No-Car Tuesday: Subway and an Ocean at Council Oak

I started the day by hanging out with the friendly men and women of the Wilton Manors Police Force... My car was missing when I tried to leave this morning.

When I finally filed the report and got a rental, I had a Bowl of Watermelon at the office.

I was really hungry today, so I stopped at Subway and got a sub.

It was what I always order there: Wheat bread, Turkey, No cheese, Spicy Mustard, Spinach, Banana Peppers, Hot Peppers, Green Peppers, Pickles, Tomato, Lettuce, more Spinach, more Spicy Mustard, no Mayo, no Oil.

It was as ever.

I didn't think that I was all worked up over the car thing (it sucks, but it is what it is), but I called the Hard Rock and browbeat one of the hosts there into comping me dinner at the Council Oak. Apparently, I gamble enough, because they said yes.

I forgot my phone in the rental car, and I seriously considered not including what I ate here in the blog... it was a lot, even for me. But lying about it wouldn't make it Not Have Happened, so here it is.

My first course was two appetizers, because one wasn't nearly enough. I had the Crab Cakes and the Carpaccio of Beef. Their Crab Cakes (they give you two) aren't that huge. They're pretty good; not Cap's Place quality, but good nonetheless. The Carpaccio was excellent. I had not ordered it there before, and I liked it a lot. I also ate some bread with the Tapenade spread.

For my Second Course, I was really Out Of Control. They offer a Raw Bar Sampler for either two- or four people, and I ordered the Four-Person Sampler. As if that wasn't enough, I also ordered a 20 ounce Strip Steak. I told the waiter that he could dictate the order of the food.

Then the food came. They brought the cold food first. It was so glorious looking, I made the waiter take a photo with his phone and email it to me.

What they bring people (for $95) is two Lobsters, eight Oysters, eight Jumbo Shrimps, twelve Clams and four small pieces of King Crab Leg.

He took another photo that came out grainy, but it's a good picture nonetheless.

Yes, I finished it all. It turns out that I don't enjoy cold Lobster and cold Crab Legs as much as when they are hot, but yes, I finished it all.

I looked at the waiter after they cleared the shells. He said to me, "Steak to go?" I agreed. So I have a big Steak in my refrigerator.

At least I didn't eat the shells.

Monday: Hiro Maru Sushi Cafe

I went to Hiro Maru Sushi Cafe for Dinner with Kathy and Lonnise.

We were on Kathy's turf (Hollywood), so we let her pick the place. She said it's not very famous, but has good food, and was reasonably-priced. Correct on both counts.

We shared some appetizers. There was Tuna Tataki and Naruto Maki for me & Kathy. Lonnise tried them, but she didn't really make a dent in the whole thing.

I had about a third of the Tuna, and half of the Cucumber-wrapped Rolls. Kathy really loves Tuna Tataki, and she takes a great picture.

Lonnise had the Soft Shell Crab and the Shrimp Skewers.

 

For my Main Course, I had a Spicy Tuna Hand Roll and a Fuji Mountain Roll.

They were both Very Good. I didn't think it through, because the Fuji Mountain was based on Spicy Tuna as well as the Hand Roll. But it was exciting and delicious, and I did everything except lick the plate.

When I got home, I had some Watermelon for Dessert. A lot of Watermelon.

Sunday... Protein? Yes. Fats? Not so much. And TGI Fridays.

I started moving around stuff in the house this morning, convincing myself that I was getting an early start on packing for my trip. I found these bars that I had bought last time, so I had one.

The ingredients are Sesame Seeds, Peanuts, Maca, Chancaca, Honey, Sugar, Lime and Water. It was 95% Sesame Seed, if you ask me. The Maca is supposed to put more, er, Wham! in your Wham Bam!, more ounce in your Bounce, more ink in your cartridge, etc. You get the point. I have no idea if it does or not, but it's Kosher! Or something. Anyway, it tasted like Sesame Seeds held together with Honey. I have three more; I don't think that I will be eating them.

