Tag Archives: seafood

Vacation At Home

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Some people find that having visitors is stressful, but I think it gives you a great opportunity to be a tourist in your own city.  It does help that my visitors are my (funny, easy-going) parents and they pay for everything!  When you have guests it’s like you get to take a vacation at home because they force you to view your city with fresh eyes.

Let me tell you though, vacationing at home can be exhausting! We’ve been falling into bed after 1 am every night and this post is two days in one because I just couldn’t make myself sit down at the computer before bed last night.  Even with double content I’ve got to keep this quick because otherwise it’ll be another post-1 am bedtime and my parents leave early tomorrow.

Tuesday morning started with a very unvacation-like trip to the orthodontist.  But then I took my parents to breakfast at Sweetness 7 Cafe.

S7C is a totally adorable coffee and crepes place; I plan on bringing a good book and camping out for the day eating crepes very soon.

I ordered an iced black tea,

and my parents and I split 2 crepes 3 ways.

Kiss Me I’m Irish – plain crepes with syrup and a cracked fried egg in the center.

Irish Blessing – caramelized fresh apples with melted brie.

Apparently we went Irish for breakfast, and the choice served us well.  I don’t have much experience for comparison but these are the best crepes I’ve ever had; so eggy!

After breakfast we walked a third of the loop around Delaware Park so my parents could see the Buffalos.

I continued to get my sweat on by taking advantage of their hotel gym while they got ready for the day.  30 minutes on the elliptical at random level 6.  It was amazing to have access to a tv at the gym, especially because I was the only one in there and I could control the remote.

Our next activity was a trip to the Albright Knox Gallery.

I wanted to snap a picture of practically everything, but I controlled myself and stuck to a few favorites.

The first day with a new set of retainers is always super painful so I went with a liquid lunch.

A Vega Vanilla-Almonde Shake and Go Smoothie packet that I grabbed from the co-op on a whim.  The flavor was good but not great, and this didn’t do an awesome job of sating my hunger, but I was definitely pleased with this –

And it’s just as well that I was left a bit hungry, because my best meal of the year was coming for dinner.  Don’t let the pictures fool you (why are restaurants always so darn dark?!), Scotch and Sirloin is basically a must-go!  I never would have ventured there if it hadn’t been for Groupon, but I am so glad that I crossed my fingers and bought the deal.

Adam and I split a bowl of crab bisque to start.

I also got a plate from the salad bar.

Romaine with mushrooms, artichokes, cucumber and French dressing.  Plus a slice of the best bread I’ve had since Great Harvest, super duper doughy.

For dinner my dad and I split the two best things on the menu: Fried shrimp,

and the double lobster tail with drawn butter.

Like butter dipped in butter!  We were so impressed with this meal, I can’t even tell you.  I ended up eating three fried shrimp,

most of one lobster tail,

and all of the veggies.

For dessert we ended up at a candy shop on Elmwood with an ice cream counter.

I went with Ciao Bella Gelato, a half scoop each of key lime pie and malted milk ball flavors.

Fashion note – How cute is the back of this shirt?!

I actually bought this years ago in college but it has a strange, unflattering band around the waist so I’d worn it maybe once or twice.  I can’t believe it took me so long to think of pairing it with a high-waisted skirt.

We sat outside of The Spot to eat our ice cream and I also drank a small, non-fat, iced Chai.

– – – Insert time (not enough!) to sleep. – – –

I picked my parents up bright and early this morning for breakfast at Panos.  I got the 2-2-2; french toast, sunny side up eggs, and hash browns.

I ended up eating one egg, 1 piece (1 half slice) of french toast, and all of my potatoes.  The amount of leftover food was a little annoying considering I ate exactly the portion of the 1-1-1 – from the kids’ menu – that they wouldn’t let me order.  However, after taking a bite of my dad’s blueberry pancakes I decided that Pano’s can do no wrong and a little wasted food isn’t a big deal.

