Nov 17, 2011 Posted by Jennifer on Nov 17, 2011 in a day in the life of me!, restaurant review | 3 comments

Hutong – Oak Park/Opening Nov. 21st!

I work at an architecture firm that designs restaurants (www.ariainc.com) so one of the perks I get sometimes is getting to go to a pre-opening tasting/practice before the restaurant actually opens to the public. Today I got to go to a local restaurant in my hometown called HUGTONG.

What does Hutong mean?

A hutong is a neighborhood—a common area filled with uncommon things.
The hutongs of Beijing are filled with hundreds of small, family-owned food stands,
known for quickly preparing delicious food to order.

Hutong Café is bringing all of these unique flavors to Oak Park, using family recipes that have remained unchanged for hundreds of years. All our dishes are made right in front of you, using only the freshest ingredients.

I am not an architect or interior designer, but I got to see first hand the process of an idea from owner Bob Johnson and co-workers from my office work hard on all the many many decisions it takes to make a restaurant. It turned out AMAZING

And the light fixtures are gorgeous!

In the end I tried the egg rolls – great flavor and very light. I also had the noodles and green beans with carrots, onions and red pepper.

And these are some of the things my friends tried:

All in all it was a great experience. I loved being able to check out the place before it was open to the public. Out of 8 of us who dined there during lunch, we all enjoyed the food we ordered – I am definitely going back – and Biz the next time you come to visit me we are totally going there!

Hutong is located in Oak Park, IL at 1113 W. Lake Street.

The food came out super fast, so definitely enough time to pop in for lunch or dinner OR they do take out too! So if you are in the area – please come check it out – you won’t be disappointed!

LIKE them on FACEBOOK HERE

I kind of felt like Sophia today, since she gets to check out so many awesome restaurants in LA!

Jan 18, 2011 Posted by Jennifer on Jan 18, 2011 in chicken, lunch, restaurant review | 10 comments

Week 2 weigh in/great lunch!

99% of the time I bring my own lunch to work, but yesterday I wasn’t really digging what I brought and I remembered I had a gift card to Panera Bread in my wallet, so I decided on getting that for lunch. It’s about a 15 minute walk from my office, so I took that as an opportunity to get in some exercise at the same time.

The great thing about Panera is that the nutritional information is on-line helping you make a better choice. What did I pick? I chose their new Thai Chicken salad with peanut sauce. The total calories WITH the dressing was only 380 calories and 15 grams of fat! The verdict? It was awesome! It was a little spicy, had roasted veggies, with a light vinaigrette dressing.

This is the description of the salad:

It’s layered with tender, all-natural chicken, Thai spiced cashews and fire-roasted vegetables, with hints of lime and cilantro. Tossed in our Thai Chili Vinaigrette and finished with a peanut sauce, it’s like heading to Thailand for lunch, without the passport.

Now on to my 2nd week weigh in…… -2.4!!!

So, with my 1st week weigh in at -5.6. that’s 8 pounds in 2 weeks!!!

What have I been doing? Tracking my food every day at www.myfitnesspal.com, the calories I’ve been eating are between 1,250 and 1,500 calories a day and I’ve done some form of exercise every day. I’ve done Taebo, Exercise on Demand, walking, and elliptical.

Needless to say I am SUPER excited!!! I hope I can keep it going!!!

Have a super day!!

Jan 15, 2011 Posted by Jennifer on Jan 15, 2011 in breakfast, dieting, restaurant review, weight loss superstars!! | 9 comments

A day at a time

One thing that’s hard when you are trying to lose weight, is wishing time would go by faster. On January 3rd, I started Day One and I’m already on 12! This time around I’m just taking it day to day. Since January 3rd, I’ve entered my calories and exercise on www.myfitnesspal.com religiously every day and its been a real eye opener. For example, I never really would count the calories (or think about them) making my coffee in the morning. I use some sugar and non dairy creamer and once I started figuring out I was adding almost 100 calories to my coffee and maybe have several cups, those calories add up. I think just knowing what I am doing is helping a lot.

