My Google Local Guides food crawl in Indianapolis was a success!

For Google Local Guides Meet-Up Day on 18 June 2016, I organized a food crawl on the north side of the city.  The group had a great time... we all got to enjoy some awesome food and hospitality!

 

 

We got to Big Mike's Café and they already had plenty of space ready for us.  As always, Katie greeted us as if we were family and took great care of us as we waited on the others.


 



 

As we waited for others to arrive, we started off with an order of the garlic parmesan bread knots... these things are absolutely addictive.  Also, the other cool thing about them is that I got them for free!  The restaurant uses SpotOn, a rewards app where guests get a point each time they check in at the counter.  Only 5 points gets you a free order of the bread knots, so this was a great way to start!

 

Jesse and I decided that we wanted to share the Mom & Pop specialty pizza... it had a buttermilk ranch base, gouda, cheddar, mozzarella, provolone, and bacon all on top of their fresh house-made dough.  This pizza was unbelievable!  I also added green peppers to my side, and that made it even better.  It was perfect with a glass of sweet tea... another cool thing is that all beverages are served in mason jars!

Here is a picture of the whole group!  Katie and everyone else at Big Mike's did an amazing job... delicious food, friendly service, and an overall pleasant dining experience.  We had a great time with dinner, and most of us decided to continue hanging out at the next place.
















We all went to the The Quirky Feather Confectionery and were greeted very warmly.  They were excited to see us and were extremely helpful with the new faces we had brought in.  We all got our respective desserts (I got the peanut butter cup cheesecake... so good) and beverages, got a table together, and played the Mars Attacks dice game.

 

 

 

All-in-all, this was a delicious evening with some great company.  We would all like to thank both Big Mike's Café and The Quirky Feather Confectionery for helping make this food crawl a success!  We hope that, next year, we can get even more people involved!

 

#Google #LocalGuides #Indianapolis #Indiana #local #Indy

Quick and Easy Vegan Teriyaki Lettuce Wraps!

While browsing through the grocery department at Target recently, I found something in the freezer section that sounded pretty interesting... meatless teriyaki "chicken" strips (http://www.target.com/p/teriyaki-meatless-chicken-9-oz-simply-balanced/-/A-16379898).  They are essentially firm tofu strips that you can microwave in the bag, cooking them in the included teriyaki sauce.  I was not even aware that Target carried specialty items like that, so I thought I would give it a try.

We decided to try it in lettuce wraps, for a light dinner idea.  For the filling, I combined sweet corn and cherry tomatoes in a blend of sesame and sunflower oils with some minced garlic... I sautéed them all together in a cast-iron pan and then roasted the mixture in the oven for about 15 minutes to get a nice char on the corn.  To keep it quick and easy, I cooked the "chicken" strips in the microwave per the directions on the package.  When it was all together, we laid out some large leafs of romaine and filled them with both the corn mixture and the strips.

It really turned out great!  Normally I am not huge on using "fake" meats like this, but I am glad we decided to give this a try.  The meatless strips really had a nice texture and flavor, despite being cooked in the microwave.  Serving everything in the lettuce leaves made it a really light meal... and it was vegan!  Quick and easy, vegan, light, and delicious... this was definitely a winning combination when trying to have a fast supper.

Lettuce wraps, served with a side of fresh cucumber spears.

Saturday 18 June - Google Local Guides Meet-Up Day - Indianapolis, IN

This Saturday (18 June) is Google Local Guides Meet-Up Day, and I am organizing short food crawl for the Indianapolis area!

We will start at Big Mike's Cafe at 96th & College for dinner, then move on to The Quirky Feather Confectionery at 116th & Guilford for desserts, coffee, and tabletop games.
 
The purpose of these events is to hopefully bring together different people that enjoy discovering local gems, reviewing places on Yelp an Google Maps, and simply enjoying awesome food. This is my first time organizing one of these, and I am hoping to really get some community involvement.

If you would like to join in, please go to the event page and RSVP ASAP so that I can let Big Mike's know how many to expect. Thank you all for your time, and hope to see you there!
https://www.facebook.com/events/970228369762025/

 

#google #LocalGuides #Indianapolis #Indiana

Homemade Meal-Replacement Protein Bars!

Typically I try not to eat a whole meal for lunch... it's part of my effort to watch what I eat.  My idea is that, if I eat normal portions for breakfast and dinner, and simply replace my lunch, I should improve... and I have.

I have been eating one of the peanut butter chocolate Clif Builder's bars to get me through the day.  They are pretty high in protein but they don't really satiate me, plus they are just too sweet.  There are no other protein bars available at the store that really satisfy me, so I decided to make one myself!

The recipe is pretty simple...

• 1 cup of Silk vanilla coffee creamer
• 5 scoops of Kroger whey/soy protein powder
• 1 heaping cup of peanut butter
• 4.5 cups of quick oats

You can use any other non-dairy milk or even regular milk if you want; I am partial to soymilk, and I used this creamer because it has an extra creamy texture (only trade-off is that it has very little protein in it, unlike normal soymilk).  I also wanted to use only soy protein powder, but there was no Kroger brand of only soy :(... this deserves further shopping around.  As for the peanut butter, I personally prefer reduced fat creamy peanut butter.

Pretty easy procedure:

1. Whisk the milk, to aerate a bit
2. Add the protein powder and whisk together until smooth
3. Add peanut butter and mix well (might want to use a spoon)
4. Add quick oats and combine with your hands (use gloves to prevent messy hands)
5. Place mixture in a small casserole dish lined with parchment paper, and flatten to be even all the way across
6. Chill overnight and cut into 8 pieces; wrap individually and freeze to enjoy later!

