Boxed Macaroni Grill

JP made me some delicious pasta last night that came from a box! It was Macaroni Grill's Creamy Basil Pasta. We added shrimp, fresh spinach, and red bell pepper and enjoyed a glass of 2009 Alexander Valley Vineyard Cabernet. The entire meal was so scrumptious that we finished the entire meal between the 2 of us! It's a way of making a quick meal that is also price friendly. I highly recommend making this... Don't let the box trick u!

CILANTRO LIME SHRIMP

I found this recipe online and had to give it a try! I just absolutely love all seafoods, especially shrimp! I am always trying to cook lots of shrimp just because it is inexpensive and I feel like it is relatively healthy.

This next recipe is actually one of those healthy recipes so if you are on a diet or health-kick this recipe is one you can try, enjoy, and I think it would be perfect with any side. The shrimp can put on a salad, into a pasta, as a main dish with a couple of side dishes… or really however you like. The first time I made this I ate it just as and the second time I put it on a caesar salad. Both were excellent.

Hope you enjoy!

CILANTRO LIME SHRIMP

INGREDIENTS: (4 servings)
2 tsp olive oil
2 lb shrimp, shelled and deveined
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 lime
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat a large frying pan on medium-high heat. Add oil to the pan, when hot add shrimp. Season with salt and pepper.
2. When the shrimp is cooked on one side, about 2 minutes, turn over and add garlic. Sauté another minute or two until shrimp is cooked, careful not to overcook. 3. Remove from heat.
4. Squeeze lime all over shrimp and toss with cilantro.
5. Serve hot.

Don’t forget to tell me what you think once you try it out! And if you have any suggestions on recipes or have anything to say please don’t be shy!

HAPPY EATING!

BOILING CRAB

So JP and I are MAJOR fans of crawfish... like MAJOR! Well as most of you are aware of, crawfish season from march to about june, and during that time we were in the Philippines. So once we returned we just had to have us some crawfish!! So we decided one Monday afternoon to hit up Cajun Kitchen in Bellaire... which is sooo good; unfortunately, we found out that they were closed on Mondays. So we looked up on the iPhone the best crawfish and 2 places came up: The Boiling Crab and Crawfish and Beignets inside the Hong Kong City Mall... We ate at the one in the mall and it was just awful... AWFUL! So we checked out the Boiling Crab and it didnt open til 3 and already there were people parked outside of the restaurant 15 minutse before opening! We new it was gonna be great... so we get to the door at 3 and there are people waiting outside and we are sat by the hostess and by 3:15 the entire place was filled.

The Boiling Crab=AMAZINGNESS PERSONIFIED!

This place has all year round crawfish and THE BEST sauce they mix it with. We LOVE spicy foods so we always order 3lbs of crawfish ($5.99/lb) in the xxx, the whole shabang and 1lb of softshell crab ($12.99- pricy, I know, but well worth it) in medium, garlic butter. Our bill is usually around $50, including beers... and even though it is a little pricy... this meal is well worth it. Everything is so full of flavor and literally finger lickin good! I took my parents here the other day and we tried the Fried Shrimp Basket ($9.99) and it was THE best fried shrimp Ive had in a long, long time! And you get a generous amount as well as cajun fries. This is a must go to place!

TRUST ME... WHEN YOU GO, YOU WILL BE THANKING ME AND TELLING EVERYONE YOU KNOW!

It is off of Beltway 8 and Beechnut, behind the bank! Info below!
(THEY DO HAVE STORES IN CALI AND DALLAS TOO!)

ADDRESS:
8300 W Sam Houston Pkwy S #268
Houston, TX 77072-5074

NUMBER: 281 988 4750

HOURS OF OPERATION:
MON-SAT: 3-10
SUNDAY: 12-10

http://www.theboilingcrab.com/index.php


Happy Eating,
Ava Chino

TELL ME YOUR FAVE CRAWFISH PLACE!

DONT FORGET TO COMMENT, TAKE THE POLL, AND FOLLOW ME!

try broccolini! Eat Healthy less than $10

So JP and I had another steak dinner.
We had another bone-in ribeye left... this one was only $5.58! CHEAP!
This meal only takes about 20 minutes tops including prep time.

WHAT YOU NEED FOR THIS MEAL:
bone in ribeye ($5.58 depending on how much it weighs. you can use any steak!)
7spice
salt and pepper
bundle of broccolini ($2.89)-- this is not broccoli. its broccoliNI
3-4 garlic cloves (you should still have some leftover or 2/$1)
1/4 of a red onion
2T butter
Morton Natures Seasoning (I use this stuff alot! Im not sure of the price and Im sorry about that... it shouldnt be more than $3 and it truly is an amazing seasoning for so many meals as you will see in future meals!)


The first thing I did to prepare for this meal was chop, slice and dice the garlic for the broccolini.
I put in 1T of butter in the sautee pan along with the garlic and sprinkled the Morton Nature Seasoning along in there as well before placing the broccolini in.
I allow the butter to melt and sit with the garlic and seasoning on low heat.
While the butter is melting is when you start the gas grill and let it preheat for about 5 minutes.

We seasoned it the same with the 7Spice ($4.99 at Kroger or Saltgrass) and we also have a salt and pepper mix we add as well. yum.

Once the ribeyes are on the grill we cook it for 4 minutes on each side for a medium rare. This isnt a consistent time since steaks are sometimes super thick or thin. ya know?

