Mellie Dee ♥

The General Public | Houston, Texas

July 13, 2019 by Mellie Dee Leave a Comment

I had a good few hours of sleep in before getting pawed by Rizzo to go out. After relaxing for a bit Timothy came to pick me and June up to go to The Escape Game Houston, Playground edition meeting up with Sissy, BIL, Gordon, and Patsy.

The Escape Game | Houston, Texas | Playground

Thanks to The Houston Bloggers Union, it was all free! And we had a great time! The object of the game was to go through and solve puzzles pretaining to our report card. We were slow to start but ended up getting through everything with only 54 seconds to spare! We were cutting it close!! All A+’s!! I’ve never had all As on my report card! Haha

The General Public | Houston, Texas | Shrimp and Grits and Potato Au Gratin

Afterward we all headed across the street to the General Public. This has been on my list to try since they opened and I was thrilled to have good company with me.

Shrimp and Grits with a sunny side up egg. The grits are made out of cauliflower and although it did have a different texture, I feel better knowing it’s a tad healthier than if they were grits.

The side of Potato Au Gratin was okay. Not anything go hit home about. I wished the green chili came through more.

I did get to try some fries and it was perfect fried and seasoned! I’d come back for that!

We all went out separate ways and I laid in bed with Rizzo for about a good thirty minutes before heading out to Mallory’s. John was having Trey and Robby over for dinner so Mallory asked if I wanted to join. We had fish cooked by John and everything else by Mallory. Yum!

After dinner we all sat in the living room and watched telly. JJ kept attacking Trey and I and although it was tiring since I haven’t been getting much sleep, I had fun. There were times where he would sit peacefully and watch telly and I loved when he say in my lap. Makes me miss Emmy. After JJ went to bed, we played Mario Kart and watched more telly before calling it a night.

Gus’s World Fried Chicken | Houston, Texas

July 12, 2019 by Mellie Dee Leave a Comment

Jumped on an early morning call with the prototyping team. I love seeing it come together and I really hope it gets signed off by the high ups. But if not, we can always build our own through the local team.

I spent four hours after that with Dad at his doctor appointments. It was mostly a lot of waiting but I was able to get in a twenty five minute nap afterwards since I only had two hours of sleep.

I drove and picked up Joel for lunch at La Madeline, more of a snack for me but I got kind of full. He was sweet in buying me a fruit tart since I got coffee last time. My little intern is all grown up!

Gus's World Fried Chicken | Houston, Texas | Salim

After a while of catching up with Joel, I dropped him off at his work and went and picked up Salim from his work for a super late lunch at Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken, his favourite fried chicken place. (That’s only because he’s never been to Jollibee or Bawls!)

Dark thighs are always my favourite and it was pretty darn good. I wished it was spicier but other than that, it’s a pretty good southern fried chicken. We thought their greens would be green beans but if was collard greens. I was a bit disappointed but they started growing on me as I ate them.

Gus's World Fried Chicken | Houston, Texas | Sweet Potato Pie

He also said they had good pies, at least the ones he has tried. He’s never had sweet potato pie here so we decided to be “healthy”. He says this was the worst pie he’s gotten here. I agree. It wasn’t that great. If I ever come back I’ll try one of the chess pies he likes.

I’ve been wanting to try this place and glad I finally got to cross it off my list! Where’s my next new foodventure?

Spaghetti Casserole

July 11, 2019 by Mellie Dee Leave a Comment

Work went swimmingly well. The nerd in me was excited to make flow charts all day today and not have to really worry about other things.

After work I stopped by and picked up some cookies for Mallory as a suprised. She made a very delicious spaghetti casserole and although it’s not the healthiest, it’s pretty damn delicious.

Afterward we played the Switch then watched Big Brother. She has a strong love for reality television and it’s been years since I’ve watched this show.

I’m off tomorrow but will be working a little bit in the morning. Then it’s a jam packed weekend. I’m happy to be seeing so many individuals but know I will need downtime to recharge.

I’m ready for cuddles with Rizzo and bedtime. Night, world!

Making Headway

July 10, 2019 by Mellie Dee 2 Comments

This is me all the time except I do text back.

I haven’t had time to update the blog these past few days due to my workload BUT! my hard work paid off. This post isn’t to show off or anything. I’m just very happy that this is the first time since I started on this team, I feel like I was of use and not dead weight.

After weeks of putting together an initiative I deemed would be useful for one of the subteams I support, we got a sign off to proceed with the prototyping phase yesterday. This is a huge accomplishment in a world where people are not fond of changes nor spending time to make those changes to better efficiency and data quality.

One hour before a quarterly business meeting with the boss’s boss, I was tasked to run our team meeting since my boss, Maria, was going to be late. I chased after every team member for their parts and slapped it together in a presentation. It was a whirlwind but we got it done. I always knew I could work under pressure but that was really pushing it.

But the real validation came from seeing a product I put together in use the way it’s intended because they’re starting to trust the data. Seeing them constantly referring to the tool during their meeting made my heart happy because months spent on this product did not go to waste.

I’m on a high that this week, though it’s been crazy, has been one of the best ones I’ve had since I started on this team. I’m hoping that things stay this high for a while, at least until way after my vacation that’s coming up is over. That shouldn’t be too hard, right?

Recipe | Korean Beef & Tofu Zucchini Noodles

July 7, 2019 by Mellie Dee Leave a Comment

I got to see Ann, Tony, Ryland, and Colsen today. It’s been less than a year since I’ve seen them and it’s been a long time coming. I loved seeing Ryland so lovingly attentive to Colsen. He’s such a great big brother!

Ann made some delicious chorizo breakfast tacos for brunch and I got to catch up with her. Tony woke up later from being drunk the night before and it was nice getting to catch up with him as well. I found out I liked Mexican Hot Chocolate Ice Cream. The punch of cinnamon really reminds me of winter time.

Korean Beef & Tofu Zucchini Noodle Stir Fry Ingredients

After a while, I left and headed to H-Mart for some goodies. Then it was a nap and Marvel movies until I started on my meal prep.

Korean Beef & Tofu Zucchini Noodle Stir Fry

I have no clue what to call it so I went with Korean Beef & Tofu Zucchini Noodles. You can pretty much add whatever you’d like as long as you keep the marinade the same – give or take the bone broth depending on the consistency you want. I’m super excited for lunch tomorrow!

Korean Beef & Tofu Zucchini Noodles

Prep Time

20 d

Cook Time

10 d

Total Time

30 d

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Asian, Korean

Ingredients

Marinade

1/3 c brown sugar, packed
1/3 c reduced sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp ginger, freshly grated
1 Tbsp sesame chili oil, regular sesame oil is fine
1 tsp Sriracha, or more to taste
a dash bone broth

Ingredients

4 oz rib eye steak, sliced into thin strips
1 pack medium firm tofu
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small yellow onion, sliced
1 pack button mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 lbs zucchini (4 medium-sized), spiralized
1 can water chestnuts, optional

Preparations

Mix marinade ingredients together and add in rib eye steak and tofu. Let sit for at least 5 minutes.
Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add in tofu slices and cook both sides until a hint of brown, about 3-5 minutes. Take out and set aside.
Heat up garlic and add in beef. Cook until slightly finished, about 1-2 minutes. Take out and set aside.
Add in onion and mushrooms and a dash of marinade. Cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
Stir in everything until well combined. Allow it to simmer and heat through, about 2-3 minutes.

Notes

You can add or omit any vegetables or meat.
You can omit the bone broth. I just wanted it a little watery.
Add in a bit of slurry (cornstarch and water mixture) for a thicker consistency.