Hearts and Magic

Happy Valentine’s Day! Kevin and I aren’t huge Valentine’s Day celebrators, so we are enjoying a relaxing evening in catching up on the DVR. Last night we did have a fun night out at the Amway Center cheering on the Orlando Magic.

Thanks to Kevin’s friend who works for the Magic, we got really great tickets in the lower bowl. It was fun to see all the players up close.

The Amway Center is newly constructed, and this is only its second season operating. It’s so nice. Of course, I love that there are plenty of food option.

I ordered a gyro, which ended up being messier than anticipated, like most of my meals. The seasoning was pretty good, but the meat was a little dry. Overall, it wasn’t the worse concession food I’ve ever had. I also noticed that Amway has carving stations with BBQ options, and they offer veggie burgers. They definitely have a good variety.

The Magic ended up winning. I hadn’t been to a Magic game since last season, so it was fun to see them in action again.

It was the perfect way to spend Valentine’s Eve.

What are your thoughts on Valentine’s Day? Any plans?

Hot Dog Heaven and sister time

Now that the summer is coming to an end, my sister is heading back up to Normal, Illinois, to start her second year at Illinois State University. I feel like she just got home! Yesterday, we decided to spend the day together to get in some time together before her trip back.

First we met up for lunch at Hot Dog Heaven with my dad and step mom for some Chicago hot dogs and tamales.

I had never been to Hot Dog Heaven before, but my parents go pretty often. It’s a very traditional Chicago style dog, and it was very tasty. They definitely bring in a lunch crowd. Upon walking in, you’re greeted by Chicago memorabilia on the walls and signs advertising their Vienna beef hot dogs. It was great.

After our lunch, my sister and I headed back to their house to bake some cookies. Kathryn has a great sugar cookies recipe, and we had fun baking and decorating them.

It was a ton of fun baking together, and the cookies came out great. I’ve been snacking on them ever since. After our tasty treats, we laid by the pool for the rest of the afternoon. It was a great day with my sister!

How many siblings do you have? It’s just my sister and I, and we are five years apart. I can’t believe she’s in college! It’s so crazy!

Colibri Mexican Cuisine

First of all, I’ve been having a great time trying all my goodies from my Fresh Box Organics delivery. Everything thus far has been so fresh and crisp.

Both the apples and the pears were the perfect ripeness, sweet and refreshing.

I chopped up a banana and some strawberries yesterday for breakfast and my pre-gym snack. I was going to put yogurt on it, but I’m glad I refrained. The flavors of the fruit were so fresh and vibrant that they didn’t need anything else.

I really wanted to make a salad out of the head of lettuce, but I didn’t have any salad dressing on hand. Instead I used a dollop of roasted garlic hummus and it was delicious. The lettuce was surprisingly hearty and held up to the hummus well, and I didn’t encounter any bitter or old leaves.

Last night’s dinner involved a trip to Baldwin Park for Colibri. The atmosphere is great. You can sit outside on the lake or inside where it’s dimmer with high ceilings. I ordered their enchiladas dinner, which came with four enchiladas and a choice of sauce. The poblano sauce I chose was delicious, and I used the rice and beans to sop up all of the remaining sauce after the enchiladas were long gone. The platter came with four different kinds of enchiladas: beef, chicken, cheese and beans. They were wrapped in corn tortillas, which I always prefer to flour. I love the texture and bite you get with corn tortillas. I did think that the filling could be seasoned a little more. The sauce and the tortillas were delicious but the proteins inside were bland in comparison. The guacamole helped with that as it was very flavorful with large chunks of avocado.

Also ordered at our table were steak fajitas, sopas (corn patties topped with meat, veggies and cheese) and flautas (rolled, deep fried tacos).

The prices were very reasonable and the atmosphere was wonderful. Despite the under-seasoning, I would return.

Fresh Box Organics

All day I was excited to come home from work because my delivery from Fresh Box Organics was scheduled for today. I bought their Living Social deal about a month ago and finally cashed it in. Fresh Box Organics buys local, organic produce and delivers to your doorstop in most of Orlando and even the space coast.

They have various fresh boxes ranging in the amounts of fruits and vegetables you receive. The contents vary from week to week and depend on what is in season. I ordered the Essentials Fruit/Veggie box, which is their least expensive selection, and it is plenty for the two of us. I have no clue how we’re going to eat it all before it spoils.

My box came with exactly what it said it would on their website:

1 green chard, 1 leaf lettuce, 1 lb baby peeled carrots

1 lb English peas, 1 lb purple sweet potatoes, 2 apples, 1 pint strawberries

2 pears

1 bunch bananas

Right off the bat, everything looks extremely fresh and vibrant. I have not seen strawberries that red in a long time.

As you can see, Parko was very excited about the delivery and just waited patiently while I put everything away to see if I would share.

Please let me know if you have any recipes that incorporate any of these ingredients! I can’t wait to try them.

Paddy Murphy’s Irish Pub and Delish Frozen Yogurt

We spent yesterday afternoon in Baldwin Park. We met up with a friend for lunch and to meet his new puppy. We decided to grab a bite at Paddy Murphy’s. We had never been there for anything but drinks. The food was decent and accompanies beers well, but other than that, it was nothing spectacular.

I ordered a trio of sliders of which I chose a beef burger, buffalo chicken and bleu cheese, and corned beef and Swiss. The sliders were served on thick, toasted rolls and accompanied by homemade potato chips. The beef burger didn’t come with any condiments or toppings, which was a little disappointing, and it was so thin that the bread overpowered it. The buffalo chicken was my favorite and the roll was the perfect amount of breading for the spicy buffalo sauce. The corned beef was a little dry, which was also surprising since it is one of their signature dishes. Kevin really enjoyed my potato chips but I thought they were a little overcooked.

Kevin and our friend Anthony both ordered burgers. Kevin ordered the Cushendall onion burger, which is topped with grilled and fried onions. However, Kevin’s ordered seemed to be missing the fried onions. Anthony ordered the bleu burger, which is topped with bacon and bleu cheese. Both of them seemed to enjoy their burgers. Paddy Murphy’s serves the option of steak fries, shoestring and sweet potato.

After lunch we headed next door because I wanted to try the frozen yogurt place called Delish. It was a pretty bizarre and underwhelming experience. The frozen yogurt was good, but the service was awful. Upon entering no employee could be found. After awhile she came out from the back room on the phone and then disappeared again. I went to the register and placed my order on their scale and waited a few minutes before having to stick my head in the back room and call for attention in order to get rung up.

By the time we paid and left, my frozen yogurt was half melted. It took longer to get the attention of the employee than to eat. I don’t think I’ll be returning.

After eating, we headed back to Anthony’s to meet his and his wife’s new puppy Sampson. Isn’t he adorable?