So, I’ve lost quite a bit of weight over the last few months and I’m glad to say that I now weigh about 255. I started the year over 300 and I think it’s super important to me being healthier that I share with everyone. I’m still not super confident in myself but this summer I’m going to work extra hard to change that. A friend of my mum’s has offered me her bicycle since I won’t be leaving C-falls much this summer and to help save some money. My diet has gone from what the dining hall says I’m eating to what I say I’m eating. Speaking of what I’m eating:
Mmmmmm…
and
Dem colors…OOoooooo
Now aren’t you jealous? It’s really not hard, but it does take time. Also, where I’m currently at it’s really expensive. Starfruit is the cheapest “exotic” fruit I can afford. Blood oranges are a close second. Both are good though.
I’ve been spending more time in my tiny kitchen (I’ve got a rent free situation this summer in a nice two bedroom) than I thought I ever would. I was going to more Keto stuff but I’ve found a happy place in my diet. Chia seeds keep you so full!
I won’t lie, I have lost steam for this blog and most things lately. I know I say in a lot of them that I’m going to work harder at creating more posts and then I never follow through. So I’m just going to go ahead and say I’ll see you when I see you and hopefully I’m down another 50lbs by then.
Winter Break is here! Woo! Finals are over, grades (that I haven’t looked at) are in, and everyone is leaving campus. The roads are terrible and the weather is negative. The SO and I decided that we weren’t going to try to beat traffic and deal with everyone trying to drive over the Continental Divide at once so we waited a few days for the traffic to die down. We stayed at his place in FGH, as they closed my dorm on Saturday, and I had no where to stay. We didn’t want to kill each other after the weekend was up and that was really great to learn. It was nice to just relax and enjoy each other’s company for a while, and on Sunday night we went out to a local restaurant called Dave’s Sushi.
We had been here one time before, but it had been a very long time since then. We went back in early 2015 we we first were together. Dave’s Sushi is a very hip eatery. It can only sit 81 people, so it gets crowded fast. In the summer they do have patio dining, but we haven’t had a chance to experience that yet. Just FYI, they don’t accept reservations for groups smaller than 7. You may have a bit of a wait depending on the night that you go. They are open 7 days a week and usually go until about 930-10 on most days. They are a little more on the spendier side, but with this being Montana the prices aren’t that bad for our land-locked, no local fish market scene.
They have a pretty lengthy drinks menu, but no hard alcohol. They have beer, wine, and sake. We’ve had a few of their sakes before and our favorite is the House Sake. Our waitress was incredibly fast with taking our order.
We started the evening with an order of edemame (blanched soy beans) sprinkled with kosher salt. You can’t really screw up edemame, but the shells were soft and warm; the beans were firm, but cooked.
We ordered a large bottle of sake, and I got the black cup. Their House Sake is served warm and it was the perfect temperature. I’m always nervous ordering a warm sake because there is such a thing as overheating it and it ruins it. But ours was perfect. The finish is soft and there isn’t that regretful burning sensation in your throat like there is with certain sake. It also isn’t mixed with a fruit which is definitely a plus. I haven’t liked any of the fruity sake that I’ve tried.
Make time at Dave’s Sushi isn’t that bad. In some sushi places they take forever to get your food out to you, but Dave’s is very fast. I think between placing our food order and getting it was only about 15 to 20 minutes in a fully packed restaurant.
Round one!
They had a great special the night that we went. It didn’t have a name it just listed the ingredients.
I can’t remember what was in it, because I [s]forgot a notebook to write everything down with[/s] forgot to write things down because I was to busy eating. What is topping it though is something I hadn’t had before. From what Patrick and I could decipher, was tobiko soaked in a habenero-mango juice concoction. It was spicy and delicious and I could have eaten just that with a spoon.
