Category Archives: Chicago

In the past Few Weeks…

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One thing I’ve learned since going back to work full-time?  Weekly blogging with a newborn is pretty impossible for me.  My day starts out at 4am: I pump, get ready for work, get little miss up and ready for daycare, feed her, make myself some coffee and we’re out the door at 5:50ish a.m.  I drop her off at daycare around 6 and am at work by 6:30 am.  I work 10 hour days and am lucky enough to have an hour a day to workout-so really it ends up being about a 9 hour day.  I leave work between 4:30-4:45pm to pick up Madelyn from daycare and I get home around 5pm.  When I get home, I get settled in, make dinner, spend time with my husband & baby and start our bedtime routine around 8:30-9.  I’m usually in bed around 9:45-10.  Sleep & repeat.  It’s a very long day but it’s worth the 3 day weekend I get to enjoy :-)

Since my last post we’ve had some pretty eventful things happening here:

1. Madelyn came down with a cold and got so congested that we ended up at an Urgent Care.  The little girl had such a hard time breathing it scared the bejeezus out of Larry and me.

2. Whatever germs Madelyn picked up from daycare, she decided to share with the rest of us and we all took turns being sick the past few weeks.

3. I celebrated 28 years of life.  After a certain age, birthdays stop being exciting.  I was at the tail end of a really bad cold this year and we had drill the following day, so I spent my birthday with my family eating pizza, drinking wine & snacking on birthday cake. It was perfect.

4.  I ventured down to Chicago with my husband and mom and we ran The Hot Chocolate 5k.  It was my first run postpartum and it felt really good.  I ran with my mom whose pace is  just a tad slower than mine-but I wasn’t trying to set any PR with this little race.  My only goal was to have fun-which I did!

5.  I’ve had a not so great few weeks of tracking my weekly weight watchers points.  The good news is I haven’t gained any weight. Bad news? I haven’t lost weight either.  Another blogger pointed out to me that MyFitnessPal DOES take into account breastfeeding so I may be switching back to that because A-it’s free and B-I had success with it before I got pregnant.

6. I found an “in studio” barre class to take in the Milwaukee area.  I liked it, but I want to try another class during the week before I give a full review.

7. Hubs and I spent the night in Chicago this weekend for some much needed husband/wife time.  My mom kept Madelyn for us while we wined and dined in the Windy city.  It was hard leaving her behind but I had peace of mind knowing she was at home and in good hands.  We found a good price on hotwire.com and stayed in a really nice hotel located right off of Michigan Ave.

Larry took me on a little shopping spree and out to dinner at RPM Italian.  I’m a HUGE fan of Giuliana & Bill so I was super excited to try out their new restaurant.  Like every other Lettuce Entertain You restaurant, it did not disappoint.  The food was awesome, the service was spectacular, and the atmosphere was very Modern without being too pretentious.  Their entrees were made to share which I like when you have a small group because then you get to try a variety of foods.  It was a fun getting all dressed up to go out.  It’s been a long time since I’ve done that and Chicago is the perfect city for it.

I’m off to browse through the Thanksgiving issue of the Food Network magazine.  I’m hosting for the first time this year and I’m pretty excited/nervous! Wish me luck!

Pumpkin pie is a must-have at our Thanksgiving dinner.  Larry loves it!  I love mixing cranberry sauce and stuffing together the day after.

What’s your favorite/must have Thanksgiving entree?     

37 1/2 Weeks

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I hope everyone had a great weekend!  Ours was pretty jam packed.  Saturday consisted of a relaxing spa day with my mom, Sunday LC and I ventured to Chicago for the day to watch his dad sail at Belmont harbor.  We started our day off at one of our favorite brunch places, Orange (they now serve gluten-free pancakes!)

The one thing that I love about this place (besides the awesome food) is that you can create your own fresh fruit juice.  The waitress recommended a juice combo that I never thought of but was amazingly delicious: Orange, carrot and watermelon! Not something I would normally come up with but it was so good!

 

After brunch, we headed down to Belmont harbor to watch LC’s dad sail. Then we walked around downtown and made a few stops at our favorite spots: Sprinkles, Lululemon & Lou Malnati’s for Chicago style pizza.

