Simple & Quick Pancit Canton

Out of all the Filipino noodle dishes that I know of, I would have to say that the Pancit Canton has got to be the most popular. Noodles was introduced to the Filipinos by the Chinese way back when and since then, the Pancit Canton has fast become a favorite among the Filipinos. Since noodles symbolizes longevity, the Pancit Canton is usually cooked during birthdays, Christmas, New Year and other celebrations. However, the Pancit Canton is so easy to make and yummy to eat, you can pretty much make it anytime that you want. There is no need to wait for a special occasion :P So, here is a really simple Pancit Canton recipe that I tried out a couple of weeks ago. Enjoy!

Start off by heating up some vegetable oil in a large wok. Then, add in some minced garlic. Saute the garlic til it's almost light brown. Then, add in some thinly sliced chicken breast. I pre marinated the chicken slices with some light soy sauce, pepper and cornstarch about an hour or so earlier.
Once the chicken slices are almost cooked, add in some carrot slices and some straw mushrooms. Usually, Shitake/Chinese mushrooms are used but since Kevin is not a big fan of Shitake mushrooms, I used straw mushrooms instead.
Allow the ingredients to cook for a little bit then add in some cabbage and some sugar snap peas. Mix everything together and allow it to cook.
After the vegetables are almost cooked, add in some shrimp that has been peeled and cleaned. Stir fry that a little until the shrimp is cooked.
Next, add in some chicken broth and some oyster sauce. Some people would also add in some light soy sauce but I feel that the broth and oyster sauce combo is salty enough. You can add in a little bit of light soy sauce if you like.
Once the chicken broth comes to a rapid boil, add in the pancit noodles. The pancit noodles are somewhat like our Chinese 'yee mein' and can be bought at any Asian grocery store. Mix the noodles with the rest of the ingredients and allow it to soften in the chicken broth. Continue to let it simmer and when most of the chicken broth have reduced, the pancit canton is done!
A yummy large wok on pancit canton, all ready to be served. Wasn't that really simple to make? It doesn't require much prep and you can whip it up in minutes. So, the next time you are at an Asian grocery store, pick up a pack of pancit canton noodles and give this recipe a try!

CCNA.com - Your Free Community CCNA Resource

Kevin and I had the opportunity to attend the Annual Sandy Hook Pilots Harbor Inspection Cruise last week. It was actually an honor to be invited, since it's an annual event that a lot of people in the maritime industry actually look forward to. As you can imagine, the whole pilot boat was almost filled with maritime industry people and all they talked about was...ships, boats, container terminals. How boring. While Kevin was off taking photos of some random terminal, I started talking to some people from my table and with joy, found out that they too are not in the maritime industry. At last, some people I can talk to without having to talk about ships!

One of the guys that I was talking to told me that he is in the IT field. Networking to be exact. He said that he is currently preparing to get his CCNA certification. I told him I didn't know that was, so he went on to explain that CCNA certification is a second-level Cisco Career certification. Once he gets his CCNA certification, it validates his ability to install, configure, operate, and troubleshoot medium-size routed and switched networks. Getting certified can be pretty difficult, therefore he is currently enrolled in a CCNA training program which takes him through the authorized Cisco curriculum. In his opinion, he feels that this six day intense CCNA Boot Camp is the most comprehensive and hands on approach to CCNA certification in the industry. He even recommended that I go check out CCNA.com (it's a free community resource website) to read up more about CCNA certifications. I did and it was rather interesting. Ahh, to think that I had the opportunity to learn more about IT networking by attending a maritime event!

How Scarlett O'Hara Made History for a Second Time

The Author of this post is Freddy Savage

In 1939 the world waited with baited breath for the release of one of the most beloved works of literature onto the silver screen; Gone With The Wind. While Gone With The Wind was one of the best movies to ever be released it lest the viewer asking a great deal of questions at the end, the biggest question being 'what happens to Scarlett and Rhett?' Nearly 60 years later the question received an answer when the long awaited sequel, Scarlett was shown as a mini-series on Expert Satellite television.

Scarlett picks up where Gone With The Wind leaves off and answers many questions for the die hard GWTW fans. While the major concern during production of this wonderful work was the abilities of the actors to bring the same quality to their roles as their predecessors, the finished product shows us that there need never have been any worry in that area. Although Joanne Walley Kilmer and Timothy Dalton had some pretty big shoes to fill as Scarlett and Rhett, both do so with a great amount of confidence and ability that leave the viewer's believing that short of Vivian Leigh and Clark Gable, no one could possibly be better suited to assume the roles of Scarlett and Rhett. Enhanced with spectacular locations, inculding England and Ireland, Scarlett leaves the viewer content in Scarlett's future happiness.

