Overview forfood

Pondering possible counterfeit cookies

My brother went to Costco the other day and bought these snack I never seen before called Hello Panda. They are small treats that have a chocolate filling on the inside with a crisp cookie shell that’s roughly in the shape of a panda bear. Stencils of pandas are branded on the top of the cookie.

I knew I saw this snack before but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I kept saying Dunkaroos, but I knew that wasn’t right. I knew it was related to Australia, but I just kept thinking of kangaroos. Then I remembered: this is a straight rip off of Koala Yummies! That was a snack I ate so much of when I was in Elementary. It’s a shame it’s under a different branding (or if they just don’t sell them anymore; if that's the case, then whatever) but it tastes just as delicious as I remembered them, so even though it’s a knockoff, at least they got the taste right.

Get a lot for what you’ve got

Today is a day that starts with the letter ‘T’ and you know what that means, right? It’s taco niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Self-destruction

Hope everyone in the US had a great 4th of July, three day weekend. Having the 4th actually land in the middle of the weekend was really special since we had a day before and after it to prep and recover from it.

For me, I ended the weekend with a bang by going to Carl’s Jr. and ordering something called “The Most American Thickburger.” It’s a burger with all the traditional fixings like lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, cheese, mustard, and ketchup, but it also includes a split hot dog and potato chips. I ordered the 1/3 lb. version because I felt the 1/2 lb. would have killed me.

The verdict? Not bad. I thought the chips would have ruined it by getting soggy, but they stayed crispy thanks to them being kettle styled and were placed on the dry side of the burger where the lettuce was at and nothing else. And while the hot dog had a sickly white look to it, it did taste delicious when you bit down and noticed two different textures of meat (of which being the hot dog and the hamburger patty). I don’t think I’m going to order it again though, as I just wanted to see what a ridiculous burger like it tasted like. I place The Most American Thickburger into the same category as KFC’s Double Down which was all the craze a few years back. But unlike the Double Down, I didn’t get sick after eating The Most American Thickburger.

More blogs about buildings and food

There’s a taco joint near me that makes a great platter of deliciousness. Seating is very tight there so I decided to do take-out instead. Check it: a chicken taco, a shrimp taco, a small brown bag full of tortilla chips and a decent helping of salsa. All for a cool 5 bucks. Jealous? I know you are.

The blue box blues

Mac and cheese with diced bits of bacon and hotdogs. A dinner fit for a 5th grader. Too bad I’m a full grown adult.

Natto. It's What's For Breakfast

I’ve been eating natto for a while now and I love it. I originally discovered it when I saw an episode of The Professionals on NHK World. It was an inspiring episode that showed someone creating an extremely inexpensive way of generating clean drinking water for regions of the world where poverty is high and access to clean water is often too expensive to purchase. One of the ingredients he used to filter water was a powdered form of natto.

I’ll admit it looked pretty gross at first as natto is very slimy looking and produces a lot of sticky strings, but after looking deeper into it and seeing the health benefits for the dish, I had to try it at least once; if just to be grossed out by seeing and smelling it in person as some say it also has a funky odor.

It was really hard to find some as I had to go to many Asian stores in my area to pick up a pack. Sure it’s also on Amazon but I’m not going to pay the stupidly overpriced $30.00 price tag for something I don’t even know I’m going to like that servers only three dishes of. And after all of that driving and all of that wasted gas, I eventually found a store just down the street from me that carries natto. Stupid me, I thought 99 Ranch Market was a Hispanic supermarket and not an Asian market. But in my defense, the store near me doesn’t use the Asian characters on its signs to show that it is, in fact, an Asian store. Ugh.

Anyways, they come in packs of three or four and are usually $2 or $3 bucks a pack. I keep them in the freezer to preserve them longer. This means I have to plan ahead and place a pack in the fridge a day or so earlier so it can defrost a bit when I’m ready to eat it.

The verdict: delicious. It doesn’t smell bad either, but that may be based on the producer and their manufacturing process. For the rice I go to Vons and buy a bunch of their inexpensive instant white rice bowls that only need 90 seconds in the microwave before ready to eat. Just mix the natto well, place on top of the rice, and enjoy! It’s a filling meal that keeps me good until lunch and is packed with nutrients that is worth eating at least once every few days. I will not, though, eat it with a raw egg mixed into the rice and natto as many suggest doing online. No thanks. I’m not a big fan of the ingredient salmonella.