Nashville Eats

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Itz Linz

Today’s WIAW party is heading to Nashville! Yesterday, I recapped my recent Nashville trip, and today you get to see what I ate. Lots of good eats!

One place that was a “must” when visiting Nashville was Marché Artisan Foods. Marché is a European-style cafe and marketplace serving breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner in the heart of Historic East Nashville. It was super busy on Saturday morning (an hour-long wait), so instead we brunched there on Sunday. I ordered the Migas Hash which had scrambled egg, potato, tortilla, cheddar, and pico de gallo.

Great decision! It was so tasty, I did not want it to end. The tortilla bits were thrown in there and cooked with the eggs and potatoes. I need to try this at home.

Lunch on Saturday was eaten at Calypso where their motto is, “Eat Better, Be Better.” Calypso Cafe offers fast, affordable meals that are good for you! For over 24 years, their restaurants have been serving up Cuban black beans, bountiful salads, rotisserie chicken, island burgers, and vegetarian side items in the Nashville area. Their mission is simple: high quality, hearty, healthy dishes at a reasonable price in a fun, relaxed, and efficient setting. Plus, I loved the style of the restaurant!

For lunch I ordered their “beans & three” where I got to choose my three sides alongside my Cuban black beans. Here’s what I went with:

Martinique Callaloo: mustard greens with tomatoes and onions
Boija Muffins: Carribean sweet corn bread topped with coconut
Bean & Corn Salad: mix of various beans and corn in a cilantro vinaigrette

The entire plate was just six bucks and absolutely delicious! The muffins were a tiny bit dry, the greens were almost a little sweet, and the black beans and corn salad were awesome! I would definitely recommend this place for not your typical lunch!

For our big night out on Saturday, we went to Cabana for dinner. I kept it simple and substantial with a burger and fries for dinner since we had a long night ahead.

The burger and fries were good, but nothing to write home about. However, the actual ambiance at Cabana is what made the evening! We had our own cabana where we could draw a sheer curtain around us to make for a private dining experience. It was cool because we could even plug our phone in to play our own music. Eating with ten people can be tricky, but not with the cabana. We were all close without being squished. Great place for a large party!

That’s it! Those were my Nashville eats!

What were some of your tasty eats as of late?

Vino Nadoz French Wine Dinner

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Itz Linz

Sorry for the disappearing act yesterday – I blame Vino Nadoz and their French Wine Dinner! On Tuesday night they had their monthly wine dinner featuring wines from France paired perfectly with each of their four courses. Yes, wine pairings with each of the four courses. That’s a lot of wine for this girl, so I went home and went to bed with a happy belly and an empty blog post.

Anyway, I’m back and ready to tell ya all about it! I met my friend Jessica and this was both of our first times at a wine dinner event. I know nothing, and I mean NOTHING about wine. I know that I like cabs and pinot noirs and that’s about it. Jessica and I got there a few minutes early and took pictures while we waited for the others.

There was one long table set up for all the guests. This was fun because we had the chance to talk with a few other people, and it made it easy to listen to Dana Atwell from Vinoteca St. Louis explain the wines, where they are from, and some brief history. There was a screen with a map of France that was shown where we would “travel” throughout the evening. The quote of the evening she shared was, “Laissez le vin de se faire – Let the wine make itself.”

Chef Chris introduced each course and, as always, loves talking about food; you can tell they’re both so passionate about what they do!

First Course: Celeriac soup with caviar paired with NV Baron de Breban Brut Rose from Provence. So celeriac is the bulb of celery and the soup was really good. It was definitely rich, creamy, and delicious. The caviar provided a salty touch, but was not overpowering. The sparkling wine was not as sweet as I would have thought, and paired nicely with the soup.

Second Course: Seared scallops with butter poached baby carrots and peas paired with Chateau Soucherie Anjou Blanc from Loire. As Chris introduced this course he told us about the scallops, baby carrots, English peas, and, “Copious amounts of butter! I’d like to say ‘I’m sorry,’ but I’m not!” You know I love Nadoz’s scallops, and this was no different! Chris was very accommodating to Jess’s shellfish allergy and made her a slice of pork belly instead. Her belly was happy.

