It's sad when you are living away from home and all of the sudden you are craving those typical foods from your country. It happens to me all the time, being from Puerto Rico and living in the United States sometimes makes me miss my country. All of the sudden I start craving " sorullitos" (corn meal fritters), "alcapurrias" (grated green bananas and yautia dough stuffed with ground beef and then fried), "bacalaitos" (fried Codfish fritters) and last but not least "arroz con gandules" (rice with pigeon peas). Puerto Rico has a very original and quite spectacular cuisine. But the question is, where can I find a good restaurant to enjoy Puertorican food?
Tampa has a variety of Puerto Rican restaurants but one that caught my attention was "La Casona" restaurant in North Armenia street. Once you enter the restaurant it feels like you are in a completely different atmosphere. It feels like Puerto Rico, the music, the people speaking spanish, the food, and the place, it all reminds you of that little island of enchantment in the Caribbean. The Puerto Rican/Latin/Caribbean menu has everything from natural juices (Caribbean Cherry, Passion Fruit, Mango, Orange Juice), appetizers (tostones (fried plantain), amarillitos (sweet plantain), sorullitos (corn meal fritters), entrees such as Mofongo (mashed plaintain, seasoned and served with a fried meat and chicken broth soup), and your typical Puertorican rice and red beans. La Casona also offers its clients with fresh seafood such as tilapia and Mahi-Mahi.
La Casona brings the flavor of Puerto Rico to Tampa. Enjoy a great affordable meal in a relaxing restaurant serving authentic Latin cuisine.
Buen Provecho (Enjoy Your Meal)
-Spartan Meatball
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Non-ALcoholic Drinks
Hello Meatballs,
This post is on drinks that are high in calories and are non-alcoholic. If you all read my post on alcoholic beverages, I noted that many of these drinks are very high in calories. I did give some different ways to drink alcoholic beverages that would more healthy.
One thing that we all need to watch out for is Starbucks beverages. Check out this link:
http://www.starbucks.com/retail/nutrition_info.asp
Various drinks from Starbucks range from 90-500 calories. It is up to you to find out what you drink and the caloric value it has. Since I have been attempting to diet one of the things I have been learning is that people should save their claories for food and not drink them. Just think about how much less you could weigh if you did not drink 500 calories worth of coffee every morning?
Another thing we need to look out for is sodas. Now I am under the impression that some people do not think that diet sodas are good for people due to the artificial sugars. I have also been told that sodas are something that people should stay away from altogether and should just drink water in general.
One thing that I have been trying in attempt to skip on sodas are Crystal Light packets. They come in many flavors and they are only ten calories. They are worth a try if you ask me.
I guess what I am trying to get across is to be aware of the calories you are drinking because they are consumed just like the calories you are eatting.
Adobo Meatball
This post is on drinks that are high in calories and are non-alcoholic. If you all read my post on alcoholic beverages, I noted that many of these drinks are very high in calories. I did give some different ways to drink alcoholic beverages that would more healthy.
One thing that we all need to watch out for is Starbucks beverages. Check out this link:
http://www.starbucks.com/retail/nutrition_info.asp
Various drinks from Starbucks range from 90-500 calories. It is up to you to find out what you drink and the caloric value it has. Since I have been attempting to diet one of the things I have been learning is that people should save their claories for food and not drink them. Just think about how much less you could weigh if you did not drink 500 calories worth of coffee every morning?
Another thing we need to look out for is sodas. Now I am under the impression that some people do not think that diet sodas are good for people due to the artificial sugars. I have also been told that sodas are something that people should stay away from altogether and should just drink water in general.
One thing that I have been trying in attempt to skip on sodas are Crystal Light packets. They come in many flavors and they are only ten calories. They are worth a try if you ask me.
I guess what I am trying to get across is to be aware of the calories you are drinking because they are consumed just like the calories you are eatting.
Adobo Meatball
Monday, April 13, 2009
Hi meatballs,
This is another post onother diet book that I am reading. I would also suggest this book to both of you. This book is for overweight people trying to loose weight, but also this would be good for anybody that wanted to maintain their weight and avoid a large weight gain. Also, this might be a book to suggest to a family member looking to loose a few pounds.
This book was offered to me by my professors, Mrs. Spivey. She teaches a class that I would also suggest, HSC 100. Health Science 100, it is about how to be a healthy adult after graduation and how to make healthy decisions when you are an independent adult. I am learning a lot from this class and from this professor. Anyway, she told me about this book, "Ultimate Fit or Fat" and I am learning a lot from this book about healthy nutrition and exercising. It is basically about how to make healthy decisions and how to live a healthy live.
I decided to tel you all about this book because exercise is also an important part of dieting and eatting a more healthy diet.
