Finding the new Ponderosa Steakhouse in Doha
“Are you sure you know where it is?” AdventureMan asked.
“Well, pretty sure.” I answered, and God bless him, as hungry as he is and as tired as he is after a long day at work, he just sighs and trusts me.
“If this doesn’t work, we can always eat at Villagio,” he says, and I marvel at his equilibrium.
“The man at the other Ponderosa said you go three roundabouts from Ramada junction and it is on your right, and then he said something else but I didn’t understand.” I added.
We went three roundabouts, and then started taking the slip roads, an adventure in itself. We saw a lot of car repair places, some smaller Lebanese restaurants with all guys eating inside, and had to go back and forth, because sometimes the slip road ended, sometimes the shop roads ended. After another roundabout, and a long row of very modern, empty glass office-looking buildings on the right, there it was, clearly visible from the road, and I realize what the man had been telling me was that it was above the Pizza Hut.
This is what it looks like from Salwa:

This is what it looks like from the side road – “Ponderosa “steakhouse” in Arabic

Maybe about once every three months or so, when I really felt a need for some meat, we would brave the horrible road-trek at Cholesterol Corner, otherwise known as the Ramada Junction, to eat at Ponderosa. It isn’t fancy, but it truly is popular, with its buffet and inexpensive steaks. I really like their filet, just a little 6 oz. steak but they do it better than many of the big expensive hotel restaurants.
If this works, we have said to ourselves, it would be a real blessing for us, not to have to hassle with the traffic patterns of entrance and exits, not to mention the congestion.
When we get inside, the blessings just continue to pour forth – we learn that this is their first night open to the public (we didn’t know!) and that they had promotions going – the buffet was 29 QR – which is what the price was six years ago, before it started creeping up – and that every main entree on the menu included the buffet and tonight only was only 40 QR (around $11).
So for $11 each, AdventureMan ordered the fried fish, and I ordered the filet mignon. Taking a risk, I even ordered it MEDIUM RARE.
The Ponderosa Buffet is the Ponderosa Buffet. It has some American salads, some Arabic salads, and a taco bar, and a dessert bar and a soft ice-cream machine. It was all very very clean and well presented.
When my steak came and I bit into it – it was truly amazing – medium rare! AdventureMan said his fish was very lightly battered and very hot and fresh tasting.
I didn’t remember to take photos until about halfway through. I must be the absolute worst restaurant reviewer in the world. That’s where my filet steak used to be, LOL:

Yes. I used some A-1 Sauce. I love it on steak. But I tasted the steak first, and it was a great steak.

There used to be four pieces of this hot, delicious fried fish.
The dessert bar:

I had watermelon, AdventureMan had a lot of the fruits, but I could see most people were going for the chocolate pudding and the soft ice cream. 🙂
The Ponderosa is upstairs, over the Pizza Hut. You enter from the side road. Paved parking is limited – maybe 12 spots – but there is that hard rocky surface, lots and lots of it. This is supposed to be the biggest Ponderosa in Doha, and it may be – it is full of booths, all very private, several different areas.
We won’t go that often – we have other favorites – but we are really really glad this Ponderosa has gone in, and we don’t have to go down to C-ring anymore in that maze of mad motorists. We also think that with all the housing going farther and farther out of Doha, they chose a very smart location to attract those moving away from the center. And – I am impressed – my steak really was medium rare!
Amjad Thai Snack on Merqab al Jedeed
AdventueMan and I have different preferences dining out. Actually, I don’t even care that much to go out, I totally loved Kuwait’s system, everything and anything can be delivered. That worked for me! AdventureMan likes to go out, sit, enjoy his dinner, have a relaxing experience.
He doesn’t like Amjad Thai Snack, but he does agree with me that the food is outstanding. Our agreement is this – If I go get the food, he will gladly eat it, but he doesn’t want to go there.

