31Oct / 2022

Recipe: Healthy Burrito Bowl

I’m back with another TikTok Recipe. This one works quite well and I think is quite easy. When I reheat it, people compliment the smell in the office but I still dread eating it after a while. I mean, it’s a healthy burrito bowl but I digress. Gotta eat healthy some of the time right? Well should be most of the time.

Healthy Burrito Bowl

Ingredients

2 C long grain rice/brown rice, cooked according to instructions
2 lb. Ground Turkey, defrosted
1 package Frozen Pepper and Onion Blend, 20 oz
1 Taco seasoning packet, low sodium
1 can black beans (low sodium if able), not drained
1 can Medium Diced Green Chiles, 4 Oz
1 can Rotel Hot Diced Tomatoes with Habaneros, 10 oz.
Shredded Rotisserie Chicken Breast (optional, I shredded Sam’s Club entire breast of rotisserie)

Salt to taste

Instructions

Cook rice as directed on package
Add non stick spray in pan, saute pepper and onions for 2 minutes
Add ground turkey and smash into small pieces
Add taco seasoning, black beans, diced green chilies, and diced tomatoes
Simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes or until turkey is cooked through
Add shredded chicken breast and just heat through (about 2 minutes)
Add mixture to the rice and combine, best served warm

Notes:

Original recipe called for 2 packets of taco seasoning, I only need 1 and it works fine
Original recipe doesn’t call for the rotisserie chicken breast, I just added it cause I had it. I now make it without the chicken breast and it works fine too!

Cooked mixture ready to mix with the…

Super easy recipe to make. You don’t even have to chop up any vegetables.

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10Dec / 2021

Mixed Plate Friday

Happy Aloha Friday! We are creeping closer and closer to Christmas. You ready or what? I am writing this post early but I’ll just say yes to move this along. I plan to do some baking this season as well so let’s see how that goes. This is probably going to be my final Florida post on food – then we can get back to the regular schedule. Can you guess where my first meal in Florida was?

It’s a laugh I even walked around the store beforehand. Get me to thee meatballs!!!

Swedish Meatball Plate | $5.99
Traditional 8 pc. Swedish Meatball Meal served with Mashed Potatoes and Lingonberry Jam

This dish is my comfort food. After my bout of food poisoning while in the air to Florida, I just couldn’t wait to nourish my soul with some Swedish meatballs. Did they hit the spot? Absolutely.

Smoked Salmon Salad

I never saw this dish before and I can’t find the price, it’s just a simple salad with smoked salmon. The dressing is very strong in dill flavor.

Apple Cake | $1.99
tart with layers of almond paste, apples and crumble

Oh yes, my apple crumble adventures continues. It happens here in Hawaii and of course twice in Florida. It was pretty good! Served cold. I was kind of good, I mainly ate the topping and left most of the crust. I guess that makes it a diet dish? Ha. Ha. Ha.

There was an AYCE hot pot place right next to our hotel so while our meals were usually spoken for, we did make it out to this restaurant once. And well, once was enough. It’s not even worth sharing the name of this restaurant – they are incredibly busy so reservations are highly recommended. They have a gimmick, one of those cute robots that take you to your table. Cute and creepy? Anyway, the service was severely lacking and we didn’t even get the drinks we ordered until we had to remind them and they made them wrong but it wasn’t worth the effort to flag someone else down. The buffet was okay, had some people (ahem Asians) just grabbing all the good stuff to take to their tables. Come on guys, leave some for the rest of us and just grab more later. Ah what can you do. I miss Little Sheep so much. 🙁

So like, I think we ended up at Chipotle like every night. Hahahaha long days of walking led to getting late dinners at Chipotle. Boy did the locations differ in staff and ingredients available. The first bowl pic was basically all I could get because they ran out of everything. The second bowl was much better. Must be the Asian in me, I just wanted one big bowl of rice. Love their toppings and the fresh ingredients. Also love their chips with queso dip. Augh, wish we had a Chipotle here in Hawaii too.

You know what else I did? I bought Shake Shack burgers and Chick-Fil-A sandwiches the night before my return flight home. Threw them in the fridge over night and then straight into my luggage. Yup, I risked another bout of food poisoning. I wanted the boys to experience these burgers/sandwiches because they never have. Happy to report that none of us got sick and I was informed that Popeye’s Chicken sandwich is better than Chick-Fil-A. Have a great weekend folks.

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09Jun / 2021

Recipe: Santa Fe Wraps

Be prepared, I may be bombing you folks with healthy recipes for a bit. Trying a new kick and hoping it continues to help me in this journey! Well, not when I go out…that’s when I reward myself. This is a judgement free zone okay? Anyway, here’s a super easy recipe I made the other day in my new air fryer. Did I share about that yet? I’ll try to do a post on it later. Super easy Santa Fe Wraps (yes from TikTok) that kids LOVED. Can’t go wrong there.

2 Cups of shredded chicken breast. Here’s what I do. I buy rotisserie chicken from Costco. Immediately shred all the chicken breast, shove it into a ziploc bag and throw it in the freezer. The chicken comes in handy for all kind recipes, my infamous pasta salad, chicken noodle soup and now this recipe! I don’t know if the chicken I had was 2 cups, I’m going to say it was more but it’s okay. Oh and then I just grind on the thighs/dark meat for dinner cause I am Asian and we have good taste.

