Category: Food

Premium M&M’s

On By Michel McDonaldIn FoodLeave a comment

mandm-premium-box-mocha-216x300I’m not a rich man, not by any means so when I buy M&M’s I have to buy them when they are on sale.  So when I was at the grocery store looking for the cheap candy I noticed that the premium M&M’s had a clearance on the Mocha flavor for $1.79.

They are kind of strange looking.  It’s kind of like a bronze color with brown flecks.  Normally when I eat M&M’s if they are the plain I suck on it until it dissolves completely.  That way I get the taste for a lot longer.  These are different.  The shell has no flavor at all.  It’s kind of like sucking on a marble.  So my instinct is to just bite down and chew it.

It tastes good.  I love anything that is coffee flavored and this is Mocha so it works for me.  But like I said, it had a clearance tag on it.  What does that mean?  It means they no longer make it and they are on sale to get rid of them.  I know this for a fact because I went to the M&M’s website and they don’t even have this flavor listed anymore.  I had to do a search just for the photo to add to this blog post.

So after this bag is finished (give me 5 minutes lol) I’m never going to buy them again because they are about $4 at the store at their regular price and that’s a bit too rich for my blood for candy.

Malt-O-Meal Hot Cereal

On By Michel McDonaldIn FoodLeave a comment

I can remember when I was about 4 or 5 years old and my mother used to make me Malt-O-Meal for breakfast.  That was the best hot cereal ever.  Yes I like Oatmeal but this is better.  I don’t care too much for cream of wheat though.

I remember that my mom always bought the Chocolate Malt-O-Meal and if she bought the original, I would put some chocolate syrup in it to make it chocolaty hehe.

Did you know that Malt-O-Meal hot cereal is nutritious?  I knew it was good for you but I didn’t know to what extend until I read this:

Link is gone, sorry.  But take my word for it lol.  Visit the website and do some digging (link below)

Wow, I’m going to buy this more often and eat it before my bike rides instead of regular cold cereal.  Although this means I’m either going to get a late start or I will have to get up earlier.  Then again you can nuke it lol.

I don’t know why but the stores in California, or at least in Bakersfield, don’t sell the chocolate flavored Malt-O-Meal anymore.  When I was 4 or 5 as I mentioned before we lived here in Bakersfield and that’s where my mom bought it so I’m not sure why they don’t sell it here now.  They do mention that flavor on their website.  I want CHOCOLATE Malt-O-Meal!  Adding chocolate syrup adds more calories to it lol.  Oh well, I guess Maple and Brown Sugar will have to do.

Image copied from their website www.malt-o-meal.com.  Make sure you go to your local grocery store and buy some today.  It’s the best hot cereal ever made IMHO.

Hunger Pangs

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, FoodLeave a comment

Yesterday and today were Chips days off so I didn’t ride the bike the entire weekend.  I thought my body was getting used to the new diet or the new portions, in fact it was doing pretty good.  So I was a little confused today when I had my slim fast shake at 11:45am, I was really getting hungry.  But then at 1:45pm the hunger pangs came back with a vengeance.

For the last couple of weeks that I’ve been on the slim fast and measuring my portions my hunger pangs haven’t been bothering me so I don’t know why today.

I decided that I couldn’t wait until 6pm to eat so I just ate an energy bar, a Tiger’s Milk bar.  But then Darrin said hey let’s go to the store and get some steak for dinner to BBQ.  So we went and even got some salad stuff and a can of beans because what’s a BBQ without beans and salad?

Unfortunately he couldn’t wait for 6pm since he didn’t even eat any lunch so we ate at 3pm lol.  Which was ok for my stomach I guess but then when 6pm came around I started getting hungry again grrrr.  And now, it’s just turning 11pm and guess what?

Well, I gotta take an ambien anyway to get me to sleep, I can’t sleep without it because the BiPap mask keeps me awake so I gotta take a pill to be able to fall asleep with that thing.  The Ambien doesn’t really work without food so I’ll eat a banana, that should work.

