Houston: Trellis Spa Review

This past Saturday, my sister cashed in my birthday gift to her (back in April) for a day at Trellis Spa at the Houstonian. If you've ever had the opportunity to go to this spa, you know you're in for a treat! It's the best spa I've tried out, although I haven't been to many. This is your top choice in Houston though, from location, to service, to amenities, and even the food. We both got a deep tissue massage and it's one of those "it hurts so good" type massages. I definitely needed it since I've been working on my deadlifts and stacking on more plates. We reserved lunch after our service and they have to have orders 24 hours prior to prepare it. This was odd I thought. The last time I went, we could just order like you would at a restaurant. Now, you have to reserve your meal.

Well, they brought out the wrong thing. I requested the Chicken Southwest Caesar Wrap as a salad with dressing on the side and they confirmed this for me twice. They even said "you want it as a salad?" to which I responded yes. The server was a little standoffish and was trying to argue. I guess a supervisor or so came out and she verified with me if I ordered it as a salad and I responded, yes it was confirmed as a salad, twice. She apologized for the miscommunication and said that she would remove the charge and if I wanted something else, she could check what was available in the kitchen, otherwise it would take 20 minutes to prepare. I told her it was okay and just ate the chicken and salad out of the tortilla wrap.

Anyway, I thought that was pretty good service but the server still should be a little less standoffish next time. I'm not trying to be a snob, but when 1) I ordered ahead and was confirmed in their words that I wanted it "as a salad," and 2) I was confirmed my dish again upon checking in, and 3) I pay a pretty good amount for top of the line services, I expect to be served what I ordered and if it was a mistake, not to be spoken to like it was my fault.

Anyhoo, this is a food blog, I'm done ranting. The chicken was abundant and the salad contained cotija cheese, fresh corn, black beans, and pumpkin seeds. On the side it came with avocado and tomato slices. I could have easily ate the whole thing without utilizing the dip, which was some sort of chipotle ranch. But I wanted to indulge a little and dipped it in the dressing. It was sooooo creamy! Had a nice little kick to it as well and great flavor. The chicken was moist and the pumpkin seeds complemented the salad very well. I would've never thought to add any kind of seeds to a wrap, but it worked well. I would definitely order this again. I'm sure if I ate the wrap too, I would be bloated, but not if I ate maybe one or two segments out of the three. No one wants to leave a spa bloated, especially after a relaxing massage.

My sister ordered the Seared Moroccan Spiced Tuna with the request of no feta cheese since she didn't really like it. It came with some sort of pesto/vinaigrette to dress the salad mixture of pearl couscous, arugula, fennel, pistachio, and dried cranberries. I am allergic to avocados which came with my dish so I gave it to her.

She poured the vinaigrette over her tuna and salad and said it was pretty good and refreshing. She also said the avocado worked really well with it all so I think she would request avocado with it next time we went. I didn't try it but it looked refreshing. Maybe next time? It certainly looks delicious.

There aren't that many offerings on the Trellis Spa dining menu but I've never had a bad experience with their food. The ingredients used are fresh and simple but yet so flavorful. Their quinoa dish is excellent by the way. Definitely plan for lunch here if you're getting services done. I had originally planned to eat elsewhere, but my sister wanted to take in the experience and dine outside on the patio after our massages and it was a treat to do so.

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Houston: Yard House Review

So.... My birthday just passed and I took some downtime just to sit around and do nothing, which equates to a good birthday - ignoring the world and just taking some time for myself. My sister and her husband took me out to Yard House for a birthday dinner. I've been wanting to try their food (yes I know, it's a chain) and I opted for their 5 oz grilled burger with a side salad. Their menu is quite extensive so I had a tough time making a decision, but I haven't ordered a burger since I started eating meat again and thought my birthday would be a good time to do it. Not to mention I also was craving it.

We got there around 6:30 with no wait. Inside is a little dark and the spacing and placement of the dining tables is kind of weird, kind of random.