Coffee #1 of the day was a tall iced coffee with skim milk from Starbucks.

Did I mention that I’m exhausted?

My parents are sleeping at our apartment tonight so I took advantage of their gym one last time before they checked out.  10 minutes of walking on the treadmill and 30 minutes on the elliptical.  I also carried both of my parents’ suitcases up our three flights of stairs and I’d like to count that as strength training!

Our big activity for the last vacation day was a long walk down Elmwood.  We stopped in to basically every store and I definitely discovered a few hidden gems.

Mid-afternoon we grabbed lunch from the Globe Market.

1/4 lb each peanut noodles and Thai vegetable salad.

Meh.  It wasn’t terrible but I’m honestly not a big fan of Globe.

Whether due to hunger or exhaustion or increased physical activity, hunger hit me hard this afternoon. We ran a bunch of random errands and during that time Adam and I split some new flavors of candy,

and I drank a chocolate milk.

Dinner at Chester’s Cajun Grill was a meal Adam and I had been looking forward to ever since we tried the Smoked Bourbon Chicken Sandwich at the Taste of Buffalo.  Of course we had to get the sandwich.

It wasn’t good!!  I can’t even tell you how said this made us.  It wasn’t terrible, but we could only rate it a 5/10 and the sandwich we tried at the festival was a 9.5/10.  I ate most of my meal but only because I was hungry; even the fries were pretty tasteless.

Thank goodness we had good company.  We ended our evening with a final trip to the Spot to sit and talk; we are going to miss my parents so much when they fly home tomorrow!  Coffee #2 – a grande, iced Americano with skim milk and two sugars – was actually consumed at 11 pm so I could make it through this post.

And I’m done; phew!

Psych!

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I know I said I was going home.  As I got into my car this morning I thought “I could be fun to stay longer…,” so I did!  I’ll go home tomorrow.

I think my delicious breakfast helped to put me in the vacation mood.

0% Plain Greek Gods Yogurt with berries, plucot, and the last of the Great Harvest Granola.

So sad!

My last bowl with it was fantastic though.

I was super glad I stayed when we ventured to a great outdoor mall (I snagged the perfect shoes for my hospital rotation) and spotted this –

First we had lunch.  This is a half portion (I split with my mom) of poached eggs with hollandaise, potato, spinach, asparagus, and artichoke.

Pretty good, but dessert was better.

I seriously don’t know what I’m going to do in Buffalo for the next year without froyo?!

After some more family time, we headed to dinner at Ruby Tuesdays.  I snagged one of these cheddar biscuits.

And went seafood delight for dinner.

I was seriously shocked by how good this food was; I must have exclaimed how much I enjoyed my meal at least five times during dinner!

Grilled green beans,

grilled zucchini,

and grilled bbq salmon with shrimp.

Yum, yum, yum; the zucchini was my favorite.

Ok, now I promise to go home tomorrow!

Grog Not Groggy

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After my run this morning I joined my parents for an hour and a half bike ride.  I burnt the crap out of my forearms yesterday so I ended up biking in 85* weather in this –

Worth it.  We rode all around the path and over some gorgeous bridges.  I so wish I’d had my camera but I couldn’t figure out a place to put it.

We came home for a refreshing breakfast.

0% Plain Greek Gods Yogurt with a strawberry honey straw, blueberries, peach, and Great Harvest granola.

I have maybe a half serving of granola left and my heart is breaking.

Getting lunch was not my strong suit today and I will admit that I was a little cranky this afternoon.  We did do some fun things though, like explore a neat farmer’s market.

I grabbed an iced coffee from a stand at the market.

But traded iced in for hot as soon as I saw this –

Grog style coffee?!  With a little skim milk.

I swear it did taste like buttered rum!

We also traveled to the mecca.

I bought sushi (spicy and regular brown rice California rolls) for lunch but I only ate three pieces.

Yucky City, way too much (mushy) rice.  If I had been closer to the store I would have returned it but I was eating on the car ride home.