I’m out of cereal so tomorrow morning I’m going to just have a slim fast shake.  I wanted to limit myself to 1 shake per day or if I had a very light dinner then just add the shake.  If you haven’t noticed, Slim Fast is expensive lol.  So that’s ok, I can actually have a shake for breakfast and then later tomorrow buy some more Raisin Bran cereal for breakfast the next day.

I Said No… Well, Sorta

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, FoodLeave a comment

Wow, this diet must be really messing with my head because I said no to Taco Bell today.

I went to the grocery store before Darrin came home to buy him some fried chicken and macaroni salad and I also bought him some macaroni and cheese just in case he wanted it.  I also bought some salad stuff for myself.  But when Darrin came home from work he was carrying a Taco Bell bag.  UGH!

So we went in the house and he had 3 of those .99 cent double beefy cheesy burritos or whatever they are called and a .99 caramel apple empanada.  I was going to say no thanks to them all but I just couldn’t.  I only ate 1 burrito and the empanada.  I did say no to the other 2 burritos though.

Well, technically I didn’t say no, I put them in the fridge.  I’m sure he will end up eating them but that’s ok.  I’m ok if he does.

In order for me to be successful with my weight loss I have to say no as much as possible.  I don’t think 1 burrito and an empanada (which is an apple pie) is going to hurt me though.  But tomorrow I’m definitely going to eat a salad and hope that he ate all my burritos hehe.

He isn’t working tomorrow so he can have the burritos for lunch and the fried chicken for dinner (or vice versa) and I’ll just eat my diet foods/shakes.

Neat Breakfast Ideas

On By Michel McDonaldIn FoodLeave a comment

I was just thinking of something.  Why go to McDonald’s for a breakfast sandwich when you have the Big City Sliders Station?  All you have to do is buy some ground up sausage meat then roll it into balls and press them with this thing but don’t cook it in there.  Just pop them out and cook them on the skillet (or BBQ).

Then beat some eggs and pour them into the 5 spaces and of course, as per instructions cook on low heat for 4 minutes.  Obviously since it’s eggs you can’t press them and you can’t use that top press piece to put on top of the eggs, it’s too heavy and the eggs will come out and get all over the place.  So what I think is let them cook for a few minutes.  Since they are small spaces they won’t take that long to cook then you can just add the lid when it’s pretty solid.  It says that you can flip them so that’s a good idea I guess if you can.  Make sure you use Pam.

Then once you are done cooking the eggs and the sausage take some English muffins or better yet, make some fresh baked biscuits.  Preferably from the recipe from the Bisquick mix instead of the ones that are in a tube.  Those are never right.  But when those are done just slice it then place the sausage on the bottom, a piece of cheese (optional) on top of the sausage then add the egg on top.

I’m sure this will be such a good sandwich.  And since they are so tiny you could enjoy a few of them.  I can’t wait to try this.  When I do I’m going to take some pictures and add it to the recipes page heh.

Big City Slider Station

On By Michel McDonaldIn Food, Products I LikeLeave a comment

I got the Big City Slider Station today.  It was a lot smaller than I had thought it would be.  But that’s fine.  It looks neat.  I haven’t been able to use it yet because I don’t have any ground meat.  I need to get to the store.

I’ve read several blog’s about how crappy this device is and what a complete waste of $20 it is.

This one person said that when she opened her BCSS she smelled it and it had an unpleasant odor.  I didn’t smell mine but I washed it right away in warm soapy water.  The instructions say hot soapy water though.  It was hotter than regular warm so that’s good enough I guess.  But this person also said that she put it on the stove for 15 minutes by itself with no burgers in it to remove all the germs or what not.  Well, I read the instructions and it clearly states not to put it on the stove without anything in it.  And you have to cook the burgers on medium, not high.  It also says not to cook it on a halogen or quartz stove surfaces yet in the commercial they are using the glass stove top.

Another person said that when he was biting into his mini burger he saw some silver on his burger and shouted STOP EATING! because the teflon was attached to the burgers.  I’m sorry but you would notice that when you finish cooking them before putting them on the buns.

