PAELLA DISH AT THE FARMERS MARKET

Hey guys,

I must say that I am really enjoying my food journey and very excited that I get to share my experiences with everyone:) I am  also excited about the increasing number of views daily and I find myself going out of my comfort zone to try different things. In the spirit of going out of my comfort zone, today I decided to go for seafood for lunch rather than the usual chicken or beef.

My friends and I had lunch at the Farmers market at my university. The farmers market sold all sorts of meals;vegetarian meals,soups,chicken burgers, chicken wraps,pork and all sorts of desserts. Before I continue,I just need to share with you how amazed I was to see a full pig displayed today at the market. I had never seen such before. I think they were selling pork wrap so whenever a customer came to the stall, a part of the flesh was cut off by a sharp and big knife. If I did not love meat, I probably would have turned vegetarian at that moment.

POOR PIG:(

Anyway, we walked around for a while and then came across a stall where they sold Seafood Paella and it looked really good. It was rice with mussels, oyster, shrimps, fish and other types of seafood. I added parsley to mine and also had the option to add lemon but I did not want to (so with your own meal you can). It was reasonably priced which was encouraging. It tasted really good, well spiced and very filling plus healthy too. I would recommend you try it if you ever come across a farmers market especially if you are a fish lover. Unfortunately, for those allergic to fish, please stay away from it (I know people who are).

If you do not want to buy it, you can make it at home yourself. Jamie Oliver has a recipe online on how to make the meal (you just need to Google 'Jamie Oliver Seafood Paella Recipe'. Please check it out:)

Different sides of the seafood paella:)

I hope you try it out (buy or cook) and share your thoughts:)

 

                                                                                                WITH LOVE, YOUR FOOD-JUNKIE:) 

Tired of Chinese?!?! Why not try THAI CUISINE!!!

At work yesterday, my friend came in with a brown bag, the aroma from the bag was so good. I had never smelled anything like it before (I might be exaggerating just a little bit lol). I was curious to know what was in the bag. I asked and she said it was Thai food from 'Busaba Eathai'. It was rice and green chicken curry. The aroma from her food made me salivate and after tasting it, I definitely had to go there to get food. I had been to Busaba Eathai before for a friend's birthday dinner but I did not really pay attention to the meal as I was distracted by other things. . 

Today, during lunch time at work I went to the closest Busaba Eathai to order sticky white rice and green chicken curry. The sticky rice was soft just the way I like my rice and combined with the green curry, it tasted very good. The chicken was soft with just the right amount of spices.The green curry does not really have an attractive look so it might put you off at first but as soon as you try it, you would definitely want more.

Chinese cuisine has always been my best type of Asian food but now I think Thai food is going to take that number one place:) I am definitely going to try out other meals at this restaurant. I found another Thai restaurant called 'Thai Silk' which you can also try out, just in case Busaba is either too far from you or too expensive.

NICE PACKAGE EYY?!?!

        

                                                                            WITH LOVE, YOUR FOOD-JUNKIE GIRL

MY LOVE FOR POTATOES

Hey guys,

This week I have had food cravings for potatoes and I do not know why. I had baked potatoes for lunch on Sunday with tuna and sweet corn, fries at McDonald on Monday or Tuesday (I think) for lunch, sweet potatoes and peppered stew with chicken for dinner and on Friday for lunch I had sweet potatoe fries with chicken wings and vegetables(remember my Healthy Fridays).

Potatoes are very healthy and filling though I would agree I had too much of it this week:(
My meal on Friday was the best potatoe meal I have had in a while:)  I bought it from a pub at my university. It was my first time of having sweet potatoe fries and it was so good:) It had a very sweet taste to it and did not need ketchup or salt or anything added to it:) To be honest, sweet potatoes are healthier when boiled than fried but very sweet in both cases so which ever way it is prepared, it is really good:)

Potatoes can be eaten with anything; from chicken wings to vegetables to burgers to stew/sauce and more. It is a perfect match when combined with any other food:)

SWEET POTATOE FRIES AND WINGS

STRING BEANS, SWEET CORN, FRIES AND BROCCOLI

Another way to enjoy potatoes would be stir fried Irish potatoes. It is a delicacy my friend cooks for me once in a while. Basically, you fry peeled and chopped Irish potatoes(fries) , heat some oil on a fry pan then add sliced green peppers, onions and eggs into the pan and stir fry all the ingredients. 

