What's For Dinner?

Just Call Me Granny!

Yep, its 5 p.m. here.

And I’ve already eaten dinner.

You know those days when there’s something to look forward to the next day, and you just can’t sleep? Maybe Christmas, or the day before your birthday? Well, when a teacher is anticipating a snow day, every little noise sounds like it could be a phone call… and then when the call never comes, it makes for a very sleepy day! When it started snowing harder late this morning, our district administration canceled all after school activities for both teachers and students and we got to all leave at 2:15. Rather than making a trip to the grocery store for dinner in the increasing snow, and deal with people who think its going to be the Snowpocalypse 2010 of the Midwest, we opted for something more epic.

I picked us up sandwiches from Baloneys with every intention of eating it later. Much later. But 4:30 rolled around and my stomach was rumbling, so I opted to eat dinner right then, and will probably have a snack later. I dissected this gorgeous reuben into a sauerkraut, corned beef, and swiss cheese salad… luckily I took a picture before I made it a disgusting-looking yet delicious-tasting mess:

It’s kind of nice being done with dinner this early… I feel like I can now just relax, maybe work on perfecting my chocolate almond cookie recipe, and definitely watch Biggest Loser. But, before I go, I got a few more anonymous questions that I’d like to take a minute to answer. These are SO much fun!

What’s your top 5 favorite foods? If we’re talking generically, that’s easy: sushi, cheese, roast chicken, peanut butter, and chocolate. If we’re talking specifically, it’s a bit harder, but I can do it: harumaki roll from Daruma (spicy tuna w/2 kinds of sauce, scallions, and more spicy sauce), burrata cheese, my mom’s (or grandma’s) roast chicken, PB & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams PB, and any chocolate by Vosges.

Do you ever go through long periods of success with your weight loss and then fall off the wagon (rhetorical question)? I just did… What do you do to re-motivate yourself ? I was successful on Weight Watchers for a very long time. I quickly lost 50 lbs and then had a terrible year, and suddenly, losing weight lost priority. I lost most of my motivation to lose weight, and instead maintained for a LONG time (3-ish years). I’ve recently gained back 20 or so lbs, and honestly, the ONE thing that helped me get my motivation back was hearing about others’ success. A couple close friends are following a similar eating plan that I’ve recently started, and having great success…which has helped me keep going! My advice: find yourself a support system!!

I know you were on Weight Watchers, what plan are you following now or is just one you have come up with yourself? I loved your wedding photos…so beautiful! First of all, THANK YOU!!! I can’t believe the wedding was almost 3 months ago! I’m following, essentially, the Paleo Diet, as outlined on this site. I didn’t make it up, and as I mentioned here and above, having friends following it too have really helped!

What was your first date (ever) like? Let’s see… I didn’t even realize this WAS a date until years later. It was 6th grade, and this boy from my Hebrew school class liked me. His name was Micah and he wore Hypercolor shirts, and I thought he was SO COOL. He bought me a pen with roses on it for Hanukkah, and then one with my name engraved on it for Valentine’s day. At this point, he invited me to have dinner with his family. I accepted, got dressed up, and his mom made (mind you, this was 1991) veggie burgers and salads with alfalfa sprouts, and offered to teach me Sanskrit in exchange for some Hebrew we were learning. His dad ate his salad with his mouth open and sprouts were hanging out of his mouth like hair… and that’s all I remember!

Do you like turtles? YES! I like turtles I think they’re very cool animals, and have quite an affinity for Crush, the turtle from Finding Nemo, dude.

I’m off to be a granny and relax from now until I fall asleep… so probably about 7 p.m.

Keep those questions coming!

Technorati Tags: ask me, beef, cheese, dinner out, food, red meat, sandwich, weight loss

11 Comments

Mara @ What's For Dinner?, February 9th 2010 | Tags: ask me, beef, cheese, dinner out, food, red meat, sandwich, weight loss
Posted in beef, dinner out, weight loss

A Classic, Deconstructed

Just going to be honest with you here… I have the Super Bowl on right now, but only to listen for commercial breaks! The commercials are all that my students will talk about tomorrow, and I have to be up on what was shown! Apparently, I already missed a couple…

Since we’re not having a Super Bowl party, or going to one, I wanted to use today to make something I can use throughout the week in lunches or various dinners, so I polled on Facebook and Twitter about what to make. I had it narrowed down to two possibilities: slow-cooker BBQ pork or slow-cooker Italian beef. The response was overwhelmingly in favor of the Italian beef, but my decision was made up for me by the recipes. The key to good BBQ flavor is a touch of sweetness…brought by brown sugar. This eating plan I’m following leaves little wiggle room for extra sugar, and since I’m doing so well so far, I didn’t want to risk it!