Another person said that he cooked like 70 or so mini burgers for a party, just batch after batch after batch.  When he was done it was pretty nasty and he said he had to use a Brillo pad (or something like it) to clean it.  The first rule when cleaning Teflon is no wire cleaning tools that can scratch the Teflon.  Everyone knows that.

Well, the cooking time of this thing is 2-4 minutes on medium and I don’t think that after the 3rd batch the Teflon is going to start coming off if you are using it right.  That’s what another person said, after the 3rd batch it started coming off and onto the burgers.  That’s only 12 minutes of use so if that happens to them after 12 minutes of use then I’m going to guess they are cooking it on high and leaving it on the stove for long periods of time without cooking anything in it.

But, I’m going to take all these comments that I’ve read into consideration and I’m not going to cook with it.  I’m going to use it as a burger press then lay the 5 burgers on a piece of wax paper, put wax paper on top of the burgers, then add 5 more stacked and so on then put it all in a gallon zip lock bag.  The one that you suck the air out.  This way I can have maybe 30 or so mini burgers frozen and ready to use whenever I get the urge to eat some.  And I plan on cooking them with a skillet.  I know that Billy Mayes thinks that people who cook their mini burgers on a skillet are all morons who can’t cook but I’ve done pretty good cooking burgers on a skillet my whole life, I think that I’ll be ok.

TV Dinners

On By Michel McDonaldIn FoodLeave a comment

I was hoping to beat the heat by going out on the bike early like around 10am.  I had my CamelBak filled with 2oz. of water and I had a 1 liter bottle filled to put in the water bottle cage just in case my CamelBak ran out of water.  I was all dressed and ready to go and I turned on my Dell DJ and looked at the screen and it says LOW BATTERY.

Are you kidding me?  That battery is supposed to last I don’t know, something like 8 to 12 hours or something like that.  The last time I used it was Sunday and I was only out for 2 hours, when I came home I turned it off (pausing it stops the music then it shuts off in 5 minutes automatically).  I’m thinking that some how maybe it didn’t shut off automatically and it jut stayed on.

Well, it’s charging and hopefully I’ll be out riding by 12 lol.  It takes a couple of hours to charge.  I don’t care how long it takes as long as I get to go out and be back in time for Stargate SG-1 lol.

Goodbye IHOP, Hello Big Boy

On By Michel McDonaldIn FoodLeave a comment

A few months ago I noticed that 2 of Bakersfield’s IHOP’s have turned from a blue color to a red color and renamed “Clay’s”.  I can’t go to Clay’s because it makes me think of Clay Aiken and then I just imagine all the waitresses and waiters have Clay Aiken hair and they are singing to their customers trying to get their order.  It sends shivers down my spine.  Hehe just kidding.

But on a positive note, the Bakers Square on Ming Ave. closed down (well, that’s not the positive part) and a Bob’s Big Boy is moving in its place.  I’ve loved that place since I was a kid.  My parent’s always bought me the Big Boy comic books and I had some Big Boy toys.  The burgers were very similar to Big Macs but they didn’t have the same sauce, the Big Boy burger had a better sauce.

The one thing I remember about Bob’s Big Boy was the hairdo’s of all the waitresses.  They were always high up like they had bee hives but with curls all over them.  That is definitely what makes Bob’s Big Boy to me.  The comic books, burgers and hairdo’s.

Picky Eater

On By Michel McDonaldIn FoodLeave a comment

I was a picky eater as a kid.  I can remember all the way back to when I was about 3 or 4 years old and my mom made some meatloaf and it had tons of onions and green bell peppers and I tasted them and they just did not taste good to me so I picked them all out and only ate the meat.  Well, my parent’s wouldn’t let me leave the table until all that stuff was gone.  I think I sat there for about 4 hours staring at it.  I just absolutely refused to eat it.

