Creep by You (ft. Nina Sky)

Amazing amazing video

Tako Sushi (Mississauga)

I went out for lunch with a friend today and it was a choice between Japanese or Hakka cuisine which is something I've never had. We ended up dining in a Japanese restaurant, the beautiful weather and nice patio drew us in plus a confusing game of rock paper scissors were the deciding factor! I believe the restaurant is fairly new and with a name like "Tako Sushi," it made me think of Mexican-Japanese fusion cuisine. Silly, I know. Walking through the restaurant to the patio, the interior is quite nice with two impressive teppanyaki dining rooms. We both decided on the bento boxes and boy were we disappointed!

The rice was falling off the sushi and it was pre-made (we saw it laid out on a counter walking out of the restaurant which seems a little unnecessary as there were not many patrons at 2pm)

The highlight of this was the steak which was cooked at a nice medium rare. The sauce was watered down and rice did not taste very fresh. The spring rolls and pasta salad (odd) were quite unappetizing.

Beef short ribs...they were okay at best.

Overall, I do not see myself returning to this restaurant. The food did not taste very fresh and what sushi I did have was quite poor. I'm glad I did not order any of their specialty rolls. I think T&T could have done a better job! Points to the decor but what good is a nice looking interior if the food is so poor?

Banana Monkey Bread

This recipe has become somewhat of a staple in my household. We usually buy bananas to either make smoothies or bread. I have modified this recipe many times over and probably will continue to do so as it is very versatile and a great way to get in your fiber during those busy mornings. It's filling and full of good stuff for you.

Preheat oven to 350degrees.

Dry Mixture:
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup of quick oats
2 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds
1 tablespoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
dash of salt

Sift all purpose and whole wheat flour into a mixing bowl to break up any clumps. Add the rest of the dry ingredients straight into the bowl. Use a bigger bowl since the wet ingredients will be added to this later.

Wet Mixture:

5 ripe bananas
2 eggs
3 heaping tablespoons of brown sugar
3 tablespoon of peanut butter (if refrigerated, set out on counter for 20 minutes to soften)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 tablespoon of butter (I shave it off the bar and gauge the amount by eyeballing it)
1/3 cup of milk

Peel all bananas and toss into a bowl separate from dry mixture. Crack eggs, add sugar, butter, extract and peanut into same bowl. I like to run a butter knife through the mixture to cut up the banana into small pieces. Next, use a potato masher to mash bananas and mix in the rest of the wet ingredients. The consistent should be somewhat runny (mainly b/c of the eggs) and small lumps. Add mixture to dry mixture and mix in with a sturdy fork or whatever tool you have available.  It should resemble a tossing motion as youre trying to mix in the wet with the dry while ensuring that you are not overworking the dough. Add the milk to further moisten the ingredients.

Publish Post

Grease loaf pan and pour in final mixture. Gently shake pan to level mixture. Bake at 350degrees for about 45 minutes. If the top looks like its burning then cover it with a piece of tin foil to prevent further browning. Insert toothpick to check its readiness, it should come out clean.

My brother took a chunk out before I could take a picture!

This is how the bananas should be looking to make bread. At this point the bananas are extra sweetened due to the ripeness which requires less sugar to be used in the recipe. If the bananas in your grocery store are not ripe then make sure to check out their selection of reduced produce. They're good, if not better than non-reduced bananas as there is no wait time required for the bananas to ripen!

Enjoy!

No Brainer Soup (Veggie Styles)

Prep + Cooking Time: 30 minutes

1 Carrot
3 Celery Spears
1 Onion
1 Cup of Frozen Corn Kernels
1 Tomato
3 Potatoes
1 Can of Mixed Beans 
1 Cup of Chicken or Vegetable Broth [I like to mix packaged broth with water to decrease the sodium content in my meal)
3 Cups of Water
3 TBSP of Paprika
Sprigs of Parsley
Salt & Pepper

Bring water and broth to a boil. Add roughly chopped potatoes, onions and carrots to the pot and turn down to medium. Boil for 10 minutes and add diced tomatoes, corn, celery, and mixed beans to the pot while cooking for another 10 minutes. Add paprika, salt, pepper and parsley. Stir and turn off stove.

*This recipe was created after I spent a better part of the day craving soup so I finally caved by making this at about 9pm for dinner. Initially, the craving was for a cream based soup but this was healthier and very satisfying alternative. The ingredients in the soup are not perfect as I actually didn't write down the ingredients that I used and am basing this on my memory of what I thought I put in.

"Never love someone who treats you like you're ordinary." 

-Oscar Wilde 

Derek K. Miller (Don't forget me, I beg)

This post is completely unrelated to food but the link I'm posting is unbelievably heartwarming, touching and sad. Many of you may have already seen it since it has gone viral with over 8 million hits and for those of you that have not then please give it a read. It is the blog that a father kept while undergoing his battle with cancer and he kept writing up until his very last day.  The final entry was posted after his death by a friend in accordance with his wishes. He writes in such a matter of fact way that you can't help but feel what he is trying to emote from his words.

http://www.penmachine.com/

They have archived his site to preserve his words and memories.

This song is meant to keep ya from doing what you're suppose to

Here's another song by Jack Johnson. This song seems so fitting for a lazy rainy Sunday in.

The weather in Toronto has been so offbeat for the May weather, its been full of rain and dark skies. Take today for example, its been raining non-stop all day with the temperature hovering at around 11 degrees. I've been trekking around outside today with my handy umbrella by my side. I went out for lunch at a sushi restaurant  and it was extra cozy today with its warm ambiance and miso soup to warm our bellies. However, I can really do without this doom and gloom weather so please give me some sunshine!

Heart Shaped Apples

I've seen these at the grocery store many times and its appearance has piqued my curiosity consistently. I finally decided to get a few this weekend just to satisfy my curiosity. I am quite fond of its appearence, it looks like a hybrid of an apple and pear. One of the names this fruit goes by is "Wax Apple," I assumed that based on the name there would be a heavy layer of wax over the skin but that was definitely not the case. It is also called "Rose Apple" because of the mild scent of roses on the fruit. To eat this, you would bite into it as you would with any other apple. I like to cut up my fruit so with a quick washing and a single slice, it was ready to be eaten.The texture is not as firm and crisp as a normal apple such as Fiji apples and the taste is a bit milder. It's a bit difficult to describe - the texture was a hard spongy texture, not quite as firm. I find regular apples to be much sweeter but it could be a result of the product being out of season? Based on what I've read, these fruits are grown in hot climates in China, India and Thailand.

I love how it looks like a heart when you cut it in half. Yeah, I'm a sucker.

They're a nice change from the regular apples you find in the market and are definitely worth a taste.