Applebee's Restaurant Review

Chipotle Lime Chicken - my plate

I had lunch at Applebee's today (see their main page here) so that I could enjoy more of their Weight Watcher menu items (Menu with Points Plus).  Having it all spelled out in Points Plus makes meal choices so much easier and pleasant than having to second guess and calculate. 

Side orders of tomato basil soup and oriental chicken salad served with a bread stick

I ordered the Chipotle Lime Chicken and my coworker ordered off the Pick'N'Pair Lunch Combo menu - tomato basil soup and side of oriental chicken salad, served with a bread stick. 

My meal was a Weight Watcher's dish and indicated on the menu for 13 Points Plus.  I had to calculate my coworkers Weight Watcher's points afterwards.  And this is the reason why I like it all spelled out on the menu.  While I was doing the looking up and calculating, I'm thinking, how bad could this be...a bit of soup, some salad and a bread stick, all ordered off the lunch special menu.  Well, would you have guessed 25 points?  This is a huge amount for lunch, that sneaks up on an unsuspecting person.  This is a classic for the Order This Not That from Men's Health blog by David Z something.


Chipotle Lime Chicken - photo from website

The menu describes Chipotle Lime Chicken as:

Grilled chicken breast topped with spicy chipotle lime salsa, served with Southwest rice and black bean & corn slaw and cilantro tossed in our citrus vinaigrette.

I really liked the spicy grilled chicken breast.  As you can see from the pictures, mine had more cilantro than salsa, which I really enjoy on my foods - it adds such a zip for fresh flavor.  I found the slaw to be mostly cabbage with very little vinaigrette, corn, or black beans.  I don't think there were any black beans on my plate.  The rice was nice and moist, with bits of tomato.  I think the rice might have been more of a medium grained/arborio type of rice than traditional long grain rice.

While my plate didn't exactly resemble the menu, it was a very filling and spicy.  For a lunch meal, 13 points is a lot but at least I won't be famished when I get home for dinner.  My plan is to not eat as much for my final meal of the day, to make up for lunch.  It's all in the planning!

I applaud Applebee's for being such a great supporter of Weight Watchers and incorporating the PointsPlus right on the menu.  I'll definitely come back and try some of the other dishes. 

Astrid

McShamrock Shake

McDonald's Shamrock Shake

It's back! Just in time for St Patricks day. It seems that these shakes are only available in limited locations and luckily, at my nearest Golden Arches.

If you can spare the calories, these are a tasty treat-super rich and creamy with a minty vanilla flavor. I also really like the whipped topping and cherry on top. The alternating horizontal layers of vanilla and mint are pretty.

According to the Internet , a medium 16 ounce serving has 550 calories, 13 grams far, 96 grams carbs, 13 g protein and no fiber. This works out to 15 Weight Watchers points plus. I won't be enjoying too many of these.

My medium shake set me back $2.79 plus tax.

I enjoyed one but that's enough for this year. I'm saving myself for Cadbury Cream Eggs for Easter- my true love!

Astrid

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Pączki

Strawberry Paczki with coffee

Last night, when I went to pick-up Kat from her Busch's shift, she brought me a box of strawberry Paczki - YES!  I've been holding off, trying not to buy a box as these are donuts on steroids.  Here are some tidbits from Wikipedia:

Pączki   (Polish pronunciation [ˈpɔnt​͡ʂki]) ( pronunciation (help·info)) are pastries traditional to Polish cuisine (the word pączek is sometimes translated as doughnut). Pączki is the plural form of the Polish word pączek [ˈpɔnt​͡ʂɛk], though many English speakers use paczki as singular and paczkis as plural.

Paczki photo from Wikipedia

A pączek is a deep-fried piece of dough shaped into a flattened sphere and filled with sweet filling. Pączki are usually covered with powdered sugar, icing or bits of dried orange zest. A small amount of grain alcohol (traditionally, Spiritus) is added to the dough before cooking; as it evaporates, it prevents the absorption of oil deep into the dough.

