Death by Chocolate dessert

When you're limited in your food, you get creative and find easy way to do what you want.

Such as you buy pre-made dessert, so you don't have to hunt for it.  I got these at Costco. 

They come in 6 little glass jars.  The chocolate mousse part is fine, it's the chocolate shavings that kills me.  They are hard chocolate, unlike how they look, they are not as delicate as it seems.  So the first time, I didn't know and had a few bitting incident, where it hurt alot.  Second time, I learned and picked those off before eating.  Except, when it's humid, that's pretty much a lost cost.  Why is it a chocolate experience is because there's cake in the middle.  So, seemingly perfect, with chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, and chocolate shaving; unless you're me, who has a hard time with those.  

At any rate, you can get these for after dinner dessert, or parties at Costco. 

 

Cedar St. Cafe

Drove by this little hole in the wall when I was doing grocery shopping. 

Truly a tiny place.

You have some seatings here and 2 more tables on the side.

Kitchy wall decor.   I'd show you the outside, because it really match, but there were a few tables occupied, so I didn't want to disturb them.

Small cup of coffee, but like many other cafe, a latte to add a flavor and different kind of milk will drive up the price.  For $6 something on a latte is competitive to chains' pricing.  

What did I get?  Just a Soy Hazelnut Latte - they even bother to make a cute little flower.  It's not bad but coffee aren't super different.  They do have overnight oats and tacos here.  So feel free to check it out for a quick grab and go breakfast.  They are open form 7am - 3pm.

Cedar St. Cafe

215 N. Fifth Street

Bellaire, TX 77401

 

Japanese rice crackers

When you cannot chew with your front teeth, snacking can be a challenge. 

Not unless they come in small sizes and you can just munch bit by bit.

These are locally made in Japan by Senbei Lab.  They are shaped like flowers but they're actually salty.  Don't let the shape fool you.  The colors of these rice crackers are made from plum, shrimp, matcha, purple sweet potato, turmeric and chili pepper.  So, it's all natural, and it's very clever for them to use all parts of these ingredients to get the colors they want.

The Hello Kitty brand is a collab between Bokksu & Hello Kitty.  I've done Bokksu in the past.  While I do like to support mom and pop shops, the shipping and the cost of the box is not cheap.  What made me go back to it this time is truly because of the unique Hello Kitty product that they include.  You can check out their catalog here.  If you're not a Hello Kitty fan but appreciate different kinds of snacks, check out Bokksu's overstock.  They do have them for purchase outside of the box subscription.  Take a look see.

Hello Kitty Rice Crackers

Bokksu X Hello Kitty Collar

https://www.bokksu.com/pages/hello-kitty-and-friends-box-subscription

 

Chocolate Mousse

For a sweet tooth like me, dessert is a must.

Came across this at Whole Foods in their dessert section.  

It's their chocolate mousse.  Honestly it's pretty rich.  One cup basically take me 3-4 times to knock it all down.   But it's definitely milk chocolate to the max.  Very delicious.  Not something you can have all the time, but definitely is nice.

 

Houston Club

Just because I'm on a soft food diet, doesn't mean that I cannot eat out.

One of the neat places I got to go to was Houston Club.

It is up on top of One Shell Plaza in downtown.

It does have a neat view.  Too bad the day we were there was a tad cloudy.  But each table has a set of binoculars for you to check out how far it goes.

We started with burrata, which comes with tomato marmalade and crispy prosciutto.   Crispy prosciutto was a first for me.  But the burrata and tomato jam was nice.  Good taste and came thru very nice. 

Then we ordered Lobster Mac & Cheese.  I love Lobster anything, so no complaints from me.  The cheese was the cheesiest which has Cheddar & Fontina.  And the pasta just sits nicely in there.  

For entree, we did the Shrimp Risotto, its crab risotto with sun-dried tomato, and asparagus on the side, and you can see the saffron powder there.  It gives it an ump, and kick it up a notch.

While I mainly had the carbs, not the protein, it was still delicious.  Plus with the view, it's a great meal to boot. 

Here's a fancy plaque to say that they're historic even though they've moved several times now.  This location in particular was the main dining room for the Shell Executives 'back in the day'.  Now, it's a club for the tenants in the building.  So you do need to have a membership in order to get in.  Not to mention, if you don't, you have to take different elevators and twists and turns to get up there.  So if you're 'in the know', then you know. 

Up here, besides bar and dining, every day happy hour has food buffet style for members.  But they also have various meeting rooms, and private phone booth for any work calls you need to make.  They also have social events like Mother's Day brunch or Cinco De Mayo events.  So it's more social and business oriented. 

Houston Club

910 Louisiana 

top floor

Houston, TX 77002

https://www.invitedclubs.com/clubs/the-houston-club

 

Organic Daybreak Blend

One of the main ingredients for smoothie that is popular with my smoothies are fruit.

Saw this one at Costco, and it has decent mix of fruits. 

What I like about this too is that there's a seal for easy open and close.

As usual, add milk, sun butter, protein powder, and collagen powder.

This came out nice and voluminous, with all the add-ons, it came out pretty filling.  Totally worth doing.  With the 12oz milk it yields 16oz with the fruit.  Give that a try.

 

Liliput Chocolate

The danger of being in an office is that people will bring in snacks.

This one is worth it though.  It's from Switzerland and it has pralines.

It came with a box of 8, the chocolate is delicate, but the pralines came thru.

Some are fudge-like with a hint of praline, as opposed to bits of them in the mix of chocolate.  So it is on the richer-side in terms of flavors and taste.  

These Swiss fancy chocolates I was only able to search one 1 site.  I'm sure if you're in person in Switzerland, you can probably pick one up at local stores.  But since this was a gift, not like I can ask where can I buy it.  But the one website I found, they do have this 8 piece box set and a bigger one.  

Liliput Pralines

https://www.spruengli.ch/en/shop/chocolates-truffle/lilliput-pralines-8-pcs.html