You can also have fries and fish (classic British meal called fish and chips). You can find any fish and chips store around you area. It is definitely a good combination and fish is very healthy too:) It is good for the skin, eyes and hair (you can google to confirm my findings).

CLASSIC BRITISH MEAL:)

There are just so many ways you can enjoy potatoes and this just makes me love it more and more:)

Readers, please suggest more creative ways to eat potatoes, whether Irish or sweet potatoes.

  

                                                                                            WITH LOVE, YOUR FOOD JUNKIE:)

                                   

HEALTHY FRIDAYS!!

Hey guys,

I am starting a healthy food challenge to help me increase my metabolism, keep fit and loose weight and I would love to share my healthy food routine experience with you. To ease me into it, I would have only healthy meals on Fridays for a start. Please feel free to join me and even post other healthy foods or tips that you know would help with my challenge:)

Before I continue, remember my last post were I told you guys about KFC becoming mobile and how I was going to try the KFC original pulled chicken. So, I tried it and I was disappointed :( The presentation was way below my expectation and it did not taste as great or yummy as I thought it would be. It was dry, the chicken was not as good and it looked very different from what I saw on TV. This is just my personal opinion so if you disagree, please let me know:)

This is how it looked when I bought it:

THE OUTSIDE

THE INSIDE

   









THE FAMOUS KFC ORIGINAL PULLED CHICKEN MEAL!!!!













Anyway, back to the main topic of today. With my new challenge comes the new name 'Healthy Fridays'!! All my healthy snacks and meals would be posted on the blog every Friday so you all can see what I am up to and give your opinions, ideas or criticisms. Today, I have had a Chinese chicken salad (unfortunately I cannot download a picture) and a home made healthy shake. I got the recipe of the healthy shake from a colleague at work who is a healthy guru. The shake is a mixture of spinach, bananas, nuts, apple, garlic, grapes, strawberries, tangerine and oranges. All these ingredients are put into a blender and blended into a shake form (forgot to take a picture of the post blended shake)

THE SHAKE INGREDIENTS

I recommend you try this but also with some form of exercise as well to get the required result:) All the ingredients in this shake have one health benefit or the other:) and it does taste good too:)

                                                                                   WITH LOVE, YOUR FOOD JUNKIE GIRL
     

ATTENTION: Is KFC now mobile??

Hey guys,

On my way to work today, I saw a mobile food truck, the design and its metal cover really fascinated me so I went closer to see what type of food was being sold. To my surprise, it was a KFC food truck. I was shocked that KFC had become mobile in London. The queue to buy food was long and others hung around to take pictures. On the side of the truck, I saw in writing 'Original Pulled Chicken' so I guess it was a nice scheme to create awareness about their new pulled chicken burger and get people to try it without walking all the way to a KFC restaurant. This was definitely an effective advertising and sales method as it definitely attracted a lot of people. Unfortunately, I was late for work so I could not stop to buy anything. I have not tried the pulled chicken burger before but from what I have seen on TV, it looks yummy:) I would definitely try it and let you know how it is. I just wanted to inform you all that KFC has a mobile food truck but I do not know if this would last for a long time or it is just a short term scheme. We have to wait and see:)

Has anyone seen the food truck before?? Anyone tried the pulled chicken burger??

LOCATION; BROADWICK STREET, LONDON

What do you guys think, a good idea or not???

                                                                               With love, Your food-junkie girl

Its all about the Pastries

Hello everyone,

It has been a while since I have posted anything due to no laptop:( I am back now, excited and ready to share so many things with you:) I usually post about cooked meals so I decided to do something different today.

My birthday was earlier in the week and my friends and I decided to go to Hull. The closest station from London to Hull is St Pancreas International.While at the station, I became so hungry and was looking for KFC or Burger King(I am a foodie remember lol) but I did not find any:( I stumbled on a small food store just b the corner called West Cornwall Pasty Co. They sold different kinds of pastries and pies. I have never been a fan of either of pastries or pies but I was hungry and willing to try some.

