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Asian Fusion at Bites Restaurant in Forest Grove, Oregon

One of the things I love about the Portland, Oregon metro area is that, it has a plethora of awesome food. Even better is that you don’t have to go into the heart of Portland to find great food because the smaller cities and towns around the area have some great food options as well. Bites Restaurant in Forest Grove is one such place.

Locally Sourced

Bites is an Asian Fusion Restaurant that sources a good portions of its ingredients and products locally. They get their meat from local Carlton Farms in Carlton, Oregon and their on-tap brews from area breweries. Such a great example of community businesses supporting each other.

Now this isn’t my first experience at Bites. I came here over a year ago and tried a few items and they were tasty. But this time, with new additions to their menu, we (my oldest daughter and I) tried several new things. But first, the menu.

The Menu

This menu has a bit of everything; from pasta and ramen, to burgers and fish options; most having notes of Asian flavor; from kimchi to tempura and everything in between. However, although the menu is a fusion of a lot of Asian-American flavors , there are some Mexican and Italian influences and flavors, all combining to create some very tasty options.

This time around we ordered 3 menu items to share. Let go from my least favorite (still good though) to my favorite.

Classic Gyoza

We order two small plates as the menu calls them, the first being the the Classic Gyoza. This small dumpling is filled with pork and pan fried. The skin was nice and thin and the filling was flavorful; there was just the right amount of filling. The Gyoza sauce that comes on the side was not my favorite thing, as it has a off putting after flavor. The dumpling were good without it.

K-Town Tacos

We also order the K-Town tacos with the kabli beef as our protein choice. This dish has two soft yellow corn tortillas with kalbi beef, lettuce onions, tomatoes (which I had omitted), jalapeños and a aioli with a side of Beer Fries. When I saw this dish, it looked a bit dry and I thought I was going to need some sauce to add to the top like I do most of my tacos, but no. This taco needed nothing but for me to eat it. The beef was tender and seasoned and grilled very well; the veggies balanced the meat out and made it filling and the aioli bound it all together. And those beer fries… let’s just say, I am glad they have those as a separate small plate item because I can definitely eat a plate of those alone.

Dynamite Nachos

The second small plate item we ordered and by far my favorite menu item so far (I haven’t tried everything yet, but I will at some point) are the Dynamite Nachos. These are corn tortilla chips with tempura shrimp, chunky Pico De Gallo guacamole, cheese and aioli. Now I have a sensitivity to tomatoes so I usually will have them removed from my dishes, but you can not remove tomatoes from Pico De Gallo of course, so I just left it and I am glad I did. So fresh and tasty especially with the chunky avocado. The shrimps were tender and yummy, but the thing that brought the whole dish together was the aioli. The aioli was like a sweet chili sauce that elevated all the flavors and made this menu item number one in my book. These are the best restaurant nachos I have had, dethroning my long time favorite Old Chicago’s Italian Nachos.

Great Restaurant

Overall, if you happen to be in the Portland, Oregon metro area and you are looking for good food outside of the hustle and bustle of the major city, check out the surrounding smaller towns in the area. You could be missing out on some beautiful food gems like Bites in Forest Grove otherwise.

By the way this Is Not a sponsored post. All opinions and photography are my own.

Until next time, remember to Cook, Eat and Enjoy!!!

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Christmas Gift Ideas: Top 6 Food And Cookbooks

Being a Personal Chef and a food lover, I enjoy a good cookbook. Of course, being in the age of technology, books can be download on our phones and other devices that we can take with us easily. However, I still love a good ole fashioned book, especially when it comes to cookbooks or food books of any kind. And since we are weeks away from Christmas, I wanted to give you guys some Christmas gift ideas for the food lovers in your life or even for yourself. These books are in no special order. The links below are my affiliate links and I have linked to the hard copy of these books.

1.Thug Kitchen The Offical Cook Book

This cookbook is all about getting people to eat their veggies with no hold bars on the language. The recipes are veggie-focused but do not sacrifice flavor. They also have a few other books in the collections. Additionally, they have a website and a Podcast.
2.Fork Over Knives Cookbook
If you are looking for another cookbook that is centered around whole-foods and a plant-based diet, this one is your winner with over 200 recipes.
3. The Complete Air Fryer CookBook…
If you have an Air Fryer or thinking about getting one, this is the cookbook for you, giving you 600 recipes specifically for the Air Fryer. Everything from fried to Baked meals.
4. The Ultimate Instant Pot Cookbook
If you have an Instant Pot, this is the cookbook for you with 800 recipes.

