A little of this, a little of that

As mentioned in the last post, Jeff and I are turning over a new leaf with our eating habits, especially before the wedding. What’s that really mean?

Negative = less eating out. Positive = more money in the bank. Negative = hard work finding innovative and healthy meals. Positive = shedding a few pounds!  Jeff has lost 10+ pounds since we started! And, I’ve lost a few. 

Since we are not as likely to eat out these days, my passion for food revolves a lot more around cooking it and other products from the grocery store. Here are a few of my favorite things …

1) Sabra Hummus …  It is the best hummus I’ve tasted because of the smooth texture and stronger flavors. The roasted red pepper is my favorite. While I think it has a little more fat and calories than other brands, the taste is worth it for me. I love it as a dip for raw vegetables. If anyone has something better or feedback on its nutritional facts, please share.

2) Breyers Pure Fruit Frozen Bars … They are juicy, and the pomegranate combo flavors very smooth and not too tart.

3) New meatless recipe: Mexican Pizza … It is very simple to make and most ingredients are ones you have on hand.

• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 T coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 C black beans (15 oz), rinsed and drained
• 1t ground cumin
• 1 prebaked pizza crust (16 oz) - I bought Boboli thin wheat crust
• 1/3 C salsa - I bought Jack’s brand, blackbean and corn salsa flavor
• 1 C shredded reduced-fat Monteerey Jack cheese (4 oz)
• 1/2 C shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese (2 oz)
• 1 can sliced black olives (2.5 oz), drained
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/4 C chopped fresh chives

Preheat oven to 425 F. In a food processor or blender, combine the garlic and cilantro and pulse until chopped. Add the beans and cumin and process until pureed. (I had to add some taco sauce for a little juice in the blender.) Spread evenly over the pizza crust. Spread the salsa over the top. Scatter with the cheese, olives, pepper and chives. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

After baking, I topped it with lettuce and chopped tomato and drizzled taco sauce over each slice before serving. This one is a keeper!

4) Last weekend at our neighborhood party, the food was catered by Artisan Foods located in Roswell in the historic district. Owners Hoyt and Sauyri live in our neighborhood, and as always, the food was amazing!

5) My invitations for the wedding came in yesterday, and I picked them up at The Chandlery in Roswell. While the store is more of a boutique with unique gifts, their invitation department is simple the best because of a women named Suzanne Feeney. She has been doing wedding planning and invitations for years. She is to the point, and you want to listen to every word she says. And, she is more than willing to lend a hand. Exactly what you need when planning a wedding. I would recommend every bride to work with her, whether on invitations or the whole thing. Thank you, Suzanne, for your help!

6) Last thing, Jeff and I tasted the food for the wedding today. It was perfect. We are using Fabulous Creations. But, that’s an another blog post.

That’s it for this time around!

A few treasures in Brainerd, Minnesota

This past week, I spent time in Brainerd, Minnesota and found a few yummy treats. Here are just a few of the treasures I was introduced to this week.

1. Rafferty’s Pizza (Brainerd’s “Award Winning” Homestyle Pizzeria. 25 Years in Business.) 
2. Northwest Pizza (Great veggie sandwich.)
3. Zorbas (Great nachos and Mexican pizza. On the Lake. Fun games on the weekend.)
4. Italian Gardens at Grand View Lodge (Homestyle Italian at a beautiful lake resort.)
5. ParFecto Pizza at Madden’s Resort on Gull Lake (Pizza, ice cream, and such)
6. The bowling alley in Brainerd. (Great grilled cheese and crinkle fries.)

Now with only three months until the wedding, Jeff and I are on a mission to eat healthier. While this may be difficult after weeks and weeks of poor eating, they say it only takes 21 days to form a habit. (Yikes! But … positive thinking, positive thinking, positive thinking)

Actually, I am looking forward to the challenge. It feels so good to eat right, once you get in the habit. And, I have no trips scheduled between now and then. Next time, I look forward to telling you about my upcoming healthy eats.