Although they look like bismarcks or jelly doughnuts, pączki are made from especially rich dough containing eggs, fats, sugar and sometimes milk. They feature a variety of fruit and creme fillings and can be glazed, or covered with granulated or powdered sugar. Powidła (stewed plum jam) and wild rose hip jam are traditional fillings, but many others are used as well, including strawberry, Bavarian cream, blueberry, custard, raspberry and apple.

Pączki have been known in Poland at least since the Middle Ages. Jędrzej Kitowicz has described that during the reign of August III, under the influence of French cooks who came to Poland, pączki dough was improved, so that pączki became lighter, spongier, and more resilient.

Paczki from my local grocery store

 

In the large Polish community of Chicago, and other large cities across the Midwest, Pączki Day is celebrated annually by immigrants and locals alike.  In Hamtramck, Michigan, an enclave of Detroit, there is an annual Pączki Day (Shrove Tuesday) Parade, which has gained a devoted following.

This year, 2011, with Easter being later in April, Fat Tuesday, Paczki Day will be celebrated on March 8th in the Detroit Area.

These donuts are richer, thicker, and chewier than traditional donuts.  The Lent thing - of having to use up all the lard and sugar in one's house - being the excuse to make fabulous donuts.  Or in modern time, the excuse to eat fabulous donuts during the dreary winter season that is hanging on longer than it should before Spring's arrival.  More snow is on the way for us today, but at least our tummy's are full.

preparing for the autopsy shot

For some reason, my box of Paczkis didn't include nutritional information - which makes me grumpy!  I thought it was a law or something, seeing as these were prepared and packaged in some industrial facility and sold in the box as-is.  I didn't pick out each individual donut and place it in my box from a high-end bakery.

autopsy shot - loads of jelly

Using generic nutrition information gleaned from the Internet, each one of these is worth approximately 14 Weight Watcher's Points Plus...here's my bite for the year, not quite a quarter donut, or 4 Points.  Each of these is over 500 calories!  Turn away while you still can.

My yearly taste of polish donuts

I just had an evil thought - what if I made bread pudding out of Paczkis instead of Krispy Kremes!!!! See my previous Krispy Kreme abomination here - wow - I need to lay down.....

Astrid

Red's Java House

Red's Java House, Pier 30, San Francisco, California

As a foodie, I spend a fair amount of time every day dreaming of food, especially after reading reviews by others online. Once in a while, I see a review of a place that I've been to and read the review just to see if the review matches with my recollection.  This morning with glee, I stumbled across a review of Red's Java House on the San Francisco Bay by Serious Eats.

A number of years ago, we lived across the street from this dive.  Considering the name, we never bothered going in because who takes little kids to a shack called Java House?  We were later informed that it's actually a burger dive....so we went.  Talk about nasty!  When we ate there in the 90's, I didn't remember there being french fries, the burgers were served with a choice of chips.  Soda and beer could also be purchased in a can or bottle.  It was a strictly - low rent sort of White Castle steamed burger with onions and mustard. 

What this place does have going for is LOCATION and cheap food!  All you have to do to enjoy a meal with a breathtaking view is buy a sack of food and sitdown - the vista is amazing.  Just don't breath (convenient that the view is breath "taking") as the benches are right at the edge of the pier, and it's very oderous - rotting seaweed, diesel fumes, floating detritus - ehww.....

I enjoyed the review by Serious Eats and the regurgitation of Tony Bourdain's comments about the antidote to Alice Waters.  I'm not sure when he said this because in his latest book, it seems that he's toned down his animosity towards Alice - although he does refer to her as "Pol Pot in a mumu".

If I'm ever lucky enough to be in San Francisco again, I probably won't buy my food at Red's Java House, I'll bring something with and find a bench to eat and enjoy the view.

