Category Archives: Indian Food

by | August 5, 2010 · 7:33 am

Trailer Trumped

     Here’s a tip: DO NOT go see Charlie St. Cloud. It was long, it was slow, it was PAINFULLY cheesy, and there were way too many violins trying to tell me to feel sad. Don’t get me wrong, this definitely had its tear-jerking moments, and Zac Efron is a great crier with an even better bod, but it wasn’t worth the money paid. My favorite part of the movie was the trailer. Honestly, the trailer definitely trumped the movie, and I wish I’d just watched that and obsessed over how wonderful the movie COULD have been without actually seeing it. Those amazing trailer editors got me!

     Before the whole movie debacle, my parental unit took me out for an amazing lunch at the local Indian restaurant. We split two dishes, and a side of naan.

A slice of naan, chicken tikka masala, and saag. Sorry for the awful plating – I was focusing on my portion-control. I had another half piece of naan after this, as well as a little more tikka masala sauce and a small spoonful of saag. I left satisfied, on the edge of full.
The restaurant has this beautiful courtyard outside.
A little slice of paradise :).
     My mom and I released my dad from our girly-movie grips and headed to the theatre on our own. We were half an hour early, so we each got a child size gelato and sat outside to enjoy the fresh air before heading into the theatre. An hour and a half later, we walked out dazed and chuckling at the complete absurdity that we’d just endured.
     We swung by Trader Joe’s to pick up a few key ingredients for dinner, then headed home and put together this amazing setup:
We all split a plate of Multigrain and Flaxseed water crackers from TJ’s with some smoked gouda cheese, and had big KSSs. Each KSS had 1 chopped and sauteed zucchini with HdP, 1/2 of a cup of warmed lentils, 1/3 of the egg white salad, 1/3 of a diced orange pepper and 1 bag of chopped baby romaine lettuce. The wine of the night was Murphy-Goode’s 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon – I had one glass and was content :).
     After a leisurely dinner out back, I heated up three chunks of the frozen Summertime Cherry, Banana, Coconut-Butter bread, and made a big mug of tea. The night so far has consisted of good food, good wine, and a LOT of ridiculing of Mr. St. Cloud. It is WONDERFUL to be home, indeed.
What’s the worst movie you’ve ever seen? When In Rome gets my vote – I have no idea what possessed me to watch that one!

4 Comments

Filed under Charlie St. Cloud, Cherry-Banana-Coconut-Butter Bread, courtyard, Indian Food, kitchen sink salad, Murphy-Goode, wine

by | June 21, 2010 · 9:12 am

HAPPY FATHERS’ DAY!!!

     I repeat what I said in the title. BEST. FATHERS’ DAY. EVER. Honestly, epic! Many, many pictures to follow: Hopefully you can handle the awesomeness…

