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Posts Tagged ‘Food’

Fresh & Easy – My New BFF

Wednesday, November 16th, 2011

I know most of you know that Bigmista has been the Grillmaster Spokesperson for Fresh & Easy for the last three years. What you may find surprising is that I had never stepped foot into a Fresh & Easy until the middle of this year. And that was only because Neil was out of town and we needed something for a catering gig. DIGRESSION – I hardly ever go to the grocery store (another story). I pick up stuff here and there because I have to for work stuff and that’s about it.

Anyway, time passed and maybe a few months ago, Neil brought home some pineapple from Fresh & Easy. I’m sorry Dole but this stuff made my taste buds tingle and sing at the same time. Neil had another one in the fridge for him but what’s his is mine and what’s mine is mine. ;> I snagged it and me and Morgan hit the road to pick up my mom for church. I made the mistake of letting my mom try some. And she tried some more, then again. Woman, don’t make me pull this car over. I snatched (gently took) my pineapple away from my mom and went on to church.

So anyway, after asking Neil to bring some home a couple of times I decided he wasn’t going to Fresh & Easy often enough to satisfy my new found addiction. I had to take matters into my own hands. The Fresh & Easy on Atlantic is not too far out of my way after dropping Morgan off at school so I took my raggedy tail on over there. I hadn’t paid attention on my first trip (different store though) but I was instantly struck by the orderliness of it all. Then wait, what is that heavenly smell of something baking slapping me in the face. I really don’t care what it is just give me some. Then a woman passed me with something that had fruit, granola and what I later found out was yogurt. So I put it on the ‘to try’ list but right now I’m on the hunt for pineapple.

I walked down the first aisle, which was the one I needed. There it was (angels sing – halo effect) my delicious pineapple. But wait; look right there, there’s that yogurt stuff. Smiling from ear to ear, I venture on around the corner. Oh my damn! Is that Waldorf salad I see? I love Waldorf salad – haven’t had it in years. DIGRESSION – I hardly ever cook (another story). I MUST HAVE IT. So I took it and went to see more. Walked right passed the freezer section because it would require some form of cooking. My pineapple, Mixed Berry Yogurt and Waldorf salad cradled in my arms, I turn down the next aisle. MORE ANGELS – BIGGER HALO A discounted refrigerated section that held all the items I now held in my arms but it was CHEAPER!!! Now I gotta go get a daggone on basket. Don’t let anyone take my stuff. I happily filled my basket and decided, “Let me get on this damn store before they take all my money.”

Now I’m at Fresh & Easy 3-4 times a week (no I don’t stock up) every morning buying my salad, fruit and yogurt. It gives me my fruit and vegetables for the day. DIGRESSION – I don’t like most vegetables (no story needed). I get two servings of dairy and hot damn (I’ve used the word damn a lot today, huh?) a meatless Monday is a doable thing for me; heck, meatless any day.

Fresh & Easy has truly made it easy for me to eat a little healthier throughout the day as well as a healthy snack of apples, grapes or strawberries for Morgan. Now that I’m TRYING to eat healthier, don’t be surprised if a sista get a little slimmer on ya’ll.

My best movie experience ever!

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

Mrs. Mista and I decided we wanted to do something different on our day off since they are so few and far between. She had heard about a new luxury theater in Pasadena, CA called Gold Class Cinema so she looked it up on the internet. After browsing the site we knew this was something we had to try.

Now I was a little stunned when I heard that the tickets were $29 each but we found out that if you become a Gold Class member (membership is free) you can get your tickets for $22 each when you make reservations online. That’s right reservations. Each theater (there are 6 total) has a maximum of 40 seats so I advise you to plan ahead.

When we arrived at the theater, we collected our tickets and we were guided down to the Lounge area where we were greeted by a hostess. She seated us at a table in an area the rivaled the swankiest of night clubs and introduced our waiter. He took our drink orders and left us to peruse the menu while he gathered our drinks. The menu had a wide variety of offerings Portabello mushroom sliders to Surf & Turf. We decided on the Charcuterie platter as an appetizer. Mrs. Mista ordered the Hamburger Sliders and I had the duck tacos.

When the waiter came back with our drinks, he escorted us to our seats in the theater. The seats were the most comfortable theater seats I have ever been in. Full reclining with a footrest, a large storage area in the arm for your things, a table between the two seats and button to ring for the waiter if you need him. They also offered us pillows and blankets but we declined because the temperature was quite comfortable. If you ever see a bad movie here, you will be quite comfortable as you sleep through it.

The food was delivered at different times during the movie by very unobtrusive waiters. The service was impeccable and the food was delicious. About halfway through the movie we got some rocky road popcorn and a brownie and cookie platter. Let me tell you something, if Mrs. Mista ignored the brownies and ate up all of the popcorn, that was some damned good popcorn.