Today I had a doctor’s appointment and afterward, LC and I headed to Wisconsin State Fair.  We spent the day grazing on fair food, looking at farm animals and walking the huge expo center.  Usually we leave there empty handed, a lot of the stuff can be junk.  But this time, we left with a new kitchen appliance: The Vitamix.  We’re both actually very excited about this new toy and can’t wait to use it.

I would think that all the walking that I did between yesterday and today would jump start something with the baby, but so far we’ve got nothing.  We are definitely on baby watch over here though.  I called my mom today just to chat and she answered the phone: “Are you on your way to the hospital?!” Not yet!  Also, my mother in law texted me to see how my appointment went today and to see if the doctor had anything to say.  The doctor did check me: I’m 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced.  She left us with “See you next week unless something happens before then.” I wasn’t going to get checked at first because it really doesn’t mean a whole lot, but I was curious to see if these “Braxton Hicks” contractions I’ve been having are actually doing anything.

Nothing really new to report except I feel huge and getting in and out of bed is becoming a very daunting task.  On Saturday night, I was having some fun “pre-labor” contractions in my lower back.  Hubs ran and got me a heating pad and I fell asleep shortly after that.  At almost 38 weeks, I’ve gained 30lbs.  Working out has definitely slowed down and I’ve been pretty much just sticking to walking.  It’s the only thing that feels somewhat good at this point.  I’m so excited for the cooler temps this week (hello 70′s!) so  I can actually walk outside.

What’s new with baby this week? Baby’s now considered full-term!  Even though my due date is still about 2 1/2 weeks away, baby can safely be delivered at any time.  According to BabyCenter, baby is about 6 1/3 pounds and 19 inches long.  I have a feeling that baby is bigger than that; hubs and I were both in the 8 lb range as babies and I was two weeks early.

We’re both thrilled to become parents this month.  The hospital bags are packed and baby’s bag and carseat are already in the car.  Now we’re just waiting.  Oliver has been extra cuddly and attentive today.  He’s been following me everywhere and hasn’t really left my side.  Maybe he can sense something??

 

We’re officially on baby watch over here! Hopefully not too much longer.

The End of an Era

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This week has been the most stressful, yet exciting and at the same time kind of sad week of my life.  Big “emotional rollercoaster” if you will.  Hubs was doing some days at the base this week and on Tuesday we found out that he is being put on orders to work at the base for a few months with the potential of a full-time position.  Nice, right?  Well, he informed me that these orders don’t include housing, which I knew already and that they start May 1st.  I look at the calendar.  “So you mean to tell me we have to move to WI in 25 days and I’m not even in Chicago during the week to pack and get everything ready?”  That is exactly what he was telling me.

Panic mode, followed by excitement, followed by “what-ifs” flooded my mind.  I was surprisingly very calm given the situation.  I pause and look at him for a minute, “Okay, so we’re really doing this?” is what I responded with.  After he left my office, I immediately got on craigslist and started looking for a house.  I thought for sure all the good May 1st rentals would be gone.  I e-mailed my cousin who owns a few duplexes in the area and found out she had just rented one last week.  Bummer.  I lined up a few places for us to see and in record time (2 days), LC and I found the perfect home that would work for us right now.  It’s in an apartment complex, which I wanted to avoid, but is set up totally different than where we live now.  No shared hallway (therefore, no stinky smells coming from other apartments), private entrance, attached garage, washer and dryer IN UNIT (hallelujah!), a private patio area for grilling and al fresco dining, a grassy area for Oliver to play, fireplace, and a pool!  A pool…every “pregnant in the dead of summer” girl’s dream.

Even though we don’t plan on being in the house for more than a year, we’re hoping to buy our own place by next year, I wanted to make this house as much of a home as I can.  After all, this is the first place we’re bringing baby home to.  We were given permission to paint and LC said no.  We went back and forth on this and he agreed to the baby’s room and an accent wall in our bedroom.

As excited as I am that we will be moving back closer to my family and friends, I can’t help but be a little bit worried.  We’re still waiting to hear whether or not my position at the base will move from temporary to full-time.  Hiring for that starts next week, so here’s to hoping.  Also, at any point after LC’s orders are up, if there isn’t a full-time spot for him at the base, he will have to commute back and forth from Chicago.  So we’re taking a HUGE leap of faith in doing this, but I feel confident that everything will work out.

