Thursday, 31 March 2011

Mo' Brady's Crab Cakes

I'm very, very tired, but wanted to share the deliciousness of Mo' Brady's spinach salad & crab cakes.






Highly recommend!  : )  Also, their bread is yummy!  They used to serve crumb cake & yummmmmmy cinnamon rolls, but must not anymore.  That was the only disappointment.

Until next time - what greenery do you prefer on your salad?

Sunday, 27 March 2011

Yanni Weekend - Food Edition

Saturday Lunch: Who knew IKEA had a cafe?  Or, really it's more like a cafeteria.  


Before this weekend, I had been to the IKEA in Schaumburg twice, but hadn't any real idea that they had A) a play area for kids or B) an actual cafeteria where you could eat a meal!  I knew that there was a soda/hot dog/cinnamon roll area by the checkout.  This was different, tho.


On the third floor, right by the frames, interestingly where I had been before and yet unnoticed in previous trips!


We arrived at IKEA after an interesting battle w/ Penelope, the affectionate name we gave Mom's Garmin.  Penelope likes to play this game with us.  She'll pretend like she can't find whatever it is we're looking for, until we trick her & tell her we're looking for something else.  Then, suddenly, voila!  *laugh*  


So, we arrived after some nice tours of Schaumburg!  Finally, we spotted the big blue building.  Our first stop was the loo, and we saw on the way an advertisement for Swedish Meatballs w/ lingonberry sauce.  It looked really good, and our tummies started to rumble.  We made our way to the third floor, and were greeted by an open air cafeteria.  There was almond cake!  Fish, meatballs, spinach crepes, salads, pasta, ribs... 


I chose the meatballs, even tho I was tempted by the fish and the pasta, because both also looked good!  






They were yummy!  I quite enjoyed the sauce.  : )  Mom had the spinach crepes & a salad.  She enjoyed the salad, but the crepes were only good w/ ranch.  *laugh*  I was very happy that they were a Pepsi establishment.  : )  I was also very happy w/ the Swedish almond cake!  Mom didn't care for it, but I thought it was just the right touch of sweet but not too sweet.






Almost bought one to bring home from the Swedish market, but we got some cheese & crackers instead.  






The cheese was like a sharp Swiss, the crackers more like unleavened bread, but made for a good snack. (Now that I'm looking at it, I guess it does say "crispbread" duh!) 


After our snack, it was time for the reason for our trip: 






The concert (which was AWESOME) was over and we were out of the parking lot finally at 10, and we were starving!  


Saturday Dinner: We weren't sure what would be open so late, but our hotel was connected to a Bennigans, so we hoped for the best.  It was open, and good thing, too, cuz after I ate, I was pretty well tuckered out & ready to SLEEP!  : )  


I had a delicious Tuscan chicken, served w/ perfectly cooked broccoli.  I forgot to take a picture before I dug in, so I took a picture of the menu, to give you an idea of what it looked like all pretty.  LOL  








Mom had a Monte Cristo sandwich, which is quite a bit unhealthier... so I only had 1/2 of a 1/4 of it.  : )  OH MY HECK it's good!  Basically a deep fried ham & turkey sandwich, right?  Mmmm!


Sunday Brunch: Our hotel had a restaurant, Joseph's Breakfast, which we were given a $20 voucher to eat there.  Mom & I both had omelets and they were quite good ones!  Hers was a veggie, mine a California (the green stuff is avacado).  They also had really delicious coffee!  : )  






All in all, this was a very good trip, including for the Menu!  : )  


Until next time - where have you had a good omelet?  Or do you make the best omelet you've ever had?  Do share!  





Sunday, 13 March 2011

WINNER!!! : )

Congratulations to Gina, our CSN $15 gift code winner!!  : ) 


Thank you to everyone who entered!  


I hope to be able to do more giveaways, so check back soon!  


And just to add to my menu, today I'm munching on this:








It's delicious!  Normally I air pop my own popcorn, but sometimes it's just nice to open a bag & pour out a bowl.  Popcorn, Indiana popcorn, it has been my experience, is always crunchy & fresh, and my favorite is the Movie Theatre flavor.  


