#100DaysOfFoodBlogging, Reviews

Frozen Foods That Don’t Suck

Frozen Foods That Don't Suck | getinmymouf

[This is post #019 towards #100DaysOfFoodBlogging, our goal to do 100 posts in 100 days as part of The 100 Day Project.]

As much as we love to cook and eat at awesome restaurants, there are times where we just want something quick and easy so we can spend more time watching Netflix, walking our dog, or finishing these 100 posts. Also, there are some nights in which dinner is a formality and we just want to get right to dessert. Like when Nathan’s Dairy Bar has Captain Crunch ice cream, or when we have leftover Flourless Chocolate Waffle to take care of.

For these such emergencies, we like to keep some frozen meals stocked up in our freezer. Although a good portion of the frozen food at your local supermarket tastes like a salt-laden food derivative, there are a few brands that make you forget you’re eating something that came from your freezer.

Amy’s Kitchen

Amy's Tamale Verde | Getinmymouf.com

My history with Amy’s Kitchen goes all the way back to when I was a junk food kid living with two vegetarian parents. I pretty much hated all “healthy” food until I was introduced to Amy’s frozen Cheese Pizza. It was the first time that I realized how much better the organic/all natural stuff could taste. It’s not delivery, it’s Amy’s.

We recommend the Cheese Tamale VerdePad Thai, and Cheese Pizza. You can add chips, salsa, crema, and hot sauce to the Cheese Tamale Verde to make it a fiesta; and a fried egg goes great with the Pad Thai.

Evol Foods

Evol Street Tacos | getinmymouf.com

Evol Foods seems like the “bad boy” of frozen foods, with meals that could have easily come from a food truck (like asian street tacos). But the one thing that really sold me on Evol was their mac and cheese (both gluten-full and gluten-free). Until Evol (and Blake’s below), I NEVER EVER had a frozen mac and cheese that was worth eating.

We recommend the Sweet Potato Street TacosGluten Free Uncured Bacon Mac & Cheese, and the Chicken Enchilada Bake.

Blake’s All Natural

Blake's Mac & Cheese | getinmymouf.com

Where Evol is the “bad boy” and Amy’s Kitchen is your “vegetarian mom,” Blake’s All Natural is kinda like your grandma, ready to serve you all the comfort foods you crave. And the thing I appreciate about Blake’s is how easy their heating instructions are for most items. No poking holes, no heating at 50%. Just throw it in as-is for a certain amount of time and BOOM, maximum comfort food is achieved.

We recommend the Swedish Meatballs, Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes, and Chicken Dinner Casserole.

Disclaimer:  As with 80% of our posts, no money or free stuff was provided for this post from any company. We eat this stuff all the time and so should you.

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#100DaysOfFoodBlogging, Recipes, Reviews

Chef Roy Choi’s Cheesy Ramen: Weirdly Delicious

cheesy ramen roy choi | getinmymouf.com

[This is post #011 towards #100DaysOfFoodBlogging, our goal to do 100 posts in 100 days as part of The 100 Day Project.]

Instant ramen and processed american cheese.

Confused? Good.

Now, watch the Tasting Table video below with Chef Roy Choi.

A co-worker of mine sent me that video a few months ago and my first reaction was, “Cheese and ramen?” Cheese is the last thing that comes to mind when I think about Asian food. But after watching the video a few times, I started to think “This could actually be awesome…”

For whatever reason I never seemed to have the right combination of ingredients to give it a try and I forgot about it.

Until TODAY:

cheesy ramen roy choi | getinmymouf.com

cheesy ramen roy choi | getinmymouf.com

Consider my mind blown. (And my mouf.)

Normally, I’ll try a new recipe and it will be good, but I might not necessarily make it again. But THIS? THIS is how I’ll be making my ramen from now on. The cheese coats the noodles and thickens the broth, making this a rich, salty, creamy bowl of comfort. And although seemingly minor, the green onion adds an element of freshness that pairs brilliantly with the cheese.

