Diary of a Fat Girl - Bien Trucha

Oh….my….goodness!

My husband and I had a much needed date night this past Saturday. Between our three jobs and our handsome little son, it’s hard to go out and just be a couple. Well, the deck was stacked in our favor. Desmond’s grandpa wanted an overnight with the little guy and we had a gift certificate to redeem at Bien Trucha. And let me just state…best damn gift certificate EVER! (Don’t worry Francesca’s, you’re still my #1 Italian place but this place’s atmosphere kicks your ass!)

So where do I begin? Well, I’ll start with our entrance. Bien Trucha is easily overlooked. I can’t recall seeing a sign outside with the name. I think you just have the address to go by. Plus the outside doesn’t let-on to the magic that resides inside. So make sure you have a nifty GPS or some good eye sight to spot the address for this location. Now, let me forewarn you on the wait…cause it’s gonna happen. I can’t deny or affirm if this is the case for lunch, but for dinner, this place is hopping. The very first time my husband and I attempted to go to Bien Trucha, we were told it would be a two hour wait. Well, this fat girl was too hungry to wait that long and we vowed to come back. This past Saturday we arrived at 8:30 and we were told it would be a one hour wait. We happily agreed, this was gonna happen.

So, a small suggestion; Bien Trucha does have a bar you can spend your wait and you’ll see later that I do LOVE their drinks so that’s not a bad idea, but if the weather is nice, take a stroll. Bien Trucha is right in the downtown Geneva area. We walked two blocks down to a bar called Stockholm’s and had some beer while we waited. (I liked this place but it is not your only option, just keep walking to find somewhere else.) I had my cell phone out because Bien Trucha sends a text right to your phone when your table is ready. And if you’re as lucky as us, we got a call saying a table for two opened up 20 minutes after we arrived. So we didn’t even have to wait the hour, sa-weet!

Now, for the inside of this place…it’s small but I think that gives you an intimate feel to place. Your neighbor’s tables aren’t far from you. (In fact, since I’m wide I had to move the table a bit to sit on the far side…but hey, it worked.) Being close to your neighbors also gives you a good view of their food. (Which I fully expect you to oh and ah over, like we did). The in-laws forewarn the lightening is dim in the place, and I agree, it is, but not in a bad way. I suppose being young still has it advantages. I had no problem reading the menu. (But that could be I eyeballed the thing for a few hours before I went. It’s online. Yes, go check it out. Link is below.) But I think the lighting gave the place a romantic feel. One of my favorite parts of the place is the music. I love good Latin music. And this place had it in spades. It was so energetic. I was consistently doing a cha-cha-salsa wiggle in my seat. It completed the atmosphere of the place, and it also gave you some privacy. You may have a good view of your neighbors food but I can’t recall being able to hear their conversation. It was like the music was just loud enough to block them out and force you to focus on your date and food. Overall, I say the place is trendy. Not a place to go slumming and definitely a good place for a date. Do it!

So how was my food? Here is a run down of what my husband and I shared:

Guacamole del Dia

Fresh avocados, lime, cilantro, fresh fruit of the day (which was pineapple) and chef’s inspiration

Bien Trucha (Tacos)

Grilled skirt-steak, home-made chorizo, chihuahua, roasted tomatillo-serrano salsa

Pastor (Tacos)

Ancho-guajillo marinated pork, cilantro, onion, pineapple, morita salsa

Pica-Pica (Brochetas)

Bacon wrapped shrimp, onion, pineapple, chipotle-lime glaze

Esquites (Side)

Grilled corn, epazote-butter, lemon-aioli, queso cotija chile piquin

Arroz Poblano (Side)

White rice, poblano cubes, sour cream, chihuahua cheese

Corn Cake (Dessert)

Fresona (Drink)

fresh muddled strawberries, lime, sugar, orange liquor, sauza blanco

Pepino (Drink)

fresh muddled cucumber, lime, orange liquor, herradura blanco, tajin

Ahuacatl (Drink)

avocado, agave nectar, lime, sauza blanco, orange liquor, mezcal mist

Mojito (Drink)

fresh muddled mint, lime, sugar, rum, splash of soda

Is your mouth watering? Cause mine is from remembering my meal. It wasn’t until after we placed our food order I thought “where the heck are they going to put our food, our table is so small?” Ahhhhh but that only comes with my lack of experience here, they are masters at dinner service. Our food was brought out in what felt like courses. We had our sides out the whole time but we were presented with one main course at a time. We started with our Bien Trucha tacos and once those were done and removed, they brought out our Pastor tacos. I loved this for many reasons. One, and most importantly, your food is always hot. Two, it promotes a good date. Tacos come in sets of 4, so it’s easy sharing and easy conversing. (Cause you are going to want to talk about the food you just greedily ate.) Three, your table is clear of clutter. So that’s how it works if you order tons of food like me and my husband.

