Happy New Year!

I am starting off the year right again, by venturing back into the world of healthy living. After a two week hiatus (my trip to see my parents) I'm ready to continue on the journey.

I spent my morning sifting through the Sunday paper for coupons to clip to go to the grocery store. P&G had a lovely stack worth of $100 off their products (combined, of course) so I found treasures in their stack.

The grocery store wasn't as busy as I thought it was going to be. There were a few people here and there, but I mainly had it to myself, which is good. I get anxious when I go shopping and there are a lot of people around, which in turn makes me feel unproductive because all I'm worried about it getting out of there.

I am making slow-cooker lasagna right now run my brand new slow cooker that I bought at Kohls the day after Thanksgiving for $9.99 (down from $39.99, I did great right?!).

I don't remember Oliver being such a begger, but he sure was at my mom and dads house. As I was making the lasagna today, he was at my feet the entire time!





Talk about hamming-it-up! But he didn't get anything from me. :)

Now I wait 4-6 hours for this lasagna to cook and hen it will be meal time :). Yay for delicious WW friendly recipes :)

Weekender

This weekend was a busy one! Sort of.

I woke up yesterday morning and started my day by baking some honey spice bread. I love to bake and this recipe was super easy and very tasty. It feels great to be able to bake again! I didn't bake much last year because i was subjected to using an electric stove. I never could get used to it and it always felt like the temperature was hotter than what the dial read, and then when I would try to cook things at a lower temperature, it didn't come out right. It was a no win situation so I left that place defeated by the stove. But anyway, here is a picture of the bread:











It is so appropriate for this time of year... a little spice and cinnamon, perfecto!

I baked early in the morning because I knew I had to get over to Petco early. I took Oliver to a traveling clinic that they hold there several times a month that offers shots at a bargain price of $51 (luvmypets.com). My vet offers these shots for half price every Wednesday and the cost at half price would have been $137.50 so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to save about $100.

We were 5th in line but it still took us about an hour to be seen. Oliver did really well until they gave him the rabies vaccine... apparently it stings when they administer it and it freaked him the hell out and he started flailing around on the table and crying and running for me. This made me start crying because I don't want to see my little boy in pain and when he leapt into my lap and kept whimpering, it just broke my heart! The doctor came over and gave him the rest of the shot while he was sitting on my lap and he did a little better because he was with me. Poor baby :(. But we came home and he slept and relaxed the rest of the day. I let him sit outside for a while to soak up the great weather and to do his favorite thing -- people watch!








This morning I took Oliver over to the dog park. I drove over there and spent a good 15 min looking for parking. The city is getting ready to do some street work in the area and there are blocks and blocks that have no parking anytime posted on the trees. Such a pain in the ass! Anyway, we spent some time there and just got home. My darling Oliver is now asleep next to me as I type.








The Chicago marathon is going on today. The path doesn't cross me directly but it is in the vicinity of where I live. There have been helicopters in the sky all morning following the runners in the lead and there are supporters walking around with their hand made signs of encouragement cheering on their loved ones. Have you ever attended a marathon to cheer someone on? I had the fortune experience a couple years ago of traveling from one end of the city to the other in the middle of the marathon and it's such a heartwarming experience to see the unity and support.

It's something added to my bucket list -- run the Chicago Marathon. Ahhh.... One day!

Enjoy some fall pictures around my neighborhood:

Trattoria 10

Today we took a client to lunch at Trattoria 10. I've always wanted to go there and i've even tried their food before. For the past several years, I have attended a charity event for the United Cerebral Palsy of Illinois - Prairieland. This charity event was a chef's tasting competition (and silent auction) and Trattoria 10 was a competitor. They always made great food to eat.







Anyway, my client suggested it for lunch and I happily obliged. The restaurant is in the lower level (its too nice of a place to say its "in the basement") of a building on Washington & Dearborn.








It's a quaint little white-linen Italian restaurant with a single yellow flower on each table with a spotlight shining directly on it. Is amazing how that one spotlight creates such a private atmosphere at the table that you hardly notice other patrons.








I ordered an unsweetend tea and Browsed the menu. Today's deliciousness was linear to yesterday's -- my antipasti of choice was butternut squash soup which was thick, rich and downright divine.