I added a little hot sauce to give it a kick, which then made it taste almost like a Mexican queso dip. It was so freaking good!

It makes me a little sad to think about all the times I’ve eaten ramen, but without the cheese. So many wasted meals. This will definitely be the first meal I teach my children. They are the future and I want them to be well-prepared.

There’s no excuse for you not to try this right now. Do it. Go!

Oh, you need the recipe?

You can find the recipe online here or in Chef Roy Choi’s book, L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food.

Also, while you’re here, check out Loco’l to Globo’l: The New Fast Food, a look at Chef Roy Choi and Daniel Patterson’s new fast food concept.

cheesy ramen roy choi | getinmymouf.com

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#100DaysOfFoodBlogging, Reviews, Videos

Tastemade Video: Nathan’s Dairy Bar – Manassas, VA

Nathan’s Dairy Bar

[This is post #009 towards #100DaysOfFoodBlogging, our goal to do 100 posts in 100 days as part of The 100 Day Project.]

Among MANY attributes that I share with our dog, Cooper, nothing compares with our love of Nathan’s Dairy Bar. As much as we complain about having no restaurants to eat at in the ‘burbs, Nathan’s is by far the exception. This is one of those iconic places that people who leave the area will crave. This is the type of soft serve that you will tell your grandkids about. This is the type of ice cream joint that you wouldn’t mind eating on a cold winter day (although they are closed for part of the winter…and that ends up being a really hard time for us).

And it’s such an inexpensive pick-me-up! After a bad day of work, a strawberry-banana shake from Nathan’s makes it all better. For Cooper, there’s nothing that makes his tail wag harder than a “pup cup” from Nathan’s. Tina’s instant-happiness is found in a Tiger’s Blood shaved ice with vanilla soft serve. I’m smiling just thinking about all these…

Although not available on the day we shot the Tastemade video above, one of their most interesting flavors is Captain Crunch. It tastes exactly like it should, but its smooth and creamy….you can taste the happy, Michael. It will make you feel like a kid again and it will also make you want to come back EVERY day after work. Aside from the cap’n, I’m also partial to their fresh strawberry and fresh banana flavors. I’m emphasizing fresh because these flavors aren’t made with artificially flavored syrups and dyes, and you can tell. I’ll take ten pints, please.

Follow Nathan’s on Facebook to keep up-to-date with daily specials (like Captain Crunch and Nutella) and discounts.

Enjoy the video, but more importantly enjoy good weather, some ice cream, and your favorite four-legged friend.

Subscribe and we might let Cooper send you emails:


Nathan's Dairy Bar on Urbanspoon

 

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#100DaysOfFoodBlogging, Reviews, Travel, Videos

When in Sacramento…Drink Wine!

Skinner Vineyards

[This is post #002 towards #100DaysOfFoodBlogging, our goal to do 100 posts in 100 days as part of The 100 Day Project.]

Before I go on any trip, I typically have at least 701 restaurants mapped out to visit. However, since this was a work trip, I wasn’t quite sure how much free time I’d have. I could have done some research anyway, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up for nothing. So, I landed in Sacramento with my boss, zero plans and no expectations.

It ended up working out well, since my boss is a wine aficionado in the truest sense of the word. He had some nearby wineries mapped out on his to-taste list, so I tagged along. In hindsight, I probably should have taken a wine tasting class, since I’m about as opposite as can be from a wine aficionado. I’m sure we were quite the odd couple:  He sniffed, inquired about production levels and varietals, while my input was limited to…”{grunting sound} Me likey.”

We visited about a half dozen wineries during our limited free time and luckily ended up finding some decent restaurants, too. Below are a few of my favorites, but first a quick disclaimer:  Most of the spots below are near Sacramento, but only one is actually in the city, so be prepared to travel a bit.