When they brought out the courses, it was a little disorganized and the server called it a turkey burger... then I clarified and said beef? And his response? Turkey burger, under 600 calories. I'm like okay, turkey and beef is not the same thing, but okay. It's obviously beef. I was a little annoyed - they should know what they are serving their customers... since we ordered it.

Anyway, the burger came with dressing on the side for the salad and the burgers open-faced. I ate the salad first and always save the best for last. The dressing was a little tart, but good. It was salty, but I prefer it that way for a liquidy dressing. The burger came on a potato bun with lettuce, red onions, and a very mild pickle that wasn't overpowering on the burger. I think I would have preferred a more traditional and saltier pickle slice, but it wasn't bad.

I "assembled" my burger and had a tough time cutting it in half. As you can see, the patty didn't really stay together. At all. I might as well ate it with the toothpick still in to hold it all together. It was a little more done than I preferred too. But I still enjoyed it. I'm not a food snob. I'm more of a goat. I eat everything. And then I lick the bowl clean.

The buns were toasted nicely and without any butter, so I guess they really follow the standards for their healthy options. The patty tasted nice and slightly smokey like a burger should be. I think it could have used a smidge more seasoning, but it was still good. Not outstanding, but it was satisfying for a non-unhealthy option. This is coming from a gal who eats baked chicken breast and turkey meatballs everyday.

Okay, so my order didn't come with fries, but I couldn't resist trying some of the fries that came with my sister's dish. It was pretty good! She didn't order the truffle version, just the regular and they are nice and crispy as well as a skinnier fry which I prefer. Wider fries usually are too starchy and I get tired of chewing it. I don't think these were seasoned though. They came naked and even in the picture, you don't really see any salt.

The service was... a little annoying. I appreciate the fact that the waiter really tried, but it was desperate and as though he was trying to make up for his lack of professionalism. He bumped into my 2 year old niece! I mean, she's only two, she could easily fall out of the chair. What did he do, just glance back and waived his hand apologetically while looking onward not to even check she was okay. It was more of a "what did I bump into, whoops" type thing. The waitstaff was pretty amateur.

Would I return to Yard House? I'll give it another shot. But it's what I expected from a chain restaurant.

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Baked Pumpkin French Toast Recipe (Single-Serve)

So I don't usually bake a big giant dish of anything sweet if there is no sharing involved. This is because I will eat all of it. I tried it once - baking a french toast casserole and I ate the whole thing in two days. It was supposed to serve 8. Lesson learned.

In the morning, I usually eat some sort of french toast bake along with an omelette. I've been making plain baked french toast with my base recipe and sometimes add in some fruit, but I recently started using pumpkin instead since I was having trouble getting enough fiber. Pumpkin is really a miracle food to me - it has so much fiber and creates such great texture in smoothies and custards while maintaining a low calorie count. I love using pumpkin in my smoothies to create a smoother and creamier texture.

The pumpkin creates a custard texture for the french toast bake without adding too much milk (which can make it soggy) or egg (which can make it too egg-y). Adding pumpkin to my custard mixture has been my favorite variation of my base recipe so far. I add a lot of pumpkin for a single serve dish as a filler but also for its fiber content and to make the dish more bread pudding-like. Eating this in the morning reminds of winter and the Christmas spirit. It's Christmas in July!

First, cube your bread and mix the egg whites/egg, milk, pumpkin, pumpkin spice, vanilla, and sweetener.

Spray your dish with nonstick spray and add 1/3 of the cubed bread. Pour 1/3 of the custard mixture evenly over the bread.

Repeat for the remaining 2/3.

Sprinkle the top with remaining sweetener and cinnamon. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight. Baked in a preheated 350 degree F oven the next morning and serve warm.

Now you can eat this as a dessert too with some ice cream or switch up the ingredients to more indulgent ones.

