Tag Archives: dinner

Three Aces {Date Night}

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After publishing yesterday’s post I realized that while getting back into my normal routine has been tough this week, I really wasn’t doing anything to prevent myself from feeling lethargic and tired in the evenings. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people complain about something that they can change, so I decided to do something to combat my fatigue (besides drinking a gallon of coffee).

One of the reasons I feel so tired after work is the fact that it’s pitch black out when I leave the building. As I run in the morning (dark) and usually don’t have much time to step out for lunch, the only daylight I’m really experiencing is on my commute to work. Then when I get home and it’s dark out, all I want to do is eat dinner, put on my sweats, and curl up on the couch for the night. Sounds pretty anti-social right? Well, this winter I’m challenging myself not to hibernate. Obviously everyone needs a little downtime, but I’m really going to push myself to go out more during the week, see friends, and have date nights with Ian.

Which brings us to last night, after a week of “blah” evenings, Ian and I decided a date night was in order! We decided to go to Three Aces, a fun gastropub in Little Italy. We’ve been there a few times (including once for brunch) and have always had good drinks, good food, and a great time :) .

Three Aces is on the “trendy” side so when I got home I changed out of my work clothes into my favorite only hipster clothes.

I almost wore my glasses but decided against it at the last minute :P .

The dinner menu is not exactly food allergy friendly but I was able to make-do with a few substitutions. In addition to a glass of wine for me and a beer for Ian, we split the apple and fennel salad (without cheese) to start.

It was awesome and the smoked almonds were so good! I didn’t even know that people smoked almonds but I liked them :) .

For my actual dinner, I ordered the beer steamed mussels. The broth was fabulous and there was even some butternut squash at the bottom of the bowl. So good!

Ian had a risotto that came with ham and black eyed peas. He really liked his meal but couldn’t keep his hands away from the mussels either. I’ve always thought that Hopleaf had the best mussels in Chicago but Three Aces sure gave Hopleaf a run for it’s money!

It was so nice to get out of the apartment on a Thursday night and have a nice meal. I’d highly recommend Three Aces to anyone who likes craft beer (their beer list is super impressive) and farm-to-table food.

This morning I woke up feeling much better. My legs weren’t as stiff (must have been that long foam rolling session yesterday) and I felt ready to run. My workout was on the shorter side (5 miles w/ 6 x 100 m strides) but I felt much stronger and looser than I have all week.

It actually wasn’t too cold outside this morning but because I had more time than usual I decided to make stove top oats for breakfast.

I cooked 1/2 cup oats, 1 1/2 cups water, and 1 tsp chia seeds on the stove and once the oats started boiling, I added in 1/2 mashed banana and 1/3 scoop vanilla protein powder. Toppings included banana slices, salted pistachios, sunbutter, and fig jam.

Now I’m off to tackle my last workday of the week. Have a good one!

Cheeze-y Kale

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I wasn’t going to post tonight but I just had to share this amazing recipe with you.

Monday’s are my longest day of the week, so yesterday I pulled some leftover frozen strada out of the freezer to have for dinner tonight. That way when I came home a ravenous beast all I would have to do is pop a piece in the microwave and eat.

However, on my ride home tonight I started getting a craving for kale. Like, I needed some in a bad way (food nerd alert), so cheeze-y kale was created to satisfy my kale cravings.

Cheeze-y Kale
1/2 cup of cleaned kale raw (all I had, I’d double this next time!)
1 green onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 T nutritional yeast
1/4 cup of water

Pour olive oil into a large pan and place over medium heat. Add garlic and green onion and cook 3-5 minutes. Add kale, water, nutritional yeast, and spices and simmer until most of moisture has been absorbed into the greens.

Definitely the star of tonight’s dinner.

Time for Alcatraz, enjoy your night!!

Escaping the Snow {Dinner at Hackneys}

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When I left work last night we had accumulated about 4 inches of snow, it was still coming down, and the roads were miserable.

That’s traffic at a green light. Insanity!

Dinner
We didn’t have much at home in terms of dinner so we decided to head over to Hackney’s because their food is good and it’s close enough to our apartment that we wouldn’t have to rely on a car, cab, or public transit.

I started with a glass of Merlot and had two throughout the evening. This is why I was unable to blog last night. When did I become the ultimate lightweight?

Ian was playing with the camera settings and said something funny which is why I’m laughing. No worries, I have no shame of looking dorky on the blog :P

Ian’s favorite type of soup is clam chowder, so when he saw it on the specials menu, he ordered a bowl of it for us to share.

It was really good and there was a lot of clam meat in the soup. No skimping there!

