Breville 800JEXL Juice Fountain Elite

I finally tested out the Breville 800JEXL Juice Fountain Elite 1000-Watt Juice Extractor that I bought on Black Friday and it is everything I wanted in a juicer!

The juicer is known for its high speed and performance. The two speeds allow a faster juicing process. It is known to make an 8 oz glass of juice in five seconds. Its feed tube is circular and able to process whole food, allowing for no work before juicing. Four easy-to-remove parts for easy cleaning and dishwasher safe. This elite juicer is 10 times faster than normal juicers. A top of the line juicer that should be in everyones kitchen.

So here are my thoughts about this Breville Juicer through my first use.

Juicer was easy to remove from box and was already assembled so it is really easy to put the juicer together.



The first juice I tested out is my favorite combination--apple and carrot. I didn't test out the whole fruit idea with the apple and I think that is because I'm just used to always cutting up the apple with my old juicer. I'll have to break that habit.



So there I am with the juicer. I tested out both speeds with the apple. The first speed was enough to get the apple moving but it was really slow, so I ended up using the high speed for both the apples and carrots. Wow, that juicer is unbelievably fast! There was so much juice produced that I had to stop the juicer, pour the juice into six different glasses so I could finish juicing the rest. I used six apples and about 13 carrots. This made enough 8 oz glasses for six people. Oh and for people who are concerned with noise, the juicer was just slightly louder than what I had expected but because it juices really fast, I wouldn't be using it for very long in the morning before work.

Clean up time! Not really my favorite thing to do, but it must be done. My opinion on cleaning the Breville Elite: a snap! So easy to clean. Run it under hot water and in seconds, you are done! The only thing that wasn't a snap to clean was the filter. I did spend a good couple of minutes scrubing the filter to remove all the extra pulp and it wasn't fun. Fortunately, the product comes with a scrubber brush, so it did help out.

One idea that someone mentioned online was to put a plastic bag in the area where the pulp goes once the juice is extracted. GENIUS idea. Don't know why I never thought about doing this before. Made clean up easy and efficient.


Easily removed the bag. Oh and I did touch the pulp to see if it was dry, like how people who had purchased this juicer have mentioned, and it was just slightly dry. But I don't think any more juice could have been extracted.

Look how clean it ended up being. Didn't have to touch it!

The taste test:
Passed with flying colors! It just tasted so fresh. I even loved the foam on top. For those who don't like foam, there is a way of easily removing this, so you have nothing to worry about.

There were only two concerns I have that are just minor issues to me. One was that there were some small pieces that would fly out of the feeding tube and two, there were some pieces in the pulp area that somehow escaped from the blades and didn't get juiced. They weren't big pieces though. These were the only two concerns I read about online, but they weren't big issues to me.

The Breville 800JEXL Juice Fountain Elite 1000-Watt Juice Extractor is fast, effecient, top of the line, easy to clean, and I do recommend you purchase this product if you plan on using your juicer either daily or every other day. I give it 4 1/2 hearts: ♥♥♥♥1/2.

When I start using it more, I'll post up recipes I recommend to try out.

And as for the rice cooker, I was thinking about purchasing the Cuisinart 4 cup rice cooker with a steamer for vegetables and seafood. I did talk to my favorite sushi chef/parent of one of my preschoolers to get his opinion on what to get and instead, he offered to get me one he really recommends in LA and pay him back for it. Now I'm excited! Sushi will soon be following!

It's a two-peat

So I don't have anything new to report at the moment, but will be checking out a Korean, Vietnamese, or Moroccan restaurant either this weekend or the next, due to the wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and BLACK FRIDAY! Finally upgrading to a new juicer and buying a rice cooker for some good ol' sushi. I will be trying the random fruit/vegetable concoctions in my new juicer cookbooks and post the recipes I recommend. Also--what we have all been waiting for--the dinner I had promised to Nicole when we were in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after we had tested out the Middle Eastern cuisine in Argentina. I'm making four different dishes for Nicole--Appetizer, Salad, Dinner, and Dessert! Pictures and recipes will be posted when this happens. Such a wonderful friend I am. :o)

I did however, go back to Tandoori Grill last weekend with my traveling friend Nicole because we were craving Indian again. The experience was the same as the last time we had gone. Friendly and reasonable prices.

We had started off with Masala Chai-Indian style.



Wonderful, comforting, and loved the warm feeling of the spices in the tea. How I love cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon.

