Posts tagged ‘dinner’

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April 15th, 2013

Restaurant Peeves

by Tiff

How was your weekend?  Mine was delightful, though short as always.  Kevin and I went out to eat both Friday and Sunday, which is unusual for us.

I only planned to do happy hour on Friday, but since Kevin got home earlier than expected from work, my buddy and I let our hubbies join us for dinner.  Of course, we still gave ourselves an hour of girl talk before the boys were “allowed” to come eat.

selfie

Patio happy hours beg for sundresses. (in honor of Lilly)

Earlier in the week, other friends said they weren’t able to join us for dinner, but their schedule opened up, so we just haaaaad to meet them out for pizza.  (Twist my arm.)

oats

extra awesome raspberry vanilla protein oats

I didn’t eat out on Sunday (at least I got some healthy food, like the oats above and eggs below), but I did start thinking about Mother’sDay brunch reservations.

eggs

brunch = eggs, cheddar, kale, onion, & mushrooms

Hmmm… all this restaurant talk made me think of my restaurant peeves, especially the first one with regards to Mother’s Day brunch.

  1. Prix Fixe Menus!  This is my ultimate peeve.  Just let me order off your normal menu.  It’s more likely to have what I really want, and I promise I don’t need a salad, appetizer, main, and dessert.  Trust me!
  2. Inconsistency. The pizza place we visited Saturday was good… when I tried it last year.  This time I was pretty disappointed.
  3. Rushing me.  Some restaurants are meant to be quick, like Panera or Chipotle, but if I’m enjoying a sit-down meal, I like to take my time.  The food should be worth the wait!
  4. Take-out.  Okay, this doesn’t have anything to do with the restaurant itself, I just don’t really like take-out…. unless I’m sick… or PMSing…. and it’s Chinese food.  Your bill includes ambiance; enjoy it!
  5. “Are you still workin’ on it?”  Hate it when servers ask this.  Yes, this little piggy is still working on her dinner.  Leave me to it!  This is probably my second biggest peeve.

I normally keep it positive on the blog, but I had to share.  I’ve gotta’ know if anyone else feels the same way.

  • What are your restaurant pet peeves?

Posted in Food | 14 Comments »

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March 27th, 2013

WIAW: I’m Baaaaack!

by Tiff

I’m baaaaack!  I flew out to Vegas on Thursday, and though I returned on Monday, I got back super late.  I needed to hit the hay and sleep in as late as possible before getting up for work yesterday, so that left no time for blogging.  No worries; there was still plenty of time for eating and even a wee bit of time for exercising.

I kicked off the day with a 25-minute cardio DVD and this pilates/cardio YouTube video.  Not bad for a rush workout!

And now for the WIAW eats…

Pre-workout: rice cake

Post-workout: 2 eggs and a beautiful Harry & David grapefruit

breakfast

Snack: fiber cereal and unsweetened almond milk

cereal

Lunch: Though a green smoothie was planned, I didn’t have time for that.  Quick meal to the rescue!

Snack: pb & nana and 10 almonds a few hours later

banana

Dinner: Mexican Polenta Bake (vegan, GF)… there might have also been a little ice cream thrown in after dinner

mexican

Mexican Polenta Bake (serves 3, super easy)

  • tube of polenta
  • 1 tsp + 2 tsp olive oil, divided
  • large bell pepper, diced
  • medium onion, diced
  • 1 can black beans, drained
  • approximately 1 cup salsa
  1. Preheat oven to 375 F.  Oil an 8×8 or 10×10 dish (I used my Pyrex.) with about 1 tsp oil, or coat with cooking spray.
  2. Slice polenta in 1/4 inch slices.  Line bottom of dish with polenta.  Overlapping will be necessary.
  3. Heat 2 tsp olive oil in a pan over medium heat.  Add bell pepper and onion.  Cook until softened, approximately 6 minutes.  Add canned beans, and then stir in the salsa.  (I used a basic chunky, medium-heat salsa.)
  4. Pour vegetable mixture over the polenta.  Cover and bake 25 minutes.  Uncover and bake 5 additional minutes.

polenta

Posted in Food | 26 Comments »

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February 28th, 2013

Thursday Things

by Tiff

Today’s post is a quickie, but there were just a few really small but really good things worth sharing.  And by “a few,” I actually mean five.

