Cookie Dough Blizzard + Club Sandwich

Rating: 7/10

Nothing like Dairy Queen to finish off a road trip. And can't stop at DQ without getting a ice cream Blizzard, cookie dough all the way. The crispy hot sandwich with all its melted chewy savoriness gives stark contract to the cold, creamy, sweet Blizzard. Really brings out the best in each other. Although the cookie dough of the Blizzard became a bit overpowering and tiring after awhile. So really half a Blizzard plus a whole club sandwich would be the perfect portion.

Nutrition:

• Dairy Queen Small Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard = 710 Calories, 75g sugar, 1g fiber, 35% of daily Calcium, 25% of daily Vitamin A, 15% of daily Iron
• Dairy Queen Iron Grilled Classic Club Sandwich = 560 Calories, 1790mg Sodium, 2g fiber, 15% of daily Calcium, 15% of daily Vitamin A, 15% of daily Iron

Total Calories = 1270
Typical fast food. Chock-full of Calories, sugar and Sodium. Still, got in some vitamin and minerals along with all the junk. That's something.

Hazelnut Chocolate + Greek Yogurt

Rating: 8.5/10

Dark chocolate with hazelnut dipped in Greek yogurt. Accidentally got the plain yogurt instead of the honey one. As much as I still love the texture of Greek yogurt, the taste was disgustingly plain. So I figure the only thing to do is use it as dip for other more flavorful stuff. Chocolate hazelnut was as good a starting point as any. Lo and behold, awesome combo! Perfect safe for an otherwise tragic waste of yogurt texture.

Nutrition:

• Trader Joe's Swiss Dark Chocolate with Whole Hazelnuts (2 pieces) = 220 Calories, 3g fiber, 13g sugar, 20% of daily Iron
• Trader Joe's Plain Greek Yogurt (1 cup) = 120 Calories, 270mg Potassium, 6g sugar, 20% of daily Calcium

Total Calories = 340
Got in some Iron, Calcium, and Potassium. 

Oreo Ice Cream + Pineapple

 

Rating: 8/10

Oreo ice cream topped with (well, surrounded by, actually) fresh pineapple slices served on a plate by moi. Looked pretty cool like an oreo-centered sun. First off, pineapples are ridiculous to cut (glad I didn't have to do that part of it). Seriously, there needs to be a machine built for cutting this fruit. But anyway, the sweet, creamy, chunky ice cream plus the sweet, sour, juicy, chewy pineapple kind of rocks the summer vibes. A bit tropical island and a bit Alaskan igloo feel to it if you ask me.

Nutrition:

• scoop of oreo ice cream = 280 Calories, 1g fiber, 27g sugar, 15% of daily Calcium, 10% of Vitamin A
• 8 quarter circle slices of pineapple = 166 Calories, 362mg Potassium, 4.6g fiber, 32g sugar, 264% of daily Vitamin C, 20% of daily Vitamin B-6

Total Calories = 446
Holy Vitamin C! I'm good for two and a half days.

Panna Cotta Gelato + Marcona Almonds

Rating: 6.5/10

Panna cotta gelato topped with Spanish Marcona almonds. Neither really amazing by themselves, so I decided to have them join forces hoping for a better taste experience. Success! And what an interesting taste experience it was. Don't come across too many foods that are both spicy and frozen. While I still don't love this as a whole, it was an inspired taste smash. The spicy, crunchy, roasted almonds definitely adds a kick to the somewhat bland gelato, and the creamy, sweet gelato smooths out the monotonously pungent almond. Wouldn't recommend eating one without the other. They sort of balance each other out in a way.

Nutrition:

• panna cotta gelato (small cup) = 180 Calories, 1g fiber, 20g sugar
• 2 spoonfuls of Mitica Spicy Marcona Almonds = 190 Calories, 240mg Potassium, 3.5g fiber, 28% of daily Vitamin E, 14% of daily Phosphorous

Total Calories = 370
Cool Vitamin E, don't get that from too many places. Skin happy. Not sure what good Phosphorus serves but got some of that too.