But how was the food? Well, I’m sure you can see I’m writing a positive review here and it stays that way. We got everything as is. No modifications despite some of my food aversions. (Like pineapple, or shrimp, I like neither.) But after hearing so many good things about Bien Trucha we wanted to experience the food as it was suppose to be prepared. And it was AWESOME! I mean it.

I’d love to go into detail on each food but that would make this already longer blog, much much longer. So here are my highlights. My biggest surprise of the night, Pica-Pica brochetas. I don’t do shrimp. But the husband wanted to get them and I agreed because I like to challenge my palette. Well, these things were knock your socks off good. If every shrimp I ventured to try were like these, I’d be completely converted to eating them full time. They didn’t have that unappealing shrimp texture I’m used to and pair that with the yummy bacon and the right amount of char from the grill and these things were just off the hook. (Off the hook? Yikes, I need better ways to say things were amazing.)

Another shocking highlight…the sides. How many times have you gone to your favorite Mexican Restaurant and just love their taco/burritos but the sides are always just alright? These sides are not just alright. I can not stress enough that the grilled corn (Esquites) is 100% required of you, if you go to Bien Trucha. Seriously, this is corn is out of this world. My husband nearly had a spoon fight over the last bites. Who knew corn could be so flavorful. And though I’m stressing the corn, we did LOVE our rice too. It may say white rice and it may look pretty plain but it packs a punch. (No, not heat kinda punch, just a flavor punch.) So I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend ordering both of these when you go. You won’t be disappointed.

And I recommend eating everything as is on the menu. These people know what they are doing when they are pairing up their foods. For example, the pastor tacos we had were topped with a thin strip of pineapple. I’m not a fan of pineapple but I took a bite and thought, man that’s good. It was like they paired the sweetness of the pineapple to counter act the heat of the sauce. I say, give it a try, you just might like it. And if you don’t, pick it off afterwards. Nothing on this menu appeared couldn’t be modified with the use of your own fingers. So be brave and try it first por favor.

My last favorite things and I’ll pair them together just to wrap this up, were the drinks and dessert. My husband drinks were better than mine. I went safe with a mojita and Fresona (strawberry) drink. They were good and strong but when you’re on a food adventure like we were, it paid to go the off beaten path. His cucumber and avocado based drinks were so refreshing. It was cleansing your taste buds before the next course was brought. I highly recommend them on taste and for the fact they were something completely new to me. And a quick word about the corn cake…get it!

The only bad thing about Bien Trucha…the food was so good and we literally finished every bit that we were so stuffed we went into a food coma and had to end our date night out. Ok, so that’s really not a negative. But I was sad to go when the experience was over. I will be going again and I can’t wait to try a whole new assortment of food.

For more information, like address, menu and prices check out Bien Trucha’s website:

http://www.bientrucha.com/

Coming to Terms with Calling it Quits

This is well over due but since I never put it out there officially and I still get asked about my derby career, I figured it’s better late than never. If you can’t tell from my title of said blog, I have decided to retire from derby. Thing is, I decided at the end of October and I’m only now saying it. It was a hard decision then to make and it’s only now that it’s been done for so long that I’m starting to feel confident about my decision.

I think the hardest part about leaving derby was you. You as in my family, friends and fellow skaters. It was my pleasure to hear someone say they wanted to see me skate. It was awesome to hear you telling people you knew someone who does derby. I wanted to be that person you came to cheer on. I liked the hour long drive to and from practice because I got to spend time with my friends. I liked making new friends, partying and just being involved in something outside of my home. It was a hard decision to decide to go; I felt like I was letting you down. I still feel like I gave up the only thing that people found interesting about me.

But I still don’t regret my decision. So here’s my story why. It really starts at the beginning. August 2010, I start derby. I was a newer mom. My son was just over a year old and that was a rough age for me. His ability to stuff everything into his mouth, his ability to be mobile and his inability to understand “no” really had me frustrated. I needed a break from being mom and let’s just say it, I needed the exercise too. Starting derby made me a better mom. I was able to channel any frustrations into my practices and I was just really excited when I would be able to accomplish something new I thought I wouldn’t be able to.

