Macaroni Salad

I am craving for macaroni salad today. Since I have these ingredients in the pantry, I'm ready to go:

16 ounces elbow macaroni, cooked
1 lb boneless chicken breast, boiled
1 ½ cup pineapple&papaya chunks
1 cup onion
1 cup raisins
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
2 cups mayonnaise
1 ½ cup Cheddar cheese
2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

1. Place the cooked macaroni in a large container

2. Add the mayonnaise and mix well

3. Add the minced onions and mix well

4. Add cheddar cheese in and mix again

5. Add the chicken and distribute evenly

6. Add the pineapple and papaya chunks, boiled eggs, and raisins and mix well

7. Add salt and pepper to taste

8. Chill inside the refrigerator for about an hour

(inspired by the original recipe from PanlasangPinoy.com)

Crouton Salad

I am in the mood to eating salad today. I usually prepare the simple ingredients: tomato, onions, crouton, cheese, lettuce with thousand island dressings.
During lunch time, I had a fried tuna and I had this sliced tomato with silver swan soy sauce, good combination, huh? Of course, I had a steamed rice to go with it.Here is another salad which I prefer yesterday's lunch. I let the thousand island dressing danced with it too, LOL:-) Just sharing you the food I crave these days for Yummy Sunday entry. Come join us every Sunday.

Hotels Must Have

When I go out of town and book for a hotel, I expect to have the following: microwave, fridge, coffee maker and coffee, welcome bottled water, soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, clean towels, most of all have a FREE breakfast and a WIFI.This hotel that we are IN right now exceeds my expectation. They have a good size bathroom, good size sink, a huge mirror at the hallway of our room, a huge dresser plus a bathrobe FREE to use. They have four sets of towels which most hotels have only two normally.
The whole place is pretty clean and smells clean, you know what I mean right? I don't want to wake up in the middle of the night trying to murder a cockroach:-) Anyway, this hotel has no FREE breakfast but, definitely have a WIFI everywhere and camera secure 24/7. This hotel definitely works for me!

The Old Spaghetti Factory

A year ago, I went to California to visit a friend and "EATING" is one of the activities that we did together :-) Funny huh? Of course, since we both love Italian Food, a visit to the Old Spaghetti Factory wrapped our "sort of" simple food tour.This restaurant serves a Complete Meal which includes soup or salad, fresh baked bread, entrée, milk, coffee, hot or iced tea, and vanilla or spumoni ice cream.This building is an old school in 1900's and transformed into a restaurant. The inside decor amazed me because the old photos of the students were displayed on the wall. There are blackboards on the in the rooms and flags of the world which are hanging on the cieling. Every corner has that piece of history and that makes the old spaghetti factory unique.

Visiting Hard Rock Biloxi

Mississippi was my home for 18 months, I worked in one of the casinos there and my first state ID was from this state also. While we live there, I worked night shift and before I sleep for the day, hubby and I always have a breakfast in Satisfaction Buffet in Hard Rock. If it's Wednesdays and Fridays, we had our dinner there too :-)

We are don't gamble that much. In fact, we only play the slot machines for few dollars. Win or lose, we have to leave. They have a reminder there which says: The Winner Knows When to Quit! If you keep on playing and you are not winning at all, don't push your luck! You will end up broke!
This is Satisfaction Buffet in Hard Rock Casino and Hotel in Biloxi. The choices of food are endless and you can eat all you can. The place is huge but, when buses starts to arrive, expect a long line in this area.
I love their Buffet because it's affordable and cozy. If you have sweet tooth, my oh my, this place is awesome for you. I can't eat too much sweet really, my appetite won't take it. By July, we will be visiting Mississippi again and probably, I will have the time to see my friends too. I am looking forward to see the Gulf Coast again.

Pork Skins

I miss chicharones and I found it! They call it Pork Skins here and sold in different flavors: hot and spicy, barbecue, mild, original, and etc. When I eat pork skins, I have to prepare a vinegar and dunk it in:-), so yummy!

This is my entry for this week's Yummy Sunday. Join in and share your yummy foodie cravings!

Ruby Tuesday's Baby Back Ribs

Last Tuesday, we dine in at Ruby Tuesday at the Florida Mall because I craved for baby-back ribs. I ordered the Asian Sesame Glazed Baby-Back Ribs, it's a slow-cooked half rack covered with peanut-barbecue sauce such a sweet and tangy taste. Of course, what you see on top of the baby-back ribs are sesame seeds.