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.

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.

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 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.

Oreo Gelato + Deep Fried Wonton

Rating: 7/10

If I can't get fried ice cream I'll settle for fried stuff dipped in ice cream. Hence the deep fried wonton with Oreo gelato. Okay combination. Neither did much for the other, but both still delicious. The gelato with its sweet, chewy, chunky creaminess. And the wonton with its crispy shell and salty, sour cream cheese filling. Really can't go wrong taste-wise with deep fried stuff and ice cream. Dependably good every time.

Feta Cheese + Garlic Noodles

Rating: 7/10

Stir-fry garlic noodles sprinkled with feta cheese. The lightly salty, garlicky, chewy, smooth noodles only benefits from the strong flavor of salty, sour, chalky feta. Adds a real kick and texture to the meal. I'm trying to figure out more things to go with feta because it's awesome and I have like a whole tub of it I want to finish before it goes bad.

Grapes + Milk

Rating: 7.5/10

Eating grapes and drinking lactose-free milk at the same time. On a milk binge lately because this gallon I have in the fridge is expiring in 2 days and also I could use the Calcium (slightly paranoid about growing into a brittle-boned old person). Not that I'm lactose-intolerant, but this milk is sweeter maybe from the lactase enzyme added and I like it. So I'm trying to drink it with basically everything I eat right now. Fruits are not exception. And to my delight, the sweet, tart, juicy but fleshy grapes added a wonderful splash of subtle flavor to the smooth, slightly sweet but ultimately plain milk; while the milk just washes over the grape taste without dulling it completely. It's a lovely mutual effect.

Nutrition:

• handful of red grapes = 62 Calories, 15g sugar, 1g fiber, 6% of daily Vitamin C
• glass of Lactaid 1% Milk = 110 Calories, 125mg Sodium, 30% of daily Calcium, 25% of daily Vitamin D

Total Calories = 212
Cool this milk has less Calories and more Calcium than regular milk. And a handful of grapes really don't add much to my nutritional needs.

Leek Boxes + Ranch Dressing

Rating: 9.5/10

Hot off the stove leek boxes dipped in ranch dressing. Love leek boxes, sans shrimp flakes of course. Just the name is adorable. I've heard they're like a Shanghai specialty or something; only in China would food be called boxes. I can still remember the first time I tasted one. I was 19 and hanging out in the basement of some guy's house where slasher films, ping-pong, and DDR were taking place. Then there they were on the kitchen counter, best midnight snack surprise. So began a life-long craving. Anyway, the hot, crispy, chewy, juicy, salty savory, leek boxes rock so hard with the creamy, sour, salty ranch dressing I could kill.

Cinnabon Pancakes + Sandwich Melt + Potato Soup

Rating: 9/10

What's a road trip without a stop at IHOP? The Cinn-A-Stack pancakes, Pot Roast Melt sandwich, and Potato Bacon soup eaten together is such a killer trifecta. Ah, the beauty of breakfast and lunch for dinner. Soup and sandwich is a pretty common combo, but add in some Cinnabon-style pancakes and you got a party in your mouth. The sweet, soft, Cinnabon-filled pancakes. The savory, chewy, toasted sandwich melt. The hot, creamy, chunky soup. There is no separation when eating the three, they are one.

Nutrition:

• 2 IHOP Cinn-A-Stack Pancakes =  445 Calories, 29g sugar, 6g fiber
• 1/2 IHOP Pot Roast Melt Sandwich = 530 Calories, 1580mg Sodium, 3g fiber
• bowl of IHOP Loaded Potato and Bacon Soup = 430 Calories, 1310mg Sodium, 1g fiber

Total Calories = 1,405
Rich meal but yum. And filling.

Feta Cheese + Naan Bread + Babaganush

Rating: 8/10

Naan bread dipped in babaganush eaten with feta cheese. I like flavorful cheese because otherwise you're just eating a tasteless block of goo. I'm no fan of cheese texture-wise unless it's melted. The salty, sour cheese goes so well with the salty, chewy naan and savory, garlicky creamy babaganush. Not as good as naan and babaganush with rotisserie chicken but worth the re-eat.

