Food Truck Tuesday

Tuesday, February 26

Loretta Welcomes You to the Plantation Food Truck Invasion

I started the day with a Bowl of Watermelon.

At Lunchtime, Larry, Jeff and I went to Sweet Tomatoes. We're just crazy.

For my first round, I made a Salad with all kinds of zero-point stuff. No Cheese, no Egg.

And I only used one of the things of fat-free Salad Dressing.

The Soup was Minestrone. It had some Beans in it, so there's a little protein, anyway. That was the lowest calorie choice of the Soups. It was pretty good, so I had two more Bowls.

After work, I picked up Loretta and we headed to The Food Truck Invasion at Plantation Heritage Park. I was surprised that she said that she would go (it's a lot of walking and a lot of uncertainty), but she was a good sport an we had fun.

I started with the Vegetable Burrito from RitoLoco, and she had the Lobster Bisque from Red Zeppelin.

My Burrito was delicious... all freshly-grilled Vegetables, no Rice, no Cheese. They served it with Chips, but I passed on them. Loretta's Soup was delicious, apparently. I turned around, and it was gone.

For our second course, we both got Sandwiches from Miami Press.

I had their 'Gazette' Sandwich: Tomato Bruchetta, Pesto Flavored Goat Cheese, Crispy Eggplant and Balsamic Glaze.

Really good. Worth nine bucks, I guess.

Loretta had an Eggplant Parmigiana Sandwich.

She said that it was good, but not hot enough. That was strange, because they made it to order. She took half home, and I'm sure she will have it for Lunch today.

We passed on Dessert... they had some nice choices.

All in all, I liked the Food Trucks. It was a nice night, there were plenty of option, everyone was having fun. I would go again. Probably not every week, but again.

Here's my steps for the day.

Monday!

Monday, February 24

Two Hard-Boiled Eggs during the day. That's it.

For Dinner, I had some Catfish in the refrigerator, so I got to work.

There's the Fish, surrounded by Broccoli, Mushrooms, Jalapeno Rings, Pepper Rings, Pearl Onions, Diced Tomatoes, Green Beans, Sriracha Sauce and Garlic Paste.

I heated the Vegetables and then added the Fish.

When it was done, Catfish!

I polished off the plate, ate a few more Vegetables, and then put away the other piece of Fish and the rest of the Vegetables for another day.

There was roughly a half Bowl of Frozen Grapes laying around... I had those for Dessert.

Around midnight, I was still hungry. Instead of going to sleep, I had a package of Oscar Mayer Smoked Turkey Breast. They were buy one; get one at Publix last week. I had a rain check, so I picked up six packages (three deals) when they were back in stock. These are a tasty six points, especially with Dijon Mustard.

Here's my steps for the day.

Weekend Wrap-Up featuring The Hot Pot!

Saturday, February 22

Jeff and I headed down to Coral Gables to watch the Hurricanes take on Boston College. We got there early, so we grabbed a bite on Campus.

Last time, we went to the Rathskeller and were totally underwhelmed. We did notice a Lime franchise on campus, so we went there and had Burritos.

I had a Burrito with Rice, Chicken, Corn Salsa, Beans and just a little Guacamole. No Cheese, No Sour Cream. I spiced it up with Salsa from their Salsa bar. No photos; I left the camera home.

After the game, I headed over to loretta's house to meet up with her, Samantha and Brian. While we negotiated where to go for Dinner, I had two Cutie Oranges.

We wound up deciding on The Hot Pot down in Hollywood.

We started by ordering two Appetizers: Mussels Dynamite and Dumplings.

The Mussels are baked with a spicy Sauce on them. I order them often; they're good. Katrina delivered them and I ate just over half.

The Dumplings are another story. They do them differently here. They take a long time, so we knew that something  was up. When they arrived, they looked like tiny Tamales.

When you unwrap them, they contain not a Tamale, but some Dumpling Stuff in a Gel-like suspension.

They looked weird, but they were really good. I had two; Brian & Samantha finished off the rest. Loretta doesn't eat meat, so she passed.

Then it was time for Soup. At The Hot Pot you order two different Soup Broths, and then you add the stuff for the Soup a la carte. Our two Broths were Szechuan and the House Broth.

While the Soup came to a boil, the stuff arrived.

We had two different types of Noodles (only one is shown here), Cabbage, Broccoli, Bok Choy, Beef, Pork, Shrimp, more Shrimp, Mussels, Salmon and something that they called  Dumpling Meat, but was more like a Pork-based Meat Loaf. We went to work.

I had five or six Bowls of Soup; Brian matched me pretty much bowl for bowl. Loretta and Samantha ate fairly normally. All of the different Soup Stuff proved popular, but the 'dumplings' were a little disappointing, mostly because they were nowhere near as delicious as they were fun.

We all passed on dessert. I would go to Hot Pot more often, except that they are a schlep, and you have to drive past 869043824 other good restaurants to get there. But it is a lot of fun, and the food is really good.

When we got back to Loretta's house, I had about ten Frozen Grapes.

Brian and Samantha had a snack later that night, but that was it for me.

Here's my steps for the day.

Sunday, February 23

I was pretty much full all day. It was a LOT of Soup.

I had a Bowl of Watermelon.

Later, I went to Joe Robert's house to watch the Heat beat up on the Chicago Bulls. Delightful.

On the way, I stopped at Publix. They had String Beans on sale, so i got a couple of bags. When I got to Joe Robert's house, he put some in a bowl for me to eat raw, but he likes to cook, so he had plans for the rest of them.