The book tells readers it is not about what you eat, but when you eat it. It also talks about exercising on a regular basis and tells overweight people why skinny people that exercise can eat more than they can on a daily basis.
Like I said, this book is very interesting and I am learning a lot from it. I would suggest this to anybody that would like to read it.
Thanks!! Adobo Meatball
This is another post onother diet book that I am reading. I would also suggest this book to both of you. This book is for overweight people trying to loose weight, but also this would be good for anybody that wanted to maintain their weight and avoid a large weight gain. Also, this might be a book to suggest to a family member looking to loose a few pounds.
This book was offered to me by my professors, Mrs. Spivey. She teaches a class that I would also suggest, HSC 100. Health Science 100, it is about how to be a healthy adult after graduation and how to make healthy decisions when you are an independent adult. I am learning a lot from this class and from this professor. Anyway, she told me about this book, "Ultimate Fit or Fat" and I am learning a lot from this book about healthy nutrition and exercising. It is basically about how to make healthy decisions and how to live a healthy live.
I decided to tel you all about this book because exercise is also an important part of dieting and eatting a more healthy diet.
The book tells readers it is not about what you eat, but when you eat it. It also talks about exercising on a regular basis and tells overweight people why skinny people that exercise can eat more than they can on a daily basis.
Like I said, this book is very interesting and I am learning a lot from it. I would suggest this to anybody that would like to read it.
Thanks!! Adobo Meatball
Hi Meatballs,
This is another better eatting method to follow. As you all know I am on a diet and I am following a book, "Eat this not that." I would highly recomend this book to both of you even if you are not trying to loos weight and just maintain. The book gives some lower calorie suggestions for the same foods. I will give you some examples from the book that can save you many calories everyday.
What I like most about this book is it has an eatting out guide. It includes almost every restaurant you can think of. It offers readers a low calorie solution to just about any dinner and side that would be available. This has been most helpful to me to see the amounts of calories that are in each sandwich at wendy's. This has been helpful to me because now I know what I should choose due to the information in the book. Like I said, this is all stuff that I was not aware of before.
The book also talks about how to make better selections when grocery shopping. I believe that the same author also has a grocery companion, which is basically the same type of book that focuses on shopping rather than eatting out. I intend to buy and read this book also so Iwill let you know about it when I do.
This book offers lower calorie solutions to all kinds of things like: cereal, frozen dinners, yogurts, ice cream, granola bars, cereal bars, snacks, sauces, nuts, drinks and coffees. These are just a few of the many categories they offer.
They also give you some better choices to have during holiday dinners.
I would highly suggest this book because it allows the dieter to eat normal food and loose weight at the same time. If you would like to borrow it from me or want to know more about it please let me know.
Adobo Meatball.
This is another better eatting method to follow. As you all know I am on a diet and I am following a book, "Eat this not that." I would highly recomend this book to both of you even if you are not trying to loos weight and just maintain. The book gives some lower calorie suggestions for the same foods. I will give you some examples from the book that can save you many calories everyday.
What I like most about this book is it has an eatting out guide. It includes almost every restaurant you can think of. It offers readers a low calorie solution to just about any dinner and side that would be available. This has been most helpful to me to see the amounts of calories that are in each sandwich at wendy's. This has been helpful to me because now I know what I should choose due to the information in the book. Like I said, this is all stuff that I was not aware of before.
The book also talks about how to make better selections when grocery shopping. I believe that the same author also has a grocery companion, which is basically the same type of book that focuses on shopping rather than eatting out. I intend to buy and read this book also so Iwill let you know about it when I do.
This book offers lower calorie solutions to all kinds of things like: cereal, frozen dinners, yogurts, ice cream, granola bars, cereal bars, snacks, sauces, nuts, drinks and coffees. These are just a few of the many categories they offer.
They also give you some better choices to have during holiday dinners.
I would highly suggest this book because it allows the dieter to eat normal food and loose weight at the same time. If you would like to borrow it from me or want to know more about it please let me know.
Adobo Meatball.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Let's throw plates and scream OPA!!!!
Mamma mia, here I go again
My my, how can I resist you?
Mamma mia, does it show again
My My, just how much I've missed you?
Don’t worry this post is not going to be about ABBA or me singing, is going to be about Greece, well sort of, more like Greek food. You want to go to Greece, but you can’t afford the ticket? Stop crying, because I have a better idea. I know we are going through an economic crisis; therefore we have to adjust our budgets, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun. My answer is Tarpon Springs; does it ring a bell? If not, well Tarpon Springs is located about 45 minutes from the University of Tampa campus, and no, it is not a restaurant, but it has lots of restaurants.
