Tag Archives: avocado

My Meal At T.G.I.Friday’s

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Disclaimer – I was given the opportunity to sample the new menu at TGIF free of charge.  As always, my thoughts are my own.

The other day I had the opportunity to try the new menu at T.G.I.Friday’s.    The new menu is currently out in Buffalo, Minneapolis, and Denver and a group of local bloggers were given the opportunity to come and taste some of the new dishes.  I brought my friend Kim along and we had a really great time.

There is a T.G.I.Friday’s across the street from campus at UMiami and there was a year in undergrad when Adam and I were going pretty much weekly.  I’d get the pecan crusted chicken salad, every single time.  But it’s been awhile and I’ve not had very good luck with chains locally.  I have to be honest that when the offer came in I wasn’t expecting to be all that impressed.  But here’s the thing – everything we tried was great!  Like, everything.  And I realize that those dishes were being put out specifically to serve to a group of local food bloggers, but I was impressed enough that I plan on going back on my own.

You can read about the items here so I’m not going to waste your time by regurgitating the menu.  Instead, I’ll share a few of my thoughts.  We had the opportunity to ask questions and I did my best to ensure that vegetarian dishes were truely vegetarian.  I loved how many options were available for non-meat eaters.  There were also some good-looking beef dishes added to the menu, but since I didn’t taste them myself I’m not going to comment on them.

Peach Sweet Tea.

This was made with peach puree, agave, and black tea.  I’m not the hugest sweet tea fan but this wasn’t too-too sweet and you could taste that the peaches were not fake.

Heavenly Hummus Dip

The hummus was made with roasted red pepper paste which gave a nice layer of flavor under the tahini.  It was topped with goat cheese crumbles which is not a combo I would have expected.  The flavor was good, but very garlicy so be aware if that’s not your thing.  We were told that the hummus is made fresh every day.  It was served fresh with pita toasts that seemed very fresh as well.

Warm Pretzels with Beer Cheese Dipping Sauce

This was my favorite appetizer (duh!).  I know that not everyone is as obsessed with movie theatre pretzel bites as I am, but I promise this app feels fancier than that.  The pretzels are supremely soft and they are brushed with a basil butter that gives them this great, unidentifiable taste (I had to ask).  The beer cheese sauce wasn’t gritty or too sour.  Ask for no bacon on top if you don’t eat pork.  They recently changed from cooking the sauce with bacon to sprinkling it on top so that this accommodation could be made.

Ahi Tuna with Avocado Crisps

I took a bite of this expecting to spit it out and ended up eating the entire thing.  Seared ahi tuna is served on top of tortilla crisps with Sriracha, guacamole, lemon vinaigrette, and a fresh jalapeño.  The blend of flavors and textures really helped me get over the fact that I was eating raw fish.  I loved the fresh jalapeño on top; it gave great crunch and the guacamole helped to mellow out the heat.

I don’t have a photo of the Sedona Black Bean Burger but I wanted to mention it because it was amazing.  It’s a black bean burger topped with chipotle mayo, avocado, and great thick-sliced pickles.  The burger had a nice texture and held together perfectly and the sandwich had just the right amount of spice.  This felt nice and meaty but is actually a good vegetarian option (it’s not vegan because egg whites are used in the bean patties).

Grilled Vegetable Dagwood

I should say right now that the three sandwich options were my three favorites.  This sandwich was fantasmic and Kim and I both made ourselves a little sick because we just couldn’t stop taking bites of it. Two pieces of extra-soft pita were stuffed with spinach, goat cheese, roasted veggies (eggplant!), and mango chutney.  You never see mango chutney on American menus and it really adds a lot of flavor to any dish.

Turkey Cranberry Rueben

What, what?!  It’s a Rueban… and it’s made with turkey so I don’t have to request a menu change… and it has cranberries?  Sign me up!  Actually the cranberry component was in cranberry jalapeño slaw and cranberry jalapeño thousand island dressing, which is even better.  I liked that it had a Goldilocks amount of turkey on it (not too little or too much) but I do recommend requesting that it be grilled without butter.

