The End of my Blog for a While

Hi All my two readers (maybe three, since I know my mom occasionally reads it) who have stuck with this blog and its lack of posts. I just cannot find enough hours in the day to post on this blog.
I am in the classroom  or lab for over 20 hours a week, I am slated to work my part-time job for 20+ hours a week, and this is not including the crazy commute time of Oahu traffic.  Teaching two college courses also means grading and creating curriculum. I think that it takes up a bunch of my time because I care too much and I want my students to learn as much as possible.  Then I choose to spend my free time playing with my daughter and getting her ready for the day and night.

Maybe I'll post once every couple of months (if you use a Reader, it will be easier to see if a sporadic post pops up). Maybe I'll switch to Tumblr and post random notes and pictures of food. Maybe I'll just post pictures of the food that my students cook in class because I certainly have not been cooking or baking very much. Mike has been stepping it up and our daughter probably will be a bit confused on stereotypical gender roles.  She'll tell her classmates, "No, daddy has a full time job, yet he cooks and cleans too." So can you see why I do not have free time? If I did, I would try to help Mike out a bit more.

Although this past January has been super duper busy, I think it may get worse or at least a bit more er...challenging.  A new opportunity has fortuitously been thrust my way and I really think that I could help Hawaii out... and it's related to food and people.

On a personal front, there are new adventures in store for us...2014 might be the year that we make a big purchase....here's a hint, it rhymes with "mouse."(yeah, cheesy I know).  I am very fortunate to be given these opportunities and am super stoked at what is in store for the rest of the year.  Lots of new changes and things to look forward to.

Long Hiatus

Whoa! It's been exactly two months since my last post. Blogging and keeping up with others blog posts has gone to the wayside due to the new job, my other job (I own my own business and am a registered LLC), and taking care of the little one who is not so little anymore (16 months old!).
In about a week and a half I will have survived my first semester teaching at the University (8 credits!) and will have about a month of downtime to enjoy the holidays, prep for next semester, CLEAN, and start all the things on my "To Do" list that I have been putting off for the past few months.

 Unfortunately for this blog, it seems like 2014 will be even busier than these past few months. I'll be teaching at both the University and a community college in the Spring. Fortunately for me, my jobs are exciting and allow me to interact with students and cook in kitchens.  How about that?  My "second career" (I consider my job in Texas my first career) still allows me to work with food and people!

Hawaii Restaurants~Corner Kitchen

Now that I work in town, I tend to stay in town until traffic dies down. What better way to spend my time than meeting up with friends for dinner?  I met up for one of my good friends from college and ate at Corner Kitchen in Kapahulu (since I had a groupon coupon).  

Chicken Katsu Curry and Rice. This is probably the most crispy chicken katsu that I had in a while. Yum!

We ordered a sampler platter that contained a spicy tuna roll, cory-en spicy chicken, and spicy shrimp.  Spicy Tuna Roll. Meh. We did not finish this plate. :(  We thought that the sushi would be tasty here since there are two pages on the menu devoted to sushi, but based on the spicy tuna sushi, we decided to try other sushi.

Shrimp was tasty! Deep-fried battered shrimp with spicy sauce and a mayonnaise sauce.

Cory-en Spicy Chicken. This was spicy tasty and crisp.  This was my friend's favorite dish.  

Miso Butter Ramen.  The ramen was okay.  I think that this dish was tasty but I think ramen shops with the word "ramen" in their name taste much better.

Overall, we thought the food at Corner Kitchen was just okay. Nothing was really memorable, but maybe we just ordered the wrong items. When we left the restaurant, it was kind of crowded. I think it was partially because there is free live music at 6:30pm, but we opted out of listening to music, so that we could chat and catch up.

We decided to end the night by walking over to Corner Kitchen for some frozen slush float. I had the strawberry slush float and my friend had the root beer slush float (I chose for him).  They were both tasty, but we both enjoyed the strawberry one the most. 

Corner Kitchen
477 Kapahulu Ave
 Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 732-3217

Rainbow Drive-In
3308 Kanaina Ave
 Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 737-0177

Hawaii Restaurants~Sweet E's Cafe

A couple of weekends ago, Mike and I had brunch with my parents at Sweet E's Cafe.  My mom chose to go here for her birthday and what a great choice.
Reviewers on  Yelp.com recommended the corned beef eggs benedict and the blueberry and cream cheese stuffed french toast, so that's what we ordered and shared.