The food is amazing. The place is a dive.
Six years ago, Thai Snack was just that – a few tables and chairs outside a Thai Massage Parlor on Merqab, closer to the C Ring Circle than the D Ring. It used to be you always knew where it was because they had these neon signs of massages. One of the massage signs started out slow and got faster and faster and then when WOW! POP! Sparkles-all-over! We would take people down to watch the signs at night, they were so funny. Finally, I am guessing someone else figured out that they had ambiguous sexual overtones, and the neon signs are no longer there.
I think the massage parlor is still there, but the success of Amjad Thai Snack has just grown and grown. It grew to one inside serving room, then two, then three. It’s nothing fancy. No tablecloths, you get your own flatware from bins on the table. Your waiter takes your order and then you take a chit that has your table number on it to the cashier to pay before you leave. They really have an efficient, high tech system for a very low tech kinda joint.
Did I mention the food is amazing?
The first night AdventureMan agreed to take me there, we had to wait about 45 minutes to get in, on a hot, steamy night in Doha, crowded in with all the other people waiting to get in, crowded more by those coming in to pick up their orders. Amjad Thai Snack does BIG business.
The noodle soups are easily enough for a meal for two people, and enough for a first course for four.
Shrimp Noodle soup:

Fish with Spicy Basil:

Fish with Spicy Basil served over rice:

Other dishes can be split and shared. It’s part of my family tradition – growing up on the West Coast of the USA, great and authentic Chinese / Japanese / Vietnamese /Korean cuisines available everywhere, it was the fast-food I grew up on. Our extended family would get together in a restaurant and everyone would order one dish – maybe 26 – 30 dishes coming around the table, and you were encouraged to try anything. One of my joker cousins would order something gross and we would all try it.
It’s not AdventureMan’s thing, although he likes it well enough. His preference would be to eat Chinese in a nice hotel where he can get a beer with his dinner, but most of the hotel Chinese food is too dumbed-down for me.
Amjad Thai Snack is not dumbed down. The Fish (or Chicken, or beef, or seafood, if you prefer) in spicy basil sauce is delicious. Their curries are delicious. They have wonderful appetizers, wontons and buns. They do hot pots that serve a table of four to eight. Their noodle soups are divine. They are so well packed that not a drop gets spilled on the trip home.
You can call your order ahead and it will be waiting for you when you get there. Parking can be a problem, but if you get there before 7:30 pm, you should be OK. You can often find parking across the street, too.


Last , but not least, if you can read the menu, and I apologize that it is small, you will notice it is all correctly spelled and grammatically correct. This is an amazing advancement in six years. We used to find things on menus in Doha that totally mystified us, and when we would ask, the answers would also mystify us. Not anymore. 🙂
Shopping Rush Begins as Ramadan Nears
“What happened??” AdventureMan asks me on the phone from a nearby roundabout. “All of a sudden, it is traffic madness!”
I laughed.
The day before, Saturday, a day off coupled with a dust storm – the roads were empty, I found “rock star parking” at the Souq al Waqif, and breezed around town doing my errands in record time.
“I think it has to do with Ramadan coming,” I said. Ramadan will start on or about August 20, and the beginning of the month is payday for many people. My best guess is that a lot of people are beginning to prepare now.

