Honey Greek Yogurt + Hobo Bread

Rating: 8.5/10

Hobo bread dipped in honey Greek yogurt. Such an awesome combo of sweet, sour, creamy, and chewy goodness. Both good on their own but killer when they join forces, without losing what made them so great on their own. I'm so obsessed with the texture of Greek yogurt and the taste of molasses in hobo bread. Ah, mouth happy!

Nutrition:

• Trader Joe's Greek Style Honey Yogurt = 290 Calories, 24g sugar, 290mg Potassium, 25% of daily Calcium, 15% of daily Vitamin A
• slice of Trader Joe's Hobo Bread = 170 Calories, 1g fiber, 23g sugar, 230mg Sodium

Total Calories = 460
Been trying to keep track of my Potassium intake, could be the cause of some muscle cramps lately if my body is low on it. Getting some from the yogurt yay.

Pesto + Steamed Buns

Rating: 9.5/10

Sliced Chinese steamed bun slathered with pesto and pan fried. Like garlic bread but awesomer! I'm so in love with this creation and myself for coming up with the notion of uniting this unlikely duo. It's rare when I'm this self-satisfied about food, I'm going to savor this moment. Ah... Okay so the oily, savory, fragrant punch of pesto plus the fluffy, light bun over fire and pan equals crispy, flavorful fried goodness surrounding a soft, warm, chewy core. Words don't do this thing justice.

Nutrition:

• Trader Joe's Genova Pesto (1/2 cup) = 520 Calories, 2g fiber, 270mg Sodium, 40% of daily Vitamin A, 20% of daily Calcium, 16% of daily Vitamin C
• Chinese steamed bun = 160 Calories, 5g fiber

Total Calories = 680
Basically a meal's worth but worth it.

Cream Soda + Red Bean Ice Cream

Rating: 6/10

Cream soda float with red bead ice cream. Surprisingly, I'm not the biggest fan of floats. I swear at some point I thought I really liked them, or maybe that was just in theory. You know, the whole ice cream melting into soda imagery. Oh well, still a decent combo these two. I hate Root Beer, but Cream Soda and Dr. Pepper work for me. And red bean is a fun ice cream alternative to vanilla.

Nutrition:

• glass of Dr. Brown's Original Cream Soda = 120 Calories, 30g sugar
• 2 scoops of Maeda-en Red Beans Azuki Flavored Ice Cream = 140 Calories, 14g sugar, 1g fiber

Total Calories = 260

Soft Boiled Eggs + Potato Chips

Rating: 7.5/10

Mashed soft-boiled eggs with black pepper and potato chips. Nothing beats a nice hearty egg breakfast (and I'll take soft-boiled if I can't have poached). Part of the way to start a long, sweatt day of mountain hiking. The crispy, crunchy, salty chips gave the gooey, chewy, peppery eggs some added texture and kick. Hey, just brought two otherwise unremarkable foods together into a scintillating combo. What more can you ask for? 

Nutrition:

• 2 soft boiled eggs with pepper = 140 Calories, 24% of daily Vitamin A, 14% of daily Iron, 10% of daily Calcium
• handful of Lays Classic Potato Chips = 75 Calories, 1g fiber,

Total Calories = 215

Chocolate Fortune Cookie + Red Bean Icecream

Rating: 8/10

Crushed chocolate fortune cookie sprinkled on red bean ice cream. Why not combine the two most Asian desserts? They're kind of lonely always on their own. Besides, they do a lot more for the taste buds when they join forces. The crunchy, lightly sweet chocolate cookie takes nothing away from the cold, sweet, chunky-smooth ice cream. This is like the healthiest junk food ever here.

Nutrition:

• King's Chocolate Fortune Cookie = 30 Calories, 3g sugar
• 1/2 cup of Maeda-en Red Beans Azuki Flavored Ice Cream = 140 Calories, 14g sugar, 1g fiber

Total Calories = 170
Light and delightful snack.

Jam + Skillet Potato

Rating: 8.5/10

Strawberry jam spread on breakfast skillet potatoes. The sweet, fruity jelliness only completes the warm, salty, herby, chewy, crispy potatoes. The jam practically melts in like butter on toast. I love combining flavor opposites. Each adds what the other lacks.

Nutrition:

• 2 spoonfuls of strawberry jam = 100 Calories, 24g sugar
• side of breakfast skillet potatoes = 260 Calories, 3g fiber, 437mg Sodium, 30% of daily Vitamin C, 16% of daily Calcium, 8% of daily Iron

Total Calories = 360
Lighter than I thought. And a lot of nutrients in those potatoes.

