Pad See Yummy

In what is becoming a fun trend... FIT and I have a date and he chooses Fairwood Thai. Poor Critic is with The Big Guy... At Shari's. With the promise of Old Country Buffet before a night of skiing. Clearly I win in this scenario... Sorry Dear!

Boo Jay's :-(

Decided to go to BJ's tonight with the family (well, I should also add we ate lunch at McDonald's but that is hardly worth its own entry, right?).  We had a ton of errands to run and got some AWESOME deals on some gear and some shoes, so in the end it was worth it.  I finally decided that going to BJ's was the best choice because they have their super awesome chardonnay chicken pasta which should really be called heart-attack-on-a-plate based on the fat and calorie content.  I think they took the world's healthiest ingredients, including grilled shrimp, and added in about a pound of butter, 2 cups of heavy whipping cream, and straight bacon fat.  Anyway, that type of deliciousness can be rationalized when I split it with the shrimp, bacon, and pasta loving FIT right?  Wrong.  They don't have it on the menu anymore.  Devastation, except now I'll just find a blog that has the recipe (or something close to it), Pin it on Pinterest, and then make it myself (hopefully in a healthier version?). 

So instead FIT and I split cajun shrimp pasta, which we had them do grilled shrimp rather than blackened.  The end result is a "meh".  The Critic was super happy with his dinner (some type of deep dish pizza with meat and mushrooms... the guy was in heaven!).  I would probably have been happier if I had a diet coke to sip on.  Sad day for the Coach Foodie in this house.  Oh well!

Panda Express -- Now Open!

There is a new Panda Express near our house that is now open.  The FIT loves the place.  I'm not such a fan... first, the dishes are usually heavy and fried with sweet sticky sauces.  Second, their rice is really terrible... I don't want their white rice, their fried rice, or their chow mein.  Even their steamed veggies look questionable (though I'm sure that's what I'll get next time).  What I really need to do is bypass the overly sweet sticky sauce lure and go straight for the healthy option next time.  Resist the urge to think it's good!  Anyway, this is the Bejing beef which was good, mildly spicy, and way to sweet and heavy for me.  Thankfully FIT ate most of this.   I think he liked it better than his own orange chicken.

Panera for Lunch Bunch

No pictures on this... too much to juggle!  I am in a division of the international non-profit organization known as MOMS Club.  It stands for Moms Offering Moms Support and the idea is fun activities that stay-at-home moms (or working moms with some free time during the day) can do with their kids and meet other adults and not go absolutely batty.  One of our group's draws when I joined was called "The Empty Nesters".  These oh so lucky moms didn't truly have an empty nest... their kids were in school during the days, giving them the rare treat of being able to attend a coffee date or a lunch date with other ladies without needing to dice up someone's chicken or retrieve a sippy cup from the floor.  Color me jealous when I joined when my children were nearly hatched and 1.9 years of age!  Fast forward a couple years when I was serving on the board with this group.  Another foodie friend and I proposed an idea of going to "real" restaurants with the kids... things that didn't start with a Mc and end with a Donald's, specifically.  We wanted to help encourage our youngsters about ideas like how to sit at a table and eat your food, how to order without getting shy, and how to eat something that didn't start with Mc and end with Nuggets.  We thought there were so many places around that offer good, healthy choices in a kid-friendly environment that didn't also come with a play area.  Enter "Lunch Bunch".  Based on schedules for schools, my attendance at these has been lacking lately, so I was quite grateful that the chance to go to Panera with this group came up.  I enjoyed my typical... Chai Tea Latte (which actually came in a real coffee mug... this is slightly divine in my world!), Take Two option of mac and cheese and the BBQ Chicken Cobb salad.  Yu-um.  FIT got a PB&J, fruit cup, and cookie.  Delish little lunch with good friends... both his and mine.  Thanks, MOMS Club Lunch Bunch!

