It Was a Day Relano

by Emily

***Disclaimer – between crappy lighting, cheap camera, and no photography skills, I could not get a usable picture of dinner. But where I lack in artistic prowess I achieve in kitchen creativity; this recipe is a taste winner! So please ignore the lack of photographs and go ahead and try it anyways.

On the agenda for dinner tonight were Stuffed Poblano Peppers. I’ve had, and loved, chile relanos at restaurants before and I’ve always wanted to recreate them at home. I didn’t really look at or follow any recipes for inspiration but I did have a couple of goals in mind –

make the recipe healthier by baking the peppers instead of frying them
achieve a filling that is creamy and cheesy without being over the top

Here are the steps I took for 4 servings (measurements all approximate, eyeball things for your tastes) –

Preheat your oven to 400*. Prepare a baking sheet with foil and cooking spray.
Heat 1T evoo in a large saucepan over medium heat.
Add 1lb 99% lean ground turkey to the pan. Cook through, stirring often and using a wooden spatula to break the meat into little pieces.
When the meat is almost cooked, stir in a drained 14.5oz can of crushed tomatoes (we used onion and garlic flavored).
When the turkey is cooked through and combined with the tomatoes reduce the heat to low.
Stir in 5 wedges of Laughing Cow Queso Fresco and Chipotle cheese.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in 1/2cup shredded sharp cheddar.
Allow the filling to cool. Meanwhile, chop the tops off of 8 small-medium poblano peppers; be sure to remove all of the seeds (that’s where the peppers’ heat lies).
Use a spoon to stuff filling into peppers. If you have extra filling it would be delicious in Mexican-style Sloppy Joses.
Lay the peppers on the prepared baking sheet, at least 1inch apart.
Bake for 25-30minutes, until the peppers’ skin appears to wrinkle and blister.

Name that movie –

“She’s making her famous stuffed chile relanos!”

“Relanos means stuffed.”

21Aug2010

Cheeburger Cheeburger

by Emily

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?

21Aug2010

Brawler’s Deli Might Need a Restraining Order Against Me

by Emily

In spite of getting in bed past pumpkin time last night, we’ve managed to have a full and productive Saturday. Fun too!

We had to take both cars in for inspection/oil change/ka-ching, ka-ching 😦 so we decided to make a date of it and spend the wait time walking around our old neighborhood. It took more than 3hours for the cars to be done so we managed to do a lot of walking. We saw some fun stuff in our travels –

We also stopped in at Pearl Street for brunch. We didn’t know beforehand, but Pearl Street just opened a deli in their beer basement so we got to try out the new spot.

Brawler’s Deli just may be our new favorite place! I’m a fan of any restaurant that puts turkey ruebans on the menu,

and this was the best reuban I’ve ever had. The biggest too! I took a shot next to my hand for comparison.

I only ate half of my reuban and I was stuffed. Not so stuffed, however, that I couldn’t tell Adam at least a bazillion times how in love with my sandwich I was! He ate the 2nd half (in addition to his own food!!) and quickly concurred. There was just enough sauerkraut to add tang without slime and the thousand island dressing was rich and creamy. I forgot to ask for no butter on my bread but in the end the bread was so perfect I’m glad I didn’t mess with it; great rye that was so satisfyingly crunchy. Usually the turkey is an afterthought for me when I eat a rueban (thousand island dressing, rye bread, swiss cheese; who gives a hoot about the turkey?!) but we both agreed that it was the best part of the sandwich.

Adam described it as dry but super-thin cut. We were so impressed we actually asked the guy behind the counter what kind it was so we could buy our own! It turns out that the deli actually roasts it themselves, which means we’ll have to go back again soon if we want more. The end point of this saga is – Local readers, go to try this spot immediately!

Adam headed to the lab and my inspected, oil changed, something elsed that cost a bunch of money car and I set off on errands. I did the grocery shopping, but I also hit up a different store to use the Coin Star machine. I won’t gush any more in this post, but I’ll give you a heads up that going to a new store finally allowed me to find mini ice cream cups in the flavors I’ve been looking for; expect a full update in a future post.

As soon as I hit publish I’m going to do a 10minute strength session, take a quick shower, and pick up the husband at the lab – we’ve got a dinner date!

Gush for me, what’s the best sandwich you’ve ever eaten and which restaurant served it to you?

9Aug2010

Bites and Bytes

by Emily

This morning we lazed around and then headed to a late brunch lunch at Panos. I LOVE being able to walk to the restaurants on Elmwood! I also love new swag t-shirts.

We were so ready for food by the time our lunch arrived, V for Victory!

I went with the turkey rueban which came with fries.

Tasty, tasty stuff; you can never go wrong with a rueban. I ate about 85% of my food before proclaiming defeat.

We ran some errands (and I got like 8 different forms of bad news, boo!) and then decided that both of us were up for a milkshake so to Coldstone we went.

I ordered a small coffee + cheesecake ice cream blend with Oreos.

Yums! I always request skim milk when I order a milkshake; I’m all for “spending” calories on ice cream, but milk?!

