Maiv's Eggroll Basket Review

Are you an eggroll fanatic?  I think this place is for you! Although I thought the service was sketchy and the food was inconsistent; (but I think that pretty typical for the smaller Asian places) the variety of this place is worth it.


 The ones I have tried are chicken, pork, and broccoli and cheese eggroll. I was not amazed by the traditional eggrolls like the pork and chicken. I wasn't fan of the eggroll meat quality. I think they had larger chunks of meat instead of the ground meat. It wasn't too flavorful, and the other ingredients mixed in wasn't ideal for me. I didn't like how chunky the onion or cabbage was and wasn't a big fan of the mushroom they put in.  I am obviously biased as I'm used to my mom's eggrolls at the Asian Cafe in Eau Claire though. Also our chicken eggroll came out a little burnt. In regards to the cheese and broccoli, I was pleasantly surprised. It falls a part easily but I thought it was delicious. It left me wanting more compared to the other two eggrolls.

First time I went in I wanted something healthier and got the steak springrolls. It was perfect the first time. Exactly what I wanted and hoped for fresh and light. You can tell that these springrolls are made fresh. The steak springrolls I got again the second time around, the meat wasn't the greatest quality and had a bit of smell to it.

Dessert eggrolls: Banana coconut and strawberry shortcake. The strawberry shortcake was delicious. It's definitely something I would get again and it's a eggroll I want all my friends and family to try. That's something worth getting. The banana coconut was just not for me. It was oily and the coconut seemed to be just throw in there.

If you go in, I suggest getting the half sandwich and two eggrolls/springrolls with your choice of chips, apple or orange. I enjoyed their bahn mi sandwiches.

What's my issues with their service? First time, I went in my friend and I had a movie to catch at 7 pm. We got in there about 5:50 or 6 pm. Our food didn't come out until 6:50. They had forgotten about our order. Second time, we asked for the banana and coconut eggroll and got a bubble tea or smoothie. Not a big deal, we also didn't get any silverware or napkins. Even though the services isn't the best, it's a place worth visiting especially if you are killing time before hitting up the Marcus theaters. I wouldn't suggest getting it for take-out though since the eggrolls could get soggy on your trip home.

Have you been to this place? What have you tried?

How to Make Simple Chicken Laabh (Larb/Laab)

This is possibly one of my most favorite dishes to make during the summer. It's a nice and healthy meal option which is rich in protein.

Ingredients (serves 2 -4): 
-2 chicken breast (can be made with beef or pork or fish)
- Fish Sauce
I'm actually not partial to any type of fish sauce brand, but this is the kind I used

- 2 Limes
- 1 teaspoon laab seasoning mix (found at Asian grocery stores)

- 1 stalk green onion
-5 stems of cilantro

This is a pretty simple and basic way to make it. Other people probably get fancy with it by adding chopped lemon grass, mint, celery, green leaf, bitter bile, tripe, crushed browned rice (uncooked), and thai chili pepper. All of that is optional and unnecessary if you want something simple and fast.

Step 1: Obviously or not so obviously wash and cut the fat from the meat.

Step 2: Cook the chicken, you can either bake the chicken or boil it in hot water. I personally like to boil the chicken because I think it tastes less dry. Make sure there is enough water to cover all of the chicken in the pot. I cooked my chicken on medium heat for about 20 minutes. If you are unsure if it's ready just take one piece and cut it in the middle to see if it's still pink. If it is, throw it back in the boiling water.

Step 3: Drain the water from the chicken and let it dry.
Step 4: Cut up the chicken into smaller bite size pieces. I think the smaller the better. Smaller pieces absorb the sauce better to make it more savory.

Step 5: Mix the sauce. Add about two table spoons of fish sauce and about squeeze one lime into the mix. When the meat is cooled add the meat.
Step 6: Mix the meat well. If you feel it's not salty enough or needs more lime add more. I added another lime since the first one didn't seem to have enough juice.
Step 7: Add the laab seasoning. I added about 1 teaspoon. It's already a bit spicy so that's something to keep in mind when adding the seasoning. Feel free to mix it in well with the other ingredients and try it to see if you'd like to add more.
Step 8: Chop up the green onions and cilantro and mix it in with the meat and seasoning. I just used one green onion and about 5 cilantro steams.