For dinner, I ordered the Fresh Salmon BLT salad without bacon.

It was okay. The lettuce and tomatoes were fresh but the salmon was dry. This was a special salad and I think they were trying to go the healthy route with the fish but it tasted bland. Where were the spices?

Even still, I finished most of it and helped Ian with some of his fries. Next time I’ll order my usual, tilapia tacos :)

We were home early and watched a few episodes of Friday Night Lights before I promptly passed out. My college-self would be so embarrassed!

Plans for today include a run (I’m still deciding if it will be inside or out), some errands, homework, and maybe a trip to Piece later.

Have a great Saturday :)

Did you get snow where you live?

Peanut Butter and Jelly Oatmeal

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Good morning!

I just had a great breakfast, but more on that in a bit :)

Last night
Sorry for not posting last night but the last thing I wanted to do when I got home was sit in front of my computer. I’m hoping this changes soon- no computer = low productivity, but last night all I wanted to do was eat and lounge on the couch.

My class went well though, it seems like its going to be both interesting and useful.

Dinner was easy because I was super hungry and didn’t want to wait for anything to cook. This semester, Monday is definitely going to be a leftovers night! I warmed up the last of the pasta salad and bulked it up by throwing it on top of some fennel. It may seem like a weird combination but it worked!

I waited about 30 minutes and when I was still a little hungry, I mixed up some ricotta cheese, cranberry jam, sprinkle of cereal, and some cashews. I also had a teeny tiny apricot. I ate while reading a Travel magazine. I’m definitely lusting after a cruise :P

I think I managed to have cashews with every meal yesterday. I’m going to have to rein it in a bit ;)

Workout
This morning I woke up early to get a run in before work and school. When I first got outside it was pitch dark but after 2 miles or so it started to lighten up. I can’t wait until it starts getting light earlier! I kept today’s run simple and completed 5 miles in around 39 minutes.

Breakfast
On Tuesdays this semester I will have a little more time to make breakfast at home. I couldn’t remember the last time I had oatmeal, so I decided today was the day. I’m sure many others have made oatmeal similar to this, but here is how I did it.

Peanut Butter Sunflower Seed Butter and Jelly Oats
1/3 cup oatmeal
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 tsp chia seeds
1 tsp raisins
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 banana, sliced thinly
1/3 cup frozen berries
1 T sunflower seed butter

Mix oatmeal, water, almond milk, and chia seeds over medium heat until liquid starts to thicken. Stir in raisins and turn heat down to medium-low. After oatmeal starts to boil, whip in sliced banana and stir in vanilla and cinnamon.

Microwave berries for about 30 seconds until they are warm. Once oatmeal reaches desired consistency, pour into bowl and top with berries (and liquid) and sunflower seed butter.

I had mine with an adora disc and a cup of coffee with soy creamer.

What a perfect breakfast! I’m off to work and then class. Thankfully today is a shorter day and I should be home before 6.

Have a great morning!

Portobello Mushroom Cap Pizzas

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I hesitate to call this a recipe as nothing is being mixed, cooked on the stove, or baked. So, I’m going to say it is an assemblage of ingredients that creates a delicious (and super easy) small pizza! :P

Portobello Mushroom Cap Pizzas (serves 2 or 1 hungry individual)
2 Portobello caps, cleaned, de-stemmed, and de-gilled
1 T olive oil, plus a little extra
marinara sauce (the thicker the better as the mushroom will leak juice and thin out the sauce)
shredded cheese
toppings of your choice, I sliced heirloom tomatoes but anything goes
oregano

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare baking sheet by lining with foil and coating with nonstick spray.

Heat olive oil in pan over medium heat. Place mushroom caps in pan, gills up and cook until they start to soften. Drizzle with olive oil and then flip over so that the gills are facing down. Cook another 2-3 minutes. The mushrooms should be warm and softer but still slightly firm.

Place on baking sheet gill side up and sprinkle a light layer of cheese directly in the mushroom. Next fill with marinara sauce but be careful not to overfill as the mushroom will leak juice during the cooking process and the marinara will become runny. Spread toppings on top of marinara sauce and then cover with another layer of cheese.

Bake at 350 for 5-10 minutes or until cheese melts and marinara sauce is warm. Broil for another 5 minutes to make the top layer of cheese crispy (optional).

Remove from oven, sprinkle with oregano, and serve!

I had one last night for dinner but could see myself eating two if I was really hungry and hadn’t had a snack two hours before dinner. I also think that next time I may add some sort of protein (faux beef crumbles, tempeh, etc) to boost the protein.

Overall though, I was really impressed! Be warned though, it is a messy eat!

Enjoy :)