Breakfast in the City

Preface: I wrote this a few hours ago…Enjoy.

The train ride to Oak Park was so fun, I though I would do it twice! I got on the wrong train this morning. This is apparently what happens when one gets a little intoxicated, leaves her car at a hotel, and has her mother drive her to the train station early in the morning. She gets on the first train that stops, even though she isn’t 100% sure that it’s the RIGHT train.

Oops.

So here I sit at Ogilvie Transportation Center. Waiting for the next train to Oak Park…which is in 20 minutes. I’m going to just barely make it to work on time. Wait, strike that…I’m going to be late…Shit. Well, there’s at least time to brag about my city-style breakfast.

Allow me to gloat about Burrito Beach for a moment. I LOVE this place.

1. They always have tasty tacos at night/lunchtime when you want a snack at the train station.

2. They give out a foursquare special of free chips and guac! Sa-weeeet!

3. They made my breakfast this morning. Winning for them.

For breakfast I got the low carb scramble—a conglomerate Mexican bowl of egg whites, guacamole, salsa, bacon, cheese, tomatoes, and jalapeños…with the free chips/guac! I’ll have some of that for lunch, but I used the chips to scoop the breakfast treat like breakfast nachos! Almost as good as chilequilles!  

A happy tummy…a late employee…a tired Chrissy…this is going to be a fun day…last day of training though! :D

Have a GREAT weekend, kids! See you Monday J

Did Someone Say Fire?

Good morning early risers! I'm at work a little early today, so I figured what better time to elaborate on my amazing breakfast from the last two days! Yesterday I had an awesome omelet with ham, rosemary, havarti cheese, and egg whites. Only 5 points on the weight watchers plan and super filling! A little watermelon to compliment it and wow. I love seedless watermelon. So yum. This morning was a bit more of an adventure in breakfasting. Let me preface this by saying that we don't have a toaster. We toast bread under the broiler. Our broiler died several months ago, but magically revived itself recently. Well, this morning, I went to toast my bread for the ham, overhard egg, and american cheese sammich (7 points)...as I opened the oven to peer inside, it seemed a whole lot brighter than usual. And there was a funny sound in the back of the oven...and I looked a little closer...and there was a fire in my oven! Lucky for us its electric, so all I had to do was turn the broiler off. But its been an exciting morning! In addition, its raining buckets and storming like crazy. My lunch bag broke on the train because it was so wet...I got to work soaked to the bone and almost had a panic attack when thunder cracked so loud my ear drums hurt! Well, I'm safely at work, cold, and wet with soaked pants. Awesome.

Breakfast Tacos!

So, this morning, I started Weight Watchers. It was a decision that I've made several times before. It has always worked for me when I follow it, so summer seemed like a good time to start.

Well, last night I did some grocery shopping and got lots of tasty and healthy options. For a healthy breakfast, my meal wasn't lacking.

2 corn tortillas with 1 egg/1 egg white scrambled, 2/3 oz of cheese, and 2 pieces of reduced sodium bacon. 8 points. And worth it. (My lunch was all salady and good for me, so I didn't need to have fruity veggie breakfast.) Just watch...tasty breakfast WITH weight loss. It'll happen.

Better Late Than Never!

So this was quite the busy weekend. I worked my 8-5 and my retail job on Friday for a total of 12 hours. Then, on Saturday, another twelve hour day between the retail job and the catering side job. What can I say? I like to be busy…

Saturday

Breakfast on Saturday was awesome. A great start to the day after a long week.  I had some baked red potatoes that I cut up and browned in a pan. After they were nice and crispy, I cooked some baby spinach and added that amazing cablanca cheese for some cheesy spinach, which I put on top of the potatoes. I finished it with two over-medium eggs, for a healthy and filling breakfast to last me the day.

Sunday

Twizzlers.

Yes, I had black licorice Twizzlers for breakfast. Then I went grocery shopping before the Sox Game (WHOO HOO!) and the wonderful (although unfortunately, a Detroit Tigers fan) Cheese Show demonstrator, Amy, fed me a real breakfast of….

CHEESE!

I love the Dominick’s Cheese Show. Love. Heart. Every Saturday and Sunday at Dominick’s, they display all sorts of tasty cheese concoctions. Here, I learned that adding a little mayo to grated cheese with jam or a Tastefully Simple seasoning makes a cheese dip that is typically a hit with parties.

