Day 30 - Finish Line

Anime themed Hotel Tomo in our room

The last day and it ended with a sputter and not a bang. Prepping for vacation next week but I had a last minute assignment from work to fly to San Francisco. The only problem is when I go away for vacation there is lots to do and I got so lost in all of the prepping for leaving and prepping for vacation that I forgot my Ramen at home. And as mentioned in previous blogs there is nothing close to work that has vegetarian Ramen. So I ate some salad and met with my coworkers for lunch at the mall.

San Francisco

My plane was leaving at 5:30 and I had to pack still so I left work early and raced home. I decided to take my wife with me to keep me company and so that she could visit our friends and family up in the bay area. The place I was working was in Japantown so we stayed at Hotel Tomo which is an Anime themed hotel in walking distance from where I was working.

View from Hotel Tomo 7th floor

The food in the area was amazing and it was a great way to start the vacation even though I had to work two days. I didn't get to eat Ramen that night either since it was so late when we got in but I did go to a nice Japanese restaurant that had good vegetarian sushi.

Hotel Tomo lobby

It was a nice trip to San Fran and the food was good as usual. I could see myself living up here and maybe someday it would be a possibility. It is very expensive though. When I got back from vacation I had some Ramen at work since I needed to make it up to myself. It was decent but the new microwave at my new office doesn't work as well as the old one so it took some doing to get it working right with Ramen.

I hope you have enjoyed the Ramen diet blog. Let me know if you start one of these and how it is going. Thanks for reading!

Day 29 - New Office Style

Ramen erasers

My company moved over the weekend to a new office. I decided to bring in my new Ramen erasers that I bought in little Tokyo to celebrate. For lunch I had to learn the new layout of the office kitchen and test out the Ramen skills of the new microwave. It did ok for the first try. I am glad to be close to finished on this adventure.

Pizza Ramen

There was some left over pizza from the office move this weekend and I couldn't resist having some Ramen pizza one more time. Since it was day old (or more like two day old) I had to eat it with a knife and fork.

Tastes like Oriental

For dinner I got home a little later than I had hoped. Sometimes the traffic sucks and it was unusually bad for a Monday coming home. Then I had planned to make some BBQ and that requires a lot of running in and out of the house. I didn't have any I was just making it for the family. So I couldn't make my Ramen until they were setup with the BBQ stuff. I just threw something together with some plain old Top Ramen.

Ramen quickly prepared

I made a few sausage patties and chopped those up for the Ramen as well. I wasn't sure how sausage would taste in the Ramen but it was pretty good.

Thanks for checking in. I'm almost done with this experiment. Do you celebrate or reward yourself after a long successful run at something?

Day 28 - Quesarito Done Right

Now that's a Quesarito!

So if you remember a few weeks ago I tried to get a Quesarito from Chipotle and they failed. So this week I decided to take my Ramen burrito fix to the next level with my own home made Quesarito. I got two full size tortillas and a shit load of cheddar cheese and made a massive quesadilla.

Quesadilla base

Then I cooked up some Ramen and laid that inside the quesadilla center.

Getting there, looking good

Then I went to Chipotle and got a burrito bowl with tofu meat and all the fixin's and dumped part of that on the Ramen.

Oh yeah! How are you going to wrap that?

Then I tried to wrap it all up. It was a little full at first and I was afraid it might burst at the seems. I removed some of the filling and tried again and got it done.

Ramen Quesarito

I cut this thing in half to make it more manageable. It was heavy and greasy and huge. This was so good! The grease from the cheese was a bit much but I didn't care. After I was done (and I did finish it) I felt so full it took all day to recover. I walked around in a stupor barely able to wake from the carb coma. I would do it again but possibly lower the cheese to something less crazy.

For dinner all I could do was make a normal Ramen so I didn't die. I am on the last few days of this thing and I'm just trying to get through it at this point. Looking forward to having more choices for food. What would you eat if you could have anything?

Day 27 - Off To The Races

Made my kid some steaks and potatoes

For my cheat day today I was hoping to sleep in. Instead my mind said wake up at 5am. I went out and purchased everything to make breakfast for the family and got my daughter some steak and potatoes and a doughnut. My wife got potatoes and some vegan sausage and I had the same. We then packed everything up and went out to the race track to watch the ponies and lose some money.

Beautiful sunny day at the races

We didn't win on any of our races but we had a good time with family. We went to the races for a memorial for my Aunt in law who passed last month. I met lots of people I had never seen before and we laughed and at junk food all afternoon. One of the highlights of the day was Cheez-Its. I hadn't had a Cheez-It in years and they are so good!

Nector of the Gods

After we got home we had some In-N-Out which is starting to become a Saturday thing around here. My band was supposed to play but it got canceled.

My daughter's view of the races

It was a good family day and at the end of it I was glad to not drive far away and play a show and sleep in. How was your weekend?

Day 26 - Move Day

Work lunch making table

At work today we are busy running around moving our office to a new location. I brought some Ramen for lunch and cooked it up with no issues. The Annie Chun's Ramen is always very good since the noodles are more fresh than normal Ramen. I added the flavor packet to the broth I already have for a little extra flavor.

