Meal Prep Edition: Breakfast Casserole

I've been prepping scrambled eggs, spinach, mushrooms and apple chicken sausages for a good three weeks now for breakfast aaand, we're just a bit sick of having a regular scramble. 

Which is why I was ecstatic when I came across this recipe that would put my slow cooker to use and prepare my breakfast for the rest of the week! 

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the wonderful creation of my breakfast casserole.

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The recipe is from According to Elle, a MyFitnessPal dietitian, can be found here. The ingredients for my breakfast casserole includes eggs, milk, hashbrown, cheddar cheese, turkey bacon and green onion. Add a pinch of Tabasco and I'm in heaaaaaven. 

Yum!

Paradise Pizza & Pasta | West Portal, San Francisco

O m g. I think I've found my favorite Italian place!

Growing up with my dad working as a professional chef in Italian and French restaurants, I had my fair share of Italian food like chicken piccata, homemade raviolis, the traditional tomato sauce spaghetti, butter lemon fish over salted linguine, chicken alfredo, etc. There was never a need or a craving to go to Italian restaurants, when my dad could've made it at home for dinner. With that said, my dining experience at Italian restaurants (anywhere) is pretty limited. 

My best friend and I were headed to watch the newly released Sundance Film Festival movie, True Story starring James Franco and Jonah Hill. The trailer was what captivated us to this movie and it turns out, the trailer basically summarized the whole story. Before the movie started, we headed out to grab a bite in the West Portal area, which is home to so many cute boutiques and a variety of restaurants. Thanks to our handy dandy Yelp, we decided on Paradise Pizza & Pasta (after two hours, since we both are extremely indecisive people). 

We were seated right away as we entered the restaurant 10 minutes after it opened for dinner. The interior of the restaurant is super cute! We decided to order a bunch of items to try and share and also to get Ilisha acquainted with Italian food so she'll be prepared to visit Italy later this year! How exciting!

For appetizers, we got the calamari and Italian fries. The Italian fries were definitely not what we expected. I thought it was going to be regular fries with Italian seasoning. Boy was I wrong! It was so interesting. Can't say that I'm a fan but definitely worth trying. Paradise definitely gives very generous portions. The appetizers alone would have filled me up. 

Ilisha's choice of three or four cheese pizza. The crust of this thing was AMAZING. Thank goodness I don't live close. I'd be here all the time! 

My choice of a sausage mushroom fusilli, it was interesting. The wine threw me off a bit as it was sweeter than I would've liked. But it was still really good!

And as for dessert (we really shouldn't have), we shared a tiramisu! How cute is this little thing?! We barely finished "this little thing" especially after the full meal we had just a few seconds earlier. 

No wonder so many people love Paradise. It's soo good and definitely delivers in terms of customer service and quality of the food. It's been close to two months since this experience (and I'm just writing about it now) and I need to be back asap!

What's Cookin', Good Lookin' | California

HIYA - A year later and my first short post back is of food. Who would've known? 

I had some chicken wings in the fridge from Trader Joes that I needed to get rid of and I was craving for some crispy chicken wings. So I turned to Google to find me some recipes! 

This recipe for Oven Crisp Chicken Wings is from food.com that uses ingredients that you would commonly have in the kitchen. 

Can you tell that I'm extra proud of the result? They came out SO great. It definitely satisfies my craving for wings and in a healthy way since it requires like two teaspoon of oil to grease the pan and pop it into the oven! 

Definitely keeping this recipe in my books. Yum! 

Fueling Up at The Counter | Fremont, California

Amar and I dedicated a day when we were both free for one of my favorite activity-- Shopping! After accepting a new job offer, I figured I better vamp up my closet since I won't have much time to go shopping when I start working full-time again. 

As Amar knows, shopping with me can go both ways. It can either be super quick and simple or I take my time, usually depends on my mood. He was smart to suggest fueling up before heading to the Great Mall so we chose a place on our way to Milpitas-- The Counter! We've never been but heard so many great things about the place. 

Amar ordered the 1lb Bison burger while I did the 1/2lb beef burger with an egg on top (so bad but so good..)! We also ordered truffle fries, which were delish but super oily. I had half my burger and was filled to the top, while Amar was able to eat the whole thing. 

Loved it! I only crave burgers once in awhile so this was definitely a treat. Now time to hit the gym triple time. 

