Zuppa Toscana

Yesterday I made a pot of this tasty soup for a few reasons; 1. I LOVE this soup!, 2. I had all the ingredients on hand from an earlier meal, and 3. I was cleaning out the fridge and needed to make something before it went bad. I understand for some people that soup isn't really a summer staple (I'm in California remember? It's hotter earlier here!) but I just love soup all the time, and it's just a great and quick lunch to have on hand.

I posted this on my Facebook page and got a few comments regarding wanting the recipe, so I figured, why not? Here you go!

 Zuppa Toscana

(An Olive Garden inspired Copycat Recipe, after the cut)

The BEST BREAKFAST in Atlanta

Every time I'm ever in Atlanta I have to go to The Flying Biscuit Cafe for breakfast. It's a rule I have. I make no exceptions to this rule. Ever. It is literally THE BEST BREAKFAST in Atlanta for the price, selection and overall yumminess of it. Even before I had ever moved to the ATL, I had friends and clients tell me that when I visited to make sure I stopped into The Flying Biscuit for breakfast, because it shouldn't be missed. Ever. They had no idea how right they were.

One of my favorite breakfasts there is the Egg-stravaganza. This time I opted to switch it up a bit and get The High Flyer instead. Oddly enough, Brian went for the Egg-stravaganza instead of his usual High Flyer. We know what we like, and we hardly stray.

The High Flyer; two eggs scrambled served with their signature chicken breakfast
sausage (OMG!), their AWARD winning grits, a FAMOUS FLYING BISCUIT...

...and an organic oatmeal pancake with warm peach compote

Egg-stravaganza; two eggs scrambled (with cheese) served with their signature
chicken breakfast sausage, crisp turkey bacon, grits and flying biscuit...

...plus whole wheat french toast topped with raspberry sauce & honey creme anglais.

ETA//
Brian reminded me that I forgot to mention those little tubs of what looks like BBQ sauce. That's their nummy Apple Butter and its so insanely good. It tastes like Christmas. I bet you're looking at the screen thinking WTF? But when you try it, you will totally agree. It's all appley, and cranberryish with cinnamon and nutmeg and all those yummy flavors of the holidays on a big giant fluffy biscuit. Mmmm!

Trader Joe's really got it going on.

The other day, I braved the Southern California rain and drove to Trader Joe's in La Mesa. I wish there was one a bit closer to my house, but oh well.

If you've never been to Trader Joe's, it's really a treat. I personally LOVE the grocery store. I love going up and down all the aisles and checking out all the cool stuff they have. I even make a very OCD list when I go. It's super therapeutic for me.

If you aren't sure whether or not you have a Trader Joe's near you, you can check their locations here.

Honestly when I moved to Georgia, knowing that they had both Whole Foods AND Trader Joe's in Atlanta was a HUGE selling point for me.

Yesterday consisted of at least one Trader Joe's item per meal.

I started off by having their Chicken Apple sausage; cut length wise and grilled.



I also had one egg; scrambled, and half a bagel, toasted with Better'n Peanut Butter for breakfast. You know how much I love me some Better'n Peanut Butter.



Breakfast; roughly 400 calories.

For lunch I took the Trader Joe's reduced fat Greek Salad, removed half of the feta cheese, diced up the cucumbers and tomatoes and doctored up the dressing. I dumped out about half of the dressing and to the remainder, added lemon juice, red wine vinegar, and some olive oil and oregano. It was much lighter and tasted a lot better.

On the side I had 1 tbsp each of the Garlic and Spicy Hummus from the Trader Joe's Hummus Quad. To dip I had 3 of their Corn crackers, and 1/2 of their flat bread, broken into pieces.



Lunch; roughly 330 calories.

For dinner, I tried the Trader Joe's Asparagus Risotto.  1 cup is 200 calories, and it comes frozen in the bag, ready to heat and serve. I just cooked one cup, seeing as I was the only one eating and put the rest back in the freezer.

To doctor it up, I added some more asparagus, picked fresh from the garden earlier in the day, cut it up and tossed it in.

Keeping asparagus stalks trimmed, and resting in a glass of water in the fridge helps keep them fresher longer. As they go unused, trim the stalks down and replace the water.



For my protein I grilled 2 chicken breasts with lemon and cracked pepper, drizzled lemon juice on top, added a bit of water, before putting a lid on it to cook. One for dinner, and one breast for lunch the next day. (I spread some hummus on a flat bread, and added half the second breast, shredded and folded it in half and made a mini sammie and it was so yummers.)

I also treated myself to 4oz (about 1/2 a cup) of red wine with dinner. "They" say that 4 oz's a day is a good heart healthy amount of wine and antioxidants, plus it makes you feel warm inside, and when it's raining and cold, anything warm is welcomed in with open arms.

Here's what dinner looked like.

Dinner; roughly 450 calories

The "sauce" on the chicken, is the lemon juice, water and yummy stuck to the pan bits, simmered and reduced. It had a nice tang to it, which went very well with the creme fraiche and onion in the asparagus risotto.

Ye Olde Spaghetti Factory

There used to be this restaurant in San Diego called "The Old Spaghetti Factory" (they are everywhere if you can still find them). It was cheap, good, and always hit the spot. My family had a boat in the harbor, and we would always eat there after a day of sailing. Nothing fills you up quite as good as pasta, meat and a hearty sauce.

Several years went by, and the Gaplamp Quarter area of downtown was growing. Empty lots turned into parking garages, parking lots turned into lofts, and lofts turned into baseball fields. Rent sky rocketed. Stores moved to less expensive areas of town. Restaurants closed down. It was a sad time for all us born'n'raised types.

The saddest thing was that "The Old Spaghetti Factory" was closing its doors after how ever many years of operation due to, their lease being up, needing to renew, and the fact that pretty much even if they were open 24/7/365, without raising prices to astronomical heights, they couldn't afford to be there anymore. Now the closest one to me is about a 2 hour round trip up north in Vista. If I'm in the area, I'll stop, but I doubt I'd be making a special trip.

The building that it was once housed in is now a Hard Rock Hotel and some ritzy fancy schmancy Indian place I think. I'd like to try it, but on principle I feel like I should just pass.

Just the other day at Costco we discovered heaven. The Old Spaghetti Factory has gone the route of others such as Cheesecake Factory, TGIFridays, and Marie Calendars and started selling their sausages in select locations! Yay!

So for dinner I started with this...


Iceberg lettuce, carrots, red cabbage, and cucumber slices with 1 tsp of oil and vinegar dressing and 1tsp of balsamic vinegar. Basic salad.

and finished it off with this...



I was so overzealous with hunger that I forgot to take a before picture until I had torn into the pasta and sausage! But I promptly pulled it out and snapped a few shots. That's about a cup of regular out spaghetti noodles, nothing fancy, and some doctored sauce. Onions, garlic, spices and then topped with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese. And next to it in all its fatty, meaty glory, a single lone Spaghetti Factory Sausage. The calorie count is likely to be astronomical, so I think I'll skip that part.

I will say that they weren't half bad, and actually tasted pretty authentic to the taste I remember growing up. This is definitely a "treat" and not something I even normally have on a regular occasion, but it was there, so I partook.

I'm curious about better ways to eat pasta, besides whole wheat, or even just good suggestions for a decent, non gag inducing whole wheat brand of pasta I can pick up at the store. Let me know.