Of course we had the Papadum with the accompaniments and ordered the Garlic Naan again. The garlic was more of a hint this time around, but still loved it.



I really was just craving the Lamb Tikka Masala again, so I ordered it. Just as amazing as it was the first time I got it. Warm, comforting, and wonderful.



Nicole changed it up and ordered the Vegetable Jalfrazi.



Vegetables with garlic, ginger, onions, tomatoes, lemon, and wonderful Indian spices. She loved it but realized she was craving a dish similar to the one she had last time. Me, I tried it and loved it. The vegetables were so crisp, the flavor--sensational, and overall loved it better than the Yellow Dal Tarka that she had the last time. I'd definitely order it if I was in a vegetable-only mood.


Have a wonderful holiday week and Happy Thanksgiving! Take time to show how thankful you are to your family and friends! I'm thankful for everyone in my life.♥ See you all at 4:00am on Friday when I buy my new kitchen appliances!

Mom Can Cook

Yes she can! And our waiter too, for that matter, since he also makes masterpieces in the kitchen! So I checked out another Thai place that was recommended to me by a friend yesterday. Yes, it is called "Mom Can Cook". I think that was one of the main reasons why I wanted to check this place out.



Located behind all the action of the quiet area of Canyon Country. I just fell in love with this cute, little restaurant. Being inside the restaurant felt like we were in a restaurant in Thailand (I'm just assuming!). Just by everything they had in there, decor-wise, throughout the restaurant. Like I had mentioned, the restaurant is very small and was full so we grabbed the last available table outside.

I loved the menu. Didn't see anything too generic. And unlike Thai Pepper, the menu appealed to me more by showcasing more Thai dishes that I was unfamiliar with.



So this is how the night went....

First wanted to make clear that most of the opinions given about the dishes we consumed are by my friend, Paola, because I've been sick for almost a week now and have lost my sense of smell at the moment! Sad times for me, but it didn't completely ruin my night. I even had a friend who I work with make a joke about it before I had gone to dinner (She is sick as well; not a good week for both of us!).

"Are you really going to spend money on food when you can't even taste it?"

"Um....yeah!"

Ok, so looking at the menu, I first wanted to choose a soup or salad. I was eyeing the Papaya Salad but what had stopped me from ordering it was the honey chili lime dressing. Not a fan of honey. And it isn't me to order a side and ask them to remove something, especially when it would have put the whole thing together.

So I saw that they had Tom Kha and Paola was okay with trying something new, so we had ordered it. We chose the tofu option.




Tofu in coconut soup with galanga, lemongrass, cilantro, and lime juice.

(Galanga=Resembles ginger, but not in flavor. A citrus, earthy aroma)

Unfortunately, I couldn't smell or taste the lemongrass. Paola said and I agreed, from what I could get from it, was that the lime and maybe even the galanga was really overpowering the lemongrass. The soup was still warm and comforting, despite the citrus standing out in the dish. She also didn't like how the tofu didn't take on any flavors from the soup. I noticed that as well, but it didn't really bother me because I like tofu and I don't mind it on its own. I asked her if she would order this again and she said she would, but she would get the chicken option instead. I'm proud I got her to try something new!

So next up we split our rice and entree courses. She ordered the Siamese Fried Rice with Shrimp and Scallops, which she really recommended, and I just ordered a side of Egg Fried Rice.

The Egg Fried Rice that I never even tried! That was because we had filled up on the other dishes before I tried this one and ended up taking it to-go, in which one of the waitresses bagged our food and switched our orders so Paola took my food home! So anyway, this is what it looked like, untouched.



The Siamese Fried Rice, on the other hand, I cannot say enough great things about this dish! Really, it was like my sense of smell came back the second I had my first bite of this greatness. Too many words I could use to describe this just satisfying dish!



Fried rice with shrimp, scallops, tomatoes, eggs, green onions, peas, carrots, cilantro, lemongrass, and the one thing that I just fell in love with---FRIED GARLIC! Oh my GOODNESS, wow, definitely brought this dish to a higher intensity! The flavors were just simply outstanding! Paired extremely well together. How lucky was I to take home Paola's meal instead! (They stapled our to-go bags shut so that is why I didn't catch this until I got home.) Must be precautious from now on when going out to eat! Yeah, I really recommend you try this one out!

And lastly, I had to make a decision between the Brown Curry or Pad Woon Sen. After a couple minutes, I decided to go with the Pad Woon Sen.