Lindy's - Midtown West, NYC

Remember when our friend Wendy came to visit NYC a while back? We took her on a whirlwind two day tour of all the popular NYC landmarks (we really tried our best to cover as much as possible). After checking out the Financial District and other parts of lower Manhattan, we jumped on the infamous NYC subway and headed up to Midtown. After all that walking, our legs were about to give way, if we didn't stop for a break soon. So, after getting off at Penn Station (and after a quick walkabout inside Madison Square Garden), we decided that we should go get some coffee and cakes.
Now, apart from taking her to popular NYC landmarks, we also told her that we came up with a list of 'must eat' NYC foods and that we will try our best to sample everything on that list. We have already taken her to try the ever famous NYC bagels earlier that day, so what else is on the list? Cakes...hmmm. When you think about cakes in NYC, what comes to mind? Oh look, what's across the street from Madison Square Garden? That's right, LINDY'S!! Now, what is Lindy's famous for?
Cheesecakes of course! When you think of NY Cheesecakes, you think of Lindy's! Lindy's has been serving their ever popular cheesecakes since 1921. However, this is not the original Lindy's branch. The original Lindy's was located in 1626 Broadway, between 49th and 50th St. A second branch then opened at 1655 Broadway in 1929. Sadly, both the locations are now closed. There are currently two Lindy's in NYC, this one, which is opposite Madison Square Garden and another, also on 7th Ave but uptown in the Theater District.
The decor of Lindy's is nothing to shout about really. Just your typical diner with booths and a long wooden bar. Apart from their awesome cakes and desserts, they also serve regular diner food. It was pretty empty when we walked in (just a few groups of tourist). I guess we must be in between the lunch and tea time crowd.
Since we were still rather full from the huge bagels, we decided to share two slices of cakes among the three of us. Good choice, since both the cakes were really rich, filling and the slices were relatively huge too. The first slice that we ordered was the Carrot Cake ($8.29). Boy, it was good. Really moist and rich, very very nice. The cream cheese frosting was also not overly sweet, just perfect. It's so rich, I cannot imagine finishing a slice of that by myself. The three of us even had some problems finishing it.
Ahhh here it is. The all famous Lindy's NY Cheesecake ($7.79). Many people say that it's over rated. You know what? No it's not. It's really THAT good. Seriously. I am not a cheesecake fan but I truly enjoyed that slice of cheesecake. Really light and flavorful, it's just so good. I can't even start to describe how good it is, you have to try it yourself! You can order the original or you could order it with various toppings, like strawberry or blueberry sauce. In my opinion, it doesn't need any toppings, it's perfect, just like that.
OK, are we ready for the bill? Our total came up to a whopping $31.52! Yup, $31.52 just for two slices of cake, one unsweetened iced tea, one Mountain Dew and a regular cup of coffee. That's pretty steep. Ahhh well, a few mouthfuls of that awesome cheesecake made up for it. I would say that this is not somewhere Kevin and I would go to, just to have a meal. There are many other places to go eat lunch or dinner in Manhattan. After all, the food served here is just regular diner food. However, if we have guest visiting us from out of town, we would definitely take them to Lindy's for dessert or for an afternoon snack. You cannot say that you have visited NYC unless you have tried a slice of Lindy's NY Cheesecake!

Lindy's - Midtown West, NYC
401 7th Ave
New York, NY 10001
Tel: (212) 630 0325

Get Home Mortgages, even with Bad Credit!

Kevin and I have been renting since forever. Sometimes, we just wished that we didn't have to rent and have our own property. We do occasionally look around to see what properties are out there in the market and such. I was searching the Internet the other day, trying to learn more about home mortgages when I came across Advantage Home Rates. It's an awesome website filled with all kinds of information about mortgages.

I always had the misconception that you cannot get a mortgage if you had bad credit. That is why we have always taken care of our credit, making sure that we have an excellent credit history. Yes, your credit scores are really important but I also found out that every mortgage loan is different. Each comes with different terms, varying fees and changing risk levels. This means, it's great news for us (since we have a good credit) and there is still hope for those with bad credit. Apart from that, I also learnt about the difference between the two most common types of mortgage loans (fixed or adjustable loans). Very interesting, I must say.

I really found this website to be very informative. If you are a first time home buyer like us, you should totally check this website out and go through it's various tutorials. I can assure you that you will learn something new from it.

Natural Solutions for a Healthier Me!

I'm sure some of you would remember me blogging about us trying to lead a healthier lifestyle these days. After all, we are not getting any younger and all those years of unhealthy eating habits as well as lack of exercise will definitely take a toll on our health if we are not careful. Watching our diet and exercise is great but sometimes it's not enough. Therefore, I have started to look into other health supplements that might be of benefit to us.

Of course we are not planning to down bottle upon bottles of chemicals and pills, in the effort to stay 'healthy'. What we are looking for are natural solutions, not chemicals. I read somewhere about the wonders of Oregano Oil. It seems that ancient Greeks have been using oregano oil for it's health benefits since way back then. It is known as nature's purifier and is said to be a potent antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiparasitic oil that can reduce pain and inflammation as well as effectively fight off infections. Also, it helps skin infections and digestive problems.

Another natural product that I have been reading about is Bio D-Mulsion. Many call it sunshine in a bottle! Since we spend so much indoors, we definitely are not getting our 4,000 units of vitamin D a day. Maybe we should consider getting ourselves some of these natural solutions in our effort for a healthier lifestyle.

No more Dominos Pizza for us!

In the past, we have blogged quite a lot about specials from Dominos. We have also commented on their pretty fast delivery and easy to use online ordering via their website. However, a recent event has change all our positive opinions about Dominos and we have decided that we are not going to order from Dominos (at least the Bloomfield, NJ branch) ever again. Here's what happened.

The Wrong Order
On September 2nd, we ordered the two medium pizza with two topping promotion ($5.99 each) and a 2 liter bottle of Coke online. It's not the first time we that have ordered online and so far, we never had any problems with it. When our pizza arrived, Kevin noticed that on one of the pizzas, there was only one topping. He ordered extra large pepperoni and bacon but all he got was bacon. We doubled checked our receipt ( just to make sure that we really ordered extra large pepperoni and bacon) and yes, it shows extra large pepperoni on both the online receipt as well as the actual receipt. No problem, all we need to do is call them up to tell them of the mistake and they should bring us the correct order, right? Well, wrong! Continue reading.

