Food Review: Tai Pei Pork Egg Rolls

So, I reviewed the Tai Pei Combination Fried Rice and with that I also tried the Pork Egg Rolls. I have never had frozen egg rolls before so this was definitely a first for me but it's an egg roll, right, so how wrong could it go?

In the package there were 9 egg rolls. Normally there is 8 however another one was in there so right away I was pleased because that was even more cost effective than I thought. In the box there was also three little packages of marina sauce to dip it in. You can cook these in the microwave for 3 minutes or throw them in the oven for 20 minutes, it's all based on preference and how hungry you are versus how long you are willing to wait to eat.

I prepared these both ways. I, first, cooked them in the microwave and my impressions was that it was mushy and not very egg roll-like. When you go to the Chinese restaurant and get egg rolls you get a crunchy exterior with a nice filling inside. This was mushy on the outside and not a lot of filling on the inside and it didn't taste much like an egg roll. The marina sauce is weird to me, when you think in reference to Chinese cuisine, so I didn't try it with that and I also didn't miss it.

After cooking in the oven, on a pizza stone, for 20 minutes you had a somewhat soggy underside and the top was a nice, golden, crunchy crust. Again, I did not use the marinara because I really didn't want to on Chinese food. The first bite was crunchy and very lovely however as the egg rolls cooled a bit they become less crunchy so you have to eat them almost right away to get the full experience.

Flavoring of the egg rolls were almost typical of a restaurant style roll. These were pork but there wasn't a lot of pork present. It seems like there were too many layers of phyllo dough and somewhat skimpy on the filling. In my honest opinion I would not want to make a habit of microwaving because the quality is greatly disturbed in this form. I mean, microwaves should only be used to nuke something for a few minutes to heat it up, not actually cook something like egg rolls. Oven was okay, I would definitely turn the rolls halfway through the cooking process to ensure that they are not soggy-ish on the bottom. I almost feel like the instructions to microwave should have been replaced by the option to deep fry. Only then would you get a real snapshot of what it's supposed to taste like. When you go to the restaurant they deep fry their egg rolls. Another change they need to possibly look in to is adding soy sauce and duck sauce in the box and nixing the marina. When I think marina I think pasta and pizza and outside of the brand of pizza named "Cheetza" (Chinese form of pizza), Chinese food is not Italian in any way.

Overall I would definitely recommend these. Good amount for a decent amount of money and it accompanies the Chinese food well. Fry it, put it in the oven, just please leave the microwave out of the process.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Food Review: Tai Pei Combination Fried Rice

Another new item that I just had to try. I don't eat a lot of Chinese food but when I do I don't want to be overcharged for it so when I saw Tai Pei I decided to try. I was desperately searching for pork fried rice but I couldn't find it. That tends to be my go-to whenever I do go for Chinese like once a year. Unfortunately I didn't find it. I ended up with the Combination rice which consisted of white chicken, pork, peas and carrots with oyster-flavored sauce.

Here's the thing. When I think fried rice I think that the rice is fried, not just 100% white rice that is sauteed for a few moments and then tossed with additions. That's what I got with this. I was extremely shocked at how low quality this dish was. I could have made rice-a-roni, tossed it with a little chopped up chicken and pork and threw some frozen veggies in and it and tossed it with some soy sauce and it would have been much better than what was in that box. Not to mention I think a lot of the Chinese flavor we all love comes from some form of soy sauce. By this dish actually using oyster sauce (which does't really come out in flavor, it was too delicate of a flavor to marry the Chinese taste with the white rice) you lose the other half of the Chinese flavor, the first half being actual fried rice.

Preparation was not too difficult. I placed it in the microwave for 5 minutes and it heated beautifully. The package says to leave the plastic on and intact (i.e no punctures, slits, etc) but what they don't tell you is to make sure you use pot holders to take the container out of the microwave because the container is super hot. Definite possibility of burning yourself so if you must try, keep that in mind.