Let’s skip forward in time to February 2011. I hurt my MCL. I’m benched for two months. I’m sad, because it happened days before my first bout and the injury lasts so long that it takes me out of the next bout too. I’m depressed about it. But something else happens. I’m at home…a lot. And my son is now in a stage that is not so frustrating. I find that when I’m healed and returning to practice, I no longer feel guiltless about leaving. I want to spend more time at home. I never end up shaking this feeling.

So I go months of practices where I feel like I’m being dragged there. First I get myself to go because I haven’t spent all this time to not have bouted EVER. So that keeps me going. I repeat to myself “that’s where the magic is.” That’s what I’m missing..bouting. If I bout, my passion will return. Four bouts later and I still couldn’t relight that excitement that burned inside before.

November 2011, I went on leave from derby. I wasn’t ready to say it was over yet. I was hoping that being gone completely would be the mental refresher I needed. But by the time my leave was over and it was time to consider going back, I knew that I would not. I am happy just where I am and I realized that seriously considering having a baby #2, made me want to spend my time with baby #1. In that regards, it was an easy choice. (Not pregnant, if you’re wondering.)

I do miss a lot of things about derby. Mostly my girls. It’s not always easy hearing endless stories that all end with “you had to be there.” But I couldn’t keep going to be in on the joke. I had to decide for myself that I wanted something else for my nights, and I’m happy with my decision. So I’m sorry if I quit before you could see me action. But when I heard the fat lady sing (and I’m not referring to myself), I had to listen. It was great while it lasted and I have a lot of fun memories to keep with me always.

Diary of a Fat Girl - MyFitnessPal

AHHHHHH…take a whiff of the fresh air that a new year brings. Why is it we wait until the beginning of a new year to find that motivation to lose weight? Ok, not all of us wait. But if you are like me, even when I start a new diet in the middle of the year, I’ll wait till Monday. Like Monday is the new fresh start. Why is that?

Regardless of the psychology behind our decisions, I’ve finally gotten back on the ball. It could have been the start of the New Year or perhaps it was the weight loss competition at work that I entered but either way, it resulted in me making many dietary changes. (I’m just glad I found it somewhere.)

I have successfully started counting my calories on myfitnesspal.com. I just LOVE this site. For me, it has just the right amount of motivators to keep me interested. So what are those? First, logging in my calories is easy from my PC or Kindle, so basically anywhere that I go I can log in my food diary. Their database of foods is insane and if for some reason you can’t find a food, you can enter it. It has a recipe function where you can create your own meals and divide it into countable portions. You can save anything you eat under specific meal names making it very fast to track food you eat often. Now, to the part that really tickles my pickle. At the end of each day when I hit “Submit your food entry for the day” it’ll give me a message like “At this pace you’ll be 209 in 5 weeks.” It shows me a number that I want in amount of time that seems so near. It’s a daily motivator to keep it up. Now, for the really geeky part of me….it has graphs. There’s nothing I like more than seeing a little line graph chart showing my weight loss plummeting down or a bar graph showing the ups and downs of my calorie intakes. I’m not kidding. I love charts of all shapes and sizes. Weird? The last thing I love; after entering my weight and goals it tells me what my caloric intake should be to reach those goals. So, incase your curious, I put in that I’d like to lose 2 lbs per week and at my current weight it estimated 1380 calories per day. So that’s what I’m doing. Time will tell how accurate this thing will be.

So a mini wrap up of my first week counting calories on myfitnesspal…I lost 6.4 pounds! That’s huge! I think my best weight watchers week was 5.9 the first week. I don’t expect to see this kind of drop each week, but it sure doesn’t hurt to see it. And if any of you are on myfitnesspal, friend me, I’m under havenroo. I’d love to see your food diary and get meal ideas for the future. And with the positive attitude I’ve got going now and the desire I have to find new and interesting foods, I expect their to be some recipe blogs to come.

Happy Eating!

P.S. As a couponer I forgot another big part…myfitnesspal is $ Free.99!

Ode to the Bathroom

It’s a running joke in my family that if I’m drinking and go disappearing, go check the bathroom tub. At a family gathering, a long while ago I’ll add, I got drunk. Really drunk. I’m not a sipper. So I find that I go sober to drunk in no time flat; this party was no exception. But this time, I got sick, and to make matters worse, I found the comfort of my parents tub. The only problem, they only had one bathroom and I pretty much barricaded myself in there for a very long time while a party of 30 plus people are left with no relief. So I will never let down the time I got drunk and sick in my parents one bathroom house. I swear, a family function doesn’t pass without some reference to it.