Beef stir fried with glass noodles, fish sauce (nam pla), tomatoes, mushrooms, cabbage, bean sprouts, green onions, cilantro, egg, and fried garlic.

I loved it. The flavors tied together. The nam pla was the main reason, to me, that tied everything together. The whole dish was so delectable, warming, and inviting. Paola enjoyed it as well. Sad she took it home with her! I will, however, say there was only one thing that disappointed me, and that was the beef. It was dry and hard to eat. Overcooked. Nothing I experienced at Thai Pepper. But I will say the flavors stood out to me in this dish so much that it alone made me forget about the overcooked beef. Definitely didn't ruin my opinion.

The only thing I do regret about this night was not having dessert or even just looking at the dessert menu! Not that I really order or eat dessert, but I always like looking at what each restaurant offers, especially in these type of family-run restaurants. I hear they offer a good variety of desserts that resemble ones you would find in Thailand.

Phenomenal authentic food. Matt, the owner and who was also our waiter, was just hilarious! Very kind, friendly, open, and humble. Cozy atmosphere and wonderful decor. Very reasonable prices. 5 hearts ♥♥♥♥♥. I would go back.

Thai Pepper

Located in the middle of nowhere, known as Newhall, is a hole in a wall Thai place that I had been dying to try out---Thai Pepper. I had only heard good things about this family-run restaurant and wanted to see what they were all about.

The one thing I was looking for was the menu and their selection. I wanted to get that feel like I was out of the country, meaning that I wanted to see dishes on the menu that weren't generic. Everyone knows about Pad Thai. I wanted something deeper than that. And their menu did not disappoint.

So this is how the meal went..

Nicole really recommended that we get the Tom Kha.



We had the choice of chicken, beef, or tofu. We went with tofu since she is a Vegetarian (Don't worry--I'm trying to switch her back to meat!!!) I am not complaining though because I do like tofu as well. The soup was made up of tofu, mushrooms, herbs, baby corn, cabbage, lemon, and coconut milk in a spicy and sour soup.
The soup was quite savory, slightly tangy, and just wonderful. The flavors were doing the rhumba in my mouth. Enjoyed the flavor of the lemon in the soup. Everything paired extremely well.

There were only two things I must say about the Tom Kha---one, it was not spicy at all and my tongue could not grasp what they put in it to make it spicy. And two, which had Nicole slightly fired up over, was the fact that there was no lemongrass in the soup. She was wondering how the one time she finally showed me Thai Pepper, the owner did not put lemongrass into our Tom Kha.



Yes, we looked and smelled carefully. Just in case we could have missed it, but we both knew there wasn't any lemongrass. I would definitely be able to tell if it had been in our soup because I will NEVER forget the scent of lemongrass when we smelled it in a cabaclo village off the Río Negro, in the Amazon----JUST SO ENTICING!

Lemongrass in the Amazon:

Brings back memories! So much better to smell it out in the open than at any market or restaurant!

Nevertheless, Tom Kha without the lemongrass was still satisfying and I was not disappointed.

Next up was our meals. Nicole settled with the Red Curry.



The Red Curry was made up of tofu (again!), bamboo shoot, basil, and bell pepper in red curry, with coconut milk. Steamed rice served along side her dish, as well as mine. The bamboo shoot was crunchy. Nothing soggy about that dish. I tried it and enjoyed it, though found it to be quite spicy, of course! She enjoyed it and said she felt at peace, healthy, and the whole meal was just refreshing.

There were a couple dishes I wanted to try out but I settled with the Panang Curry. I chose to try it out with the beef. Same flavors as the Red Curry but had more of a sweet, yet just slightly spicy taste to it. Seriously, I fell in love with this and my mouth is watering just thinking about it!



I thoroughly enjoyed this dish. Was quite spicy at times but it wasn't overbearing. I dealt with it! The beef literally melted in my mouth. Perfect, savory, and delectable. One thing that also really made my heart happy was---there was LEMONGRASS in it! The second I smelled it, I knew it was in there! This definitely brought this dish to higher intensities. Overall, I was completely satisfied.



I took my meal to-go, in which I just ate the rest of it 2 hours later!



In the end, we felt at home there, food was definitely satisfying, and prices were very reasonable. Not expensive at all. I give it 5 hearts ♥♥♥♥♥. Like I said before with India, if you cannot make a trip out to Thailand, this will do for now!