Monday

Today was a run out the door, no time for breakfast kind of day. (I have those a lot lately, I guess!) I stopped at Starbucks with my work buddy, J, and discovered that this particular Starbucks does not make breakfast sandwiches! FAIL. Epic freaking fail. So, thankfully Mom cut up some watermelon for me to put in my lunch, which made for a decent and healthy breakfast (added to my caramel Americano.) Heart.

Stay Cheesy!

Who Loves Tamales? I Do I Do!

So last night, for another tasty birthday dinner (Hey, I got A LOT of coupons for free meals, ok), we went to Chevy's for some Mexican fare. My meal was free and I got a sombrero! Everyone should go to Chevys for their birthday, complete with dinner and a party hat! It shall be useful for cinco de drinko next year. We all got the 3 course dinner (soup/salad, entree, and dessert!) and mojitos. YUM. After 2 bowls of chips and tortilla soup, there was no way I could finish my tamales and have room for fried ice cream, so I thought to myself, "perfect breakfast option!"

I love tamales. Love. Heart. Yum. I spent a great deal of time searching for the perfect tamale. My love of tamales came about 2 years ago, when I was visiting my aunt in North Carolina, and we ate a TON of homemade tamales. They were phenom, and that's when I put eggs on them for breakfast. I was pleased, and decided that tamales were the way to go. So I started checking out the local taco joints for the best tamale. Some were too dry. Some were too spicy. Some weren't bad, and some weren't good. I came across the winning tamale about a year ago, when a friend opened his own restaurant. Rancho Viejo has the best tamales. The owner, Angel, makes them fresh and tops them with cheese and sauce. Happiness. :)


Chevy's didn't do too bad with their tamales. The meat was tender and not dry. The masa was flavorful. The sauce was pretty good. I knew that topped with eggs, shredded cheddar cheese, and salsa, I would have a winning breakfast. Which I certainly did. I love it when everything surrounding my eggs is so flavorful that I don't need to add salt. I hate adding salt. I did NOT have to add salt. :D

Off to work kids! Have a great day.

Cheese is Always Good for You

You know, this breakfast thing when working an early-ass job is a learning experience for me. I wake up around 6 in the morning. Sometimes, it isn't easy to make breakfast that early, especially when one has a train to catch! I'm working on it, kids. I promise. In the meantime, I'd like to thank J and Starbucks for the Venti Caramel Americano and cheese/apple/almonds set for breakfast. This was a surprisingly sufficient meal to get me through the morning at work. A small piece of brie, gouda, and cheddar cheeses, a half an apple, sesame cracker, almonds, and craisins=success!

I really want to figure this system out where I'm not buying fancy coffee and on-the-go breakfasts from Starbucks, Caribou, or the likes though. Without having to wake up ridiculously early! This will be fun! Otherwise, sorry about the miniscule post :) Gotta get back to work, you know!

I Dined in the Sunshine Today :)

So this morning, I woke up with plenty of time. I had an extra 20 minutes before this train ride, so there was time to putz around, do nothing, AND make breakfast before jetting out of the house and making the mad dash to the train...(yeah, thought I left the cell phone at home, turned around, and realized it was in my bag the whole time...FAIL. The lady at the Lombard train cashier station gets a big fat BOO! from me. She's ridiculously slow, makes people late for the train, and over charged me for my ticket to Oak Park.

Today, I had the aforementioned solid breakfast that I was discussing yesterday. Egg white scramble with baby spinach, homemade giardinara (Mom makes the best--green olives, carrots, jalepenos, celery, oil, and Italian seasonings), and cablanca cheese. Cablanca has replaced Australian cheddar as one of the
favorite staple cheeses in my fridge drawer (living with the parents, I get a drawer to hide my super special food stuffs as I spend way too much money on cheese). Mostly, this is because my liquor store no longer carries the cheddar. Sad.

*SHAMELESS PLUG* I promise not to have too many of these...

With the delightful scramble, I enjoyed some toasted beer bread (A la Tastefully Simple--which you can purchase from yours truly here.) I love the beer bread...It's SO flippin' easy and delish...and makes great breakfast stuffs.

Funny story-typically I drink water and coffee...sometimes a little juice...and once in a great while (when its there) I drink pop (not soda, not sodie, not coke, pop). So this morning I had a little Diet 7 Up. To this day,  I still can't drink that without tasting the vodka from my college days. Thanks Mama S! She taught me that we always drink our vodka with diet pop(yes pop) because we don't need those extra calories!

See ya tomorrow!