A Pregnant Lady's Food Journal

I'm pregnant with my second child and I have to admit my pregnancy cravings this time around have been quite bizarre. With my first, I craved very healthy Japanese food and fruit. I love spicy foods and could not stand a tiny bit of spice with my first. Now with my second, I'd like to have a side of habanero peppers with each meal and a cold glass of Pepsi. Huh? I normally can't stand soda, the fizz really hurts my throat. In my current condition, I could down 12 ounces of cold Pepsi without even pausing for a breath. I also do not particularly enjoy chips when I'm not pregnant. I've gotten very familiar with the chip aisle as of late. Did you know they now make Flamin' Hot Lays-AWESOME! I thought it would be nice and funny to journal my latest cravings or meals since I don't scrapbook. So if I'm good about posting, there will be several bizarre food postings from a very pregnant blogger.

Today's lunch:

Doused with

The lunch of pregnant champions!

YUM Meter: ** :P

Mây's Cafe

No, I haven't stopped eating out (unfortunately for my wallet) I've just been too busy to blog about it. But this lunch break instead of reading blogs, I'll actually update mine. This entry is for my hubby who is craving Vietnamese food. I can't make it or take you there today, but you can drool over a past meal. 

My favorite phơ combo is tái gân (rare steak & tendon) $4.99

I love Vietnamese food. I think it's my favorite Southeast Asian cuisine. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of good places to get it in Fresno especially compared to Westminster, CA (little Saigon of CA). But I've made due and found a couple of decent places. My favorite dish is phơ but I haven't really found a place worthy of my affection or $$ in town. My bro and his lady like Mây's Cafe so we finally went and tried it. They serve Vietnamese food in typical Asian cafe style with pictures of most of the food on the walls. Compared to the other Vietnamese restaurants in the area, this place is far cleaner, not clean by western restaurant standards but your shoes don't stick to the floor and your chopsticks don't stick to the tables-that's always a good thing. My favorite Vietnamese dish is by far phơ: vermicelli rice noodles in a beef broth topped with your choice of beef cuts. They also serve it with bean sprouts, onions, cilantro, basil, chili pepper, mint, green onions and lime. Some people like to add all, some or none of the things to their soup. I personally add almost everything except basil and mist witch I like to eat fresh on the side. The phơ at Mây's is nothing exceptional but it's not horrible either. The broth is probably a combo of instant and/or packaged broth that they most likely cook with some beef to give it some authenticity. 

Bún Thit Nương with Egg rolls $7.25 

My husband's favorite Vietnamese dish is bun: cold vermicelli rice noodles mixed with fresh cut greens (lettuce, cilantro, bean sprouts) served with your choice of BBQ meat and/or egg rolls with spiced fish sauce. My husband enjoys BBQ pork with egg rolls. Too bad none of the Fresno places we visited serve bun with thin vermicelli noodles because it tastes a whole lot better. Instead it's served with more spaghetti like rice noodles, too thick in my opinion. Like their phơ, their bun is nothing exceptional. Their egg rolls are made with the flour won ton skin and not the traditional Vietnamese rice paper which makes them heavier and sub-par. 

Combination Fried Rice $6.99

My husband and I really enjoy their combination fried rice, the Chinese sausage make it yummy and special but other than that it's your standard cafe style fried rice with all the meats and canned vegetables (veg-all is it?).  

Cơm Sươn Bí Trưng (Sauteed Pork Chop, Mixed BBQ Pork, Skin Style Pork, Steamed Egg w/steamed rice) $6.50

I normally really like pork chop with broken rice because it's filling, tasty and cheap but this one was bad. It was served with steamed rice not the special broken rice the skin style pork had no flavor and the steamed egg was way over cooked. Very disappointing. 

Mây's Cafe is not the yummiest but it works when we need a Vietnamese food fix with our toddler because the food is decent, the place is clean and the service is fairly friendly.

Mây's Cafe

2327 N Fresno #102

Fresno, CA 93703

(559) 225-7990

M-Sat: 7am-9pm

Sun:7am-3pm

Yum Meter: *

Giovanni's Shrimp Truck

YAY! I think my morning sickness is over and I'm finally able to finish my Hawaii entries and then I'm back to food blogging about good ol' Fresno. This post I'm most excited about it. This meal was so good and I remember it so fondly, too bad the thought of anything from the sea was nauseating the last couple of weeks. If you love shrimp, garlic and butter this is a MUST. This place is definitely worth the drive to the North Shore. It's approximately an hour drive from Waikiki and is located in the town of Kahuku.  There is only one road so keep your eye out for this sign.  

They serve big, juicy Kahuku farmed shrimp in your choice of sauce: #1 Shrimp Scampi (and #1 for a reason), #2 Hot & Spicy, #3 Lemon & butter. All plates consist of 12 shrimp in your choice of sauce, two scoops of rice and a wedge of lemon for $12. It seems a bit pricey until you take your first bite...worth every penny. Hubby got the hot & spicy which definitely has a tabasco base. So if you don't like the vinegar taste of tabasco, stay away from the hot & spicy. I personally liked it, until I tried my order... 

This is what all the commotion is about, the scampi. OH MY!! We were bummed we wasted $12 on the hot & spicy once we took our first bite of the buttery, garlic goodness of the scampi. Even if I was on my first date with Adam Levine, I would still order this and make him suffer through my garlic breath and kisses. This is SO dang good that I'm bummed it's only available in Hawaii. The shrimp is cooked perfectly, not over cooked and rubbery. And the sauce, they're generous with the sauce but I could have seriously had a gallon of it but my heart thanks me everyday that I didn't. Giovanni's, I miss you!
Giovanni's Shrimp Truck

83 Kamehameha Highway

Kahuku, HI 96731

Yum Meter: ***

Waiola Shave Ice

I've been stalling on finishing up my Hawaiian food journey because I honestly haven't been able to stomach much of anything lately let alone write about it. But I'm finally back and feeling pretty good. Let's hope the chapter of morning sickness is behind me.

Waiola Shave Ice is something I could eat regardless of my condition. You may have heard of Matsumoto's but I never understood the rave over that place. It's all the way over in the North Shore and it's average shave ice. This place on the other hand made me want a rental car everyday just so I could have it ALL the time. The ice is so finely shaved it's smooth. This is not your typical sno-cone ice. It's like powdery snow with all the toppings and fixins you could ever imagine and then some. Waiola offers a dizzying array of syrups, toppings, powders, and extras you could eat with shave ice. I went for something unique and big, the azuki bowl. 

Sweet azuki beans and chewy rice balls are smothered in "I could never get enough" condensed milk. This is an Asian dessert dream. This is also a sweet, easy snack for the birds who anxiously wait for the next sucker to order this beauty so they could swoop in for the kill. I'm not kidding. These birds are aggressive and will do whatever it takes to get their beaks on as many azuki beans as they can. By the looks of their pudgy, fluffy bodies, they're doing quite well for themselves. So once you order this: duck, cover and run as fast as you can to your car to enjoy in safety (leave the windows up). We went with some friends and all ordered something different and all combos were good but mine was exceptional. I'm normally the type that likes to try new things all the time but I'm sticking with the azuki bowl. I could try the fruity flavors from my hubby and toddler.

Waiola Shave Ice (2 locations to serve your shave ice needs)

2135 Waiola St.             525 Kapahulu Ave.  

Honolulu, HI 96826         Honolulu, HI 96815

808-949-2269                808-735-8886

YUM Meter: ***