 

5. Salt Fat Acid Heat

This book is very popular and actually has a series on Netflix. This book explains the whys and fundamentals of good cooking.
6. The Flavor Bible
This last book every cook should have in their library. This book will be sure to inspire those who love to cook and experiment in the kitchen.
I hope this gives you some ideas for Christmas. Until next time, remember to Cook, Eat and Enjoy.

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Stop throwing your Salad leaves away| Repurpose your salad ingredients | Asian inspired Sweet Potato Noodle Salad

Last week I wanted salad, which is a rare thing, but I purchased arugula and tomato and such for said salad! Well a week later (not even a week really) and I noticed my salad leaves were started to go bad; you know how they start to get wet and slimy and such (real gross)!

However today, I thought, why not repurpose my salad ingredients so I can stop throwing away my yummy salad leaves.

This meal is vegan-friendly, so no meat involved. So here we go with my tasty warm Asian inspired noodle salad. Everything is leftover and sitting in my fridge, looking sad.

I boiled and drained my sweet potato noodles, cut them into smaller piece and rinsed in cold water to stop the cooking and set to the side.

1 package of baby bella mushrooms quarter and about 7 baby bell peppers sliced.

3 roma tomatoes. I had a half bag of each of the following: spinach, arugula, and broccoli slaw.

In my big wok pan which I love sooooo much is olive oil, heated. Add mushrooms and peppers and garlic and stir-fry for 4 minutes or so. Then add in the broccoli slaw and cook for another 4 minutes.

Add in the salad leaves

Let them cook just until wilted then add in tomatoes and I had some alfalfa sprouts

Mix and cook for 1 minute; I just let my tomatoes get warm.

Now the last steps are adding in the noodles and sauce. The salad dressing I used was an Asian sesame dressing, but you can use what you want, this is what I had

Mix and serve. You can eat hot, cold or room temp. I will never again throw away my salad leaves or other salad ingredients. After heating all the veggies, I could have added them to rice, or other noodles or even potatoes. Better yet, I could eat them without a carb!!! I just wanted to share with you guys. Until next time remember to Cook, Eat and Enjoy!!!

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Favorite Snacks while driving for Lyft

Some of you may know that one of my hustles is driving for Lyft, which I actually enjoy quite a bit. I have met some really awesome people and had some very enlightening conversations with people from all over the world. Sometimes I drive really long hours, 8 plus. And of course driving that long, I have to have snacks to keep my energy up and sometimes to keep me occupied and awake. So my snacks change all the time, but as of right now, these are my favorite go to snacks.

Because I am an avid shopper at the Asian grocery stores in my area, I am always finding new foods to try out that I have never even imagine. One of these would be dried or dehydrated sweet potatoes. Now sweet potatoes is one of my top favorite foods and to have it in a dehydrated form, I wasn’t to sure about. But I found this Asian brand and the only ingredient is sweet potatoes.

That is important to note because I found some other brands that had preservatives and such in them.

Of course when I find something I really like, it seems everyone around here stopped selling it, so I found another brand which ingredients are sweet potatoes and honey;

although a bit sweeter than first brand, it is still very tasty.

These dehydrated veggies are not only good, but they are good for you, loaded with lots of vitamins and minerals, and they last along time.

Another snack I have really been favoriting is Pocky, Chocolate Almond Crush flavor.


These little yummy are dangerous, because I find myself not being able to eat just two or three. This box comes with two plastic packs inside with 6 stick per pack. They are like a cookie or biscuit that is dipped in milk chocolate and real crushed almonds. So very good. When I can not find this brand, I also get the Pepero brand which is a Korean brand.

Same exact thing just made in a different country, and still tastes just as good.

Next is another Asian favorite of mine and it is Sangaria natural flavor Ramu, grape flavor.This is just a grape soda made with real sugar and natural flavor. Definitely taste the difference between this and grape Fanta or Crush.

Again I love sweet potatoes, so when I found this at my local Grocery Outlet, I was eager to try them.


Simple and addictive, these sweet potato crisp are light and easy to eat a lot of. They have a very authentic sweet potato taste with a hint of salt. Additionally, If you have ever eaten Quaker brand rice cakes and liked them, that is what these are, but very very thin.

The last snack food that I have been keeping with me while driving are these Good Health Veggie Chips that I found at Dollar Tree.

At first, they didn’t have much flavor, but that is because they are not extremely salty, just very lightly salted. These chips have tomatoes, spinach, beets, broccoli and carrots in them, not that they have a strong flavor. Might be a good way to sneak some veggies in your kids diet.