 
It's ready to eat! Pretty simple. You can eat it with any kind of rice. If you are really going for high protein and a healthy diet. It tastes good without the rice too.

Enjoy! Let me know if you add anything special in your laab, and please share in the comment section.

Also, just wanted to show off the Hmong cute apron my friend got me (her mom sells these at the Hmong Marketplace in St. Paul). No I usually don't look that cute when I cook and definitely not with my hair down.

Boneyard - New Restaurant Review

My foodie friend shared information with me that a new restaurant was opening up in Uptown Minneapolis in what used to be Old Chicago on Hennepin. Invitations were sent to a few people for a sneak peak preview for the restaurant to a test run for their staff to be prepared for the official open date, March 7th. Reservations had to be made beforehand and is on a first come first serve basis.

I got myself and a few coworkers in during the afternoon to try out their lunch.

The place was sexy, rustic and modern and had Southern based cuisine.

Below are some of the dishes we tried:

Fried Mac and Cheese Bites and Cornbread

Mama Mo's Fried Chicken on the left

Shrimp and Gritts

 

Apple Pie


The cornbread was AH-MAZING!!! The fried chicken was decently flavored. I wasn't amazed by it and the heat of the food was lacking, most likely because this is the mid-west and they wanted to turn that done a bit. I've never had grits before and it did not disappoint. I'm hooked, however the overall shrimp and grits dish I thought was too tomatoey and after a few bites I was sick of it.

The apple pie dessert, well I've never been a big fan of apple pie. However, if you like fresh and tart desserts this dessert is for you.

Have you been to Boneyard yet? Let me know what you think. How does it compare to true Southern food?

Fasika Restaurant and Ethiopian Food Review

Yesterday I grabbed dinner with my friend and her boyfriend, and the only reason I'll travel to St. Paul is for food, the Asian grocery store, and to catch up with good friends of course.

I've never had Ethiopian cuisine before so I suggested we hit up Fasika. I consider myself to be a fairly adventurous eater, but I definitely have my likes and dislikes. And I'm not sure if it was Fasika or Ethiopian food in general, but it was definitely not for me.

Since, I grew up in a mom and pops restaurant the feel and environment of Fasika I thought was adorable. Hole-in-the wall restaurants are way more genuine and enjoyable than chains.

I think for Valentine's Day they had some alcohol specials with some Ethiopian wines. Unfortunately, they no longer had any of those wines available much to my disappointment as I tried to order the sweet red wine.

My friend's boyfriend who has been there before and loves the cuisine ordered the Tibs, which I had been eyeing. My friend also ordered the tibs but the chicken version which came with rice. To change it up a bit, I ordered the kitfo.

It's always a little difficult to be more adventurous when you are with people who aren't willing to share food, fortunately my friends were as I was not a big fan of my kitfo or any of their dishes to be completely honest.

The kitfo as described on the menu is very lean beef, chopped and warmed in spiced butter, rare or medium, cooked with mitmita, served with cottage cheese and selata on Ethiopian injera (flat bread). Or in my words ground meat in some red sour stuff on top of a spongy and sour crepe. The cottage cheese and selata (salad) were decent though.

It just wasn't for me. Everything just tasted sour and not very flavorful. I was sure to try the Tibs as well to make sure that I just didn't get a bad dish. If you are curious about Ethiopian cuisine the tibs is definitely the best dish to go with. It's like a stir fry but not as flavorful. Also, I didn't like how the meat was cooked. I thought it was a bit on the dry and chewy side especially for beef being cooked medium.

Sorry for the lack of the visuals, but we/I was starving and jumped in right away.

Have you had Ethiopian cuisine? Are you a fan? What do you suggestion? Any other restaurant suggestions?

Ole Henriksen Skin Products Review

I think my sister told me that my brother-in-law said that being healthy starts from the inside out. Meaning you should be conscious about what you are putting into your body and be healthy instead of covering up your flaws with make-up or clothing.

