Road trip '13: Day 7

Day 7 was our last day! It had a rough start though because I had a pretty bad sleep - it was so stinking hot in our hotel room overnight. So we skipped working out again in favour of having a slow start to our morning.

After breakfast we said goodbye to Syracuse and headed to Rochester, where our first stop was Trader Joe's. Since we don't have these stores in Canada, I'm always excited to check them out when I'm in the US.

Just like my last visit though, I was a bit disappointed by how many of their products say "May contain nuts" on their labels. But I still managed to pick up a pretty good nut-free haul.

Mac & cheese, coconut cream, cookie butter, sunflower seed butter, sweet Thai chili sauce, coconut chips, dried banana, and plantain chips.

After TJ's we went to The Owl House for lunch, which is a cute restaurant we found through Urbanspoon. It was in a renovated house and we actually ate in the backyard on the patio - I felt like I was eating at someone's home!

They had really delicious iced Earl Grey tea - it made me want to start making my own iced teas at home more often!

We also split an order of their Moroccan smoked beef "jerky". It wasn't really jerky-like, but it was still really good.

And then I had the salad of my dreams: shaved Brussels sprouts, kale, lemon, olive oil, and romano aioli. This was amazing! I plan on trying to recreate it, but I doubt I could do it justice - the flavours were just so perfect.

My sister and I also split a panini with brie cheese, apple, red onion, baby arugula and Dijon mustard on sourdough bread with housemade kettle chips on the side. This was seriously good too! It was an all around good meal.

After lunch we drove to Buffalo for our last few stops at Target (for bathing suits and Champion workout wear) and Wegmans (for more food). We even bought a cooler so that we could get some refrigerated and frozen items - and by that I mostly just mean Greek yogurt. 

I decided to try out the Wegman's brand of Greek yogurt, Chobani Bites, honey Fage, vanilla coconut Oikos, and a few Chobani flavours I've never tried before. So far I'm not a big fan of the Wegman's kind, but I love the Chobani Bites!

With our car packed to the brim with groceries, our shopping loot, suitcases, pillows, gifts for dad, gum wrappers all over the floor, etc, we headed back home.

So that's the end of my recaps! But I already have plans to visit some great restaurants in the area this summer, so you'll definitely be seeing more of my foodie adventures soon. ;)

What are your favourite Trader Joe's products?

What are your favourite Greek yogurt brands? 

Road trip '13: Day 6

On Monday morning mom and I decided to go to the gym after taking two days off. It felt so nice to move a bit after spending so much time in the car! On our way back to the hotel room we stopped at the Starbucks in the lobby where I was excited to find some Chobani. I've missed their yogurt ever since they stopped selling in Canada! I used it to make a quick breakfast bowl before heading out on the road again.

This time we were heading off to Syracuse. I've actually been wanting to go there ever since I heard Pinback's song called 'Syracuse' in the10th grade (I'm not sure if the song has any link to the city though...). When we got there we stopped at Phoebe's Cafe for lunch. It was cute inside, but really busy and noisy.

I ordered the chicken pita with white cheddar, grilled onions, and a balsamic reduction. It was just okay. I'm not a big fan of blackened chicken - it just tastes burnt to me - and I didn't realize it would come that way. My mom's chicken bruschetta wrap tasted amazing though.

After lunch our destination was Destiny USA, which is apparently the 6th biggest mall in the USA! We managed to do some damage there, followed by even more damage to our wallets at the Urban Outfitters in Armory Square.

By the time we were done shopping we were more than ready for food. We had planned to hit up Empire Brewing Company, which is a microbrewery that was featured on Diners, Drive ins and Dives. I had my eyes on their farmstead chili, but my sister convinced me to split their Mediterranean platter with her. It came with falafels, hummus, couscous salad, pickled beans, olives, sun dried tomatoes, tzaziki, and herb flatbread. Everything was awesome, especially those falafels!

We both got a Greek Cobb salad as well, but what we didn't realize is that the salad had basically the exact same ingredients as the platter, except in salad form. Oops! I should have read the menu better, apparently. It was still good though.

 

As we were finishing up our meals, we realized that although we had tons of pictures of our food, we had barely any pictures of ourselves. So mom tried to take a picture of Hayley and I... except my eyes were closed. So she tried again, and my eyes looked drunk. Then she tried again, and I looked like I was half asleep. So after that we just got silly.

We were laughing so hard that my abs started to hurt!

After that we just headed to the hotel for our last night of the trip. I'll be back with the recap of our last day soon!

What's the biggest mall you've ever been to?

Have you ever been to a restaurant that was on Diners, Drive ins and Dives?