We also had the “Le Possion” (the one topped with salmon) and the “Grave Danger” (the one topped with spicy tuna and black sesame seeds). I picked out the Le Possion and Patrick picked the Grave Danger. Ingredients were super fresh. The cilantro mayo on top of the salmon was different, and was recurring throughout the menu. It was nice on the Le Possion but it accompanied two of our rolls in round two, which I will get to in a moment. The Grave Danger had a bite to it, and I very much thought it was going to be too much for me to handle. I love spicy but can’t take much heat (because I’m a wuss). But once again I was pleasantly surprised. Everything combines so well in your mouth that it didn’t even dawn on me that it was hot until the burning started to build in my mouth. Much water was consumed this evening.
I would recommend all three of these roles to someone. They are delicious and complex.
ROUND TWO!
The second round confused me a bit when we got it. I thought two of the rolls were the same. I was wrong when I bit into them, but they totally look alike.
This round we got what we loving dubbed “The 80’s Platter”. (From left to right) The David Hasslehoff, S’Happening, and Thai-na-mite. The David Hasslehoff is the other roll that came with the cilantro mayo. It was also topped with a bit of fresh lime juice and for me that didn’t work. It was still good, but the flavor fell a little flat for me. The Thai-na-mite was topped with green curry sauce, which was really good. This one had cilantro on the inside, which made me feel a little cilantro’d out. It was in everything. The S’Happening was my favorite of the three. It had the least amount of ingredients but was still very flavorful.
In conclusion, we left full of good sushi, good memories, and good sake. I highly recommend Dave’s Sushi to anyone needing their raw fix after skiing up at Big Sky. They do have other things on the menu, but what’s the point of going to a sushi restaurant if you’re nothing going to order sushi. 9/10
So, We had a date night the other night. I got to go out with this handsome devil:
He really does not like this picture.
We rarely have full fledged date nights anymore because we are both so busy with class and our regular lives that we usually just have dinner in the dining hall together and that’s that. But the semester is just getting more stressful for the two of us, and with only one of us going home for break we won’t see each other for a while. I start my new job on the 28th which will limit our time together even more, so we picked Saturday and went for it. He wanted pizza, but I was able to convince him to try the little Korean place that we pass all the time and we’ve never been in. It’s a tiny little place off the main road that shares a building with a hair salon and another store called “Earth’s Treasures” (which I assume is a geology shop) and it’s across the street from an auto parts store, somewhere you wouldn’t really notice. I first noticed it when we were out drinking one night about a year ago and kept wanting to go, but wasn’t sure when to go. I’m also a terrible blogger and forgot to take pictures of everything, so I pulled a TON of photos from their facebook page. So here we are.
The facade of the restaurant, like I said, is pretty nondescript.
And as soon as you walk in you are greeted by an modern interior. With corrugated tin along the register, mismatched lighting and chairs, exposed brick, and bright green accent paint, it was very inviting. It wasn’t a place I would call a ‘hipster’ location, even with the aforementioned decor. It was comfortable. Though they do play K-Pop over their sound system (if this is a surprise to you, it shouldn’t be. It’s a Korean restaurant) it isn’t ear blasting terrible, at least for me.
The employee at the register was quick to note we had never been there before and took charge right away to help let us know where the menus were, told us about dishes that weren’t really familiar to most people (thankfully I watch enough Simon and Martina to have an idea of what I was ordering), and was totally there if we had any other questions. As the SO and I are larger than the average person, routinely needing more leg room and tables are usually on the small side when it comes to a place to put our arms, I appreciated that the tables were very spread out. It wasn’t that busy for a Saturday night, but we were there at about 5pm and Bozeman night life doesn’t really take off until a bit later in the evening (looking at their facebook page, they regularly sell out of food on the weekends, so I’m going to consider us lucky).