The Phone Call
We called the Bloomfield, NJ branch and spoke to Esmirna. We told her that they brought us the wrong pizza and went on to explain to her that we ordered extra large pepperoni and bacon but all we got was bacon. We then asked if they were going to re deliver the correct pizza to us. Guess what? Esmirna just rudely said "WE AIN'T GOT NO EXTRA LARGE PEPPERONI". Excuse me? It was on the menu, we picked it, the order went through, you charged us for it and then you are saying that you don't have any extra large pepperoni? She then said "OH, YOU ORDERED IT ONLINE, RIGHT?" Yeah we did. She went on to say " WELL, IT'S AUTOMATIC THEN. THE ORDER JUST GOES THROUGH. WE DON'T HAVE ANY EXTRA LARGE PEPPERONI. IT'S NOT OUR FAULT, IT'S CORPORATE.". What do you mean it's corporate's fault? Anyways, we then asked her why didn't they call us if they are out? We could have changed to another topping or if you don't have any extra large pepperoni, just use regular pepperoni. Don't just give us one topping and act as if nothing happened. She then rudely said "WAIT!" and I could hear her talking to the manager (Carlos) saying that we want a new pizza and why didn't they call us if they didn't have extra large pepperoni...blablabla. We could hear Carlos rudely replying "NO NO IT'S NOT OUR FAULT, THEY ARE NOT GETTING ANOTHER PIZZA". She then came back and flat out said "NO IT'S NOT OUR FAULT, IT'S CORPORATES. WE CANNOT GIVE YOU ANOTHER PIZZA!". Not wanting to argue anymore, we just asked for her name. She then got all defensive and asked "WHAT YOU WANT MY NAME FOR?". Then we said that since you insist it's corporate's fault, we will bring this matter to corporate and file a complaint against the Bloomfield branch. We ordered and paid for a two topping pizza but was given a one topping pizza. That's outright cheating. She then rudely said "FINE, GO AHEAD!" and in a challenging voice asked "YOU WANT CORPORATES NUMBER? I CAN GIVE THAT TO YOU TOO!". So, I took the number from her and hung up. Not a single word of apology from them even though they didn't deliver what we ordered.

The First Email To Corporate
Since it was already pretty late, we figured that we should just send out an email instead of calling (most probably nobody will be working at this hour). So, we went to the Dominos website and filled up their contact form, telling them all that has transpired. With an hour, we received a reply from them. I am not sure if it's automated or if "Denise' actually typed it out, but here is their reply:

September 02, 2010
Dominos Case #: 809259

Hi Kevin,
Thank you for taking the time to contact the Domino's Pizza Customer Care Team and notifying us of this matter. We will forward this information to the appropriate department for further investigation.
Sincerely,
Denise
Pizza Customer Care

Again, not a single word of apology from Dominos. Of course, we understand that they will have to look into this matter to see what actually happened. However, if it was me, I would just apologize first (even if the customer is wrong and the company is right). Anyways, we left it at that and allowed them to do their 'investigation'.

The Second Email to Corporate
One week went by and still no news from Dominos. What's taking them to long? In my opinion, it's a straight forward case. We ordered something, but we received the wrong order and the branch refused to deliver the right order to us. What's there to investigate? Anyway, we emailed them again and asked what's happening? Mind you, it's been a week and not a single person from Dominos apologized yet.

The Reply from Dominos
On September 10th, we received an email from Ryan.

Dominos Case #: 809259
Hi Kevin,

Thank you for taking the time to contact the Domino's Pizza Customer Care Team. I apologize the local management has not addressed your concern. I will once again inform the local representative of the Newark store of the unsatisfactory situation you experienced so they may address these types of issues in their training efforts.

I will be sending gift certificates through the mail for your use at any Domino's Pizza store. Please accept the gift certificates in appreciation of your business and for taking the time to bring this situation to our attention. You should receive the gift certificates in approximately 7-10 days.

We hope to regain your trust in the future and have the opportunity to serve you again as our loyal customer.

Sincerely,
Ryan
Domino's Pizza Customer Care

If you noticed, it's the first time anybody from Dominos apologized. However, he didn't apologize for bringing us the wrong order and refusing to redeliver the correct pizza to us. He didn't apologize for charging us for a two topping pizza but delivering a one topping pizza. He didn't apologize for the extremely rude staff at the Bloomfield, NJ branch. He was just sorry that the local management didn't address our 'concern'. Concern??? Excuse me...I think it's more than just a 'concern'. Putting aside the rude staff and also having to sent a 'reminder' email, the fact remains that we were given a one topping pizza but paid for a two topping pizza. Even though we are talking about a small amount, that's outright cheating! Wouldn't that warrant at least an apology?

Our Gift Certificates
On September 18th, we received this letter and $15 worth of gift certificates in the mail. Not wanting to be petty, but if you noticed, not a single word of apology. Yes, we thank you for the gift certificates (which was how much we paid, minus delivery charges and tax) but in my opinion, it still doesn't make it right. What would? Just a simple "I'm sorry, we screwed up this time" would have worked. This shows, up til now, Dominos still refuse to admit that it was their mistake and thinks that the $15 worth of gift certificates will shut us up. I am not saying that we won't use it, oh yes we will. However, that will probably be the last time we will ever eat a Dominos pizza. They are not the only players in the market, there are many other pizza companies out there. Looks like Dominos has lost two very loyal customers. Instead of giving us the certificates, maybe they should have put that $15 towards classes to teach their employees some manners instead. :P

Have You Cooked with Quorn Before?

* This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of goviral. All opinions are 100% mine.