Hello! Olá! Konnichi wa! Bula Vinaka!

I have a hot minute before I head on out to Cardio Hula-Hooping! You know it! So I'm learning Korean at work from some of my preschoolers and one of the girls I work with (To make sure we are all saying everything right!). An interesting way to learn a new language. It also means I need to keep up with my Spanish so I'm not falling behind for my trip next year. I came across a website like the "I love you" website I wrote about earlier this year, but about the word "hello". (I did learn "I love you" in Korean----Saranghay and in writing too.

Anyway, I'm encouraging my preschoolers to learn new words in other languages so I'm encouraging all to look at the website and say hello to someone in a different language! I love people who are openminded and positive about life and the people living in this world.

http://www.wikihow.com/Say-Hello-in-Different-Languages


Ahn nyong ha sae yo! *Also Korean, and informal, ahn nyeong; the only other word I know how to write and say in Korean!

Forbidden Fruit

Next up in my garden of dreams and reality is the wonderful, bodacious Pomegranate. Oh the Pomegranate---there are plenty of words that come to mind when I think about this extraordinary fruit. Bold. Vibrant. Passion. Luscious. Sensual. Sexy. Promise. Unique. You just feel good inside and out each time you indulge in this beautiful, special fruit. The Pomegranate tops as one of my favorite fruits. I always look forward to it every year around this time. I'm glad its juice is being used more often nowadays and that people are really taking advantage of its flavor, beauty, and many health benefits.

Quick facts on the fruit I would say most people are in love with:

♥ There are different varieties of the Pomegranate: The more known Pomegranate (Red to deep purple), Black Pomegranate, and the White Pomegranate
♥A very popular fruit and addition to many dishes in the Middle East, India, and the Mediterranean. Later shined in the United States in early 2000
♥In season towards the end of September through winter; Picture above was taken in August and not ready to be picked
♥The flavor of Pomegranate is, when fresh and ripe, very sweet. Of course there are different varieties that offer different flavors from very sweet--tart--bitter
♥High in Vitamin B, C, Potassium, and Polyphenols
♥"The forbidden fruit"
♥Symbol of abundance, fertility, marriage, and good luck
♥"Grows in the garden of paradise"
♥Used for natural dyeing (ALWAYS remember that once a Pomegranate stains, you can't get it off! I say when you eat it, wear something that you don't mind getting messy in if you aren't an expert Pomegranate eater such as myself!)

I am going to make this short and sweet...

Buy the fruit from your local supermarket if you don't have the tree and add to many wonderful dishes and desserts such as:

-Breads, drinks, soups, salads, main courses, appetizers, sweets, gravy, sauces, and garnishes to many dishes
-Turn Pomegranate juice into gravy and sauces to compliment any meat dish.

I did look online and found a recipe I really would like to try: Mango Pomegranate Guacamole on epicurious.com. Doesn't that sound just lovely and different!

And honestly, I do have many Pomegranate recipes but I do not use them and that is why I am not listing any particular recipes to try out. They are easily available online throughout many food websites and in cookbooks. My reason for this will be fully explained.

For those who are fortunate to have a pomegranate tree, this is what I do. The reason why I don't use any pomegranate recipes is because I just enjoy them! I enjoy pomegranates so much that I won't ever spend my time in the kitchen making something when I would rather JUST EAT THEM! I refuse to mess with them! You have to be lucky to get the perfect pomegranate tree to do this. I have seen many houses in my area who do have the tree but whose owner lacks in the knowledge of taking care of it. My neighbors tree produces more than my own, but they are smaller, yellow, and don't ripen up to their potential. They end up being sour. While my own are huge, very sweet, and it is heartbreaking when the tree is empty! So with the above said, the tree requires some special tlc for it to grow and bloom to its fullest potential. The more tlc you give, the more love you get! And I can't wait to see how much lovin' I'm getting this year! I'm thinking they will be ready to eat by the beginning to mid-October! Oh yeah!

So there you have it! If you have the tree and it produces flavorful pomegranates, just eat them! And if you don't, buy the tree! Trust me, this is a money-saver and a smart investment. When in the kitchen, I guess it's your own preference if you want to add pomegranates to a dish. My opinion--The pomegranates at any supermarket are not as sweet to me and would much rather incorporate the store bought fruit into homemade dishes. But don't let that stop you from going to the store and experimenting in the kitchen.