Monthly Archives: January 2012

The Grove, Austin and life

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Good morning everyone. Please excuse my horribly spaced blog posts. As you know, I was very excited to go home to Austin to see my doctor and start walking. Unexpectedly, I learned I had to “wean” myself off my crutches and gradually start walking throughout the week. This led to a lot of frustration as I have been counting down for almost 7 weeks. BUT, I am now down to 1 crutch, so things are looking up.

While I was in Austin, I managed to have lunch at one of my favorite places: The Grove a wine bar and kitchen. I went with my little sister and because it was a particularly warm winter day, we got to sit out on their sunny patio. I ordered my favorite salad, Beth’s Berry Salad. It’s a spinach salad with raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, goat cheese, walnuts and red onions with a lemon-honey vinaigrette. Yummy perfection…until I dropped my phone in my salad while I was attempting to capture that bite in a photo. #foodiefail.

We also shared their bruschetta. I love that you can mix and match with any of their 10 or so choices. Always a hard choice, but we went with their pesto, ricotta & grape tomatoes; one with figs, brie & apples; and sausage, roasted peppers & goat cheese. My favorite was the pesto. MMMM.

The Grove is always a great spot for lunch or dinner–make sure you stop by when you’re in Austin.

Bon appétit,

ThatFoodieGirl

Skinny margs, PB toast and cute puppies.

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Happy Friday foodies!

It’s currently 12:07pm and I’m trying to wake myself up. Pitiful. I slept for 12 hours last night, but in my defense I woke up quite a few times with horrible pains in my foot that got operated on 36 days ago.

Because of my frustrations of having to be in this stupid thing for 7 more weeks (YES SEVEN),

I decided today is a good day to look at the bright side of things. One, I used my nice camera for a few photos on this post (the one above being one of them), but as you can probably tell, I could only shoot from one spot. Ok, on to the silver lining.

Friday Favorites

 

1. A night out to reunite with my roommates at Mr. Mesero. And “Size 2″ skinny margaritas.

2. My breakfast yesterday of peanut butter “seeduction bread” and blueberries on the side. and the gorgeous natural light that came with it.

3. My experimental smoothie I made this morning. Fresh strawberries, banana, coconut milk, a dash of OJ, ice and Juice Plus Complete. (the best plant-based protein powder out there)

4. Spending time with the love of my life

5. Missing our sweet Molly, but smiling every time I see this photo

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend filled with awesome food, good company and lots of rest.

Bon appétit,

ThatFoodieGirl

Thai curry crock pot dinner

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As promised, I now have the results of my first Crock Pot dinner. It was a little over a week ago, and Ryan and I had the boys over for dinner. Since this recipe makes 6 servings, it was the perfect amount and we even had leftovers the next day.

This dinner made for a great veggie-ful meal, and was very filling when served over rice. Only thing I’d recommend would use red curry paste, not yellow curry sauce. We used sauce thinking that would work, but it was rather bland. We had to top our bowls off with extra sauce and a pinch of salt.

Thai Curry Veggies & Chicken (from The Vegan Slow Cooker I believe)

1 large onion, diced
1 bell pepper, julienned
1 can (8 oz) bamboo shoots, drained & julienned
1/2 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1.5 packages (15 oz each) tofu (we substituted chicken)
1/2 head broccoli, cut into florets
1 to 2 tablespoons red curry paste
2 cups of water
Juice of 1 lime
1 can (14 oz) coconut milk
Fresh basil, for serving
1 lime, sliced, for serving

Combine the onion, bell pepper, bamboo shoots, cauliflower, chicken/tofu, curry paste, water and lime juice in the cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

About 20 mins before serving, add coconut milk and broccoli. Cook until broccoli is tender.

Hope you all enjoy!

Bon appétit,

ThatFoodieGirl

Del Frisco’s Grille: red velvet waffles.

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Drooling yet? Well, it’s as deliciously lavish as it looks.