But that’s just a small introduction to my real reason for blogging. Why was I in the tub? For as long as I can remember I have always gone to the shower when I don’t feel well. Got a headache? Take a shower. Got a stomach ache? Take a shower. Backache? Take a shower. You get the picture. Any ailment, I get into tub. For that moment I’m in the shower I feel so much better.

I know the healing power isn’t restricted to the shower, oh no. My proximity to the toilet is also a sweet spot when I’m not feeling well. One minute I’m lying in bed and start feeling like if I don’t get to the toilet right now, my dinner will be on the floor. So I run to the bathroom, and there sits the white porcelain god softly chanting “it’s alright, your fine, no puking required.” And 99% of the time, the toilet is right; just being near the toilet stops my gag reflex. So all that is required of me is to be near my toilet when I’m not feeling well. You know what I mean folks? (This phenomenon also occurs at the doctor’s office. One minute you feel on your death bed and go in. Next minute the doctor is checking you out and you feel 100% better, what is that?)

And what about the other power of the toilet…you know…the one that helps you puke when you know it’ll make you feel better. Regardless if it’s sparkling clean, a long deep whiff of the inside of your toilet never ceases to stop helping when I need that extra edge to purge. (I’m not the only person to use this right?)

What makes you feel better?

Resistance is Futile

My 30th birthday celebration is quickly approaching. Yes, I, the forever young at heart can’t stop myself from aging. I’m ok with that; it’s not as bad as I thought it’d be. But this blog is only slightly about turning 30; it’s more about looking good for this weekend. I like to dress up. I like to feel pretty. So I’ve made arrangements to get my hair and makeup done in honor of my impending night out. And what should happen this week? A big painful zit starting to make its approach to the surface of my skin. You know the place; that spot just below the corner of your mouth. You know the feeling; the little heated red spot that’s super sore to the touch but no amount squeezing gives relief because it just ain’t ready to be popped. I vowed, that I would leave it be. The last thing I wanted was to pop it and have it scabbed over for my makeup appointment. I figure a natural resolution would be best. But as it got bigger and as the red spot turned into a white capped mountain, I found it harder and harder to stick to my resolve. What is it about a zit that attracts your finger? Yes, it’s still there. You can still feel it on your face but yet I find myself checking over and over again. And that only makes it worse by touching it. Before I knew it, I’m talking with my hand partially covering the zit. I go to the bathroom and have to look at it. I have to fully understand at each moment how awful it looks. If I think it’ll make someone sick to look at it. And then there’s that little part of me that just want to squeeze. It’s a mixture of disgust but who am I kidding, a bit of joy. Why do people like to pop zits? I don’t know, but it does feel like you accomplish something when you see that white ooze leak from your face and the blood begins. (Don’t forget about the squirters, so gross and yet kinda funny.) You know what I mean? So, like the title states resistance is futile. I caved, and popped my zit last night. I just couldn’t look at it any longer. Am I crazy or do you folks know what I’m talking about?

2012 - The Year for Getting Things Done

(Cheers to 2012!)

So, it’s a bit past that time of year where I state my New Year’s Resolutions but better a few days late than never, right? The delay of this post was basically because I was a lazy schmuck. I would have ideas for resolutions, think they were awesome but didn’t right them down and when it came time to do it, I wouldn’t remember anything. But now I’ve finally come up with a respectable list. So here is what I plan on getting done this year:

#1 Blog – I really do like blogging. I don’t always get comments, so I’m not even sure how many people actually read it. So, that makes the times that friends or family approach me to talk about it really mean something special to me; I want to expand on that. I want to double my followers this year. I’m at 26, so by December 31st that number needs to at 52 or higher. I’m not a beggar or a pusher, so this will definitely make me think out the box on how to get this done. (And maybe your resolution is to make someone’s day...hint hint…here’s one way, just saying.)

#2 Credit – Oh brother, this could be a doozy but it’s not. Simply, I want to reduce my credit by 10% or more. I have collected all the balances and have a grand total of debt. So it will be easy to calculate how big or small of a dent I make this year. And I will report my percent…as to the amount…I’ll never tell. (It’s a bit shameful but it won’t show up on Shell’s Shameful Secrets Part 3, sorry.)

