M on High

New thing today, went to M on High in Moorpark. Busy, steady but amazing. Service excellent, food took awhile probably 30-45 minutes, but fine because we were socializing and having fun. Friend ordered the pot pie - yum crust but I thought it was dry and she thought the bell pepper was off putting, but overall good. I ordered the short ribs with mushroom risotto. Amazing so so good. A lovely treat. Also highly recommend the "I'm Your Huckleberry" drink not pictured, but oh so good - lemony deliciousness. I recommend reservations but we really enjoyed our dinner there! We will be going back and recommending and going back with others. 

My First Lasagna

New thing today, made my first Lasagna! I used the Joy of Cooking recipe. I made tomato sauce and meatballs from scratch which was pretty cool and easier than I thought it would be. The only downside is it just takes a really long time. Next time I will also know the better ratios for stuff since it was all new and I wasn't sure if it was enough or looked right. 

A few lessons learned.

In reading the recipe ahead of time, they mention "Cooked Sausage" but provide no amount of sausage so I wasn't sure if it was optional or required for the recipe. I figured it was optional, and in making the lasagna, it instead looks like it should have been in there. I left out the sausage on the grocery list and only made the lasagna with the meatballs since it looked like that would be enough meat. In making the lasagna I started thinking thinking it would not be enough. Instead it turned out alright and descent amount of meat in the lasagna. Final thought - add the cooked sausage in.

There was a phrase "1 medium onion, halved" which was confusing. I ended up choosing the interpretation, 1 medium onion that is cut in half and put in the food processor. Although it is very confusing... eh.

Anyway the other issue I ran into is not enough sauce. I thickened it too much, and it seemed like it wasn't enough. Luckily I had some tomato sauce in a jar, and added it at the end on top, since it looked way too dry when I finished layering. In the future I will make more from scratch tomato sauce and use it for the lasagna.

Math. I've never cooked with lasagna before. Since we were baking the noodles, I wasn't sure how long to boil them before putting them in the casserole dish. Also I didn't count the slices before starting to layer, so I wasn't sure how many to put in each layer. I ended up miscalculating and having to re-do a few layers, and having an extra lasagna noodle with no home. Eh, future - will plan it better. 

The Good News

It feels super risky cooking something from scratch having never made it before. It's a lot of food and I hate wasting, but I got over it. I also hate making mistakes, so I made a few, but the food still ended up edible and descent. I still would have liked to taste it without the canned sauce, but at least it was there and I didn't end up with a dry lasagna. 

Meatballs and tomato sauce were way easier than I thought it would be. I think I love this tomato sauce thing and may start making it from scratch from now on. So cool. I used canned whole tomatoes, and would totally be ok doing that in the future. A healthy and easy new food I can do a lot of things with! Yeay tomato sauce!

I'm excited to try this again and it's one of my husband's favorite foods so that's pretty cool. 

Verdict - yum :) Relatively healthy too! Really glad :) 

As a side note - I ended up watching The Godfather while making the lasagna - awesome. 

Sirloin steaks on the griddle!

New thing, cooking sirloin steaks on the WHOLE griddle. Mmmmmm. Red. Meat. Tasty! 

Custom Melt - Tuna and Cuban

New thing today, had Custom Melt Moorpark deliciousness again! It was a bit of a rough Monday, so we had dinner out. They had run out of the Irish Melt, so decided to get a Tuna sandwich instead. Unfortunately they brought me a Cuban instead of my order, but it looked amazing anyway. Here's a photo.

The Tuna was AMAZING DELICIOUS! Oh so good! Wow! It had some heat/spice to it which was really nice.

And of course, the chips and cheese dip. Fresh chips are incredible!

Oh and the Pinot Noir is excellent as well.

A nice dinner to end a not so nice Monday. Cheers all!

Din Tai Fung - Americana Glendale

New thing today, tried Din Tai Fung at the Americana at Glendale. Din Tai Fung are Taiwanese dumplings filled with soup. My sister raved and loved it, so we had to try it and took mom out for Mother's day celebration there. 

The husband likes ordering these better than dim sum ordering - as you have a menu sheet and choose - sort of like for Japanese sushi. Then you get 8-10 pieces per order so it's larger for sharing. 

We got the pork dumplings here. 

There's a special way to eat them. As the soup is hot and may burn your tongue, they recommend breaking the dumpling into a soup spoon, drinking the soup first, then eating it. We did this for some dumplings, but I found that if you wait awhile, and let the dumplings cool off, it's worth it to just bite it whole and get the mouth full of juicy warm soup into your bite of dumpling.

These are the shrimp and pork shumai dumplings filled with soup, which a few of us thought were tastier than the regular pork ones. The fuzzy in the photo is the steam :) I liked these dipped into soy sauce and a bit of vinegar, than chomped whole once it has cooled - if you can fit in your mouth :) Good stuff.

Bak Choi - plain and not great. Sort of a waste, but at least it was healthy.