Victory Garden Pasta

Whole wheat penne with veggies (brocoli, mushrooms, olives! and more) and goat cheese in a lemon sauce.  If you request no goat cheese this one would be vegan.  The pasta was not my cup of tea but that’s just my taste preference because it was Kim’s favorite.  I love the throwback name.

Overall, I was very impressed the amount and variety of veggies that made it onto the new menu.  And I like that the prices are still pretty low in spite of some “fancier” additions, i.e. avocado and goat cheese.  It’s sort of awkward to write a review that doesn’t say anything bad because I think my readers will assume that I’m lying, but I promise that my experience was genuinely just a good one.  If you get try the new menu for yourself please let me know what you think!

What is your favorite chain restaurant?

Weekend Woot-dates

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Did everyone have a good weekend?  I didn’t get much work done, but the food and fun categories were filled to the brim!  We are starting another take-out reduction challenge and we definitely made the most of purchased meals this weekend 😉

Saturday morning I got up and went for a run!

The gym wasn’t open yet so I did my CT10k workout out in the wild at Delaware Park.  I forgot my watch at home and ended up having to count to 150 in my head as I switched from walking to running intervals.  I’m not sure how accurate I was but it was a great way to keep my thoughts occupied.  All total I did 4 miles in 53 minutes.  The wind was out of control and it ended up being a resistance workout of sorts; it was actually super fun to keep pushing through.

I drank the 2nd half of my G2 during my run.

And then I had a big iced coffee with English toffee syrup and Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk in the car.

In the car because we were heading to Toronto!

Last month I promised Adam all-you-can-eat sushi as a reward for participating in vegan month.  We failed at vegan month (recap post to come), but I figured he still deserved his reward for trying, especially since our fails were mostly due to my fat/laziness and not his lack of committment.  My parents sent us $ for Valentine’s that perfectly covered the cost of our fun international date, so off we went.

Lunch was delicious, way too many bites to even attempt to recap.  Adam and I did a lot of sharing, but the spread below shows everything I at least tasted.  Adam had many, many, other bites that I didn’t photograph.

Yum!  I’m still a little stuffed just thinking about it.  But we did find room for dessert.

Thank goodness, because this was actually the best cup of froyo I’ve ever had.  I thought I was going to die from a happiness overload.

A small serving of tart plain yogurt topped with fruit, sprinkles, and a huuuuuuge pile of popping boba.

I was grinning wider and wider with every bite.

After our drive home and an extreme shopping session at Wegmans, I did end up with room for a late dinner.

On that plate was a buffalo chicken sub with blue cheese and an order of fries.  Devoured.

Sunday has been spent on the couch.  Adam is starting a new project this week, in addition to the general being a med student craziness, and we took full advantage of today’s free hours for cuddling and sci-fi.

I did venture outside for brunch though.  My old friend Katie was back in town for a visit!

That sort of fun calls for a Bloody Mary, extra spicy.

Finding a Sunday brunch spot without a 45 minute wait took some doing, but we ended up having a great meal at Panos.

I got the kid’s meal 1-1-1.  A sunny side up egg, a pancake, and hash browns.  Then I smothered everything in syrup.

Every bite was delicious and I seriously considered licking my plate clean!

During the afternoon I ate a bowl of Malted Heath Bar Toffee Blondie 2-Ingredient Ice Cream.

x2.  That stuff is ridiculous good.

Adam had an evening meeting so I pushed back our dinner plans and ordered Chinese.  Told you I was taking advantage of my last days with take-out!  Once our food gets here we are watching our last ever episode of Stargate: Universe and eating crab rangoons.  Yippee!

Are you a sci-fi tv fan?  Did you watch any of the Stargates?

By The Clock

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Thank you, Thursday, for being fabulous in a strange and wonderful way.  I was in a good mood all day.  I was busy with easy to do tasks, I had simple but tasty meals, and little bonuses kept popping up.