Sure enough, today’s Peninsula is saying the same thing:
Ramadan shopping rush begins
Web posted at: 8/3/2009 2:54:31
Source ::: THE PENINSULA
People crowd at Souq Waqif for buying provisions and other things yesterday. ABDUL BASIT
DOHA: Despite the spiralling prices of basic commodities as the Ramadan season nears sales in shops selling essential food items are brisk as people prepare for the coming Holy Month, The Peninsula has learnt.
The long strip of shops in Souq Waqif selling spices, pulses and rice were yesterday abuzz with shoppers filling their shopping bags with basic food items in anticipation for the 30-day fasting period.
“Definitely there had been an increase in some food items specially spices and pulses,” said Mohammad Robel, one of the shopkeepers in the traditional souq.
Robel said price increase between 30 to 40 percent was recently witnessed, though he claimed the rise in prices varies from one company supplier to another.
“The company determines the increase in prices but fluctuation in the price rise from one company to another is not that significant,” he maintained.
Cardamom, which is popularly used here as spice for sweet dishes and traditional flavouring for coffee and tea, is currently priced at QR380 per five kilos.
“Previously five kilos of cardamom was QR290,” Robel said.
In the same way price of beans has increased from QR96 to QR115 per five kilos. A 20-kilo sack of staple food Indian basmati rice costs QR150.
Rice, beans, curry, sugar and salt are among the items in great demand these days and prices of these and other items are expected to increase further with just less than three weeks before Ramadan commences.
For those of you who don’t know what Ramadan is, it is the holy month celebrated by Moslems as the time during which the Qu’ran was related to the Prophet Mohammad. The rules are strictly enforced in Qatar – no eating, drinking, smoking or physical contact with the opposite sex from dawn to sunset. There are heavy fines – even prison time – for violators.
Non-Moslem women and men are being reminded to wear modest clothing that does not reveal the shape of your body, to avoid distracting those focused on religious thoughts.
Although a period of fasting, it is also a time of feasting, as the fast is broken when the sun goes down, and every night for the lunar month of Ramadan, special dishes are served, and parties are held. It is a month of religious contemplation, and also a month of religious celebration.
Here is what it says at Islam101:
Ramadan -a month of obligatory daily fasting in Islam is the ninth month in the Islamic lunar calendar. Daily fasts begin at dawn and end with sunset. Special nightly prayers called, Taraweeh prayers are held. The entire Quran is recited in these prayers in Mosques all around the world. This month provides an opportunity for Muslims to get closer to God. This is a month when a Muslim should try to:
See not what displeases Allah
Speak no evil
Hear no evil
Do no evil
Look to Allah with fear and hope
“O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become God-fearing.” (The Quran, 2:183)
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whoever fasts during Ramadan with faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven. Whoever prays during the nights in Ramadan with faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven. And he who passes Lailat al-Qadr in prayer with faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven (Bukhari, Muslim).
Ramadan ends with a day long celebration known as Eidul-Fitr. Eidul-Fitr begins with a special morning prayer in grand Mosques and open grounds of towns and cities of the world. the prayer is attended by men, women and children with their new or best clothes. A special charity, known as Zakatul-Fitr is given out prior to the prayer. The rest of the day is spent in visiting relatives and friends, giving gifts to children and eating.
Baked Stuffed Pumpkin
My visiting niece, Little Diamond, is vegetarian. AdventureMan and I are not vegetarian, we laughingly say we are meatatarian or meatavore, but the truth is, we don’t eat a lot of meat, either. Last I tried a new recipe, not entirely original, but a lot of fun, and it turned out really really good. It is also surprisingly easy. 🙂

