Category: Food

Review: Nostalgia MyMini Sandwich Maker

  • January 11, 2021

It’s been life-threateningly cold outside recently, and naturally in such a hostile climate ones mind turns to thoughts of toasted sandwiches. So to facilitate such delights, I bought this:

This was a mere $12 from the worlds largest global superpower Amazon which is amazing value! I chose the smallest one because it was the smallest one and since there was no choice of colour we can be relieved it comes in a snappy and sophisticated green (or perhaps more correctly Pantone PMS 333?)

Here’s the device out of the box:

The instructions helpfully identify the relevant parts: ‘upper surface’, ‘lower surface’ and ‘operation light’. It’s not the most complicated contraption ever built, but luckily the manufacturers forestall user error via a handily included recipe sheet. I decided to attempt this one:

Alas I had no ham; turkey would have to suffice. With great care I preheated as instructed before arranging the ingredients:

And closing the lid:

And in less than a few minutes, I had a meal fit for an emperor:

But was it good? Well it was dry, and wheat bread tastes awful when toasted, and since I used provolone instead of swiss the cheese didn’t fully melt. But I ate it, and that’s what mattered.

I’m pleased to say that since the above I have secured ham and swiss and my second sandwich was a masterpiece!

KLS was braver than me, and decided to investigate two other listed uses of this nifty apparatus. Firstly she baked a cookie in it:

She had made the dough previously and it had been frozen in balls. She just threw a few in, closed the lid… and it did a good job!

Emboldened, it was time for something a bit more challenging: a pizza pocket!

This used crescent roll dough (which once again we had in the fridge), and as you can see she just tossed in random pizza toppings and crossed her fingers. She said it was great, and I believe her since she made another one for dinner!

$12 therefore, for gourmet dining in our own home. How can this not receive two – nay four! – thumbs up 🙂

  • Posted in Food
  • Robert

Five Breakfasts

  • December 21, 2020

It’s time for another food review! This time its breakfasts. One a day for five days, all similar but different.

Oceanfish with a Shrimp Topper

As you can see this meal is fishy and oil and includes delicious cooked shrimp. It’s mostly mackerel (I think) and Zoffy took 4 minutes and 24 seconds to finish it without ever once walking away. I think that means it was good.

Skipjack Tuna with a Sole Topper

Now this is high quality! Who else eats skipjack and sole for breakfast? Zoffy took only 3 minutes and 10 seconds to polish this meal off, and that included one brief walk away due to being startled by a noise. She loved this one!

White Meat Chicken

Zoffy is a cat that loves chicken, and since her second love is fish then this delight – which is served in a tuna broth – is right up her street! Indeed the fact she scarfed it down in only 2 minutes and 48 seconds is good evidence of the fact that this was a breakfast for kings!

Light Meat Tuna with a Scallop Topper

Lest there be anyone that doubts the quality of the breakfasts I serve my cat witness exhibit D, which includes scallop! Yes, Zoffy eats a variety of different tuna breakfasts each week and loves them all. This time it took her 4 minutes and 15 seconds (the scallop takes a lot of chewing!) with only a brief walkaway since Emi wandered too close while she was eating.

Steamed Wild Alaskan Salmon

This is an unusual breakfast for her, since I had convinced myself she preferred whitefish and had stopped buying Salmon. Then amazon made a mistake with an order and we got a bunch of these. So naturally, salmon was back on the menu. She loved it! With no walkaways she ate it all up in only 3 minutes and 7 seconds! Obviously Zoffy is a cat of refined taste, and can appreciate a delicious cut of steamed wild fish.

So if we judge in order of how fast Zoffy ate them, the ranking ends up being
1) Chicken
2) Salmon
3) Skipjack Tuna
4) Light Meat Tuna
5) Oceanfish

And yes, I am careful she never gets the same choice two days in a row. She also has a range of different soup/broth meals she gets for ‘dinner’ every day as well.

It’s almost as if Zoffy eats better than me…?

Ramen 1: Triple Chicken

  • December 13, 2020

I ate three different packet chicken ramen on three consecutive days. All were prepared the same way (boil water, add ramen then flavor when noodles cooked). Here’s my review of each.

Top Ramen (380 Calories, 14g fat, 1600 mg sodium)

I bought a pack of these months ago due to a Gudetama promotion but didn’t get around to trying any until this past week. The noodles are fatter than other ramens, but the flavor was light and didn’t taste anything like chicken soup. Not terrible for the price (about $0.25), and I’ll eat the ones I have but I won’t be buying them again.

Maruchan (370 Calories, 14g fat, 1520 mg sodium)

An old favorite of mine, this one didn’t disappoint. The noodles are thin and delicious, and the flavor is stronger and more chickeny than Top Ramen. Afterwards I felt satisfied and regretted I hadn’t been wearing my Maruchan t-shirt whilst eating. Overall a solid chicken ramen, especially for the low price ($0.16).

Sapporo Ichiban (460 Calories, 20g fat, 1810 mg sodium)

The undisputed winner of this comparison! The noodles seem identical to maruchan so the difference must be in the flavor packet. I’m guessing it’s the extra fat and sodium that makes this one better. Each mouthful is like a chicken injection into your soul, and this is a ramen you could eat over and over without ever getting tired of it. They cost more ($1 apiece) but are absolutely worth it!

This was a fun thing to do, but I wished I had more types to include. If I can get my mitts on any other types of plain chicken packet ramen I’ll do a follow up!