All in all this was a great experience but here are a few tips if you decide to go.

1. Order tickets online. Seats fill fast and it’s unlikely that you can just walk up and see a movie unless you are by your self.

2. Stick to beer and wine. The signature drinks weren’t that tasty and they were expensive.

3. If you can, go on a Tuesday. Food is half price and beer & wine are only $3.

I highly recommend Gold Class Cinema. It is our new theater of choice.

BTW…we saw Prince of Persia. It was good.

Enjoy!

Bigmista

Bigmista.com upgrade

Monday, July 14th, 2008

Hey folks!

I just upgraded the picture section of my catering website and added some new pictures. I would love to get your opinion on it. Just go to http://www.bigmista.com and click “Pictures”. Don’t forget to come back and leave your comments. I’m counting on you!

Enjoy!

Bigmista

The Survival Gourmet

Smoked Spaghetti

Monday, June 2nd, 2008

Spaghetti Chicken Sausage The Survival Gourmet Bigmista

Ok I didn’t really smoke spaghetti.

That would be stupid. Besides the damned noodles kept slipping through the grates.

Anyway, I was trying to come up with something different to do with some leftovers in the fridge and I decided that it is really hard to mess up pasta. I also came up with 1/2 a pound of italian breakfast sausage and some leftover smoked chicken. Put them all together with some ingredient that I keep around the house and I came up with smoked spaghetti! Wanna know how I did it?

Of course you do!

Here are the ingredients:

1/2 lb. Italian sausage, cooked and crumbled (I used Jimmy Dean)
1 lb. leftover chicken, roughly chopped (Mine was smoked but any cooked chicken will do.)
1 onion, diced
1 dried chipotle chile, rehydrated and seeded
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 15oz. cans diced tomatoes
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp black pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp italian seasoning
1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce

1/2 pound spaghetti cooked al dente

2 tbsp butter

Saute the onion and chipotle in 2 tbsp of oil in a large pot until the onion is see-through. Chipotle is a smoked Jalapeño and it adds to the smokiness (is that a word?) of the dish.

Seeding the chipotle

Chipotle Spaghetti The Survival Gourmet Bigmista

Next add the garlic and saute 2 more minutes. Add the diced tomatoes and all of the other seasonings to the pot and stir well. Mash or blend the sauce to make it like a puree. I like to use my hand blender for this but a potato masher will work in a pinch. If this is too much work for you, you can just use canned tomato sauce and skip this step. I just prefer to control the salt and seasoning in what I cook.

Now add the meat!

Sausage

Italian Sausage Spaghetti recipe

Smoked Chicken

Smoked Chicken BBQ Spaghetti recipe

Mix well and simmer for 20 minutes. Now would be a good time to cook your pasta.

When the pasta is done, drain it and add it to the sauce. Mix it until all the pasta is coated. Serve and eat!

Smoked Spaghetti

Smoked Spaghetti recipe Bigmista The Sruvival Gourmet

Enjoy!

Bigmista

The Survival Gourmet

Country Birthday BBQ

Monday, May 26th, 2008

Prime Rib, BBQ, Country, Bigmista

I spent the last two days down in Huntington Beach, CA with my good friend Big Country. Country is a BBQ competitor and a caterer. We have teamed up on several occasions both in catering and at BBQ contests, so when he asked me to help him cook for his birthday party, I did it without a second thought.

We did most of the prep work on Friday night while we watched the UFC pay-per-view. We ended up coring about 100 Jalapeños for ABT’s.

Jalapenos, Country Birthday

For those who don’t know, an ABT is a Jalapeño that has been cored and stuffed with cheddar and cream cheese mixed with different seasonings and possibly some type of meat or seafood. Then it is wrapped in bacon and put in the smoker for a couple of hours. Time consuming but well worth the effort.

Country and his friend Monkey (I’m not making that up.) rewarded us by cooking a Prime Rib in the smoker. It was rubbed with Montreal Steak seasoning, garlic and rosemary and had rosemary twigs and green onions shoved through it. It was definitely a pretty sight.

Prime rib ready to cook

You can see how it turned out the top of the post.

We ended up cooking 18 racks of ribs, 4 pork butts, 10 fatties, the ABT’s, mac and cheese, 48 ears of corn, green bean casserole, bbq beans, pineapple coleslaw, pasta salad, a host of other goodies and three different delicious cakes that were baked by Country’s neighbor Jennifer.

Birthday Cakes

Chocolate cake

This was a great party and I hope that I get invited next year. Thanks for including me Country!

Big Country

If you would like to see all of the pics from the party, go here:

Country’s Birthday Pics

Enjoy!

Bigmista

The Survival Gourmet

Bigmista's Barbecueon