(This is not my photo, but it looks a lot like my pumpkin. It is from visual recipes, another great recipe site)
I got the idea from a quilting friend in Kuwait who baked a pumpkin full of a meat stuffing. It sounded yummy. I filled it with a channa dal / burgul mixture (recipe follows) and I added:
1 chopped apple
seeds from 1/2 pomegranate
1/2 cup slightly chopped walnuts
Here is the original recipe for the stuffing:
• 3/4 cup chana dal
• One large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic (or more, to taste), minced or pressed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup bulgur wheat
• 2 cups hot water
• 1 teaspoon salt (or less, to taste)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley or cilantro
• freshly ground black pepper
Preparation:
Soak chana dal for 10-12 hours. Drain and rinse.
Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until soft (5-8 minutes). Add drained chana dal and bulgur wheat. Sauté for about 3 more minutes, until bulgur wheat is browned (it will begin to smell heavenly). Add all remaining ingredients except pepper, bring to a boil, and lower heat.
Simmer, covered, for about 35 minutes. At this point, check to see if the chana dal is tender enough for you. If not add a quarter cup more water and simmer another few minutes or until you are satisfied. Turn off heat and let sit, covered, for at least 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and mix in pepper.
Makes about 6 cups.
The only hard part is remembering to soak the chana dal. 😉
Pumpkin
Cut a lid off the top of the pumpkin. I usually put a notch, so I know how the lid fits back on.
You have to clean out the pumpkin, throwing out the innards (you can toast the seeds if you want). I also cut some of the pumpkin flesh into small pieces and added it to the stuffing, but that is optional.
Stuff the pumpkin tightly with the stuffing mixture, then line a baking bowl or pan with the remaining stuffing, set the pumpkin in the center, pour 1/2 cup of water – or wine, now that we are in Qatar – or broth – over the stuffing, and cover loosely with foil.
Bake at 350°F / 175°C for one hour, or more, until the pumpkin flesh is soft all the way through. Cut the pumpkin into slices to serve, and heap extra stuffing on top.
Delicious!
Additional hint – I use a Misto, a bottle you can fill with the best olive oil, pump, and spray. I spray the bowl before I put the stuffing in, to make cleaning easier, and I also spray the pumpkin to give it that glisten. It is very sparing with the olive oil, but you still get the taste.
Little Diamond asked if it were a potiron or a citrouille, two words the French use for pumpkins, but none of us could say definitely. I thought it was a potiron, because it is more squat and I thought citrouille were taller and oranger, but Little Diamond actually looked it up online after dinner.
AdventureMan reminded me of the time in Tunisia when Halloween was coming and I went to the market and bought a whole pumpkin to carve. I don’t think it was really a pumpkin at all, it was a huge pumpkin-like squash, and it was sold in slices, by the kilo. I bought the smallest one I could find, but it still caused quite a commotion, buying the whole squash, not just a slice.
And I was thinking, too, of my French friend who shared her recipe with me for the very best pumpkin pie I have eaten in my life, ever.
Monte Cristo Sandwich
I have a young Kuwaiti friend who told me she used to LOVE Monte Cristo sandwiches until she learned they had ham in them, and then she couldn’t eat them anymore. I wonder if they would taste OK made with turkey ham? This is today’s recipe from allrecipes.com; my sweet daughter-in-law got me started and now they send me recipes with pictures every day!