Catching Up on ATL and its Food

The past month has been a whirlwind. Since the beginning of June, I have been in Las Vegas, New York, Denver, and Kansas. That doesn’t leave much room for trying new food places in Atlanta, so I made up for it this weekend.

Over the holiday weekend, my mom was in town to help with wedding plans. I think we ate out nearly every meal … not so good for the figure, but it was important to have my mom try all of the places we plan to incorporate into our wedding weekend. And, we did a little cake tasting too.

Here’s a look at our weekend.

Thursday

Classic Cheesecakes and Cakes (Buckhead). Mark Lotti, owner of this well-known cake establishment, was perfect. And, so are his cakes. We sampled at least six cheesecakes and four pound cakes. And the best part, we took home the extras, and the pound cake kept getting better and better each day. Coconut pound cake might not be right for a fall wedding, but I am thinking it might be O-So-Good!

Greenwood’s (Roswell). For dinner, it was Greenwood’s on Green Street in Roswell. Among the three of us, we had meatloaf, cheese grits and shrimp, and pot roast.

Friday

I am not proud of this eating day. It was a little of this, a little of that. And, all of it was not so great for us!

Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast. (I couldn’t resist, and I didn’t know we were going to be so bad all weekend.)

Salad at the food court at Perimeter Mall for lunch. And, cannoli. (It was my mom’s first time. Unfortunately, it was at the mall food court.)

On Friday night, we stayed in so we could have leftovers from Greenwood’s and cake from Mark! But then, we went to a movie and had popcorn and soda. Oops!

Saturday 

Cereal and fruit for breakfast. Points for being healthy!

Artisan Foods (Roswell) was our lunch stop.  About two months ago, I met our neighbors (Hoyt and Sayuri) up the street and discovered they own Artisan Foods. Saturday was my first time visiting their shop, and I am so glad I did. I now hope they will be willing to do Sunday brunch at our house during the wedding weekend!!! Their breads are absolutely amazing and wonderful and delicious and scrumptious and … do I need to say more!?

Swallow at the Hollow (Roswell) for dinner. As always, very good.

Sunday

More points for breakfast at home.

Cake was for lunch. We had a cake tasting at Pretty Cakes by Meg. She puts wonderful, unique fillings between cake layers. We had white cake with a really nice white chocolate filling and strawberry glaze filling. Delicious! I wanted to go back for more and more and more.

For dinner, Pure Taqueria (Alpharetta). After dinner, we swore we were not going to eat another meal out. (I am hoping Pure will cater the Welcome Celebration for the wedding. What a great kick-off!)

Monday

We really tried to stick to our no more meals out, but this was our last chance for dining. We ended up with a late lunch at Nine, located on Canton Street in Roswell. This was my first time, and I will be going back - for sure! We had a very yummy chicken salad sandwich, fresh fruit, and tomato basil soup. And of course, dessert!

I hope this weekend of eating out made up for my lack of writing over the past month!

Las Vegas Trip - Eat at Tao!

A few weeks back, I visted Las Vegas for work. For dinner, a guy in our party suggested Tao. At first, I really didn’t know what he was talking about because I though “Tao” was only a night club. But, he said is was Asain and good, so I was along for the ride.

And, I am so very glad that I went along. While Tao is a night club on Friday and Saturday nights, it is also an amazing Asian Bistro.

On a Wednesday night, we were seated within 20 minutes. Very nice. To start, we had the Spicy Lobster Roll, which was sadly average. But for dinner, my entree was AMAZING. I had Black Pepper Sizzled Filet Mignon with Udon Noodles. OMG - I ate my entire plate! It was perfect.

My experience with sushi has never been the same since eating sushi in California this spring, and I am afraid my experience with Asain food may never be the same after eating at Tao.

Go to Tao in Las Vegas.