And Chicago…I’m very sad to be leaving the city.  I’m a city girl at heart.  I’ve lived there for almost 4 years and have considered it my home.  Every time I drive in and see the skyline, I can’t help but get excited :-) So I think that will be the hardest part for me out of all this.  Today, while I was laying in bed, thinking about how nice it would be to bundle up, grab some coffee and take Oliver for a walk in Grant Park.  I definitely forgot where I was (we’re in WI for Easter weekend & Oliver is with his grandparents in Chicago). Luckily, LC’s family and friends still live there so we will for sure be back for lots of visits and I still plan on taking the little one on walks through Lincoln Park, the zoo, Cubs’ games, and the Green City Market.  I will definitely miss the running scene in Chicago among lots of other things, but I’ll save that for another day.

Obviously, the name of the blog will be changing and I’m open to any suggestions on the name and how to make improvements on the blog.

I’m off to get a workout in, have lunch and a little retail therapy with a friend, and sign the lease to our new home today!  Enjoy your weekend.                

In & Out

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Happy Saturday! I hope everyone’s enjoying their weekend.  I sure am, especially after last night’s hellish commute.  I left Milwaukee around 1p.m. yesterday and didn’t get into Chicago until 7:30 p.m.  Normally, the drive takes me 2 hours tops, but we got pounded with a ton of snow.  While I think it’s pretty, I’d rather be inside watching it fall than sitting in traffic for 6 and a half hours.  But I was thankful that I made it home safely.

  

I started my morning off with a bowl of Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free oats, sliced banana, sweetened with honey and brown sugar and topped with chia seeds.  So good and so filling.  It was the perfect breakfast for a cold winter morning.  After breakfast, I Zumba-ed the rest of the morning away.

 After hubs got home from work, we headed to one of my favorite places…IKEA!  It was our shortest Ikea trip to date.  We were in and out of there in a 1/2 hour.  I went with a mission and it was successful.  I saw something that I really liked online and just wanted to see it in person before making any final decisions :-) Our next trip back will not be quite as short.  I saw a lot of stuff that I was anxious to buy.

After Ikea, LC and I headed to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, Zapatista.  This place has some of the most authentic-tasting Mexican food in Chicago.  They also offer a gluten-free menu! 

I decided to go with the shrimp tacos.  Normally, I don’t order tacos at a Mexican restaurant.  It’s like ordering spaghetti at an Italian restaurant.  I don’t like to order food that I can make at home, but lately I’ve been craving shrimp tacos every time we go out for Mexican food.  They’re so good!  We also had “made at the table” guacamole.  My favorite.  If you’re ever in Lincoln Park or in the South Loop, you should definitely try this place out.

I’m off to relax on the couch and watch Our Idiot Brother.  Have a good rest of the weekend!

Homemade Pizza Co

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Happy Friday!  Even though it was a short week, the first week coming off of a 10 day vacay is always hard.  Our Christmas here was really good!  I’ve been extremely tired this week, hence the lack of blogging.  After work I’ve forced myself to do some kind of workout and after that I’m usually spent.  Last night, I allowed myself a night off from workouts and I literally came home, crashed on the couch and stayed there until I went to bed.  It was glorious.

Tonight, hubs made dinner.  Well kinda.  He picked up a pizza from one of our favorite pizza places in Chicago, Homemade Pizza Co.  I LOVE this place and I love them even more now that they offer gluten-free crust.  It’s a take and bake pizza company that offers fresh ingredients and a homemade taste.  Besides making your own from scratch, it’s the next best thing.

Because I’ve been on a veggie kick this week, I ordered the spinach pie with pine nuts, feta cheese, kalamata olives, roasted garlic and sun dried tomatoes.  It was so delicious that I ate so much and now I have a little pizza baby hanging out in my belly, but it was well worth it :-)

What’s pizza night without a movie?  Tonight we’re watching One Day.  I just finished the book which was really really good so I’m hoping that the movie does not disappoint.

I can’t believe tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve!! Honestly, where did this year go?  It seems like just yesterday LC was getting back from his 2nd deployment overseas and that we were getting married.  Lots of great stuff happened in 2011 :-) Last new year’s eve I completed my first ever keg stand…and this year I have a lovely dinner date planned with my husband and I couldn’t be more excited.  After dinner, we plan to watch the fireworks near Navy Pier…weather pending!