I went over to Loretta's house to watch her walk around with the walker. She did excellently. I had stopped on the way and bought 7 ounces of sliced Turkey Breast.

I had them as Roll-Ups with the two different Mustards.

On the way home, I stopped at Broward Meat and Fish and picked up some Baked Salmon from the Deli counter... and I got to practice my Spanish with the nice woman behind the counter. They're always very patient with my lingual attempts there.

When they weighed it, the scale said it was just over a pound. It was good; I ate it.

Then somehow, there I was at TGI Fridays on Broward Boulevard at 11:30. Don't ask, because I have no answer.

Anyway, there's a $4 Taste & Share menu, and I managed to find something safe. Here are Chicken Hibachi Skewers:

These were tiny. There was a total of four small chunks of Chicken, a couple of Red Peppers, and a piece of Onion. I didn't eat the Pita Bread, but I did eat the Cole Slaw. The Slaw was Ginger-Lime, and didn't appear to have any mayo involved. They were tasty, but not tasty enough to make me want more food.

Then I went home. When I'm done typing, off to bed.

Mason Jar Cafe

I wasn't much hungry during the day... just a Bowl of Watermelon in the morning, and some Frozen Grapes at around 2:00 pm.

Ed had promised me yesterday that he would go with me Somewhere Nice for Dinner tonight.Since our trip to Peru, he pretty much trusts anything I suggest, food-wise, so he happily came along with me to the Mason Jar Cafe.

We got right to business with our first course. I had the Crab Cakes (they give you three small ones), and Ed went for the Caesar Salad.

The Crab Cakes are pretty good. No big lumps of Crab Meat, but not much in the way of filler, either. And you get a mini-salad along with the cakes, so it is kind of two courses in one. And all for $7. Ed's Salad appeared salad-like. He did eat all of it, so it must have been tasty.

We both chose the same thing for our Main Course: Short Ribs.

These were three big, meaty, tasty hunks for beef. They were big, meaty and tasty, but no match for me:

My side dishes were Brussel Sprouts and Sweet Potato Mash. They suffered the same fate as the Ribs. Ed took home one of his three Ribs.

No Coffee; no Dessert. Crab, Beef, and out the door. An excellent Dinner.

Friday, or in Spanish: El Friday

(I'm practicing my Spanish because a Peru trip is coming up)

El Friday started out like any other El Friday, with a Bowl of Watermelon (Sandia). A little bit later, I had one of the Plumbs (Ciruela) that I had picked up at Albertsons on Thursday (El Thursday).

I was going to be well-behaved today, so I broke out two Hard-Boiled Eggs for Lunch.

Huevos Duros

Then it happened.

I was sitting around, minding my own business, without a care in the world, when Free Lunch broke out. That's Almuerzo Gratis, folks. Gratis!!!!!!

They were ordering from (I think) Bella Roma, and all I had to do was tell them what I wanted. I agonized for, um, about two seconds (dos segundos), and ordered the Calamari Fra Diavlo.

Tallarines con Calamar en Salsa Picante

It wasn't fried, and the plate wasn't huge, and it certainly was free. So, I ate it (Entonces, me lo comi).

They included some Garlic Rolls (Pan de Ajo), but I gave them to Edwar to enjoy. He just wanted to be in the Blog.

They also tried to sneak in a Salad (Ensalada) on me. I'm no fool, so I stuck that baby with Sergio (In Spanish: Sergio).

You never have to tell Sergio twice to smile for the camera.

Later on, I had the rest of the Plumbs -- about 5 of them (Cinco Ciruelas mas).

When I got home, I celebrated my Free Lunch with some Frozen Grapes (Uvas Congeladas).
We went to PDQ for dinner at around 9:00 (las nueve). I like the whole concept of the place, but I wasn't all that impressed with the food choices, diet-wise. But Ed promised me that we could could go somewhere good on Saturday, so I went with the flow.

It turns out that they had Turkey Breast Sandwiches (Sandwiches de Pechuga de Pavo).