Italian Beef is a Chicago staple, slightly different from the more well-known French Dip sandwich. The beef has a very spiced broth it’s slow-cooked in, and the sandwiches are, to the purists, served “wet” with sweet green peppers and sometimes mozzarella cheese. It’s been a long time since I’ve had good Italian beef, even though we live down the street from one of the best: Portillo’s.

I perused AllRecipes.comand myrecipes.com for various Italian beef recipes, and they ranged from super simple to quite complicated. I went with a variation on one of the simpler ones. Now, first is a picture of Adam’s Italian Beef, served more classically with no peppers, but plenty of juice, a crusty roll, and some mozzarella:

And then, what I ate. I had a bed of cooked green peppers topped with the Italian beef, then a bit of cheese. Ok, more than a bit of cheese… I like cheese.

It had all the classic flavor of the sandwich I wanted without any of the bread… Italian beef was a good choice! The recipe is simple:

Italian Beef

Ingredients

5 lb. beef roast, I used top round

3 c. water

1 packet Italian dressing mix

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. basil

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. ground mustard

1 tsp. red pepper

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground black pepper

Directions

Add the beef to a large crock pot. Add water and remaining ingredients to a pot and bring to a boil. Pour over the beef, then cook on low 8-10 hours or on high 4-6 hours. Shred with two forks and serve.

I thoroughly enjoyed my deconstructed non-sandwich, and Adam loved his actual sandwich. I’m thinking this recipe is a keeper. That is, unless I get so sick of eating shredded Italian beef this week that I never want to see it again.

Don’t forget to click the “Save It” button above to save this recipe on your SpringPad! (You all have accounts now, right?)

I got one more anonymous question, as well as an un-needed apology. The girl who asked me the question I answered Friday about the pressure to look a certain way for my wedding thought that SHE was the one I was referring to when I mentioned the fat bride question. That wasn’t the case at all! I got a SEPARATE question asking “What was it like to be a fat bride?” and not the thoughtful one you asked. So, whoever you are, I’m not mad!! Your apology was very sweet, and definitely made me smile.

Hi! Do you want to have kids some day? Any timeline?

My mom will be very happy to read that YES we want to have kids some day! We’re thinking about maybe starting to try in about 2 years when Adam is done with grad school and has a steady job, and (knock on wood) I’m tenured at my current job. It’s definitely in the cards, just not right now.

Feel free to ask me anything!

I’m off to watch The Who perform at half time… I love that these guys are still performing!

Technorati Tags: ask me, beef, cheese, Chicago dining, crockpot, dinner, sandwich, simple, simple recipe

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Mara @ What's For Dinner?, February 7th 2010 | Tags: ask me, beef, cheese, Chicago dining, crockpot, dinner, sandwich, simple, simple recipe
Posted in beef, simple recipe

Mongo

Adam and I are a little obsessed with Shrek and Shrek 2. No, really. Our cake topper at our wedding was Shrek and Fiona. We cut the cake to “Accidentally In Love” from Shrek 2.

A period of time went by where we’d watch Shrek 2 almost every day! Don’t get me started on the crapstorm that was Shrek 3… ANYWAY, in Shrek 2, “Mongo” was the name of the enormous gingerbread cookie they baked to attack the castle.

So on Friday night, Adam made a fantastic suggestion. “Let’s go to the grocery store and get the stuff to make a REALLY good sandwich!” We are both fans of sandwiches in general, but sometimes there’s something special that makes a sandwich into something “really good”. We hit up the local Meijer store and got some fresh Italian bread, fresh roasted turkey, lettuce, tomato, avocado, and good Swiss cheese.

Upon arriving home, we prepped the counter: cleaned and dried the cutting boards, sliced the bread, sliced the veggies, washed the lettuce, smushed up the avocado, and then Adam got building. First the turkey, then cheese, then avocado, lettuce, tomato, and then a little Smart Balance mayo on the top of the bread.

Upon closing it, we realized just how enormous this sandwich was. Compare this sandwich to the 2-liter of diet Pepsi that we happily consumed (yes, I know, its all chemicals and caffeine and crap, but I like it and I drink it.)

I felt a little like Homer Simpson looking at this thing… MMMMM….. sannnndddwicchhh….

We did not eat this whole thing in one sitting. We had small pieces with some baked Doritos (yes, I know, more chemicals. Again: delicious and enjoyable)

Yesterday, I made the best chili I’ve ever made. Seriously… ever.