I got a chicken and bacon paty with potatoe wedges. To my surprise, it was so filling and very tasty. The paty had a soft but crunchy crust and the inside was filled with a mixture of small chopped potatoes, chicken, bacon and cream:) The paty and the potatoe wedges together was such a great combo. A very unplanned meal that became one of the nicest food combos I have had. I must say I was very impressed:)

For all the pastry lovers out there, go try some and tell me what you think. Those people who were like me and not been a fan of pastries, you definitely need to get some:):)

nicely packed meal:)

every meal needs a bottle of water:):)

   
                                                                                        WITH LOVE, YOUR FOOD JUNKIE:)

Jacket Potatoes at SPUDULIKE!!

Hello everyone,

Today has been a beautiful day and I hope you are all enjoying your day and your week:) My friend and I spent part of today at Westfield Mall in Stratford,London trying to look for a dress for my birthday, Whoop Whoop:) While walking around, we came across this restaurant called 'Spudulike'. I was attracted by the fact that they sold  jacket potatoes with different types of toppings; tuna, ham, baked beans, prawns, cheese etc. They even had chicken coronation with raisins and chicken tikka which just made it more interesting:)

I have never really been a fan of potatoes but jacket potatoes are divine LOL. They have this sweet/sour taste to it and when mixed with toppings, are absolutely delicious :)

I ordered jacket potatoes with tuna, sweetcorn and baked beans. I really enjoyed it and it was very filling. I wanted mine with ham or prawns but I could not get those as extra toppings which was quite disappointing. I had the chance to taste the chicken coronation which was good but I did not feel like it would go right with the jacket potatoes, although my friend really liked it(which means more points to them as my friend is very picky with food).

I would rate the food a 7 out of a 10, not a 10/10 because I could not get my ham or prawns (might think that is unfair but its my own opinion LOL). If you want a meal that is not only healthy but filling then jacket potatoes are your sure answer.

The food is really good and very affordable at Spudulike. It was my first time seeing this restaurant but I am sure there are more around the UK, all you need to do is search on google:). You can get a good meal  for £5 and feel like you have had a good lunch:)

THE TAKEAWAY PACKAGE

GET AN 'A' FOR THIS NICE PACKAGING LOL

NICE EYY?!?! DEFINITELY YUMMY TOO:)

THE BAKED BEANS IS RIGHT UNDER:)

So what do you guys think about Jacket Potatoes??? willing to spend 5 pounds on it?? Is it really filling and healthy?? Let me know your thoughts:)

P.S; I would like people to let us know different ways we can eat jacket potatoes. I am looking forward to seeing some very creative ways :)

                                                                                           WITH LOVE, YOUR FOOD JUNKIE

HAPPY NEW MONTH TO EVERYONE

I would like to wish everyone a happy new month. I pray this month brings you all the joy and happiness in the world.

I started this blog less than two weeks ago and It has over 200 views already. I am so excited:)

Thank you everyone for the support and encouragement. Please keep reading, sharing and commenting

There would definitely be a lot of exciting posts this month so watch this space!!

                                                                                            With love, YOUR FOOD JUNKIE :)

Lunch time at Itsu; Chiken Teriyaki and Sushi

Hey people,

Today I got so hungry and only had less than 10 pounds to spend on food:( My colleague advised me to try Itsu which had student discount and reasonably priced food since I was on a budget. My first thought was no way would I have sushi or salad or diced chicken with vegetables or noodles for lunch, I would rather go to McDonalds and buy chips and a burger. Then I realised that I needed to try different kinds of food so I could tell you all about it:)

I decided to buy the chicken teriyaki with rice and since I had more money to spare, I got me some sushi as well:) I must say the food was not what I expected. It was my first time trying sushi and it tasted way better than I had thought. Some parts tasted raw duhhhhh but some of it was kind of cooked, like the crab. The sauces added to it made it taste even nicer. The Chicken Teriyaki with rice had a whole lot of vegetables which was surprising to me because I was expecting some diced chicken in sauce and plain rice. Overall, the food was healthy, yummy and filling.

I would recommend sushi to fish lovers out there who have never tried it because it is worth trying. Btw, it is a known fact that FISH is very healthy for the body. I would love for you to tell me your thoughts on it when you eventually do try it. The Chicken Teriyaki was healthy and filling but if you are the kind of person who wants just chicken and rice, then you might not like this meal at Itsu. Having said that, I would still recommend everyone to try it plus you get student discount of 15 percent off the food:):)

SUSHI :):)

               


Looking forward to hearing from you guys:)
                                                             
                                                                                                 WITH LOVE, YOUR FOOD-JUNKIE :)