We ordered at the register (I ordered the Bulgogi Bibimbap and the SO had the Spicy Bibimbap (no meat), we also ordered a starter of Bibim-Mandu with chicken) and took a seat at a table that was near the door. As soon as we sat down another employee brought over a complimentary side of pickled cucumbers and our silverware. I wasn’t expecting that, and as the SO distracted me with pointing out that the chopsticks were metal and I explained to him that a lot of Korean chopsticks were metal because it saves on bamboo, he beat me to trying them first (which means that I didn’t get a picture of it because that meant it was a fight to eat more than the other, but I found this one on google). They were so good. Crunchy and firm, but still tart and vinegary. The spice on was just right for me. Not kimichi spicy (thankfully), but it was a great introduction to the meal we were going to get. Our starter came out pretty quickly, which sometimes makes me nervous, but everything was fresh. Bibim-Mandu is different than regular mandu. Bibim-Mandu aren’t stuffed, you use the dumpling shell like a taco shell and you stack the fillings on, dip the whole thing in spicy red sauce, and tuck it away in your mouth. Delicious. The spice and seasoning on the chicken was really good and was complimented by the spicy red sauce.
Also, metal chopsticks are heavier than I thought they would be. I found myself holding them a lot further back than I would and it changed the way I ate. So, chalk that up to a fun new learning opportunity.
Our food came out at a pretty decent time after we were done with the starter, and we had some leftover bits from the Bibim-Mandu and we tucked the extras into our Bibimbap (which we had served in regular bowls, next time we are going to get sizzling bowls) and topped it with red sauce and mixed it all together (which is what you do) and dug in.
The SO was so excited that he dug in before I could get a photo of his, but this was before I mixed all mine together(his looked like mine, but without the beef). There is a nice fried egg in there, Korean beef, and veggies all on a bed of fresh rice. I don’t know what that red sauce is, but it is so good. I didn’t put to much on the first mix up, because I do like spicy but I can’t handle a lot of it. I did get to try him, and I thought it was a little weak for it being the “spicy” option. So I added the rest of my sauce to it and ate it up. And then it happened. The burn starts at the back of your throat, sneaks up into your sinuses and then sounds the alarm. It was such a sweet burn and made everything taste awesome.
My favorite thing in the whole bowl was that chunk dedicated to the beef. It was absolutely the most amazing beef I have ever tasted. It made me close my eyes to savor it and it just sent happy signals through me entire body. It was moist and salty, but not to salty and it just hit all the right spots on my tongue.
I won’t like, it did not take long for us to finish eating, we barely spoke to each other because it was just amazing. I haven’t stopped thinking about eating there since then. I would have gone back for seconds but instead we went to get bubble tea. 10/10, would go again. I love Whistle Pig Korean!
NEXT STOP!
From what I understand, there is only one bubble tea place in Bozeman, and I wish there were more. I love Townsend Teahouse, but it isn’t really within winter walking distance. Townsend and I have a bit of a history, they were the ones to sell me my first ever bubble tea to me when I lived in Portland. It was a green tea peach with fruit jellies. I remember because it was amazing and now that it was in my life I didn’t know if I could live without it (I totally did, but it wasn’t as fun). So when I found out that Bozeman had a Townsend it scored points when I was looking for a new uni.
I usually get green tea, aloe jellies, and then a fruit combo. I’m not a fan of tapioca pearls, they just don’t taste good to me. Patrick got them this time. He is a fan of mate tea and fruit jellies. I went for a peach and raspberry combo as it is made with real raspberries. They were out of fruit jellies, so Patrick tried something new without heeding my advice and decided in the end I was right.
Overall, it was a great night that we got to spend together and we got to eat some amazing foods. I’ll be back Whistling Pig. I know your MSU Student Special now, we’re gonna be best friends. 🙂
Tonight I was successful at making dinner! Now, as most of you know, I am quite lazy when it comes to food. At least making it, I’m pretty good at the eating it part. I know, from my previous success dinners, it looks FANTASTIC and it looks like I can cook. Well, I can, I’m just lazy about it.
Also, those who know me, know I love taquitos. They are some of the best little concepts around. I buy them from Costco is 50 piece boxes (they are stuffed with beef, not chicken. You only get 30 chicken ones for the same price as 50 beef ones). I also love enchiladas. I think it’s because of all the cheese.