Meatless Monday-Speedy Weeknight Dinner/SIDI

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I had the hardest time getting out of bed today.  My weekend couldn’t have been any more fabulous and I absolutely hated to see it come to an end.  My long lost sister and my mom stayed with us the whole holiday weekend.  We celebrated Thanksgiving at my in laws.  This was my first gluten-free Thanksgiving and I’d say that it went pretty well.  My mom & I made the cornbread stuffing, apple crisp and pumpkin pie.  It was all so tasty.  We made two pans of stuffing because I wasn’t sure of how many people would be there.  We ended up bringing one one and needless to say, it was gone by the end of the weekend.  I love that stuff.

Our weekend was filled with lots of food, laughs, Breaking Dawn, and Zoo lights at Lincoln Park Zoo.

Me, my mom & sister having brunch at Chicago Firehouse Restaurant. Highly recommended!

Because I was tired from the weekend & still wanted to do a test run on cookies for The Great Food Blogger cookie swap, dinner had to be effortless, yet delicious (and somewhat nutritious).  I resorted to an old college staple: grilled cheese & creamy tomato soup. 

The soup was a gluten-free kind from Whole Foods.  It was a pretty tasty tomato soup.  I threw away the box before I wrote down the brand name.   My grilled cheese contained a slice of American, provolone, a tomato slice, and pesto all melted together on Udi’s gluten free bread.  That’s what I’d like to call a “grown-up” grilled cheese sandwich.  I easily could’ve had another one, but I refrained.  Udi’s is the only gluten-free sandwich bread I’ve ever tried.  I almost grabbed another brand today, just to shake things up a bit, but it’s so good and I’m scared to try another brand only to be disappointed.  I can’t wait until we live closer to a gluten-free bakery so that I can buy fresh baked sandwich bread…  :-)

For this week’s Say it Do it, I’m going to attempt to follow the TurboFire schedule.  I bought the set from beachbody last spring, right before I fell and sprained my ankle, so I haven’t had a chance to do it straight through.  The TurboFire schedule is a 20 week program where you workout 6 days a week.  The workout times vary from 15 HIIT to 55 ez cardio.  It’s a lot like Tae Bo/kickboxing.  So far, I’ve had a lot of fun doing the DVDs.

Monday: Fire 30 / Stretch 10
Tuesday: Bar Method & HIIT 15 / Stretch 10
Wednesday: Zumba/rest
Thursday: Fire 30 / Stretch 10/Bar Method
Friday:  Fire 55 EZ/Bar Method
Saturday: Fire 30 / Stretch 10
Sunday: Core 20 / Stretch 40

While I think it’s kind of unrealistic (for me anyway) to lose a considerable amount of weight over the holidays (I just love cookies too much!), I would like maintain what I am now or lose a few lbs/tone up. As of right now, my only goal is to maintain. 

And I leave you with this video.  I took this while we were at Zoo lights this weekend.  Dancing light trees coordinated with Christmas music.  My favorite display at Lincoln Park Zoo!  The holiday season is here :-)

http://www.youtube.com/get_player

Meatless Monday: Restaurant Edition

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After a weekend of cooking, my first Monday back to work & reading *this* blog post, I decided that making dinner tonight was not going to happen.  I wanted some Thai food and bad.   I texted LC and asked him if he wanted to do a date night tonight since we didn’t do one last week.  He was definitely down for this.

What I craved was some authentic, green curry.  Authentic Thai food.  One problem? The “gluten-thing”.  I didn’t really give it much thought when I initially decided I wanted Thai cuisine for dinner.  I totally forgot about my new dietary restrictions.  But surely I’d find something.  After “googling” and looking at different restaurants & menus around Chicago, I found that my safest bet would be Big Bowl.  Big Bowl is another Lettuce Entertain You gem.  They’re the owners of Paris Club & Cafe Ba Ba Reeba.  They specialize in fresh Chinese & Thai Cuisine.

The space is a very trendy restaurant, but relaxed at the same time.  I came from work so I had business casual clothes & hubs rolled in there with a hooded sweatshirt and jeans.