Ice Cream Run @ Country Creamery | American Canyon, California

Who can say no to $1 scoops?! Country Creamery is honestly my favorite place to get ice cream. They have such a huge selection of flavors and most importantly, I can eat as much ice cream to my heart's content without breaking the bank. (I don't even like ice cream all that much, just occasionally.) 

Whenever we're in the area though (which is all the time), I cannot. Not. Pass up the opportunity to get the Ube! Soooo good. I can't really say they're good quality ice cream but it's not bad. I was spontaneous the other day and had BOTH the Mocha Almond Crunch and Ube. 

Delish!

Ghetto Dinner with Chef Stephanie | 10-10

With Amar at work and no mode of transportation to transport myself to the grocery store, I had to improvise and work with what was in the fridge. What was in the fridge happened to be-- hash browns and eggs. Carb (if you consider hash brown a carb..)-- check, protein-- check. 

This is the final product-- Hash brown with scrambled eggs on top with ketchup and tabasco for a little kick. Not too bad if I must say so myself. 

Chef Boyardee up in my 10-10.

Lunch at Dao Thai | Magnificent Mile, Chicago

We arrived at the hotel before the checkout time so we decided to go out for a nice lunch! We walked around for awhile and found Dao Thai near the Magnificent Mile.

We ordered the Fish Cakes, Tom Yum Noodle Soup, Basil Chicken Salad, and Chicken Pad See Ew. Again being a lover of Thai food, it was heaven on earth. Their Fish Cakes were bomb.com. The Tom Yum Soup however wasn't the best.. But overall, a really nice meal and a great escape from the Chicago summer heat! 

Late Lunch at Turtle Tower | Richmond District, San Francisco

Home of the infamous pho ga. 

My first real meal eating out since I've been back! I needed something soothing and the first thing that came to mind was pho. It was so satisfying, especially with the hot broth and the jalapeño and cilantro. Amar, on the hand, got stir-fry beef in noodle soup. Weird.. but he liked it so meh! 

There are two different Turtle Tower locations, but I like this one best! Always satisfies my craving ü

Quick Lunch @ Wipeout Bar and Grill | Greensbrae, Marin County

Amar was off of work early and so we had time for lunch before our first training session with our Trainer at the gym! We have been eating really healthy for the past few weeks since I've been back and I was debating between the healthy choice or to satisfy my craving and go with the fish and chips. Obviously, we see which one ruled out.. It was nomz and I don't regret a bit! 

Late Lunch at BWW (Buffalo Wild Wings) | Time Square, New York City

Amar and I waited in line at the Times Square TKTS for Chicago tickets and we were heading to the Discovery Museum when we came across BWW! I have never been and we haven't had lunch yet, so we popped in. 

I ordered the Asian Zing Chicken Salad, which includes crisp greens and cabbage with grilled "Asian Zing sauce" chicken with mandarin oranges and fried wontons, with Asian Sesame dressing on the side. I was craving a salad so bad so it was a must! The Asian Zing sauce the chicken was marinated in was really sweet, definitely not my cup of tea. 

We wanted wings as well (duh, it's Buffalo Wild Wings) so we ordered 10 pieces, with two different flavors; Jammin' Jalapeno, spicy jalapenos with tequila and a hint of lime, and Spicy Garlic. Sooo good!

Photobombed.

10 wings and a salad seems like really little food for two people but boy was it filling! I definitely enjoyed a relaxed lunch after waiting in the long long TKTS line. 

Early Dinner at Khan Toke Thai House | Richmond District, San Francisco

I loooove Thai food! Thailand is at the *top* of the list of the places I must visit. So, it was a no brainer when Ilisha asked me to decide where to go for dinner one night. Thanks to my trusty Yelp app, we located Khan Toke Thai House. I don't know why Amar and I have never stumbled onto this place before.. it's so close to Amar's place!

We arrived earlier than usual, probably 5:30PM since we planned on catching a showing for Maleficent (which was sooo good btw)! The entrance is really special and this is one of those places where they make you take off your shoes and you get to eat at a table where you sit on the floor and your legs are dangling down. I love places like this! 

We ordered the chicken satay and the fish cakes as appetizers, which was so bomb. I especially like that cucumber salad paired with the chicken satay. It's marinated so deliciously! 

Amar and I both ordered Pad See Ew (chicken for him and tofu for me) and Ilisha ordered Red Curry with Brown Rice, which looked (and tasted) REALLY good. The prices were decent ($$.5) and the service was so-so. But the ambiance and the feel of the place is very special. They have a garden decorated like the Japanese Tea Garden (Thai version). 

Love!