Since it comes along with two sides, I chose the mash potato and rice pilaf. This is a large portion for me so I always asked for a box to take it home with me. I love the rice pilaf, not a big fan really but, this works for me. Will I recommend this for lunch or dinner? Certainly will! Try it! This is my entry for this week's Yummy Sunday! Thanks for stopping by!

Homebaked Moist Banana Cake

Hello everyone! Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mommies all over the whole world:-) Today, in celebration of Mother's Day, I decided to do my share of home baking activity for my husband and a friend. I couldn't contain myself because the texture and the taste is truly GREAT, says my hubby and friend. I take their word for that LOL! I love my own bake "moist banana cake". Try my recipe mommies.Here's the ingredients:
1 cup banana, mashed
1 cup sugar
2 pieces raw eggs
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 tsp teaspoon salt
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 pancake mix
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup raisins

Here's the Procedure:
1. Combine all the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda.
2. Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly.
3. Add the other ingredients (eggs, mashed bananas, cooking oil, vanilla essence), mix well with the dry ingredients until a batter is formed.
4. Grease the loaf pan, pour-in the mixture, spread the raisins at the bottom and the remaining at the top.
5. Preheat oven at 350 degrees F then, bake for 55 minutes.
6. Just allow to cool down for few minutes before serving. YUM YUM YUM!
This is my entry for this week's Yummy Sunday. Let's enjoy baking or cooking everyone:-)

Mudslide: A Refreshing Drink

This is called MUDSLIDE! A cocktail with vodka, Kahlúa, Irish cream, and cream. Do you want to prepare a mudslide right in the heart of your kitchen? The Mudslide is a very popular cocktail that is much like the Black Russian, so they say. It uses vodka, coffee liqueur (most often Kahlua) and an Irish cream liqueur (Bailey's is most common). You can also make a mudslide without vodka or with the glass filled with either milk or cream.Ingredients:
1 oz vodka
1 oz coffee liqueur
1 oz Irish cream liqueur

Preparation:
1.Fill an old-fashioned glass with ice.
2.Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
3.Shake well. (shake it baby :-)
4.Strain into the old-fashioned glass. Enjoy!

Banana Cake

I was invited to attend a Life in the Spirit Seminar today and while there, they provided breakfast-snacks-lunch-snacks and I ate a banana cake. Hubby loves it and he said, how he wished he can buy it. I decided to experiment :-) since we have all the ingredients in the pantry. Here's my first baked banana cake. Hubby said, the taste and texture is way better than the one he ate at the gathering.Here's the ingredients:
1 cup banana, mashed
1 cup sugar
2 pieces raw eggs
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 tsp teaspoon salt
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I used pancake mix)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup raisins

Here's the Procedure:
1. Combine all the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda.
2. Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly.
3. Add the other ingredients (eggs, mashed bananas, cooking oil, vanilla essence), mix well with the dry ingredients until a batter is formed.
4. Grease the loaf pan, pour-in the mixture, spread the raisins at the top.
5. Preheat oven at 350 degrees F then, bake for an hour.
6. Just allow to cool down for few minutes.
This is my entry for this week's Yummy Sunday. Thanks for stopping by everyone!

Food Chains in the USA

Food chains for me are not bad! As long as you don't eat too much, you know what I mean? Without these kind of businesses, Americans will go hungry! It might be exaggerating but, there is truth to it! A typical American that I know works so hard! Their minds are "WORK!WORK!WORK!" They are always on the GO! Preparing a meal is hard that is why, their breakfast usually consist of "meds", eggs, muffins, banana, breakfast bars, coffee, pancakes, cheerios .... endless easy to prepare breakfast and OFF TO WORK!

Asians loves to eat a hearty breakfast though! We need to have a filling breakfast to have that energy to tackle the day! Our breakfast is equivalent to American dinner. As for me, I need rice for the entire meals for the day. Of course, this observation is not true in most cases.Food chains in the USA is everywhere from Mc Donalds, KFC, Long John's Silver and more. Here, everyone is busy so, this kind of business SAVES the day for every family!

Some nutritionist discourage their clients in relying solely to food chains. Food here has tremendous amount in fats and unwanted nutrients that may harm our body if we patronize regularly, so they claimed. In reality, some food chains are trying to offer more healthy food and they educate their customers by showing the calorie content of the food before you order. And if you are health conscious, you can always ask and personalized what you order. In general, I love to eat in FOOD CHAINS especially if I am in a hurry to get back to my workplace. Everything is bad if we patronize too much but, it won't hurt if I crave once in awhile. So, don't deprive yourself! Check out the food of these food chains because there is a need to satisfy our cravings sometimes. After all, their food is truly delicious! And I stay FIT!