stay in the shallow end

I went ahead and skipped last week because there was nothing worth mentioning.

Tuesday: Breakfast at Cafe Cubano: I had an enormous breakfast burrito. Absolutely enormous. It could’ve easily been 3 breakfasts. It was reasonably good, but nothing super special. Given my level of hunger at the time, it definitely hit the spot.

Wednesday: Lunch at Revolutionary Soup: I ordered the Roast Beef and Rye. From their website: Fresh Cut Roast Beef with White Cheddar, Caramelized Onions, Mixed Greens, Tomato and a Blue Cheese Horseradish sauce. As nearly everything at RevSoup is, it was delightful. The only thing I would change would be more horseradish in the sauce, but that’s just my personal taste. I doubt it has broad appeal.

Thursday: Dinner at South Street: Once again, the Flank Steak Salad. As is often the case, the beef was overcooked.

I’m also going to skip the next two weeks, as I’ve been out of town pretty much the whole time and really don’t have anything interesting to report.

Tuesday: Dinner at South Street: South Street = Flank Steak Salad. This time I remembered to order the dressing on the side and was much, much happier.

Friday: Dinner at Sakura (on the Corner): Our server here was pretty rude, and when we finally went to pay the check, there were definitely some shenanigans. He just started charging us arbitrary amounts insisting that they added up the total on the check. They did not, but it was not enough off to be worth fighting over. In their defense, they had just dealt with an enormous crowd of undergraduates in fancy clothes drinking sake bombs. We did get to sit in little room in the back which was kind of cool. I ordered a bunch of sushi and sashimi, and was very pleased. They still have my favorite spicy tuna in town.

Sunday: Dinner at Continental Divide: I love eating out on someone else’s tab. We ordered the Red Hot Blues and Texas Hummus as appetizers, and I ordered the Santa Fe Enchilada as my entree. I was disappointed with the quantity of Red Hot Blues. I really feel like this dish has become smaller in recent months. The Santa Fe Enchilada was stellar as expected. Michael ordered a New York Strip special, and it was absolutely incredible. It was served in a deep dish with a salad that had cream cheese on it, and the soupy mess at the bottom of the dish made an incredible salad dressing. Delicious.

Tuesday: Lunch at Main Street Market: I really should walk over the Fish Market in Main Street Market more. I ordered the fish tacos, and as usual, they were exceptionally good. I loved that the cook was out of fish, so we walked across the hall to the fish market and grabbed a filet out of the case. In addition, I am pretty certain they have some of the best fries in town.

Tuesday: Dinner at Amigo’s: Chili Verde. Nothing to see here.

Thursday: Meatball Sub from Baggby’s: How do I always forget how disgusting this sandwich is. Do not order it under any circumstances.

Sunday: Lunch at Amigos: We headed over there after kickball practice one morning. I ordered the Huevos con Chorizo and it was delicious, and I’m glad to have another dining option at Amigo’s.

Tuesday: Dinner at Kiki: We went there for dinner, and I ordered the Chicken Schwarma Entree. Boy, this was a disappointment. A few pieces of chipped chicken and some hummus. I guess they’re gone now, so there’s no point in posting this.

Wednesday: Lunch at Thai 99: I ordered the Pad Krapao. I love to hate Thai 99, but whenever I go there, I always enjoy my meal. Ordering spicy food there is a crapshoot. Half the time it comes out completely bland, and the other half it burns your tongue off. I got lucky today, and it came out with a good base level of spiciness which I supplemented with their spice plate.

Thursday: Dinner at South Street: Once again, I ordered the Flank Steak Salad. I forgot to ask for the dressing on the side, and as usual, it was swimming in the stuff. As much as I love the dressing, I can’t tolerate this much of it. The flank steak was actually NOT overcooked (I order rare), which was a nice surprise.

Friday: Lunch at The Tavern: Pigs in a blanket, a side of bacon, grits, and hot chocolate. What a way to start, and pretty much end, a morning.

Saturday: Lunch at Eppie’s: Will someone please remind me to eat at Eppie’s more. I think the only thing that keeps me from going is that it’s just so much damn food that’s so delicious. I can’t keep myself from eating every last bite, and I’m in a food coma for the rest of the afternoon.

Despite the fact that I’m writing this a month later, my memory of these meals in completely intact. It was a delicious last week in food.

Tuesday: Lunch at Baggby’s: Once again, I ordered the Pueblo Chicken Sandwich. It’s definitely the best sandwich at Baggby’s. My enthusiasm for it has dropped lately though. I think it’s because I work downtown and I’m having it fairly frequently.