Vietnamese vermicelli noodles

I got home late so I ran to the local Pho shop. They have a very tasty noodles with egg roll and tofu dish that they make for me. I have them add their peanut sauce to the mix and it hits the spot. Especially since they are the only place near me to get anything made for you that is even close to Ramen.

A little easier in a bowl than Styrofoam 

It was a long day but everything turned out good. After dinner I made my wife some brownies with cookie dough on top. She loved them. We used flax seed powder instead of eggs and they were very fluffy and light.

OMG YES!

Thanks for checking in. What do you get when you're in a rush after a long day at work?

Day 25 - Ramen Hot Dog Burrito Day 2

Organic Ramen

For lunch I made some of my organic Ramen noodles bought at Albertson's. THey are kind of funky since they are so brown, but not bad tasting. I tossed in some cabbage, broccoli, and onions and had a pretty standard lunch.

Vegan Ramen very bland

For dinner I was craving another hot dog burrito so I went to the store to get some vegetables and cheese. I decided to add some spice and bought a jalapeno to cook with it.

Jalapeno pepper

I seeded the jalapeno and chopped it up for cooking in a frying pan with a little olive oil spray. I also cooked up a leek and some bok choy with my Ramen. I went with the Ramen I got at the vegan store which doesn't have a ton of flavor so I added some soy sauce.

Ramen burrito with hot dogs

Then I cooked up some beans and the threw the hot dogs in with the Ramen to cook. Today I added only enough to make the burrito full and it stayed together much nicer than the day before. The hot dogs grossed out my wife but they added a good flavor to the whole thing. I topped it all with some sliced avocado which was so good!

Thanks for checking in. Only 5 more days left of this Ramen eating. Has anyone else out there thought about trying this out at their house?

Day 24 Ramen Hot Dog Burrito

Vegan hot dogs

So I am getting tired of the Ramen diet and trying to spice some things up food wise. I did like my previous Ramen burrito and I have some left overs in the fridge so I decided to make a concoction of epic proportions.

My burrito exploded

I made another Ramen burrito but this time I also tossed in some hot dogs chunks. When I tried to wrap the whole thing up it had a blow out and I was forced to extract some Ramen from the burrito. It continued to get worse and became a huge messy slop fest. It tasted great but was a little difficult to manage.

Ramen Hot Dog Burrito

I worked from home today and I really wanted to go out to a Mediterranean place that my wife and I love. They only have buffet during the week and it was calling my name. But this fucking Ramen shit ruined that. I am looking forward to the end so I can eat normal again.

Pasta bake for the family

For dinner I made everyone pasta bake. I wanted this almost as much as I wanted something else for lunch. But I made my faithful Ramen dinner and bared it.

Another bowl of Ramen

Nothing special about this nighttime Ramen. I am getting burnt out and wishing I had more food choices. I am looking forward to being done. On a plus (i think) side, the salt is no longer affecting me. This could be due to the fact that I am using a broth and not the salt packets that come in cheap Ramen.

Thanks for checking in. Have you ever been sick of your food choices?

Day 23 - Vegan Duck Ramen

Vegan duck substitute 

For lunch today I found a great restaurant on Yelp. it was near the place I was working and had other options for the guys I had to take out to eat. We drove over and I was looking forward to having a big bowl of fresh Ramen. When we got there it was shut down. There wasn't even the hint of an old Ramen place, it was vacant. So I had to take the guys to a pizza buffet that was next door to the empty suite. I had a salad.

When in doubt salad it is

For dinner the family was microwaving some food so I decided to make the vegetarian duck that I had bought a week ago at 99 Ranch. I cooked it in the frying pan with a little soy sauce and some mushroom oyster sauce (fake oyster).

Fake duck fried with soy sauce and mushroom fake oyster sauce

When I opened the can my wife turned up her nose at it. I have always liked fake duck so I was looking forward to it.

Not so appetizing in the can

I cooked up my usual Ramen fare and added the duck to the top. It was very good and I need to buy some more of that. I always like to have a little protein for substance in my Ramen and after awhile tofu is just freakin' boring.

Fake duck Ramen with veggies

Even though I didn't get Ramen for lunch for the past two days this duck made it all a success. You have to roll with the punches when you're doing something out of the ordinary. Thanks for checking in. What did you have to overcome that was out of the ordinary?

Day 22 - Avocado Egg Rolls

Egg Rolls and Stuffed Mushrooms

I got a new employee that started working for me on Monday. It is customary to take them out to eat for their first day in the office so I had to find somewhere that worked for the team. We went to BJ's and I was hoping for an Asian salad I could eat but found none that would work. I ended up getting the avocado egg rolls and stuffed mushrooms.

For dinner and went to a sushi place for the family. I had hoped that they would have Ramen but they did not. They did have udon but I didn't want that. I just made some Ramen at home and there wasn't much special about it so I didn't take a picture.

It was a fairly busy day so I had no time to document much. Tomorrow will be about the same and I will most likely have to take another company business meeting lunch. Hopefully there is a Ramen place around that I can visit with everyone.