As I grew up I found out that I hated other things like yogurt and American cheese.  There were some things I hated but I felt that I should compromise with my mom and just eat them like the greens.  I loved spinach because Popeye ate spinach so I had to have it.  And not fresh but from the can and it didn’t matter to me if it was heated up.  You never saw Popeye crush his spinach can then pour it into a pot and heat it on the stove.  No, he ate it straight from the can.

My mom learned my likes and dislikes for food and so she would cook for the family but also cook for me.  When she made potato salad she would put about 3/4 of the ingredients in a big bowl and the rest in a little bowl for me and she would put all the crap in the big bowl but be selective for me.  My step dad on the other hand, he would purposely put onions and bell peppers in my food but hidden so I wouldn’t see them so when I bit into the food I’d get a big bite of onions.  Bastard.

But this post isn’t about me.  Oh no, it’s about my dog.  Dogs are normally always hungry.  You can give them whatever and they will eat it with no problem.  Within reason though.  But you give them something to eat and they don’t even give themselves time to chew it, they swallow it whole.  Not my dog.  Oh no.  She’s a toy chihuahua.  She used to do that but then she learned I guess and so she smells the people food first before she eats it.

I’ve given her hot dogs (1/2 a hot dog) in the past, I slice them lengthwise to quarter them then I cut the slices so they are little tiny pieces she can chew.  She normally likes hot dogs.  But all of a sudden now she sniffs them and looks up at me as if to say “you got anything else?”.

Yeah, how about your dog food?  Oh that’s another thing.  I’ve bought her 2 different brands of dog food, she hates it.  She will only eat the cats food.  Her dog food has different colors like yellow, orange, brown, green.  She picks through them with her nose and pushes all the brown ones out and she only eats the colored ones.  OMG this is the pickiest dog ever.

I gave her half of a hot dog knowing she might turn her nose up on it and of course she did.  I thought well maybe she wants to be hand fed so I gave her a piece and she took it but then spit it out lol.  So I gave her a little bit of some life cereal which she ate all of.  Whatever dog lol.  Whatever.  I’m eating some macaroni and cheese with cut up hot dogs in it and she’s staring at me like “can I have some?” but she’s not getting any.

Hamburger Helper

On By Michel McDonaldIn FoodLeave a comment

I went to the store to buy something for lunch and also wanted something for dinner.  I sat and thought about what I wanted before I left to go to the store and Hamburger Helper entered my mind.  We used to have it all the time or whenever it was 10 for $10 at the store.  I’d buy like 10 of them and just keep them in the pantry until we wanted it.

I’m so glad I thought about it but when I went to the aisle that the hamburger helper was on I was overwhelmed with the variety of helper products.

It’s not just hamburger helper.  But then again they’ve had Tuna helper since I was a kid at least.  I seem to recall some time in the late 80’s or maybe early 90’s when I first started seeing Chicken Helper.  But I could be wrong, I wasn’t really paying attention to the chicken helper.  They actually have more than 60 different flavors.

There is so much of a variety of helpers that I just find it so hard to decide.  If you know you want a particular meat like hamburger or tuna or chicken then your choices are at least slimmed down a bit but even still there are so many choices.

I’m a simpleton, I like the original hamburger helper that’s like macaroni and cheese with meat.  I do like to get the stroganoff sometimes and the nacho.  We also like the tuna helper.

But I’m sure you don’t have to be limited to tuna, chicken and hamburger.  I’m sure you can put some other meat in there like say you want meat balls instead or you want to use ground turkey which is actually a lot leaner and healthier choice.  Or you can add ground sausage meat or even maybe spam ground up.

I’m sure all the hunters just love deer helper or bear helper.  Maybe they might like some other kinds of meats like maybe possum helper or road kill helper.  The possibilities are endless in the flavors you can have.  Even cannibals on the islands can have people helper.  There are even people in different countries (which I will not name for fear of being sued) who might like dog helper or cat helper.  Oh and cowboys and jockeys who have a horse with a broken leg don’t have to lose out.  They can have horse helper.

No?  Did I go too far with the horse helper?  Or was it all the way back to the people helper?  Oh come on, that was funny, don’t deny you are laughing out loud.