Single-Serve Baked Pumpkin French Toast Recipe

• 2 slices of bread, cubed (I usually use sprouted grain breads since they are often drier)
• 3 tbsp liquid egg whites, one whole egg, or two egg whites
• 1/4 cup/2 oz milk of choice
• 1/3 cup pumpkin puree (I like using Libby's brand)
• 1/4 tsp pumpkin spice
• 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• 2 packets stevia or 3 tsp sugar (brown sugar would work nicely here) or other sweetener

In a small bowl, mix together the egg whites/egg, milk, pumpkin, vanilla, pumpkin spice, and 1 packet stevia or 2 tsp of other sweetener. Spray an oven safe 2-cup capacity dish or soufflé dish with nonstick spray. Add in 1/3 of the cubed bread and pour 1/3 of the custard mixture over the bread. Repeat this pattern for the remaining bread and custard mixture. Sprinkle 1 packet of stevia or 1 tsp of sugar/sweetener and 1/8 tsp cinnamon over the top of the french toast mixture. Refrigerate overnight or at least 2 hours. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes the next morning. Serve warm.

You can turn this into a bread pudding for dessert by using whole egg and half and half or cream in the custard mixture. Serving it with a nice dollop of creme anglaise, whiskey cream sauce, whipped cream, or ice cream wouldn't be a bad idea either.

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Peanut Soba Noodle Salad Recipe

Still on 4th of July weekend, a little late I know. My mom came over to dye her hair so I cooked her lunch - seared ahi tuna and peanut soba noodles. We had an amazing peanut soba noodle salad in Vegas at Gordon Ramsey's BurgR this past May and I wanted to replicate it for her. I found a recipe by Guy Fieri who seems to always have Asian-inspired recipes. Guy is one of my favorite Food Network stars - I was rooting for him when he was on the first season of The Next Food Network Star. He's so down to earth and entertaining, especially on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. I watch that show too much and then I get hungry :(.

Guy's recipe called for ingredients that looked like it would taste like the soba noodle salad from BurgR and I changed it up just a little to reduce the grease factor. I made a lot of tuna for my mom - it was probably a good 10 - 12 oz, only because it was going to be leftovers and I wasn't going to eat it; she took some of it to go. This time I sprinkled the tuna with sesame seeds before searing - we love sesame, especially black sesame in desserts.

The noodle salad was perfect! I used regular dark soba noodles instead since that's what I had on hand. The texture was spot-on with what I was looking for - a little mushy (in a good way), nice crunch factor from the carrots, very peanut-y, and slightly sweet. Aroma was perfect too with the sesame oil and soy sauce. I think I'll add in some julienned cucumbers next time. The recipe called for chopped roasted peanuts which I didn't have, but it would've been amazing with it! This was reminiscent of the rice noodle and peanut hoisin sauce used in the Vietnamese dish bun nem nuong (rice noodles with pork meatballs).

I'm thinking of maybe serving this dish with chicken satay skewers just like what I had at BurgR for the holidays. We don't really want a turkey this year, so maybe we can do this instead, although I don't think that would go well with my potatoes au gratin dish I love to make for Thanksgiving. Maybe for the winter holidays! Anyway, here's the modified recipe. Enjoy!

Peanut Soba Noodle Salad Recipe (adapted from Guy Fieri on Food Network)
Servings: 2

• 4 oz soba noodles
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil, plus 1 - 2 tsp
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 2 tbsp peanut butter (crunchy would work nicely here)
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tsp honey
• 2 tsp rice vinegar
• 1.5 tsp chili garlic sauce or sriracha
• 1/3 cup julienned carrots
• 1/4 cup sliced scallions
• 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Cook the soba noodles according to package instructions. Reserve 1 tbsp of the cooking liquid to toss into the dressing later and drain the noodles. Drizzle 1 - 2 tsp sesame oil into the soba noodles and toss to prevent sticking. Whisk together the remaining 1 tbsp sesame oil, garlic, ginger, peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, chili garlic sauce/sriracha, and reserved cooking liquid.

