01.31 to 02.02 - The Hunt For Red Meat & Red Mango

I tried to be healthy this weekend. I started off Saturday morning pretty well, but things went a bit downhill from there. My buddy A and I decided to indulge ourselves (or just me—since he was supposed to be on a diet) by getting some burgers! If you know me, you’ll know that once I have my mind set on something, it’s pretty difficult to deter me or change my mind. That was definitely the case on Saturday. :\

We had boigahs! Two lahge, delicious boigahs. Haha. Pardon my horrible NY-accent. Anyway, we picked up the bleepin’ Blago burger as well as another gigantic monstrosity with gouda, red pepper, and bacon. You’d think that would have been enough for us . . . but no. I started craving mango bubble tea, and then A started craving frozen yogurt, so I started craving frozen yogurt too . . . and we ended up driving aimlessly around the city, google texting and chacha texting up a storm, trying to find the latter as if our lives depended on it. We drove around for nearly an hour within a 5-mile radius but to no avail—and it was already late into the night. We wanted to give up, but we had been driving around for so long that we just couldn’t. So, in a moment of genius and desperation, I called a friend who had visited a random yogurt place with me months before that is usually open late . . . and, like a glimmer of hope, we found out this place was only a short drive down A’s street (ugghhh—go figure!). And suddenly, wonderfully, joyfully, amazingly, there…it…was.

A and I were sooooo happy that we jumped around like school girls. Or maybe just I did. ;) We had our large Styrofoam containers packed with as much frozen yogurt and delicious toppings as possible and went home in a state of pure euphoria. It was a good night in the food department. A good (a.k.a. horribly indulgent) night.



hello, Mr. Blagojevich


one mama of a burger


a beacon of light in a cold, dark city (ha)


if there had been XLs, we probably would've gotten those instead ;)

Eatery Info: Kuma's Corner, 2900 W. Belmont Ave, Chicago, IL 60618
Eatery Info II: Yoberri, 2814 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60657

01.29 - Disturbing Foods I Would Actually Eat

My buddy R sent me this article about this crazy concoction two Kansans came up with. It's pretty much a basket weave of bacon, topped with Italian sausage, covered with crunchy cooked bacon, rolled up altogether, and smoked. It's 5,000 calories and 500 grams of fat and sounds absolutely revolting . . . and, yet, I do love bacon, Italian sausage, and smoked BBQ soooo . . . I'm sure it's awesome! Haha. If you want the details, check out their blog http://www.bbqaddicts.com/blog/recipes/bacon-explosion/.

And here's a nice image that shows how pretty 2,000 grams of fat can be:


Then my buddy S also told me about a specialty burger being served at one of my fave Chicago burger joints. It's called the #!@%¿ Blagojevich Burger. It's a 10-ounce burger patty, a thick slice of bologna, and yellow mustard all between two grilled cheese sandwiches (one for the top bun, one for the bottom bun)-- and it comes out with a huge dollar sign drawn on top in mustard. Haha. Oh man, I don't know about the bologna . . . but I'm loving the double grilled cheese! ;) Check out the video below:

In case the video doesn't show up, click here.

01.28 - Super Eggs

I had scrambled eggs this morning. But not just any eggs. Omega-3 fortified eggs. They tasted normal enough, but I felt a bit weirded out about it. I imagined chickens eating pieces of salmon and laying these fishy eggs. Of course that isn't the case because the hens are actually given a diet of kelp, flax seed, and canola oil-- but it still sounds a bit shady to me. :\ In general, fortified foods are cool . . . but there's something about the unnaturalness that makes me nervous.