Although, I'm a big fan of make up and the different and simple ways it changes up your look and style. I am a bigger advocate of just being healthy. For example taking care of yourself and watching what you eat and the type of products you use. Don't go cheap on skin care products or make-up. Those are things that you are putting on your body. Start by taking better care of your skin so you can look beautiful with makeup and even more beautiful without it. Be more preventative and proactive instead of reactive.

When I get older I want to continue to have nice skin and less wrinkles. So that starts with how I treat my skin now.

A few of my concerns are my eyes and dryness and blotchiness of my skin especially during Midwestern winters. I recently tried Ole Henriksen: The Whole Truth Vitamin C Kit.



$45




This kit consists of an .1 oz eye cream, 1 oz truth cream advanced hydration, and .5 oz truth serum collagen booster.

I am a HUGE fan of the truth serum. It had a big impact on how my skin felt and looked. My skin was not blotchy, and it gave me a more even skin tone.

In regards to the truth cream, I know a lot of people are a big fan of the smell. They compared the smell to that of rotting grapefruit. I personally didn't mind, but I wasn't too amazed with the cream. However, I thought it was a lot better than the Clique face lotion I've been using.

The eye cream...who knows if it's effective. All I know is that it makes my eyes water.

How long do these product last you? It lasted me about 5 months. That being said, I definitely did not use it every day. I'm actually still using the eye cream now.

What products have you tried? What are you skin concerns you are hoping to fix?

Check out Peter Thomas Roth Camu Camu Anti-Wrinkle Brightening Kit Review

New Year New Do

Hey oh!

I've been saying to people "New Year New Do" when they say things like I'm thinking about doing this to my hair. Go for it!

I don't know about you people, but I was in a hair rut. I basically just wore it down all the time. Every day every day. And some days...rarely I would curl it and hope for the best.

Finally, it came to me while I was listening to the radio, KS95 to be exact, that I should stop thinking about getting bangs and go for it. Especially since Fantastic Sam's was having a new customer special for $11.99. Frugal me, found a coupon for $10.99. Plus I decided how badly could you mess up a trim and bangs.

When the stylist finally saw me and I told her what I wanted, she told me that my bangs might have a weird part since I had a cowlick. So basically she was like "I'm not saying but I'm saying...bangs aren't gonna look good on you, and you're gonna be cranky and not want to pay." And I was like "Hhhwhat?! We'll then I'm gonna go home, since bangs was the only thing I planned on doing with my hair. And no way am I going to pay $10.99 for a trim!" SO I said okay let me think about it and you can see another customer.

I then googled "bangs" and looked at images to see what other options I could have. Then I stumbled upon this image, and it parted like the stylist told me my bangs would.

Convinced that this beautiful woman could pull it off then so could I. I went back in more confident and 'got 'er done'. And although my bangs are not perfectly straight. I was satisfied what's the worst that's gonna happen. You wear a hat that says "bad hair day" for awhile waiting for it to grow back?

My hair muse this time around was the gorgeous character, Cece from "New Girl". Whada babe!

 

Who's your hairstyle muse? Any new hair do you are contemplating? What's your hesitation?

 

Gift Ideas for Him

Well the holiday season is over but that doesn't mean you should be done with the gift giving.

Here are a few ways to spoil the men in your life.

Type of man: The business and tech-savvy brother-in-law who appreciates his booze but is gluten-free.

I'm not much for Christmas shopping, but since my sister and brother-in-law moved away from me to Chicago. I felt spoiling them and showing them some love was necessary since they wouldn't be with in WI or with my brother-in-laws side in Nebraska. He loves his UK basketball team, had no gloves for the cold Midwest winters, and does enjoy his booze.

Here are some gift ideas for my brother-in-law:

UK Shot Glass

 

Smart-touch gloves



Whisky Stones



 

For the workaholic man's man who appreciates his whisky:

For my dad's birthday I got him some pocket protectors for work. It's a bit nerdy, but he loves putting pens in his dress shirts, and it always leaks through. Also my dad is always outside shoveling the snow so I got him some nice thick socks for those cold Midwest winters. And of course, whisky for all the occasions.

Warm winter socks

Pocket Protectors

 

Johnnie Walker - The Collection

 

I purchased these items through amazon.com and at our local liquor store.

 

These gifts vary from a mix of low end items to a bit higher end in price.

 

What type of man are you shopping for and what would you suggest?