We also got wonton soup and pork friend rice. I have no photos of that, but it was average. I prefer regular dim sum wonton soup and I wasn't loving the fried rice.

Below are the to-go containers. I like how they bagged it up for you, and mom took the goodies home.

Overall I was a bit underwhelmed. We waited an hour for our table, but they at least had the tech to get my phone number and send a text when our table was almost ready, so we could enjoy ourselves around the Americana and just come back once our table was almost ready. That was awesome. Service was EXCELLENT overall! It was a packed night but everyone was fantastic. At the entrance you can watch them make the dumplings, so that was really neat. Overall just a fun experience.

The food itself wasn't that great. I felt like I wasn't loving the flavors. But it was rather a fun experience and a very very new one for us all. It was more fun than flavorful. Others at my table liked the food better and I would gladly go back. I thought it was good, just not great. Also my heart still belongs to regular dim sum! 

Try it! There are a ton of fans and it really appeals to quite a few people :) 

Yogurt as a substitute for Sour Cream

New thing today, tried yogurt as a substitute for sour cream. Earlier I was pinning, and looking for uses for yogurt since we got some extra for a recipe we tried earlier this week. I knew but re-read that you can use it as a substitute for sour cream. We had burritos for dinner and decided to try it. YUP - super tasty and similar to sour cream. I loved it! Plus it's healthy too, so it works! I want to try using it as a substitute or mix it with Mayonnaise and see how that tastes. Oh it's good finding something yummy/healthy you can eat :) We just used regular yogurt, but here is one guide from Stonyfield, and another from Chobani. Their yogurt is thicker, and different, but I'd be willing to try it :) woo!

Costco - BBQ Brisket Coleslaw Sandwich

New thing today, tried a BBQ Brisket Coleslaw sandwich at Costco - crazy right? I think it's one of those limited "trial" speciality items, because I've never seen it before. It sounded yummy so we tried it - it was very very tasty. The Brisket had a ton of pepper but it went really well with the coleslaw and in the thick bread. Overall this was amazing yum and I'm glad we tried it. Only had half to try to keep the portions in check with the Weight Watchers and all :) Go try it!

The New Standard Roll Food Truck - Superman Roll

New thing today, tried The New Standard Roll food truck. Found it at Granada Hills and decided to try it. I love those soy paper wrapped sushi rolls in burrito format, so I tried the Superman roll which has crab, tuna, salmon, cucumber and avocado. It also comes with a side of something tangy spicy. Delicious! We also got a dragon roll (no photo). Everything was delicious! Will definitely eat here again and enjoyed it!

The Superman Burrito

Baked Eggplant - Salting and Following Recipe

New thing today, tried baked eggplant following this recipe I found online. I made an incredibly successful baked eggplant a previous night impromptu, and decided to try salting and following the recipe for this eggplant. Turned out not good and not nearly as tasty as my own concoction. I salted the eggplant and drained out the extra water. Then baked it and added the olive oil with a brush, the salt and parmesan. They turned out way too salty and texture not as nice as I liked. Next time I will do it like I originally made it. This time, mine turned out better than the recipe :)

Baked Sweet Potatoes

New thing today, baked sweet potatoes. This was incredibly easy and we had a relative make it and it turned out delicious, so decided to try it ourselves. All you do is wash/scrub the potato whole, stab a few times with fork tines and bake at 400 for 45-60 minutes. We baked them around 60 minutes and they turned out super soft and mushy. I would probably bake it for less time in the future as I like them firmer, but overall they were way easy and tasty. We'll be doing this again - and it's easy and healthy! It's something that I'm going to go for this year with cooking.

Baja Fresh - Steak Nachos

New thing today, had Baja Fresh Steak Nachos. Ya it was that kind of day and I wanted nachos. They hit the spot - delish! Loved the fresh tomatoes on top and I think I was craving/needing protein because I was spacey all day, and the idea of meat/beans was really good. So Thank You Nachos for fulfilling a hunger :) It was 14 Weight Watchers points for half an order. Sort of worth it.

Took Mother-In-Law out for Valentines

New thing today, took out the mother-in-law for Valentines, at a food truck area. Husband and I started a tradition of celebrating Valentines day the day before, because our first Valentines together I had a flight on Feb 14, so we did Valentines on the 13th, and we've just kept up that tradition. Anyway mother-in-law would be alone and possibly lonely and sensitive, so we took her out for dinner and hung out. I think she enjoyed our company and we all had a nice time. It was casual, hanging out at a food truck area as a family.

Valentines day should be about love! Not just between a couple, but just love between any and all people. Share the love! Hope you all have a Happy Valentines Day :)

Chilean Seabass

New thing today, tried Chilean Seabass. Went to Market Broiler tonight and they had a new menu item - Asian inspired Chilean Seabass. We watch a lot of food shows and I've never had this so I wanted to try it. The dish itself was quite good. The seabass had an asian soy glaze with spinach and sushi rice. The sushi rice tasted a bit like coconut. The spinach was excellent. The seabass was good too. It wasn't great or my favorite fish, but it had a very rich fatty-ish texture and flavor. Overall it was nice. New thing I finally got to try :) 

Linguine with Clam Sauce - Chi Chi's

New thing today, tried the clam Linguine with Clam Sauce with the White Cream sauce from Chi Chi's. This was delicious and a new favorite! Saucy, clammy and seafood goodness! Mmmmmm.