Overall, I try to eat healthy while I am driving because there are so many options and opportunities for me to eat not so healthy and sometimes I do partake in the unhealthy habits. However, I find that as long as I keep healthy options on my person, I am a lot less likely to do so.

In the comments, let me know some of your favorite snack you are eating right now!!!

Until, next time; Remember to Cook, Eat and Enjoy!

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Apple Cinnamon and Blueberry Almond Energy Balls

Hey my foodies and non-foodies alike. School is in full swing for my two daughters which means leaving early and coming home pretty late. And all though I like to think of my children as always being so full of energy, I know they need a little boost sometimes. I had been hunting for a snack idea for them that would give them energy and have healthy ingredients minus the chocolate and peanuts since they are allergic. I came across the energy balls or bites. These were perfect because I could tailor them to each of my kids. So I ended up making apple cinnamon balls and blueberry almond balls, each with different type of butters. And better still, there was no bake involved. So here is what I used:

4 cups of rolled oats (2 cups each batch)

2 cups ground flaxseed (1 cup each batch)

2 cups sweetened shredded coconut (1 cup each batch)

1 cup of honey ( half cup each)

1 teaspoon salt (half teaspoon each)

1 cup of almond butter

1 cup of sunflower seed butter

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (1 teaspoon each batch)

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground cloves

1 cup of dried blueberries

1 cup of sliced almonds

1 cup of dried apple rings cut into bite sizes

1 baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment

2 large mixing bowls

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For all the oatmeal, I warmed in a frying pan to make the oats a bit easier to incorporate. I used my favorite Red Cooper Frying. If you want to go and get it, her is my Amazon Affiliate link. I love this pan so much!!!

https://amzn.to/2CTvSSY

So to each mixing bowl add in 1 cup of ground flaxseed, 2 cups of oats, 1 cup coconut, half cup of honey, teaspoon of vanilla extract and half teaspoon of salt.

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Each cup of butters, you want to melt a bit in the microwave to make it easier to handle.

For the apple cinnamon batch: add in the tablespoon of cinnamon and ground cloves, the almond butter and the pieces of dried apple. Mix well

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For the blueberry Almond batch: add in the dried blueberry and sliced almonds and the melted sunflower seed butter. Mix well.

Now the fun part for those who love to get there hands messy, so it is a great cooking activity for kids. Time to roll out the balls. If when you begin to roll the balls out and you find that they are breaking apart, this is because they are to dry and you need to add a few tablespoons of water to help them roll easier.

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Make the balls as big or small as you like them. I used a healthy tablespoon size and formed a tight ball in my hand, then place them on the bake sheet.

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Once everything is rolled out, place then in the fridge for 20 minutes so they can set, after which you want to store them in a airtight container. They should keep for over a week or so, however if you get the response that I received at my house, they will barely last 4 days or so.

If you would like to see the actually process, head over to my YouTube and checkout the video her at Energy Balls | Apple Cinnamon…

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Until next time, Cook Eat Enjoy!!!!

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I’ve update the Site!!!

Hey, Creatives and non-creatives alike. Just wanted to let you know that I have updated the site. I can not believe that it has been 8 years since I first began this blog and it has been so much fun.

Not only has the look of the site changed, but the name also is slightly different and the logo is different:

I am looking forward to bringing new content to the blog and perhaps even collaborating with other bloggers. So, of course, I will be bringing plenty of food content your way, but also some travel and lifestyle content as well. I hope you all continue to enjoy being passengers as I continue this creative journey of life!

Also, check out my photography portfolio at Gloriousgal Studio Photography

And check my YouTube channel at Cook Eat Enjoy

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Best Things I ate – Summer 2018

Hey foodies and non-foodies alike. I hope you had an awesome and tasty summer. So yes it is officially Autumn here in the U.S. and I just couldn’t let summer go without highlighting some of the best things I ate; some of these I cooked and others were had out and about. So in no particular order let’s get started.

IMG_2674I love Asian food of all kinds, and if there are noodles involved, I am sold from jump-street. I had these sweet potato noodles that I got from the Asian grocers. With them, I made Japchae, a typical cold veggie noodle dish. Mine had cabbage, shredded carrots, onion, mushrooms, garlic, and cilantro. This is so tasty and light and I like mine on the warmer side. But it is a great way to get your veggies in a meal. The great thing about this dish is that I ate it all times of day and night and it kept me full for some hours without feeling heavy.