8:00 – Wake up with Adam still in bed.  He had a study day before an exam and I got to start my morning making a pile with him and the dog.

9:00 – Quick meeting with my Statistics teacher.  All of the homework I’ve done so far has been correct!  Plus she let me sit in on an earlier class session to accommodate a change in clinic schedule for the afternoon.

9:20 – Eat a Cappuccino Lara Bar for breakfast.

This is my favorite flavor LB for sure.  It’s not too strongly coffeed and it’s less date-y than other flavors.

11:00 – See the husband mid-day (squee!!!) when he graciously offers to drive me to UB for the lecture I’m attending.

12:00 – Attend a 1 hour lecture on diabetes mellitus and pharmacology.  We didn’t learn much that we can actually put into clinical practice, but it was a fascinating topic.

13:00  – Stop into Jimmy Johns for a large fountain soda – diet coke with a shot of cherry coke – with ice.  Swoon.

14:00 – Lunch.

My Seven Layer Casserole was the #2 best thing to come out of last year’s vegan month (and I’m making numero uno this weekend!).  It is packed full of veggies but tastes like a big mouthful of tortilla chips.  True Story – the reason we went to Moe’s on Tuesday was so I could take home the free chips for this recipe.

16:30 – Finish the writing assignment (due this evening, whoops) that’s been buzzing around my head all month.

18:00 – Dinner in class.

Holy frick, this sandwich, holy frick.  It’s simple, just a Sandwich Thin with mustard, SmartBalance Light, and raw tempeh, but it blew my mind.  The perfect combo of flavors.

Plus a baggie of roasted green beans.

These are actually sort of embarrassing to eat in class because they are squishy and you end up having to cram them in your mouth.  I own it though.

19:30 – We get dismissed from class 30 minutes early!

20:30 – Blog.

21:00 – (planned) read magazines in bed.  <– heaven

What was the best hour of your day?

Free Means It’s Extra Romantic

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Did everyone have a good day of flowers and chocolate boxes shaped like hearts?  Let me just tell you, there is almost nothing I wouldn’t do right now for a box of chocolates!  We are exactly halfway through Vegan Month today and I foresee a big candy purchase come March 1st.

Clinical practice went well today, I think my red shirt must have made me seem extra confident.  I worked ahead on our assignments for the semester and when I finished screening my assigned patient our teacher actually threw an emergency screening my way.  It stinks to have to do an extra set of SOAP notes but I felt really good that she trusted me to take on something extra.

I had a free coupon so our romantic Valentine’s Day dinner was … Moe’s!

In addition to (way too many of those) chips, I got a veggie burrito.

Inside was a little bit of rice, pinto beans, grilled mushrooms, lettuce, corn salsa, pickled jalapeños, and lots of guacamole.

It ended up being maybe the best burrito I’ve ever had.  I was thrilled to take a closer look at the toppings menu and discover pickled jalapeños as an option.  I think my dream burrito would be mahi-mahi, cabbage, pineapple, pickled jalapeños, and some sort of cheese.

What would be in your dream burrito?

Not Yo Mama’s Turkey Burgers

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Three posts in one day?!?  I’m on a roll!  And since I didn’t have it together to eat before late afternoon, this is actually everything I ate today.  Sidenote – my #2 goal for the next 30 days is to blog every single day/eat.  My #1 goal?  Involves my ass and the gym.

Since I waited too long to eat I was absolutely starving.  I ended up eating a 6-inch tuna sub, with vinegar and red onions, while I cooked dinner.

It was tasty, and it kept me from gnawing my own arm off.

Dinner was a good’un.  Quick, delicious, and it involved two brand-spanking-new recipes.

Emily- and husband-approved.