Buffalo Chicken Roller + Half Baked Ice Cream

Rating: 7.5/10

This was like a midnight snack except eaten at about 10 PM and as dinner. Result of a late night trip to 7-Eleven in a strange town for toilet paper that turned out rather unnecessary. I totally thought the rollers were some kind of taquito-like wrap, but no just fried chicken in stick form. Anyway, the strongly salty, spicy, chewy, crispy chicken was nicely complimented by the lighter touch of the sweet, creamy, chunky ice cream. Worth a nighttime redo.

Nutrition:

• 7-Eleven Buffalo Chicken Roller = 190 Calories, 880mg Sodium, 1g fiber, 10% of daily Calcium
• 1/4 Ben & Jerry's Half Baked ice cream = 270 Calories, 27g sugar, 10% of daily Calcium, 10% of daily Vitamin A

Total Calories = 460
Not great but fairly harmless.

Beef Chili + Chocolate Eclair

Rating: 8/10

Beef chili eaten with chocolate eclair. I was debating between the eclair or a red velvet cupcake, but the eclair won out. I figure the light creamy custard and crunchy-chewy shell goes better than the heavy cream and cake taste/texture with the already heavy chili with its hot, savory, spicy, chunky taste/texture. Good call on my part. The chili could be better but this combo is killer.
(eaten @ Sculpture Garden Restaurant, Washington DC)

Scrambled Eggs + Ice Cream

Rating: 9/10

Scrambled eggs chock-full of turkey plus basil and cumin seasoning eaten with Haagen-Dazs Blueberry Crumble ice cream. I was going for ham and eggs scrambled but ran out of ham, so turkey slices to the rescue. Probably healthier anyway. The hot, moist, savory, salty, cumin tasting eggs wonderfully compliments its opposite in the ice cream's cold, chunky, creamy, sweet and sour range. I feel good about the world after eating this. I mean, with a start like this the rest of the day can do what it wants to me. I'm set.

Oreo Gelato + Bread Pudding

Rating: 10/10

Oreo gelato over freshly baked and glazed chocolate-caramel bread pudding. The combo's probably been done before since it's basically the same idea as a hot fudge brownie sundae. But so much better. The cold, creamy, sweet ice cream with the warmth of the sweet, chewy, moist cakey-pudding texture is just perfection. Any time these two amazing things can be put together, never not choose this option! Neither would meet its full potential without the other.
(eaten @ Phillips Flagship, Washington DC)

Vodka Sauce + Feta Cheese + Naan Bread + Avocado

 



















Rating: 5.5/10

A lazy homemade pizza with random ingredients I found in the kitchen. First we have the kick of creamy, tomatoey vodka sauce poured over the chewy fluff of naan bread. Then cover it with chunky, salty-sour feta cheese crumbles and bake it in a toaster oven before topping it with the buttery, green lightness of sliced avocado. This turned out really salty, which I didn't particularly expect. But I guess basically everything combined here is salt-based and when you put them together it all adds. The avocado did nothing to calm the strength of  taste here. While not as much variety in flavor as I would prefer, still a somewhat pleasant experience. May work better with mozzarella and arugula instead of feta and avocado.

Nutrition:

• 1/5 Bertolli Vodka Sauce = 150 Calories, 730mg Sodium, 2g fiber, 15% of daily Vitamin A
• scoop of President Feta Crumbled = 70 Calories, 260mg Sodium, 10% of daily Calcium
• Reya Tandoor Baked Naan = 280 Calories, 740mg Sodium, 2g fiber, 16'% of daily Iron
• avocado = 240 Calories, 10g fiber, 25% of daily Vitamin C

Total Calories = 740
Kept me full for the rest of the night. Wow looking at the Sodium count, that's almost a whole day's worth. But hey also got over half a day's worth of fiber too. Win some, lose some. Plus some Vitamin C & A, Calcium and Iron.