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!

BROTHERS PIZZA

Brothers Pizza has been a personal favorite of mine since I was dropped off at the mall by my parents. haha.

Brothers Pizza used to be in West Oaks Mall... it blew Sabarro out of the water! It was not only way more delicious... but much cheaper as well. Brothers is hands down the best pizza.

Now they have expanded outside of the mall into 7 Houston locations. The one I am always going to is the Katy, Hwy 6, location... love those guys! Not only is the pizza consistently great, but the guys that work there are just so much fun and friendly. I go so much that they know my name and order! The pizza is low priced and extra large New York style! The only downside is that they dont deliver! haha but you can call it in for carry out. Another great perk of eating here are the leftovers... when you cant eat all the pizza and you bring it home, just reheat it in the oven at 350 degrees and the pizza is so amazing all over again!


I recommend this place to everyone! Trust me, you wont want to go back to another pizza joint again!

MY FAVE BROTHERS PIZZA LOCATION:
1029 Hwy 6 North Suite 100 ( one block North of I-10)
Phone 281 398 4040
Store Hours:
MON-SAT 11AM-10PM
CLOSED SUNDAYS



Happy Eating,
Ava Chino

TELL ME YOUR FAVE KIND OF PIZZA!

DONT FORGET TO FOLLOW ME, COMMENT ON THE POSTS, AND TAKE THE POLL AT THE TOP!

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!

EAT HEALTHY FOR LESS THAN $8

So I got off work tonight and decided to go to HEB to find dinner.
I didnt want to spend that much money since I didnt make that much mula tonight, so I went with fresh spinach ($1.48), salmon ($4.99), and garlic(2/$1).
The meal I made was sauteed garlic spinach, left over mashed potatoes, and a traditional salmon.

Here's what you need:
Tablespoon of olive oil
sprinkle of salt
fresh spinach (or you can get the bagged baby spinach($2.99)
3-4 garlic cloves per person
salmon
foil

First thing I do for this meal is take some cloves of garlic and chop, slice, and dice them. Since this was a meal for one, I only used 3-4 cloves... But if youre cooking for more than 1, i would use up to 8 cloves... it really depends on how much you love garlic.
So I set the stove on low/medium and place a sautee pan on the stove with some olive oil.
As the garlic is chopped, sliced, and diced I add them to the olive oil.
I do this first so that the garlic taste can sit in the olive oil. Its awesome.
I have a gas grill so I take my salmon put it in the foil and place it on the grill.
Salmon doesnt need to cook too long; if you cook salmom too long, it will dry out.
Once the salmon is on the grill, I add the fresh spinach to the olive oil and garlic.
You must move the spinach around or else it wont all cook.
This was my first time to cook fresh spinach instead of the bagged baby spinach... the difference is (1) you must for sure rinse, rinse, rinse the fresh spinach! It is for sure fresh and so its dirty! Rinse it and then rinse some more. (2) baby spinach wilts a ton and the fresh spinach is much, much larger and therefore has more texture. i love it a lot more. plus, its cheaper! :)
Sprinkle some salt over the spinach once you add it to the pan... you really dont need much salt at all.
By the time the spinach is cooking all the way, the salmon should be finished as well (5-7 minutes)
So take the salmon off the grill, take it out of the foil, add the spinach to the plate and viola... dinner is served!

I had leftover mashed potatoes and so I added that to my meal. One thing i have learned is a great thing to do is take a leftover vegetable and add it to a freshly made meal... that way leftovers arent completely awful! haha

I had taken more pictures of this meal to post; however, I accidently deleted them when uploading the pictures. yah. it wont happen again! promise :)

Happy Eating,
Ava Chino

AND DONT FORGET TO TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!
IF YOU HAVE ANY MEAL IDEAS LET ME KNOW!
IF YOU HAVE RECIPES SEND THEM MY WAY!
THANKS! :)

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