Tag Archives: restaurant food

He’s Just Like Garfield

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I did not get enough work done today!  I got behind from my “free” weekend last week and I’m still making work up, and I have 4 exams next week so things are feeling a little crazy.  But I did something so that feels good.  Progress, people!

This morning we sent the in-laws off with a hearty breakfast from Panos.

I ordered “The Fix,” which was Two eggs, scrambled with Feta, in a grilled Pita, served with homefries.  I made some adjustments – mozzarella subbed in for feta, plus broccoli and spinach.

I forgot to ask for no butter on my pita so I ended up taking a few sandwich bites and then eating the insides out.  I left a lot of my huge pile of hash browns as well.

I think we sent them off full!  I wrote my blog address down for my m-i-l so she might start stopping by (hi Barb!).

I spent the morning studying – and internet time killing 😦 – at home.  The last of the 7-layer bar was calling me.

I cut it up into little pieces for ease in eating without crumming on my Orgo book.

Around 3 the husband came home from the lab and we drove over to my campus so I could go to the gym.  My knees have been feeling off so I decided to do a nice low-impact treadmill run.

  • 5minute walking warm up
  • 20minutes jogging
  • 5minute walking cool down

I covered 2.53miles.  I finished with a super quick stretch, the gym was closing as I left!

Adam and I studied in the library for a couple of hours – although, again, I got distracted by the internet; gleesh!  I packed some plums and a Babybel Light to snack on.

I also opened this Turtle candy bar my in-laws brought me.

I ate 1.5 and gave the rest to the husband.

I should not have wasted any more time, but when we got home and Adam asked if I wanted to go for a walk my answer was “of course!”  We didn’t have any destination in mind so we ended up visiting the store kitties.

The “store kitties” are two cats that live in a clothing shop on Elmwood, the husband is obsessed with them.  They are ginormous; one has huge paws and is just a big cat, and the other is a total fatty. 

Sidenote 1 – Adam and I have been talking for weeks about baking a lasagna just so we can take a picture of it with the fat cat.  Sidenote 2 – when we lived in Park Slope there was a store puppy, a french bulldog that visited a shop 13 blocks from our apartment.  We walked those 13 blocks at least 3 times a week so we could go in and be total dog creepers.

Dinner was a cinch when we got home because my m-i-l brought us all sorts of home cooked goodness.

Rosemary chicken (just to note, I only ate one of those two pieces, I don’t think I’m a fan of chicken thighs),

with roasted potatoes.

All we had to do was pan-steam some Red Russian Kale, finished off with a bit of sesame oil.

I dipped every component in ketchup 🙂

This meal felt very hardy.

Now I’m already late for my goal bedtime and I’ve still got to shower; I’m off!

Do you have any “store animals” in your neighborhood?

Holiday Dinner

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Today was an auspicious date – National Cheeseburger Day.

Or was that Cheeburger?

Cheeburger, Cheeburger seemed like the perfect spot to celebrate such an event.  Adam and I were both a little underwhelmed by the food (and service!) quality this evening, but the menu process is a lot of fun and his parents had a really good time.

I ordered the turkey burger platter for dinner, mostly because I needed to get in some veggies in the form of a side salad.

I split with Adam and served him most of the cheese, 90% of the balsamic vinegar, and all of the croutons.  Here is what I ate –

I actually looked at the menu ahead of time this afternoon, and the husband was so proud when I ordered my milkshake without a choices anxiety attack.

That’s a half-serving shake, cinnamon bun and marshmallow flavored, with skim milk substituted in.

The burger toppings were a bit more of a struggle.  I looked like I was cramming for the SAT when the waitress came to the table, but I ended up putting together something good.  Here is the platter –

My turkey burger,

which came topped with….

cheddar cheese, peanut butter, and jalapenos!  The rest of the table couldn’t believe my order but I thought the combination was great.  The different kinds of saltiness worked together well and the creaminess of the pb kept the peppers from being too spicy.  I ate two bites with the bun before I scrapped it, but I finished every last bite of the turkey patty and toppings.

Along with the side salad the platter also came with fries, which came with a side of creamy horseradish sauce.

I planned on eating 1 or 2 and sharing the rest, but no one else wanted any and when the piece de resistance came to the table I knew I was beat.

Nothing beats french fries drenched in malt vinegar.  I ended up eating about 1/3 of them.  All in all, especially given the location, I think I kept things pretty healthy.  Could have been better, but could have been worse too.

By the way; I just did this –

Wish us luck!

Pumpkin Packed Pantry

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It’s been the near perfect sort of Saturday – fun time, food time, school time, errands.  I’m definitely a happier camper when my weekends are productive 🙂

We headed over to the in-law’s hotel at 7:00 this morning to meet up for breakfast.  Everyone was getting the buffet so I did as well, but there ended up not being a lot available for me.  Sidenote – what kind of breakfast buffet has no fruit?!?  I ended up putting together a pretty good meal though.

Drinks –

Black coffee (they only had cream) and a small pour of oj.

1 plate –

A little bit of scrambled eggs and breakfast potatoes with a half slice of french toast (syrup was hiding off to the side).