Usually, I make a quick chili or chili mac on a work night. I make it on the stove top with ground beef, cans of stuff, and about a half hour of simmering. Yesterday though, I made weekend chili. It was slow, took patience, lots of seasoning, and… you just want the recipe don’t you?

Chili Con Carne y Frijoles

Ingredients

2 lbs. beef, cut into 1″ chunks (I used top round)

1 32 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes with jalapeños, drained

1 6 oz. can diced jalapeños

1 medium white or yellow onion, diced

2 14 oz. cans dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 14 oz. cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 Tbsp. garlic powder

3 Tbsp. chili powder

2 tsp. cumin

Directions

In a large slow-cooker, place the meat, tomatoes, and peppers. Stir well. Add beans, spices, onion, and vinegar. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve and enjoy.

I’m a chili snob, as is Adam, and we both agreed that this was the best chili I’ve ever made. I may have just gotten the proportions right, or it may have been that I used stew meat instead of ground beef, but it was wonderful. The flavors were more complex than normal, and my toppings of cheese, sour cream, and avocado just made the good thing even better. Don’t forget to Spring the recipe!

I didn’t want to wait until lunch to have chili… so breakfast today was an omelet made with spinach, chili, cheese, and avocado… and that breakfast lasted almost 7 hours!

OH! You probably want to know who won the iHerb.com giveaway, don’t you? Before I get to that, don’t forget that if you visit iHerb and use the special discount code SIF006 at checkout, you will receive $5 off your first order!

Onto the winner… using Random.org:

Comment number 149, which was…..

MORGAN from Live, Love, Eat, and Play! Congratulations! Send me an email with your preferred contact email for iHerb to get ahold of you, and I’ll pass it on!

Thank you so much for your interest in the iHerb giveaway! The next contest revolves around Cute Food Saturday: In honor of CFS’s one year anniversary, I’d love to present a reader-created CFS full of cute food YOU’VE made! You’ve got about a month and a half to get thinking and creating, and the anniversary post will be a contest! Please email me submissions by February 25! Readers will be able to vote for the cutest food, and the winner will receive a special cute food prize! So get thinking!!! I’ve already gotten a few submissions, and they’re ADORABLE!!

Have a wonderful Sunday night and a happy Monday!

Technorati Tags: beef, chili, dinner, food, giveaway, Mexican, sandwich, simple recipe

19 Comments

Mara @ What's For Dinner?, January 31st 2010 | Tags: beef, chili, dinner, food, giveaway, Mexican, sandwich, simple recipe
Posted in beef, giveaway, simple recipe

Honeymoon, Take 1 or Why US Airways Spent Our Honeymoon Money

Some of you may be confused as to exactly why I’m posting when I’m supposed to be on my honeymoon, while some of you have been eagerly awaiting details since Saturday morning. This is a VERY LONG POST. Don’t expect a lot of food/recipes/cooking type information in this post, nor should you expect your normal “bubbly happy in-a-good-mood” Mara. I don’t think I’ve ever been so angry in my entire life, including when I lost my last teaching job due to budget cuts.

Let me rewind. Our flight for our honeymoon to Jamaica via Philadelphia was scheduled to leave O’Hare airport at 7:25 a.m. CDT on Saturday, December 19. On Friday night, upon checking the weather and seeing this:

Adam and I decided to check the status of our flight. It was still “on time” but with a “travel advisory” in Philly, which meant that we could a) move our entire itinerary up to 7 days, b) reroute through a city that didn’t have a travel advisory, or c) be refunded for our tickets. Since A and C weren’t options, we got on the phone with US Airways and were going to request a reroute. After sitting on hold for over 2 hours, we decided to “risk it” and still leave the following morning.

Saturday morning, we got in our taxi on the way to O’Hare expecting the documented 25 minute delay in our flight to Philadelphia, and we were prepared to possibly miss out on one day in Jamaica due to the snowstorm on the east coast. On a whim, Adam requested at the ticket desk to be rerouted through Charlotte where there wasn’t snow yet, and he was REFUSED. We boarded on time, then had to sit for an extra half hour while the plane was de-iced. The flight was choppy, full of crying babies, and had so much turbulence I thought I’d be sick. The pilot announced we were about 75 miles outside of Philadelphia and would be landing shortly. Then 2 minutes later he announced we’d be in a holding pattern for at least 20 minutes because Philly only had one runway plowed. Then 20 minutes later, he said it would be another 30 minutes.