I started with a mini-Monsta. This had about 2 cups of spinach, a little soymilk, frozen cherries, half a banana and some lemon juice. I had to have an appetite for lunch!
     First, I had to give my pops all of his loot. He was very, very spoiled :).
We have (from the top left, going clockwise) chocolate tortilla chips, a Guinness mug, a grill pan from Williams Sonoma, a stationary bottle opener, and some authentic British pub mats.
     For lunch, we headed out to… INDIAN FOOD! I had two gigantic plates: don’t judge! It’s a weekend of celebration. I can get back on track tomorrey. (I say and spell the word “tomorrow” like tomorrey. Deal with it.)
I had gigantic servings of saffron chicken, daal, vegetable korma, LOTS of naan, and for dessert, carrot-butter pudding and one of those doughy-syrup-covered balls. YUM!
     After lunch, we walked around for a bit and ended up in a furniture store. Woohoo…happy fathers’ day :P.
     Then, we wandered over to Dargan’s, the local Irish pub, and had some drinks.
My pops had a Black Velvet (Strong Bow cider and Guinness), my mum had a Strong Bow cider, and I had a Bass Ale.
We were COMPLETELY stuffed, but we somehow managed to fit in some potato skins :). HEY! It’s a weekend for celebration!
     There happens to be an amazing used bookstore on Main Street, that I must stop in every time I’m in Ventura.
     We saw a new pub that we’ve never tried before, called Bernadette’s – LOVELY Bernadette, the owner, showed us around and made us feel entirely welcome, and Allison helped us with everything we needed – I sense a new Sunday tradition! They had live music, so we decided we had to sit for a spell.
I’d like to introduce you to Black Carl. Seriously, go to their site and listen. They are incredible!
That’s the drummer using a beer bottle as percussion. BOOYAH!
Everyone needs to go to their site and subscribe and follow and listen and LOVE them! Tell them the Bexter @ HikeBikeEat sent you :). I bought their CD onsite and got a bunch of awesome pins and matchbooks.
     We all seemed to enjoy the music. <– Video goodness!
There were lots of feet bouncing to the beat: rhyming makes me happy :P.
My pops, trying to read the Black Carl button. “BLACK CATS???”
We get along very well…
…Most of the time :). 
Tattoo courtesy of Paciugo, baby!
I found one of my new favorite drinks, recommended by my cousin Allie who is currently traveling all over Europe! Magners = deliciously crispy, dry, and not too sweet!
My dad definitely had a great time. My mom enjoyed it once the music got started, teehee!
     After an amazing day, we headed back to have some awful, awful dinner…
White Castle burgers and Franziskaner – my dad wanted it, so I had to have some – it’s Fathers’ Day!
…And cuddle with the Buddha!
(No, I’m not actually strangling her) She gets VERY possessive over her chips! I almost lost my entire hand after this picture.
     And now I will leave you, having forced many, many pictures unto you, and watch the rest of The Next Food Network Star. I finished The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud: meh. I have a feeling the movie will be better, at least based on the trailer. It was a good/okay book, but wasn’t anything too memorable.
Happy Fathers’ Day to all the dads out there!

5 Comments

Filed under Bernadette's, Buddha, Dargan's, Fathers' Day, Indian Food, irish pub, Magners, Potato Skins, Ventura

by | June 20, 2010 · 6:50 am

Home Sweet Home

     Doesn’t everyone love waking up at 6am? Today was the last day of watching the LBM, so I had to wake up a bit earlier to fold sheets and straighten up around my foster house. I woke up early on my own (I was going to let myself “sleep in” until 6:30am), so I had plenty of time to enjoy my GM.

I like my Monsta with a little extra Monsta on top.
     Do you remember those cookies I bought last night for my date night? Yeah, I brought those in to work with me, in hopes of getting rid of them and not having any more. That didn’t work out so well. I ended up eating another two, and my coworker Vicky helped me polish off the remaining sprinkles that were stuck in the grooves in the bottom of the box.
     Once we were all hopped up on sugar, Vicky and I decided that we needed some coffee, so we ventured out for an “enorme” cup of java, but got sidetracked by See’s and bought some Tipperary bon-bons and caramels. THEN came the coffee, then came the outcome of our caffeine/sugar binge:
I apologize if you like those Zsu-Zsu pet things. This hamster toy was left a week ago by a little girl, and after letting it roam around the store, we decided that we’d had enough of its squeaking, so we made a spit and paper fire and roasted it. Caffeine/sugar highs make us creative!
     I had a BIG crash. Like, dropping-onto-the-floor-in-a-heap-crash. Subway would fix me up!
I had a 6-inch on wheat (threw away most of the bread) with turkey, roast beef, extra spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers and avocado. If I find something I like, I order it over and over again.
     My final break was spent at Paciugo, my lovely gelato store. They had soy mint today, so I was finally able to get a cup instead of drooling onto the glass over all the milk-based gelato. I also introduced Vicky to Paciugo. She’s pretty mad at me for creating a new addiction :).
     Finally, I got to come HOME! I unpacked, organized, went to the bank to cash my check for watching the LBM, then went to The Habit for burgers with the roommates. I didn’t take a picture – I was much too busy swallowing the fries and burger by the handful. 
     Now it’s time for me to sign off and do a little reading of The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud, and prep for FATHERS’ DAY tomorrey! I’ll be spending the day with my mum and pops eating lots of indian food, drinking lots of good beer, and enjoying a hard-earned day off from work. Lots of father-spoiling will ensue. And yes, many, many pictures too. What are your plans for Fathers’ Day?