Thanks for checking in. What do you do when your lunch diet plans are interrupted?

Day 21 - Ramen Burrito

When making some weird Ramen creation, this works the best

I woke up this morning tore up from the night before. Whenever my band plays late I feel so worn out the day after. This morning I woke up in a jolt and felt burnt out all day. I got a coffee and tried to wake up but it didn't help much. For lunch I decided to make a Ramen Burrito.

Any good burrito starts with beans and cheese

I cooked up some Ramen and veggies and let them sit for a little while to soak up the moisture and flavor. Whenever you're adding Ramen to something I find letting it soak in a just a little bit and then draining it works the best. The Ramen has a good flavor and the noodles are a little bigger and juicier.

Ramen and veggies

I added my favorite sauce, Cholula chili and garlic. Then I dumped out the remaining broth and added the Ramen to the burrito.

Lunch of Champions

Tapatio aint got nothin' on me

Ramen Burrito

I had to go shopping for groceries after lunch. It took all my effort to wake up and move around multiple stores as tired as I was. I got it done and just cooked a normal Ramen dinner with nothing fancy. I made the family hot dog corn bread muffins with tater tots. I was too tired to be jealous of them.

Basic Ramen

Thanks for checking in. What do you do when you are too tired to function?

Day 20 - Cheat Day and Punk Show

For breakfast I stopped at Baker's and got a bean and cheese burrito, some hash browns and and orange juice. They started selling coffee with flavors awhile back and I hadn't ever tried their coffee. I went with the moca coffee and it was very good. That is what cheat days are for anyway, eating stuff you want to try out that is not good for you.

Dr. Pepper

Chocolate Shake

For lunch I stopped at In-n-out again and got a grilled cheese, fries, and a shake. It was too much. I felt like shit for at least an hour. I used to be able to eat two grilled cheese and not even bat an eye when I was younger but not anymore.

Animal Fries with Mustard

For dinner I had Pieology. This is restaurant in our area where you can order custom pizzas. If you've ever been to Chipotle then it's like that but for pizza. You basically move down the pizza assembly line and point at ingredients while they make your food. They have everything under the sun.

The best plate is the top of the box

The crust is think which I don't prefer on a pizza but it is a very good pizza. I got mushrooms, olives, gorgonzola, artichokes, and jalapeno on mine with a pesto sauce after it's baked squirted on top. I was still full from lunch so I only had have my pizza. 

That's me on the drums

I played a punk show with my band The Atomic Bombs tonight and they had food at the bar. Typical for a bar though, not much for me to eat. I remained full and only drank water all night. I got home around 2:30 am and fell into bed exhausted. 

Thanks for checking in. Did you do anything that made you exhausted this weekend?

Day 19 - Pizza Ramen

And let the justification begin

If it has Ramen on/in it then it's Ramen. I had coffee for breakfast and that was it until lunch. The office brought in bagels and they were smelling so good but I held strong. At lunch my work also bought pizza and it came into the break room as I was cooking my Ramen. I used some organic noodles that I bought at 99 Ranch.

Tasty but a little thicker than I like

The Ramen noodles were very tasty but I found it difficult to cook these using only my little ceramic pot and a microwave. I made it work and then steamed my veggies with the broth I made from scratch yesterday. (For that recipe read my blog from Day 18.)

Broth, veggies, tofu, and mushrooms

After I cooked all my food I dumped half the Ramen on a single slice of Pizza and dug in. It was AMAZING! There was no weirdness or odd flavor. The greatness of pizza and the tangyness of Ramen blended like it's been that way since the dawn of time. My stomach and the bathroom about 30 min later were another story. A friend at work who had only the pizza had the same effect, which was unfortunate but I regret nothing!

Samosas

It is finally raining here in Southern California so my wife wanted some warm food for dinner. I went to the local market to get a bunch of Indian Food. Then I got the idea, Curry Ramen with Samosas! I bought some various easy to make currys. All you do is boil water and throw the bag in for a few minutes and then you have a plate of food.

Various Indian Curries

I also made some samosas and papadum. Samosas are pastries filled with spices, potatoes. peas, and awesome. Papadum is like a crunchy tortilla. They're super light and flaky with just a little spice to them. On the side was some basmati rice which is traditional for Indian food. I didn't have any rice since I was going to have curry Ramen.

Traditional Ramen

I cooked up my noodles and rinsed them off like usual. I should have used super hot water so that they kept their warmth because I cooled them off and eventually they got cold while I was eating. This isn't an issue usually since they sit in boiling broth. I added some Palak Paneer and Choley curry to my Ramen and topped it all with a samosa.

Indian Curry Ramen

It would have been better had the noodles not gotten cold pretty quick. I didn't want to microwave them and make it worse so I just ate cold Indian curry Ramen. The samosas we usually get are fresh made and they were out today so I had to buy some microwave ones that were not as good but passable. I enjoyed my food even though my family was grossed out again by my avant garde creations.

Thanks for checking in. Would you try Indian curry Ramen?