1. Klinker Brick Winery (Lodi, CA)

Klinker Brick Winery

I really loved the casual atmosphere of this winery. It’d be a great place to hang out on their patio, sip some wine, play some corn-hole, and just enjoy that fresh California breeze. And the name, Klinker Brick, is just fun to say. How can you not have a good time at a place called Klinker Brick?! Oh, the wine. Right. The wine highlights for me included their Albariño, Petite Syrah, and Farrah Syrah. Truth be told, I don’t think I had ever heard of Albariño before. Either way, me likey.

2. Jessie’s Grove Winery (Lodi, CA)

Jessie’s Grove Winery Ice House

The dessert wines at Jessie’s Grove were brilliant. Give me a dark chocolate bar, a bottle of their Sweet Perfection and I’d be set for the evening. (BTW – It’s hard to concentrate right now because I’m blasting “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield. And YES, I am singing along and replacing “girl” with “grove.”) Aside from wine and chocolate, I was struck by the history of the vinyard, which stretched back to the late 1800s. Some of the original vines that were planted in 1888 are still used for production in their wines today. You’re not just drinking wine here, you’re traveling back in time and tasting history. But since there were no blogs back then, I recommend traveling back to present time as fast as possible.

3.  The Dancing Fox Winery and Bakery (Lodi, CA)    The Dancing Fox Winery and Bakery on Urbanspoon

The Dancing Fox Winery and Bakery

The name is a little misleading, as I saw no foxes dancing, but that was quickly reconciled by the fact that The Dancing Fox Winery and Bakery bakes its own bread. Honestly, if you bake your own bread, it almost doesn’t matter what you put between it.  Tried a Tri-tip Green Chili Melt and surprisingly, the highlight wasn’t the green chili, tri-tip, or the melty-cheese. It was cheddar-jalapeno bread so fresh I could taste the field the wheat was harvested from. (Now that’s how you hyperbole the heck out of  sandwich!) Also, they give you a cookie with every order! It’s the little things that can make me happy and in this case it was a snicker doodle. I recommend stopping at this place for lunch in preparation for a day of wine tasting in Lodi. Create that solid bread foundation in your stomach for which the wine can fall upon.

4. Ella Dining Room & Bar  (Downtown Sacramento)     Ella Dining Room and Bar on Urbanspoon

Ella Dining Room & Bar

Ella Dining Room & Bar is the kind of place that I would’ve planned to go to, had I been aware of its existence. First of all, the restaurant is adorned with shutters on the walls, imported from somewhere like Hungary. Why? Who knows, but it looked cool as heck. I tried their signature cocktail, The Real Gin and Tonic, and was not disappointed. I was so not disappointed that I had two more. And then there was the fried chicken, which was guaranteed to be moist because it was sous vide before being fried. I also have to admit that although it was a nice restaurant and I was with work folks (including my boss and our company President), that did not stop me from ordering said fried chicken and eating it with my bare hands. #NoShame. Oh, and the housemade hot sauce was the bomb.com/yummy.php.

5. Skinner Vineyards (Somerset, CA)

Let’s not beat around the grape vines:  Enjoyed a stellar 2012 Grenache, Estate wine, but the highlight of this place was the VIEW. We could have been drinking rainwater out of red solo cups and I would’ve still had a great time. You can’t tell from the video, but snow-capped mountain tops were even visible! Made the mistake of going to Skinner Vineyards as our last stop before the airport. Almost didn’t get on the plane… If you’re heading to Lake Tahoe from Sacramento, take a couple hours out of your trip and stop here to sip the wine and take in the scenery.

As much as I love the other cities of California (you know, the ones that start with ‘San’ or ‘Los’), I wouldn’t mind going back to Sacramento. I actually do have unfinished business. There’s a restaurant called Bacon and Butter that I didn’t get a chance to try. Yes, BACON and BUTTER. Need I say more?

Like what you see? Then let’s be email buddies:


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