01.27 - Nostalgic Food & Nose Kisses

Every evening for dinner, the grandma used to mash up a ripe banana into her rice. And she would eat that with chicken or a pork chop or whatever protein she happened to have prepared for the day. I used to think the mushy banana/rice concoction was so gross and too sweet—but recently I’ve started having it at dinner. It’s definitely an acquired taste, but the textures are actually quite complementary. I’m really such a sucker for nostalgic foods . . . even if it makes me feel a little like an old lady. ;)

Speaking of the grandma, I remember how much I loved giving her nose kisses—where I’d touch my nose to her nose and wiggle it a little. Haha. Mainly, I loved doing it with my grandma because she had the cutest Popeye-like nose and she wouldn’t flinch for anything. There were times when my nose would be approaching hers, and she’d think I was going in for a kiss so she’d pucker up her lips. Haha. That was the best. Nowadays, I’ll randomly plant nose kisses on babies because they don’t really know what’s going on. And sometimes I’ll do it with older kids (like L & D) because it’s kind of fun to watch them squirm with uncertainty or pretty much just try to dodge me. :}

the seeds of nostalgia are being planted (haha)

01.24 to 01.26 - Let Me Eat Cake

So one of my closest friends is getting married this summer and we decided to go to a couple cake tastings on Saturday. I pretty much had cake for breakfast and lunch that day. It was delicious at first (and a fantasy for most sweets lovers) but it got to be too much by the end of it and I was craving cheese fries, hot dogs, and steak tacos like a crazy person. Still, it was a lot of fun. I really loved the two bakeries we checked out because they were such cute, unique places with very kind, personable owners. I think my friend and her fiance are leaning towards one of the bakeries already . . . but I wouldn't mind checking out a few more places. ;) Mmm . . . cake is yummy.


we had our fill of five of the moistest, yummiest mini cakes ever with seven different fillings


my friend chose these three cake flavors in advance-- and the passion fruit one rocked

Oh man . . . I have a fierce cake craving today after looking at these pictures. Must...find...cake...

Eatery Info: Since the bride hasn't made her final decision yet, I'll keep this on the DL. ;)

01.23 - Moo Moo, Boo Hoo

I’ve recently started eliminating milk from my diet because I have weird feelings about whether cow’s milk is actually good for human beings—though that hasn’t stopped me from eating cheese (yes, I make no sense).

Anyway, it’s been a couple months now since I’ve stopped drinking straight milk (or having it in cereal or in coffee or in pretty much anything) . . . but I stopped into Walgreens before work yesterday morning and suddenly got this impulse to buy a box of Special K and a pint of skim milk. I guess I started having thoughts of eating healthy again and I wanted to start the Special K diet (eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast, eat a bowl for lunch, have a regular dinner, and lose 6 pounds in two weeks). Ha.

So that’s what I did yesterday. I had not just one bowl of cereal with good ol’ bovine milk. I had two bowls. *sigh* I have no idea what I was thinking. Yesterday was an uncomfortable day. :\

01.21 - How Much More Can I Love Thee?

I wrote a post awhile back about my weakness foods—foods that I would eat even if I was completely full. They included lemon ice, asian fro-yo, hard salami, fried chicken, and cheese. I thought about it, though, and I probably wouldn’t eat just any cheese if I was full. But if they were cheese curds . . . ohhh man, it would all be over.

Cheese curds are a regional delicacy of Wisconsin (but apparently also of Michigan, upstate NY, and parts of Canada), and they are just the best, most wonderful, most comforting cheese ever. I remember the first time I had them. It was one weekend years back when my friend N and I were visiting our friend Q in Milwaukee. We decided to do some grocery shopping for our girly weekend and, lo and behold, my love for cheese curds was born. Some people get turned off by the squeaky chewiness, but oh man, that’s what makes them soooo delicious. After that weekend, there is not one time that I’ve been to Wisconsin without getting cheese curds. (I’ve gotten them at grocery stores, gas stations, and this past weekend at a cheese factory—yay!).

If you have not yet experienced this wonderfulness, my heart breaks for you—though I think Whole Foods and other specialty stores carry them. If you do get the chance to have them, please eat them at room temperature because that’s when they’re the most soft, squeaky, and amazing. Battered and fried is pretty darn good too. ;) And if you’ve ever had poutine, I am fiercely jealous of you. My friend Q went to Canada recently and had this sinful Quebecois dish of French fries, cheese curds, and beef gravy and—knowing my love for cheese curds and disgustingly fatty foods—pretty much called me to rub it in. *heavy, heavy sigh* I’ll get to Quebec one day, people. One day . . . *dreamy look*


If I didn't have some of these in the refrigerator, this picture could potentially make me cry.


This picture does make me cry. It actually hurts me to look at this.