Much to our surprise, on Mondays they have 1/2 price wine bottles.  So, we started off our night with a bottle of my favorite red, Melbec. 

Very much needed after the day I had at work.
For our appetizer, we shared some vegetarian summer rolls. (Random question, does anyone know the difference-if any-between a spring roll & a summer roll?)  They were made of a rice paper wrapper with rice noodles, seasonal veggies & dipping sauce.  These were really good.  I tasted a hint of cilantro and other crisp vegetables.  I like when the summer rolls & spring rolls have some crunch to them.  They taste much more fresh that way.    
And for our main courses, we both rolled with Pad Thai.  Hubs had the shrimp pad Thai and I stuck with the vegetarian Pad Thai with tofu (even though the orange chicken was calling my name!). The dish was served with rice noodles, a ton of sprouts, basil, eggs peanuts, and a sprinkling of lime. Oh. So. Good.  This was probably one of the best Pad Thai dishes I’ve ever had.  I was so hungry and it was so, that I ate the whole thing.  Definitely not necessary. 
Overall, it was a wonderful first gluten-free Thai experience and I’d definitely be back again.  They had quite a few gluten-free options to choose from.  I forgot that I’ve actually been here before.  A few years ago, my family & I came here when we were in Chicago visiting during Christmas time.  This place is pretty close to the Magnificent Mile, so during the weekend and especially the holiday season, you should probably be prepared to wait.

Waffles for Breakfast

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Today I woke up and did something totally out of character for a Sunday morning: I took the L to an 8:15 Bar Method class in Lakeview.  After I caught myself doing random heel lifts yesterday, I knew it had been too long since my last class and I missed it.  I also wanted to test out my new heart rate monitor.  Turns out, an hour of Bar Method burns almost 350 calories for me.  Nice! 

When I got home, my mom, LC & I went to Waffles for breakfast.  It’s this new restaurant that opened up in the South Loop and I’ve heard nothing but great things about it.  They serve up traditional as well as non-traditional waffles like red velvet, green tea, eggs benedict waffle, and one with cheddar and chicken.  They also have other breakfast options as well.  All of their waffles can be made gluten-free BUT they do not have a dedicated waffle iron.  I left uncontaminated :-)

For my waffle, I decided to go with the gluten-free green tea waffle.  It was served with lemon ginger chantilly cream and topped with ground pistachio & powdered sugar.  No maple syrup needed for this one. It was amazing on its own.  This was my first ever gluten-free waffle and I couldn’t taste the difference between this one or a regular waffle.  The waffle was cooked to crispy perfection.      

  
LC had a very unusual looking waffle:

 The red velvet.  It was a red velvet waffle served with strawberry (normally served with cherry) compote and whipped cream cheese.  I didn’t get to try his because it was gluten-filled, but he said it was very good. 

We will definitely be back to this place.  The service was great & the wait wasn’t nearly as long as we were told (40 minutes).  The only gripe I had is that they sit you with other people at the table (some of their tables are like this, not all of them).  I just don’t like sitting so close to strangers that they can hear our conversation or vice versa.  Also, be warned…they charge $1.95 for cream with your coffee.

Take me to Paris

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Paris Club that is.  On Saturday, LC took me Paris Club in Chicago to celebrate my birthday.  It’s a trendy, high-energy, French inspired restaurant (specializing in small plates) located in Chicago’s River North neighborhood.  Because this is a new Chicago hot spot, known for celebrity sightings, we made reservations about a month in advance (They do accept walk-ins and there are high top tables in the bar that is first come/first serve).

Our reservations were for 8 p.m. and we arrived there right at 8 and were given a buzzer.  We didn’t mind waiting.  LC asked me if I had wanted a drink from the bar & I said no, let’s just wait until we get to our table.  About 10-15 minutes pass by and he can tell I’m getting antsy.  I wanted a drink from the bar, but I didn’t want to get a drink only to get sat at our table.  So he went to go ask the hostess how much longer it would be.  She said it would be about another 10 to 15 minutes, so we headed to the bar.  I ordered a Limonade (Absolut & lavender soda).  My cousin recommended I order this and it was very good.  It was unique and the perfect amount of sweetness.  Just as we were finished with our drinks, our buzzer went off and we were sat at our table.  I asked the hostess right away for a gluten-free menu so that our server wouldn’t have to go back & get one for me.