Overall I would say that if you don't really like Chinese food all that much then this is perfect because in spite of what the package says this is not Chinese food, it's white rice with stuff in it and a flavorless pointless sauce mixed in it. If you want a more Chinese-American authentic flavor I would go to the store, get a box or two of rice-a-roni, get some skinless-boneless chicken, get a little bit of pork from the deli, find some subtle frozen veggies, and a bottle of soy sauce and throw this together in your wok at home because I, personally, think that would be so much better.

Rating: 1.5 out of 10

Why Do I Only Deal With Myself?

I always hear people tell me that I should have more friends and wonder why I don't hang out. I used to have a lot of people around me that I considered friends and I really, honestly, and truly treated them as such. Then the truth came out. They were being fake and either plotting against me or speaking ill words against me behind my back. I then realized that people are phony for the most part and its best to stick to myself.

What is the purpose of having so many people around? Is it really to have people to talk to or do you not like being by yourself? If you don't like being around yourself its a good idea to ask yourself why. Too much thinking? Boring? Uncomfortable? I used to be like that that, constantly needing to be around people and when I couldn't be I would have to have the television on and watching something. Anything to keep my mind off myself and what's wrong in my life. It also helped me escape my depression at the time. I was completely depressed and as long as I was entertained in some way I didn't have to think about all that was wrong. This doesn't fix the issue though. It's a clever cover but when the cover must come off you are still left with what you didn't deal with in your life.

I used to be a woman who had a lot of electronics, gadgets, anything to keep my mind occupied when I wasn't working. It eventually consumed me. I couldn't live without that stuff. I almost became addicted in a way. How did I become unglued from materialistic needs? Losing your home and having to lose everything, not just once but three times. It was only at that point when I realized it didn't matter. I mean, who cares about a 50 inch tv and a DVD player while you're sleeping on a bench in the middle of February where its freezing outside and sleeting? That was the furthest thing from my mind. I became okay with just being in my own mind at that point. I had to think and stay on my toes during that time to be able to get through it without going insane. Perhaps those who find that these "creature comforts" are necessary in life are the same people who have never gone through anything real in life and have a lot of demons in their mind that they are running from. It's a coping mechanism.

This same revelation correlates to my need to be by myself and only let in a few people. When I went through hard times I found out who was with me and who turned their back. I thought I had all these wonderful friends but who cares about Jane, Jake, Valery and Mike when none of those people will acknowledge you in hard times. It was a rude awakening. Even after that rude awakening I still continued to try and trust others thinking it was just the friends I picked but not actually human nature to be backstabbers and cold when they are needed. I find that 96% of the people I come across aren't worth being around. This taught me to rely on myself and no one else when it comes to being happy. Placing happiness in things and people is disastrous when those things and people desert you. All you are left with is yourself and if you aren't happy with yourself or comfortable with yourself then you are in a world of trouble.

To end this madness of needing to have people and things I am going to say I don't need it. Not because I feel like I'm too good for it but because I have gone through that part of life and realized that the gadgets aren't worth the price tags and the people aren't worth your time if you aren't right with yourself. You will catch me by myself most of the time sitting in silence a lot of that time and find that I will have outdated items like tube televisions because I didn't care to upgrade to the latest and greatest mainly because I just don't care anymore about that stuff. I don't even have a cell phone anymore, that should tell you something about how I'm starting to feel about that sort of thing. Be happy with yourself, be content with yourself and the rest will fall into place.

Food Review: Angry Orchard Hard Apple Cider

Being that I tend to like light beer and wine coolers it was only right that I picked this up. I was hanging around the alcohol section of Walmart and couldn't find what I was seeking. I am always in search of Old Rasputin but Walmart doesn't carry it so I always end up looking for something else. I am in the experimental alcohol stage as I try to narrow down what is palatable to me and what I should always pass on. I was in the alcohol section for a while until this dude came over and helped me. He worked for the ABC store I believe and he simply took what I normally drink and threw out some choices, one of which was the hard apple cider. 