My dad ordered the kalua pig omelet and Mike ordered the Hot Mess.

Kalua Omelet-Kalua Pig, Ham, Monterey Jack Cheese, onions, and tomatoes.  I think I am going to start putting monterey jack cheese in my omelets instead of cheddar. It makes a big difference.

Here's a picture of the inside of the french toast.  Mmmmm...blueberries and cream cheese.

Blueberry and Cream Cheese French Toast. This was tasty, but personally, I can only handle so much sweet food. I'm more of a savory breakfast food eater.

Corned Beef Hash Benedict

Everything was so tasty!  It was funny, each of liked dishes that others ordered.  My mom thought the Extreme Mess was the best, I liked the kalua omelet with the monterey jack cheese, and Mike enjoyed the corned beef hash eggs benedict the best.

Everyone enjoyed the Extreme mess. It contained hash browns, cheese, bacon, breakfast sausage, bell peppers, onions,  ham, eggs, I just did not care for it as much as everyone else because I do not like breakfast sausage.

I'm not a big breakfast food fan, but I'd go back in a heart beat!

Sweet E's Cafe
1016 Kapahulu Ave Ste 185
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 737-7771

Happy Anniversary Hubby!

Today marks Mike and my five year anniversary! Yay us! We have made it through five years of dating, five years of marriage, and are still going strong! Wow, that's 10 years! Our little family keeps growing...in 2011 we introduced little Butters our dog and then in 2012 our little baby girl. She already turned 1 year old, so now she's just our "little baby girl."

This is not a picture of Mike and me. It's the dogs helping us celebrate. :)

I often tell Mike that marrying him was the best decision in my life. It's true. I some how lucked out and found the guy that I was meant to spend the rest of my life with at such a young age (we met in high school but did not start dating until college).  We had a rough few years of doing the long distance thing, but I think that made our relationship that much stronger.

He's my best friend and a wonderful daddy to our little girl! He is also a great husband who cooks, cleans, and tickles my back to help me fall asleep.  Thank you Michael for loving me for all these years! I love you! Here's to many more years!

Salads

Did I mention that we have "Salad Night" once a week?  We also are trying to have a "Vegetarian Night" once a week too!

"Thai Salad" base-Cilantro, Romaine Lettuce, Bean Sprouts, Shredded Carrots, crunchy toppings and peanut dressing.

Finished Thai Chopped Chicken Salad dressed with the crunchy chow mein noodle topping.

Taco Salad-Lettuce, tomatoes, onions, carrots, taco "meat" (soy meat) with cooked in taco seasoning. We top the taco salad with Kraft Catalina dressing, black pepper, and a few shakes of tabasco.

This is how Mike eats his salad-topped with shredded cheese, sliced black olives, and a dollop of sour cream.

We then crush a few pieces of tortilla chips on top.  

Stay tuned for more of our salad dinners. 

Hawaii Restaurants~Monkey Pod Kitchen

One of my best friends and I met up for Happy Hour at the Monkey Pod Kitchen in Ko Olina.  The restaurant had a nice laid back ambiance and there was live music in the outdoor bar area. The Happy Hour consisted of $9 pizzas (Regular Price $14-18) and half off most appetizers (Regular Price $6-14).  There are also drink specials, but I rarely drink and I was there with one of my pregnant friends.
I searched Yelp.com for suggestions on what to order and also relied on my friend's previous dining experience at the Monkey Pod.  Here are the dishes that we shared:

Hand-cut fries with homemade ketchup and mustard sauce.  

Spicy Seared Kauai Shrimp

Hamakua Mushroom pizza

Strawberry Cream Pie

Pumpkin patch ravioli

I think that my favorite dish was the ravioli, which was topped with goat cheese, spinach, and a toasted walnut sage pesto.

Mike and I will have to go back to the Monkeypod Kitchen when we stay at Aulani again this Fall for our mini stay-cation.

Monkey Pod Kitchen
Ko Olina Station
92-1046 Olani St
Kapolei Hi, 96707
(808) 380-4086