This is a blog for poor students (and other frugal people) in the Boston area (and other areas). Being thrifty doesn't mean that you can't eat well. Every week, I'll show you a new way to eat well without spending a fortune. Like the Poor Student on Facebook to see the latest posts first!
Orion is a Korean company that makes a variety of snack cakes. The Custard cream and Tiramisu cakes are probably two of the best cakes they make. Each box contains 12 individually wrapped cakes. For about $3 to $4 a box (depending on whether they are on sale), they are an awesome deal. They are comparable to American cakes like Twinkies but the portions are smaller and the cream is not as sweet. I suppose they are not "diet foods" but the nutrition information indicates that they are 100 calories or less per cake. Why eat a bag of dry pretzels when you can have cake?
In the Boston area, they are available at Hong Kong Supermarket (formerly Super 88) on Brighton Ave. They're probably at other Asian markets too. Enjoy!
Orion Cakes - Custard Cream filled - 12 in a box!
Individually packaged (0.81 oz) cake
Orion Cakes - Tiramisu flavor - 12 in a box!
Individually packaged (0.81 oz) cak
Orion Cakes - Nutrition info for Custard Cake (only 100 calories per cake!)
Orion Cakes - Nutrition info for Tiramisu Cake (only 90 calories per cake!)
Every now and then, I like to stop by Trader Joe's to pick out some new products to try. They're not very expensive and sometimes the products don't come back after one season. I think the reason they don't mind if people return stuff they don't like is because that's how they know which products suck. It's just fun to try some new things there. Here are a few recent products (that cost less than $5) that were pretty cool.
The fact that they're gluten-free makes them unique already.
Gluten free Chocolate Chip Cookies
They're definitely crunchier than other chocolate chip cookies. I really don't miss the gluten. They contain rice flour.
The Mideast Feast - only 600 calories!
2. The Mideast Feast is one of my favorite prepared meals from Trader Joe's. Ok, it's not new but I wanted to let you all know about it, in case you've never tried it. It's very filling, healthy, and tasty. The box includes hummus, tahini, falafel, pita bread, and tabbouleh. It's meat-free but there's enough protein. I'm not vegetarian but I still like this meal very much. At $4.99, it's very affordable too.
Nutrition Info for Falafel Chips
3. Falafel Chips - This is a new product. They are made with corn and garbanzo beans so the texture is a little different from regular tortilla chips. The spices are very tasty but they are a little harder than corn or tortilla chips. Try these with a dip or something to put on them because they are really almost like a cracker. If you look at the nutrition info, they have a healthy amount of fibre and protein, which make them a little healthier than regular chips. For $3.49 a bag, it's worth a try. The chips are packaged in a sealed plastic bag inside the paper bag.
In most large cities, there is at least one large Asian market that has a huge variety of products that you won't find at the other supermarkets, where anything that's remotely "ethnic" is premium priced. At the Asian markets, you can save a lot of money and have the opportunity to try new foods. In Boston area, there are plenty of stores with products from all over the world. There's an Indian store named "Shalimar" in Cambridge, a Korean store (forgot the name) near MIT, and Hong Kong Supermarket (formerly "Super 88") in Allston. At HK supermarket, you will find more than just Chinese products. They have Japanese curry and a small selection of Korean and other Japanese products. Their produce and meat sections are probably a lot more diverse and perhaps exotic than what you'd see in an American supermarket.
The fun part about going to HK supermarket is that they also have a food court attached to it, called "Super 88 Connection". I also noticed that they have a new Japanese restaurant there that serves rice (curry rice and "don") and ramen dishes but no sushi. The food court includes a Thai place, a Korean booth, an Indian booth, and a variety of Chinese booths. Dim sum chef has a pretty good selection of dim sum and they have pictures of the dishes on their menu, in case you don't know what they look like. They cook everything fresh, so you might have to wait about 5 to 10 minutes for your food. Fresh is good. Kantin is the place that has the roasted animals hanging in the window. Their menu is pretty long and has every Hong Kong style and Chinese-American style dish that you can imagine. That's the place I go to when I am very hungry.
Here is a selection of things I bought on a recent trip to HK supermarket:
1. Yeo's soy milk is made with Canadian soybeans. It comes in sweetened and unsweetened versions. The sweetened one can be a little too sweet so the unsweetened one can be used to make your drink less sweet by mixing it 50-50. The regular price is $1.29 for a 1 L box and goes on sale for about $1 now and then. It definitely tastes different from the stuff made by Silk or 8th Continent.
Yeo's soymilk - made with Canadian soybeans!
2. Shrimp flavored chips. These come in regular and wasabi flavors. Since they're baked, they're a little healthier than potato chips.
