On-the-go with One Food Guy

I lead a very active lifestyle. That means while I'm mountain biking, cycling, or running, I need to stay well hydrated and nourished. On weekends, I might spend three or four hours mountain biking. In the winter, I still run and mountain bike outside, the dry air in New England means it's even more important to stay well hydrated when exercising outdoors.

Let's take mountain biking for example, I can burn thousands of calories in one ride. Without regular refueling, I'd bonk, and that'd be bad. Here's another good article on the science behind bonking. I have found that during these extended periods of exercise, my magic number is around 45 minutes. This means I need easily transportable nutrition and I need to eat around every 45 minutes. If I delay eating, or skip a snack all together, I'll lose energy fast.

So what do I eat? Gu energy gels and Clif bars. I've tried many other brands of energy gels and bars and found these to be my favorite. My favorite Gu energy gels are the Vanilla Bean, Espresso Love, Chocolate Outrage. My favorite Clif bars are the Peanut Toffee Buzz and Cool Mint Chocolate. I find the flavors of the Clif Shots energy gel and PowerBar energy gels to be unpalatable. I also have a CamelBak hydration pack that I fill with 70 ounces of water and drink from frequently.

One last note on energy bars, in a 2004 Consumer Reports study, it is reported that Americans spend $1.4 billion per year on energy bars, also marketed as sports bars, meal replacement bars, or nutrition bars. Brands such as Powerbar, Clif, Clif Luna, Carb Solutions, Atkins Advantage and Ultra-Slim Fast. There are others that are much more athlete specific such as ProMax, Pure Protein, and Met-Rx. Find what you like, and more importantly what your stomach can handle during exercise, and then look volume discounts from retailers like REI.

Stand ... and Eat

After reading Frank Bruni's Double Burger post a couple weeks ago, I was looking forward to eating a burger of my own while in New York this past weekend. While J was working, I would have plenty of time to go on a little burger tasting tour. As it turns out, I only made one stop on my tour.

I considered my options and decided to go to Stand. The restaurant was not very busy, although for 3 o'clock in the afternoon there were quite a few people there. The center of the restaurant was filled with picnic table-like tables and cushioned benches, I was comfortable and looking forward to my burger. If you like to lean back in a chair while dining, ask to be seated along one of the walls, their are chairs at these tables.

I decided to go with the classic burger (red onion, lettuce, tomato, sliced pickle, homemade ketchup, dijon mustard) with cheddar, a small order of French fries (at my servers suggestion that they are better than the shoestring fries) and a vanilla shake, a $6 vanilla shake. I know, crazy. While I was waiting for my burger, I looked around and saw the burger salad being enjoyed at the table next to me. It looked good. The salad itself looked a lot like a grown-up coleslaw and what made it a burger salad was the three small burgers lined up neatly, perpendicular to the rim of the large white salad bowl.

My vanilla shake arrived a few minutes before my burger and fries, I resisted the urge to drink it all down before my food arrived. It was $6, I wanted to make it last! My classic burger with cheddar and small plate of French fries finally arrived. The homemade ketchup served with the classic burger didn't cut the mustard though. As Frank pointed out in his review, there is no ketchup better than Heinz when it comes to a burger and fries. I couldn't really detect the homemade ketchup on the burger but it tasted more like a marinara when I tried it with the fries. My burger was cooked more to a medium rare temperature than the medium I asked for, but I didn't care, it was good. The bun was grilled nicely but probably could have been sliced a little closer to the middle. The bottom half of the bun began to deteriorate as I passed the halfway mark on the burger. I finished the last few bites of the burger holding it upside down. The bottom line on this burger is that was very good. Not great, not the best burger I've ever had, but it was very good. Worth the $10 I guess.

The French fries were also good, very crispy like I like my fries, and seasoned well. I do think that they needed to changed the oil in their fry-o-lator though. The fries were good and crispy but they tasted a little like they were cooked in old oil. The small plate of fries that I ordered would also have been plenty for two or three people to share.