Monte Cristo Sandwich
SUBMITTED BY: CJO PHOTO BY: gapch1026
from allrecipes.com
INGREDIENTS
2 slices bread
1 teaspoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
2 slices cooked ham (turkey ham 🙂 )
2 slices cooked turkey meat
1 slice Swiss cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
DIRECTIONS
Spread bread with mayonnaise and mustard. Alternate ham, Swiss and turkey slices on bread.
Beat egg and milk in a small bowl. Coat the sandwich with the egg and milk mixture. Heat a greased skillet over medium heat, brown the sandwich on both sides. Serve hot.
Baking Cookies for Palestine
When I was just starting out my own life, I had an idea what kind of life I wanted, but I had no clue how to get it. When AdventureMan and I met, we had the same vision, it was so cool, so unbelievable. We married, and this amazing life has unfolded.
Not everyone is born to move. You have to be good at change. Change can be daunting. Some people are better at staying in one place, sinking deep roots, developing lifetime relationships. Some people – like AdventureMan and me – have a need for stimulation, and we get it by changing locations. We feel so blessed.
It is always painful leaving the place we have been living, pulling up roots is just plain painful. The transplantation process takes time for the organism to adjust, for new roots to develop and take hold. Sometimes, the plant fails. In our case, we have had our failures to thrive, but for the most part, every move has helped us to learn and grow in new ways. We feel truly blessed; we have the lives we were born to lead.
Arriving back in Doha, I called my good friend. We have never lost touch, with e-mail and visits we have stayed in contact, and now I am calling her so she has my new number in Doha.
“You must come Tuesday morning!” she enthused, “We are baking cookies for Palestine!”
This wonderful woman was my teacher for reading and writing Arabic, and she did a great job. I read and write about as well as a five-year-old, but I can sound out words, and can write my name. Best of all, I adored this teacher, and when she called and asked me if there was something I could teach her daughters during the long hot Doha summer, I said “yes” and a new adventure began.
One of the things that happened is that I learned I never really knew what the day might bring. Getting to know her, her daughters, and her family better, I learned now ignorant I am of how totally differently others live their lives and see the world. I was learning all the time, and most of it was from the daughters. On one occasion, the daughters called me at 6 in the morning – they are never up at six! They asked if I would take them to the hospital to see their mother, and I sleepily said “Yes, of course,” and asked what time they wanted to go.
“Now!” they replied, joyfully, for this was a birth.
My sweet daughter-in-law was visiting, with our son, and so the two of us rushed over to pick up the girls, who came loaded with carafes loaded with coffee, boxes of finjan (tiny Arabic coffee cups) and sweets, loading up the car with goods and joyful laughter. When we got to the hospital, we had a quick visit with the Mom and then – the guests started arriving.
First – the room. Our friend was in a king sized bed, surrounded by lush curtains which could be pulled. She had a marble floor and a marble private bathroom with private shower, and a small dressing room. There was a visiting area with velvet covered seating for around 16 people, and mahogany paneling everywhere. This is the poshest maternity ward I have ever seen.
Many of the guests were stopping on their way to work. “When you visit someone in the hospital,” the girls informed me, “a thousand angels pray for you, for having made this visit.” These visits are de rigueur, an absolute must. We were there an hour, a constant stream of women came and went, staying around ten minutes, each receiving a small coffee. Then, the girls told us we could go, that they would stay to take care of serving the coffee and sweets.
The entire episode, we never had one clue as to what we were doing, or what was going to happen next. I learned just to go with whatever was happening, stay quiet, watch and learn. Sometimes, I ask questions, if there is a quiet moment.
So when my friend says come bake cookies, I go. I remember when she first baked her first cookie; she called me to come. She didn’t have a mother, growing up, and there were gaps – like how to bake cookies. We spent a morning learning how to make mamool, and it took me three days to get the smell of butter out of my hands. It was so much fun.
As I entered the workroom twenty pair of eyes looked up at me. Everyone was neatly dressed in aprons and headscarves, but my friend wasn’t there! I found my friend, we exchanged greetings, and she came to workroom to get me started. I had my own apron with me, and they provided me with a headscarf; we all looked a lot alike, little baker women. As a beginner, I got to put out the dough, later put the date paste on each piece of dough, later roll the dough around the date paste and put a hole in the top.
Most of the women, vastly more experienced than I, were using little tweezer tools to crimp the dough into the fabulous tiny ridges you can see in the photo. My friend explained that one of the women’s husbands had made the special tools for making the holes in the dough, and the table for them to use packing up the cookies and wrapping them, another had provided a portable oven for baking the cookies, another donated semolina (the flour) and another the dates.
Working once a week, making these beautiful cookies, (biscuits, if you are British trained) the women have built two wells in Palestine, and are currently building a bakery. They took their grief and outrage over Al Raza and turned it into the most amazing effort for good. They feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, they clothe the poor, they take care of families whose men are imprisoned.

“You must come back!” one woman says as I am heading out the door. “You are a good worker!”
I wouldn’t miss it for the world. 🙂
Moving: The Challenges
When I was a young military wife, with every move I would fume at AdventureMan “You walk right into a job where everyone knows who you are; you have a life all cut out for you! I have to find the right grocery store, the right dry-cleaner, the right tailor, the right key-maker, (blah blah blah, whine whine whine)”
This move, by the Grace of God, has been so much easier. Honestly, God sent angels to smooth the way, even the delay in travel was a protection against the heartache of losing a beloved pet. Having my good friend here, who passed along transformers, lists, phone numbers, a great cleaning woman, recommendations – priceless. Having maintenance people show up the very first day and take care of all the little things that can take months – priceless. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of at least three great supermarkets – priceless.
I have two large supermarkets very near, two more relatively near, and two more within maybe 15/20 minutes, depending on the traffic.
At the LuLu, which is HUGE, I found these wonderful local eggs (this is just the wrapper, and yes, I am that shallow, I bought these eggs because they are local and because I love the wrapper, I think it is adorable:

At the MegaMart, I am blown away by how much Skim Milk they have. In Kuwait, I would schedule my trips to the market by when milk was delivered in order to get my skim milk:

The MegaMart also has a huge Japanese food section, a slightly smaller Philipino food section, and holy smokes! Look at this:

Not just taco shells or “taco dinner” kits – a whole section with a huge variety of Mexican food supplies. Hmmmmm. . . .I think I know what’s for dinner tonight! 🙂
The Next Five Years in American House Trends
Consumers stay at home more, and housewares industry takes note
By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — As the recession takes a toll on most businesses, the housewares industry is actually expecting to see some benefit as more consumers eat, entertain and generally spend more time at home in order to save money.
In a presentation earlier this week, Mirabile pointed out several home trends he’s expecting for 2010. Below are five trends he predicts for the kitchen and beyond:
The live-in kitchen. Consumers spend three to four hours in the kitchen every day, not only cooking there but using it as a place to entertain, work, craft and spend leisure time, Mirabile said. The kitchen is being reinvented as a second living room, he said, as appliances are camouflaged and functional objects are hidden or minimized, allowing people to create ambiance in the room.
Living within our means. The recession is changing long-held opinions on how we spend our money. Consumers are looking for quality and durability in products — a shift away from disposable consumption, he said. They’re canning food more and growing their own herbs, they’re brown bagging lunches and they’re shopping in bulk at warehouse clubs or stocking up during grocery store sales to save money.
The green kitchen. Americans continue to make their lives more environmentally friendly, but they’re increasingly confused and frustrated about what is really “green,” Mirabile said. While they want products to be eco-friendly, they’re not going to pay much of a premium for it either — they expect retailers and manufacturers to deliver green products at competitive prices.
The wellness kitchen. Buying local food and/or growing your own often means it will be fresher and free from pesticides and preservatives — in short, more nutritious, he said. Today’s consumers are also interested in purifying their water and air.
Cooking for fun. We’re a nation of foodies, Mirabile said, quoting a Nielsen survey that found one in every five households has a “budding gourmet chef.” It’s not just women spending more time in the kitchen, either; “gastrosexuals” are men who consider cooking more of a hobby than a household chore, and use kitchen skills to impress friends and prospective partners. The popularity of the Food Network has helped to inspire a new love with food and cooking, and he expects consumers to continue to search for new recipes, techniques and cooking tools.
Amy Hoak is a MarketWatch reporter based in Chicago.
Pecan Pie Muffins
A friend brought these to a meeting the other day. She made them in these really small tins, so one muffin was like three bites. They were SO rich, three bites was enough. . . . except that we couldn’t eat just one, they were SO delicious. Just five ingredients . . . a piece of cake!
Pecan Pie Muffins
SUBMITTED BY: prissycat
Allrecipes.com
“It’s hard to believe there are only five ingredients in these wonderful little muffins! The brown sugar makes them taste like pecan pie.”
Original recipe yield 18 mini muffins
INGREDIENTS
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs, beaten
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 18 mini muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together brown sugar, flour and pecans. In a separate bowl beat the butter and eggs together until smooth, stir into the dry ingredients just until combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Cups should be about 2/3 full.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on wire racks when done.
He he he – I challenge you. Try to eat just one!
AllRecipes.com
My sweet daughter-in-law sent me this website. You sign up, and they send you new recipes every day. Some I don’t care about, but this last week has had a New Orleans theme, with some really really good recipes.
This one sounds really good – and, even better, it is also EASY!
Fideo (Mexican Spaghetti)
SUBMITTED BY: JENNY P. PHOTO BY: NYJEN
“A very unusual but very delicious pasta dish. My Mexican grandfather used to make it and I make it in memory of him. For you, Pepe! Hope you all like it too! Goce! (Enjoy!)”
PREP TIME
15 Min
COOK TIME
25 Min
READY IN
40 Min
INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 (12 ounce) package spaghetti noodles, broken in half
• 5 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken breasts in the oil until nicely browned on the outside. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
2. Add remaining oil to the skillet, and add the broken spaghetti. Cook, stirring constantly until spaghetti is browned. Drain off any excess oil, and add tomatoes and onion. Dice the chicken breasts, and return them to the skillet. Season with cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Pour in water, cover, and simmer over medium-low heat until pasta is tender, and water has been absorbed, about 10 minutes. Check towards the end, and add more water if necessary.
3. Spoon the chicken mixture into bowls to serve, and garnish with shredded cheese.

