Red Lobster Tuesday

Tuesday saw a lack of appetizing options at the cafeteria, so I went big for dinner. Met my buddies Jody and Jesse at Red Lobster for dinner. I went with the Ultimate Feast, and started with the potato soup instead of a salad (big surprise):

The soup was really good. The potato chunks were cooked well, and the soup wasn't too hot. It had just the right amount of seasoning, I didn't have to salt or pepper it. The biscuits were nice and warm and just the right mix between gooey and crumbly.

The main course was the feast of crab legs, lobster tail, breaded fried shrimp, shrimp scampi, and a side of mashed potatoes (I've been having bad luck with baked potatoes from restaurants lately):

The crab legs were pretty good, but not great. I had some issues getting all the meat out of them, and it wasn't completely my fault. The lobster tail was really good, nice flavor and texture and wasn't over cooked as it has been in the past. The fried shrimp was even better, but the scampi was perfect.

Wendy's

On Monday the 16th, I headed over to Wendy's to get some take out lunch:

I went with the usual for me, the #2 combo (double burger, ketchup only), and fries. The burger was really good, they got it right on the first try (a lot of places insist on putting cheese on my HAMBURGERS, especially when I emphasize no cheese) and they actually put ketchup on both buns. The fries were tasty and not too crunchy, which is how I like them.

Sunday's Hibachi Dinner

I didn't eat much on Sunday, so I hit up the local Japanese place for a big dinner. I started with the soup and salad:

The soup was good, the salad was just ok. Next course, which I forgot to get a picture of, was a crunchy shrimp roll. It was really good, hence me forgetting to get the pic.

The main course was hibachi grilled shrimp, steak and chicken (with zucchini, onions and mushrooms) and an order of fried rice:

You can't really see the shrimp, but it's hiding behind the bowl of fried rice. The shrimp was good, the chicken and steak were outstanding. The onion was pretty good, and the squash was really good. The rice was pretty good as well, it was much better once I got it mixed in with the juices from the steak.

Saturday The 14th

On Saturday the 14th, I went in to work to make up some missed time. So, for lunch, we (so did the coworkers) walked to the cafeteria. They had pork tenderloin that looked aight, so I partook of it:

The pork was very tender, and still fairly juicy. Their flavoring, however, didn't really penetrate it, which is normal for them. The gravy on the potatoes was just ok, I figured it'd be pretty stout with flavor. The potatoes were just ok.

For dinner that night, we hit the Brick Oven in Hernando. This is pretty much my favorite local pizza place. I usually either get the "Bubba's Choice" which is their meat lover's, or their Pulled Pork BBQ. I went with the bbq this time:

It comes with bbq sauce instead of pizza sauce, then the bbq pork, then they douse it with cheese. This is just the standard order of it (in 10" size), I didn't request extra cheese. The pizza was outstanding, great flavor, a ton of cheese, and a tasty (albeit) thin crust.

Another Leonard's Trip

On Friday, we ventured out to Leonard's again. I went with the usual country fried steak, fried okra, mashed potatoes, but added a little corn on the cob on the first trip:

On the second trip, it was pretty much the same thing, except I subbed baked beans for the corn.

The steak was really good. Nice and tender and it had a great flavor. The corn was very juicy and tasty. The okra was cooked about perfect, nice and crunch, the breading was just right on flavor. The baked beans were very tasty, good amount of texture and the flavor of them were a nice contrast with the super sweet barbecue sauce they were cooked in.

Salisbury Steak

Welp, I've done it this time. Waited too long between updates. So, the ones coming up aren't going to be too complete, and I'll only be talking about whatever I've got pictures of, as those can jog my memory.

On this day, I had Salisbury steak from the cafeteria:

The steak was ok. It was tougher than it usually is, but the flavor was pretty good. The potatoes were pretty weak, flavor wise, but again, the gravy did a good job of filling in for them.

A Chicken Experiment

Back in high school, I remember that they would have, every so often, a dish that perplexed the heck out of me: Oven Fried Chicken. I decided to try this concoction out for myself. I have no idea if how I went about it was how they did, nor do I really care.

I took two chicken breasts and gave them a thorough dunking / marinating in a seasoned milk dip, then breaded them in a seasoned flour mixture (sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, all purpose seasoning and a dash of sage):

Then I tossed them into the oven at 475 degrees for about 20 minutes, then at ... either 325 or 350 (don't remember which now) for an hour. This is how they looked coming out:

Not too bad, I teamed them up with some instant potatoes and some of the (spoiler alert) blandest English peas I've ever had:

The skin of the chicken had a great flavor, it worked its way into the meat just ok, but it was very juicy. The potatoes were pretty good (considering I was out of salt) and the English peas sucked. They had no flavor at all, but I ate them anyway. The chicken was so good, I went back and finished the second breast after the first one, but I didn't finish the potatoes.

Pizza Night

Tuesday was another crap day at the cafeteria, so I went pretty big for dinner. And it was slightly odd for me. I usually prefer pan pizzas, the more crust the better. But I had a hankering for a thin crust pizza, and since that almost never happens, I decided to jump on it.

I went with Pizza Hut's thin crust with beef and Italian sausage, and some cheese sticks. And as I was uber hungry, you can see I forgot to take a pic when it first got there.

The pizza was pretty good, less cheese on it than I had hoped for, but the cheese sticks pretty much made up for that. All in all it was good, and I felt I got my money's worth.

Meaty Monday

For lunch on Monday, I was fairly hungry. And the cafeteria was gracious enough to have a roasted pork loin and mashed potatoes with gravy. I went with that:

The pork loin was ok, still no where near as good as mine. The meat was fairly tender, but there was not that much flavor that managed to get into it. Near the edges, it had some, but just not in the interior. Their gravy helped with that though. The mashed potatoes were pretty horrible, and made me regret getting 2 servings of them. They had pretty much no flavor, almost as if they were instant and made with only the flakes and water, no milk, butter, or seasonings of any kind.

I had intended on cooking some chicken for dinner, but I stayed at work later than I had anticipated. So I hit up the old Arby's on the way home, and got my usual #2 combo:

The meal was good as usual. The potato cakes were good and the sandwich was really good, nice hot and juicy.

A pattern emerges

Sunday after church, I stopped by the parents' house with the intent of taking (at least) Mom to see Spider-man. She wasn't there, so Sis and I went to get some lunch before catching the movie. We went to Chili's where I had the "Chicken Crispers" which is their battered chicken tenders. They come with a corn on the cob and another side, which I chose mashed potatoes and gravy (big surprise). The corn was ok, not as good as it usually is (needed more butter), but it was cooked very well and was surprisingly juicy (at one point as I took a bite a gout of juice shot across the table. The chicken was ok, a couple of the pieces were very well battered and cooked, but some of it was barely battered therefore almost over cooked. The potatoes were surprisingly good considering, and the gravy was merely ok. As you've probably gathered, I forgot to get a picture of it.

I had a kind of late dinner, and since it was running later in the evening, I decided to go with the somewhat quick (but very easy) fried rice. This one I did all myself, and managed to not screw it up too bad:

It could've used a bit more soy sauce or garlic, as I didn't have any salt (still) to add to it. Overall, though, it was good, especially considering I thought I over watered it in the rice cooker portion.