Recently, Kevin and I realized that we have been eating really unhealthy stuff since our college days. We don't care about nutrition and we eat whatever we liked. We gotta admit that we are not getting any younger and all those unhealthy food has been taking a toll on us. Therefore, we decided that we should try our best to eat healthier and start exercising more. We started reading labels and watch what we eat. I on the other hand try to make healthier meals for the both of us. I was searching the Internet the other day, for simple and healthy dinner recipes when I came across Quorn's website.

Quorn? What's that? That was my exact reaction when I first arrived at their website. I soon found out that Quorn is the leading brand of mycoprotein food products in the UK and Ireland. Mycoprotein? Excuse me? What's that? Well, mycoprotein is a healthy meat-free form of high quality protein and is also a good source of dietary fiber. Not only that, it is also naturally low in fat, saturated fat and have zero cholesterol. It's a good alternative to meat and it's embraced by many vegetarians. However, since it uses egg white as a binder, it is not suitable for vegans. As I navigated through the website, I found out that Quorn can be purchased as complete ready meals or as ingredients for your favorite recipes. I also found many yummy, quick and healthy Quorn recipes on their website. I will definitely try cooking with Quorn in the near future. You should too. For more inspiration, take a leaf out of the new Quorn™ recipe book. It is only £2.99 with two promotional pack’s of Quorn™ (UK). Meanwhile, check out the videos below for some yummy Quorn recipes. Enjoy!

Restoran Teow Chew Meng - PJ, Malaysia

When you talk about Malaysian food, one would automatically think of Nasi Lemak, Char Koay Teow, Satay...things like that. You can pretty much find those delicacies anywhere in Malaysia. However, there are lesser known regional favorites that can only be found in certain areas in Malaysia. For example, there is the choon pneah (egg rolls), roti babi (stuffed deep fried bread), cheh hoo (a slightly spicy chinese salad) and my all time favorite, mee suah tow. Those dishes originate from Penang and you can pretty much only find it in Penang. In fact, unless you know somebody from Penang, there is a high chance you would not even have heard of those dishes before (yes, I am not just talking about foreigners but Malaysians from other states too!). As a little girl, I would look forward to lunches at the cafe in OFA with my parents. In my opinion, they made some really kick ass mee suah tow! Oh, sorry, for those of you who don't know, mee suah is flour vermicelli and mee suah tow is mee suah cooked in a starchy broth, somewhat like sharks fin soup.

After we moved to PJ, the only time we could get to eat mee suah tow was when we were back visiting Penang. You cannot believe our excitement when we saw a Teow Chew Meng branch in SS2! Yes, SS2! That's like 5 minutes away from my parents house in Damansara Jaya. Teow Chew Meng is well known for their uber yummy mee suah tow! They originally started selling their mee suah tow in a small shack somewhere in Butterworth and their children expended the business to an air conditioned shop in Pulau Tikus, Penang. From there, it continued to grow and they now have branches all over. This SS2 branch is not located in the main busy SS2 square but it's over on the quieter side of SS2, at the Seapark/SS2 border. It' faces the housing area and it's on the same row as Lobsterman.
Apart from the yummy mee suah tow, they have quite a lot of really good side dishes that you can order to share too. My favorite is the Apple Beancurd (RM10 = US$3.20). Deep fried beancurd topped with shredded granny smith apples, dried shrimp and a sweet thai influenced sauce. Really really good. The octopus with rojak sauce (RM10 = US$3.20 for small, RM15 = US$4.80 for regular) and seafood roll (RM10 small, RM15 regular) is good too.
My dad is not a big fan of mee suah tow (even though my mom, Ash and myself simply adores it). So, he would usually order the Seafood Fried Rice (RM10 = US$3.20). I tried a mouthful, it's not too bad. Nothing really to shout about though. It's just regular fried rice with some shrimp, squid, chicken and egg..topped with some spring onions. You could also order porridge, noodles as well as oyster noodles if you do not like mee suah tow.
Ahhhh here it is. A huge serving of Sharkfin Mee Suah Tow (RM11 = US$3.50 per person). This portion is for three people. Mee suah cooked with large shrimp, crabsticks, fish maw,fish slices, bamboo clams, squid in a flavorful thick seafood broth. It is then topped with sharkfin and fried garlic in oil. It is originally served with a whole bunch fresh cilantro and spring onions on top but we told them not to add that to ours (not a big cilantro fan :P). Mmmm mmm mmm, nothing beats a big bowl of piping hot mee suah tow, complete with black vinegar. So, the next time you are in SS2 and what to try something new, head over to Teow Chew Meng and order yourself a big bowl of Mee Suah Tow!

Restoran Teow Chew Meng - PJ, Malaysia
33, Jalan SS2/30
47300 Petaling Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: (603) 7877 9298

Check Out Fall’s Hottest Entertainment with TiVo Premiere!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of TiVo. All opinions are 100% mine.

I'm sure many of the regulars here already know that we are big movie fans. However, did you know that we are huge TV fans too? Oh yeah, we watch a lot of TV, especially sitcoms and reality TV. If you are a big TV fan (just like us), you would understand when we say that this is an exciting period for us. We are so sick of all the summer programming and reruns, we are always super stoked when September comes around. Yup, September means Fall TV Premieres season!! All of our favorite TV shows are back! Woohoo!! Looks like we are not alone in this. Recents polls show that America generally is excited about the upcoming fall programming too. Did you know that accodring to recent polls, the most anticipated genre this fall is suspense, and the TV theme people consider most “overdone” is reality TV. Also, the most anticipated new series are Law & Order: Los Angeles and Hawaii Five-0 and the most anticipated returning series are NCIS and House. Interesting.