Here is some nutrition info... I actually calculated these myself:

• Serving size = 133g (1/8 of total mixture)
• 24g protein per serving
• 13g sugar per serving
• (unsure of calories or fat content)

By comparison... the Clif Builder's bars are 68g total mass each, with 20g protein and 21g sugar.  So these will be much more filling, with more protein and less sugar!

It did come out a little dense, but I think that will help it be filling.  It also came out pretty sticky... so make sure you have napkins, haha.  I plan to try it with half cereal (maybe puffed rice) and half oats next time for some texture.

This is a variation of a visual recipe found at darebee.com

Google Local Guides Meet-Up Day - Indianapolis

Next Saturday (18 June) is Google Local Guides Meet-Up Day, and I am organizing the only one so far for the Indianapolis area!

We will be doing a short food crawl. We will start at Big Mike's Cafe at 96th & College for dinner, then move on to The Quirky Feather Confectionery at 116th & Guilford for desserts, coffee, and tabletop games.
 
The purpose of these events is to hopefully bring together different people that enjoy discovering local gems, reviewing places on Yelp an Google Maps, and simply enjoying awesome food. This is my first time organizing one of these, and I am hoping to really get some community involvement.

If you would like to join in, please go to the event page and RSVP ASAP so that I can let Big Mike's know how many to expect. Thank you all for your time, and hope to see you there!
https://www.facebook.com/events/970228369762025/

#google #LocalGuides #Indianapolis #Indiana

Homemade purple potato chips!

Sam and I had some leftover purple potatoes and decided to try making chips!

We sliced them nice and thin on the mandolin; tossed them in olive oil; topped them with sea salt, oregano, rosemary, and dehydrated garlic; and baked them at 350° for about 10-15 minutes.  Once they were put of the oven, we topped them with just a little extra salt.

They came out wonderfully crispy!  Despite being coated in olive oil, they did not taste too greasy or heavy.  It's an awesome way to use leftover potatoes that aren't enough to go in a main dish!

Started our patio garden for this year!

Sam and I started our patio garden!  We have some red and blue flowers in the hanging basket (can't remember what they are called); in the planters, we have prairie sage, Italian basil, raspberry lettuce, purple peppers, and spearmint!

Definitely excited to use the purple peppers and basil in my Italian recipes... and to use the lettuce in salads and on sandwiches!

Quick and easy mushroom alfredo!

Being Italian, I have made all kinds of pasta sauces countless times... alfredo included.  I even once won a pasta sauce cook-off with my classic alfredo recipe, despite the fact that it was the only sauce without meat.

The thing about that alfredo is that it's completely unhealthy... and expensive to make.  It's mostly made of heavy cream, butter, and fresh-grated Romano cheese.  The cream and butter make it super high in fat, and the cheese is expensive.

This new recipe, while not a traditional alfredo, has all the flavor of the classic and then some... and it's not quite as bad for you and much less expensive!  I got the idea from a coworker and tweaked it a bit... thanks, Ian!

I start it off by sautéing some sliced mushrooms in olive oil in a large, deep saucepan... just to the point that they are soft.  I then add a large can of condensed cream of mushroom soup, and about half that can worth of skim milk (or more or less depending on your consistency preference) as well as some dried oregano, basil, parsley, and white pepper to taste.  Then, I slowly stirred in about 6oz of grated Romano and let it simmer.  While doing all of that, I cooked some Barilla rotini made with zucchini and spinach (a wonderful way to add some veggies in your meals!), and I added it to the sauce. 

The creaminess from the condensed soup gives it a really lovely consistency, even without the butter and heavy cream... and starting it off by sautéing mushrooms really ups the flavor!

It turned out awesome... honestly it is now my preferred way to make alfredo at home.  It goes great with homemade garlic bread!

Vegetarian Italian Zucchini "pasta" sauté!

This dish is quick and easy, not to mention relatively healthy!

First, I shredded some fresh zucchini as my "pasta", making sure not to peel it (I love the skin!).  I heated my big cast-iron skillet and sautéed some shallots and halved grape tomatoes in avocado oil.  I then added some mini sweet pepper rings and minced garlic... the aroma at this point was already irresistible!

For protein, I used Tofurky Italian sausages, sliced into coins... not to replace a real sausage, but I just love the flavor of them!  I added these to the skillet, and stir-fried everything together until hot.  Finally, I added my shredded zucchini and a small jar of pesto, cooking until the zucchini was al dente.  I served it with some grated parmesan on top.

It turned out perfectly!  Honestly, it was hard to tell the difference between pasta and the shredded zucchini, and I'm Italian!  It was a relatively light meal too, so it didn't sit too heavily.

It could easily be made vegan by omitting the pesto and parmesan, and adding extra oil with the shredded zucchini to make it a more aglio olio style.  Give it a try, it's super easy!

Shakshuka!

Ever since I first received cast-iron cookware, I have seen many people online making this tomato-sauce-and-eggs dish that looks wonderful and I never knew what it was.  After researching, I decided to make shakshuka for the first time last night!

I started it just like my normal tomato sauce... sautéing onions and garlic in oil.  I added crushed tomatoes, oregano, basil, sweet peppers, fresh baby broccoli, and fresh spinach.  After letting all of that simmer together a bit, I crumbled some feta cheese on top and cracked some fresh eggs.  I popped it in the oven and let it bake... and it came out very nicely!  I meant to try and leave the yolks a little runny, but I let it bake a little too long.  Even though I cooked the yolks through, it came out to be delicious!  I served it with some garlic bread and it was definitely a comfort food!