Add the carrots and scallions to the noodles and toss. Drizzle the peanut dressing over the noodle mixture and add 1 tsp of sesame seeds and toss until well combined. Sprinkle remaining 1 tsp sesame seeds on top and serve cold or warm. 

I like to eat the noodle salad cold, but you can serve it warm as well.

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Marinated Seared Tuna Recipe

For the 4th of July holiday and weekend, I decided to treat myself and splurge on big eye tuna from Central Market. I love ahi tuna, but try to limit myself since 1) it's expensive and 2) it's considered a high-mercury fish. I haven't had it in awhile and it was on sale + 4th of July so the timing was perfect. So I researched a couple of recipes and decided on Food Network's Anne Burrell's recipe.

Before heading off to the gym, I prepared to marinate my tuna for the two hours called for in the recipe. However, I didn't have any sambal oelek, but had something fairly similar and used Lee Kum Kee Chili Garlic Sauce instead.

You can already tell the mixture of ingredients was going to yield a pretty tasty seared tuna. Look at all seasonings:

Then I poured it over my tuna and let it marinate for about two hours while I went to Studio Fitness Heights to do my crazy full body workout that Sohee Lee prescribed for me. I'll just say my tuna was very well deserved after my workout.

When I got home, I took it out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature for about 30 minutes as called for in the recipe. I hadn't done this before for tuna, but it I will start now - it cooks better and doesn't leave a seared cold tuna to be plated. Instead of oiling the pan, I just sprayed it with some nonstick spray which worked for me and my post workout meal.

Pan-seared one minute on each side on a thick slab of tuna yielded a nice browned layer and a pretty raw center which I prefer.

I made sure to keep all herbs and seasonings stuck on the tuna so it would sear nicely as well and used the rest to season my side of jasmine rice and frozen peas. Mmmmmmm it was so good! Definitely a nice meal after a tough full body workout. The ginger brightened up the tuna and the soy sauce was not too salty. I didn't use too much rice vinegar since my body doesn't tolerate it well. I used more garlic and ginger than called for in the recipe since I really like those flavors. Searing it yielded a slightly smoky flavor to the garlic and ginger. I poured the leftover sauce in the hot pan and let it simmer for about 20 seconds before pouring it over my rice. You can use it as a dipping sauce for your tuna or just pour it over the tuna instead. Anne Burrell's recipe is a winner and you should try it the next time you're serving up some tuna. Make sure to catch her show, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, on the Food Network channel for some more yummy recipes!

Marinated Seared Ahi Tuna for 1 (adapted from Anne Burrell on Food Network)

• 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp Lee Kum Kee Chili Garlic Sauce
• 1 scallion finely chopped (white and light green parts only)
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/2 inch ginger, grated
• 5 - 6 oz ahi tuna

Mix the first six ingredients together. Pour over tuna and make sure all sides are soaked. Refrigerate for about two hours, turning the tuna over occasionally, although it is not absolutely necessary. Before cooking, remove from refrigerator for 20 - 30 minutes and turn the tuna over at least once to marinate evenly. Heat a frying pan on high heat coated with nonstick spray and sear each side for about one minute. Jasmine rice works best if using rice as a side. Enjoy!

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Ruuska Fire Dill Pickles Review

Pickles are a fun crunchy food to eat when that primal instinct of a need to crunch and chew starts calling. Instead of parking my butt on the couch with a bag of potato chips, pickles are a more refreshing and flavorful alternative. I passed by some unique pickles, Ruuska All Natural Pickles in Fire Dill flavor, while at Central Market buying big eye tuna for the 4th of July weekend and decided to try them. I'm always game for trying the "smaller" brands that I don't see that often as they are a little more creative with flavors and technique and usually have cleaner ingredients.