Del Frisco’s Grille

What: trendy upscale American

Where: Uptown Dallas

As soon as I heard “red velvet waffles”, I came running. Or…crutching rather. Del Frisco’s Grille, the trendier, more casual version of the famous Del Frisco’s steakhouse, was bustling at their “Sunday fun day” brunch. The waffles were drizzled in a vanilla glaze and the plate was sprinkled with cocoa, so it didn’t need much syrup. It was pretty much like eating a cupcake for breakfast, therefore ruining “regular” waffles for me, but in the best way possible. They were super sweet and rich and the bacon made for a nice offset, perfectly crisped and hardly any fat. This dish was so good, but you won’t see me ordering that dessert for breakfast every Sunday.

I came in with my boyfriend and my mom and we were immediately seated at a table right by their open kitchen. The traffic between the waiters and chefs was a bit much, as was the noise from the kitchen, so next time I think we’ll ask for a booth.

The service was excellent and the waitstaff couldn’t have been friendlier. Our waiter had a smile on his face the whole morning and it was obvious he loved his job. My mom is a vegan, so he tried to help her out with some of her choices as well.

She had the black eyed pea hummus with pickled veggies and flatbread crisp. She loved their homemade hummus and also had a side of their sweet potato fries. Yum.

Finally, my boyfriend ordered the classic comfort dish: grilled cheese and roasted tomato bisque. He seemed to love this dish on that particularly windy and chilly Dallas morning.

Apologies for some of the blurry photos. I promise I’ll start using my nice new DSLR once I can walk (10 more days!!)

Have a lovely Tuesday! Oh, and, today is my last “back to school” day! Graduation in just 4 months. And as always, please follow me on Twitter @thatfoodiegrl to keep up with the conversation and fan That Foodie Girl on Facebook!

Bon appétit,

ThatFoodieGirl

Vino 100, Olivella’s and crock pot cooking

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Greetings, everyone. It’s been quite a few days without a new blog post and it was making me upset. I just want to go ahead and say, it’s not that easy getting around with only one functioning foot/leg. With that being said, this post is full of iPhone photos. Once I’m up and walking (2 weeks from today!!) I will be using my new beautiful camera much more often. So until then, we’re going to have to make due with what we’ve got.

First of all, I’m reunited with Ryan and it feels so good. I’m now back in Dallas with him and last night we were feeling some thin crust pizza..so naturally, we turned the corner and headed inside Olivella’s. A neighbor of SMU, Olivella’s has gotten national recognition for their authentic Italian thin crust pizza, complete with the big wood fire oven in the open kitchen. Because it’s such a tiny place, we took a seat at the bar. It wasn’t too loud so we got to have nice conversation, our food came out really fast and we got to learn some Italian words via their Italian dictionaries piled right next to us. We shared a pizza with arugula, tomato, mozzarella and prosciutto. It was delicious and simple, and then Ryan also had their lasagna.

Afterwards, we met up with a friend at our favorite wine bar in town, Vino 100. If you didn’t know it already, I love a good glass (or two) of wine. Malbecs, Merlots, Shiraz, you name it.. but I prefer Malbec. At Vino 100, they pride themselves on the utter quantity of under $25 bottles of wine..at least 100 of them. It’s a great, cozy spot for a night with good friends and a bottle of wine. Oh, and there’s couches next to a fireplace. I think I might just have turned into a homebody.

And finally, another foodie highlight is today’s christening of my new Crock Pot. On tonight’s menu we have a chicken and veggie Thai yellow curry. Let’s hope this turns out! I will update you all tomorrow with the finished product.

Have a great Thursday evening!

Bon appétit,

ThatFoodieGirl

Watery bellinis, Second Bar and Kitchen and clementines

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Good morning foodie people!

It’s 9:30am and I’m AWAKE! I haven’t been up before 10:30am in the past 3 weeks. And I don’t feel bad because I need sleep to heal, right? Speaking of which, I only have 19 days left of being on crutches. Almost there…

What I really want to accomplish in this post is this. It’s a new year, and I want this blog to get better than ever. And there’s a couple of ways I want to do this. First of all, I’ll be working on the design of the blog and the overall user friendliness of the site. Second, I want to get more personal. I know I enjoy the blogs that let you in on their lives and what they’ve been up to, and dare to veer a bit off the foodie path. Now, that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop doing restaurant reviews. This just means I want to feel a little more free to just write a blog post that catches you up on some of the things I’ve been up to or been munching on.