Road trip '13: Day 5

On day 5 we woke up in Quebec after a super long 10.5 hour drive the day before. When we first awoke at 6ish, we considered working out, looked at each other and said "nahhh" and then burrowed back into bed. Instead we lazed around for a bit, had breakfast in our hotel room, and then headed out for a short walk on the Plains of Abraham (the site of a famous battle between the British and the French), which was right behind our hotel.

Even though it was only 9 am, it was so much warmer in Quebec than in Halifax - we were loving it! We finished up our walk by stopping at Starbucks (iced green tea for me!) and then headed out on the road again.

Our next stop was just outside Montreal, where we met up with a family friend and her boyfriend for lunch at Cora's, a Canadian breakfast/brunch chain. Anyone who knows me knows that I love Cora's! I almost always order their bagel and lox, but this time I was craving eggs so I went for their 2 eggs, fresh fruit, and toast breakfast with an extra order of bacon.

After lunch we got back in the car and headed down south to cross the border into New York. It took foreeeeever, but we finally got through. Before we hit Albany we made a quick stop at The Fresh Market in Latham so that I could stock up on Barney Butter (the best almond butter in the world!), and ended up coming out with a whole lot more.

Our loot: Annie's Goddess dressing, Madagascar vanilla, 4 jars of Barney Butter, freekeh (I've always wanted to try it, but could never find it), Kodiak Cakes pancake mix, and Old Bay seasoning.

When we got to the hotel shortly after 6 pm, we still had no idea where we were going for dinner. So we pulled out our laptops and after a bit of internet searching, we decided on New World Bistro Bar which looked fantastic.

But as we were leaving the hotel, I thought out loud "Man, I could really go for Chipotle right now." My mom and sister looked at me, thought about it for a minute, and quickly agreed. So Hayley ran back inside, asked the concierge for the address of the closest Chipotle, and 10 minutes later we were on our way. I got the burrito bowl with brown rice, black beans, fajita vegetables, mild fresh salsa, lettuce, cheese and guacamole.

Afterwards we had a good laugh about how we spent 45 minutes trying to find a restaurant for dinner, only to change our minds at the last minute and go to Chipotle. It was exactly what we were all craving though!

What do you usually order at Chipotle (or if you've never tried it, what would you order)?

Are there any products that you love that are only available in another country?

Road trip '13: Day 4

Saturday was the day we did our loooong drive from Halifax to Quebec City - we spent over 10.5 hours in the car!!! But first we checked out the Halifax Seaport Farmers' Market. We planned our trip specifically so that we would be in Halifax on Saturday because Hayley said I just had to see this market.

And of course she was right - I was in heaven! There were local fruits and vegetables, freshly caught fish, handmade soaps, vegan truffles and energy bars, fresh artisan breads, ethnic food stands, arts and crafts, and more. It was amazing!

We browsed for an hour and left by 9:30 am to begin our road trip. Our first stop was in Moncton, New Brunswick for lunch because we wanted to go to the Tide and Boar - a gastropub that was featured on You Gotta Eat Here.

They are famous for their boar poutine, so my sister got an order and we all helped her eat it. It was so good - the boar was so tender and there were huge chunks of cheese curds in it!

For my main meal I got their black bean and date veggie burger with spicy mayo, as per the recommendation of our waitress. It was pretty good, but it didn't really blow me away. The side salad was awesome though - it had roasted root vegetables, parmesan cheese and a shallot dressing. It was also supposed to have granola in it, but they had to leave it off because of my allergies.

After lunch we got back on the road and drove. And drove. And drove some more. I spent a good chunk of the time catching up with good ol' Alton Brown. His books are like a food geek's dream - I love how they explain some of the science behind cooking.

8 hours and 760 km later (that's not including the 250 km we drove in the morning!), we finally arrived in Quebec City. We checked into the Loews Hotel Le Concorde and then headed out on foot in Old Quebec in search of food. It's been almost 10 years since I was last in Quebec and I forgot how much I love it there - it has such a European feel to it.

We finally decided to stop at Bello Ristorante. Even though we just had Italian the night before, this place looked really good! Also we were just happy to find a restaurant that could get us a table since it was almost 9 pm and the rest of the restaurants nearby were full.

Bread with olive oil and balsamic before the meal:

For my appetizer I had an arugula salad with fresh market vegetables, parmesan cheese, and a white balsamic vinaigrette.

My entree was gemelli pasta with mushrooms, truffles, arugula, white wine and pecorino cheese. It was simple, but good - it really let the flavour of the pasta be the focus. I'm not sure if the pasta was made in house, but it tasted like it!