So, Bryant’s mum, is awesome and told me how to taquito enchiladas (hence the name, Taqichiladas (Tak-kee-cha-la-das)). You need taquitos, of course. Enchilada sauce. I couldn’t pick between red or green, so I bought both of them. I mixed them thinking I would get orange sauce and I thought that was cool. Instead it turned kinda brown/red. Bryant’s mum said to use the big can, when I was buying cans of sauce I didn’t think that my pan is SIGNIFICANTLY smaller than her pan. Mine is an 8×8, I think, while her’s is 9×13, I think. So, lots of sauce.
Well, I mixed those together in a tupperware container because I’m going to make these again very soon and I knew I would have lots of sauce. So a full can of sauce if you are using a 9×13, I think. Gauge sauce usage, based on pan size, I would say don’t drown the tasty taquitos in sauce. So, pour the sauce over the taquitos. Take shredded cheese and make a layer on top. Once again, up to you how much you want to use. I used some. It was a nice layer of cheese on top.
Now, to the step I always forget to tell people. You should have preheated the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Ignore what the taquitos box says for cook time, we’re changing that here. With your three layers, taquitos, sauce, and cheese, pop that in your preheated over for 30 minutes. Yep, thirty minutes. I know it seems out there, but it’s true.
After thirty minutes remove them from the oven and let cool slightly. My cheese migrated the the center of the dish so I added more. Serve up like you would enchiladas and enjoy. That’s how I made dinner, and that’s how you can make Taqichiladas!
This is Food Loaf. I made it last night for dinner. It was AMAZING! Now Food Loaf is made of what ever you can fit in a loaf pan. I posted a picture of it on facebook last night and people were asking for the recipe. Well, I didn’t have one, but I’m going to post what I can.
ALSO! There is NOTHING healthy about this type of Food Loaf, I’m sure I could make a healthy one but I didn’t!
Food Loaf (Italian Style):
1 jar Prego Italian Sausage and Garlic sauce (you can use more, I used one) Foster Farm Turkey Meatballs (as many as you would like) 1 Bag of Pasta, (I used an Organic bagged pasta that I bought at Costco, I don’t remember the brand… THIS ISN’T WHAT THIS IS ABOUT!) Half of a White Button Mushroom Grated Cheese (LOTS OF CHEESE)
Boil your pasta until it is done.
Heat sauce in saucepan and throw in meatballs. cover and let simmer, but don’t burn your sauce. Stir occasionally to avoid burning.
Strain pasta. Spray two loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray. Cover bottom of both pans with pasta, only one layer. not too much. Cover layer of pasta with layer of cheese (thick layers here, cheese is the binder).
The sauce should be done by now, use a toothpick to test the meatballs, if you can put a toothpick into the meatball without any resistance they are done. Layer meatballs and sauce as the second layer. I put three meatballs on this layer. NEXT, MORE CHEESE. Bryant assisted me in the cheese department, we bought a 5 pound block and we used a good portion of it.
Next, layer more noodles. Noodles are important. More cheese. Layer more sauce and meat balls (i put two balls of meat on this level). More cheese.
Pack as MANY noodles as you can on top of this level. This next part is extremely important… You’re going to put so much cheese on the top level that your arteries will clog at the very thought. No exposed noodles, no empty corners. just cheese. I even tucked cheese down the sides of the pan to make sure it wouldn’t melt over the edge of the pan and we would lose cheese. Cheese is basically what this food loaf is about…
If you haven’t preheated your oven, you probably should have. It should have been preheated to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. I probably should have told you that sooner.
Anyway, put both pans now filled with deliciousness, into the over. Now, we’ve already cooked the majority of our ingredients, so you may be wondering WHY we are putting them in the oven. TO MELT THE CHEESE! SO MUCH MELTY GOODNESS! It’s going to bind the pasta, sauce, and meatballs together. Don’t put it in for too long because you’ll burn it and then I will be disappointed.