Finally, the $6 vanilla shake. It was good and thick, really thick, the best $6 shake I've ever had. Well, it's the only $6 shake I've ever had, but it was good. Definitely a challenge to suck the shake through the very big straw.

I enjoyed my experience at Stand very much. The fries were good, the classic burger was very good, and the $6 vanilla shake was very good. What wasn't good was my $21 bill for a burger, fries and a shake! I'll try brgr next time I'm in the city, it reminds me of The Counter out in Santa Monica, CA.

Stand
24 East 12th Street (5th & Univ.)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 488-5900
(212) 488-5906 (fax)

Tuesday's Tasting - Marinated Chipotle Chicken Skewers

It's true, I love food. And it's true that I'll try almost anything at least once. So last week when I posted another positive review for a Trader Joe's product, I thought to myself, my readers must think that I either a) like everything that passes my lips, or b) I'm on Trader Joe's payroll and I want you to go out and try everything in his freezer case. I promise that I am not on Trader Joe's payroll and this week I'm going to review a product that I suggest you avoid. It's just not that good.

This week's Tuesday's Tasting is a Trader Joe's product that I first tried about a month and a half ago. I didn't like it too much and thought it may have had something to do with the fact that I cooked it in my toaster oven. Trader Joe's Marinated Chipotle Chicken Skewers came out of my toaster oven chewy and stringy, I thought I overcooked them.

That brings us to this week. Since I had three skewers left in the box, I decided to try Trader Joe's Marinated Chipotle Chicken Skewers again, this time using my conventional oven. I decided not to post a cooked version of the cooked chicken skewers, they weren't pretty when they came out of the oven. I cooked them on an oiled baking sheet placed on the middle rack of my 400°F oven for 18 minutes, turning once about halfway through. The chicken was cooked through when I cut in to investigate, but it was just as chewy as the first time I cooked last month. Not to mention the chicken didn't have much flavor. Considering the box states that up to 8% of the flavored marinade is contained within, these chipotle chicken skewers were relatively flavorless. I ate the chicken with some Trader Joe's Organic Jasmine Rice and decided, after a few bites, to douse the whole dish with some Sriracha hot sauce. Without the Sriracha, I probably would have thrown the whole meal out. The chicken was just not good.

Seeing as how Trader Joe usually does a good job finding food that his customers like, this one surprised me. The back of the box suggest grilling the skewers as a cooking option. I almost want to buy these again and try them on the grill. Just don't hold your breath for that review because I probably won't. I suggest you pass these by for something else.

I've reviewed many of the appetizer offerings from Trader Joe's freezer case, stay tuned for more main course ideas.

I'm just one food guy, thanks for reading.

Thursday's Tasting: Rice Bowl with White Chicken, Vegetables & Teriyaki Sauce

Winter is here in New England. Snow, sleet, rain and cold. When the roads are covered in snow, the car is a sheet of ice, and the wind is making it feel like well below zero, it's a good night to stay in. So you can't make it to the supermarket to put together a nice meal, that's okay. Just make sure you have some rice bowls from Trader Joe's in your freezer.

This week, Tuesday's Tasting is a little late, two days late in fact, making this Thursday's Tasting. Winter weather has struck down on New England and I didn't have an opportunity on Tuesday to post my weekly review from Trader Joe's freezer case. This week's tasting, albeit it two days late, is Trader Joe's Rice Bowl with White Chicken, Vegetables & Teriyaki Sauce. The visible vegetables in this bowl are carrots, broccoli, green beens, and red peppers. The chicken is white meat and the teriyaki sauce, well looks and smells like teriyaki sauce.

This bowl is low in fat, high in flavor, and packed with 19g of protein. The wrapper says to microwave on high for four minutes and let it stand for one minute before serving. So I did. Trader Joe has done it again. This rice bowl is packed with flavor. The vegetables still have some bite to them, the white meat chicken is tender and juicy, and the teriyaki sauce tastes like, well, a good teriyaki sauce, the perfect amount to coat all the ingredients in the bowl. Add this to the list of rice bowls that you should stock in your freezer. It's quick and easy, and very tasty.

