Katya4me

Okra, I can tolerate it in gumbo but otherwise, no. Other than that, not much food-wise that I will not eat. If we include beverages, beer and I don't get along. At this point, I've determined it's a lost cause as I can sip a beer and recognize the initial flavors and even like them and then the finish tastes like beer, and that kills it for me, every single time.

Well, for whatever reason, the slow cooker function never kicked in, even though the timer was counting down. Fortunately, after a 3 hour marinade, the chicken tasted delicious sauteed and we had it with mashed potatoes.

Had a steak salad for lunch today and balsamic chicken is in the slow cooker for dinner. Really liked the salad with the potatoes and the tomato vinaigrette.

While we were at the beach, made stuffed acorn squash and Vegan Avocado Chocolate Pudding. Also, pleasantly surprised by how good the paella turned out as it was a Campbell's recipe.

This was the 4th year of renting a beach house with friends in Nags Head for Thanksgiving. We mostly cook at the house, but we do go out for Thanksgiving dinner and usually 1 to 2 other meals. For Thanksgiving buffet, we've been to 2 places and enjoyed both: Kelly's Outer Banks Restaurant and Pamlico Jack's Soundfront Restaurant. Same ownership and similar food selection, but Pamlico Jack's has a nicer view. A new rum distillery just opened in Manteo this year. If you like rum, I highly recommend touring Outer Banks Distilling. If you are into beer, I recommend checking out Weeping Radish Farm Brewery in Grandy, NC. The owner is a trip to listen to and the food and beer are both enjoyable. This year, we decided not to cook before checking-out on Sunday morning, so we went to Chilli Peppers Coastal Grill for brunch. This was a great decision as I had the Southern Crab Benedict and it was delicious. Also recommended is the Huevos Rancheros. The drinks looked good but since we were getting back on the road right away, I decided not to indulge. If you're looking for a simple taco place, Viva Mexican Grill is basic but tasty and my shrimp taco salad was just right. In the past, we have visited The Fisherman's Wharf Restaurant in Wanchese but they took a sabbatical for 2015. Hopefully they will come back in 2016.

Made http://thewoksoflife.com/2015/06/thai-basil-beef-pad-gra-prow'>Thai Basil Beef last night with brown rice. Once the beef was all sliced, it came together very quickly and definitely tested good.

There's a fairly good basic recipe guide that comes with it. But I have found these links to be helpful: http://instantpot.com/cooking-time/rice-and-grains/ and http://nomnompaleo.com/ as she uses an Instant Pot for her recipes.

Curried Spaghetti Salad, I doubled the recipe and added matchstick carrots to it as well.

More liquid, possibly see if I could make it in the Instant Pot. I like brown rice, but I questioned the liquid amount as well and increased it initially and then had to add more later. Tasted good, but very annoying.

Spicy Shrimp with Pineapple and Coconut Rice, this was fairly spicy but quite flavorful and other than the rice, came together very quickly. Next time, I am going to try a different way to cook the rice.

Swiss Cheese Quick Bread and homemade Chili Mac Hamburger Helper as I was trying to clear out the pantry and freezer this weekend.

Beer-Steamed Mussels with some crusty bread. Super easy to make and so tasty, no leftovers.

These are some other tofu recipes that we have enjoyed making and eating: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/65066/orange-ginger-tofu-triangles/ http://www.thebittenword.com/thebittenword/2012/03/spicy-tofu-with-beef-and-szechuan-sichuan-peppercorns.html http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/03/dinner-tonight-almond-tofu-with-buckwheat-noodles-recipe.html#axzz0mOoSHNrf http://mjr.earthbalancenatural.com/recipe/tofu-tetrazzini/

Honey jalapeno tofu nuggets over cauliflower rice was last night and definitely will make again in the future.

If you don't mind a different flavor profile, I enjoy making Thai pesto with peanuts.

Avocado, bacon and shrimp pasta salad with a lemon vinaigrette.

Slow cooker barbacoa using this recipe with mashed potatoes. We made it using 2 3 lb chuck roasts from Wegmans and it turned out very well.

If you are in the Lake Ridge area of Woodbridge, there's a locally owned frozen custard place called BR Frozen Custard & Sweets. In addition to vanilla & chocolate, they also have unique daily flavors and weekly sundaes, all made fresh every day. The also have a daily assortment of frozen custard sandwiches that we have enjoyed as well. The daily flavors calendar can be shared to your Google Calendar, which is a wonderful and terrible thing. http://www.brfrozencustards.com/

Papa Petrone's Take 'n' Bake was delicious, but is now closed.

Had sandwiches using this recipe: http://www.thekitchn.com/vegan-recipe-lemony-tofu-egg-salad-171148

Our slow cooker died earlier this year and we decided to replace it with an Instant Pot and it is awesome. I absolutely adore that I can sear food before pressure/slow cooking it and if needed, I can saute it afterwards as well, all in the same dish.

On Saturday, we were at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center and looking for a place to have dinner after the movie. This popped up on our search for something interesting and close by and so we decided to check it out. We arrived around 7:30pm and our party of 6 was easily seated despite having a very full restaurant. Due to the crowd and family friendly atmosphere, it was fairly loud for about our first 45 minutes and then it was quieter and easier to hold normal conversations. I had the Peru 73, which included ceviche, a chimichurri steak skewer, quarter of chicken and Peruvian fried rice. My husband had the Mar y Tierra while friends had the Picante de camarones and Tacu Tacu Con Bistec- Chicken. We also had the Algarrobina to drink. This was the first time really venturing past pollo and I thoroughly enjoyed everything I tried as did everyone else in the group. I'm not in the Chantilly area very often, but this restaurant is definitely worth returning to in the future. Aquaymanto's Website

Thank you and that would explain the lack of details. I'll set a reminder for myself to follow up again in 6 months.

Does anyone know when the JINYA Ramen Bar will be opening? They are shown on the Mosaic Center map, but I can't find anything else relating to this new location. Here's the Mosaic portion of their website.