My entree was a grilled cedar river flank steak salad. I ordered my steak as my normal medium-rare. It had the perfect amount of seasoning in it, with the salt being the most prevalent. It was complimented with red grapes, radishes, Laura Chenel goat cheese and lemon Olive Oil.








It was perfecto! We didn't follow up with dessert, which I think my stomach thanked me for. I was full by the end of the meal and ready to take a nap instead of head back to the office :)

Smallies & Freshii

I just have a lot of random small things to say:

Oliver destroyed yet another toy to smitherine. I think we had it for 1 full week this time. Groundbreaking.




Have you ever had butternut squash lasagna? My coworker and I wait for it to pop up on the Cafeteria Menu. It's not every week, but when it is available I go crazy for it! I'm borderline obsessed with it. I buy two pieces so I can split it between two days for lunch.




I was at the Aon Center this week at a workshop and they served Freshii for lunch. Hello, delicious! I don't even like wraps so I was concerned if I was going to be able to consume anything for lunch. So I chose their "signature burrito" which is comprised of brown rice, small pieces of BBQ chicken, red onions, sweet corn, jack & cheddar, with low fat ranch dressing. I had this with a glass of green tea and I was more than satisfied! My colleague tried the anti-oxidant salad and she raved about it. So good! I was going to go there to try my sandwich again for lunch today, but it was butternut squash day :)

Little test

Just testing my new app to make blogger entries. Funny enough, when I type my entries from my iPad2, I am not able to upload photos through the blogger website. I come into work early and edit my entries from my work laptop to add photos (not while I'm on the clock of course). I think this app will let me do it.

I went to the doctors office today and when I was done I walked to Walgreens to drop off my Rx. I passed a new Crumbs Cupcakes that just opened last Friday! Their cupcakes are pretty good, very appealing to the eye. I actually bake better cupcakes (taste wise) and they are a little pricey at $3.50 a pop, but well worth it.

I got a red velvet for myself and a creme brûlée for the girls to split bc they never eat a whole one of anything! (they are weird like that) :)





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Polish Food!

When my parents came over this weekend it is tradition that we go out for a Polish breakfast to start the day. We drove out to my old neighborhood on the southwest side of the city near Midway Airport, 63rd and Narragansett, to go to the New Warsaw. We had the most delicious food there:

Dumplings:


Meat & Cheese pirogi's




Peach Blintz


We also had polish bacon and sausage, breads, etc. It was all very authentic and the taste is none to be contested with. The best part of
the meal? It was dirt cheap. We paid about $6.50 per person for a Polish buffet breakfast. It really can't be beat!

Wine Week at Smith & Wollensky's

Wine week luncheon at Smith & Wollensky's was awesome yesterday! It was delicious and there was plenty of wine and good company to go around. We had Mumm Sparkling Wine, Gruet Sparkling, Northstar Merlot, Silver Oak Cabernet, and Emeritus Pinot Noir, to name a few.



We had a great table this time around too -- facing the river (albeit dirty) but it was still nice to see the boats rolling through.





I had a 10oz gorgonzola crusted filet minon, medium-rare. The top was a little charred for my liking, by the gorgonzola crust and bacon bits around the plates were divine! We also ordered some great sides -- grilled asaparagus, shucked corn, and macaroni & cheese. Their mac & cheese was the homemade style, with the breadcrumbs on top. It was potent and very enticing to the tongue.

To round up the entree, we of course had to have dessert. As veterans of wine week, we knew what we wanted -- the gigantic chocolate piece of cake! I was absolutely stuffed after the entree, so I had mine boxed to go. This is a pic of someone else's though:





That's enough cake to last me for a couple days... and I will thoroughly enjoy it. The bill had to be easily over $500, but that is the perk of it being part of our business. :)

My constant companion

I must admit that food has been my constant companion this summer. Ive had delicious, wonderful food. I took a picture of a few things that i've eaten...

Veggie Dumplings



Pistachio Ice Cream



Robinson's Ribs



Lou Manati's




My waistline has paid the price... but it was all so deliciously wonderful. :)