Here in Portland Oregon where I reside, we have tons of food carts, pods, trucks, etc. Downtown Portland, the Alder Street Food Carts, there is a food cart called Bing Mi. It is located on 9th and Alder. The only thing they make is Chinese Crepes. I had heard a lot about this place before I ever ate one. I drive Lyft, and I had customers who were visiting tell me about this place. So I decided to give it a try. It was a phenomenal mix of Asian taste and American breakfast.

IMG_4517Oh, and I can not forget about fair food. I only go to county fairs to eat all the stuff I don’t eat on a regular. This fair, I had my eyes set on the huge smoked turkey leg and I made straight to the stand upon entering the fairgrounds. I felt like a Flintstone eating this big leg, and it’s not a cute food to eat. So if you are on a date or you are worried about how people look at you when eat, this might not be the food for you. But since none of these were the case for me, I chomped away.

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Now I love corn on the cob and I have been eating my share this summer. Before this summer, I slightly remember seeing a lot of Latinos and Hispanics eating corn on the cob that had cheese on it. But it didn’t fully register until I started seeing this corn called Elotes on Youtube. Well… I finally got to have one this summer at the Portland Pride Parade. OMG, it was the best thing; the combination of the sweet corn, the tartness from the cotija cheese, the creaminess of the mayo and the very very light spice of the chili powder. My mouth and my stomach were beyond happy. I loved this so much, that for the next two weeks following this encounter with my dear Elotes, I made them at home at least 6 times within those weeks. This might be the top favorite thing I ate this summer.

These were just a few of the great foods I consumed this summer, the ones that come to my mind first. The lovely thing about food is that I can have them any time of year I want because I can cook them at home, so I don’t have to wait until summer. In the comments, let me know what were some of your favorite foods you had this summer and if you have pics, I would love to see.

If you want to keep up with what I eat or what I am doing, follow me on Instagram @Gloriousgal .  I am typically very active there. Also if you want to see me cook different dishes or travel and eat, Follow my Youtube Channel @Cook Eat Enjoy.

And until Next time, Cook eat and Enjoy!!!

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Pork & Greens Tteok-bokki  

I love food from all different nations and backgrounds. I believe the best way to learn about a culture is through their food!!!! Yummmy!!!!🤤🤤🤤
I absolutely love rice noodles, but a few months ago I discovered Tteok-bokki or Korean rice cakes or sticks. These are lovely thick chewy noodles made from rice and formed in different shapes, typically long cylinders. One can typically find them in Asian food markets for fairly cheap. This bag ran me under $5 here in Portland Oregon area.


On to my tasty tteok-bokki dish.

Boil your desired amount of rice sticks until soft. Drain and set aside. You can stir a teaspoon of oil so they don’t stick.

For this dish I used hog jowls that I cut into chunks. However, if you can not find hog Jowls, you can use thick bacon as well.


Cook meat until cooked thoroughly, then remove to a paper towel.


Pour all fat left in pan from meat in a coffee mug and set aside except for about 3 tablespoons.

Dice 1 large onion (white or yellow) and add to pan and let cook for about. 3 minutes in high heat.


Add in 1 package of sliced mushrooms (crimini or white)


1 teaspoon oh diced garlic and 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger.


Add a little salt, Cook together another 4 minutes.

Add a handful of baby Arugula to pan and stir 30 seconds.

Add in the tteok-bokki or rice sticks and turn off heat.


Now I purposely did not make a sauce for this dish because I wanted to try this Frank’s RedHot Stingin’ Honey Garlic Hot sauce. But you can make any sauce; use soy sauce, hoisin, etc.


I added my Honey Garlic Hot sauce on top of my dish and sat down and enjoyed the chew.


Now when and if you reheat this, you must do so throughly because the rice cake need a little extra heat to soften up. So 2 minutes in the microwave might do or you can just reheat on the stove with a little water.


Until next time; Cook, Eat and Enjoy!!!!

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Quick Angel Hair Pasta with Veggies

Hey Winners, this meal takes a quick 10 minutes. In the time it takes to boil a handful of angel hair pasta, the rest will be done. So quickly:

Boil a handful of angel hair pasta.
-in a pan with olive oil about 6 crimini mushrooms sliced, 1 small onion sliced, sauté.  Then slice an heirloom tomato add to the pan, with a teaspoon of diced garlic.

-Cook for about 3 minutes sprinkle with a little salt. Add crush red pepper if you like it spicy.

-Deglaze with red wine vinegar
– add pasta and finish with parmesan.

No meat required or needed.
Until next time: Cook, Eat and Enjoy and take it one day at a time. Stay encouraged.
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