doggie TREATS!

Jack, the family dog, turns 13 this year and for his birthday I decided to homemake dog treats for my first time. I researched online (bullwrinkle.com) and found something that sounded yummy, yet simple to make, then turned it into my own concoction:

Oatmeal Cheesy Bacon Dog Cookies 

Recipe makes 2 pans - good enough for your dog, and then some!

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 stick butter, melted

4/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg, slightly beaten

3 tsp. vanilla

3 2/3 cups regular oats, uncooked

1 bag shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 lb. already cooked, crumbled packaged bacon

Combine flour, baking soda and salt; mix well and set aside. Melt butter and sugar; beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture and mix well. Stir in all other ingredients. Make dough into balls and flatten. Create your own shapes or use cookie cutters. Place onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 16 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for a minute or so before removing to cooling rack.

KCC Farmers Market

One of the great things about Hawaii is that they have a lot of land, which means many farms, fresh food & produce. I haven't been to a farmers market since I left the Bay Area, known for their street shows and markets, so I was excited to learn that Hawaii has some mean ones as well!

The KCC farmers market is the first one I've been to in Hawaii, and I have to admit that it's going to be a tough one to beat! They have everything from fresh farm produce, from farm to table, onolicious drinks & smoothies, lots & lots of food vendors, flowers, and more! And it's in a perfect location because you can park at KCC, go on the Diamond Head hike across the street, then come back to all the goodness food as an incentive (which is what I did)! Here's a peak of just some of the amazingness they have!

Pineapple Smoothie - Hits the spot especially after a morning workout!

Kukui Sausage Co - many different types of flavors!

You can either get it with or without the bun.

We tried the kim chee sausage - soooo good!

Finally! I've always wanted to try this place! I saw them on TV shows before.

Cheesy grits - $6

Corn & crab chowder from the Hawaiian Chili Co.

And last but not least, the food of the day is...Yogurt cheese (garlic herb flavor) from Naked Cow Dairy - soooo creamy, it literally just melts in your mouth! It's funny cuz I literally just bookmarked this place the other day to go here (located in Waianae) but good thing they were at the farmers market in town! 

Calling all E6'ers & above to Mongolian BBQ!

If you are or know someone who's in the military that's an E6 or higher rank, I highly recommend Kaneohe Marine Base's Mongolian BBQ every Wednesday and Friday nights at the Officer's Club. This unique experience was seriously one of the best I've ever had. There are many different stations with all raw food. You put everything in a bowl, create your own marinade, give it to the chef's to cook, and voila! Let me explain through pictures...

First you start off at the noodle/veggie station. I didn't opt for a noodle dish, so just filled up on won bok, mushrooms, eggplant, and zucchini. Keep in mind everything is raw, even the noodles. They had every kind of veggie you can think of from onions, cabbage, even baby corn!

Then you go to the protein station, where there's all kinds of meat including chicken, pork, beef, seafood, fish, even scallops & mussels!

Another view of the protein station....they even had ham & squid!

The next station was kind of random if you wanted to include stuff like pineapple and bamboo shoot in your dish.

At the next station there was cilantro, peppers, grated garlic, etc.

My bowl of raw goodness...

Then you get to the sauce & topping station, where there's tons & tons of different sauces, such as oyster, garlic, ginger, house-made,  brown sugar, sea-salt, hot-sauce, etc. You create your own marinade here.

The fun part - watching your creation get cooked!

After that, you can add last minute sauce touches...

The last station is all you can eat rice - regular or fried - put that on your plate, and voilaaaaa! Final presentation: fried rice, beef with won bok, zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms, topped with fried egg and oyster, garlic, brown sugar marinade :)

Notes: Eggs are free. You can tell them how you want it to be cooked. Price is measured upon weight. My bowl was less than $10. Next time I'd like to put my cooked food in a bowl with the rice on the bottom, meat in the middle, and runny egg on the top (Korean style'ish). 

Bogart's Cafe in Hawaii

Since my move back home, I've been looking for a go-to all day, anytime restaurant. Someplace that's good for breakfast, brunch, lunch, linner, or just a snack...and I think I finally found it! I've been here twice now in just the past week and loved everything I've ordered so far.

delicious dungenous crab and avocado sandwich, served with baked kettle chips

ham eggs benedict with truffle flavor hollandaise sauce & home fries

bagel works - spinach bagel, sundried tomato cream cheese spread, alfalfa sprouts, capers, and tomatoes

my very first acai bowl ever! - acai berry smoothie, granola, strawberries, blueberries, bananas drizzled with honey