The wine was totally dry and I’ll use Dana’s words because I don’t know how else to describe wine, “Itz piercingly refreshing and totally embodies Spring.” (Ok, maybe I threw in the “itz.”)

Third Course: Steak frites with truffle butter paired with Chateau La Rame from Bordeaux. Mmm steak and fries, baby! This was perfect for our third glass of wine; I definitely needed something to soak it all up! The wine was a 60% merlot and 40% cab blend aged for a year in neutral oak.

Fourth Course: Blueberry and meyer lemon clafoutis paired with Domaine de Fenouillet Muscat de Beames de Venise from Southern Rhone. Itz a french muffin baked in a dish with blueberry compote with honey floral lemon zest. Delish. The wine was a dessert wine, so it was on the sweeter side and was very grapey and tasty!

Don’t ask me to actually pronounce any of the wines or describe them in any more depth than I already did. Like I said, I’m not wine connoisseur, but I did thoroughly enjoy the eating and drinking at Nadoz. The only downside was that it was on a week night which made waking up the next morning a bit tougher. All in all, such a fun experience and I’d highly recommend attending a wine dinner. Plus, at Vino Nadoz itz just $45 which is such a great price for the amount of food and wine we had!

Have you ever been to a dinner where each course had a specially paired wine? What’s your favorite wine? I’m a red girl, all the way!

Eating in Scottsdale

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Itz Linz

Itz WIAW Scottsdale Edition! We certainly have been eating good here in Scottsdale, Arizona, but that really shouldn’t be any surprise to you with how much we love food.

Our first meal was at D’Lish Drive Thru: healthy on-the-go kitchen and coffee-house. My brother Justin told us this was a “must visit” place, and he was totally right. We loved it so much we went twice!

The first time I ordered the Veggie D’Lite wrap with chicken and the second time I ordered the Veggie Burrito. They were both mighty tasty, but the star of the place was the Breakfast Buzz shake that contains vitamins, protein, milk, peanut butter, banana, and chocolate. If you go to D’Lish you have got to order this. Unbelievable. In fact, I’m pretty sure we’re going to go for the third time this morning…

We spent many of our days poolside. Justin is king of the grill and made us some burgers that were the bomb diggity. We coupled it with a vegetable mix he also made and chips.

Dinners were always a fiasco as they usually are when trying to accompany a party of 9 + a baby, but we definitely made do and even got some awesome jumping pictures and a surprise photobomb one night!

Citizen Public House is a contemporary, upscale version of the traditional public house nestled in Old Town Scottsdale. We ordered several appetizers, one of them being fondue with pears, bread, and meat. For my entrée, I opted for the Original Chopped Salad. The ingredients of corn, couscous, smoked salmon, asiago, pepitas, tomatoes, arugula, and currants came in rows and our waiter mixed it up at the table.

Justin cooked one dinner for us in his apartment. He told us he’d just make a “quick and easy” dinner, and he sure whipped up quite the meal! He started us off with appetizers of crab cakes and bruschetta and mozzarella bites before serving spinach, cous cous, garlic bread, and salmon. What a chef!

We also ate at Oregano’s per the recommendation of a few kind readers and it turned out to be a fabulous little pizza joint. Unfortunately, we were too full to order the infamous Pizookie, but we were quite impressed with their massive thin crust pizza.

My Big Fat Greek Restaurant was dinner one night, but no pictures were taken during that meal. Itz ok because last time we were here, we ate there and it was featured in this post. The last dinner that I do have to show you is from Don & Charlie’s. Famous for ribs and we know why! I also ordered a salad, but snagged several ribs from Jonny’s plate.

I told you itz been a vacation of good eats!

What’s your favorite spot you’ve been to while on vacation?

Dinner at Vino Nadoz Wine Bar

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Itz Linz

As promised, today I’m going to share dinner from the weekend when my family dined at Vino Nadoz Wine Bar here in St. Louis. (Itz not WIAW today – itz what I ate at Nadoz!) I’ve raved about it before, and our dinner was no different. The menu is on the smaller side, but this allows them to specialize in each item; there’s also enough variety within the menu that it appeals to many different tastes.