Right about now you're probably wondering if there is anything I don't like. I've reviewed many offerings from Trader Joe's freezer and really haven't had anything bad to say about any of them. At least I haven't told you NOT to buy any of them yet. Have no fear, I'll keep you honest with a review next week that will prove that not everything in Trader Joe's freezer is great. Curious what it is? Check back next Tuesday for my review of ... You didn't really think I'd tell you, did you?

I'm just one food guy, thanks for reading!

Tuesday's Tasting; POSTPONED

Hello readers, due to the severe winter weather sweeping over the Northeast right now, yesterday's Tuesday's Tasting was postponed. Please stay tuned for a new Trader Joe's freezer case review on a special Thursday's Tasting tomorrow.

I'm just one food guy, thanks for reading.

Five things people don't know about me

Pim of Chez Pim tagged me for this "Five things people don't know about me" meme. What is a meme you ask? I asked myself the same question and found this: The Daily Meme.

Now seeing as how I'm a relative newcomer to the blogosphere, it should be fairly easy for me to give you five things people don't know about me. My struggle, not unlike Pim, is what I can tell you that I want to tell you. Let's begin:

1. I'm 31 years old, an Aries. An Aries to a t, really.

2. I own a Swiss Army knife that I found half-buried in the woods at summer camp 25 years ago. My dad held on to it for many years, I guess I was too young to own a knife when I found it.

3. I can find anything in Google. Really. Not too long ago I found the end of the internet. It wasn't that exciting.

4. I like to camp in the winter. I'm not talking about car camping here. I'm talking about backpacking, hiking in the mountains, sleeping outside under the stars. I go to the White Mountains and the Catskill Mountains, so that means extreme cold and snow. A sleeping bag rated to -20°F and some fleece keeps me warm and toasty at night, usually. Not to mention there are no mosquitoes and the bears are hibernating.

5. I play shortstop for a fast pitch softball team in Cambridge, MA. This summer will be my seventh season. I was the teams left fielder until becoming the full time shortstop two years ago. My team's pitcher decided it would be a good idea to go to graduate school and is going to miss the first have of the season, classes are on Monday nights. Do you know anyone in the Greater Boston area that can pitch windmill?

So just as I was tagged by Pim to tell you five things people don't know about me, I too must choose five people to tell you five things about themselves. Here are five blogs that I read frequently and would like to see what they have to say:

Eat, Drink & Be Merry
Daily Gluttony
The Petite Pig
immaeatchu
Oishii Eats

I'm just one food guy, thanks for reading.

Empanadas de Chapulines

If you use a translator to translate chapulines, you may get no results (chapuline is an Aztec word, used only in Mexico.) If, however, you look up chapulines on Wikipedia, you'll learn that chapulines are grasshoppers . You'll learn that they only come from certain parts of Mexico, most commonly the Oaxacan city and state, and that they are only collected at certain times of the year. I'd get my fill of chapulines on Saturday night at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants.

This past weekend J and I went to dinner at Tu y Yo with our friends MJ and John. This restaurant calls itself an authentic Mexican restaurant making family recipes from the past 100 years. I do want to tell you how great the food and drink is here, but this post is about something, we'll say unusual, that's on the menu - empanadas de chapulines. Yes, grasshopper empanadas.

I wish I had a better picture to share but all I had was my Q. That and I'm still not comfortable taking pictures of my food in a restaurant, not to mention J hates the attention that she thinks it draws to our table. Don't worry, I'd never use the flash! So in lieu of a good picture, I'll tell you that the empanada was soft and doughy, maybe slightly undercooked. The green sauce on the side is an avocado sauce, I think. The sauce was very mild, not contributing much to the flavor experience of the empanada, and an experience it certainly was.