#3 Family – I have a fantastic family. And yet, our family gatherings are spaced way too far apart. I understand that our jobs and our actual physical distance make it hard to see one another. SO, my resolution is to hang out at least once a month with family. (Talking Sweitzer side here.) Des has some awesome cousins but we hardly see them. Why? No reason. I’m gonna make it a habit to schedule it in. I have a sister who invites me to watch Dexter and make dinner but it’s always “we’ll do that soon.” Why haven’t I found a sitter for Des and gone already? No more excuses. I will make time and I will document it with pictures. (Another thing I’m horrible at lately, I hate taking photos)

#4 Wedding Video – This one is three fold. My friend Nicole got married late July this past year. I recorded her wedding for her and she has politely asked each month if her video is ready. Well, five months later it’s still on my camcorder. First it was laziness, but once I plugged it in and started working on it, I found that format is not compatible with my computer. I can’t burn it. I can’t really do anything with it. So my goal, get what I need to get this done. This will also help with the fact that I have two years of stuff on that camcorder of Desmond…that’s just sitting there useless on the camcorder. I’d like to put whatever I have onto a disc and label it with the approximate years. That way, there’s some order giving me or a much older Desmond the chance to look back at his younger years. And lastly, I like making silly videos. I’m hoping to resurrect having a YouTube channel. I have all these thoughts floating in my head and I’d like to see what I could do with them.

#5 Books – Last year I read 29 books. (That I could remember, probably more.) But only two of these were non-fiction. My goal is to double that amount. 4 books this year will be non-fiction. This should be easy enough and I figure, I’ll be worldlier for it.

#6 Soul Pancake Challenge – If you were to go to my February 2011 blog archives you’d see that I wrote a blog entitle “Soul Pancake Challenge.” (Go ahead, go find it, it’s got some fun stuff.) All the challenges were super easy. But I failed to complete any of them. My goal for 2012 is to get these challenges completed. To put the pressure on…I will complete the first one before the end of this month. (That should get the ball rolling.)

#7 Yard Work – My goal is to get ZERO public notices from the City of Carpentersville about my lawn. Yes, I’m serious; my lawn is that bad sometimes. Here’s a little picture of what my hidden backyard looks like. (If it looks this bad, the front is just marginally better.)

#8 Bedroom – I have lived in a white walled home for 2.5 years. It looks like a rental because it has zero personal items added. (I lie, we started on our living room but it still doesn’t feel warm.) My goal is to complete my bedroom. Paint, furniture, decorations…you know the works! I will post before and after pics. Goodbye living like a college student, hello living like an adult!

That’s it folks. That’s what I really want to do this year. And did you notice nothing about weight? Though I know it will be on my mind throughout the year, I wanted a reprieve from the standard New Years Resolution. So I’m just going to enjoy being me and the fact I’ve got a lot of other things to get done.

Happy Belated New Years! What’s on your resolution list?



2011 - The Year of Fail (or was it?)

Well, I’m overdue to wrap up how I did on my 2011 Resolutions. If you can’t tell from the blog title, I’ll just say it could have been better. So here is my report in short:

#1 Weight – Of course every New Year’s resolution wouldn’t be complete without wanting to lose some weight. My goal was to lose 30lbs. End result: Gain 15 lbs. Oops!

#2 Food – My goal was to cook more often, at least twice a week. And I have to say, I think I can safely say I not only did this goal but have established a new routine. This week alone I cooked three meals and now my husband is cooking tons, so more nights than not are home cooked meals. Winning!

#3 Blog – I wanted to write one blog per week last year for a total of 52. Well, I made it to 43. That’s 82% complete and passing. Score!

#4 Dance Central –The Goal: I want to beat Dance Central before the end of the year. Ha ha ha ha, I think I might have played this game two or three times since I made this goal; Epic failure here.

#5 Running – My goal was to complete a 5k and the Muddy Buddy race. I didn’t even get close. I did pick up running again towards the end of the year but that didn’t stick around long. Fail.

#6 Finances – The goal: Pay off one credit card out of the seven I have. Fail. BUT I will say that we got one card very close to being paid off, it’ll be done in two short months and then we’ll be very close on another card. (Wouldn’t have been able to pay two credit cards off in 2012 if wasn’t for my diligence in 2011.) So I take back that fail. (Also, did you notice my post on facebook about this Christmas being credit free, seriously major improvement for me!)

So that’s how I did on my 2011 resolutions. And though I didn’t succeed in most of them; I’m still proud. Perhaps I would have gained more weight had I not been conscious of it. I know for a fact that my goal to reach 52 blogs dangled the carrot in my face to write something. (And so did my readers that noticed my lack of updates and wondered where I was, thank you!) You can’t win them all, you can only keep trying. Plus what about the things I did in 2011 that weren’t resolutions. I had an adopted solider that I supported with weekly letters and monthly packages for several months. I raised money for the Special Olympics, Huntington’s disease and Breast Cancer. (One of which involved a polar plunge, yikes!)

2011 you were fun…but I’m looking forward to 2012!

Up Next…2012 Resolutions.