By the time we were done our meal it was past 10 so we just headed back to the hotel room and crashed - we were exhausted after such a long day in the car!

What is the furthest you've ever driven in one day?

Have you ever been to Quebec?

Surviving a road trip with food intolerances

Hi guys! Today I have a guest post from one of my favourite bloggers, Kate from Work in Progress. She's got some great tips (and her classic sense of humour) in this post, so I hope you enjoy it - I know I did!

Hey everyone! I'm Kate and I blog (sporadically... oops) over at Work in Progress. Today I have the honor of filling in for the lovely Chelsea - unfortunately for you, I'm not a creative gourmet chef or a knowledgeable RD-to-be... BUT I have done the whole multi-day road trip thing!

Since Chelsea's on a road trip right now, I thought that it would be an appropriate thing to talk about. I've sent the past 9 months living  out in Colorado Springs, Colorado and just last week made the five day (yes... FIVE DAY) drive back to my home in Philadelphia, PA. What makes this interesting (besides the Buffalos in Kansas of course) is that I have some serious food intolerances - namely, gluten and dairy. I know that's pretty much every food that exists, right? So as you can imagine, it makes travelling and eating out rather complicated. But I managed my five day road trip pretty well and even enjoyed most of the things I ate! So without further ado - here is your guide to extended travel with food intolerance: not just surviving it, but enjoying it!

1. Snacks for the road

 This is a big one, because chances are there are going to be some meals where you're just not going to be able to get enough food. Especially if you're driving through the Midwest... there just aren't a lot of options. So before you even leave the comfort of your home, make sure to load up on snacks! My favourites:

Pop Chips (holy balls these are good. And the only ingredients are potatoes, salt, and oil!)

Other snacks like GF pretzels, lentil crackers, baked apple chips

Fruit: Clementines, apples, grapes (maybe pack a cooler)

Trail Mix: mine usually contains almonds, brazil nuts, walnuts (or whatever nuts you like... totally refraining from making nut jokes here, btw), chocolate chips, dried fruit (mango, papaya, banana) and cheerios (they are GF, did you know?)... and more chocolate chips. I'm all about the chocolate.

2. These restaurants are your friend:

Usually what my mom and I did was eat lunch on the go/in the car, and then have dinner in a nice restaurant after checking into our hotel. Mainly because I just wanted the whole trip to be over with ASAP, but in any case: eating on the road is hard. But I was able to find good, satisfying meals at:

Subway: huge salad with all you can eat veggies, a chicken breast, and a bag of baked Lays for carbs. Satisfied me just fine!

Jason's Deli: little known fact, but they offer ALL of their sandwiches on GF bread, and they've got a great salad bar.

Panera: HIDDEN MENU!

Usually without the baguette, a Panera salad keeps me full for... oh no wait, I'm usually still hungry when I finish it. But all the hidden menu options are gluten-free and packed with tons of protein and fats to keep me satisfied. Check it out here!

Side of potatoes, please!

For me the hardest thing about having a gluten intolerance is getting enough carbohydrates - especially because I'm an endurance athlete. And even when I'm not training (aka right now, recovering from a major surgery), everyone needs carbs. No ifs ands or buts. It's easy when you're at home and can make bastches of rice/quinoa or whatever, but most restaurants your best option is a salad. Especially if you're also dairy-intolerant and can't eat anything smothered in cheese. Enter: the side of potatoes. Lots of pleaces will give you roasted potatoes or a baked potato on the side, so you don't have to go without carbs! Even if it's not on the menu, just ask - most places will have something.


3. Hit the nearest grocery store

If you're like me, you usually eat a bedtime snack every night. And if you can't eat gluten or dairy... well you're screwed when it comes to the complimentary hotel breakfast. What I like to do is go to the grocery store for a snack and breakfast items. Usually a small box of berries, a banana or two, a cup of instant oatmeal, and a small packet of nut butter will do it! If I can find soy or coconut milk yogurt or milk boxes... that's a huge win.

4. Plan ahead

I won't lie, having the internets on my phone was a life saver during this trip. I was able to research the restaurants in the area we were staying and make reservations ahead of time, ensuring that we ate at a place that would have options for me. If you have a smartphone, there is no need to wing it and hope for the best!

So with a little help from snacks and technology, I managed to get all the way through Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and most of Pennsylvania! Hopefully if you've got some food intolerances, these tips will help you make any lengthy travela little less out-of-your-comfort zone. :)

What are some of your favourite snacks for long drives?

Best and/or worst restaurants you've ever stopped at during a road trip?