Tarpon Springs is a Greek City and believe it or not it is said to have the highest percentage of Greek-Americans in all of the United States. Somehow it’s a place where you can find many tourist, restaurants, and at the same time enjoy and learn the Greek Culture. World Famous Sponge Docks are in Tarpon Springs. Way better is the variety of restaurants that it have: Mykonos, Hellas Restaurant & Bakery, Costas Restaurant, Plaka, and so on. I personally like Hellas Restaurant & Bakery, since it have its own bakery it assures you that after that big Combination Platter of Gyro, Mousaka, Pastitsio, Dolmades and Tzatziki Sauce, you can enjoy a delicious and tasting Baklava as a dessert. Hella is also famous for its traditional Greek Salad: lettuce, feta cheese, Greek olives, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, Greek peppers and oregano, topped with the traditional scoop of homemade potato salad, what else could you ask for.
Want a souvenir? Don’t worry because there are plenty of souvenir shops everywhere. Buy a
Tarpon Springs shirt and brag about it.
Enjoy the trip and as always enjoy your meal.
-Spartan Meatball
My my, how can I resist you?
Mamma mia, does it show again
My My, just how much I've missed you?
Don’t worry this post is not going to be about ABBA or me singing, is going to be about Greece, well sort of, more like Greek food. You want to go to Greece, but you can’t afford the ticket? Stop crying, because I have a better idea. I know we are going through an economic crisis; therefore we have to adjust our budgets, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun. My answer is Tarpon Springs; does it ring a bell? If not, well Tarpon Springs is located about 45 minutes from the University of Tampa campus, and no, it is not a restaurant, but it has lots of restaurants.
Tarpon Springs is a Greek City and believe it or not it is said to have the highest percentage of Greek-Americans in all of the United States. Somehow it’s a place where you can find many tourist, restaurants, and at the same time enjoy and learn the Greek Culture. World Famous Sponge Docks are in Tarpon Springs. Way better is the variety of restaurants that it have: Mykonos, Hellas Restaurant & Bakery, Costas Restaurant, Plaka, and so on. I personally like Hellas Restaurant & Bakery, since it have its own bakery it assures you that after that big Combination Platter of Gyro, Mousaka, Pastitsio, Dolmades and Tzatziki Sauce, you can enjoy a delicious and tasting Baklava as a dessert. Hella is also famous for its traditional Greek Salad: lettuce, feta cheese, Greek olives, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, Greek peppers and oregano, topped with the traditional scoop of homemade potato salad, what else could you ask for.
Want a souvenir? Don’t worry because there are plenty of souvenir shops everywhere. Buy a
Tarpon Springs shirt and brag about it.
Enjoy the trip and as always enjoy your meal.
-Spartan Meatball
Thursday, April 9, 2009
low calorie Fast Food alternatives
Hello Meatballs,
As you all know I am attempting to get healthy and loose weight. I have been doing this most unsuccessfully due to fast food and other such unhealthy options. So, in this post I will talk about some of the helathier and low calorie options at some of the nations most visited fast food chains.
First, let me talk about Wendy's. Take it from me, you really need to watch it as Wendy's. The crispy chicken club, fish fillet and the 10 piece chicken nuggets all have 460 calories in them and that us without the fries and drink that usually accopany the lunch combos served. The burgers are no better, they also have between 350-480 calories a piece as well. So what can you eat at wendy's that is not claorie laiden? Many of the salads also have over 500 calories, however the wraps only have about 260 calories. Also, the baked potato only has about 300 calories and the large chilli only has about 250 calories. So one of these things is what I would go with.
McDonalds burgers are not much better, the Big Mac tops out the burger list with a wopping 540 calories and the double quarter pounder with cheese has over 700 calories. The salads range from 140 calories to over 400 calories. The breakfast sandwitches that people really like are not much better calorie wise, so I would stay away from those all together.
Chick-fil-a is another fast food chain I would like to consider. The chgargrilled chicken sandwitch only has 260 calories, so this would be a great selection for one watching their weight. The sandwitches range from that one being the lowest and the chicken classic sandwitch topping at 430. The wraps are all high in calories but the salds are very low, usually around 200 calories.
The last chain I will look at is Burger King. check out this link for Burger King:
http://www.bk.com/Nutrition/PDFs/LowCalorieHandout.pdf
I was impressed with Burger King because this was the only chain that had a sepcial page for people that are watching their weight. I will let you all check this out for yourself.
Happy Fast Food Eating!!
Adobo Meatball
As you all know I am attempting to get healthy and loose weight. I have been doing this most unsuccessfully due to fast food and other such unhealthy options. So, in this post I will talk about some of the helathier and low calorie options at some of the nations most visited fast food chains.
First, let me talk about Wendy's. Take it from me, you really need to watch it as Wendy's. The crispy chicken club, fish fillet and the 10 piece chicken nuggets all have 460 calories in them and that us without the fries and drink that usually accopany the lunch combos served. The burgers are no better, they also have between 350-480 calories a piece as well. So what can you eat at wendy's that is not claorie laiden? Many of the salads also have over 500 calories, however the wraps only have about 260 calories. Also, the baked potato only has about 300 calories and the large chilli only has about 250 calories. So one of these things is what I would go with.