I interviewed the nino at the cash register, and he confirmed that they were whole cutlets, not slices. Four ounces each. I asked for a Grilled Turkey Breast Sandwich, but I wanted the stuff that was on the Crispy Sandwich, not the Mayo and Cranberries and stuff. And I wanted a Double (Doble). No problem (No problemo), he said.

Here's my Sandwich:

 

It was certainly food (Seguro, era comida). It wasn't all that good, and they didn't swap the Sandwich Stuff (El stuff de sandwich), so it had the Cranberry Sauce (I dumped it) and a little of the Seasoned Mayo, which was delicious, and undumpable. I ate it, but I'm not sure that I will happily return to PDQ until the unlikely day that random Fried Foods are on my personal menu (nunca).

They are very friendly there, and if you like the kind of stuff that they sell, it's probably better than you can get elsewhere. And, when I asked the girl for some pickles, she said, "Sure!" ("Si!").

Los Pepinos

Before bed, I had some more Watermelon.

Thursday - Lima 51; Benihana Sushi

So after yesterday's Meals, Vivian told me to make sure that I got some protein. She's from Wisconsin, and I think that is Wisconsin Code for: Eat A Lot of Sushi. Who am I to question Vivian?

Early in the morning, I had some Frozen Grapes.

After that, I picked up Loretta and took her home from rehab. Three weeks and two days from when the gave her the new knee, she's pretty mobile.

Loretta says, "Bye, guys. Smell ya later."

Once she got a whiff of the Sweet Air of Freedom, she announced that she was hungry. We stopped at Lima 51 on Sample Road in Coral Springs and banged on the door until they opened up and served us Lunch.

We ordered, and then ate the cancha (toasted corn kernels) that they gave us while we waited.

We shared an appetizer of a Causa de Camarones, the Peruvian dish that combines Yellow Potatoes (mashed and re-formed) with Shrimps, to create a Mashed Potato Shrimp Sandwich.

Loretta loved it, as did I. we split it 50/50.

We both ordered Soups for our Main Course. I had the Parihuela, a mixed Seafood Soup, and Loretta had the Chupe de Camarones, a robust Shrimp, Rice and Vegetable Soup.

After Lunch, I dropped her off at home. She said something about going dancing; I wasn't paying attention.

I had some Strawberries at around 4pm.

After work, I remembered Vivian's advice and headed for Benihana, where I had their Endless Sushi promotion.

They tried to start me off with some Soup or Salad, but I was having none of that. I went right to the Sushi. There were too many kinds to list, but here they are:

 

 

 

 

 

  

They tried to trick me into Dessert after that, but I was having none of it. Then I rolled into my car, and went home to Never Eat Again.

Wednesday

Well, today was not the most glorious of fodd days, but no one got hurt, so I guess it was OK.

BREAKFAST: Bowl of Watermelon. Container of Cantaloupe.

SNACK: More Watermelon. Shocking.

LUNCH: Of all places, I was in Winn-Dixie the other day. They had Grapes for $1.29 a pound, and they also had the Healthy Choice Meals for $1.80 each. I bought a bunch of them. Today's Lunch was the Garlic Herb Shrimp.

Many of the frozen meals look horrible in Real Life. This one wasn't quite as glamorous as the picture on the box, but it was close enough, and tasted fairly good.

SNACK: Watermelon and more Watermelon. It';s in season, and delicious.

Wednesday was Loretta's last night in the Rehab. She's walking well with the walker, pretty good with the Cane, and can get from here to there with no help whatsoever. She photographs blurry when she's standing, though.

She tasked me with surprising her with dinner tonight. I went to Lester's Diner on Coconut Creek Parkway and got her the Eggplant Parmigiana. It came with Pasta or two Vegetables, so I brought her a Sweet Potato and Creamed Spinach. She was very pleased.

She's also a lot less blurry sitting down. Her Dinner also came with Soup, so I ordered a Matzo Ball Soup for her, knowing full well that it would be Too Much Food. Being the good son that I am, I had the Cup of Soup. I guess that all I had for Dinner was the Soup.

