Menchies in Bellingham!

Bellingham has a lot to offer, good restaurants, good coffee shops, good farmers market, even good ice cream. However, when we moved back to Bellingham from Colorado we realized that something very important was missing (besides an abundance of outdoor pools) a self serve frozen yogurt shop!

In Colorado we mostly frequented the Yogurt Land near our house. And despite the droves of teenagers that it was always packed with, Yogurt Land rocked my socks off. I’ve been known to have Yogurt Land for dinner, seriously. Then I moved to Bellingham and it was goodbye Yogurt Land….sad. When Mr. Gaunt and I made a trip to Seattle in January, we went out of our way to go to the Yogurt Land in U District…sooo worth it.

Fast forward to late February when I posted on Facebook how sad I was that there wasn’t a self-serve frozen yogurt shop in Bellingham, and one of my friends commented that there would soon be a Menchies! A What? A Menchies! It’s JUST like Yogurt Land (sorry if they are actually more different than I realize) although they have a more cheerful decor, and WAY more topping options at one time. So me and all my friends spent the last couple months COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS until the Menchies would open…holla! So excited!

So on April 21st at 11 am the Bellingham Menchies opened its doors. I actually held off until about 5:00 because I usually prefer an evening “ice cream”, not a morning “ice cream”. So in place of dinner Mr. Gaunt and I headed to Menchies in search of my Frozen Yogurt fix.

I was not disappointed.

Check out that sweet patio!

I got Original Tart, Mango Sorbet and Cake Batter

Mr Gaunt got Original Tart, and Peach

This is the dried toppings section. I tend to go for the fruit and nut toppings

My toppings included: Strawberries, Kiwi, Mango, Almonds, Coconut, Yogurt Drops and Cheesecake Bites

Mr. Gaunts toppings were: Sour Gummi Worms, Butterfingers, Frosted Animal cookies, Gummi Bears, Strawberries, Bananas, Cheesecake Bites (I know...eww)

Happy as a clam

It was actually really cute because it’s a local family who bought the franchise. The husband was our SUPER FRIENDLY cashier, and the wife and her two daughters sat next to us eating some yogurt in between greeting customers. I love that a family owns and operates it, not some big company. It’s more Belligham that way.

Menchies also has such amazing options for Vegan, Gluten Free, Sugar Free and Dairy free folks. YAY YOGURT FOR ALL!

We are going again tonight with my sister. I’m stoked.

Family Dinners

This is the first time in 5 years that all of my siblings and I have lived in the same city…crazy! I’m so very excited to get to know them (as adults) better.  On my first night here we went to The Copper Hog. I had a Salmon Burger with Avocado, Beets and Grapefruit on it. Not as crazy as you would think. Very yummy.

(sorry no pics of Forrest, have to get him another day)

 

My Love Affair with Denny’s

For those who don’t know me very well, I have a bit of an obsession with Denny’s. Yes the restaurant. Me and Denny’s go waaaaaaaay back, for real, I was practically born in a Denny’s, actually if I’m not mistaken my mom’s water may have broken with my brother at a Denny’s. My parents even met at a Denny’s. For all I know I could have been conceived in a car parked outside a Denny’s….ha…sorry mom.

Anyways like I said, me and Denny’s go way back. Both my parents worked at Denny’s for a LONG time when they were young and first married. My mom stopped working there in like…hmmm…89 I think, but we still often frequented the restaurant. When we were little we would have those little cardboard boxes of cereal at the counter for breakfast. My brother collected those “Grand Slam holographic Baseball Cards” that Denny’s gave out. My dad even smuggled him the collector binders…lol…I wonder if he still has them?

My dad himself is a professional Coffee Camper, and has gone back and forth for many years frequenting the coffee counter or bar at a Denny’s.  As teenagers we loved to spend late nights drinking coffee and eating greasy fried food at Denny’s. We even went to Denny’s before my first Homecoming Dance, and on Halloween when Kelli barfed in the bushes. We use to be awful tippers and leave sticks of gum and change in the shape of a heart for our waiters…sigh…memories.

We have spent numerous Christmas mornings having breakfast at Denny’s, and I every time I go home I have coffee with my dad at Denny’s.

The morning I left Washington to move to Colorado my mom and sister and I all had breakfast at Denny’s. When I arrived in Boise Idaho, I stopped and had dinner at Denny’s, and when I stopped in Utah, I ate a Denny’s too. When I first moved to Boulder and had nothing to do, I would sit for hours by myself at Denny’s and call my friends and family back home. Denny’s were like a little piece of home when I was so far away. I love it.

So you can see, me and Denny’s have kind of a thing. We are like family, which is why TODAY when I went to a Denny’s for pancakes (that I was craving) I was practically brought to tears by what I saw…

Whats that you say Denny’s? You now offer me:

-WHEAT PANCAKES

-SUGAR FREE SYRUP

-FRUIT BOWL

-TURKEY BACON

-CHICKEN SAUSAGE

substitutions at NO EXTRA COST!

