Hey fellow Clevelanders!  Just wanted to give ya’ll a heads up in case you didn’t know…It’s RESTAURANT WEEK!  (the past 3 years, I’ve always caught on too late!)

Taken from Cleveland.com: Downtown Cleveland Restaurant Week is back for its third year! From Monday, February 22nd through Saturday, February 27th, Restaurant Week diners can take advantage of amazing deals at over 45 of Downtown’s finest restaurants.    Check out the list of participating restaurants HERE!

Mike and I have reservations at XO on Friday – I can’t wait! I’ve been there before for work, but Mike has never been, and out of all the menus, that was the one we could agree on the most!

While I’ve got fabulous Cleveland restaurants on the brain – I have to tell you something else I’m super psyched for – next Thursday, March 4th (*cough*MY BIRTHDAY!*cough*) I’ll be dining for my first time ever at Lola!!!!!! I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am for that!

Last but not least, while we are talking Cleveland – I need to ask:  Have you joined Alexa’s Facebook Fan page: Cleveland says “NO THANKS, Forbes Magazine”??? If not, please do so!  Even if you aren’t a Clevelander – help this Cleveland sister out!

Sometimes choosing sides can be hard. 

Other times – it can be REALLY easy…

Left side: pesto as sauce, artichokes, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and feta.

Right side: marinara, and cheese, lots of cheese!

For lunch yesterday – I decided to whip up a quick pizza using TJ’s Whole Wheat Pizza Dough.  I’ll go ahead and let you guess which side belongs to who!

All finished – and my mind still wasn’t changing:

I’m not even lying – it tasted EVEN better than it looked (and I think it LOOKS absolutely amazing!!!!)  YUM!

If you are wondering why I skipped breakfast, it’s because I just had random handfuls of chips all morning!    So healthy, right?  Hey – at least I’m consistent!

In the afternoon, I took these monsters on a nice long walk to burn off some energy,

and then started doing “chores”.

I decided “chores” would be a lot more fun with wine!   (of course, I was RIGHT!)

On my list of chores was cooking 3 different recipes, so I started with the easiest:

The old Weight Watchers cake trick – but I just switched in Lemon Poppy Seed Bread mix instead of a box of cake mix:

Worked like a charm!

Next up was some more White Chicken Chili.  Which I need to preface with this…

Typically, when I make something, Mike will at least try it.  More often than not, he doesn’t really like it, but eats it if I put it in front of him.   So when he tells me that he really liked a dish and that I should make it again – I know I did something right!

Sure enough – after I made the White Chicken Chili last week, he told me he loved it, and that if I promised to make it EXACTLY THE SAME WAY as I did that first time, that he would devour it every time.  Little did he know my trick!

The trick to turn this:

into the most amazing chicken Mike’s had?

TADA!

Rather than spraying the pan with PAM or using olive oil, I just cooked each side for about 5 minutes in about an inch of Sauv Blanc:

Once it’s done cooking, I let it sit for at least 10 minutes so that the juices can ‘redistributed’, and then I shred the chicken and make the chili according to the package!

Now that you’ve got my secret – try it out yourself! 

Last, but not least – I whipped up some potato salad that my Mom had made a few years ago and I remember loving:

(It’s SUPER messy to mix, sorry that picture looks so gross!)

I had REALLY high hopes for it – I remember it tasting ABSOLUTELY phenomenal…

…but it just tasted “so-so”. 

I’m not going to post the recipe yet, because I really want to perfect it first!  Once I get it right, I’ll share with you – I promise!

Phew – I really did a lot of food related things yesterday, huh? Last, but not least – I need your help! I want to try and read more (I used to LOVE IT!), but I’m really struggling with finding books I like that are interesting! Can you guys give me some good book recommendations????

Things to keep in mind:  I hate lovey/dovey crap , I love mystery, suspense, and all things Jen Lancaster!  Please advise!

Saturday morning I woke up EARLY to get ready for my scheduled long run.  I started with some Vanilla Chobs ( love calling it that) mixed in with some PB2, and some Special K Granola I received from the Foodbuzz Tastemakers program:

Perfect sized breakfast before a long run!

I had 10 miles scheduled, so I started out and did about 5.5 miles, then looped back around by my house to grab some water, “use the restroom” (sounds so funny to say it that way about your own house) and I grabbed a Mint Chocolate Gu

Mint Chocolate isn’t around all year – I had it left over from Christmas, but I must say – it’s DELICIOUS!  I’d totally consider just eating this for dessert some night, I’m sure!

By the time I’d finished my run and gotten showered – it was time to run out the door and head to Hudson so I could help/support my friend Kristin as she went wedding dress shopping.  I would be a bride 60 times over – I think all things wedding planning are SO MUCH FUN!

As a thank you for our support – Kristin treated her entourage to lunch and I decided to go with the half Caesar, half flatbread (which was really just pizza if we are being honest!)

Followed up with a quick trip to the ORIGINAL Main Street Cupcakes Location for a sweet treat:

I went for the Margarita Cupcake because – 1: I LOVE Margaritas, 2: I LOVE everything green!

I hated it, obviously!

Then – we headed home, only to turn around and get ready for Kristin and Tim’s engagement party!    With all the excitement and running around of Saturday – I actually forgot my camera, for the first time in my “blogging history!”

So instead of showing you all the fantastic party eats/appetizers/wine I drank Saturday night – I’ll show you a quick lesson I learned.

Do not buy this:

Their version of “Sun-Washed Cotton” smells like a baby wipe – that’s ALREADY been used on a poopy baby butt!

Instead – drive yourself out to Bath and Body Work – and buy this:

IT’S HEAVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What’s your favorite “scent”??? (candle, house spray, car freshener, etc…)