With all this new programs coming out this fall, I am sure big time TV fans wouldn't want to miss a single episode. That is why you should check out TiVo Premiere. It is indeed the ideal gadget for the biggest TV fans! Why TiVo Premiere, you might ask. Isn't TiVo just a DVR? No way! It's more than just a DVR! You can use TiVo search to find your favorite TV programs, movies and Web video whether it’s on cable, Netflix, Amazon On Demand, Blockbuster On Demand, YouTube videos or mor. How cool is that? Also, say you’re curious about the TV shows that swept the 2010 Emmys, like Modern Family or Mad Men. What can you do? Well, with TiVo Search and TiVo Collections features, you can catch up with all that in a matter of clicks! You can also find upcoming episodes and entire previous seasons on Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand or Blockbuster On Demand*.Here's another thing that sometimes upsets me. I decide not to follow a particular series that season and it turns out to be a hit. EVERYBODY is talking about it and it feels as though I am the only one who missed out on it. This year, I can make sure that history doesn't repeat itself. All I need to do is subscribe to the Fall TV Guru Guide and discover all the new shows premiering this fall, so I won’t be the one to miss out on this season’s breakout hit again! Not only that, but with TiVo Premiere, I can even track and follow my favorite actors to see what are their new and upcoming projects. How? Well, its something similar to Internet Movie Database (IMDB). However, with TiVo Premiere you can check out everything your favorite actors have done – and then watch it right there via YouTube, Amazon VOD, Blockbuster, Netflix or your cable lineup!

Man, TiVo Premiere and TiVo Slide is just amazing, everybody should have one. Guess what? TiVo is giving away a new TiVo Slide remote everyday for 30 days! That's right. They are currently running their TiVo's 30 Slides in 30 Days Sweepstakes. All you need to do is be their Facebook Fan or follow them on Twitter. Then, you will be eligible for a chance to win a FREE TiVo Slide! Better hurry though, the sweepstakes deadline is September 22! Enter to Win your very own TiVo Slide today!

Baked Cod with Italian Crumb Topping

I managed to pick up a couple of lbs of really fresh cod fillets from our local grocery store the other day. I love cod (simply love the texture and taste!) but I do not get to eat much of it back home in Malaysia, cos it's usually really really expensive. So yeah, I was pretty stoked to find some really fresh cod fillets on sale. I looked up a few recipes online and was torn between the Stuffed Cod Fillets and this recipe. I chose to go with this and boy, I'm glad I did. It turned out to be really yummy! Let me share this really simple but yummy baked cod recipe with you.

Let's start off by making the Italian Crumb topping. It's really simple actually. Just mix in some corn meal into a bowl of Italian breadcrumbs.
Then, add in some freshly ground black pepper, garlic powder and some grated Parmesan cheese. Mix everything together and set it aside. The topping is done! Wasn't that easy?
Alright, next! Scoop some low fat/light mayo into a small bowl. Then, squeeze in some lemon juice. Combine both of the ingredients together and make sure that everything is mixed in well. Once everything is nicely mixed, set it aside.
Now it's time to prep the cod. The cod fillets that I bought were pretty large. So, I cut the fillets into half and saved the fleshy part for another day. I am going to use the tail/back portion of the cod fillet for this recipe. Place the cod fillets in a lightly greased baking dish. Remember to tuck in the end of the fillets. This is to prevent it from overcooking (since it's way thinner compared to the other parts of the fillet).
Then, spread the mayo mixture evenly on top of the cod fillets.
Once you have evenly spread the mayo onto the cod fillets, sprinkle on the Italian Crumb topping. Make sure that you coat the entire top of the fillets. Then, spray on some olive oil cooking spray. Place the baking dish into a 450F preheated oven and allow it to bake for approx 15 mins or so (depending on how thick your fillets are).
After 15 - 20 mins, remove the baking dish from the oven and allow it to sit for another 5 mins. Then, it's ready to be served! Boy, this recipe is so yummy! Our whole apartment smelled so good while it was baking in the oven...mmm mmm mmmmmmm. I served the baked cod with some pasta salad and some stir fried spinach with garlic (my current favorite side dish :P). I'm starting to get all hungry now that I am thinking of those cod fillets. Yes, they are that good! You should try this recipe. Not only is it easy and quick to make, but really yummy to eat!

Sonic Drive In - Hasbrouck Heights, NJ

We were just lazing in front of the TV, trying to figure out what to do for dinner on Saturday night when we saw a commercial for Sonic came on. Those commercials always looked so good! :P We have been meaning to check out Sonic for the longest time but we never really got around to it. Come to think about it, we don't even know if there was a Sonic near us. So, I went online to their website and searched for the nearest Sonic. It's located on Route 17N, in Hasbrouck Heights. Of course, of course it's on Route 17. You can pretty much get any fast food you want on Route 17. It's like a fast food super highway :P Hasbrouck Heights is just about a 20 min drive away from us, not too bad. So, off to Sonic we went!