1 can of black beans and 1 can of whole kernel corn, both drained. I used low sodium black beans. Do they have low sodium corn? I don’t know, I would use it if had.

One packet of taco seasoning, the one you use to fry up taco meat!

One bag of shredded Mexican cheese, I used a low fat one because this recipe already has plenty flavor so we just need this for the melty factor.

Roll it up and bake! I used an air fryer so I sprayed it with like a cooking spray (similar to Pam) and cook it seam down at 400°F for about 3 minutes, then flip them, spray and cook for another 3 minutes.

Santa Fe Wraps

Ingredients:
2 C of cooked chicken breast, shredded
1 can of low sodium black beans, drained
1 can of whole kernel corn, drained
1 8 oz. package of shredded Mexican cheese
1 oz. taco seasoning packet
1 package of flour tortillas (burrito size, comes in 10 per pack)

Cooking Spray (like Pam)

Instructions:
Mix all the ingredients together except the tortillas. Spoon mixture (about 3/4 C – 1 C) into tortilla and roll into a burrito.

Place burritos in air fryer in a single layer, seam side down. Spray with cooking spray. Bake for 3 minutes at 400°F. Flip burritos, spray cooking spray and bake for additional 3 minutes. Enjoy!

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15Feb / 2021

La Birria – Aiea, Hawaii

These Birria Tacos have been all the rage in the food trend world for a few months now. When La Birria opened up their food truck in Pearlridge, I knew I had to try it! The tacos looked so good and the dipping sauce, it made me so curious! So we made the trek out there and stood in a socially distanced line (took about an hour I think!) because we really checked it out during peak popularity. No online ordering but once you got up to the front of the line, it was pretty quick and easy to order with the nice worker. Then you gotta wait for the food, they are churning it out!

Let’s first take a look at the menu.

12 Pack Birria Queso Tacos | $45.00 (!)

Birria Queso Pack (3 tacos) | $12.00

We had a few folks trying this so I needed a few extra tacos but certainly not another 12 pack! So how was it? I hate to be the party pooper but it was just…okay. Nothing special about this taco. I felt like the dipping sauce lacked depth and flavor, would have loved it to have more of a concentrated taste to it since the tacos themselves were a bit bland. Would have loved a bit more cilantro and maybe some red onions to add a nice kick.

Birria Saimin | $12.00

Okay so since I was all excited for the broth, I had to try their twist on saimin! Well like I said, the broth is just okay so the saimin was also just okay. Was it worth $12? No. I wouldn’t order that again.

Gotta do the noodle pull!

Anyway, they are still super popular and actually opened a second truck in Kakaako! Maybe they have improved by now? I’m not sure, I did get this many months ago and since they were selling out so fast everyday…I always wondered how well they could properly marinate the meat for the broth. I wish them well since I am always down to support local, hope they have staying power when this food trend bubble pops. Maybe they can be like the new bubble tea (that trend will never die).

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27Mar / 2015

Recipe: Chicken Enchilada Rice Casserole

When I saw this recipe on a blog, I knew I had to make it. I was really craving some good mexican type rice dish and this fit the bill! The ingredients were simple and the pictures looked amazing, I deviated from the recipe a bit because mainly because of the price of chicken breast. Don Quijote only had organic chicken breast and it cost an arm and a leg! So much for being supportive of the organic movement huh? Well, I did buy the chicken – my recipe just had much less chicken and much more rice. I had to budget my budget (points to those who get that joke).

YUM!

Shredded Chicken in Enchilada Sauce

Basmati Rice! I bought it special just for this recipe. It was worth it!

Corn and Cheese sprinkled on top and ready to bake!

Yes, it was good.

Chicken Enchilada Rice Casserole

INGREDIENTS

3 cooked chicken breasts, shredded (I used 2)
2 cups dry Basmati rice (I used 3)
2 cans (10 oz each) Enchilada sauce (I used Old El Paso)
1 can (16 oz) refried beans (I used Old El Paso)
1 cup white cheddar, shredded
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1 can (11 oz) corn kernel
cilantro for garnish (didn’t have, didn’t use)
salt and ground black pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Cook the rice. I cooked it with 4 cups of water and ¼ cup of butter.
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
Mix the 2 cheeses together.
In a large bowl mix the shredded chicken with the enchilada sauce, refried beans and half of the cheese. Add rice, season with salt and pepper if needed, and mix well. Pour rice mixture into a large casserole dish. Top with corn then with remainder of cheese.
Bake for about 20 to 30 minutes or until cheese melts and is bubbly.
Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve warm.

Jenny’s notes:
1) I cooked the rice in a rice cooker and threw the butter in with it.
2) I used 3 cups instead of 2 cups or rice which definitely made the dish more ricey, not as saucy. I’m fine with that but I think people prefer it saucier.

Recipe from jo cooks.

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31Dec / 2013

Verde Kaimuki – Honolulu, HI

Verde Kaimuki has a pop-up at UH Manoa so we have a good go to place should one feel like Mexican food. Now that they’ve closed down Taco Bell on-campus, I’ll bet this pop-up gets even more business! Well the cart is still limited to just burritos so we decided to give their actual shop a try. Before I came here, I thought it was a sit-down restaurant. It’s actually more of a take-out joint with seats on the side if you want to stay and eat. Let’s get to the food!

Mexican Loco Moco

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