Holy grail! It makes me beam with joy! Today I had 2 Wheat Blueberry Pancakes with Turkey Bacon, 2 scrambled eggs, and a side of fruit. It was AMAZING! And how stinking cool that they not only offering these items, but they are promoting them on their table place mat! I just think if all restaurants would follow in Denny’s footsteps, people would find it way easier to eat out healthier.

BRAVO DENNYS! You have kept me as a customer (not that I had any plans on leaving you)!

Home Made CPK California Club Pizza

One of my favorite restaurants is the California Pizza Kitchen! I could go back and forth between their BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad and California Club Pizza every other day. I rarely eat there, because I really can’t stop at one or two slices, I need to eat the whole damn pizza. It’s that good.

We got avocados in our Door to Door Organics Box last week that were very ripe. They usually send us stuff that needs a day or two to ripen, but these were ready to go. Mr. Gaunt decided to make pizza, and I wanted him to use avocados **DING DING DING** California Club Pizza!

Here’s what you need for the healthier version of this pizza:

INGREDIENTS

1 Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

3 Strips of Turkey Bacon

1 Cooked Chicken Breast OR 1 Large cooked Turkey Sausage (I would have used Chicken, but we didnt have any)

2 Tbs Olive Oil

1 Cup Shreaded 2% Mozzarella

2 Cups Chopped Lettuce

1 Heaping Table Spoon Fat Free Mayo

1 medium tomato (or lots of cherries tomatoes if that’s all you have!)

1 Avocado

Optional Chopped Mushrooms and onions.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven per your pizza crusts directions.

1.Microwave your bacon (yes you can cook it in a pan too, this is just faster) Cut into little bits and set aside

2. Cut up your chicken or Turkey sausage into bite size pieces, set aside.

3. Chop up your onions and mushrooms and set aside

4. Brush olive oil over pizza crust. Sprinkle Meat, Veggies and Cheese onto crust. Bake per instructions (usually about 15min)

5. While your pizza is baking, put your Chopped (small pieces) lettuce into a bowl and toss with mayo. Cut up avocado and tomato into thin slices. Set aside.

6. When Pizza comes out of oven, spread the lettuce/mayo mixture evenly over the top. Lay avocado slices and tomato on top. Cut and enjoy!

To me this tasted almost EXACTLY like CPK’s pizza, with WAY fewer calories! I will definitely make this again. And it saved us over $20 not going out to eat..woohoo!

Valentines Day

I just wanted to share some pics of  our wonderful (although slightly gluttonous) Valentines Day.

On Saturday Mr. Gaunt and I went to this amazing little french restaurant in Denver called Le Central for breakfast. This place makes pretty authentic French food at amazing prices. The picture above was my meal for $7! It wa soooo good, but VERY rich, I only managed to eat about half of it, and had the taste of butter in my mouth all day. Mr. Gaunt and I ate very little after breakfast. Here’s what it is:

Oeufs Sardous

Mr. Gaunt's Smoked Salmon Benedict, also $7.

We also had amazing french bread and toasted our Valentines Day weekend with $3 Mimosas! Le Central really is a great place if you haven’t been go for Brunch.

After brunch we went to a cool poster shop on Capital Hill where I found the most amazing Cher Dark Lady Poster, full size. This is amazing because you really can’t find old school Cher posters. I am now on the hunt for a cool frame, I think I want a thick white one, not sure yet. When I get it framed I will take a picture, and you too can be jealous of my find!

On Sunday we awoke to snow, which I am sooooo over. I actually got up early to set up Mr. Gaunt’s Valentine and found mine sitting out on the counter.

100 Calorie Oreo Cakesters were my treat!

This is what my card said...lol!

The Beer (coors light) Valentine I made for Mr. Gaunt

The sign that hangs above.

View from above

After that we went out for breakfast. And then we headed to the mall for a few hours of wandering around and window shopping. Then we headed up to Estes Park to have dinner at Poppy’s. This was our third V-day where we went and had Poppy’s $12 Valentine dinner (includes salads and heart-shaped pizza and drinks for two) . It’s a cute little place, not fancy, right on the creek. It was very cold up there so we didn’t do a ton of walking around. We got back home around 7:30 just in time to watch a little Everest: Beyond The Limit and head to bed. We are both working at 5 am this week, which means because I have a 40 minute drive to work I have to get up a 3:30…eek!

DRUNK with FOOD

uhg! Last night we celebrated Mr. Gaunt’s birthday a week early by going to Texas De Brazil for dinner. It’s an amazing restaurant that has the most to die for salad bar (think fancy cheese, Lobster bisque soup, gourmet olives, the works!) but I ate waaay too much. More than I have eaten in forever (hey you pay $50 you wanna get your moneys worth!) anyways it was a baaaaaaaaad idea. I went home feeling so ungodly uncomfortable that I felt nausea and dizzy with mild heart burn! I was laying in bed moaning thinking I was gonna die (like you do the first time you drink way too much) gross. This morning wasnt much better, I felt totally hung over. Lesson learned. I no longer can fill my tummy to its breaking point. This is a good thing. I missed weigh in this week, like I was gonna weigh in after that meal! Ha! So hopefully things will go well this week, we’ll see.

Oh and go over and wish my lovely Pro CONGRATS on fitting into her skinny jeans! YOU ARE AMAZING! LOVE YOU!