We finally touched down and walked as fast as we could to get to the gate for our connecting flight (on which at least 20 people on our flight were trying to catch) only to find out it had left not 5 minutes before we got there. Why they couldn’t hold the plane for 20 people, I’ll never know. Once we found out we’d missed the plane, we were greeted with the first of many lines we’d stand in over the course of the next two days. We took a risk and went to a ticketing desk to attempt to get onto the next flight to Jamaica (at 6:15 p.m.) We managed to get on standby, and watched as the terrible snow storm got worse, yet our flight was still listed as on-time. No one at any other desks would help us get ACTUAL tickets because “they can’t control the weather” and we’d “just have to wait.”

We did get the first of many meals out, authentic Philly Cheesesteaks and Yuengling

Then the waiting started. We waited in the terminal for any information about the flight… we had a gut feeling we wouldn’t actually get to take off, but they continued to say it was an on-time flight. We were scheduled to board at 5:30 p.m. and found out at 5:15 that we had gotten seats on the flight! There were 6 available and we were the first 2 on the standby list. And at 5:20, it was announced that the airport was closing and all flights were cancelled. Oh, and by the way, since they “can’t control the weather” there would be no concessions made for hotel rooms. We made a reservation at the cheapest hotel we could find ($87) and were instructed to go to baggage claim to wait for our luggage to come off the plane.

And wait we did. We watched luggage from canceled flight after canceled flight come into the carousels, and heard announcement after announcement that “bags would not be pulled” and to “be patient and wait for your flight’s luggage”. FIVE HOURS LATER an announcement came on that said “If you were scheduled to be on an international flight, and Philly was not your final destination, you will not be receiving your bags tonight.” We were told that they didn’t have the authorization to get the bags off the plane yet. So now, Adam and I were left with our “emergency” pajamas and underwear in my carry on to last us the night, and we got in line to get a taxi to our overpriced hotel. While we waited, I called US Airways to try to get on a flight to Jamaica by Monday.

See, not all the customer service people we dealt with were apathetic and rude. The people at the Sandals resort we were going to were wonderful. We filled them in on what was happening, and they happily moved our stay from its original date up days without a complaint, fee, or problem.

Back to the story. I was on hold with US Airways to try to get to Jamaica for three hours. I dialed their number as we got in line for a taxi. Someone finally came on the phone after we were already in the taxi… which means yes, we waited for a taxi for three hours. Something we noticed while we were waiting was that the airport did nothing for those people that were stranded. There were no cots, no bottled water, and the soda machines promptly sold out of water. O’Hare always sets up cots and hands out water and snacks if/when the airport closes and people are stranded.

Once we drove through the horrendously plowed Philadelphia streets to get to our hotel one mile from the airport, the cabbie pulled into the side street that led to the hotel. It was one of those complexes with about 5 hotels, and ours was the farthest from the street. Which meant, of course, that the taxi got stuck and we had to walk 2 blocks in a blizzard up to the hotel. Cue up clumsy Mara. I fell. In the snow. Hard. I have a lovely bruise which I won’t show you…

This whole time, Adam was on the phone with the “customer service” representative at US Airways trying to get out to Jamaica. Upon telling her that we had missed our connecting flight to Jamaica in the first place, and we’d been refused a reroute she said “Why is that my problem?” and Adam promptly requested a supervisor. Finally we came to a conclusion:

Since the earliest flight out to Jamaica is Thursday, December 24, we’d fly home for a couple days.
The earliest flight to Chicago was Monday, December 21.
We’d move our Sandals stay from Thursday to Thursday
We’d move our return flight to Thursday, Dec. 31

So we were stuck in Philadelphia until Monday, but at least (so we thought) had a resolution. It then hit us that we were hungry, so we went out in search of dinner. Unfortunately, there was no restaurant or grocery store within walking distance, so our dinner on the first night of our honeymoon was:

I had Combos and Twix

Adam had pretzels and M&Ms, and that’s a shared bottle of water.

And we crashed.

**Are you still with me? We’re only halfway there. Stretch, get some water, and sit back down. The story gets better!**

When we woke up Sunday morning, we checked out of our one hotel and walked over to the Embassy Suites about a block away. We were greeted by pleasant faces, free coffee, and an early check-in. We promptly ordered pizza, Adam took a nap, and I watched some TV and attempted to make the best of the situation. I got on the phone with US AIrways again to try and track down our luggage and get confirmation that we wouldn’t be charged any more money for our changed flights. I was reassured that we wouldn’t, and I got the number for the Philly airport’s baggage claim office.