Griddle and Angus Grass Fed Beef

New thing today, two things actually, cooked with an iron skillet griddle and had grass fed beef. I was craving meat. Decided to get a cast iron griddle and some meat, rather than buy steak from a restaurant. Got the delicious meat from Pavilions, and I've always wanted to try grass fed beef. Got the griddle from Cost Plus.

Seasoned the skillet and put the steak on. Accidentally undercooked it, but the skillet was still warm so I was able to keep cooking some undercooked pieces. Overall it was a success. The grass fed beef was darker in color, and I found it tasty! Will be getting it again :) I also liked cooking on the skillet.

Yeay new things that work out! I will also cook it better next time too :) 

Turkey Bacon wrapped Chicken

New thing today, decided to try some turkey bacon wrapped around chicken, fried in a skillet. Turned out alright. Didn't love it but the husband did. Didn't turn out horrible and it was edible and good. Success overall :) 

Lettuce Wrapped Burger - Five Guys

New thing today, had a lettuce wrapped burger or a "bun less" burger at Five Guys. It's my first time ever eating a burger without the bun. Overall, it's just ok. Nice without the bread, like a meaty messy lettuce wrap. Tasted descent actually. OF course it does taste better with the bun, but it does fairly well without the bun. I would do it again and probably enjoy it. It's just a bit messy to eat and all, so be prepared. Yeay new healthier things :)

Here's a photo from another guy's blog - pretty similar to my burger.

Wicked Spoon - Cosmopolitan Hotel Las Vegas

New thing today, tried Wicked Spoon at the Cosmopolitan Hotel Las Vegas. Let me just say I love the Cosmopolitan Hotel. It's very swanky, posh and cool. I even love their commercial Misfit Right In. I heard fabulous things about Wicked Spoon so we were excited to try it out.

I was a little disappointed, but it was still a really cool place. Ambiance - FABULOUS. The place feels so cool and posh. Service - EXCELLENT! Presentation - AMAZING. If you love beautiful food, this is not your typical cattle call buffet. It's artsy, and they had insanely small cute pretty and artsy dishes you would see on Top Chef. Everything looked amazing. They kick up their dishes with Foie Gras, Truffle Oil and decadent ingredients. Taste - I'd say half and half. Half the dishes were good to excellent. The other half were just average/ok. If you love dessert this place is incredible as there's an entire island dedicated to little desserts and a gelato bar. An EXCELLENT in desserts and such.

Overall my favorite dish was a Foie Gras shot glass thing with a vinaigrette jello or something that just tasted amazing but I wasn't sure if it was a dressing, topping, or something. Whatever it was, it was really yum. Desserts were excellent - my favorite the coconut maroons. Pizza and bread were pretty amazing too. Shrimp was anything and muscles were incredible. I was disappointed by the fried chicken wings, truffle potatoes, steak, sushi (or lack thereof), and all. We tried too many dishes to remember them all. I would go again except I would maybe choose lunch instead of dinner, and be willing to try more things. The seafood was excellent, but the other meats not so much.

Enjoy!

Also here's the Misfit Right In commercial I was talking about :)

Umami - Truffle Season - Truffled Ahi Tartare Salad

New thing today, tried the Truffled Ahi Tartare Salad from Umami It's "Truffle Season" Menu. OMG I am such a fan. Anyway watching the weight, so wanted to pick one of the healthier menu items so tried the Ahi Salad. Wow very very good. Always great food and service at Umami. Anyway it comes with arugula on top, ahi sashimi grade tartare at the bottom, and on the side mushrooms and sweet relish onions. Great stuff. The texture was a little soft and mushy for me and it would have been nice to have other textures like some crunch, but otherwise very very very yum :) I must go back and save some points and try some other stuff on their Truffle Season menu!

On a side note, I love the truffle season shirts the waiters wear at Umami! Support, go and enjoy :) 

Full House Seafood

New thing today, ate at Full House Seafood in Chinatown LA - DELICIOUS! It looks a little sketchy and run down from the front, but it has delicious quality food inside. Everything was delicious and cheap, and there were good healthy options. Just try anything, and bring more people so you can try lots of different things - family style. Can't wait to go again :) New favorite place in Chinatown.

Green beans - possibly best dish that meal :) Very flavorful and green healthy!

Scallops with Mushrooms - really flavorful and just yum.

Shrimp Fried Rice - husband's favorite and it was really good.

Noodles with calamari, shrimp, vegetables and possibly other things. Really good as well! I wish I knew what this is called - I think they're pan fried noodles.