I split these Sunkist gems with my dad for dessert.

Yum City.

My grumbling tummy was very happy when dinner was served.

Side salad with peas, radishes, spicy ranch, and dill cheese curds.

Corn on the cob so tasty it blew the corn I bought in Buffalo out of the water.

And quesadilla with sautéed onions and peppers, turkey sausage, shredded chicken, and colby and sharp cheddar cheese.

With a small turtle blizzard for dessert.

I’ve been pretty well fed this vacation.  Nonetheless, I can’t wait to go home to my husband tomorrow and hear about his first week back at school!

Doorknob Ankle Cold

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Whew, vacation’s not over yet; Adam’s parents are here for a visit!  We spent the day running around with them and it was nice to be the one showing off the city for a change.

Before our visitors arrived, Adam and I set out for the farmers’ market.  We didn’t find any produce we wanted but it was basically a menagerie down there.  Here’s a llama –

there’s a llama –

(and another little llama, fuzzy llama, funny llama, llama llama,) duck!

That song will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.  (Remember this one??)

While we were out we snagged breakfast, straw-style.

Organic 3 Cafe is great about letting you customize your juice orders.  This was spinach, carrot, cucumber, kale.

I also grabbed a half-sweet coffee from Wilson Farms.

Soon enough, my in-laws were here and we all headed to Tokyo Shanghai Bistro for lunch.

That’s the a la carte tomago (egg custard nigiri) I shared with my mother-in-law.

The lunch specials (only $6!) came with steamed rice and a cup of soup, I went with hot and sour.

For my main order I got the garlic eggplant with extra veggies.

I’ve been craving garlic eggplant for forever and this totally hit the spot.  It was a little bit spicy but not super sweet or fried tasting.

After lunch we took a movie break and headed to the theatre to see Mr. Popper’s Penguins.  The movie was a lot better than I was expecting, it was great to see Jim Carrey actually act (not just make crazy faces).  My favorite character was definitely Pippi.

We wanted to cash in a Groupon for dinner so we drove out to Hamburg to the Buffalo Street Grill. 

The husband and I had trouble deciding so we ended up sharing two dishes.

Tortellinni with portobello mushrooms and pesto,

and grouper topped with crab, brie, and roasted red peppers,

which came with french fries,

and a squash medley.

The veggies were seriously delicious, the best side I’ve had in a restaurant all year!

Finally, we took the parents to Anderson’s for frozen yogurt.

I got a baby twist with marshmallow topping.

Mmmmn.

After we said goodnight to my in-laws, Adam and I took a walk to pick up a few things at the Co-op.  It might be 90* in DC but it’s in the 60’s here; we were so cold we ended up sharing a cinnamon dolce steamer from Starbucks to warm up!

A steamer is just steamed skim milk with 1.5 pumps of syrup, but it did the trick getting us through our walk.

Adam is making the opening and closing remarks at a medical school ceremony tomorrow so we’ve got to get to bed and get him his beauty rest!

Get Your Grillz On

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After my walk this morning I was ready for a good breakfast.

A 2% Mango Chobani yogurt topped with banana and strawberries,

plus a thin slice of Dakota toasted and drizzled with honey.

Great Harvest bread is sort of indescribably good; I’m not sure what we’ll do when this loaf runs out!

Plans for the day included a trip to the aquarium.

This is my crabby face.

Crabby faces are quickly solved by trips to froyo places.

I self-served cheesecake/chocolate/cookies and cream topped with kiwi, strawberries, coconut, sprinkles, and rainbow jelly (<– like what’s in bubble tea, so fun!).

What in the world are Adam and I going to do when we get back to Buffalo?!

Evening snacks included more guacamole,

and more bread dipped in oil.

I promise that our dinner was lovely and delicious, but unfortunately my pictures are all a little dark.  We made pizzas on the grill!