I was told by the baggage claim guy I talked to that, in order to get our bags, we’d need to file a claim and indicate where we wanted them to go. We had a few choices: we could have them put on our flight to Chicago (but they might not make it), we could have them shipped to us at home (but we might miss them with our flight out Thursday) or we could have them put on our flight to Jamaica and we could get them when we get there. Either way, we’d have to come in and sign a claim. So we went. And we waited for three hours only to be told by a different guy that our bags were already on their way to Jamaica and we’d just claim them when we got there.

We returned to the hotel, went swimming (see, I packed our swimsuits in my carry on in case our luggage got lost on its way to Jamaica), and ordered room service for dinner. It was some lovely food: chicken nachos to share, I got a Cobb salad, and Adam got a delicious “California sandwich” on brioche:

And, when in Philly, one must eat cream cheese… or cheesecake

When we awoke the following morning at 5 to catch our flight home, we were reassured by the fact that there was no precipitation in either Philly or Chicago (or anywhere in between) and thought we’d make it home. I had a ride all set up in Chicago, and plans for brunch with a friend. We got to the airport and found that our flight was cancelled “due to weather.” WHAT WEATHER?!?!?!?

Again, I got on the phone with US Airways while standing in line to try to get another flight out. Once I was connected (an hour later), I was told that not only was there no other flight to Chicago from Philly yesterday, the next available flight was Tuesday at 1:55 p.m. with a layover in Pittsburgh. And that because they “can’t control the weather” there would be no concessions made for a hotel stay. I asked for a supervisor, hoping that maybe they’d have access to flights that the regular reps couldn’t access (like they did Saturday night with our Jamaica flights.) I had Adam talk to the supervisor who 1) laughed at him when he asked for compensation for a hotel and 2) “messed up” when telling us that the first available flight was Tuesday. It really was Wednesday. After much discussion back and forth, we got seats on the Wednesday flight.

Then we started calculating.

Lunch at the airport Saturday – $20
Blankets for waiting in the airport – $20
Taxi Saturday night – $20
Saturday hotel – $87
Lunch Sunday – $24
Hotel Sunday night – $130
Dinner Sunday night – $50 (room service, ya know)

At that point, we had spent an extra $327 that was supposed to be spending money in Jamaica. Since we were supposed to be at an all-inclusive resort, we hadn’t anticipated spending anything after our second flight Saturday. Could we spend another $300 on hotels for another two nights to fly back to Chicago for ONE day, and another two days of meals out? Sure, we could. Should we have to? Absolutely not. Rather than waiting around and spending more money, we decided to do the truly crazy. We rented a car and drove from Philadelphia to Chicago. A car, actually, just like this:

Yes, we drove 12 hours (rather, Adam drove. I offered, but he wanted the “badge of honor” of driving that long). Rather than spending more of our hard-earned and hard-saved money for hotel rooms and food, we spent HALF of what we would’ve and made it home. We did add:

$180 for the car rental
$60 for 2 tanks of gas
$35 (or so) for food
GRAND TOTAL: $615

Was it crazy? Yes, absolutely. However, since we needed to not be dealing with the extremely-poorly-run Philadelphia airport anymore, and needed some real rest and relaxation, it was worth it. Not one of our meals on the road cost more than $8 total, gas was fairly affordable, and we were OUT OF PHILLY! You can see my photos from the road in this album.

The kicker of the whole situation? If that one US Airways employee hadn’t refused to reroute us on Saturday, the whole thing wouldn’t have happened. We’d be on the beach drinking fruity drinks out of coconuts right now. I don’t ever expect to see any sort of compensation from US Airways, as they have some of the most apathetic, careless, and rude employees I’ve ever encountered, and they truly didn’t care about anyone’s situation. Not to mention the fact that they refused to give us our luggage and sent it on without us. We were told that FAA regulations state that luggage can be on a different flight FOLLOWING its owners, but not ahead of it. So right now, our luggage is in Montego Bay getting a heck of a tan, while we’re back in Chicago for 2 days.

So please, keep your fingers, toes, and whatever else you can, crossed… knock on wood… find a lucky penny… our flight leaves from Chicago to Charlotte to Jamaica on Thursday morning at 6 a.m. CDT. There needs to be no weather, no snow, no NOTHING to keep us from getting to Jamaica. We need this trip, now more than ever.

Thank you for reading my rant. I may add to this after Adam reads it and reminds me of things I left out. I fully intend on sending this to US Airways as well. If anyone has any suggestions for us on how to proceed with them, please let me know.

Technorati Tags: beef, Philadelphia, salad, sandwich, stress, travel

52 Comments

Mara @ What's For Dinner?, December 22nd 2009 | Tags: beef, Philadelphia, salad, sandwich, stress, travel
Posted in Uncategorized, beef

Don’t Judge.