J wanted nothing to do with the chapulines, neither did our friend MJ. MJ's husband John, however, was up for the experience. I took my first bite and noted the very earthy flavors of the chapulines. The empanada dough was pretty tasty, the chapulines, like nothing I've tasted before. I could see all the little legs of the insect inside the dough, a deep, dark reddish brown. When asked by others what it tasted like, I replied, "I guess it tastes like what I'd expect a bug to taste like." It wasn't bad at all, but there was nothing in it that I recognized. There were no flavors bursting out from within the doughy exterior that said, "Wow! This is great," or "Ecchh, this is gross."

I'm glad I tried them. I'm always willing to try something new with the hope that I'll find a new favorite food. Let's just say that next time I'm at Tu y Yo, I'll skip the grasshopper and go for the frog legs instead, listed under seafood by the way.

Tu y Yo
858 Broadway
Somerville, MA 02144
Ph (617) 623-5411
http://tuyyomexicanfonda.com/

Visit Wikipedia for a nice picture of the chapulines.

Rumor no more...

I wrote to Trader Joe to find out if it's true, have the spinach and tofu egg rolls I love so much really been discontinued. Joe didn't reply, but Kellye did, this is what she had to say:

Hello Scott,

Thank you for contacting us with your request. At this time the Spinach and Tofu Egg Rolls has been discontinued due to slow sales in all our stores. I will forward your comments and request to our Frozen Food Category Leader to bring the product back and that will be taken into future consideration.

At Trader Joe's our mission is to bring you the best quality products at the best prices. To manage our store space well products must meet a certain sales criteria in order to earn its way onto our shelves. If a product does not sell well we this as a vote from our customers that's they would like to see something different.

This product was specifically produced for Trader Joe's and is no longer available. Trader Joe's has currently sold through all existing stock of this product.

Thank you for your inquiry and thank you for shopping at Trader Joe's.

Kellye
Trader Joe's
Customer Relations

So thank you Kellye for your reply. Spinach and Tofu Egg Rolls I will miss you! Please come back soon!

Mac 'n cheese a healthy choice?! I think not!

I just found an interesting posting on Boston.com from June of last year discussing the healthy, or unhealthy depending on who you are, benefits of macaroni and cheese. Enjoy!

Mac and cheese me

Tuesday's Tasting - Joe's Diner Mac 'n Cheese

I love Mac n' Cheese. Back in November, one of my readers, Yoony of immaeatchu posted a comment to one of my Tuesday's Tastings, suggesting that I try Trader Joe's frozen mac 'n cheese.

This Tuesday's Tasting is frozen mac 'n cheese from Joe's Diner, one of Trader Joe's brands. This is a classic mac 'n cheese blend; elbow macaroni and four delicious cheeses: cheddar, swiss, havarti, and gouda. The box recommends 5-6 minutes in the microwave (or a conventional oven for 20-25 minutes,) I cooked mine for 5 minutes and let it rest for another minute, just as suggested.

Mmm mmm good. This mac 'n cheese was so good, I'll get it again, even if it's not the healthiest item in the freezer case. If you're a mac 'n cheese fan, you should try this too.

It is a sad, sad day

I received an email a few days ago from someone who I can only guess read my recent posting on Trader Joe's (Trader Ming's) Vegetarian Spinach and Tofu Egg Rolls. The writer informed me that her local Trader Joe's in Massachusetts informed her that they will no longer be carrying the spinach and tofu egg rolls, and that they've sold out of their remaining stock.

Not wanting to believe her, not wanting to believe that one of my favorite items from TJ's freezer case may no longer be available, I had to see for myself. On my way home from work just an hour ago, I stopped into my local Trader Joe's. I went to the freezer case where the spinach and tofu egg rolls are usually chilling out. They were not there. I asked one of the TJ's mates, "I heard a rumor that the spinach and tofu egg rolls have been discontinued, is it true???" I was informed that it's no rumor, the sales were not good and they will no longer be carrying them, AND they have none left.

Oh my. I'm in shock. I've been buying these for at least the last seven years. I only have half a package left in my freezer. This is insane. I'm going to write to Trader Joe right now, this can't be happening!