As the name suggest, Sonic Drive In is a typical all American drive in, complete with carhops on roller skates and loud 50s music blasting from the outdoor speakers. It's actually quite a large chain, with over 3,500 restaurants all across the United States. For those of you who are not familiar with drive ins, here's how it works. You pull up, park and order your food. You will then be served by carhops (yes yes, just like American Graffiti and Happy Days :P) and you eat your food, while sitting in your car.
It was still pretty early for dinner ( I want to say, maybe around 6pm?) but Sonic was already packed. The drive thru line wasn't that long but almost all of the drive in spots were taken up. Thankfully, we managed to snag one of the last few remaining spots, right at the edge of the lot. Alrighty, time to order some food!!
Check out their menu! All kinds of yummy local favorites, combos, sides, desserts and drinks. They even have kids meals and a value menu. Everything on the menu looked so good, Kevin had a tough time deciding what to order. I, on the other hand knew exactly what I wanted. From moment I saw the ad for it on TV (that's what got us here in the first place :P), I knew I just had to try it!! Once we were ready to order, we just had to press the red button and somebody came on the speakers to take our order. After we were done ordering (and checking to see if he got our order right on the little green screen), all we had to do was slide our debit card into the slot beside the red button to pay. How convenient is that? :D
In about 5 minutes or so, the carhop brought our food to the car. Talk about fast service! Here's all the stuff that we ordered. Two combo meals, one extra side and two drinks. Talking about drinks, Sonic is well known for their drinks. So well known til their slogan is "Your Ultimate Drink Stop"! Why? Well, that's cos you have the possibility to add in flavors (stuff like vanilla, cranberry, strawberry, cherry, chocolate, apple...etc) to your regular soda. According to their ads, there are over 168,894 possible drink combinations that you can make. This means, you could have a new drink every day for the next 462 years! What did we pick? Hahaha, we are boring people. We just went with Unsweetened Iced Tea and regular Dr. Pepper :P
Kevin ordered the SuperSONIC Cheeseburger Combo ($6.89). That comes with fries (or you could choose another side) and a drink. The cheeseburger was huge. It was so huge til Kevin couldn't finish the entire burger, so he had to pack half of it home! Two pure beef patties with two slices of cheese, crinkle-cut pickles, chopped onions, fresh shredded lettuce and ripe tomatoes, topped with mustard, mayo and ketchup. Mmmm mmm good!
Now, THIS is what I came to Sonic for. I ordered the all new Footlong Quarter Pounder Coney Combo ($5.49). I got that with a side of onion rings and a drink. You can also order just the Footlong Quarter Pounder Coney (minus the drink and side) for only $2.99! Doesn't it look yummy? An extra long juicy blend of beef and pork frank, topped with yummy chili and melted cheese, in an equally long bun. All this weighs in at a whopping quarter pound! Boy, that was a looooong coney dog. It was so yummy and good. Just like Kevin, I couldn't finish my meal. So, I had to pack half of the dog back home.
This are the sides that came with our combo and we also ordered an extra serving of Ched 'R' Peppers ($2.99 for 4 pieces). Ched 'R' Peppers are basically jalapeno poppers, with a fancy name. They were good but a tad bit overcooked though. Would have been better if they took it out of the fryer about half a min earlier. Kevin said the fries were pretty good and my onion ring, well, my onion rings were so so so good! Seriously, I didn't expect it to be so good. Those handmade onion ring were so sweet and juicy in the inside and crispy on the outside. Yummers! The total bill came to $17.41. Not bad, not too bad at all. It's almost the same amount as we would spend on say, 2 combo meals and dessert from McDs. Of course, the food in Sonic is wayyyyyy better. I'm glad we tried Sonic and we will definitely be back! *starts to drool while thinking of her Footlong Quarter Pounder Coney :P~~~~

Sonic Drive In - Hasbrouck Heights, NJ
156 Route 17 North,
Hasbrouck Heights, NJ 07604
Tel: (201) 464 0400
Web: http://www.sonicdrivein.com/
Hours: 6AM - Midnight (Everyday)

Are you up for Aladdin's "Do The Reuse Challenge"?

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Aladdin. All opinions are 100% mine.

In today's society, we always op for the easy way out. We want things to be simple, we want things to be fast. Many people embrace the 'disposable' lifestyle (myself included) because it's just so easy. When we want something, we just go out and buy it. Thirsty? Buy yourself a bottle of water. Hungry? Grab a sandwhich at the coffee shop. While you are at it, get some coffee too. What do we do with all the food containers once we are done? Throw it out. Easy, rite? Well, it's easy, but it's not always right. Did you know that in the United States, 137,000 disposable water bottles are comsumed per day? Yup, that means 1,585 disposable water bottles are used each second and that comes to a whopping 50 billion a year! That takes about 7 million barrels of oil, just to produce those bottles in a year. Not only that, but just by eating out, we are spending a whole lot of money compared to preparing food at home. Did you know that it only cost $165 a year to make coffe at home as opposed to $636 if you buy drip coffee at your local cafe? Not only do we spend more, we throw away a lot more paper cups too. Unless we change our habits, 23 billion paper coffee cups will be thrown out in 2010!

Pretty shocking facts, right? Well, guess what? You can now play your part in saving the environment (as well as save some money in the process) by participating in the Aladdin "Do The Reuse Challenge". What's that, you might ask? Well, it's a 30 day commitment to give up disposable paper cups, water bottles or food containers. Why the challenge? A couple of months ago, Aladdin made a commitment to give up disposables. In the process, they found out the perks in doing so. A hot cup of coffee in their favorite mug, fresh home made lunches and getting to sip water anytime they wanted, instead of having to go buy a bottle. The Aladdin products that they make made it easier to reuse, because they really liked using them. Not only that, they saved a whole lot of money in the process too!

Nine different families from across America were selected to participate in this and they will be blogging about their experience on their websites. Who are those families? Guess what? No, they are not celebrities or anything. They are just regular people like you and me. They were asked if they wanted to accept the challenge and they said YES! However, this challenge is not just for those 9 families. It's open to everybody, so yes, you can participate too!