1 bowl –

A vanilla Dannon with half a serving of Frosted Flakes and strawberry jam.

Adam and his parents drove up to the funeral today but I had too much school work so I had to stay home.  My knees have been hurting (too much ellipticalling?) so I decided to skip the gym today, but I still wanted to stretch my legs out so instead I walked home from breakfast.  Glorious!  The walk was a little less than 2miles and the crisp 50* weather felt amazing.  Plus I got to walk through the farmers’ market on my way home.

I spent the morning crafting my totally embarrassing entry for Foodbuzz’s Project Food Blog.  At least I can cross having to do the subsequent challenges off my to-do list 😉  I did some school reading as well.  It actually took me forever to get started on work and I was furious with myself, but then I was so pleased once I accomplished something.

Around 2:30 I set out for Target and Wegmans.  I didn’t get home until 5:30, which means that grocery shopping took an insane amount of time.  But I found Libby’s pumpkin, so it was totally worth it!  I never really got hungry for lunch, though I did grab a medium iced coffee (with skim milk) at the store.

Normally I would try to eat a snack now to round out dinner, but we have a fun (big!) dinner planned so for today I’ll just hope things even out on their own.

Have you found canned pumpkin in your neck of the woods yet?

New Fish, Blue Fish

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For dinner tonight we took Adam’s parents to the new sushi spot that just opened on Elmwood, Blue Fin.

My camera was dying and the lighting was low, so please excuse my poor photography.  The meal was delicious; I got one healthy roll and one fun roll.

For health, I ordered a California hand roll.

Hand rolls are my favorite sushi order, I love the texture of the nori.

For fun I ordered a roll to split with Adam.  This bad boy had asparagus, cream cheese, white fish, massago, eel sauce, spicy mayo, and tempura; I believe it was called the Blue Mountain Roll.

It was a great mix of flavors and textures, but very heavy; if you are ordering sushi to be healthy please be aware that rolls with cream cheese are neither traditional nor low-calorie.  They are tasty though!  I ate three pieces.

We were given chocolate with the bill.

We took the in-laws to Delish for local ice cream after dinner.  It was too cold outside for that to appeal to me, but I did pick up an adorable mini casserole dish!

They were on sale and I’ve been wanting one forever.

My mother-in-law is amazing; she was in the kitchen all day yesterday and she brought us pounds (literally!) of tasty foods.  She actually brought so much we can’t eat it all this week!  I portioned out the chilli into baggies in one cup servings and have them on a cookie sheet in the freezer.

That’s how I deal with all soup/soft leftovers, once they are frozen they are a cinch to stack and store.

I did a little bit of school work when we got home and I snacked on a snickerdoodle from my m-i-l.

I didn’t actually eat much real food today so I probably should have skipped the cookie; I’m learning.  We’ve got breakfast plans at 7 tomorrow so I’ve got to get to bed.  Sweet dreams all.

What is your favorite sushi order?

Friday (Mostly) Freebie

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So it’s been 14 hours since my last post, also 14hours since I last sat at my laptop; yikes!  I’m a bit concerned that this semester is basically going to be insane.  My packed lunch was tasty, I guess, I’m not really sure since I inhaled the sandwich while running to class.  The cucumber slices were good, but perhaps a bit loud for crunching during Orgo; insert red face here.  I did squeeze in some Friday fun though.

After my last class ended (3pm) Adam came over to my campus for a study session with me.  I am so much more focused when the husband is next to me, probably because I’m not texting him!  A little after 5, I headed to the gym.  30minutes on the elliptical, random, level 6.  I wasn’t so lethargic today so I was able to run interval sprints for the last 10minutes or so.

After a shower we headed to the mall to Johnny Rockets.

I came home from BlogHer with coupons for 2 free meals so we made that our dinner date.  Usually JR would not be my first choice, but I’m kind of cheap 😉  Adam and I decided to do some sandwich splitting –

I got the #12 turkey burger,

and he ordered a tuna melt on sourdough.

He loved the melt (I thought the tuna tasted funny) and I thought the turkey burger was actually pretty fabulous, not too greasy at all.  I’d forgotten how much I enjoy pickles on burgers.  I ate ~ 1/3 of each sandwich and half of my fries.

Since all we had to pay was the tip we brought the evening’s cost up to a grand total of $6.71 by splitting a mini Brownie Batter Blizzard.

Cons – I don’t like brownies so I’m not sure why I thought I’d like this (I ate about 1/3 of it though).  Pros – our DQ has mini Blizzards now, yippie!

Does your DQ offer the mini?  What is your Blizzard order?

Disappointing Dinner

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I really try not to be too much of a Debbie Downer on the blog, but I don’t have many positive things to say tonight so I’ll keep this quick.  The husband and I got really jazzed about having a fancy date and it basically was a bust.  (Although that’s not to say that we didn’t have a good time being together :D)

I read about Groupon on Meghann’s blog recently and was excited to join.  Today’s deal was a $40 gift certificate for $20 at a spot we’ve been wanting to try, The Wine Thief.  I’ve been telling people about how I wanted to try their lobster for months so we decided to snatch the deal up.