That was my creation – pesto, buffalo mozzarella, shredded mozzarella, and lump crab meat.  The best combo of the night was my uncle’s – pesto, buffalo mozzarella, basil, sun-dried tomatoes, and strawberries!

Here were my pieces; for reference, each piece was slightly smaller than the size of a playing card.

So good.  My cousin also grilled up some peaches,

which were fantastic paired with yesterday’s dessert spread.

We’ve been eating like kings on this vacation.

What’s your favorite thing to cook on the grill?

Walk It Out, II

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Apparently I’ve used this title before…  I don’t think I knew what “a lot” of walking was when I wrote that post; Adam and I (who love love love to walk) wore ourselves out this vacation!  I’m glad we’ve gotten in the incidental exercise though, we need the walking piece to make up for our eating.  It’s definitely been a vacation week!

After breakfast on Tuesday Adam and I dropped my laptop back at the apartment and headed into the city.

Our main destination for the day was the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

We saw all sorts of amazing things but my favorite exhibit by far was “Written in Bone: Forensic Files of 17th Century Chesapeake.”  They recently discovered the burial site for the first settlers of Jamestown and using modern forensics were able to piece together a picture of how those settlers lived and died.  The exhibit was half American history and half forensic anthropology; I loved it!  If you are in DC in the near future I highly recommend you check it out.

We expanded our minds all morning, but unfortunately our stomachs stayed empty.  Failing to plan is planning to fail, particularly when you are visiting expensive museum food courts.  I did delight in seeing all sorts of these though –

and Adam and I split the Luna protein bar I had in my purse.

Even without breakfast or lunch, our next stop was obvious.

FroZenYo!  If my memory is correct, I served myself red velvet, cookies and cream, cheesecake, and tart yogurt topped with kiwi, strawberries, candied nuts, pb, hot fudge, and sprinkles.

It was ridiculous good.  Frozen yogurt was the high point of my day, but Adam was most excited for dinner.

First though we met my best friend for a drink (pink lemonade and Stoli),

and then an iced coffee for our long metro ride.

Finally we arrived at Adam’s heaven our destination.

Chrisfield Seafood has been an institution in DC (technically Maryland) since the 40’s, and it was a big part of my family vacations as a child.  I didn’t actually eat any seafood as a child so Chrisfield’s magic was lost on me, but this time I was ready!

Portions note – I ate about 1/3 of everything shown here; it was a rich meal but I kept it fairly healthy by not stuffing myself silly.  If you do go to Chrisfields (and you should!) and plan on going crazy, I still recommend that you not fill up on bread because your dinner will be worth the wait.

Adam and Nikki ordered a pitcher of Red Hook Ale ($8!), apparently it turns you into a creeper,

but I still enjoyed a small glass.

When we sat down we were served bread,

and a plate of the necessary accoutrements.

Then we sat, and waited, and drooled and plates went by us.  Finally it was our turn to dig in.

When I called my father for menu advice (I wanted to maximize the opportunity now that I finally like seafood) he told me to order either the crab-stuffed flounder or crab-stuffed shrimp.  But when I got to the restaurant the lobster tail was calling me.  Thankfully I found my perfect meal, The Broiled Combo – lobster tail,

stuffed shrimp,

stuffed flounder.

My meal came with cole slaw and french fries as well.

O.M.G.  I think if I’d actually tasted the food as a child I would have been a seafood convert a lot earlier!  My favorite was actually the stuffed flounder, but the husband was more than happy to take over eating my lobster tail.

Stuffed to the gills (ha!) we slept very well that night.

Wednesday morning was spent walking around Georgetown.  Wandering down M Street is my favorite thing to do in DC!  Adam and I actually ended up at an old New York favorite for brunch, Serendipity 3.

I went with a favorite order too, The Summer Bries.

An open-faced turkey sandwich with apples, cranberry mayo, and brie cheese.

My bread was sort of burnt but I ate 2/3 before passing it off to the husband.

I’m glad I saved room, because we discovered a brand new favorite for dessert – Mr. Yogato!