One of those things I’ve been particularly enjoying is cuties (or clementines). I’ve seen lots of food bloggers including clementines in their photos of their meals, and they’re just too delicious this time of year.

Another highlight of my week was dining at Second Bar & Kitchen on 2nd St and Congress Ave. I’ve been meaning to try it out, but it’s a good 35 minutes from my house. This time I had a good excuse: a friend’s birthday. The ambiance was perfect, not too fancy, cool and comfortable with an edge. Dress up or down, but some waiters will be wearing tshirts so you sort of feel at home. The art work was really cool—the lights in the photo above was like a glorified chandelier above our heads.

These things were dangerous. Their black truffle pomme frites. Although I expected the traditional “pomme trite” a.k.a. thin fries, these thicker steak fries were to die for. If you like truffle, that is.

I do believe this restaurant deserves a full review, I wasn’t properly equipped with my brand new camera, so that’s why you only see crappy iPhone photos. Next time I go back, I will bring you a full review. To recap, I had their vertically roasted chicken breast with kale, sweet potato, apple-parsnip puree, little sourdough croutons and cider jus. That’s a bunch of fancy for DELICIOUS. I loved the incorporation of the winter veggies and the chicken just melted in your mouth.

And finally, the watery bellini. My family ate at CraigO’s, a pizza and pasteria, and we were not pleased with our experience. My bellini was tasteless and we waited about an hour to get the wrong pizza. It was super crowded with families and small children, so I’ll give them that. Either way, I’d be willing to give them another try, but I won’t be ordering a cocktail.

Have a lovely weekend and PONY UP! (My Mustangs are playing Pittsburgh today)

p.s. what do you all think of my new year’s ideas for this blog? Do you like the more informal posts as well? Or should I stick to more formal reviews? I want to hear from you all!

Bon appétit,

ThatFoodieGirl

The Clay Pit: a delicious Austin Indian eatery

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First of all, Happy 2012 everyone! This is my first post of the year, and I apologize for my mini hiatus. As a tiny little recap of my new year’s eve, I spent it at home in Austin this year (since I’m still recovering) and had families and friends over for a night of champagne, games and fireworks.

Above is one of my best friends, Stephanie. She’s actually afraid of sparklers but she managed to hold it still enough for the cutest photo of the night.

Ok, now on to one of my favorite restaurants in Austin: The Clay Pit.

What: Indian

Where: Austin

Just looking back on our photos from our giant Indian feast at the Clay Pit, my mouth is drooling. The food is that good. What made it even better was it was my entire family of 6. Always a good time. Especially when Maddy threatens me with a knife with a sweet little smile:

As my first restaurant using my new camera, I felt a little conspicuous with the large lens, but I think it’ll work. Our waiter was very enthusiastic and prompt, and kind of reminded me of my high school history teacher who was straight out of The Office. Nevertheless, it was great service.

The inside is large and comfortable, but we were seated in their back room that was a bit hard to hear. Because of the close quarters and about 10-12 tables, the acoustics weren’t right, but it was clear everyone was having a good time. When I go back, I think I’ll request to dine in the large room.

The food? Out of control delicious. We started off with some veggie and chicken samosas. The crust was flaky and melted in your mouth, the inside was the perfect blend of spices and filling.

I had the tandoori vegetables, served with a side of tikka masala sauce and basmati rice. I could have just eaten a bunch of rice with tikka masala sauce all night, but the veggies were an added bonus. Cooked in some sort of yellow curry and grilled up with spices in the tandoori oven, I got a large mound of all sorts of veggies. The tikka masala sauce was incredible as usual, not too spicy, not too creamy.

And the tandoori chicken was a hit at our table as well:

And no Indian meal is complete without the nan bread.

Overall, always an awesome experience If you are ever in the Austin area, I highly recommend Clay Pit. It’s perfect for big groups or small, Indian food lovers or not. Either way, you’re going to leave full and satisfied.

Bon appétit,

ThatFoodieGirl