Restaurant Review - Friendlys

I went to Friendly's with my darling 5 year old daughter. It was the same Friendly's I went to when I was a kid... and that includes the 20 minute wait to be seated, the obnoxious kids at the back table and the lack of napkins. On a good note the waitress was totally competent and everything came out quickly.

Their kids menu is pretty good - my little girl has recently moved away from being a pescatarian and is now eating chicken - she ordered their chicken fingers and apple sauce. The chicken fingers were big pieces with juicy white meat in a crispy coating and it wasn't overly greasy. ( OK I tried it - I told you I was a lame vegetarian!) I was a bit disappointed that they were out of the fishamajig! So I setteled for a heavily buttered grilled cheese.

The kids meal came with some great desserts including a "make your own sunday" where you get to choose 3 types of icecream and then they give you 3 sides of toppings. Of course it came with an extra spoon for mom. CRAZY GOOD icecream.

Ahhh and summer begins....

Review of Skecher Shape ups

Any good foodie mama knows that if you cook alot you gotta figure a way to keep the weight off.... and raise a family. Not so easy. So imagine my delight when I discovered sneakers that claim just by wearing them you can lose weight without having to go to the gym! So I shelled out a $100 bucks and bought a pair.

First of all they look kind of ridiculous and since I am 5.2.. with a size 9 foot I try to avoid any shoe that makes me look like a smurf- I went with the navy and white ones. They are sooo comfortable and not nearly as awkward as people claim. They actually make me want to walk more. I wear them any chance I get - I even brought them to work in hopes I would go for an afternoon walk. Well a week after I wore them I had to return a different pair of shoes to the store I purchased them from. The sales lady noticed on my receipt the purchase of the shape ups- she told me she lost 56lbs wearing them and her daughter lost 12lbs. This seemed like a pretty good review. I even convinced my husband to get a pair. So it has been 10 days and I do feel my legs getting tighter.
I will write in a few weeks and let you know my overall opinion. I just discovered Avon has a knock off version from curves - they look pretty good and are half the price. They even have a sandle version that might be nice for summer - will review soon.

Sesame Ginger Chicken Dinner with cabbage and rice

Sesame Ginger Chicken , sauteed cabbage, grilled fennel and steamed rice



MARINADE
Soy Sauce
sesame drizzling sauce
Fresh ginger
honey

cut up chicken cutlets into 2 inch cubes
marinade in sauce
grill until crisp


Saute shredded cabbage in 2 tsp of butter until the ends get brown and carmelized.
Slice fennel bulb and baste with some marinade- grill until soft


Serve over steamed rice

REVIEW:
Husband loved it- even my daughter said she liked the suace. Although she has yet to try the cabbage... still working on getting her to eat more vegetables...

Family Meal - Rainy day

Had family visiting and a full day of stuff to do so I wanted something that would be easy to get on the table quickly. This meal I did all the prep in the morning so it was quick to go.
Menu
Crab and corn chowder with fennel and red pepper - in the slow cooker
Mixed greens with red onion/cucumbers with lemon honey vinaigrette - ( prep produce in am, make dressing in advance)
Grilled lemon pepper shrimp ( marinade with lemon zest, salt and lemon pepper- quick grill while reheating potatoes and bread)
Cheesy red bliss roasted potatoes- ( parm cheese and quartered bliss potatoes roasted in the am)
Hot crusty bread

Reviews:
This was a great meal! When I walked in from a kids birthday party it was literally @ 10-15 minutes with a beautiful and flavorful meal on the table If it was a week night I might skip the potatoes

Tula Kitchen - Bay Shore review

AMBIANCE: This place has a very cool vibe about it. Lots of dark corners with gypsy candles. Think anthropology meets HGTV. Glazed walls, with a gold tint, lots of candles romantic and hip. Tula prides itself on organic foods and lots of vegetarian and vegan alternatives. The only problem was although it was very sunny out at 5:30- it was so dark that my 5 year old was scared to sit in the back. Fortunately they moved us to the front table by the window.

A nice pour on the wine, and my daughter's milk came in a pint glass LOL. The waiters were pleasant all dressed in their hip black however the food came out a little slow. It was early so the place wasn't packed yet so I was confused why the food took so long but it could be because everything is prepared fresh.

FOOD: Menu had a lot of options but almost too many. It had a mediterranean flare to it. Lots of bean and humus dishes. The bean salad and pita that came to the table instead of the standard bread breakfast was a nice touch. I loved the beans- very fresh. We ordered edamame- cooked perfectly but they served it with the giant sea salt - I would have liked it better with a finer sea salt. I ordered the salmon cakes and coleslaw. Extremely good coleslaw! Was delicate, great flavors and not too mayonaizy. The salmon cakes were ok but wished they had a little less breading. My husband ordered the chicken kabob with fresh hummus. He said he wasn't sure about the flavors but thought it was very fresh.
So all in all more of a place to hang out and linger - nice when you are itching for the city. Everyone was very friendly but this isn't really a good kids place... although my little angel signed up for their mailing list while we were waiting to be seated. I couldn't figure out how the waiter knew her name until I saw the large purple crayon writing of her name - ha.



Unfortunately as a Mama - I just may not be cool enough for this place.

wasabi wow salad

So this was an impromptu salad I made the other night but I am not sure if it can be repeated! It relies on just a few ingredients from my favorite grocery store Trader Joes- but I couldn't find their sesame drizzling sauce so not sure what to use as a substitute!

-2 cups of mixed greens
- 1/4 thin sliced red onion
- handful of trader joes WASABI WOW nut mix ( almonds, peanuts, wasabi peas and cranberries)
- sesame soy dressing


To make dressing:
equal parts soy sauce and sesame drizzling oil. 1 tspn of honey.

Review:
The bitterness of the greens and the combo of salty/sweet of the nuts is great and the surprise of the wasabi - awesome. I loved this- might be nice with a stir fry.

awesome blog

Yummy recipes from my Sister-in-Law can be found on her Red Barn Cafe blog. She is a crazy good cook so I highly recommend trying out some of her recipes. She inspired me by creating a cookbook of family recipes when I married into the family. :)