Astrid

California Pizza Kitchen

It's with great nostalgia that I take my daughter back to California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) for  her upcoming birthday.  When we celebrated Kathrin's 5th birthday, we lived in Walnut Creek, California.  I took her and her friend Sydney to CPK for lunch.  We sat at the kitchen bar and watched the action in the kitchen.  I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it more then the girls - kitchens are fascinating, especially a pizza oven (or maybe that's just me!).  Since moving from Walnut Creek, we haven't visited a CPK together but we are changing that this year as part of the week long Birthday Palooza.  Once more, I'm taking Kathrin and her friends to CPK for a special celebration.

I'm still minding my Weight Watcher Points and have blogged about my appreciation for online and readily available nutrition information for chain restaurants.  I was thrilled to find an extensive online nutrition chart on the CPK home page- and then I got angry, along with many online bloggers!  CPK only lists the amount of saturated fat, not total fat - Hello!  What is up with that!  I used my Points Calculator, estimating for total fat, for a bowl of soup, figuring that's probably going to be the only reasonable point value meal.  I then checked on line and found a complete listing of CPK food with the old Points and estimation of the new PointsPlus values. 

And it confirms what I suspected....a bowl of Tuscan White Bean Minestrone for 7 points, is about as good as it gets for something that will look like a meal at the table.  CPK Weight Watcher Points Plus  Most of us are under no illusion that eating out is anything close to healthy, but OMG!  There are salads and pasta dishes that are well into the 40's PointsPlus.  These are probably very generous portions but still, 22 points for half a salad is a bit over the top.  With these sorts of shenanigans, it's no wonder it's so hard to loose weight.  My rant is over now...back to the birthday party!

When we arrived at the Mall, we agreed to meet back at CPK in an hour.  Of course the girls were late, but no matter.  I ordered a glass of wine and hummus with pita AND made arrangements for a brownie sundae to be served (along with 3 spoons) to the birthday girl when we were done with lunch.  The waitress suggested a candle, which I thought was a really nice touch!.  I was so excited during the whole meal in anticipation of the birthday dessert surprise.

Traditional hummus with whole wheat pita

The pita bread couldn't be too healthy since it tasted really fresh, warm, and tender and was a nice accompaniment to the hummus.  I prefer my hummus a bit thicker but this was still a nice combination of traditional flavors.  The girls inhaled it in seconds after sitting down to study the menu.

Since I had already eaten a piece of pita with hummus (whole platter 22 Points Plus), I decided to order the cup of Tuscan soup for 4 Points Plus instead of the bowl for 7 points. 

Tuscan Minestrone Soup

I really like this soup.  It was thick and spicy and flavorful.  The toasted bread cubes were a nice touch.  If I hadn't been on Weight Watchers', I probably would have ordered a half salad, mistakenly thinking I was ordering something "light", but now I know better and I wasn't disappointed with the better choice.

Kat, aka the Carb Queen, ordered her usual pasta with cheese dish.  This time it was she ordered the Garlic Cream Fettuccine (36 points).  She's not watching her weight so she just orders whatever makes her happy.  And it shows - she's a happy child!  I had a bite - it was surprisingly served al dente, which was nice.  A bit too much garlic for me but still yummy and creamy.

Her friends ordered child sized pizzas.

And finally as we were all finishing up, the waitress brought the brownie sundae - sans candle.  CPK was out!

Brownie Ice Cream Sundae

Kathrin was surprised - we of course sang the birthday song and embarrassed her.

When the bill arrived, CPK comped the dessert, which I thought was very nice of them.  They also allowed the friends to order child-sized pizzas even though they were older than 10 - which I thought was very cool too.

It was a great meal - great service, comfortable seating (big table for 4), delicious soup.  A birthday lunch for 4 - 2 child pizzas, hummus appetizer, glass of red, soda, bowl of pasta, cup of soup and comped dessert plus tip was just under $50.

Astrid

Zoup

It really helps me out when restaurants prominently display the nutrition information, or better yet, go one step further and calculate Weight Watcher points!  Zoup recently upgraded their nutrition information from Points to PointsPlus, for which I'm very greatful.