I normally go for Bud Light, Bud Light Platinum, B&J Fuzzy Navel when I want flavor. I also go for any of the Mike's Hard Liquor. This flavor was different from anything I have ever tasted. When you first taste it you get almost a sugar sweet tease with a hint of apple, then immediately get hit with a light alcohol flavor to remind you its spiked. The after flavor was that of a decent green apple. It goes from sweet to tart back sweet then authentic apple flavor. The issues I normally have with flavored drinks where the flavor is often difficult to duplicate is that it comes off as a fictitious rendition of what it should taste like. Kind of like strawberry soda, orange kool aid, and jolly rancher apple fake flavor but this was surprisingly good and it depicted the authentic flavor well. So well that I wonder if actual apples were in the making process.

I didn't pour this into a glass or anything so I can't attest to how much foam there was or the overall color of the drink. I normally drink straight from the bottle. Nevertheless, this is a definite add to my list of alcohol beverages to grab. This goes well with dinner, especially if dinner happens to have cheese in it because, remember, apples and cheese were born to mate together in holy foodrimony. 

Rating: 9.7 out of 10

Food Review: Sbarro Frozen Sausage and Cheese Pizza

Alright, so I enjoy trying new products if I get a chance to see them at the grocery store and they're not too expensive. I am usually in the know about the different varieties of pizza because, as I said in a previous post, pizza is one of my favorite foods. Anyhow, I ran into the Sbarro sausage and cheese pizza. Normally I don't go for sausage and cheese, I like pepperoni, but this was the only flavor so I grabbed it.

When I took it out of the box I was surprised at how much cheese was on it. Normally on frozen pizza's you have to grab the shredded mozzarella from the fridge and fill in the dead spots with all sauce and nothing else to give a more well balanced experience and also to cover up the lackluster sauce but this was well covered with moderate amount of sausage. It took 21 minutes to cook on 375 degrees. I know the box says 400 degrees but you have to go off how your oven bakes. If I turned my oven on 400 and put that pizza in for 21 minutes the cheese would be close to black. Take notice of how the oven bakes and ignore the instructions.

While it cooked I smelled nothing. I couldn't even tell I was baking a pizza which is not the result I would get from a DiGiorno or Tombstone. You can normally smell the pizza baking but not this one. When I removed it from the oven I could tell right away that the sausage was going to be a let down. It was watery sausage. Like, it had more water base than spices and if you are just putting cheese and sausage on a pizza trust me you want spice to add flavor and color. 

The first bite was okay but I didn't taste anything really. The sauce tasted like that canned Hunt's sauce you can get for $1.68 at Walmart and the cheese lacked flavor. The sausage had a little flavor because, I mean come on, its sausage but it could have packed more of a punch. To be honest, I could have chosen to eat something else tonight and probably been happier. The saving grace was the beverage I had with it which was Angry Orchard Hard Apple Cider. That review is coming next.

Would I purchase this brand again? No. Just so that we're clear, I can 100% see why Sbarro is going out of business. The pizza from the store in the mall tastes exactly like this and I must have been starving and didn't notice the non flavor before but now that I know I can pass this up. I recommend getting Tombstone pepperoni because at the very least the tiny pepperoni's in the sauce alone destroys the entire experience of this pizza.

Rate: 3.5 out of 10

Dealing with Racism on the Job

When you think racism you think of people watching you when you walk into a store because of your race or ethnicity thinking you are going to steal something. Cops pulling you over and asking a lot of inappropriate questions because you don't look like someone who would have enough money to afford that car. Being passed over for a job because you are who you are and the job was given to someone who doesn't deserve it but their "look" fits the image the company wants to portray. Going to the store and purchasing groceries and watching people look at you from behind to see if you are paying with food stamps or a debit card because, after all, you have on clothes that are not tattered and torn and a cell phone so of course you shouldn't have government assistance. All these scenario's, and so many more, spring to mind when someone uses the word however this is not what I'm referring to.