It’s been a hectic (and stressful!) time lately so we were really excited about a fancy dinner date together.

We decided that I would order the lobster and Adam would order the scallops and we’d do some sharing.  Before I show you the food I want to show you an actual shot of the entrée menu –

Here was Adam’s dish.

A portion of scallops with a side of rice topped with chutney.  (Sidenote – Adam hated his scallops but the rice/chutney was pretty darn tasty)

Now here’s my dish –

Go back up and read that menu.  Here, I’ll even give you a shot of the two meal descriptions, from their menu.

I was not served lobster with a side of risotto, as the menu implies, but risotto with lobster mixed in.  Now that is either the most poorly designed menu on earth, or the description of my entrée is meant to deceive the consumer.  If the dish is “Lobster Risotto,” why does the menu read “Australian Lobster: risotto…?” 

Sadly, the lack of class I think the menu shows is almost besides the point because the risotto had 4 measly pieces of meat in it and was not even a properly done risotto.  *Steam*  Major fail, Wine Thief, major fail 😦

Adam hated his scallops – I thought they were actually pretty good, I ate 2.5 – so he only ate his rice and I ate a few bites of my mush and we both left hungry.  Our dinner date ended up being pizza from Wegmans.

Ugh.

What do you think – was the menu misleading or are Adam and I idiots?

Around the Globe

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I was hanging around the house this afternoon, checking some e-mails, eating some popcorn,

getting half-dressed for the gym and trying to decide whether to head there or pick up my stuff at the tailor first.  When Katie g-chatted me about lunch who was I to say no?  Even if it meant I ended up going out in public in this –

A running skirt for running errands?  Not a good look for me!  Although I ended up doing so much walking that I was almost glad not to be sweating in my jeans.

Globe Market is conveniently located between our two apartments so we decided to meet up there.  I’d never been before so I thought I’d sample the menu with a half sandwich/soup combo.

Vegan gazpacho.

Green apple and brie sandwich.

I ended up with a ton of food.  Sadly I wasn’t that impressed with any of it though.  The gazpacho was ok, but it was practically tasteless compared with the bowl Benji served me the other day.  And the apples in my sandwich tasted like they were rotten!  The best part of my meal was actually the bread that come with my soup, airy and delicious!  I left behind a lot of food –

It was good to catch up with Katie though.

A fun story from my teacher days – On one of our many professional development days a workshop let out early.  This meant that we had to stay on school campus but didn’t have anything specific to do.  The nicest facility in the school was the basketball court so someone suggested a game of Around the World.  I have to mention here that I worked in a rough neighborhood and my job was pretty intense – most of the staff consisted of very large black men.  I actually was the only caucasian female employed by the school the two years I worked there.  I did not win that game of Around the World, not by a longshot, but I did hold my own.  The look on some of my fellow teachers’ faces when they realized they just got schooled by a little white girl in a mini skirt (it was a no student day)?  Priceless.

Cheeburger Cheeburger

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When I was still living in Brooklyn, Missy wrote a post about an incredible burger place she frequented.  The menu was huge and you could choose as many things as you wanted from a long list of toppings.  But it was in Queens, and no one goes to Queens unless they live there, so I put it out of my mind.  Until today…

Wonder of wonders, Buffalo hosts something exciting: Cheeburger Cheeburger!

The location was small but the 50’s style decorations totally set the mood.

Plus the hostess offered to take my picture with the giant cheeseburger so it was pretty much a love affair from then on.

We were having dinner with Adam’s friend from the lab and her husband, so I was trying to pretend that I was cool, but who wouldn’t geek out at the sight of this –

It was all downhill from there, I actually clapped my hands when my shake was brought to the table.

I went with a half order (I forgot to request skim milk, boo) of amaretto, marshmallow, oreo.

Yuuuuuuuuuuum!  I agonized over the choices but I think this was a pretty good combination.  The amaretto flavor was pretty heavy though, when we go back again I might just get unadulterated marshmallow.

I’m going to be totally honest with you guys and cop to the fact that made my dinner selections before we even got there.  I read the menu like a novel (it’s practically that long!) and hemmed and hawed in front of my laptop in the privacy of my own living room.  My indecision is embarrassing enough at a normal restaurant, going to Cheeburger Cheeburger unprepared would have been disastrous.

I think I did a pretty good job of ordering in the end.

If nothing else I certainly took advantage of their ‘as many toppings as you like’ policy!  I went with a turkey burger patty on a salad with the following toppings –

  • banana peppers
  • dried cranberries
  • 2 onion rings
  • pineapple
  • roasted red pepper
  • grape tomatoes
  • mushrooms
  • artichoke hearts
  • red onion
  • black olives
  • chick peas
  • cucumber
  • jack/cheddar cheese
  • (there was also 1000island dressing on the side but I didn’t use it)

And by the time I was done with my shake and burger I was so full that I could only manage 3 little bites of my salad!

Worth it.  We packed up the salad for Adam’s lunch tomorrow and I thought that the turkey burger was divine so it all worked out.  I practically had to be rolled out of there though.

My goal bedtime is 11pm, ready – set – go!

If you went to Cheeburger Cheeburger what toppings would you order for your burger/salad?