What We've Been Eating - Summer Edition

Being pregnant this summer, our menu has stayed mostly fairly simple.

Leftover chocolate-covered strawberries from my hubby's step-brother's graduation open house

Date night fajitas at The Ground Round

Fancy salmon with green beans and mashed taters at Crave in the Twin Cities (followed by a totally decadent piece of chocolate cake) for a work conference just after Memorial Day


Fathers' Day Lunch: Steaks, corn on the cob and (store-bought) twice-baked potatoes

Fathers' Day Supper: Sea Scallops with "linguine" (a.k.a. spaghetti noodles since we didn't have linguine) and steamed asparagus with Tastefully Simple seasoned salt.

Coffee...and lots of it, while the hubby was away on vacay with his Dad for a week

Fresh strawberries from Schumaker's

My first PF Chang's Experience



Biaggi's - YUM!


Cheesecake Factory - chopped salad

Birthday cake for the hubby!

Sweet Corn - drool!!!

Entirely WAY too many cinnamon rolls (for the freezer)

That's about it through mid-August! Obviously we ate out a little more than we usually do, but I'd say my aggressive freezing and canning makes up for all the slacking in the actual kitchen.

My FAVORITE Teriyaki Chicken Sandwiches (Pinterest Inspired)

These sandwiches are out of this world! They're a little more work than I usually go through for a sandwich, but they definitely are worth the effort!

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts, tenderized and marinated in...
• 1 bottle Lawrey's teriyaki sauce
• 1 fresh pineapple cored, "peeled" and sliced into rings
• 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
• 4 slices swiss cheese
• 4 buns

Directions:

• The night before (or even just a couple hours) and marinate the chicken breasts in the teriyaki sauce.
• Fire up the grill and toss the chicken breasts on to grill, about 3-5 minutes on each side.
• After you flip the chicken, throw the pineapple on the grill as well, then add the sliced red onion on the chicken and cover with pieces of swiss cheese. (Psst...you can toast the buns on the grill too, if you have space)

What you end up with is this:

You can throw it on the bun however you want, but the end result looks a little bit like this:

Everyone is always surprised that I don't mention a sauce on it, but honestly, the sandwich doesn't need one. The flavors really pop and blend together well. This is definitely my FAVORITE chicken sandwich right now.

What We've Been Eating

I'm just going to post the pictures, because with everything else going on lately, I just won't probably have time to ever get the actual recipes and restaurant reviews posted :)

But here are some of the delicious things we've been eating lately between our house (both recipe staples and Pinterest favorites) and our recent trip to Hawaii!

Breakfast last Saturday, courtesy of the back of the package of Rhodes frozen bread.

Chicken Teriyaki Sandwich (one of our favorites!), courtesy of Pinterest.

Nephew Caleb's birthday cupcakes, courtesy of my sister.

Homemade banana pudding, courtesy of Pinterest.

Homemade cupcakes I made for a friend's baby shower, recipe courtesy of my sister.

HuHot Mongolian Grill - YUM!

Tex Drive In Malasada's - Hawaii

Bamboo Restaurant in Hawi, Hawaii


Farmer's Market Scores: Taro Chips, Fried Plaintain, Rombutan and Apple Bananas




Lunch at Hilo Bay Cafe in Hilo, Hawaii - YUM!


Hilo Farmer's Market Thai lunch from Thai Smile

The most delicious meal I may have ever eaten, at Kaleo's Bar & Grill in Pahoa, Hawaii


THE most bland, yet most expensive spaghetti I've ever eaten, made at our condo in Punalu'u, Hawaii, where a simple green pepper was $8!

Lunch at Hana Hou in Naalehu, Hawaii



Best BBQ I may have ever eaten at Big Jake's Island BBQ in Captain Cook, Hawaii (just outside of Kona)


Shrimp Scampi from Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. in Kona

Now that I've successfully made my mouth water, it's time for bed!

Tex Drive In (Honoka'a, Hawaii)

We had heard so much about Tex Drive In and their outstanding Malasadas and decided that we just had to try them. We went here twice while staying in Waimea (once before exploring Waipio Road, then again on our way to Akaka Falls the next day), and enjoyed the food both times.

We tried strawberry, bavarian cream, apple and plain: We liked the plain ones the best followed by the bavarian cream. They were just alright. It reminded me of a fresh doughnut many other places, but it wasn't anything to write home about. In fact, I think this picture does it more justice than it probably deserves. It doesn't do anything for me when I see it, by any means. They were good, but not "turn the car around!" good.

The rest of the menu looked pretty good as well, and the second morning we ate there, we ordered a full breakfast (Two Farm Fresh Egg and Meat Plate - the hubby with Ham, and I with the Portuguese Sausage). It was very good and filling, but nothing out of the ordinary for the neighborhood Perkins or similar. My 14-month-old son was not at all fond of the Malasadas, but ate a ton of their Portuguese Sausage.

We also tried the Passion-Orange juice in hopes that it would quench our passion fruit cravings, but it was about as good as passion orange juice from SW Minnesota, just the same price as a half gallon of it would be at home (per cup).

All in all, the place was good, the food was good, but it wasn't unbelievably out of this world or anything. We'd certainly go again given the option, but I haven't been craving it since.

They were doing some construction on the front of the building while we were there, so we had to drive around the back, but it still was very pleasant, and it was nice to enjoy the morning with breakfast on the patio (or inside at the booths if the patio isn't your cup of tea). It's like a fast food place as far as ordering (order, they give you a number, you go get your food from the counter when they call your number), and both times we went, we fortunately arrived just before these huge tour buses came by. It is a huge tourist spot for sure.

If you want to check out their menu or website, here it is!