Customer service racism. When you call in to your service provider for cell phones, electricity, water, sewage, even insurance, what are you thinking? Chances are you are thinking, I need to figure out what's going on with my bill, I need new equipment, I want to see what deals they have on service, etc. Then you hear it. The call is picked up and its an African American woman on the line. You go from somewhat annoyed to completely annoyed in one second. Are you one of the ones who ask immediately for a supervisor and couch it in "it's not you it was the rep before and now I don't want to talk to you, just your supervisor."? I often wonder how many people truly react like that based off who answers. It doesn't even have to be an African American. It can be someone who is foreign and you  automatically deduce that you can't understand what they're saying before they get a chance to speak and request to speak to an "American".

These stereotypes help perpetuate the racism that still plagues the United States. One feels that they can sometimes escape the world at work so long as they don't have to deal with racism but there's nowhere to run when it follows you to your job.

I once had a customer like this. I had a few but this one stuck out to me the most. I was working for a very popular cell phone company and I was trying to figure a man's bill out. I was looking back a few months because I had a hunch he was due for a decent credit based off mistakes found in his current bills. He was impatient and rude, which is not out of the ordinary. However, as I asked him to have just a little more patience because it was going to pay off big time in the end he called me a nigger. He said that "my people" were worthless and that I was a cunt and a bitch. My supervisor was monitoring the call at the time and he sensed I was becoming distraught and stepped in to take over the call so I could go on an impromptu break and clear my mind. This man was not worrying about recuperating the money he called in to recuperate. Once he got me on the phone his whole reason for calling shifted to disrespecting and de-humanizing me because of who I was. It was upsetting but I guess I have become desensitized to the true effects those words should have on me and that's really a shame.

This certainly wasn't the last call I had ever had like that but it was definitely a first and I didn't know what to say because I couldn't believe someone could be so rude and heartless. The thing about racism is that its rarely ever about the person of race but more or less the way the person pressing the prejudices feel about themselves and their worth, adequacy. They feel like different is a bad thing and its best to shut out the differences to preserve this utopia they think they live in. Differences must be extinguished. America is a melting pot of many different ethnicities so its almost a must that you get along with most cultures or chances are you will be shut out of life and success much like you started out to do originally with different races. You are free to feel how you want to feel but the other part that most forget is that you also have the right to be condemned for what you freely choose.

Racism is a drain in our community and its still rampant. It could be your friends, parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, even children. You could live next door to someone who appears to be nice and enjoy shooting the occasional breeze with you in passing and they seem genuine. You ride off to work, answer the phone and give your greeting and first name. The person on the other line could be the very person you just spoke to on the way to work only now they see you as not a person, but an ethnicity that should go away. Think about it.

Love Can Be A 4 Letter Word

In the past I always thought I knew what love meant and how to achieve it. When love hits you, you just know it, right? Some claim this but I am here to tell you that not everyone has that reaction. It takes time, cultivation and patience. Love can be very messy and can sometimes be difficult but what keeps the love strong is knowing what those barriers are and working together to overcome them.

Have I ever been in love for real? Yes I have. See, I once had a high school sweetheart that I thought I loved but I was too selfish and too immature back then to really even know what love was. I loved him in the only way I knew how to but it wasn't a love and endure for the rest of your life kind of love. I then met someone after that. I loved him with my entire heart. I was floating on cloud nine and there was nothing that could burst my little bubble of bliss. And then he started changing. Crashed my entire world down. It was a very long relationship and with that came a lot of anger, resentment, and domestic disputes. See, I thought love meant enduring everything I went through with that relationship.  Putting my own life aside and joining him in his. Allowing myself to become almost seen but never heard. I thought love meant changing yourself to fit someone and their idea of who they think you should be. I was wrong on all accounts of that. Love is not changing who you are, being silent when you should be speaking up for yourself or allowing emotional and physical torture. I was completely wrong, but how could I have gotten it so wrong? I took all aspects from my last relationship that failed and changed it completely when I met the next one. I got it so wrong with the first relationship that the second one should have been perfect. There is no such thing as perfection. Thinking there is and looking for perfection can keep you from meeting a lot of wonderful people who could have been good enough.