Ok, so that’s what my friend at work says when she comes in with take-out from somewhere deemed “unhealthy”. Then, one of us will justify her choice somehow, but in the end, what matters is that she got what she WANTED for lunch rather than what she “should” eat.

Well, when I awoke this morning to near blizzard conditions, inches of snow on the ground, and no snow day, I knew it was going to be a long day. When I looked out the window at 10 a.m. and saw that it was STILL snowing, I had already started to dread my commute home. At 3 p.m. when I did leave work in near-blizzard conditions and with more inches of snow on the ground, I knew for sure I wasn’t going to want to cook.

After my normally-30-minute commute turned into an hour, I got home to a frozen gate latch and this view:

I walked in the door, took off my boots, shook the snow off myself and said “What’re we doing for dinner? Because I’m NOT going back out in that and we don’t have anything to eat for dinner.” Ultimately, we decided to order from an old favorite carry-out Italian place, mostly because a) it’s delicious and b) they’re reliable when it comes to delivery in iffy weather. Rosati’s is a national family-owned chain, so check it out if there’s one near you!

We splurged a little (this is where the “don’t judge” comes in)

yeah, those are cauliflower poppers

Adam ordered a calzone:

And I got something that is Chicago legend. So much so, that when Gina (our very own Fitnessista) and her Pilot came to visit Chicago, it’s the very thing I got for the Pilot to eat. I got a cheese-topped Italian beef sandwich:

It was supposed to come with roasted sweet green peppers (or “with sweet” as us Chicagoans say) but they forgot. Oh well, it was still fantastic and JUST what I needed.

If you’re interested in guest-posting for me while we’re on our honeymoon, please email me your posts in a text or word document by Wednesday, December 16! I’d like to have some time to appropriately schedule them!

I’m unplugging for the night, off to take a hot shower and snuggle up with my husband (hehe husband!) and relax. Have a wonderful night, and if you’re somewhere the weather is bad, stay safe!

Technorati Tags: beef, cheese, Chicago dining, dinner out, Italian, red meat, sandwich

23 Comments

Mara @ What's For Dinner?, December 9th 2009 | Tags: beef, cheese, Chicago dining, dinner out, Italian, red meat, sandwich
Posted in Italian, beef, dinner out

Wedding Week Recap!

I know, I’ve been gone for a while… getting back to reality after the crazy and amazing week I had last week has been a little difficult, and that includes blogging. But I’m back, and ready with a week-long recap for you! Are you sitting down? Get comfortable, this is going to be a long one, and it may take some time to load, as it’s very photo-heavy…but worth it!

Monday, November 23

I worked a normal school day full of meetings and inservices, and got home to find my dad sitting on our couch! I hadn’t seen my dad since our engagement party in January, and I was so excited to see him! We sat and talked for a while, then headed out for dinner. We went to Sushi Station for a light dinner, and then to Yogen Früz since he’d never had it (with living in Oregon and all). Then, we went to Macy’s to find a tie for him for the wedding, and went our separate ways after that, at least for that day. I had a busy few days ahead of me!

Tuesday, November 24

At about 10 a.m. I left for my mom’s house. Why you might ask? Well, when my mom and dad got married, my mom and her mom spent a day baking a challah for their wedding. I wanted to do the same thing! My sister came over as well, and we got to work. After mixing and kneading the dough, letting it rise an hour, then punching it down and rising again, it was time to braid. In the end we came out with one HUGE challah, two smaller ones, and three mini ones:

Wednesday, November 25

It was a hair day! I met my mom at our favorite hair place for highlights, an eyebrow wax (desperately needed) and a professional blow-dry. The result was fantastic, but of course, I forgot to take a picture! I then spent the remainder of the afternoon dodging “Blackout Wednesday” traffic to get our centerpieces and other supplies to our wedding venue, then picking up Lizz’s bridesmaid’s dress from the tailor. We had sandwiches from Boloney’s for dinner, and I believe I was asleep by 10 p.m.

Thursday, November 26

Thanksgiving day! I debated not being a food blogger and just enjoying the day, but I realized that, down the line, I’d be bummed if I didn’t document the meal. My mom’s best friend put out an amazing spread as usual, and no one was left with an empty stomach. Just a sampling of the eats:

Friday, November 27

Rehearsal day! Adam had to work Black Friday morning at his part-time job, so I spent the morning getting last minute things together and packing my bag for two nights. When he got home, we went for lunch, and then drove down to our wedding venue for a quick rehearsal with everyone involved. The guys left after that, and the girls went to get manicures and pedicures.