Wasabi flavored shrimp chips
3. Braised beef and wonton noodle soup (from Kantin, Super 88 Connection). If you get this to go, they will give you the soup part in one container and the rest of it in another container. This is so the noodles don't get too soggy and mushy by the time you get home. This is an awesome dish. Look for the booth with the roasted ducks hanging in the window. If you're coming from the supermarket, turn left after you go through the door that connects the supermarket to the food court. The booth is on the left.
Recently, a scooter shop in Avon, MA had a clearance sale because it was about to close down. I took the opportunity to take a ride there to see what I could get for my scooter. In their sale announcement, they said that they had Formosa saddlebags for only $29. Online, they're currently $55 (as of Dec. 29, 2011) but sell for up to $99. In the picture, they don't look durable but they are actually made of very good and sturdy material. The seat cover part is neoprene and the bags are made of a strong synthetic material. The velcro strip is quite wide and more than enough to keep the bags rolled up when they're not in use. I sewed a long strip of reflective tape on each bag for safety because they covered up the reflective tape that I had put on the scooter before I bought the bags.
Video review of Formosa Saddlebags - May 11, 2012
There seems to be only one in-depth review of these saddlebags on Modern Buddy and I wanted to add to that review by showing you how much these bags can hold so that you can see how useful they can be when you want to buy a lot of groceries at one time. With these saddlebags, I have an extra two spaces to put my fruits and vegetables. If I carry my backpack, I have a total of 6 places to carry stuff - the hook in front, the helmet hook under the seat, the under-seat storage (aka "pet carrier"), the backpack, and two saddlebags. However, keep in mind that heat-sensitive things should not be transported in the pet carrier because it gets very warm as the scooter is running. It's perfect for transporting take-out food because it will keep your food warm as you're riding home but very bad for things like raw meat or delicate fruits.
Rather than repeating what has already been said on Modern Buddy, I took some pictures and made a video to quickly review the bags and then show you what you can carry in them.
In the smaller bag (over the exhaust)
I wanted to fill up the two bags but really didn't need any more food for the week. In just the larger bag, I managed to fit a large package of goat chunks, 2 lb bag of onions, bag of shredded collard greens, 5 plantains, a bunch of bananas, 2 packages of bacon, bunch of cilantro, and 6 bagels. The smaller bag had a 10 lb bag of potatoes and 2 mangos but could have fit more.
In the larger bag
These saddlebags are made especially for scooters and the seat part stretches to fit most popular models. The most I've carried in these bags is 3 full (and heavy) bags of groceries. I could have put even more stuff in my backpack, put a bag on the hook in front, a bag on the helmet hook, and another one under the seat! Basically, these saddlebags can almost double the amount of stuff you can carry on your scooter. And, as an added plus, they don't look expensive so the chances of theft are lower than if I had fancy leather saddlebags.
(May 13, 2012): I went to buy groceries and managed to carry all of this in the saddlebags:
Approximately 3 full grocery bags of stuff can fit in the saddlebags
If you're a poor student who wants a little gourmet but can't afford it, Trader Joe's is the answer. Originally a convenience store chain from California, it has expanded to many states in the U.S. I'm grateful that there are a few stores in the Boston area because they have some really cool products that won't break the bank. This post is about a few of my favorite recent products from there. Their product lines turnover quite often so it's possible that these are not available in your area any more by the time you read this. I happened to find these in January 2012.
The first one is the Mosaic of chocolates. It's only $1.99 for 8 pieces of chocolate (2 pieces * 4 flavors). It's probably biggest bang for the buck and the value is actually in the simplicity of just 8 squares of good chocolate. The white and milk chocolate pieces have cranberry and pistachio pieces mixed in. The dark pieces have almond pieces and are topped with sea salt. Those are probably my favorite. The salt also goes well with the other pieces, so if you can knock a bit of salt off the dark pieces, try putting it on the other squares. The most boring piece in the bunch is the milk chocolate with white chocolate drizzle. It's still good though.
Mosaic of Chocolates - only $1.99
The next product is the Eggnog flavored almonds. They're on sale after Christmas for $1.99 a box. My room mate described the flavor as being "very nutmeg -y," which is not a bad thing, just an observation. The almonds are covered in white chocolate with eggnog spices. It's a simple product and definitely worth the $1.99 for an 11 oz box.
Eggnog flavored almonds - on sale for $1.99
Finally, the Gummy Tummies were just something I decided to try because the thing I enjoy most about going to Trader Joe's is trying something new and thinking, "wow, that was kinda cool!" and this seemed to be something that might fit the bill. As you can see in the picture below, the penguins look more like Barba Papas (some of you might be too young to know what those are) with liquid filled bellies. The liquid is actually quite viscous so it's not like they squirt water when you bite into them. Unfortunately, they are not suitable for vegetarians (in case you are one) because they contain animal gelatin (one of the top ingredients). However, for everyone else, these are really cool.