New recipe 1 was Nacho Turkey Burgers, makes 8 small burgers

  • 1 lb 94% fat-free ground turkey
  • 1 large egg
  • 60 grams crushed tortilla chips
  • 1/4 cup medium, chunky style salsa
  • 3/4 cup Mexican shredded cheese blend
  • 1 tsp evoo
  • 8 hamburger buns
  • guacamole (optional)
  • sliced cheddar (optional)
  • hot sauce (optional)
  1. In a large bowl, combine turkey, egg, chips, salsa, and cheese until a homogenous mixture is achieved.  Use your hands to shape into 8 equal-sized patties.
  2. Heat evoo in a grill-pan over medium-high heat.  Working in small enough batches as to not overcrowd the pan add patties to pan.
  3. Cook burgers until browned and fully cooked through; 5-8 minutes on each side.
  4. Serve cooked burgers and top as desired.

New recipe 2 was served atop the burgers, Citrus Guacamole.

  • 2 medium-sized ripe avocados
  • 1 tomatillo, minced
  • 1 small lemon, juiced
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  1. Place avocados in a medium bowl and mash with a fork, leaving some chunks.
  2. Stir in tomatillo, lemon juice, and salt.  Serve immediately.

Both recipes ended up turning out really well!

I love it when my kitchen experiments work out.

I had one nacho turkey burger, on a bun with citrus guacamole,

a serving of rice and beans (just rice with a can of black beans stirred in during the final minutes of cooking) topped with another dollop of guac,

and some roasted asparagus.

The citrus-salt theme was carried nicely throughout the entire meal.

For dessert I nibbled on a few chocolate covered pretzels.

We’re currently making our way through the “Aliens” movies, so “Aliens, 2” was our dinner entertainment.  Webster thought it was thrilling.

He’s such a cutie.

So, about that hair cut.  A month or so ago, this exchange took place on Yes I Want Cake –

Katie got her cut soon after, and it looked fantastic.  I’d just given to Locks of Love, but after some time enjoying my new hair, I was ready.  What do you think?

I love it!

The Final Location

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Today we traveled to the final location of our winter vacation.  It’s good to be “home” for good!  The last two days were spent with cold-like symptoms.  Hence the no-blogging, no-working, no-working out, and no-resolutioning.  Well, that’s no entirely true.  I have read a book a day from Kathy Reich’s Temperance Brennan series.  Each one is better than the last, I swear.

Anyway though, today, we were headed to Toronto. The morning got off to a rough start – I am feeling less than 100% still and it’s possible I’m cranky – but by 12 we were on the road. And by 12:30 we were back home getting our passports. But then, we were on the road.

A Big Gulp of Cherry Coke Zero did a lot to raise my spirits.

As did starting another Temperance Brennan book.

And before I knew it, we were there.

Our plan was to head to a neighborhood with froyo and then hunt for a late lunch there.  We weren’t certain what we would find, so we were thrilled to come across a cheap, all-you-can-eat sushi joint.

Just what the doctor ordered!  What?  Adam’s practically a doctor.

Everything was delicious.  I had … A small bowl of green salad.

Cheese wontons split with the husband.

A piece of tomago sushi (egg).

Two rolls split with the husband.  The Rock and Roll white fish, salmon, pepper, masago, cream cheese, tempura, eel sauce.  The Fire Roll crab meat, avocado, cucumber, masago, spicy mayo, tempura, eel sauce.

A Sakura Roll avocado, tempura bits, hot sauce.

Fried tofu split with the husband.

A piece of butterfish sushi.

Some baked eggplant and grilled veggies.

And finally spicy crab, tempura, and california hand rolls.

We got our money’s worth but weren’t too too stuffed; a perfect all-you-can-eat experience.

To clear some stomach room before froyo, we took a short walk down ultra-cool Bloor St.

And then finally it was time for Menchies.

I topped plain tart and hot chocolate yogurts with small amounts of Skor bar, hot fudge, Smarties, and crunchy pb, and large amounts of rainbow sprinkles and popping bobba.

Perfection.

We had an uneventful drive home and now the boys are over for a game of poker.  I’m banished to the office so it’s possible I’ll get a jump on some schoolwork, but it’s doubtful.  It’s looking like our late, big lunch with count for dinner, but if I end up munching on anything I’ll update.  Otherwise, catch you in the am!