Wow, sounds exciting. But hmmm, I don't have any reusable water bottles or a favorite coffee mug, you might think. Don't worry, Aladdin has that figured out too. Just by accepting one of the Do The Reuse Challenges, you'll be able to get discounts and free shipping on selected Aladdin products. How cool is that? You can get more information about Aladdin and it's products just by 'liking' Aladdin on Facebook. I am definately going to accept The Challenge. Out of the three, I will start with "Do The Reuse Challenge: Food Containers". Kevin is spending so much money just by buying lunch at his workplace. Did you know that a burger, fries and a drink cost him up to almost $10 a day? I am going to wake up early and pack him lunch everyday. A huge healthy sandwich with some vegetables and fruits as snacks will just cost us about $3, at the most. Not only will we be doing our part in keeping all those packaging out of landfills, but Kevin will be eating healthier and we will be saving a whole lot of money! Sounds like a great plan. So, what about you? Will you take on The Challenge?

Our Free Steaks from Marlboro are here!!

Remember me blogging about receiving two Omaha Steaks gift certificates from Marlboro last week? Yeah, both Kevin and I chose the steaks as our Level 3 reward from the "Marlboro Country Rewards" contest/giveaway. Anyways, we received our gift certificates in the mail last week and we ordered our steaks online. Omaha Steaks sent us an email yesterday telling us that they have shipped our steaks and that we should expect it to arrive today. True enough, our friendly UPS guy brought two huge coolers to our door early this evening! Woohoo! Our steaks are here! :D

I love the Omaha Steaks cooler. They always do such a great job in keeping the steaks frozen. We would also reuse the cooler whenever we go on picnics and stuff, they are just great. Check out the shipping label. "Prepare to smile...". Oh, don't you worry. Just thinking about those yummy steaks kept me smiling all day! :P
Here's what it looks like inside the cooler. A whole big slab of dry ice at the bottom and a big box of steaks on top of it. They also included a very nice cookbook filled with various recipes. All the steaks were nice and frozen when it got here. I guess the dry ice really works wonders. We had a whole lot of fun playing with the dry ice later in the evening. Made our own volcanoes and stuff. Yes yes, I know. Two 30 something year olds playing with dry ice...how juvenile. Don't judge us, I bet you would do it too if you had two big slabs of dry ice, just sitting around. LOL! :P
Mmmm mmmm mmmmmm, check out the yummy steaks. There are six boneless strips in each box. Just look at the marbling. It looks so so so good. Each steak is approx 10 oz and about 1" thick. Boy, I can't wait to grill em up! The retail price for each box is $163.99!
Ahhhh 12 pieces of yummy steaks, all lined up in a row. Just looking at them makes my mouth water. I can't believe we now have like over $300 worth of steaks, just sitting in our freezer. Looks like we will be having uber delicious steak dinners for the coming weeks (maybe months) ahead. Thanks Marlboro for the steaks, we love them!!!

Fun in the Sun at Myrtle Beach!

Wow, I can't believe it's already almost mid September. Where did the summer go? Summer seemed to have breezed by this year. Soon, it will start to get cold again. However, there is still time to squeeze in one last summer vacation before the cold comes. I have been searching online for somewhere fun to head out to and Myrtle Beach looks like a perfect vacation destination.

Just imagine, rounds after rounds of golf, evening walks by the beach, entertaining dinner theaters and shopping, loads of shopping! Sounds like heaven to me! I'm sold. We are going to Myrtle Beach! I then started to search for the perfect Myrtle Beach hotel and found The Horizon at 77th. Newly opened in 2008, it is known to many as one of Myrtle Beach best hotels. I am not surprised. Just steps away from the beach, this ocean view property is indeed the perfect resort for some fun in the sun. Not only is there an elevated plaza pool but guest can also enjoy the lazy river, indoor and outdoor pools as well as spas. They even have a roof-top sundeck for some sunbathing!

There currently have some awesome promotions, packages and specials going on. You can go check it out at http://www.horizonmyrtlebeach.com. The Spa Escape package as well as the various dinner theater packages looks really good to me. Don't take my word for it. Go visit their website and see all that The Horizon at 77th has to offer!

9/11 - We remember...

It's been 9 years since that fateful September day. The debris has long been cleared and each time we go into the city, we can see the new WTC slowly rising higher and higher from the ground. However, the memory of that tragedy is still very real in the hearts of many New Yorkers today. Not only did they lose friends, colleagues and loved ones, but for a moment, in that moment of helplessness, as they watched those towers come down, it also felt as though they had lost their freedom. We took this photograph from our living room window a few hours ago. The two blue lights, shot up from Ground Zero, is a grim reminder of where those two towers once stood. Even though we were not living in NYC during the time of the attack, we feel that we are very much a part of this amazing city today. Therefore, we just want to say that we too feel your pain and yes, we remember...

Kitchen Remodel Success Story

This is a guest post by Bruce Dunwor

Three years ago, my wife and I decided to remodel our home's kitchen. It was not an easy decision to make because a full kitchen remodel can be quite costly. But, we decided that the cost to remodel the space would actually be an investment in our home that would reap rewards when we decided to sell it. So, we went ahead and got a Sears Kitchen Remodel.

Looking back, I have to say that it was one of the best decisions we ever made. To this day, our kitchen is the centerpiece of our home and it is a space that friends and family just naturally gather in when they come to visit. It is comfortable, modern, and inviting.

The whole project took about two weeks total. We chose to reface our cabinets, replace the Formica Counter Tops with new granite, and install a beautiful tile back splash. The re-facing process allowed us to keep the existing cabinet framework in place, which kept costs down. That savings made it possible for us to afford a new tile floor. Add to all of that a new coat of paint, and we had a brand new kitchen that came in under budget and well over expectations.

If you have the time and the money, I highly recommend a kitchen remodel.

Have You Heard Of LocalTVSatellite?