I couldn’t serve myself, but the shop was so cute that it was worth the change.  I ended up with a small original tart yogurt with banana, coconut, and sprinkles.

Did you think I was kidding when I said we’d get froyo every day? 🙂

Guys, the walk back to pick up our stuff was brutal.  It was in the high 90’s and I was carrying my backpack with the laptop and it was just crazy.  Adam actually got so overheated he started to get light-headed!  Thankfully he felt faint right in front of a Walgreens and we could run in for provisions.  I drank 2 liters of water in under an hour!

Once we were back to our car it was time to head to our final destination: Baltimore.  We probably should have eaten lunch first though because as we sat in rush hour traffic we got pretty cranky.  I ended up digging into my packed stash and eating a serving’s worth of honey mustard chip crumbles,

and tons of (craisin, peanut, chocolate chip) trail mix.

When we finally got here my aunt and cousin had a great healthy spread for us to dig into.  Tortilla chips with homemade guacamole,

hummus with fresh veggies from the farmer’s market,

and this huge bowl of cherries that I basically dominated.

Plus a small pour (x 1.5) of sauvignon blanc.

For the protein portion of the meal my aunt grilled up some delicious Indian spiced chicken with yogurt and mint sauces.

It was so tasty I went back for a second piece (that’s a side plate).

Finally, dessert.

My aunt is quite the hostess.  There was dulce de leche Ben and Jerry’s and salted caramel gelato,

plus No Pudge Fudge Brownies and berry crumb bars (the blueberry crumb bar recipe from Bon Appetit made with raspberries and blackberries).

I was so stuffed I ended up leaving one bite of each piece on my plate!

And bringing this super long post full circle, I woke up at 6:30 this morning to go on a walk with my aunt.  She walks a 40 minute loop around her neighborhood most mornings so I happily joined her.  Even after our miles of city walking yesterday it felt good to get up and get my legs moving.

And now it’s time for breakfast!

Tired Travel

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Hello from Charlottesville!  The last 48 hours have been a total whirlwind, but a little sleep deprivation is definitely worth the family time. 

Yesterday afternoon we had to finish packing, and Adam had to shave, and we had to drop his car off, and the clock ticked ominously as it got later and later.  By the time we actually hit the road it was after 6pm and we knew it was going to be a long night.

We dinnered on sandwiches from home as we drove.

I assembled Nature’s Pride bread, Applegate Farms Organic Roasted Turkey slices, 2% Swiss cheese, and honey mustard; wrapped in tin foil for easy road munching.

Adam and I also split a Starbucks Double Shot drink.

Caffeine was a very good idea (and it continued to be good all today as well) since we pulled into my in-laws’ house at 4:30 in the morning!!  I’m not sure how we managed to be so chipper for our 9:30 wake up call, but I think that vacation excitement always overrules lack of sleep.  I can’t even tell you how crazy the drive was though, between the thunderstorms and the fog we were pretty sure we were driving through the apocalypse.

Breakfast called for carbs, protein, and bacon.  Half a bagel with strawberry cream cheese,

1 scrambled egg,

and 2 slices of turkey bacon.

Moving was not as bad as I was anticipating at all (it probably helped that I was responsible for packing up the pantry and not carrying the couch!), especially since my brother-in-law drove down to help as well.  At some point in the afternoon I was sent into town for packing supplies and Starbucks for my mother-in-law; I grabbed a grande iced nonfat latte for myself.

Lunch was one of those random simple meals that ended up being extra delicious.

This veggie pizza was something my MIL found in the freezer section and it was so dang good; she was worried that the crust started to burn but it was crispy and crunchy in the best possible way.

And this was the best (only?) watermelon I’ve tasted all summer.

The melon was supposed to be dessert but my MIL and I found ourselves stuck at Wendy’s while the moving truck was returned and Frostys were calling our names.  The new Caramel Apple Parfait looked too good not to try.