Afterwards, we drove like crazy people to the rehearsal dinner at Gino’s East Pizzeria for some Chicago-style deep-dish pizza, salad, and pasta. At that point, I said bye to Adam until the wedding! We still talked later in the night, but it was odd not seeing each other.

Saturday, November 28

Wedding day!!! I’ll let the pictures tell the story… it was truly the happiest and best day of my life so far.

We spent the night dancing, celebrating, and well, it was the best wedding EVER! I’m beyond thrilled with how well it all went, and even MORE thrilled to be married to my amazing HUSBAND (I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of saying that!) We were beyond exhausted by the time the night was over, and made a rather surprising decision for:

Sunday, November 29

Rather than staying in a hotel for Sunday night, Adam and I opted to go home and sleep in our own bed. We had some friends in from out of town we wanted to see before they left, and the measly 4 hours of sleep Saturday night just weren’t cutting it! We both took long naps after brunch, and decided to spend our “hotel money” on a great dinner out to celebrate. We went to Shaw’s Crab House near our house for a fantastic meal.

(I know what you’re thinking…enough with the wedding stuff and get onto some food!)

We started with a spicy crab california roll:

And shared a cup of the amazingly creamy clam chowder:

We decided to really splurge and get what we REALLY wanted, so I got King crab legs, the best I’ve ever had:

Adam (the HUSBAND! Notice his ring?!?!) got these Nantucket scallops with spinach:

Rather than getting dessert at the restaurant, we opted instead to have dessert at home. On Saturday, we didn’t get ONE piece of our wedding cake! Well, we each got a tiny bite when we cut it, but that was IT! So what did we do? We had slices of our top tier! Instead of saving it for a full year, we had one piece Sunday, we’ll have another Saturday (to celebrate one week married) another at one month after the honeymoon, another at 6 months, and the rest at a year.

This cake was alternating chocolate and red velvet with milk chocolate buttercream and white icing:

(Are you still here?)

Thank you for reading the recap of the BEST week of my life… here’s to a hundred more years! Adam, I love you more than anything!

Speaking of honeymoons: We leave for our honeymoon December 19, and obviously, I’ll need guest posters! Send me an email if you’re interested!

Technorati Tags: Chicago dining, dad, dinner out, family, food, friends, fun, out, pizza, sandwich, seafood, wedding

48 Comments

Mara @ What's For Dinner?, December 2nd 2009 | Tags: Chicago dining, dad, dinner out, family, food, friends, fun, out, pizza, sandwich, seafood, wedding
Posted in dinner out, family, fish or seafood, friends

Epic Food

*This post was written last night at about 9:30 p.m, but my blog host was down and it wouldn’t publish! So… pretend it’s last night!*

I left work today excited for two main reasons: one, I was going for my next to last wedding dress fitting, and two, my BFF Lizz was coming with me, and we were going to a new favorite place for an early dinner.

The dress fitting went swimmingly, and I really can’t wait to share pictures with you… but you’ll have to wait a couple weeks!

Afterward, we headed up the street to a place that my friend Heidi (you know, Quin’s mom?) had been bugging me to go for months. Adam and I went not too long ago, and fell in love… what is this place?

Baloney’s is a Barrington, IL landmark, attached to the Catlow Theater, an old-style movie theater. They are famous for their kitschy decor

And even more famous for their remarkably huge and delicious sandwiches. The first couple times we went, I got a Dagwood sandwich, and I only got a phone picture of it.

Yes, it was delicious…and yes, I ate the whole thing! Tonight though, the girl behind the counter was making suggestions to Lizz and I decided to take her advice. I got a Reuben. Usually, Reubens disappoint me, as the corned beef isn’t as good as I think it should be, or there’s not enough cheese, or the sauerkraut is too sour… but not this Reuben. Oh no. This…well, this was epic.

Oh, but you can’t see how HUGE this was… let me help you out:

It was, quite possibly, the BEST sandwich I’ve ever had. Seriously. I’ll never be able to eat a Reuben again without comparing it to this one. Lizz agreed with me that they were amazing sandwiches. She got a beef and cheddar sandwich:

She kept saying “I’m never going to Arby’s again!” We both agreed that these were truly epic sandwiches. I got Adam a Dagwood sandwich, and if you don’t know why it’s called a Dagwood, this is why:

This is Dagwood Bumstead, of the “Blondie” comic strip, and he was famous for eating enormous sandwiches!

What made my evening of food even more epic?