The time, care, and effort that goes into each dish is apparent as the plates are as visually appealing as they are delicious. The menu is created and inspired by Chef Chris DiMercurio who I had the chance to meet and talk with during our blogger meet up. He’s quite the talented guy!

Photo by Janice Person

Another good thing about having a small menu is that when you go as a party of eight, you get to sample almost everything. And that’s just what we did! I’m pretty sure there were only a few items that were not ordered between all of us. Of course, we started with appetizers. My choice was the Winter Vegetable Bruschetta as it looked so good when Clare ordered it last time. It had roasted vegetables, fennel, caramelized onions, butter glazed turnips, and a balsamic reduction with goat cheese mousse. The flavors worked perfectly together and the goat cheese nor the onions were overpowering. Definitely will order this again!

My family also ordered the Thai Style Wings, Flatbread Pizza, and Bone Marrow. The wings and pizza great; I did not taste the marrow. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I know itz a delicacy and my dad said it was good, but I just couldn’t get down like that. I will show you a picture though since itz not a common dish.

Next were the salads. I knew between the many appetizers and my entre it would be more than enough food, but everyone else ordered and shared salads, so Jonny and I did the same. There are four salads on the menu and three were ordered at our table. Jonny and I went with the Beet Salad which had roasted beets with micro greens, mint, toasted pistachios, goat cheese mousse, and sherry vinaigrette.

I especially liked the salad since itz so different than anything I’d make at home or order elsewhere. The Pear Salad was also tasty with their homemade blue cheese dressing.

We had quite a variety for dinner, as well. My brothers ordered steaks, my mom went with salmon, Jonny and my dad had the half Amish chicken, and my sister and I ordered sea scallops. (In typical seester fashion, she copied what I ordered.) I was debating between the salmon and scallops, and I had scallops last time and knew they were awesome. Plus, I knew my mom would share a bite of salmon. She did and the scallops did not disappoint! Just look at the beauties!

The scallops were laid on a butternut squash puree, and decorated with charred cherry tomatoes with ancho chili and lime roasted corn. Seriously can’t go wrong with this dish! Even though we couldn’t eat any more, dessert came. One of every.single.thing.on.the.menu. No joke. No complaints here though! Listen to the spread: White Chocolate Bread Pudding, Carmelized Apple Cake, several flavors of sorbet, and my personal favorite: Brown Butter Cake with salted caramel ice cream and bourbon caramel sauce.

Itz funny actually; we were passing the desserts all around the table, and after awhile Justin noticed that the said dessert hadn’t made it to his end of the table yet. That was not an accident. It was definitely a favorite of the family. So good and I drool just thinking about it again.

What’s the best way to end an already fabulous meal? Champagne!

Oh, I didn’t even touch on the wines, but yes itz a wine bar. We enjoyed a few bottles between all of us as their wine selection is huge and can be bought by the glass or bottle at such reasonable prices. To say we thoroughly enjoyed the meal would be an understatement. If you’re in St. Louis, I highly recommend having dinner at Vino Nadoz Wine Bar. Call me; I’ll go with ya!

What from the menu most appeals to you? Best meal you’ve eaten out lately?

Conscious Box giveaway is still open!

Nadoz Cafe & Vino Nadoz

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Itz Linz

Last Sunday, the STL Bloggers met at Nadoz for a meet up. We were graciously hosted by owners Steve and Kathy Becker. They own two places that are side by side: Nadoz Cafe and Vino Nadoz Wine Bar. The wine bar is closed on Sundays, but they let us in and set up something special for us bloggers.

Yeah, private event, we’re big time! You may remember me mentioning Nadoz Cafe as I tried one of their delicious fresh juices and Vino Nadoz when I ate there with a couple of friends. I was excited to see what was in store for us STL Bloggers.

From left to right: Ursula from The Design Mayor, Genevieve from cityMomCo, Robyn from Robyn’s Online World, Chef Chris, Ashley from Sorry Kid, Your Mom Doesn’t Play Well With Others, Whitney from Cafe Mocha Reflections, and Janice from A Colorful Adventure. Itz a really great group of bloggers – I encourage you to check out their blogs for some fun reading. Now let’s talk food, my favorite part. Nadoz decorated so nicely and prepared quite the spread.