 

Blue Plate Roadside Cafe and a few Other Findings

Here are a few random ATL and Georgia findings that I don’t know much about, but they caught my attention. Not all are food related.

And, let me know if you’ve had any experience with any of these places! I want to here your stories.

Blue Plate Roadside Cafe (5920 Roswell Rd NE, Sandy Springs, GA) - According to the Atlanta Journal Constitute, it is a casual diner serving classic Americana - fried green tomatoes, over-sized salads, sliders, and blue plates of shrimp and grits … desserts like chocolate cake and fruit cobblers. Sounds good to me!

To find wineries in North Georgia, check out www.georgiawine.com. How are the Georgia wineries? I can only imagine that they are very beautiful!

For fun t-shirts by an Alpharetta-based company,  check out www.snorgtees.com. Look for slogans like, “#2 is #1, if you’re a pencil.” and “That’s What She Said.”

I saw an ad for T. Lynn Jewelry in the AJC this past spring. The part that caught my eye was, “Custom Made Jewelry.” Unfortunately, the web site listed in the ad no longer exists (www.tlynnjewelers.com). Anybody know anything about this store?

Lastly, I saw an ad for Pike Nursery, advertising free workshops and events. For schedule and locations, it directed me to their web site: www.pikenursery.com. I did a quick look. The site is actually really good. 

If you know more about these places, send me your experiences!

The Wedding Menu

The wedding is less than five months away, and my checklist on TheKnot.com is telling me that I am a little behind on my planning. So now, I have wedding thoughts dancing through my head every night when I am trying to sleep.

Of the major wedding categories, there are only three things that are really important to me: Photographer, Invitations, and Food. And tonight, it is the food that is keeping me awake …

I am simply not a “snob” when it comes to food. Most of the time, I would rather eat at the local bar. And with a diverse group of family and friends, I can’t seem to get my head around what type of food we should have at the reception. Until tonight!

I said from the beginning that I wanted to do the wedding in Georgia (versus Kansas) so that family and friends could take a mini vacation to enjoy some of Jeff and my favorite things. And tonight, I have applied that to the wedding menu.

Here is a list of my favorite things. (And, Jeff is just not that picky when it comes to food so I’ll at least start with my favorites.)

• Chicken fingers
• Fries and gravy
• Apple pie
• Homemade vanilla and cinnamon ice cream
• Donuts
• Cheeseburgers
• Onion rings
• Corn dog puppies
• Guacamole and chips
• Salsa (and chips)
• Queso (and chips)
• Fish tacos
• Shrimp cocktail
• Mozzarella and tomato salad
• Pizza
• Olives and antipasto
• Bread with dipping olive oil
• Brie cheese

While I am confident that I will come up with a few more, this is a great start. But, how in the world can I bring this all together? … Probably “Our Favorite Things” theme and group it by categories like Mexican, Italian, American, etc. Here’s my attempt to think through that …

Cocktail Reception Appetizers.

• Table Presentation:
• Shrimp cocktail
• Antipasto
• Passed:
• Flatbread pizza (square cut, Margarita, cheese, or pepperoni pizza)
• Other options:
• Bread display w/ dipping oils
• Focaccia bread drizzled with olive oil, topped with tomato and mozzarella

Served Meal.

Round 1

• Mexican:
• Queso and salsa with chips
• Mini fish taco
• Mini guacamole tostada

Round 2

• American:
• Mini cheeseburger
• Two chicken fingers with ranch, honey mustard, and BBQ dipping sauces
• Two corn dog puppies with mustard and ketchup
• Vegetarian option: garden burger, veggie skewers or other
• Fries and gravy (served family style in middle of table)
• Onion rings (served family style in middle of table)
• Side Salad: Grilled veggies (served hot or chilled), pasta salad, or garden salad with ranch

Dessert.

