I like Chinese food pretty well. I first learned to use chopsticks under the tutelage of some South Korean Marines while working with them - you know, when in Rome, eat like a Korean. The chopsticks they use are slender and of metal - rather like knitting needles. So using the fat wooden things here in the US is very easy indeed.

Especially if you're eating something round like peanuts. The Indonesian restaurants in Amsterdam would serve a dish of those with most meals, and their sticks were typically round hard plastic, rather than the disposable wood ones. I'm sure they did it just to have a laugh at the diners' expense.

Khajiit wishes there was a good Chinese restaurant in his town. We had one that he really liked going to once upon a time. It fell on hard times, the quality of the food suffered and the place was dirty so Khajiit stopped eating there. Not long thereafter, it closed.

Never do buffets though. Being a little guy, Khajiit never seems to eat his money's worth, and he also has issues seeing a multitude of people handling his food

Sounds like you were the only person standing between them and bankruptcy! I have one rule in Chinese restaurants: If I can't recognize the meat by sight (such as shrimp or crab) = I won't eat it.

* My favorite of all time is Rangoons - plain or crab, either one.

Lol, Khajiit has a similar rule about food!

I love Chinese food, but sadly Chinese restaurants are no longer an option for me due to food allergies.

I learned how to use chopsticks in college. My roommate and I decided that whenever we made popcorn, we would eat it with chopsticks. There’s no way to hide that you’re using an air-popper in a dorm, so gathering around the bowl with sticks in hand became a nightly social event for our hall.

Mmmmm----Chinese Food. Thankfully I've had a pizza this morning and still digesting that BBQ Baby Back Rib Burger from yesterday.

Frijoles charros negros in the pot!

Morning pizza and a cup of coffee.

COFFEE!

Coffee---the mana of life.

Only problem is that the work coffee sucks. It's more like brown water.

Need me some nitro coffee.

The perfect coffee for someone with A.D.D. =






Stay focused on the task at hand!

As the vast majority of my so-called meals (breakfast excepted) continue to consist of bland soups, bland salads, and an occasional WowButter sammich, I've little new to report except that, following advice given earlier in this thread, I have begun keeping bread in my freezer. It does indeed work like a charm. That said, I think a 2-3min thaw time is overly optimistic. 5-7min is more realistic. Of course this can be sped up by heating slices in a toaster for several seconds.

My sole negative with freezer bread is that I almost never remember to set slices out to thaw prior to meal time.

Decrepit, I happily keep my sliced bread in the freezer as well since my usage is fairly low. Since I generally toast it anyway, no thaw time is really needed for me. If you know you are going to have a sammich that day, perhaps you could stick a couple slices in a plastic bag when you first go into the kitchen in the morning to begin your day or are making breakfast. That way they will be plenty ready before lunch. Another advantage of a plastic bag is the bread can't even think about beginning to go stale/dry from air exposure.

It doesn't require more than a minute's thaw time; usually by the time the sandwich is made (the bread is thawed). No need for any special early removal. Bread is too dense to form ice crystals, so there is no sogginess at all in frozen bread when it thaws. (hence why you can toast it right out of the freezer = no ice crystals at all).

I had a cheeseburger and bottled water.

Deep dish pizza and cheesy bread sticks.

Tonight, an easy shrimp and sausage paella is on the menu!

Supper: Crappy salad with lettuce, fresh veggies, sharp cheddar, tuna, spices, Ik Isle dressing. Boiled egg on the side. Half a Pink Lay apple for dessert. (This week's Fuji apple selection looked rancid.) Water.

Lunch: Yummy WowButter sammich on 100% whole-grain wheat. Half a Pink Lady apple. Milk.

Breakfast: Toasted 100% whole-grain wheat bread slice smeared with butter substitute and sugar-free strawberry preserves. Banana. Milk.

This are pretty much my standard home diet, other than:
...More days than not I have canned soup or chili rather than WowButter for lunch.
...I rotate between a number of dressings for my supper salads.
...Some salads jettison tuna, though it's a rarity.
...I prefer Fuji over Pink Lady when the store has decent Fujis, which is far from a given.
...I sometimes substitute brown rice for lettuce at supper, but this has become rare since converting from frozen to fresh raw veggies.

And here is the finished product. Shrimp and andouille sausage paella.

This looks yummy. Maybe next incarnation I'll be given a desire and patience to prepare food beyond what can be quickly heated in a microwave. Heck, sometimes defrosting frozen broccoli is too much bother for me. I usually force myself to do it, but it's a struggle.

Khajiit - that looks delish indeed! I love all the ingredients in there that I can see.

Khajiit knows you have very particular needs when it comes to your diet. You mentioned brown rice in your post prior to this one's "finished product" post. May Khajiit ask why you only rarely pair brown rice with your fresh veggies?


It was very easy! Andouille sausage, shrimp, one onion, half a decent sized red bellpepper, 2 serrano peppers for heat, a little minced garlic, chicken broth, clam broth, arborio rice, red cayenne pepper powder, smoked paprika, olive oil, sea salt, and fresh ground black pepper. That's the entire ingredient list. Also, it all cooks in the same pan/skillet.

For me, the frozen mixed veggies I used to buy blend better with rice, prolly because they are soft side-dish veggies. It might also be that I need to find new varieties of dressing / sauce for my fresh raw veggie / rice combos.