SNACK: Later, at home, I had some Frozen Grapes.

OK, I had a LOT of Frozen Grapes. Then I shivered in bed until I fell asleep.

Tuesday - No Smoked Turkey Wings Here

I had some Frozen Grapes at around 9:00 in the morning... Breakfast!

A little later, a Bowl of Watermelon.

At Lunch time, Larry and I were feeling, I don't know, crazy, so we went to Sweet Tomatoes.

Just Monday night, Kathy was telling us things to look out for when we're walking down the Salad Line; I didn't think that I would be putting it into practice so soon.

Except for one small bowl of Vegetable Soup, I didn't go anywhere near the cooked stuff part of the restaurant. I filled one plate with Lettuce, Mixed Greens, Green Peppers, Mushrooms, Purple Cabbage, and a little Chopped Egg. The other plate had some Pickles, Cucumbers, Broccoli and Peperoncini.

I took two things of Balsamic Dressing, but only wound up using only one. I went back and got some more Pickles and Peperoncinis, and that was that. So the only points were the Egg pieces and whatever was in the dressing. Oh, and the Soup, but that couldn't have been very many. Thanks, Kathy.

I went to Winn-Dixie to shop for Dinner. I had some Smoked Turkey Wings in my hands, and I made a crucial error: I read the nutritional information on the back of the package. It turns out that there is a lot of fat in Turkey Wings. A lot. I put it back and bought a piece of fish instead.

When I got home, I broke out the pan and all my standard stuff.

 

There were cans of Diced Tomatoes and Tomatoes and Okra. I heated that up while adding Mild Pepper Rings, Garlic Paste, Diced Jalapenos, Capers and a little Garlic Chile Sauce. Once that was all hot and ready, I cut the Corvina in half, ground up some Garlic/Pepper mix and placed the fish in the pan to steam.

It was delicious. And filling. And much lower in just about everything than the Turkey Wings.

That's it for today. Loretta wants me to surprise her tomorrow for her last Dinner in the rehab... the pressure is on.

Big Easy

Last night, Lonnise and I were in Hollywood. Staying out of trouble, I swear.

Looking for something to eat, we decided to go to Young Circle and see what we could find.

They have a food truck rally every Monday. There seemed to be a lot going on, but we decided that we could eat more, er, diet-safely, in a more classic restaurant setting.

They have maps listing all the downtown businesses, and we first decided to checkout the Peruvian Restaurant, so I could show off to Lonnise. We walked the two blocks, checking out the other options on the way. Hollywood Boulevard was surprisingly busy for a Monday night in the dead of Summer.

Busy everywhere, except the Peruvian place. We felt that was a bad sign, and wound up at one of our alternate choices, The Big Easy. They menu looked like it had some good options, and the prices seemed reasonable.

We sat inside; most were sitting on the outside, right on Hollywood Boulevard.

We started by sharing a main dish of Red Beans and Rice.

See the Cornbread - We didn't eat it.

This was absolutely delicious. Not that much rice, a few chunks of Sausage thrown in, just a little spicy... it had it all going on. I ate a little more than half of it.

We both ordered the same Main Course: Jambalaya.

Shrimp, Chicken, Sausage, more Shrimp, mixed in with Rice in a slightly spicy Tomato-based Sauce. This was good, too, but not as good as the Red Beans and Rice. We both agreed that we should have flipped our order and split the Jambalaya as our Appetizer, and got whole orders of the Beans. It was good, and finished mine, while Lonnise took home Lunch for today.

We passed on Dessert and left full and happy. Here's Lonnise - prior to full -- happy:

Feeling all full and safe, we then walked Young Circle and looked at the Food Trucks. They had pretty much everything to eat, and I picked up some Fish Sausage to cook up for me & Loretta when she comes home.

Later that night, I had some Watermelon before bed.

Remember the Cornbread that we didn't eat? Well, I took it with me and gave it to Sergio this morning. He loves Cornbread.