This week, I used a gift card I got for Christmas at a local restaurant by my office to get lunch. I will tell you, my favorite thing on the menu is their chicken tenders with fries. They are double battered, crunchy and yummy. But, I knew there had to be a healthier choice for me. So what did I get?

I got a grilled chicken burrito on a low carb wrap. How did I save some calories?

I said no cheese, no mayo and subbed fruit for fries.

And, guess what? I only ate half and saved the other half for my lunch the next day. As soon as I got back to work, I wrapped up the other half and stuck it in the fridge so I wouldn’t be tempted to eat the whole thing. I was STUFFED after eating just half, and eating the fruit instead of the fries was just fine! I didn’t miss it at all!

Also, Roz inspired me to make this for breakfast (she calls it her Roz McMuffin).

I had one English Muffin, 1 egg, 2 egg whites, 1 oz. deli salami and 1/2 ounce of muenster cheese for @ 300 calories! Thanks for the idea Roz, I love this kind of breakfast. I had it with 2 small apples and I was set until lunch!!

Have a great weekend.

I am bringing back “Weight Loss Superstars” series and will be posting a story of a woman who lost 65 pounds last year! So, check back on Monday for that story!!

Aug 7, 2010 Posted by Jennifer on Aug 7, 2010 in dieting, Dinner Idea, restaurant review | 4 comments

Healthy Restaurant Finder!

The architecture firm I work for designs restaurants all over the country and one of the things I read on a daily basis is Nation’s Restaurant News. You can find out the latest food trends, read about top Chefs and find out if your favorite restaurant is expanding.

So, imagine my delight yesterday when I was reading it and they mentioned a site called HEALTHY DINING FINDER!

Let’s face it, for most people who are trying to lose weight, it can be near impossible to stay on track when you go out. Sure you can go online and see what’s on the menu and kind of guess on the calories, but you may think you are making a healthy choice, when in reality you are not.

All you need to do is enter your zip code and pick out your price point. I chose as an example P.F. Chang’s. It will give you the best choices on the menu health wise and you can make a great decision even before you enter the restaurant door!

One thing you need to pay attention to is the PORTION size. Notice it says that a certain dish is 2 or even 4 portions, so you would only want to eat half, or 1/4 of it!.

You can also search for a price point below $10.00 and this will grab most fast food places, below is an example of choices from Quiznos

So, I think this is a great tool to assist you in staying on track AND enjoying going out.

How do you handle going out to dinner while trying to lose weight/or maintain your weight…any tips??

Nov 25, 2009 Posted by Jennifer on Nov 25, 2009 in Dinner Idea, lunch, News, restaurant review | 13 comments

Restaurant Review/Sushi House – Oak Park, IL

I know a lot of you don’t live in the Chicago-land area, but my sister, Mom and I went to a great place for lunch yesterday!

Okay, I may be biased, since the architecture firm I work for designed the restaurant and friends of mine at work decorated it, but its the third time I’ve been there and the food is awesome!

I actually don’t like Sushi, but they have lots of things non-sushi to eat.

There is a downstairs bar that has music several nights of the week called the Dragon Lounge.

I love these light fixtures!

And this was the view from my table, you can see the chef making all the food!

I know the owner of the restaurant while the construction was going on and he was there and nice enough to give us a complimentary appetizer! Thanks again Bob!

The edamame is steamed and they put salt on the outside shells. It’s so good!

The bento boxes come with Miso Soup. It’s a light broth soup with small chunks of tofu and spinach. I ate the whole bowl!

I decided on the Chicken Teryaki Bento box. It comes with 4 California Rolls, tempurah veggies, the chicken and rice.

This was so good! I loved all the flavors and the chicken is AMAZING!

It was a great time. The worst part was having to go back to work! I wish I could have hung out with my Mom and sister longer!

If you would like to check out Sushi House, visit their website for more information!

I hope everyone is getting ready for Thanksgiving tomorrow!! I can’t wait to see what everyone makes!

Have a great day!