It’s going to be a lazy day around here because tomorrow a group of us is heading up to Toronto. Be on the look out for some MEGA changes to Eatventures this afternoon; while I have Camile here as a tech guide I’m doing some major blog overhaul!

30Jul2010

Prioritizing

by Emily

Today has been such fun! It’s felt packed, but in the best way possible. First things first, let me announce the CSN Stores giveaway winner –

Clare (#14) please send me an e-mail – emilyhwaxATgmail.com – so I can get you your prize.

This morning actually felt a little stressful; I way overslept and was trying to squeeze in lunch plans, a workout, apartment cleaning, showering, and being on time to pick my parents up from the airport. I’m really proud of myself though because I made exercise a priority. I realized that Katie wouldn’t be upset if I made our lunch date a maybe, and my parents wouldn’t care if the apartment was messy, but I would care if I skipped my run. So I went! And I ended up having time to (quickly) do everything else too.

I did cut my length though, which ended up being for the best because my calves were stupid tight. I didn’t manage my times as much, just ran and walked whenever I needed to. In the end I did ~1.6miles and 20minutes.

I kept my lunch date, and picked Katie up for a trip to Panera.

I did the half/half deal; half a strawberry, poppy seed, & chicken salad,

with half a turkey and artichoke pannini,

with an apple as my side.

The sandwich was gooey and crunchy and perfect but the salad was NOT good. I ended up leaving 95% of my salad even though the other half of my tray was practically licked clean.

After dropping Katie off I went to the husband’s computer lab to print off airport directions; what, I’ve only lived in Buffalo a full year?!? We had a fun time showing them the town, we hit up the mall, Target, Allentown, the Erie Marina, and finally had a fabulous dinner at Pearl Street Cafe.

There was a long wait so we went the bar so that my parents could try some of the microbrews. I went the tall Johnny Walker Black and Coke route.

Drunk, drunk, drunk, drunk, drunk! I did not eat enough today to functionally handle this big drink and the poor husband definitely dealt with me being a little loopy during dinner 😉

Foodwise my mommy and I split a small Chicken Cheddar Pizza.

It came with broccoli and black olives, a fantabulous combination.

I had this slice times 2 –

As well as a few big bites of Adam’s lobster ravioli.

It was a perfect “Welcome to Buffalo” dinner.

How do you make exercise a priority?

28Jul2010

Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy

by Emily

I made myself a smallish breakfast because I could tell today was going to be a snacky day, and sure enough at 11:30 –

1.5servings of ‘Smores Goldfish.

They were pretty good, but nowhere as good as lunch.

This sandwich was indeed pretty killer. A pretzel roll with ~2oz sliced turkey, a slice of green tomato, hot pepper peach preserves, and ~1/6 of a slimcado.

The mix of textures and flavors here was amazing.

I didn’t misspeak by the way, that really is a slimcado and not an avocado. I did a bit of research, and the slimcado has 50% less fat and 35% fewer calories. Regular avocados are grown in California and slimcados are grown in Florida; the difference in growing enviroment gives them slightly varied properties.

Have you ever tried a slimcado?

17Jul2010

The Brock Brought It

by Emily

I actually ended up passing out without eating dinner yesterday, so that’s where the evening post was. Do you ever get too tired for dinner?

Today was the first day (of many days) of moving. Ugh, ugh, ugh! We’d want to use the moving truck only for things that have to be moved by truck, so we are trying to get all the little stuff over there this week. Today we made a big dent in the office. My eats were kind of all over the place, as I imagine they will be this entire week. At least I’ve found that moving will be a more than adequate workout 🙂

Maple Walnut Cookie Bar.

12oz Jamocho shakes, a la birthday month gift certificates.

Wegman’s salad bar.

Goat cheese stuffed zucchini blossom,

broccoli and wok seared veggies,

sweet and sour chicken.

I quickly realized that I had taken too much food, but the husband was more than happy to finish off the last 1/3 for me.

My greatest creation, another sundae bowl.

Usually I make these with a little bit of homemade key lime pie ice cream and a lotta bit of 0% Plain Oikos, but today’s ratio was the reverse, making it more of an actual sundae. Topped with blackberry topping and a grumbled graham square.

This was also the last of the ice cream, I’d be lying if I said I’m not a little heartbroken.

Dinner was very late but also exciting; a trip to JP Bullfeathers for the sandwich I’ve been dreaming about the past month.

The Brock – a turkey paninni with cole slaw and 1000island dressing.

It was just as delicious as I’d imagined but 10:30 was a little late for dinner so I ended up eating half and bringing the rest home.

Tomorrow is going to be another full day, we want to move all our storage bins and I’ve got a paper due on Monday. I hope everyone else is having a good weekend!

Which sandwich topper do you prefer: cole slaw or sauerkraut?

16Jul2010

Culinary Confusion

by Emily

I ate a sundae for breakfast and breakfast for lunch, how’s that for traditional? Really though, it doesn’t matter how “normal” a meal is, as long as it is healthy and tasty. And breakfast and lunch both were!

My sundae bowl yesterday was so wonderful that I had to do a repeat.