Oh my gosh guys, props to Wendy’s because this was delicious!  I only ate ~ 1/3 because I didn’t want to overdo it before dinner but I was seriously impressed.  The caramel had great mouth feel and the right balance of sweet and salty.

Adam and I stayed in town after the moving was done so we could have Fathers’ Day dinner at my FIL’s favorite restaurant.  Clearly it was a day of hot work because I drained my beer before it even occurred to me to snap a picture.

This might be the first time I’ve tried a Shock Top and I was surprised by how much I liked it, light and refreshing.

I also nibbled on a complimentary cheesy biscuit.

Think of the biscuits from Red Lobster, but better.

Sagebrush isn’t the type of restaurant that I typically love but my dinner ended up being amazing.

I ordered a side of the veggie medley (without butter)

and a side of sweet potato casserole

to go with my Mountain Trout.

Trout!  This was my first time trying trout and I think it might be my new favorite fish, it was so buttery.  The menu said flash grilled but I’m pretty sure this was fried.  I scraped off the skin but other than that I cleaned my plate.

After dinner we had another late, rainy drive.  I bought this huge (half-sweet) coffee for the road.

I hope the caffeine doesn’t keep me awake but traveling makes my stomach upset and I was hoping coffee would help me feel better.

Tomorrow we’re spending the day exploring Charlottesville and then driving to DC in the evening.  My best friend just texted to let me know that her apartment doesn’t have internet so my posting schedule might be a little off.

Can anyone recommend any “must go” spots in Charlottesville or DC?  Other than frozen yogurt we don’t have much on the agenda!

It Got Away

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Hello, hello!  I swear that I didn’t skip my post/giveaway this morning because I was sulking; the day just got away from me!  First things first though, thank you so much to all of you who offered me advice in the last post.  I blog for me (and my mom and grandma!), but I also blog for you guys, and I always want to do my best.

I mentioned that the day got away from me, and if I’m honest, it started getting away from me last night.  When Adam got in bed at 10pm I so wanted to be the type of person who got in with him and got a good night sleep.  But that’s not who I am.  I’m the type of person that stays up until 2am watching Missing.  I’m also the type of person who eats the last banana split cupcake at 2am.

That’s just me.

I actually woke up raring to go this morning (probably nerves) but I ended up skipping my planned 4-miler anyways because my knee feels funky again.  I’m hoping to double up on cardio tomorrow to make up for the lost day, fingers crossed!

Today was my first training day at work and since I was going to be busy through lunch I knew I needed a big, hearty breakfast.

Yum and yum.

I sautéed a crumbled salmon patty with three tablespoons of spicy corn relish and when I started to get a good char I scrambled in two eggs and ~ 1oz of extra sharp cheddar.

I’m in love with this dish.  I haven’t eaten the corn relish “raw” yet, but it is so darn good in eggs.

I also ate a 0% Fage with soursop.

Which, thankfully, pushed me to enough food to get me through the lunch rush.

— Insert 11 – 2:30 training at the newest restaurant on Elmwood. —

When I got home I had time to split this taffy candy with Adam,

before we had to head to his dentist appointment.  <– ironic, right?

I obviously didn’t have to go, but I’m co-dependent, so I ignored my growling belly and hopped in the car.  I brought a chocolate dipped coconut Luna Bar,

but I had to split it with Adam because it’s too darn good not to share.  Tastes just like a Girl Scout Samosa, I swear!

Unfortunately, I let myself get waaaay too hungry and my food choices have gone a little downhill.  I got a good balance of veggies and protein in my Wegman’s hot bar,

but I shoveled it into my face the minute we got back to the car!

I also bought a pecan pie bar from the Co-op.

I can’t even tell you how much self-control it took not to eat this in the car too.

And now (as soon as I hit publish) I’m going to eat some popcorn.  Boo-yah.  Clearly I need a more effective way of dealing with lunches on work days.

Just for funsies; what are some of your favorite blogs to follow?