Once the ribeyes are flipped is when I turn the heat up to medium add another Tablespoon (T) of butter and put a lid on the pan.
While this is cooking I cut my red onion up. We cut about 1 inch pieces.
I add the onion in the last 2 minutes. Broccolini only needs about 5 minutes to cook and I really enjoy the crunch and flavor of the red onion with broccolini. yum :)

The time the ribeye is done is when the broccolini is done and your meal is ready.
DONT FORGET THE MILK :)

and yes... this may seem really quick and easy... and well... IT IS!

Happy Eating,
Ava Chino

DONT FORGET TO COMMENT. TAKE THE POLL AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE. AND FOLLOW ME!

GOURMET INDIA (lunch)

So JP and I really wanted some rice for lunch... We love trying new foods and we had been wanting to try some Indian food again, so we used the app "urbanspoon" on my iPhone and it told us to go to Gourmet India. So we did.

It was lunch and so i was wearing jeans and a tee and my hair and makeup werent really done. Afterall, it was lunch. Gourmet India had a lunch buffet. I didnt feel like i needed to put on my slacks and blouse and fix myself up. I was wrong.

So we get there before 2pm and it turns out they closed at 2:30... they didnt seem to mind so we stayed.
I felt a little out of place since I was dressed down; I felt like they were looking down on us for looking so shabby. But after getting some food and digging in, the staff warmed up to me and I felt more comfortable.
The place was very lit up with the window shades being pulled away and so the natural sunlight was just really relaxing. The staff was attentive, they brought us out some warm pita-like bread called roti, and even though i was little skeptical about eating at an idian buffet... it ended up hitting the spot. delicious.

Their buffet option wasnt huge but it was perfect. Here are the foods we chose off the buffet line:
Peas Pulao (which is rice)
Tandoori Chicken (JP ate this. it was pinkish/red. i didnt try it)
Goat Masala (JPs favorite. It was very good)
Zuccini Masala (great as well)
Mix Veggies (i liked mixing this with the meat)
Chicken Tikka Masala (my fave. orange, very saucy, and delicious)

All the foods had so much flavor, the atmosphere was nice and relaxing, everything was very clean, the servers were nice and attentive, the place is very Indian, I will def dress up a bit more the next time, and I definitely recommend first time Indian eaters to go here!!

Gourmet Indian opened in 1996 and if you look them up online they get a 4 star rating! JP and I ranked them before seeing this information and we gave them 3.75 stars.
If you go (during lunch) it is about $30 for 2 including sodas.

Below is the information you will need to find them.

Sun - Thu
11:00 am - 02:30 pm
05:30 pm - 10:00 pm
Fri - Sat
11:00 am - 03:00 pm
05:30 pm - 11:00 pm


http://www.gourmetindiahouston.com/
281 493 5435
13155 Westheimer Road
Houston TX, 77077

Happy Eating,
Ava Chino

Yum Yum Cha Cafe.

I remember about 3 years ago one of brothers, Eric, told me about this place that served dumplings that I just had to try. I also remember being a little hesitant because when I thought of dumplings I thought of East Texas chicken and dumplings- which I hate. He had declined to tell me that this place was of Asian decent and had been rewarded many acknowledgements of how awesome their food is. So we go and I haven't stopped spreading the word about the amazing dumplings of Yum Yum Cha Cafe.

I am going to start off with my fave dumplings here:
1. Ha gau (steamed shrimp dumpling)
3. Teow chow fun gau (pork and Nut dumpling (shrimp))
6. Hueng sai gau (cilantro shrimp dumpling)
31. Gow choy ha bang (pan fried shrimp and chive dumpling)

Other amazing foods on menu:
37. Tong Kai jiu (eggplant stuffed with shrimp)
38. Ha chung guen (deep fried shrimp roll)
39. Ja ha yuen (deep fried shrimp ball)
B. Steamed asparagus with oyster sauce
28. Gai Lang (Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce)

So you go into Yum Yums and they tell you to take a seat.
After choosing your seat they bring you a paper and you mark what you want.
The numbers/ letters above refer to the numbers on the menu.
Yum yums is a tiny place that needs some serious remodeling; however, it seems to fit them.
Its super laid back and you def don't need to dress up and it won't break the bank.
In fact, if you ordered everything above it would still be less than $30!
A soda is $1 and they have some pretty awesome hot tea.
My boyfriend and I go on a regular basis and we hardly ever order over $30 and when we do we can't even eat it all.
As much as I love this place, I do still have my critiques. Not every place can be perfect and they do have their drawbacks.
Such as the manager could use a bounce in her step... This is my nice way of saying she isn't very friendly. She airs out her problems to the staff and not quietly. My boyfriend and I have probably eaten here about 100 times (as it is my fave place to eat) and she has yet to come by to say, "welcome back" or even a courteous, "hello!" - and well... That bothers me!
The staff is ok friendly. I would say the best server is Kiera (I'm probably spelling her name wrong) and she is almost always there.
Another drawback is they need a serious deep clean. The place is clean, but like I said earlier... They need a serious makeover.
But even with my small complaints, you will never find dim sum this amazing. Seriously. It truly is the best.
Below you will find their location, hours, and website. I urge you to go!
Let me know what you think or if you know another dim sum restaurant I'm missing!

http://yumyumchacafe.com/index.html

Located in Rice Village!
2435 Times Blvd
Houston, TX 77005

PH: 713 527 8455

HOURS:
Sunday: 11a- 7p
Monday: 11a- 5p
Tuesday: CLOSED
Wednesday: 11a- 3p, 5p- 10p
Thursday: 11a- 3p, 5p- 10p
Friday: 11a- 3p, 5p- 10p
Saturday: 11a- 3p, 5p- 10p

Happy eating,
Ava Chino