Just How Brave ARE You??

How experimental are you when it comes to what you eat?  I will pretty much try any fruits/veggies/non-once-breathing things.  Having said that, I HATE curry.  It is gross!  I won't even try it anymore!  Ugh!  The exception to fruit would have to be Durian...if Andrew Zimmer gags and spits it out, yeah, no way am I going to be able to choke it down!  Anyway, I've tried over half of them and of the 45 left, I would not eat only 15 of them.  Hey, I'll try almost anything once!!

The Very Good Taste Omnivore's 100 List

Rules:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat (I hate curry)
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal (I hate curry)
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu (I don’t wanna die!!)
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

My Score:  55

What's in his Bento Today?

I'm still learning when it comes to the whole Bento Box thing.  I try to have themes and such, but I usually just end up putting in things that I know he will like and that we have on hand.  I'm all about some ease!  He had leftover salad that I got at Backyard Bistro for his actual lunch, so I made a breakfast/snack Bento that he could just munch on when he got hungry.  Let's see what Rich had in his Bento!

Starting at the top, right, is some homemade chicken salad with almonds and grapes.  Below that are the crackers to go with it as well as about 10 M&M's as a treat!  In the large section he has orange slices, kiwi and apple hearts, cucumber stripes, and a little container of my yummy fruit dip is underneath the little love note...which he NEVER mentioned!  Sometimes you gotta ask yourself, "Why do I bother?"  He is usually very appreciative so I guess I can let him slide this one time!  lol

I just had to include a pic of the salad I got for lunch that Rich took the leftovers from.  This is a Cobb Salad from Backyard Bistro in Raleigh and let me tell you...it was HUGE!  It is one of my fave things there...with their homemade avocado-ranch dressing.  My niece and I went there because I had a $20 groupon!  Her salad is below....

My niece, Taylor, had a lettuce bowl salad with all kinds of veggies and some kind of seasoned, grilled chicken.  The presentation was so pretty!

Restaurant Review: GrEAT Mongolian Grill

Hubby and I decided to have a date night a while back.  We went and tried a new restaurant that I ran across online through Groupon (although I didn't buy the deal...just remembered the place).  GrEAT Mongolian Grill is located in Cary @ Harrison Pointe Shopping Center.  I now understand why the reviews mentioned that it was never crowded....it's on the back of the center.  I would have never known it was there.  I am SO glad we found it!  Hubby has never liked Mongolian food, but he knows that I love it and we def don't go often.

It was awesome!  The food was fantastic, especially the Sesame Mushroom sauce.  Our service was amazing!  First the food...there was a large buffet right in the middle of the restaurant.  You took 2 bowls:  1 large for Veggies and 1 small for proteins.  They had everything from bean sprouts to zucchini to noodles...probably about 30 different veggie-type things.  For proteins it ranged from tofu to shrimp to steak to calamari...maybe 12ish of those.  My first creation had a little of LOTS of things:  noodles, scallions, onions, mushrooms, carrot, zucchini, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, Napa cabbage, broccoli, shrimp, beef, and chicken.  I'm sure I left something out!  At the end of the bar, there are about 7 containers with things such as sesame seeds, garlic, pepper, etc.  I added some of that as well.  They also use a "stick" system to choose your sauce.  Each sauce is written on a sign with a color beside it.  You place the corresponding stick in your food.  You also choose a chili pepper stick.  Green in mild, 2 greens - medium, 1 red hot, 2 reds very hot!  I chose the Sesame Mushroom sauce out of other sauces such as teriyaki, sweet Asian chile, and a few others.  I went with medium for my heat...and I'm glad I did!  Anyway, once you have done this, you give it to the chefs at the humungous grill.  They ask if you would like steamed or fried rice and give you a number.  Back at the table you stick your number card on the little stand on each table.  The waitress brings it to you when it's ready.  Hubby had a very similar creation.  He order white sauce to go on his...he says he could put it on gravel and it would be yummy!

My first taste

Oh, we started with Endamame.  It was good...just your average with s little sea salt.  It was cooked good, but honestly, I buy it by the large bag in the freezer section @ Trader Joe's for $1.69.  I like it just as well.  It was $3.99 here...I'm glad I got it but don't know if I would get it again because I'm cheap!!

My App

 Rebecca was our server.  She was AWESOME!  She was friendly from the beginning but after we had been there a few times, she warmed up even more.  We ended up exchanging email info before we left!  She hooked us up too!  The prices are:  1 trip - 9.99, unlimited is 11.99.  If you want to bring your unlimited leftovers home, it's 4.69 extra.  Normally this is a small take out box and she brought us a large.  I went up and fixed a bowl 4 different ways, skipping the rice.  I took probably 3-4 bites out of each.  The rest was brought home.  We have a GOOD 4 meals leftover!  Oh, and she laughed at me because I told her that their water was some of the best I had ever had.  She said they had a filtering system in place..well...it was GOOD water!  :)

Our bill was right at $35.  We left Rebecca a $15 tip.  It was a fantastic experience!!