Pu-Er Tea + French Vanilla Creamer

Rating: 10/10

A cup of hot Pu-Er tea with French vanilla coffee creamer. Eh whatever works for coffee works for tea. Basically just tea with milk English style here. But oh so delicious! So! I'm practically addicted. I think it's just that the sweet, vanilla-y creamer blended with the odd oaky, roasted flavor of Pu-Er makes the whole thing taste like chocolate to me. Yet not quite like hot chocolate. It's got such a unique character to it I just can't get enough.

Fried Catfish + Jambalaya Pasta

Rating: 9/10

Fried catfish eaten with jambalaya pasta. Cajun style, baby! The crispy, tender, and savory catfish rocks with chewy, saucy, spicy, and savory pasta. Who knew catfish could tastes so good? Or jambalaya could be in pasta form? Well, day of firsts today. I say if you travel to a new place, try some new food. Otherwise, what's the point? Catfish, looks like chicken tenders but way more moist in texture than chicken and not even the least bit fishy tasting. I also tried the jambalaya with some fried alligator but not as rockin' a combo as with the catfish. Alligator meat is surprisingly rubbery, interesting but not worth repeating.
(eaten @ Pier 424, New Orleans LA)

Hobo Bread + Cantaloupe

Rating: 7.5/10

Hobo bread chock full of molasses/raisin/walnut eaten with cubes of cantaloupe, or vice versa if you prefer. Can I just say how much I love molasses as sweetener, second only to malt powder and ways better than white sugar or honey could ever hope to taste. And the image of baking bread in a tin can over garbage fires makes me all fuzzy inside towards hobos. Anyway, the sweet, chewy, sticky bread adds a certain delightful consistency to the sweet, juicy, smooth cantaloupe. While all sweet flavors, the variety in texture makes this an interesting and surprisingly delightful mouth experience.

Macadamia Nuts + Spicy Ramen

Rating: 8.5/10

Salted macadamia nuts eaten with spicy soup ramen. Ever since I bought a bag of this my favorite nut yesterday I've been trying to work it into everything I eat (Nutella, chop salad, danish, etc.). Macadamia truly makes everything better. So while I was eating some ramen this morning/noon, I thought why not, no reason this won't work. Yep haven't disproved my theory that there's nothing edible macadamias don't go with yet. The salty, soft and crunchy nuts only added to and enhanced the otherwise bland experience of instant ramen despite its savory, spicy, soupy, chewy palatability. Me likey.

Nutrition:

• Savanna Orchards Gourmet Dry Roasted Macadamias (1/2 cup) = 420 Calories, 4g fiber, 230mg Sodium, 8% of daily Iron
• Nissin Demae Satay Flavor Ramen Noodle = 480 Calories, 1380mg Sodium, 3g fiber

Total Calories = 900
Damn that's a lot of Sodium and Calories to start the day. Tasty though. And got in a decent amount of fiber.

Longan + Goji Berries + Dragon Well Tea

Rating: 8/10

Longan fruit. Dried goji berries. Dragon Well tea leafs. Add hot water. And presto! Delicious, nutritious tea drink. Stole this concoction from my mother actually, she swears by this stuff. Longan has basically the same succulent texture of lychee but with a softer, less obnoxious taste. Goji is sweet and tart with a hint of bitter that fades into tea flavors. And really all teas tastes pretty much the same to me, so Dragon Well basically tastes like any other green tea. These three things combined make for amazing, smooth, richly flavored tea for a non-tea drinker as myself. It doesn't even have that icky bitter I despise in most teas. And I would say the actual tea leaf is what's most interchangeable here. I don't see why any other green tea won't do the trick too. Though Dragon Well does do that cool vertical floating leafs thing in water that's pretty entertaining to watch.

Young Coconut Meat + Yellow Cherry Tomatoes

Rating: 9/10

Coconut meat (scooped from a fresh young coconut I hacked to pieces for juice) eaten with yellow cherry tomatoes (ways more delectable than the red ones). The mild sweet, gelatinous coconut blends so smoothly with the juicy, sweet tartness of the tomatoes. Feel so rejuvenated eating this I can't even explain why. Yep, still on this vegetarian kick. Don't worry, not swearing off meat. Would never think of restricting what I can eat in the world. Omnivores for a reason, baby! And plan to take full advantage while I'm still young and healthy enough to enjoy food.