Have a blessed weekend!

Comments Off on Home Sweet Home

Filed under burgers, fries, gelato, green monster, Home, Indian Food, little blurry monster, Paciugo, See's Candies, soy, Subway, The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud, The Habit, Zsu Zsu Pets

by | June 6, 2010 · 4:41 am

I LOVE INDIAN FOOD!

There is NOTHING better than eating healthy round the clock. I live for eating veggies and tofu, drinking hot lemon water, chomping on fresh fruits, and exercising at least 2 hours a day.
Oh wait… there’s LIFE!
Today started out healthy enough. I made a MONSTER GM to split with the roommates and added the juice of half a lemon this time. Definitely made a difference, as did the additional frozen banana. I’ll try adding the Emergen-C tomorrow morning.
And yes, that is http://eatliverun.com in the background. My mom was kind enough to point out how similar our blog names are. I swear I hadn’t even found her blog before I’d named mine! I was going for a twist on “Eat, Pray Love”. Ah well.
This GM kept me full a full hour and a half, then I was ravenous! Luckily, we were headed straight to The Taj in Ventura for Indian food. I’m OBSESSED with this place and we frequent it at least once a month.
Overhead view
Topographic view
The Taj fortunately (or unfortunately) had a buffet today, so I loaded up with saag, saffron chicken, korma and extra amounts of sauce. There is REALLY nothing better than scooping up the sauces with a hot, freshly baked piece of garlic naan.
Rice is for lame-o’s!
I will always believe that white rice is only a filler. Don’t waste your time on it! Use that searing hot garlic naan to scoop up every single bit of sauce that is left on your plate! If you don’t, I’ll refuse to join you for lunch >:(. Just kidding, I’ll go to lunch with anyone if there’s food involved :). Even more so if it’s free *wink wink*!!!
Since it was buffet style, I just had to go back for dessert…. and maybe a little more saag and saffron sauce.
That’s pineapple at the bottom! I’m healthy!
As my best friend, Michelle, pointed out to me on iChat just now, “Sometimes unhealthy food is healthy for the soul!” I love that girl! I didn’t want to disrespect the chefs, so I cleaned my plate.
But once it was officially gone, I was very, very depressed.
That’s nothing that a little chocolate can’t fix! I settled for my usual: sprinkles-covered marshmallow on a stick:
I got a call yesterday that the bike store FINALLY had my shorts in, so I just had to go try them on!
5’3″ and fierce. I know you’re scared!
News flash: I have chicken legs. Like, annoyingly-crazy skinny legs. Everything about these shorts fit EXCEPT for the legs! They were hanging on me, and while I was willing to overlook this problem, Dave, the cycle guy, told me that I wouldn’t be able to ignore it for long. I placed an order for an extra-small pair. Now I have to wait another week and a half for them to arrive. Ugh.
Back home for a Saturday night, I got to try out my pop’s new pellet rifle 🙂
Elegant and ready to kill! I scared the CRAP out of that mound of dirt below the baked beans can that I was aiming for, that’s for sure!
After feeling like a total bad-ass, I kicked back with a Fat Tire and an amazing view.
OH! And a chocolate-covered sea salt caramel!
Sorry for the blurry picture. I’m still trying to figure out this camera. I drooled over a few very cool digital SLR’s at a camera store today, but the funds aren’t allowing for anything extravagant like that.
Tomorrow I have another full shift at work, so I’m setting my alarm for 7am and I’m going to put the pedal to the asphalt and pump out a few miles! I’m hoping to map out a long loop that’s not on a main road so I can work on adding mileage without getting run over. After that, my Emergen-C GM! See you all tomorrey!

2 Comments

Filed under beer, Chocolate, Fat Tire, Indian Food, Pearl Izumi, pellet gun, trufflehounds, Ventura