Attributing perfection to love is going to be the ultimate downfall. Love is accepting someone exactly as they are even if they may do things you don't always like. Love is being tolerant of that individual and accepting all of their imperfections. Love is being honest and true to the person that you are with. Love is not stepping out and entertaining others because you know this would hurt the person you are with and if you are in love you would never want to hurt that person. Love is setting aside your own insecurities and taking a leap of faith on the fact that there is someone out there who completes you. Lastly, love is whatever you want it to be. There is no real cookie cutter definition. If the two parties involved have their own rules as to what they want the relationship to be and respect each other enough to adhere to whatever is discussed then you love the way you want to love and in the end that is all that matters!

Lighter Topic: Favorite Foods of All Time!

I have had a lot of different foods in my time...okay, this is The Truth Files so I will be honest. I have never had Thai, authentic Chinese, Japanese, or any other urban food. I have had a lot of Italian and American cuisine. My all time favorite foods consist of ice cream, pizza, pasta, burgers. If it's not in any relation to those types of items I tend to not eat it. You will catch me once in a while eating something with chicken but I am not a large chicken fan. In fact, I tend to not like it 99% of the time and I will tell you why. When I was a child growing up my parents cooked chicken like 4-5 times out of the week. Every time dinner came around it was something with chicken or friend chicken. By the time I reached the age of 10 I had vowed to not eat any more chicken. I understand chicken is cheap when you think of the price per portion and feeding a family of 5 but that was just too much chicken. For many many years after that I refused to eat anything that had the word chicken printed on it. This goes for Top Ramen and burrito's as well (chicken burrito's are nasty anyhow, who actually eat those?).

Nowadays I eat chicken once in a blue moon and it has to be in a specific format. I don't eat chicken legs and whatnot with bones on it. It has to be boneless, skinless chicken and mixed into a dish for me to dive in on it. I have seen a recipe where you can take boneless, skinless chicken and throw it in the oven with a little chopped onion and green pepper and an entire bottle of salad dressing like ranch or blue cheese and cook for an hour. Then serve with veggies or rice. I can get behind that and I intend on trying it one day. But make no mistake about it. I love cheese covering the chicken. Sharp flavored cheese. So much cheese that you can't taste the chicken kind of cheese.

Smothering chicken with cheese kills the nutritional value of it, may as well eat a cheeseburger and this argument works most of the time. Nevertheless, enough about chicken. I have loved pizza ever since I was a child. I can't remember my first piece of pizza but when I had it I continued to eat it. There was one year that I stopped eating pizza because I wanted to get healthier and try other foods out there. I stopped eating pizza and drinking soda. I actually did make it to a year because contrary to popular belief if you believe in wanting to be healthy you can put mind over matter and cut off what you shouldn't be eating. I had no problem cutting those types of food off and I did, indeed, lose a bit of weight. However, the love between pizza and I was too much to keep us apart and I re-introduced it back to my repertoire of eatery and it has remained ever since.

Some say I have the eating habits of a 4 year old and I agree. I can't eat things that don't taste good just because people tell me it's super healthy. I eat what I want, when I want, and I do it because I'm an adult and I have it like that.

Sudanese Woman Sentenced to Death because she's a Christian

I was scrolling through my timeline and saw a story via CNN that is showing outrage over the fact that an 8 month pregnant Sudanese woman is being executed because she believes in Christianity and refuse to renounce her faith. This saddens me because the very people who condemn this woman for her faith wants others to be tolerant of their faith. Muslims, known to be extreme in every way, are some of the most hateful people I have ever had the displeasure of coming across.

This is not a one world religion, everyone has the right to pray to who they want. What really gets me is that Muslims pray to "Allah" which translates God. Outside of their extremist views a lot of what they practice is congruent with what Christianity practice. Why, then, do they make being a Muslim and nothing more, the focal point of their life quest? They should know, as well as Christians, that when you die no one but God will be there to judge you. In the end it won't matter how extreme you were in your views, all that will matter is what kind of person you were and if you held true to God's principles. I think what they are doing is crappy and I hope they pay greatly for this when they finally die.