1. Yesterday’s workout started with a cold, early walk with the hubby. He even carried the flashlight.  What a gentleman.

walk

2. Despite the hat hair from my bundled walk, my hair turned out pretty well.  Not bad for not even washing it, eh?  Good hair days make everything better.

thursday

3. I made it out of the health food store for under $30!  Woohoo!  Lots of natural a/o organic goodies, and I even picked up turkey meatballs for Kev (half a pound free)!  Okay… the ice cream wasn’t free, or even on sale, but who can pass up mint chocolate chip???

earth fare

4. The grocery stop lead to this awesome dinner.  Well, Kevin’s was awesome.  Mine was just good, but hey – still better than bad!

meatball    chicken wrap

5. Lastly, Game of Thrones: Season Two finally arrived yesterday.  Thanks Netflix!  I watched the entire disk last night… oh wait, the jerks only put two episodes on a disk.  Sigh… oh well, at least I have something to look forward to.  Bring on disk two!

netflix

I hope you guys are having a nice Thursday.  What’s been making your week special?

Posted in Uncategorized | 20 Comments »

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February 4th, 2013

This girl walked up to a bar…

by Tiff

Nope, the title of this post isn’t a joke.  I actually walked up to two bars on Friday; the first was the pullup bar.  I did three real chin ups!  After a quick rest, I did two nearly-real chin ups!  The video is for my mom who never thought I could do it… I didn’t either.  ha

Later that evening, I walked up to a bar with Kevin to enjoy local brews.  I ordered NoDa Brewing’s Cold Craze.  It was good, but not good enough to order again.

beer

Side Note: The chin ups thing took courage.  Do you know how long it took me to even attempt one?  Everyone at the gym has seen my failed attempts… many times.  For instance, I gave it another go this morning, but my arms were not having it!

*****

Anyway… back to my weekend.  Saturday started with a chili run and ended with a warm evening of delicious eggplant parmesan rollatini and board games with two other couples.  I was too shy to snap a pic after it had actually finished baking…

 run   italian

Sunday Funday included pumpkin pancakes, a sock bun, and a Super Bowl party.  I brought my slow cooker buffalo chicken shoved into whole wheat pitas.  By the way, I’m updating that buffalo chicken recipe tonight.  Having finally made the recipe a second time, I think it was due for a few revisions.

pancakes   bun   pita

I’m still not sure about the sock bun, but I was definitely digging those pitas!

  • Anyone else got a crazy week ahead of them?
  • Would you serve your guests eggplant?  I almost didn’t, but it went over well- thank goodness!

 

Posted in Out & About | 25 Comments »

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January 24th, 2013

Turkey Chili Muffins

by Tiff

As promised, I bring you Turkey Chili Muffins. They’re lean, clean, spiced, and best of all, adorable. What’s not to love? (Vegetarians, don’t answer that…)

turkey chili

Turkey Chili Muffins

Ingredients:

  • 1.3 lbs 99% lean ground turkey**
  • 1 can navy beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 small onion, finely diced
  • 1 jalapeno, finely diced
  • 2 egg whites
  • 2/3 cup old fashioned oats
  • 1/2 cup milk***
  • 1 tsp cumin, heaping
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and grease a muffin tin with olive oil or cooking spray.
  2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. I suggest using your hands to get it thoroughly mixed.
  3. Divide the turkey mixture between the 12 muffin cups and bake for 35-40 minutes.
**Seriously, I did not make that up. Many grocery stores pre-package 1.3 lbs of lean turkey. I’m sure it would turn out fine if yours is a little off that measurement.
***I used unsweetened original almond milk. I’m sure skim milk or whatever else you’ve got is probably fine.
turkey

Get crazy with it. Add cheese. Serve with beer. Top with hot sauce. You know, the usual { chili } suspects. I think I might even make these again for the Super Bowl party we’re attending. I may not care much about NFL football, but I’m not one to turn down a party.

Posted in Food | 23 Comments »

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