A couple of key points from Nadoz Cafe & Vino Nadoz: They prepare all of their food in-house. I mean everything from their pasta to their ketchup. Chris the chef chatted with us for a bit about how they purchase 85% of their food locally, and when he said locally, he truly meant it! The other 15% is from around 300 miles away, so still close. Using local ingredients makes a BIG difference in the quality of food.

In the cafe, all of their wraps and sandwiches come with a side of vegetarian quinoa. This is one of the foods that we sampled and it was made with scallions, corn, cilantro, black beans, edamame, red pepper, and cumin. So good! I also tasted their cranberry almond chicken salad, a poppyseed muffin (baked fresh that morning!), and a glass (or two – thanks, Chris) of Vino Nadoz Sparkling “Gigi.”

Everything was scrumptious, just as it had been during my previous two visits! I also tasted a new-to-me juice: Swamp Thing. This had celery, kale, parsley, lemon, and ginger. It was strong, but I really liked it. May have to recreate it at home with my own juicer! If you’re in St. Louis, I’d definitely check out Nadoz Cafe and Vino Nadoz – two great restaurants that are locally owned, care about their customers, and constantly have delicious, fresh food!

I was so impressed, actually, that I made dinner reservations for my family at Vino Nadoz for tomorrow night since my little brother will be in town. Can’t wait!

What’s your favorite local restaurant? Weekend plans?

Low Key Weekend

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Itz Linz

What did YOU do this weekend? I did a whole lotta nothin’ and I absolutely loved it! Last week was a busy one, so when I noticed we had no plans on the docket for the weekend, I was excited. Sometimes low key weekends are just what you need to recharge. Of course, I still kept up with my active healthy living lifestyle because that’s just what I do, but besides that, it was low key which was marvelous!

Katie is revealing the gender of her baby today, so be sure to check out her very special Marvelous in my Monday post! I can’t wait to find out if itz a Diva Baby or Rocker Baby!

Friday night consisted of take-out dinner from The Cheesecake Factory (Luau Salad for me, Bang Bang Chicken & Shrimp for him, Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple cheesecake to share), and then I made my students’ Valentine’s Day cards. I’m a hippie at heart, so I bought the peace sign box of valentines that come with temporary tattoos. (How cool, right??) And being the teacher I am, I also attached a valentine pencil. Heh heh. My Friday night was SO exciting!

Saturday morning I awoke bright and chipper and headed to my favorite bikram yoga class. When it was over, the class cleared out pretty quickly, so I ran to the locker room, grabbed my phone, and snuck a couple of photos in the steamy room.

The rest of Saturday was super low key. I ran a couple of errands, came home (yes, I showered), and relaxed with the hubby. We ordered take out again which is very rare for us, but we had gift cards to be used. This time we went with Charlie Gitto’s where I ordered the Chicken Nunzio (chicken topped with crab!) and Jonny ordered the Rigatoni With Sausage (awesome sauce for dipping!). After paying for dinner, Jonny noticed there was just a few dollars left on our gift card, so he spent the remainder on Cookies and Cream gelato.

I was very happy. There was a lot of “Mmm” and “This is so good!” going on. Real gelato, baby, can’t beat it! Saturday night was met with another early bedtime which was just fine with us. After a good night’s sleep, I woke early and headed to another awesome bikram yoga class.

My body’s not perfect, but I love it anyway.

Starting my day with yoga was absolutely perfect. The team I coach was supposed to have our first soccer game yesterday, but it ended up getting rained out. Instead, I grocery shopped, caught up on laundry, worked on report cards, did lots of meal prep, and ate a delicious dinner with the in-laws. Oh, and finished the weekend with a tasty bowl of fro yo! 3 desserts in 3 days? Yes! A marvelous low key weekend, indeed!

Do you workout during low key weekends? What was marvelous about your weekend?

Ces and Judy’s – St. Louis Catering & Event Space

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Itz Linz

Last week when Clare and I were driving to a social media event together, we were talking about blogging in the car. Very childishly, I looked over to her and squealed, “I just love blogging!” She smiled back and replied, “So do I!”