McDonalds burgers are not much better, the Big Mac tops out the burger list with a wopping 540 calories and the double quarter pounder with cheese has over 700 calories. The salads range from 140 calories to over 400 calories. The breakfast sandwitches that people really like are not much better calorie wise, so I would stay away from those all together.
Chick-fil-a is another fast food chain I would like to consider. The chgargrilled chicken sandwitch only has 260 calories, so this would be a great selection for one watching their weight. The sandwitches range from that one being the lowest and the chicken classic sandwitch topping at 430. The wraps are all high in calories but the salds are very low, usually around 200 calories.
The last chain I will look at is Burger King. check out this link for Burger King:
http://www.bk.com/Nutrition/PDFs/LowCalorieHandout.pdf
I was impressed with Burger King because this was the only chain that had a sepcial page for people that are watching their weight. I will let you all check this out for yourself.
Happy Fast Food Eating!!
Adobo Meatball
Friday, April 3, 2009
Wednesday Night....lets it some PIZZA
Hello Meatballs,
Like every week I’m here to give you new alternatives to satisfy your different cravings. It’s Wednesday night and your body crave pizza, well, let’s go to Deck Pizza & Pub!!! Deck Pizza & Pub is located in W Platt Street, just minutes from the UT campus. Deck’s is open Sundays to Saturday, and it’s closed on Mondays. Apart from pizza they have a variety of different foods, from appetizers such as quesadillas to chicken wings, salads, subs and wraps, and deserts.
Be sure to check out Wednesday’s pizza special, enjoy one dollar slice of pizza. Deck’s is the place to get good pizza at the right price. Deck’s employees are the best, very attentive and caring. Good place to go and enjoy good food with friends in the best environment.
Enjoy your meal;
-Spartan Meatball
Like every week I’m here to give you new alternatives to satisfy your different cravings. It’s Wednesday night and your body crave pizza, well, let’s go to Deck Pizza & Pub!!! Deck Pizza & Pub is located in W Platt Street, just minutes from the UT campus. Deck’s is open Sundays to Saturday, and it’s closed on Mondays. Apart from pizza they have a variety of different foods, from appetizers such as quesadillas to chicken wings, salads, subs and wraps, and deserts.
Be sure to check out Wednesday’s pizza special, enjoy one dollar slice of pizza. Deck’s is the place to get good pizza at the right price. Deck’s employees are the best, very attentive and caring. Good place to go and enjoy good food with friends in the best environment.
Enjoy your meal;
-Spartan Meatball
High Calorie Breakfast
Hey, are you wondering why you have very little energy in the morning? Are you? Well here is my idea to you, I propose that you attempt to have a huge low fat calorie breakfast, which will boost your energy and help your body began to function properly. Every morning I have two or three cups of original oatmeal, with a banana and and a scoop of protein. I also have a smoothie, fruit cup, and yogurt. Since I began this big breakfast, I've had more energy in the mornings than ever before. I love because its healthy and lean, it doesnt sit heavy on the stomach at all, and it digest very fast.
Considering that each student has a class or responsiblity that requires them to get up earlier than they prefer I suggest this meal because it definitely wake your body up. There are other foods you can have, such as hard boiled eggs, cereal with low fat milk, bagel, pancakes, and any other breakfast food you like. I go with oatmeal, bananas, protein, smoothies, yogurt, and fruit cups because its very convenitent and fast. Considering that I always wake up just in time to shower, dress, eat and get to my destinantion within 5 minutes of the starting time.
Now if you want breakfast food with alot of sugar I sugget pancakes, because of all the sugar in the syrup. But stick with the low sugar, and natural energy meals because of the diet I try to keep. The most important meal of the day is breakfast, and the most important way to get your body flowing and a boost of morning energy is by developing a consistant meal plan, which includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Considering that each student has a class or responsiblity that requires them to get up earlier than they prefer I suggest this meal because it definitely wake your body up. There are other foods you can have, such as hard boiled eggs, cereal with low fat milk, bagel, pancakes, and any other breakfast food you like. I go with oatmeal, bananas, protein, smoothies, yogurt, and fruit cups because its very convenitent and fast. Considering that I always wake up just in time to shower, dress, eat and get to my destinantion within 5 minutes of the starting time.
Now if you want breakfast food with alot of sugar I sugget pancakes, because of all the sugar in the syrup. But stick with the low sugar, and natural energy meals because of the diet I try to keep. The most important meal of the day is breakfast, and the most important way to get your body flowing and a boost of morning energy is by developing a consistant meal plan, which includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
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