Until next time - what's your favorite way to eat popcorn?  Salt & butter, or plain?  Kettle corn, cheese, caramel?  Do share!!  : )  

Tuesday, 8 March 2011

Sushi & Orange Cinnamon Rolls

Helloooo my bloggy peeps!  How ARE you?  Have you entered the Giveaway yet?  Only a few days left, so check it out & leave a comment & tell your friends & have them leave a comment!  $15 to CSN stores; you know you want it!  : )  


Tonight, I met my friend Nicki at a new Sushi restaurant called Red Ginger.  Isn't that a fun name??  The interior is beautifully done!  Reminded me of PF Chang's w/ the dark wood, but MUCH better lighting.  : )  It's a big, open space, not a lot of tables, but a pretty big bar table and sushi bar table, and also three traditional Japanese style tables.  Those were really cool, and I wish I'd taken a picture of them before the restaurant filled up!  LOL  


I ordered the Peanut Roll and a piece of salmon.  The first and only time I had Sashimi, I didn't like it, but not because it was bad.  I really didn't think it had ANY flavor at all.  Tonight I decided to try it again, but just a piece!  : )  And I did like it, but still think I'll stick to rolls.  : )  The Peanut Roll was DELICIOUS!  Oh my goodness.  






Add a little soy sauce from this adorable teapot-like pourer & ohhhhhh.  Bursts of flavor in my mouth from every.single.bite!!  Sweet and savory, crunchy and lovely and peanutty!






Nicki's plate of Chef's choice, and some sort of fish roe (I don't remember which fish, and it was orange & pretty, but not something I want to try at this time!  *laugh*).  Gorgeous!  







I hope to go back again, soon!!  


After I'd been home for awhile, I remembered that I want cinnamon rolls for breakfast tomorrow, so I made some.  They're Orange cinnamon rolls, and NUMMY for sure!  There may be one missing in this picture ... SCRUMPTIOUS!!  : )  (Also, how cute is my new pan?  *grin*)  






Until next time... what's your favorite sushi roll?  California, Philadelphia, Volcano, Spicy Tuna?  : )  

Thursday, 3 March 2011

Quesadilla!!!

Chili's 


Dinner tonight with Mom & the boys.  I was running late, but thankfully had looked at the menu before leaving work.  How much do you guys love online menus??  I *heart* them!  : )  So, I knew that I wanted to try their new bacon chicken ranch quesadilla, and i was running late.  I called Mom & just had her order for me.  : ) 






Doesn't it look delicious?  Well, it WAS!  It's stuffed w/, well, chicken, bacon and lots of cheese!  There's a different kinda ranch on the side, along with rice & beans.  Good beans, even!  Mom actually got the same thing, and we both decided this was definitely worthy of a repeat ordering.  : )  


The boys had some yummy food of their own - Leyton had a corn dog & Anthony chose the Chipotle Honey BBQ crispy chicken.  







They both pretty much cleaned their plates (or, basket in Leyton's case!), so it must've been good.  Actually, I had a bite of Anthony's chicken, and it was more sweet than spicy, and VERY good!  


Until next time - (GIVEAWAY!) - what new thing have you tried recently?  

Wednesday, 2 March 2011

GSC

C is for cookie!  Can you guess what time of year it is, what GS could stand for?







That's right!  Do you go crazy for these little nuggets of delicious flavor?  I do, but this year I tried to rein it in! I spread my buying out over 3 different Girl Scouts, and bought a box (or two?) for the Troops.  I LOVE that option - being able to buy a box that will go overseas to our men & women who have one of the toughest jobs in the world!  


This year, I bought only two boxes of my favorite cookie - pictured above.  : )  One is at work and one is here.  I savor them.  One cookie at a time.  Mmmm!  Not necessarily one cookie a day, mind you!  LOL  I also got some Thin Mints, Peanut Butter, and the new cookie, Shout Outs.  Those are kinda like gingersnaps, and are good but not my favorite.  *laugh*  


This year, I researched... : )  There's a site with recipes for leftover GSC's, and an article about eating GSC's responsibly.  


Until next time...what's your favorite GSC?  Do you buy them every year, or do you avoid them like the plague?  Do share - and do remember to enter my GIVEAWAY!  : )