One of the many reasons I love blogging is for the community. Locally, we have created a St. Louis Bloggers group to unite all the bloggers in our area. There are many different styles of bloggers: healthy living, fashion, craft, lifestyle, and more. Last Friday evening, Ces & Judy’s graciously hosted us for a lovely dinner at their location in Frontenac which is a beautiful event space for weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, rehearsal dinners, cocktail hours, and more!

We were served dinner in The Round Room which holds up to 80 people and has such a warm, cozy feel with their built-in fireplace. Ces & Judy’s also has a gorgeous ballroom which holds up to 250 people. (We actually looked here for our wedding, but our numbers were too high! I can only imagine how beautiful a wedding would be here!) There is a balcony that overlooks The Round Room. We went up for a picture, and were asked to make a silly face. What else do you expect from a group of picture-loving bloggers?

From left to right: Rachel at Style Every Day, Yokasta at Get U Moving Fitness, Courtney at Journey of a Dreamer, Clare at Fitting It All In, Christina at Homemade Ocean, Katie at Mom’s Little Running Buddy, Jenny at The Jenny Pincher, Ashley at Eat, Run, Live Happy, Karen at Arch City Homes, and yours truly. Some great bloggers – definitely check them out!

Jenna, the marketing coordinator, added so many fun details just for us. Like this dazzling pink picture frame which was a hit among us lady bloggers.

She even printed a menu that was designed especially for us. It was complete with our #STLBLOGGERS hashtag that we’ve been using on Twitter.

And while we were drooling at the menu and the site of the food, you know us bloggers had to get up close and personal with our cameras and the food!

I sampled some of everything and enjoyed every bite. I really liked the food; it was comforting yet elegant and very nicely presented.

I can see why Ces & Judy’s travel all over St. Louis on a daily basis to cater all sorts of events! They do everything from small get togethers to large parties. Everything about the evening was impressive, and I’d definitely recommend Ces & Judy’s for catering and especially their event space. The staff goes over and beyond to make your night just right. I’d feel comfortable putting my trust in them.

Of course, we had to snap a picture of the fabulous FitFluential Ambassadors in attendance because, well, we rock.

And one last message that all the St. Louis Bloggers would like to leave you with:

Thanks for a great night, Ces & Judy’s!

I’m thinkin’…

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Itz Linz

I have a lot of random thoughts going on; hence, today’s post may be a bit jumbled since I’m going to dump ‘em all out. But hey itz Friday, so that’s gotta count for something, right? Right.

I’m thinkin’… I’m excited to lift weights this morning! I had been lifting weights on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but this week was a little different. I did a total body workout on Monday, took a rest day on Tuesday, and then incline walked on Wednesday and Thursday. It made me miss strength training (yes, I really do miss those weights!), so I’ll be sure to get in a good workout this morning.

I’m thinkin’… Mizuno compression socks are great when traveling – in the car or plane! They keep the blood flowing while minimizing swelling.

I’m thinkin’… I should probably take a short break from almond butter. I’ve gone through two jars in ten days. I’m all about enjoying foods and no deprivation, however I’m also a believer in moderation and two jars in ten days just is not moderation. (Raw creamy unsalted from Trader Joe’s is my favorite!) I’ll be back for you, almond butter.

(No worries: you KNOW I’ll scrape out every last bit of that almond butter during this morning’s breakfast of oats in a jar!)

I’m thinkin’… Chobani is SO generous for sponsoring my school’s first “Wellness Wednesday.” I’m on the Wellness Committee and we want to start providing healthy snacks for our staff members once a month. We had such a positive response from people trying Chobani for the first time – they loved it! (I mean, who doesn’t??) And now about 80 more people know that Chobani is a great snack, especially on the go. Whenever people ask me about yogurt, I always suggest greek yogurt since itz packed with protein and keeps you full much longer than regular yogurt.