The combination of herbs and spices piqued my interest since I do like my cucumbers spicy. I also love dill and I don't often see celery seed, thai chili, or habanero used in a lot of pickle flavor varieties. This flavor, Fire Dill, is classified as high heat according to the front label.

They certainly did not skimp on the spices and herbs so this is bound to be one flavorful pickle. And by the looks of it, one spicy one too.

Oh my, look how fresh they are. The cucumbers still retain their white flesh unlike commercially prepared pickles which have been sitting for a long time. And look at the actual sprigs of dill, not just dried dill thrown into the pickling juice. Sooooo... let's have a bite!

The pickles are come sliced spears, each about four to five inches. As I bit into one, I noticed how much of a cucumber it still tastes like, unlike a lot of brands where it tastes like... pickling juice? I don't know, these tasted so fresh and was not overly salted. It was a pickle, but then it was still a cucumber. That's the only way I can explain it. Crunch was decent, although the skin was a little thicker than I preferred, making the crunch a little less than I"m used to. At first, I thought, these are not high heat. It's not spicy at all. Until I was done with the cucumber. The spice tends to hit you after the pickle is gone. It's not that spicy, but it's spicier than when you are chewing on it. Still, this is a spicy pickle, I wouldn't mark the heat level as high as they did on the label, maybe 3/4 to the top of the highest heat level on the front of the container. The flavor is wonderful. It tasted strongly of the actual peppers used, not just a sensation of heat, yet the cucumber flavor shined through. Everything is subtle, but comes together in full flavor. These would be a great accompaniment to sandwiches and burgers and to slice it up and add it to a burger would give it a nice kick. Just in time for summer.

I found Ruuska All Natural Pickles at the Central Market in Houston. They carried some other flavors and sliced varieties as well. These are in the refrigerated section across from the milk. They were about $4 if I recall correctly. I'll be back to try some more since these are the best pickles I've tasted. I just can't get over how this pickle still tasted cucumber-y but yet still like a pickle. Keep your eyes open for these and grab a container or two!

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BCAA Gummies Recipe

So I follow Soohee Fit on Facebook since I'm a client of hers and she had a recent post about a genius idea: BCAA gummy bears. I've read that BCAAs are great to help with recovery and maintaining muscle mass, especially on rest days and thought, what a great idea to eat beneficial candy! The original recipe comes from Scivation using their Xtend BCAA mix. Well lucky me, I had exactly one scoop of my green apple flavor left to make a batch for my Saturday rest day. I did try a previous recipe using just lime juice and stevia and the ratio was a little off, with 1/3 cup liquid to 3 tablespoons of gelatin. It was a little too firm for my preference and I over-juiced the limes which made it bitter, so I threw it out and set out to make my BCAA gummies as I had orginally planned. These gummies use gelatin so it adds a bit of protein as well, although I'm pretty sure it's not a complete protein. However, gelatin is supposed to be good for your joints so gelatin + BCAAs = magical healing gummies.

This recipe from Scivation has a nice texture, not too firm, but not too soft. It's not chewy like gummy bears, but I suspect that has something to do with the lack of corn syrup or other sticky sugar substance. It's so simple and easy to make. I used some silicone chocolate molds I bought from Amazon and it popped right out. I've read that if you are using plastic molds to dust a little cornstarch in each mold so that your gummies pop out easier. You can also just pour it in a tray and then cut it up or use an ice cube tray, etc.

BCAA Gummies (from the Scivation website)

• 1 scoop of Scivation Xtend BCAA powder (I used green apple, but I just bought their raspberry blue and I bet it would be awesome here!)
• 1/2 cup (4 oz) of water
• 3 tablespoons/3 envelopes/21 g gelatin

In a small saucepan, mix the water with the BCAA powder, then sprinkle the gelatin and let it sit for about five minutes. It will become thick and gelatinous. Heat the mixture uncovered over low heat for about five minutes, then pour into your mold and freeze for 20 minutes. Remove from molds and enjoy!

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