There is a Zoup location just around the corner from my office.  It's not the cheapest place to eat lunch but it's very nearby, great tasting soup, and nutritional information is readily available. 

I've been going once a week with an office friend, as we are both on the Weight Watcher's program.

Today I enjoyed a 12 ounce serving of Chicken Tortilla soup - "roasted chicken in a tomato broth with chiles, red and green peppers, corn and seasonings.  Garnished with crispy tortilla chips."  I've ordered this soup whenever I see it on the daily rotating menu and I've never had it served with the tortilla chips. 

Chicken Tortilla soup

The soup is still deliciously spicy with lots of white meat chicken. 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

There are a few things that I don't like about Zoup...

1) bread comes with every meal and there's no discount for not taking the bread - a hunk of bread is 4 PointsPlus, and

2) an 8 ounce serving, for which the nutritional information is calculated, is labelled "side", while a "cup" is actually 12 ounces.  Unless you're really paying attention, you could very easily mistakenly order a 12 ounce, thinking you're eating 8 ounces.  What's up with the name game?

I'll continue to eat at Zoup because it's easy on the WW program and the soup is good, but I harbor some bad feelings!  In the meantime, I'll continue to give the bread to a coworker who feeds the bread to birds in his neck of the woods!

Astrid

McDonald's New Chipotle BBQ Bacon Angus Burger

Review by Serious Eats

Review by GrubGrade

I finally made it over to the Golden Arches to try the new burger - Chipotle BBQ Bacon Angus Burger.  Which is odd because 1) I like McDonald's and usually try new things when they are offered and 2) McDonald's is more or less next to the office so I'm not sure why it's taken me 2 weeks to get there after the new burger was premiered.

I was not able to find a professional image of the burger - a glamour shot it you will.  The images on the web were all copy righted.

When I opened the box, the burger looked pretty good.  When I recently tried a McRib, the sandwich looked like it had done a few rounds with a stronger boxer!  It was a mess inside the box.  The Chipotle burger came partially wrapped in deli paper - nice touch.

On the plus side: Reviews I had read, didn't care for the limp bacon.  This burger had crispy bacon and it wasn't burnt either.  The pickles were thick crinkle cut slices - a better grade of pickles than the burgers on the Dollar Menu.  I was impressed too with the bun, a nice wheatier bread than the McRib or the Big Mac. 

On the negative side:  I was expecting something spicy, given the name - Chipotle.  The BBQ sauce tasted like the same overly sweet sauce used on the McRib, making me think that I was actually eating a "beef" version of the McRib sandwich!  The slices of American cheese were cold and unmelted as usual.  The purple onion slices were plentiful and thickly sliced - but a very strong, almost over powering bitterness. 

I think most of the negative aspects could be overlooked except for the BBQ sauce.  There was way too much sweetness for a big burger.  And this statement is coming from somebody with a sweet tooth and a leaning towards starting most meals with desert! 

The price for this burger in my neighborhood was $4.09 plus tax.

Overall, I liked the "feel" of the burger in my hands - it had some heft to it. I enjoyed the burger and would probably eat another, there's definitely some good qualities.  But I'm not rushing back, or salivating thinking of having another tomorrow.  That distinction belongs to the McGangbanger!  For twice as much money, the Chipotle Angus Burger didn't satisfy like the combination of McDouble and McChicken burgers off the Dollar Menu. 

Astrid

Weight Watchers: Chipotle BBQ Bacon Angus Burger - 21 Points Plus.  For comparison, the Big Mac is 14 PointsPlus.