I’m thinkin’… I had a lovely dinner with my friend Danielle and her daughter Addyson last night at Sweet Tomatoes. I’m not usually a buffet fan, but all you can eat salad bar with fresh veggies? Count me in! (My Instagram friends saw the massive salad beast I made last night.) Addyson had fun tasting lots of healthy food: broccoli, butternut squash, sunflower seeds, kidney beans, spinach, and chickpeas. Start those healthy habits young! “Mmm mmm mmm! This is good!” Yes, she really said that while munching on a piece of broccoli.

I’m thinkin… I wish Zoey felt better. She has really bad allergies and gets skin infections a lot. We had to take her back to the vet (again!), and now she is on several different medications. Well, last night after dinner she got sick. I’m hoping she tolerates the meds a bit better today and we can kick this infection! But she’s still super cute…

What are YOU thinkin’ today?

Gobble! Gobble!

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Itz Linz

Well I’m still feeling ~~like a turkey~~ full from all my Thanksgiving eats! Seriously, my mom makes the very best Thanksgiving and we have no problem eating leftovers for several days following. I’m talking snacks, lunches, dinners, more snacks, and a nosh here and there. In addition, I went out to dinner Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of Thanksgiving! So today you get: What I Ate on Thanksgiving… weekend.

~~WIAW~~ WIAT is hosted by the lovely Jenn at Peas & Crayons.

Thursday (Thanksgiving) dinner: My momma’s wonderful cooking at my parents’ beautiful home! I had this plate times a million.

Not the best picture, but let me add some description: world’s best turkey topped with our friend’s orange cranberry sauce (Jonny literally ate this stuff by the spoonful – it was that good!), rich and creamy mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with roasted marshmallows on top, green bean casserole, cauliflower with a drizzle of truffle oil, and the best stuffing ever. I brought leftovers home from my parents’ on two different occasions, and both times they didn’t last long. Oh, not to mention the two additional times I went and ate leftovers at my parents’ house (not counting what was brought home). Holy moly turkey.

As if we didn’t have enough decadent food at dinner, dessert was another complete display! I contributed a dessert trifle.

Layers of pound cake, vanilla pudding, hot fudge, heath crumbles, and whip cream. Oh yes, itz as ~~heavy~~ heavenly as it sounds!

Friday night dinner: My parents and in-laws took Jonny and I out to dinner at Cafe Provencal. Itz French cuisine with extraordinarily rich and heavy food. Jonny and I started with the Coquilles St. Jacques – scallops poached in a white wine and cream sauce. Unpictured, but unbelievable. For my dinner, I went on the lighter side and ordered a salad with tuna steak.

The vegetables were great, and the tuna steak was not. It was way too fishy (ew); luckily, I really just wanted the bright and colorful veggies after all the heavy stuff.

Saturday night dinner: Jessica and I decided we didn’t have enough of each other after the Turkey Trot race, so we went out for dinner, too!

We sipped on a glass of wine while waiting to be seated at Pastaria - a local joint with Italian fare. I meant to go light here with the food, really I did, but our waiter talked us in to gelato at the end! How could we resist?

They served water in mason jars which I totally loved! I ordered a cup of the Roasted Winter Squash Soup and it was so delicious. I’ve got to try to re-create this at home (recipes, anyone??). I wish I would have ordered the larger bowl size. Jessica had the Pistachio Ravioli with pistachio, mint, lemon brown butter, and Grana Padano. She let me snag a couple bites, and it was just as good as it sounds! I also ordered the chopped salad sans bacon which was fine, nothing to write home about.

We were stuffed from dinner and had no intention of eating dessert. Then the waiter commented, “You know, all ten of our gelato flavors are made in-house.” Say what? Well, how about you list the flavors. You know… just for fun. Before we knew it, we had German chocolate and salted caramel sitting right in front of us. Salted caramel tasted like cookie dough and was so unbelievably good! Mmm!

Sunday night dinner: My in-laws had Jonny and me over for dinner, and decided to order sushi for a lighter meal. Sushi is always ok with us!

We opted for our usual order of a california roll, spicy tuna roll, and rainbow roll. See, I told you it was a crazy weekend of eating! Time to get back to the basics. No diets, no fasts, just lots of water, veggies, and mostly healthy foods. As I always say, indulgences are fine as long as they are appreciated and mindful!