Nutrition:

• Asia Exotic Corp BL young coconut meat = 140 Calories, 2g fiber, 17% of daily Calcium
• Zima Seriously Sweet yellow cherry tomatoes (1 cup) = 70 Calories, 2g fiber, 80% of daily Vitamin C, 20% of daily Vitamin A

Total Calories = 210
Some fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Yay for digestion.

Fried Egg + Super Chop Salad

Rating: 10/10

Fried egg dripping in yolk tossed over a salad of baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, avocado, basil, mozzarella, garlic croutons, dried cranberries, almonds, pistachios, sunflower seeds, sautéed tofu, and thousand island dressing. Been totally obsessed with salad creations lately. Funny I've never been much into salads until I realized I can add anything I want into it and still call it a salad as long as it has some basic raw vegetables in the mix. So began my awesome salad journeys. First up, topping a super-salad with a crispy, yolky sunny-side up egg. So much taste and chew in this masterpiece. The key to deliciousness is really to chop it all up with a giant knife while in a giant bowl to get all the flavors mixing before tossing it with the dressing. Can't wait to try more new salad combos!


Nutrition:

• 2 cups of Earthbound Farm Organic Baby Spinach = 14 Calories, 2g fiber, 112% of daily Vitamin A, 28% of daily Vitamin C, 10% of daily Iron
• cup of Nature Sweet Cherry Tomatoes = 27 Calories, 2g fiber, 25% of daily Vitamin A, 32% of daily Vitamin C
• 1/2 Calavo Avocado =  140 Calories, 5g fiber, 15% of daily Folate, 13% of daily Vitamin C, 10% of daily Vitamin B6, 10% of daily Riboflavin
• sprig of Lucinda's Specialty Produce Basil = 1 Calorie
• thick slice of Formaggio Fresh Mozzarella = 160 Calories, 300mg Sodium, 30% of daily Calcium
• cup of Fresh Gourmet Seasoned Organic Croutons = 280 Calories, 560mg Sodium, 16% of daily Iron
• 3 spoonfuls of Kirkland Signature Fruit & Nuts = 150 Calories, 2g fiber, 11g sugar
• 2 spoonfuls of America's Choice Roasted Salted Sunflower Seeds = 170 Calories, 115mg Sodium, 3g fiber
• 1/2 block of Soonyeowon Soft Tofu sautéed = 270 Calories, 2g fiber, 32% of daily Iron, 20% of daily Calcium
• 6 spoonfuls of Walden Farms Thousand Island Dressing = 0 Calories, 870mg Sodium, 30% of daily Vitamin B12, 30% of daily Vitamin E
• fried egg = 95 Calories, 15% of daily Iron

Total Calories = 1,307
Not skimping on the Calories here. But totally worth it. Super nutritious and kept me full for half the day. A lot of Sodium though, no wonder I was so thirsty afterwards.

Rainbow Milkshake

Rating: 8/10

Jammin' homemade milkshake. Just toss an Italian rainbow cookie, some gelato, milk, and ice in a blender. Voila! Icy, creamy texture plus the cakey bits of the cookie that adds some colorful specks of pink, green, and yellow amidst the frosty white. Pretty and delicious.

Banana Chips + Dark Chocolate

Rating: 7/10

Bar of dark chocolate with almonds eaten with banana chips. A bit like trail mix, minus all the other stuff. I'm no fan of the banana taste but in chip form I can tolerate. The sweet, lightly bitter, smooth bar stacks up well against the crispy, chalky, sweet chips.

Nutrition:

• 1/2 Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate With Almonds = 125 Calories, 8.5g sugar, 2g fiber, 17% of daily Iron
• 1/8 Trader Joe's Banana Chips = 160 Calories, 3g sugar, 2g fiber

Total Calories = 285
Some fiber and Iron. Eh, not terrible.

Babaganush + Baby Cucumbers

Rating: 8/10

First off, SNOW BABY SNOW! Love being snowed in during blizzards! And after an afternoon of surprisingly nostalgic Blossom episodes on Youtube and Googling the word "fiefdom," I was in the mood for some odd vegan snacking before a messy meaty dinner. Baby cucumbers dipped in babaganush hit the spot. Not the most exciting combo but the cool, crispy, juicy bite with the cool, creamy, savory, garlicky, eggplant flavor was awfully refreshing. So adorable too these tiny little un-pickles.

Nutrition:

• 4 spoonfuls of Golden Taste Eggplant Babaganush Dip = 160 Calories, 280mg Sodium, 2g fiber
• 2 Sunset Mini Cucumbers =  30 Calories, 2g fiber, 340mg Potassium, 20% of daily Vitamin C

Total Calories = 190
Light and nutritious. Plus, good in the taste department too.