Once we were sat at our table, one of the managers came over & apologized profusely to us for having to wait.  We were totally fine with it.  We made reservations a month ago so we expected having to wait a little bit.  He asked if we had any other food allergies besides the gluten and to show his apologies, he sent over two plates of tuna tartare francaise  & a small pot of mussels du jour on the house. 

I’m a huge fan of seafood so I loved both of these small plates.  The mussels came in a creamy/buttery sauce & the tuna was served with avocado.  Because I can’t make a decision to save my life and couldn’t decide on what to order next, we opted for the Charcuterie Board for two.  The board was an assortment of homeade pates, terrines & saucissons.  We sampled foie gras and short rib presse, country pate, pork rillettes, duck roulade, along with an assortment of fruits & cheeses. 

It was a first for me to try a lot of these things.  The pork rillettes was probably one of my favorites, along with the foie gras (surprisingly) & short rib presse.  This is something I would definitely recommend to everyone who dines here because you get to try a few different things all at once.  That’s the thing that I love about small plate restaurants.

I shut off my flash, it was a bit obnoxious

Last but not least, we ordered our “main meal”.  Hubs ordered a steak encrusted in bleu cheese & I ordered the sea scallops.  I can honestly say they were the best scallops I’ve ever had at a restaurant.  The texture was perfect and the sauce was very flavorful.  Hubs enjoyed his steak very much, he offered me some but because of the bleu cheese, I couldn’t eat it :-/ After he realized that, he tried to downplay how good it was…haha!

I cannot say enough good things about the service & the quality of the food.  We will definitely be back again.  The ONLY gripe I have with Paris Club is Studio Paris, their upstairs club.  In order to get in, you have to order bottle service or be with a party who has bottle service.  It would’ve been nice to go upstairs and grab a drink after dinner, but instead we headed to Pops for Champagne. 

There’s no Place like Home

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My first weekend home has been nothing short of amazing.  My husband picked me up from the base, we headed back to Chicago & I got to see my little buddy, Oliver.  He was excited to see me for sure, but yet always greets me the same way even after an 8 hour work day.  But he hasn’t left my side since I’ve been home.
After we got home & settled in, LC gave me my birthday present.  He was so excited to give me my gift so therefore I was even more excited to open it.  I unwrapped a gray Under Armour zip up hoodie.  I was so confused…why was he so excited to give me a hooded sweatshirt?   After I unwrapped it he said, “Happy Birthday!”  I tried not to look disappointed and said, “I love it, thanks!” Then he said, “Now for your real gift.”  I knew there had to be more.  And there was.  Hubs got me an Apple iPad for my birthday.  I was very surprised and super excited!! I love it so much!  Today, I took it down to our workout room in our apartment building, hopped on the elliptical and started to get caught up on Private Practice.   
On Saturday, I jumped right into my routine.  I went to Bar Method & did some shopping with a friend of mine.  Later that night, LC & I went to Paris Club for my birthday dinner.  The service & food were outstanding!  I’ll be writing a blog post about this restaurant on Tuesday, but we will definitely be back again.  
Tonight, I finally got to cook a delicious home cooked meal!  It was the first home cooked meal in over a month so I made sure to make it a good one.  For dinner I decided to make chili.  I didn’t follow a recipe, I just kind of added some things to a pot and cooked it.  I think it turned out well, but I went a tad overboard on the tomatoes.  I topped it with some Daiya cheese & Fage greek yogurt (tastes like sour cream!)  I served the chili with Chebe gluten free bread sticks.  This was my first time trying these and I really liked them.  They were smaller than what I thought they would be, so they worked well as a dipper for the chili.  They were crunchy on the outside but had a soft, chewy texture on the inside. 
And for dessert, I made my first ever gluten-free pie.  I wanted to make my own crust, but I was running low on time at the grocery store so I bought a packaged pie crust by Glutino.  I liked this because I only had to add a few things to the mix & I have extra pie crust left over for the next time I want to bake a pie.  We haven’t cut into this yet, but it looks and smells delicious!
Off to watch some TV & eat some apple pie a la mode!  See you tomorrow with a ‘Meatless Monday’ post & recipe!