Many FitFluential Ambassadors have written great posts recently about eating healthy around the holiday time, have designed some stellar workouts, and shared healthy recipes, so here’s some link love for today:

Healthy Holiday Eating WITHOUT Over-Thinking - 5 simple mini-goals for healthy holiday eating that anyone can do!
Work It Out: Kitchen Edition - Itz not a workout at all! Tips to stay on track with tons of clean recipes, too.
12 Minute Full Body Plank Workout - I did this one yesterday, and trust me when I tell ya itz an ab-burner!
Sweet Potato Quinoa Black Bean Burgers with Cranberries - Sound perfect for the holiday time? I agree.
Roasted Veggie Tacos - Lighter version of traditional Mexican tacos.
Clean Eating Thanksgiving - Tons of healthy recipes including stuffing!

Tell me about your Thanksgiving day/week eats!

Chicago Eats

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Itz Linz

The past two days have been so busy trying to unpack from Chicago and prepare for my upcoming weekend in San Francisco to run the Nike Women’s Half Marathon. In addition, I’ve had meetings before school, after school, softball games, chiropractic appointments, laundry – it just doesn’t end! But I do love staying busy. For now, let’s slow things down a bit and talk food and drink for WIAW with Jenn at Peas & Crayons!

My eats featured in today’s post will be from Chicago – a busy, windy city with tons of good places to dine. Let’s start with breakfast. My hubby’s favorite breakfast spot, without a doubt, is Tempo Cafe. We always make sure to get breakfast there at least once, if not twice, during our visit.

Itz no wonder Jonny loves it; look how massive the portions are! I rolled with the veggie egg-white omelette which was served over hash browns and had tons of spinach, zucchini, and broccoli in it. Love my greens!

The lunch highlight of the weekend was when we visited Bandera’s and I ordered the Macho Salad. Since I already raved about it and showed you pictures, let’s skip to dinner. (Click here if you missed that post!)

On Friday, we went to Gibson’s Steakhouse. Our reservation was not until 9:00 pm which felt really late to be eating. However, once the food came, my belly didn’t know what time it was anyway.

(Sorry for the crummy pictures. Dim lights leave me with only two options – flash or no flash – both which produce poor food photography.) We started with the Spicy Lobster Cocktail which was served in a steamed artichoke. I love lobster anything, but personally I felt like the mayonnaise could have been toned down a bit. I did enjoy the artichoke though!

I ordered a bowl of lobster bisque and it was the best decision ever. I don’t typically order lobster bisque because of how rich it is, but from Gibson’s it was definitely worth it. It was the richest, most decadent lobster bisque I have ever had. I savored every bite! My dinner entre was the Alaskan King Crab Chopped Salad which the waiter gave me a hard time for ordering a salad at a steakhouse. No worries though; my mom, my dad, and Jonny all gave me several bites of their steaks. No deprivation here!

I don’t usually talk drinks, but since I did some drinking of beverages other than just water, I thought I’d share with you. Not one but two Starbucks trips were made.

The pumpkin spice latte (skim milk, one pump, no whip) was the perfect order both trips! Sunday morning I had a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice; fresh squeezed orange juice is the only way to go. As for the other drinks, at Gibson’s I had a glass of red wine, and for my girls night with my mom and mother-in-law I had a dirty martini with bleu cheese stuffed olives. After the adult beverages and amount of coffee I consumed, I was more than ready to hydrate on Sunday. I found a Vita Coco Coconut Water at the airport, and it definitely quenched my thirst and supplied the electrolytes I needed.

Since visiting a city would not be complete without a sweet treat, we stopped in Ghirardelli. They were handing out samples of their new flavor: Pumpkin Spice Caramel.

It really is as good as it looks! Mmm, just looking at that caramel dripping out of the chocolate makes my mouth water all over again. Good thing I have a few left, as well as some other flavors I scored!

Can’t wait to get into the rest of these. Especially the Vanilla Dream. And the Dark Chocolate with Raspberry. And the… ok all of them!

What’s your favorite flavor of Ghirardelli (or any chocolate)? Have you gotten a Pumpkin Spice Latte yet this fall?

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