Zamaan Cafe - my second visit

Hummus Bi Shawarma with Chicken

Craig and I thoroughly enjoyed our lunch at Zamaan Cafe last September.  I especially loved the hummus and posted about it here.  I've been wanting to go back after reading this review by Lisa and Joe of KitchenChick,

Zamaan Cafe at 3580 Plymouth Road at the corner of Plymouth and Green, Ann Arbor MI 48015

Paper menu

A section of the menu with hummus plates

Falafel - fried chick pea patties with tahini

The falafel were superb, everything you'd expect in a freshly prepared food - light and crispy on the outside and wonderfully tender on the inside.  No heavy greasy feeling.  Topped with a tahini sauce and more parsley.

Pita

I read in the other review that the pita is not made in the restaurant but even still, it was fresh and complimented the meal.

Cinnamon tea

My friend had the tea and couldn't stop raving about the flavor.  Our waitress wouldn't disclose the recipe or ingredients other than to say that it was just cinnamon, no tea, with a sweetener.

Makale

Makale is the dish I've been wanting to try since the last time I was here - hummus with fried potatoes, eggplant, tomato, and lemon juice.  The dish was everything I'd hope for - lot of thick, creamy hummus topped with seasoned cubes of potatoes and flavorful eggplant.  The underlying bits of tomato, parsley and lemon juice really added to the overall flavor and freshness of the dish.  I will order this again!

Hummus Bi Shawarma with beef

Hummus Bi Shawarma is similar to the Makale in that a huge portion of hummus is topped with tasty food - this time with seasoned beef, tomatoes, purple onions and parsley.  I found the beef a bit chewy but my friend thought it was wonderfully tender.  I enjoyed it but preferred the Makale.

Our lovely wait staff

New and improved dining room

The dinning room view from the front door - take out counter at the back

This was another wonderful meal.  I'm ready to go back and try more menu items - especially the hummus with spicy sausage.  The atmosphere is appealing and comfortable and my friends and I couldn't stop raving about the food - the freshness and great combinations. 

Four lunch dishes, 1 appetizer, and 1 drink plus tip came to $50.  A fine meal.

Astrid

Paint Procurement and Great Lakes Restaurant Review

Waiting at the bus stop with 2 gallons of paint and a wood saw (in the backpack)

We rode an Ann Arbor bus that stops near our house to the nearest Home Depot for  wall paint as part of the Basement Improvement Program (BIP).  I had a sort of light golden buttercup color in mind for our cave-like basement walls.  But then you get to the paint department and there are a gazillion shades of yellow! 

This was just one display, with several more including Martha Stewart.  Is there nothing this woman doesn't touch?  Behr has a new product, since the last time we painted - a combination of paint and primer in one.  Not sure what that does but it was recommended.

After purchasing 2 gallons of paint, liquid nails, and a small saw we walked to the Great Lakes Restaurant for lunch.

Great Lakes Restaurant on Carpenter in Ypsilanti, MI

The exterior looks a little bleak.  Without having to go too much farther with 2 gallons of paint, and still wanting to do lunch, it was either here, White Castle hamburgers, or some non descript strip mall fare.

As it turns out, the interior was pleasant, though a little worn.  The tables were covered in pink cloths.

Lunch special menu - it all  looked the same!

The service was bit slow, considering we ordered off the lunch special menu.  As we waited sipping hot tea, lots of couples and families arrived filling up many of the tables.

hot tea

After the food started arriving, the best description I can give is - gelatinous, Red Food Dye No. 5, and MSG.

Egg drop soup - gelatinous

Hunan beef - not spicy, with plenty of red and brown sauce

Shrimp with garlic chive kau - the outer covering is best described as snot

Chicken and broccoli - good broccoli

Inside of the shrimp kau

Steamed pork buns - red dye no. 5

Deep fried shrimp ball - yummy

steamed spare ribs with black beans - ehw

Inside or pork bun - a little too much red color

Lobsters, crab, and tilapia for the catching!

For 2 lunch specials, glass of wine, one soda, and 4 dim sum, the bill was $31 plus tip.

Craig and I need to either stop eating out or set our sights towards a better class of restaurants - I don't need to stop by here again.

On to the next phase of the project - washing walls and removing base boards.  See here for before.

Astrid