• Single-served apple pie with vanilla or cinnamon ice cream
• Three donut holes (served with tooth pick)

I contacted the cater tonight … We’ll see if she is even willing to consider this! I am sure she’ll have some creative twists to make this night one of our favorites!

Green Street is Grrrreat & Quick Cooking Tip

Over Memorial Day Weekend, Jeff and I made a trip to Green Street in Roswell to try Swallow at the Hollow for ourselves. It is as good as everyone says, maybe better, and we didn’t even stay for the live music! It was probably the best BBQ pork I’ve ever had.  And since Swallow at the Hollow was so good on Friday night, we went to Greenwood’s the next day for lunch! (Same owners.)

Greenwood’s was also wonderful, but probably a little heavy for lunch. Jeff had meatloaf, and I had a chicken pot pie. I couldn’t eat another bite when I was done, which is always a good sign! We have a date to go back and try the fried chicken and homemade pie! We sat on the porch. The whole experience was very Southern and really calming and peaceful.

(I can’t find a Web site for Greenwood’s. Odd. Just Google it to find reviews and such. Or, it’s right across the street from Swallow at the Hollow.)

So, I found a quick cooking tip in a the Publix (grocery store) monthly magazine that is worth sharing. It is a list of substitutes for alcoholic beverages found in recipes.

• 1 T bourbon or sherry = 1 T apple or orange juice
• 1 T coffee liqueur or chocolate liqueur = .5 t chocolate extract or .5 t instant coffee in 2.5 t water
• 1 T Grand Marnier or citrus liqueur = 2.5 t orange juice plus .5 t orange extract
• .25 C white wine = .25 C chicken broth in savory recipes OR .25 C apple or white grape juice in dessert recipes
• .25 C red wine = .25 C beef broth in savory recipes OR .25 C cranberry juice in desserts

Happy eating and cooking!

Cooking Expo Product Review

The first weekend in May, I attended a Cooking Expo in Atlanta. We walked around, watched a few demos, sampled some food products … well, it never occurred to me to share my top food picks from the show!

So, here are my favorites!

1. Tootie Pie Company (www.tootiepieco.com) - Known for their apple pie, but try the buttermilk pie too!
2. Merrilily Gardens (www.merrililygardens.com) - Gourmet jams, salsas, and grill sauces. I tried the Five Pepper Jelly, Frog Jam, and Jammin’ in Georgia - loved them all.
3. Blazers Specialty Foods (www.blazersspecialtyfoods.com) - Excellent pimento and jalapeno pimento cheep dip.
4. Garden Fresh Gourmet, Jack’s Special Medium Salsa (www.gardenfreshgourment.com) - One of the better salsas that can be bought at the grocery store.

While I didn’t try this item (because they were out of samples at the time), it was creating a buzz … POP! (Passion Over Popcorn) by 3 Sisters Creative Specialty Foods, LLC. They look like gourmet truffles but instead, they are “Simply Fabulous Popcorn Truffles”! (www.popon-line.com)

All of these would make perfect gifts for a special friend or family member. Tootsie Pie Company would be a great corporate gift. Enjoy!

 

New Look and Feel

Check out the new look and feel of my blog! This theme has lots more options!

From The Alpheretta-Roswell Revue & News

Another list … 2008 Restaurant Awards, The Alpharetta-Roswell Revue & News - May 22, 2008

• Best Appetizer / Salad - 5 Seasons North
• Best Fast Casual Entree - FieldGood
• Best Fine Dining Entree - Tuscany Italian Restaurant
• Best Dessert - FieldGood
• Best Presentation - FieldGood
• People’s Choice Award - Dee Thai Restaurant

What this list says to me … Where is this FieldGood place? I need to try it! And, the people always know best. I will be trying Dee Thai Restaurant too.

Also this week, I found an ad from Vinings Inn. It caught my attention because it was advertising a very specific Four Course Dinner event, and it also introduced their Twilight Menu. It told me when to be there and why. I liked that!