When we first moved into our current apartment a little over two years ago, we had to choose between getting Cable or Satellite TV. Without doing much research, we went with cable. It was alright initially but we soon realized that maybe we made a mistake. There were frequent service disruptions, our decoder would freeze on us, the pictures would sometimes go fuzzy and worst of all, we couldn't watch our beloved Steelers play! Yup, we only get to watch the silly Giants and Jets play on Sundays.

I started to look around the Internet for some good satellite TV deals and came across LocalTV-Satellite.com. They are partners with Direct TV and offer all kinds of amazing Direct TV packages and offers. Prices start as low as $29.99 with the basic entertainment package. For us, the best thing about Direct TV is their sports programming. With the NFL Sunday Ticket, we get to watch every game, in HD, all season long! Not only that, but with NHL Center Ice, we can also watch the Penguins play and not worry about missing games that are not televised on national TV. To get more information about all the amazing Direct TV deals and packages, just head over to localtv-satellite.com today!

Free Steaks from Marlboro!

I have always been amazed at all the awesome gifts/prizes that Marlboro gives out for their contest and sweepstakes. If you are a regular here, you would have noticed that we have won quite a lot of stuff from Marlboro. Stuff ranging from sunglasses, a HD camcorder to a 4 days 3 nights all expense paid thip to the Marlboro Ranch in Montana. This summer, Marlboro has been running their "Marlboro Country Rewards" giveaway since July. What makes this giveaway/contest different from the rest is....everybody is a winner! Everybody wins something at the end of the day.
We received this two envelopes in the mail yesterday. Woohoo! Our gifts are finally here! Wait, hang on. You must be wondering, what do you mean by 'everybody is a winner'?. Well, here's how the giveaway works. This giveaway started in July. Everyday, Marlboro will feature a new destination (interesting places located all over America) on their website. All we need to do is log on and read about it. Then, we can collect three 'chips' by performing various stuff like rating the write up or viewing the pictures. There are three levels you can unlock, depending on the amount of chips you collected at the end of the contest period. We managed to collect enough chips to unlock the highest level, so YAY!
Wanna see what's inside the envelopes? Another envelope! LOL! Well, another envelope and a card thanking us for participating in this summer's giveaway. There are actually quite a number of prizes to choose from. The level 1 prizes are small prizes, stuff like personalized key tags or luggage tags, ashtrays, coffee and mug combos....things like that. The level 2 prizes get a little better. Among some of the nicer prizes are personalized Zippo lighters, engraved flask, a very nice looking poker set and even a harmonica! Now, we qualified for the level 3 prizes. We had six prizes to choose from. A Duluth utility pack, Lucchese cowboy boots, Weber grill, Sheplers Authentic Steer Horns, a RCA mini camcorder or Omaha Steaks gift certs. We have already gotten cowboy boots and a HD camcorder (way better than the one here) from Marlboro, so that's out. We do no need another bag or grill, so that's out too. Kevin really wanted the steer horns initially but decided against it in the end. Like seriously, what are you going to do with steer horns? Hang it in front of your Honda Civic and drive around town? :P Anyways, we both ended up getting the steaks!
Here it is! We received two gifts certificates from Omaha Steaks. Each certificate is worth 163.99 and is for 6 pieces of 10 oz Boneless Strips. There are four ways to redeem the steaks. We could either fill in our particulars and mail back the certificate to Omaha Steaks, fax in the certificate, call their 1-800 number to place our order or just redeem it online. Of course we just redeemed it online. Simple and hassle free.
Here's how it works. We just need to log into the dedicated URL that leads us directly to the offer page. Then, we just need to key in our gift certificate number and fill up our particulars. After we did that and hit "submit", an email was sent to our mailbox, saying that our steaks are on the way! Wooohoo! We should be getting our steaks by Tuesday, latest. Boy, I can't wait for our 12 pieces of yummy and juicy Omaha Steaks to arrive. Thanks Marlboro for yet another awesome gift!!!

Check Out the Film Trailer for Buried!

* This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of goviral. All opinions are 100% mine.

I'm sure all of you would have known by now that both Kevin and I are big movie buffs. We watch a LOT of movies, from romantic comedies to action thrillers. As much as we enjoy watching those big budget epic Hollywood movies, what we really really love are those experimental indie movies. Yes, we are big supporters of indie films. There is something about indie movies that are just awesome. I can't really place my finger on it, I guess it's just the X factor. Maybe it's the raw creative talent that is involved in coming up with an indie film (especially on a small budget). Who knows but whatever it is, we love it!

There is a new experimental indie thriller that will be released soon (limited theatrical release on September 24, 2010 and a wide release on Oct 8, 2010). From what I hear, it's gonna be totally awesome! It's called Buried and it's starring Ryan Reynolds. Yes yes, that's the cutie pie that was engaged to Alanis Morrissette back in 2004 (engagement ended in '07) and is now married to Scarlett Johansson. I guess many of you will remember him starring next to Sandra Bullock in the ever so funny movie, The Proposal. Alright, so what's Buried all about? Well, its about Paul Conroy, a U.S. contractor working in Iraq. After an attack by a group of Iraqis, he wakes to find that he is buried alive inside a coffin. With only a lighter, knife and a cell phone it's a race against time to escape this claustrophobic death trap. Although he has no idea as to how he got there, he soon starts to remember what has happened to him. As you can imagine, a major chunk of the film surrounds Reynolds, in a small box. From the reviews that I read, not only does it keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire movie but the spacing and plot of the film were nothing short of genius. Boy, I can't wait to watch this movie. For a short sneak peek, check out the film trailer for Buried below!