The Adventures of Tin-Tin

Rice Gourmet Chicken Teriyaki and the Cheap Eats Blog

For lunch today, I tried Delimex's Gourmet Chicken Teriyaki bowls we bought at Costco last week. I wasn't looking forward to it because I hate frozen Chinese food, so BOY was I surprised. So tasty and so filling! I was kinda disappointed that they are 9 points on Weight Watchers, but they are 450 calories, 4.5 grams of fat and 3 grams of fiber. Not bad!

I did a search on on these tasty teriyaki bowls and stumbled upon a really awesome post about them on a really awesome blog: Cheap Eats. Check it out! I am sure this blog will come in handy now that I am spending every last bit of money I can spare after rent, bills and student loans on planning my wedding.

Fried Coke

I was reading ljcfyi.com and she mentioned "fried coke." It's fried cola-flavored batter topped with cola syrup, whipped cream and a cherry on top.  It's the newest snack to hit state fairs, but I haven't been to a state fair in a few years so I guess I am missing out. I wonder why I didn't see it at the Gilroy Garlic Festival? I really want to try it though...Just a bite. :)

Photo from Candy Addict

Cactus Fruit

Ooooh. My coworker, R, just stopped by with some cactus fruit. In Spanish, it is known as "tuna." It was already peeled and looked like kiwi fruit. I ate it seeds and all. It tasted like a pear and guava hybrid. Very tasty and refreshing.

Photo from About.com

A few weeks ago, I got to try the big fleshy part of the nopal cactus at Consuelo Mexican Bistro on Santana Row. That was the first time I had nopales and I found it to be slightly awesome--it tasted like a green bell pepper but with a better texture. Here is what the cactus looks like when it's with its friends. Can you say "kilabot"??? AYEEE!!!

Photo from Rain.org.

I want to draw a big happy face on it, put curlers in between the cactus fruit and name her Milagros. Millie for short. :)

Pao de Queijo a.k.a. Brazilian Cheese Puffs

These little heavenly cheesey poofs and some delightfully strong Brazilian coffee were souveniers from C's trip to Brazil. I love them. OOOOOOOOH. I do.

So tender. Like a warm yellow cheese flavored freshly toasted savory marshmallow.

 

The outside was crisp and dry-looking like portuguese bread and the inside was moist, tender and almost gelatinous if you know what I mean. It had a nice resistance which just made me want to eat more. I have eaten about 5 already since they came out of the oven about 10 minutes ago. I kept *messing up* when I tried to split it in half for the camera, so I had to eat my mistakes quickly. With butter.

The closest thing I have had to this is the bibinka at Landmark Mall in the Philippines--incidentally the BEST bibinka I have ever had. It had white cheese (kesong puti) and was made with rice flour so it had a slight mochi-ness about it. Pao de queijo is completely different, but still very familiar. 

The batch I made is from a mix that was very simple to prepare. Or you can try making it from scratch. Here is a decent sounding recipe for Pao de Queijo Cheese Puffs from Suite 101.