Had Mac & Cheese and Root Beer this morning.

Had brown rice, fresh raw veggies and tuna for supper. Added sea salt, paprika and Mrs Dash's Extra Hot Seasoning Blend to the water before cooking the rice, then once done blended in butter substitute. That served as the meal's sauce. Wasn't bad at all. Best topping I've tried for this combo. I think it might be better sans tuna, but the can was already open when I realized it. Next time I'll try it that way. Think I'll also crumble in a hard boiled egg rather than eat it on the side.

Oh yeah, half a Pink Lady apple for dessert.

Water to drink.

Everything is better with Andouille sausage in it! Have you tried cooking it into your spaghetti sauce? MMMMM!

Khajiit has not! This might be next on the list though!

Bold: Half a Pink Lady? Isn't that the vampire hidden inside Castle Skingrad?


http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/elders...=20130816095419


Your diet just got very ... interesting!

I had popcorn and coffee a hardy meal.

You'll never go back to plain marinara again! It is VERY addictive, lol.

At work and ate sushi. Had a little portion cup full of a mixture of sriracha, teriyaki, and wasabi and I left the chopsticks in the cup. Well the chopsticks fell out of the cup and fell on Khajiit's pants, getting that mixture all over them. Now this one smells like hot sauce and garlic.

I'm thinking the lesson here is simple: Don't wear pants?

Exactly!

I ate some Freddy's chicken tenders with fires and a drink.

This week's selection of Fujis and Pink Ladies looked abysmal. I opted for a pre-bagged HoneyCrisps, an apple new to me. They are advertised as crisp (duh!) and sweet yet tart. The two I've eaten thus far fit that mold. I'm not normally a fan of tart apples, but these aren't half bad. That said, Fuji and Pink Lady easily remain my apples of choice, when stock is fit to eat.

Walmart was out of frozen broccoli yet again, as well as my bread of choice. (Rather, my bread of choice within my budget.) Their few red onions looked rancid so I settled for sweet. Was lucky in grabbing the last jar of Sugar Free Strawberry Preserves visible on the shelf. Goofed up and forgot to pick up butter substitute, though it was written on the list. I've done so several times since they moved butters to the opposite end of that display counter. Always in the past I got butter first, then milk second before moving on to the frozen food isles. Since the switch, milk is now closer than butter. I therefore grab milk first, but forget I have not already picked up butter. Thankfully it doesn't matter all that much this week, as my current tub should last so long as I'm not reasonably frugal.

Am still enjoying my brown rice, raw veggies and, tuna combo with sauce of butter, salt and Ms. Dash Extra Hot Seasoning Blend. It's definitely better with Broccoli added, but Walmart won't cooperate. I find I prefer boiled egg on the side rather than crumbled into the mix.

Almost forgot to mention that Walmart has been out of my canned Chili of choice for some weeks. Picked up a few cans of Hormel Homestyle. Had a can (or rather a can's contents) for lunch today. Besides being bland and overly liquidy it seems to have triggered a migraine, the first Hormel Chili variety I've tried to do so. Didn't notice any obvious flags among the ingredients, but these things can be tricky.

I'm eating a burger right now.

Tonight's dinner is an experiment. Khajiit was wanting something beefy, cheesy, and with potatoes. So, this one browned meat with red onion until the onion was thoroughly sautéed added potatoes sliced thin horizontally, poured in chicken broth, and when the potatoes are done he will add sour cream and a whole bag of Sargento Shredded Cheddar Cheese. Crispy bacon crumble for a topping. We'll see how good it is.

Khajiit, that sounds good. Although more often baked in a casserole dish, that sounds very much like tatos au gratin. Yum!

Yeah it turned out rather soupy. Just waiting on the French Bread and it will be dinner time.

Also, it's funny you called them tatos!

It was good. Not really what Khajiit had in mind but it checked all the boxes of what this one wanted.

And an A&W root beer float for dessert!

I had a pepperoni and mushroom pizza for lunch today. It was pretty good.

Had a WowButter sammich for lunch today, which I ate at the computer while watching YouTube videos. By sheer coincidence, while eating I was recommended a video titled: "The Surprisingly Short History of the Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich." Found it enjoyable enough to link here. For what it's worth, though I ate my share PBJ sammiches as a lad I'm more a purist and prefer straight Peanut Butter (now WowButter) sammiches, which is the only way I make 'em nowadays.

I'm drinking off brand Mountain Dew and a bowl of popcorn...a hardy meal.

Been eating "Sweet Tango" apples these past two weeks. I initially tried 'em because last week's Fujis and Pink Ladies didn't look fit to buy, an all too common predicament. Those first Tangos were yummy, and close enough to sort of apple I prefer to make them a viable option. This week's Tango's aren't aren't quite as good as last week's, but are still tasty.

Had my rice/veggies/tuna combo with Prego/Horseradish/Frank's Extra Hot Sauce for topping. I haven't liked this combo very much since switching from frozen mixed veggies to fresh raw veggies. Until today. The difference? I heated the veggies for about six minutes, with a little salt and garlic power sprinkled on before sticking 'em in the micro. Softening 'em up a bit made a big difference.

Tonight's hard boiled egg tasted extra yummy too.

Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast FTW!

A glass of water and a Hot Pocket.