About five minutes, or so. Just keep checking on it. When the cheese has a nice crust to it, not necessarily a dark crust, just a nice melted looking crust. The cheese will sweat if you use Tilamook cheese. Which I did, but it was the best. So use that cheese. And don’t get it pre-shredded, shred your own cheese!
So, after five minutes you’re going to have a delicious melty cheesy food loaf, Italian Style!
To properly remove your food loaf from the pan take two thick paper towels, layer them together. Take the loaf pan (which shouldn’t be hot because all we did was melt the cheese. Well it may be hot, depends on what you consider to be hot) by the little sides and flip the loaf onto the paper towels, Make sure you have a plate. The cheesy crust part will be on the bottom and that IS NOT where we want it. Grab the paper towel (if you used thick paper towels this won’t be a problem) and slowly place the paper towelled loaf on the plate. You’re going to have one chance at this, pull the long end of the paper towel and flip the food loaf onto the plate. BOOM! Food loaf! Let it settle and eat it.
We didn’t cut the first one, we just ate it right off the plate.
Now if you are looking around and you realize that you have one pan still full of food, you can put it aside go eat the first one and then come back to it later. Once it sets it will be a firm loaf. You can cut it into slices and make Food Loaf sandwiches. YUM YUM YUM!
You can wait with both loafs, but once you smell that melted cheese, you won’t want too!
This Success Dinner did put me into a food coma. So beware, but it was a happy food coma
I move around, a lot. I don’t mean like military move around, either. I move around by choice. I have never lived anywhere longer than seven years and I don’t plan on living anywhere longer than that. I’ve moved a lot recently. In 2011 I moved to Portland, Ore, and then in 2012 I moved to Auburn, Washington. Now in 2013, I’m considering moving back to Montana so I can, for one, be closer to my family and, for two, there is work out there. There isn’t much work in Auburn, well there is work, it’s just the sitting-on-your-ass-all-day-and-take-phone-calls work. I’m tired of doing that kind of work.
I don’t mind moving, in fact I kind of like it. You get to see new things and meet new people. Not to mention, eat different foods. I love food! I’ve tried TONS of new foods this past year and I’m eager to keep trying new foods. I’ve discovered that I like mustard, saurkraut, brussel sprouts (when cooked properly), shwarma, and turkey burger. I still have to try hummus, but I’ll get around to it.
I removed a talon today. By talon I mean my left handed index finger’s nail. Only the top part though, not the whole nail. It was dubbed a talon because of how long I kept it. It was a good quarter of an inch before I took it off. Bryant doesn’t like the talons (also on my thumbs), he says they scratch him and he doesn’t like it when I poke him with them. It makes me giggle but he doesn’t like it at all. But yes, one of them was removed today. It was effecting my typing and felt weird as I typed. So I took it off. I looked at Bryant and told him. He asked if I needed nail clippers. I told him no and he asked why and how I was going to remove it. I told him I bit it off.
I have always chewed my nails. It is a nasty habit, but I could have nastier habits. I like having long thumb nails though. Helps me open tin cans if the lid falls in and get stuff out of my teeth and other stuff. Yeah, stuff. They are nice to have, especially when crafting. It’s easier to pinch a dropped stitch (when I notice one) with a pair of nails than fingers. So I keep them as long as I can.
OH! and I designed this KICK ASS banner using MS Paint!
They were so good. Crunchy and firm, but still tart and vinegary. The spice on was just right for me. Not kimichi spicy (thankfully), but it was a great introduction to the meal we were going to get. Our starter came out pretty quickly, which sometimes makes me nervous, but everything was fresh. Bibim-Mandu is different than regular mandu. Bibim-Mandu aren’t stuffed, you use the dumpling shell like a taco shell and you stack the fillings on, dip the whole thing in spicy red sauce, and tuck it away in your mouth. Delicious. The spice and seasoning on the chicken was really good and was complimented by the spicy red sauce.
The Half Ginger 
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