spent $3 on postage stamps. It was a sad lunch. $2 spent at KFC. A mini sandwich and small fries. We had a 15 hour ride to Bucharest at 19:00, so I had to grab food for dinner and breakfast. We found a grocery store where I bought a 2L water, 2 spinach strudels and 2 other buns/pastries and then a chicken baguette. All totaled to $4.50. I went $1.50 over. Not bad.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013 in

Day 13 Bratislava

Bratislava was my most successful travel eats so far. Their traditional dish is called bryndzove halusky. It's potato dumplings smothered in goat or sheep cheese and topped with scrambled bacon. It reminded me of mac and cheese, so while it didn't exactly introduce me to any new flavours, I think I enjoyed it most because it gave me a homey feel. It also isn't bad for three euros. Side of beer, please.



We finally decided to make a meal for once. There was a kitchen right in our room, so the stove was calling for us. Vegetables from the market, a bag of rice and a bottle of red wine: six euros. We ate dinner on the hostel terrace and laughed at our stupidity for eating out as much as we had so far.

Monday, September 30, 2013 in

Days 11-12 Warsaw

It had to happen once. We missed our train to Zagreb and had to make a last minute decision at 10pm on where we would go to next. Warsaw!

It was cold and rainy, but we were determined to make the best of it. Peirogies were the perfect remedy to a defeated mood. The beer contributed as well.


When it came to dinner, I stuck with a sandwich from the corner store. Money saving can't be glamorous, but the saving was done so that we could go out at night. Anthony and I went to a neat area that was crammed with a dozen tiny bars. The beer was cheap and when we were done, we decided we had to have vodka in Poland before we left. So we dropped by a vodka bar. Not that we needed more to drink. That last drink prompted us to grab a late night snack. Except, it wasn't much of a snack. We each ordered a huge shawarma plate. We'll eat better at the next place.

Thursday, September 26, 2013 in

Days 09-10 Vienna

I made an attempt to eat better in Vienna. My effort was lame.
It started off okay with the scrambled eggs, but then lunch came. A friend recommended I go to Prater, an amusement park, and have lunch at Schweizenhaus where they serve a roast pork knuckle that is to die for. When that 2lbs of meat was dropped in front of me, I knew eating better wasn't going to happen in Vienna.



I had leftovers and finished the rest for dinner and then washed down the crispy skin, fat and juicy meat with many glasses of strum. Strum is young wine that is dangerously easy to drink. I had many.


 On our wine tour, I had pork schnitzel with fries that were most likely deep fried twice. The schnitzel in Frankfurt was made better and, if possible, healthier. Less greasy.

Dinner was at a restaurant in the Nasch Market, a strip full of restaurants with patios. It's lit up with a red glow and the air is clouded with cigarette smoke. We found an asian fusion restaurant and although I'm always skeptical about eating at fusion restaurants, it turned out to be my best meal to that point. It was grilled vegetables with tofu and rice. I have been missing home food, so it came close to Chinese food and provided food comfort.