What he wound up doing was trowing a little oil in a frying pan, adding some Sriracha Sauce and some Sesame Seeds and tossing the Beans in them quickly.

They did not cook long enough to get soft, so I enjoyed them immensely. Spicy, crunchy, and virtually no points.

When I got home, I had one more Bowl of Watermelon. I am still full from Saturday.

Here's Sunday's step count.

Friday @ Lima 51

Saturday, February 21

I had big Dinner plans, so I limited myself to three Bowls of Watermelon during the day.

Samantha and Brian came to Fort Lauderdale for the weekend to check in with Loretta. I picked them up at the airport and we headed out to her house, where the discussion immediately went to: What's for Dinner?

We settled on Lima 51 Ceviche Bar, which Loretta and I agree is the best Peruvian Restaurant in Broward County. As is the norm when dining with Loretta, we were the first customers for Dinner.

We started off by sharing two Appetizers.

The first one was their Causa Sampler. Causas are mashed (usually) Yellow Potatoes with some spices, held together with just some Lime Juice, and either topped with or sandwiched around various items. Basically, they are Peruvian Food Delivery Devices. They have gotten fancier over the years, as Peruvian Chefs have gotten more creative. From left to right, the Causas are topped with Octopus, Crab Meat, Shrimp and Tuna. As beautiful as this dish was to look at, it was even better to eat. I had half of the Octopus and Half of the Crab Causa.

The other Appetizer was Fish Cebiche in Salsa de Rocoto. Brian and I split that one, with just a little help from Samantha. The New York-based Friedmans have only tasted Cebiche 'classic' -- in Line Juice, so this was a treat for them. Whether I am here or in Lima, I usually try to get my Cebiche in Salsa de Rocoto. This is a very good example, but could have been a little spicier.

For our Main Courses, Loretta rocked her favorite, Pescado Saltado con Tacu Tacu.

This is a Fish version of the Peruvian Classic, with Fish chunks stir-fried with Onions and Tomatoes. It is normally served over French Fries (it works!) and with White Rice, but Loretta likes having it with a Tacu Tacu, which is a delicious Rice and Bean patty that is also used as a Food Delivery Device.

Samantha took my advice and ordered the Sudado de Pescado.

This dish contained a Fish Filet in a Stew (or Sauce, but not really a Sauce... it's hard to describe) with some Tomatos, Onions and other stuff going on. I first had this dish at El Kapallaq at their old location in Lima. I don't order it that often, but when I do, I am always happy. Samantha was blown away by the dish, and Brian help clean off her leftovers.

Brian and I shared a Ronda (assortment) for our Meal.

They called it something else, but as far as I'm concerned, it's a Ronda.

This featured (from the bottom) Rice & Chicken, a Causa, Jalea (assorted fried Seafood), and a mixed Fish and Seafood Cebiche. They were all fairly wonderful. I think that I liked the Jalea the best. It wasn't very heavily fried.

We passed on Coffee and Dessert, and that was it for the day. Here's one more picture of Brian & Samantha with our Appetizers.

Here's my steps for Friday.

Another Turkey Neck Thursday

Thursday, February 20

A Bowl of Watermelon

Two Hard Boiled Eggs. The bobblehead wanted to eat them.

Another Bowl of Watermelon.

At lunchtime, Racquel, Gordon and Val were going to La Brasa. I have a love/hate relationship with La Brasa, so I tagged along.

I had the Chicken Bowl.

They used to have Small and Large Chicken Bowls. Then the new people took over, and they only have one size. I would call it a Medium. Anyway, I added Hot Sauce and some Spicy Onions and put it away. That's Rice three times this week... a lot for me.

Val was camera shy, but Racquel and Gordon were excited for the opportunity to be in Blog photos.

Later that night, I went to Andrews Meat Market (it has a new name now, but I have no clue what it is) and got the fixings for Turkey Neck Thursday. Namely: Turkey Necks. I broke out all the rest of the stuff.

You're looking at the Neck, Straw Mushrooms, Diced Tomatoes, really hot Salsa, Onion Flakes, Minced Fried Garlic and Some Lemon Pepper Seasoning. You toss them in a pot, add a little water, and an hour later, you are rocking the Turkey Necks.

I at those, more than that many again, and the Turkey Neck Soup while enjoying watching the Heat put Oklahoma City in its place, like the Litte Brothers that they are.

Here's my steps for the day.

Wednesday on Calle Ocho

Wednesday, February 19

I knew that I was going out with Jeff for Dinner, so I took it easy during the day. Also, I was still full from all the Chicken on Tuesday.

Two Bowls of Watermelon.

Jeff met me at 5:00, and we had a Hurricanes basketball game that wasn't starting until 9:00, so we had a lot of time. We headed south and decided to get off in Little Havana. Jeff wanted to eat at La Carreta on Calle Ocho.

I liked this place, because I got to practice my Spanish and the waitress was pretty patient with me butchering her language. I started with a Cuban Ceviche.

It was OK. I guess that I am just spoiled by its South American daddy.

For my Main Course, I ordered the Arroz Imperial.

This is apparently just a mound of Yellow Rice. But no... mixed inside the rice is what I guess you would call Pulled Chicken. There were strips of white meat Chicken mixed throughout the dish. This is delicious, and I ate every bite.

Jeff had a Chicken Breast and White Rice.

At the game, we had a great time. The Hurricanes stomped Notre Dame, and I git to meet Cheerleaders, hang out with the Dunkin Donuts Coffee Guy, and best of all, I got to talk to football Coach Al Golden, who was there with some recruits. Al is a class guy.

Finally, here are my steps for Tuesday.