Oh yes. That would be Früz. But more specifically, one of their Nü Naturals mixes which was (get this, are you sitting down?) Key Lime Pie with graham cracker crumbs! It was the BEST Früz I’ve ever had! Lizz and I shopped a little bit, and once I got home, I was about ready to crash… but I had to share this evening with you all!

I’ll be cooking again tomorrow, and I’m determined to try a new recipe! Do you have any ideas for me?

Technorati Tags: beef, Chicago dining, dinner out, friends, red meat, restaurant, sandwich, Top Chef, wedding

20 Comments

Mara @ What's For Dinner?, November 12th 2009 | Tags: beef, Chicago dining, dinner out, friends, red meat, restaurant, sandwich, Top Chef, wedding
Posted in beef, dinner out, friends

Finally Home-Cooked

This whole not feeling well thing is really starting to get old. I’m definitely better than I was this time last week. And also better than even a couple days ago… but what was the sniffles has now turned into a lovely barking cough that scares our 90-lb Rottweiler.

I wasn’t up for doing carry out again, and then I remembered something: a friend of ours showed me how to make truly delicious guacamole, as well as a trick to keep it from turning brown in the fridge. I HAD to make guacamole tonight.

I mushed up 4 avocados, and combined them with a chopped jalapeño, half a chopped red onion, the juice of 2 limes, one diced tomato, some garlic powder, and some salt. The key to not turning brown? Leave the pits in the bowl!

What better to put the guacamole on than a low-fat burger with a couple small pieces of crisp-cooked bacon? Yeah. Nothing. Thats what I thought too.

The produce market had fresh-baked Italian rolls when I was there, and I’d made some simple oven fries to go with this delicious dinner. I’ve got just enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

Have a great Monday all! Congrats to all the Foodbuzz Festival Award winners!

Technorati Tags: beef, burger, dinner, food, Mexican, sandwich, simple recipe

12 Comments

Mara @ What's For Dinner?, November 8th 2009 | Tags: beef, burger, dinner, food, Mexican, sandwich, simple recipe
Posted in PBE, beef, simple recipe

National Sandwich Day

Today was National Sandwich day! I am quite a fan of the sandwich, so I decided to celebrate with a creation that uses up leftover supplies from last night’s grilled cheese dinner.

There were a few pieces of Italian bread left, 2 slices of cheese, and some red onion. I couldn’t just have grilled cheese again and I was craving some protein, so I cooked 2 very small chicken breasts in a pan. I caramelized 2 big slices of red onion, then I assembled this delicious creation much like my grilled cheese yesterday, toasted it in a pan, and dove in…

Such deliciousness! I think the protein will help keep me “on the mend”, and besides, who really needs an excuse for melted cheese? I’m definitely satisfied, and have got to remember to stay up on my protein. With the exception of an egg in my breakfast, I hadn’t had much at all since Thursday!

I promise I’ll stop being boring soon… this whole being sick thing is taking a lot out of me. If it weren’t so difficult as a teacher to take days off, I’d have taken another sick day by now. For now, I’m just going to rest up, drink lots of tea, and try to get well.

In the meantime, while I’m being boring, enjoy my favorite Sesame Street clip:

Technorati Tags: cheese, chicken, dinner, food, sandwich, sick, simple recipe

14 Comments

Mara @ What's For Dinner?, November 3rd 2009 | Tags: cheese, chicken, dinner, food, sandwich, sick, simple recipe
Posted in chicken/turkey, simple recipe

My Hero!

This is going to be short and sweet, because well, as usual, I’m beat! Today, we headed to Miller Park in Milwaukee for the Brewers vs. Mets game.

Miller Park has a retractable dome

1.5 hours in a school bus each way, a game with 2 teams that I really don’t care about, and 6 adorable 4-year-olds? It was definitely a good time!

My campers zipped themselves (2 of them at a time) into my sweatshirt.

Faces have been obscured to protect the adorable

Over 2 gallons of nacho cheese was spilled by various campers, somehow finding its way onto pants, jackets, faces, fingers and hair.

I hung out with these guys (co-directors, friends, and bosses for the last 10 years)

Good Times Camp directors

But, who’s my hero? Why Adam of course! I came home to this deliciousness:

SUBWAY!

It had loads of veggies on it, as well as turkey… much needed nutrition after my ball park bratwurst today!

YUM!

Toldja, short and sweet! Have a great evening and a fabulous Thursday!

Technorati Tags: camp, dinner out, sandwich

9 Comments

Mara @ What's For Dinner?, July 1st 2009 | Tags: camp, dinner out, sandwich
Posted in dinner out, friends

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Epic Food

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Finally Home-Cooked

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National Sandwich Day

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My Hero!

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