Tuesday: Dinner at Sakura (in the Target shopping center): I was excited about trying this place. Apparently it’s a chain. Half the restaurant is a Benihana style hibachi and the other half serves Sushi. We just wanted some sushi. We ordered some sashimi, a specialty roll, and a few regular rolls. The portions were substantial, and it all tasted great. I think I’ll be going back frequently, as there was a big gap in Charlottesville for sushi in price and quality between Asian Express and Miyako.

Wednesday: Lunch at La Taza: Half order of Nachos: If a half order of nachos is this big, I can’t imagine what a full order looks like. A big complaint is that I really got the impression these nachos were microwaved, rather than baked. They came out really quickly, the cheese was unevenly melted, and the chips didn’t taste very fresh. Other than that, they were a standard plate of nachos, which definitely hit the spot.

Wednesday: Dinner at Beer Run: We went to Beer Run for the Belgian Beer Tasting. I felt the beer tasting was actually kind of lame. The samples were so tiny it just felt like I was sipping the bit of head leftover in the bottom of a pint glass. The big winner tonight, though, was the food. For appetizers we ordered the cheese plate (Ploughman’s Platter on the menu), some cheese dip (I can’t remember what this was called), and the Pork and Turkey Meatloaf. The cheese plate was nice, but the $3 upcharge for 6 tiny slices of salami was ridiculous. I really enjoyed the cheese made with porter. I don’t remember much about the cheese dip, but we completely finished it, so it couldn’t have been bad. The Pork and Turkey Meatloaf is one of the greatest things I’ve eaten in recent memory. It was absolutely incredible. It was the perfect texture and consistency, not packed too firmly and not falling apart. It was juicy without being greasy. Everything about it was perfect. It came with sides of brown rice and carrots which were both also incredible. This is a must have dish. Overall, the Beer Run experience was a lot of fun. I loved being able to walk over and grab a beer out of their singles fridge and just pop it open at the table. For dessert we reached over into the fridge and grabbed a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, some spoons, and went at it. I want to go back.

Thursday: Dinner at Orbit: I ordered the fish and chips. Gross, gross, gross. Soggy, tasteless, and dripping with grease. Just gross. Do not order this.

Friday: Late Night at C&O: Cheese plate and Mac & Cheese: I love C&O’s late night menu. We wandered over there watching There Will Be Blood. We ordered the cheese plate, the mac and cheese, and some wine. As usual, it was the perfect cap to a night. I dream about their mustard vinaigrette.

I like to order things online. I do not like the ridiculous amounts of packaging that accompany these items that I order. I was pleasantly surprised today when I saw a shipment of shirts and scarves we ordered from American Apparel

No box, no tissues, no bags full of air, no foam peanuts. Just the items we ordered in an envelope no bigger than necessary to ship the items. Amazon.com, if you are reading this, please take note.

So two weeks ago I posted my first quarter goals. Since then I purchased a new digital scale, so I could get more precise measurements (it’s precise to two-tenths of a pound). Thew new scale measures me at three pounds heavier than the old one, so I’ve adjusted the graph accordingly and revised my goal to 153 for the Ten Miler. Here’s the latest chart:

I’m pretty proud of myself for maintaining my caloric budget for three weeks. I’ve averaged 1665 net calories per day since 1/6, which is right on target. As you can see from the graph, my weight loss is right on track. (The dip on 1/20 is probably due to water weight). Unfortunately, I forgot to incorporate the Super Bowl into the graph, so next weeks numbers probably won’t be great.

As for my running, the good news is that I did seven miles yesterday. The bad news is that my IT Band is back with a vengeance, so I’m going to cut out a run this week and concentrate on some stretching and strengthening exercises.

We went to PetSmart to pick up some toys for the dogs since they haven’t had any for months. Amazingly enough, they had all their holiday dog toys on sale for 75% off! We cleaned up.

The dogs don’t know the difference, so why not? Apparently some people feel otherwise. The lady working there said she’d heard several customers wonder why anybody would buy a santa dog toy after the holidays. I get so frustrated when people fail to realize that dogs aren’t people.

Unfortunately, two santas and a snowman have already met their demise.,

… how awesome it is that my request for cookies follows right after my weight loss goals.

I just had a Keebler Fudge Shoppe Grasshopper cookie for the first time, and it’s essentially a Thin Mint. This, of course, triggered a craving for some Girl Scout Cookies, so I did a Google search to see when they’d be available. Google pointed me to this page, where you can find your local troop. Also on that page is this text:

What does that even mean? I’d love for someone to explain it to me. In any case, the Girl Scouts of Virginia Skyline Council have been selling cookies since January 4th and will continue to do so until March 31st. Before I contact them, though, if any CvilleBloggers out there have kids that are selling cookies, I’d love to buy some.