STT; Wednesday Afternoon – Thursday Morning

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Wednesday

Yesterday afternoon I made another stop at the gym; woot!  I hopped on the treadmill for 9 sets of 2 minutes running/2 minutes walking.  36 minutes and 3 miles.  I’m going to need to make myself do some strength training soon, but for now I’m taking baby steps.  Plus, my legs got sore enough that I decided to make Thursday a day off.

After a shower, I was heading downtown for a mini-meet up my old school was hosting.  I hate going to things like that by myself; I am seriously the worst with faces.  I love getting to catch up with people but if I’m not with a friend to tell me who people are then it feels more stressful than fun.  Thankfully (ha!) there really was no one I knew there, just a bunch of younger kids.  I met up with one friend from my class and we quickly fled in seach of dinner.

Crystal – a high school friend that I am thrilled is visiting the same time as I – and I headed over to Benny Iguanas, the new location of a sushi place that was very popular back in the day.  I started with a tofu/veggies miso soup.

And got a cucumber-avocado roll for my meal.

The catching up was better than the food, but the meal wasn’t terrible.

Thursday

I started this morning with dessert.

Plus a little of this –

And some of this –

The holiday season just isn’t complete without some “Carebears Nutcracker.”  Though it’s possible that I “borrowed” that DVD from a Blockbusters in Brooklyn 3 years ago!

I also had breakfast.

A 2% Pineapple Chobani with a sliced banana.

And now I’m heading to lunch with my mom, hopefully for more sushi!

How do you feel about high school reunions?

On Both Hands

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On one hand, I want to try to keep posting speedy tonight because I’m interrupting tv time with Adam.  On the other, I ate some mind-blowingly amazing things today and I want to talk about them.  What to do, what to do?

I started my morning with a Sweet Tango apple.

I ate it during my walk to school and the crunching, munching, strolling, sun-rising combo was just perfect.

Though not as perfect as the 2nd half of my breakfast.  I bring you, my new all-time favorite sandwich.

The 2nd half of yesterday’s cheddar jalapeno bialey, with 2 slices of Applegate Farms Smoked Turkey, and a schmear of Crofter’s Organic Grape Spread.

Spicy plus savory plus sweet rocks my world.

Not food but also pretty exciting, I packed this Herban Essentials Lavender Towlette to wipe my hands with after my sandwich.

The smell rocked my face off and I felt uber-classy.  Confession  – my mom bought me this bag years ago and I’ve been hoarding them because I think they’re so special.

We did an interesting case study in class today but I’ll save time by not talking about it.  I just say this – you can only help someone who wants to help themself.

We went down to the lab after class to deal with the chili sale leftovers and I snagged a m&m brownie cookie.

Lunch was free too; I went to a club meeting that provided sub sandwiches.

I got half a turkey (with lettuce, tomato, and a slice of swiss) which I topped with lots of yellow mustard and a few chips.

When I got home I made myself something exciting for dessert.

That is “rice” pudding made with chia seeds.  I topped my bowl with a splash of maple syrup and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

It was amazing I pinky swear to share the recipe with y’all tomorrow but I’m going to save time by skipping that now.

Adam and I actually got next week’s grocery shopping done this afternoon.  It’s going to be a busy weekend and we want to get as much done ahead of time as we can.

Dinner was easy and quick, vegetarian tacos.

We mashed 2/3 of a can of pinto beans, spread them on small tortillas, topped with a bit of sharp cheddar, a handful of sautéed cabbage, and some sliced avocado.

This meal needed a dose of crunch and/or spice, but other than that it was perfect.

I also polished off a lot of this rosemary with olive oil and sea salt loaf.

Like a LOT, a lot.  4 big slices dipped in evoo and shoved into my face.  ‘Twas amazing.  I’m not quite sure what I think I’m carbo-loading for but I will say that I really wanted french fries too and at least had the good sense not to go get them!

Spicy plus sweet; gimme or gag me?