Cal's in Kent

Love a reason to try a new place, hate saying goodbye.  A good friend is moving to California so we took a few minutes to enjoy a meal with her at a place in Kent called Cal's.  Our very chatty waitress basically let me know that they are hoping to be a foodie paradise in a very non-foodie area.  Well, they *think* they're a foodie paradise already.  But they're not quite there yet.  First off, they need to be introduced to my friend the salt and pepper shakers.

I ordered the shrimp and grits.  Not bad.  Very briny shrimp (I was warned they would be "gulfy").  And the grits were creamy but just that... cream and white grits.  The sauce needed something.  And the whole thing screamed of needing salt.  I wasn't alone with that.  A friend who got chicken noodle soup also felt it was underseasoned.  I also challenge their "homemade noodle" claim and would love to actually watch them prep those in the back... they were as un"homemade" looking as any noodle I have ever seen.   And I think they need to prepare a plan in advance for things like shrimp tails.  I'm all for shells on shellfish, but I don't actually want to consume them, nor do I want to just put them on my plate.  Regardless, after a day where I was STARVING I truly mopped the plate clean.

I'm sure I'll return, likely with The Critic and The Guys sometime, even more likely with friends from MOMS Club or something... sadly it won't be another farewell party for my friend.  Best of luck, K, on this next adventure you are on.  The Little Guy is going to miss your little guy very very much. 

Shrimp and Grits at Cal's in Kent, WA

The whole fam at The Keg

A while back The Critic went to dinner with his mom and through a series of circumstances I'm not sure I understand, he received a gift card for a discount at The Keg for another night.  So tonight was the night.  Took both Guys... The Big Guy recalled we went on a night before trick or treating and he had the best hamburgers he'd ever had in his life.  I think that was a year and a quarter ago... the Guy has a memory of an elephant!  The Little Guy kept his FIT status by saying "I think I'd like to try the crab tonight!"  So the 4-year-old FIT and I split an order of king crab legs.  That was the bulk of my evening... cracking crab.  So worth it but a definite effort.  I figure I burnt off the calories before I consumed them?  Maybe not... but a girl can dream.  The Critic got a baseball sirloin and we enjoyed our modified surf and turf. 

Rock and Roll -- Get It?

First, to explain the title.  The Guys are driving me BATTY with jokes.  Knock knock jokes, made up jokes, retelling of jokes they've heard.  Let me be clear.  They get them wrong.  Nearly everything these days comes with the "Get it?" Tagline.  I mean seriously, doesn't matter.  Nachos.  Get it?  Nach-OHS!  Then hysterical laughter.  Don't read too much into it.  99% of the time I don't get it.  Well, Rock and Roll.  Get it?  ROCK and ROLL???  Yeah... I heard that all the way to the restaurant for lunch today.  The whole way.  All of it!

Anyway, a return to The Rock for a lunch buffet with the FIT and a good friend and her stinking adorable daughter.  Too much fun to be had.  A neat story though... FIT was picking his pizza choices and said "I want the one with the BBQ sauce."  When I pointed out that there were none, someone came over to me with a small container of BBQ sauce for him.  I thanked him, but said he was hoping for a pizza with BBQ sauce on it.  So the guy said he'd have one made and asked what all FIT would like on it.  So I went back to the table and asked him... he was stunned!  He finally agreed to chicken.  Then the guy says "How about some bacon?"  A stunned FIT keeps nodding.  He asks if he'll eat any vegetables and I say sure and he asks about pineapple and this gets FIT super excited.  I don't think they ended up with any veggies... maybe onions.  Anyway, as I'm heading back to finish getting stuff the guy cooking pizzas in the back here's the request and says "Oh awesome!  BBQ, chicken, bacon, and pineapple... NICE!  What could be better?"  I wish FIT had heard that because I'm pretty sure he felt like a Rock Star.  (Get it?  ROCK star?)  My friend and I decided to name the pizza after him and he just adored it.  When it arrived he ate two full pieces, that on top of the other 2 he had already eaten, plus a bowl of chicken noodle soup and some fruit.  Top it off with another free buffet based on my backstage pass... I love The Rock.