Recently, Nick and I went on another foodie road trip. It wasn’t really a foodie trip because we didn’t decide to travel just for food but it was a long road trip to attend a wedding and we found a few stops along the way.

We had planned to make four stops – two on the way to our destination and two on the way home. But, after a very short weekend full of wedding and family activities, we were exhausted by the time we hit the road back home and decided to stop as little as possible. The two stops we did make, however, were totally worth it!

For lunch, we stopped at the Parkette Drive-In in Lexington, KY (click that link to see it on Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives). Featured in the video are the Poor Boy burger, the chili cheese dog, and fried chicken; we decided to share the burger and chili dog. I wanted to try the chicken but Nick said we shouldn’t overdo it.

Poor Boy burger, Tots, and Chili Cheese Dog

The Poor Boy was just like a Big Mac but way better! In fact, the owner in the DD&D video describes it as the original Big Mac 😉 The ingredients were fresh and it was nicely seasoned, peppery. There was a whole slice of onion on it, instead of a few measly rings. Overall, Nick said it was a “good, old-fashioned burger.” The chili cheese dog was as good; I was really looking forward to the homemade chili sauce but I think they scrimped a little on that. What I did get was meaty and tasty. And it was all on a nice, soft poppy seed bun. Yum!

Overall, it was a quality drive-in and the prices were unbeatable, especially for such fresh ingredients.

For dinner we stopped at Fat Sandwich Company in Champaign, IL. They have ridiculously big, unhealthy but delicious sandwiches that include pretty much everything but the kitchen sink!

 Their specialty is the “Fat Sandwich” is a large sandwich full of whatever goodies you choose, topped with french fries. We got a Fat F sandwich which had cheese steak, chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, mayo, ketchup, and french fries.

I have to say, it was better than I care to admit! I wasn’t sure how I would feel about a sandwich made up of appetizers but the flavors actually melted really well together and was an explosion of savory goodness on my taste buds. I think the key to the success here is the fries, since they go with virtually everything. The cheese steak worked really well with the fries (cheese + fries) as did the mozzarella sticks with the chicken fingers (cheese + chicken + marinara on the side). Any fries that fell off the top were easily eaten as a side dish, like you would for any sandwich. I can also see the appeal of this type of sandwich to the college crowd, as the shop was located on the campus of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I couldn’t eat these on the regular but I would definitely recommend you to stop by if you’re ever in the area.

Since we didn’t stop anywhere on our way home, we’ll have to plan another trip. A real foodie road trip where we first choose the restaurant and then the route to get there. Until then, we’ll just have to enjoy the delicious food in our own town.

See you at the next stop!

<3, NC Squared

Get ready for some food fun!

Next weekend we’re heading west to the warm little town of Normal, Illinois for Nick’s cousin’s wedding. It may not be the beach, but it’s not a terrible way to spend Memorial Day Weekend. Afterall, I do love a good wedding! But, we’re going on a road trip so you know what that means: we’ve planned our route based on scrummy restaurants along the way, all of which have been featured on one Food Network/Cooking Channel show or another.

I love dining out; it’s probably my biggest vice. But eating out on a regular basis, as you can probably imagine, gets pretty expensive, and is usually what gets me into trouble when we’re trying to save money. So, I’ve developed a process that helps ensure I cook at home more often and keeps more dollars in my wallet: I create a weekly menu and a shopping list based on it. I’m sure I’m not the first and only person to do it but it’s a good process and it works, for the most part. There are always challenges. I mean, this is life we’re talking about here.

The general process goes a little something like this: I find recipes I like, make a grocery list, go shopping (once a week) and then cook at home each night.

While shopping at Home Goods for some side tables, we came across what we thought was a cute little floral glass light shade.  Unfortunately it was just a candle holder, but I figured with a little ingenuity I’d be able to modernize it and make an electric fixture out of it.  We decided we would use it in the laundry room since it was a small room and only a single light bulb would fit into the shade.

Light shade before I started cutting it apart.

We’re almost through February 2012 and I have to say that this year has been really good for me so far.

I started out strong with my health and fitness motivation where Nick and I regularly visited the gym several times a week for a whole month in preparation of our upcoming 5K race. We’ve slacked off the last few weeks but our motivation is still strong so I’m confident we’ll be back in the swing of things in no time.

I’ve also been following through with my New Year’s resolution. The first new thing that I tried (twice, actually) was a pole fitness class which was so much fun that I’d love to do it again and again. I’m sure I’d be a great pole dancer! Another first, that I probably wouldn’t have done without setting my resolution, was to cook dinner for a co-worker who just had a baby and her family.