Food – Page 50 – Simply Norma

The San Pedro Cafe

Breakfast at the San Pedro Cafe was delightful.

San Pedro Cafe in Hudson, Wisconsin

We arrived a little after the restaurant opened at 8:00 a.m. There are both tables and booths.

San Pedro Cafe, Hudson, Wisconsin

Our party had 3 entrees the Hammock Breakfast, Pedro’s French Toast and the Vegetable Frittata. All entrees were heartily eaten.

Hammock Breakfast

Pedro’s French Toast with blueberries on ciabatta bread

Vegetable Frittata

I’d recommend this place for breakfast. The food, atmosphere and service were all good.

Trader Joe’s Gingerbread

Ginger is one of my favorite flavors.

One day, while walking through Trader Joe’s, they had samples of this gingerbread. It can be made in a loaf pan (as I made it), in a cake pan or you can make cookies from it.

Trader Joe’s Gingerbread Cake & Baking Mix

I like it because it doesn’t have very many ingredients to add to it, i.e. 1 egg, 1/3 cup vegetable oil and 3/4 cup water. Besides it being tasty, it is easy to make.

Trader Joe’s Gingerbread Cake & Baking Mix

The mix is light brown and is not lumpy.

Trader Joe’s Gingerbread Cake & Baking Mix

Once all of the ingredients are blended together, the batter is smooth and looks a chocolatey dark brown. You can really smell the ginger!

Trader Joe’s Gingerbread Cake & Baking Mix

I poured my batter (mix) in a loaf (bread) pan as I didn’t have a cake pan. The recipe calls for an 8x8x2 pan but you can use a loaf (bread) pan also. If you decide to use a loaf (bread) pan, it will take longer to bake as the mix will be denser so after the initial 30 minutes, make sure you keep your eye on the bread. A toothpick or knife inserted in the middle of the mix should come out clean when you test it.

Trader Joe’s Gingerbread Cake & Baking Mix

The final product looks and tastes good.

Although I prefer to make my food from scratch, occasionally I like to make something that’s quick and tasty to supplement another meal. This one fits perfectly with a good soup or eaten by itself.

Enjoy!

Creamy Potato Soup

This creamy potato soup is really good.

I originally started with a recipe from Betty Crocker but after reading the reviews on that recipe that said it was bland, I decided to use the basic ingredients and enhance it on my own. The original recipe also called for a blender which I didn’t have so I used a potato masher instead.

Partial ingredients for creamy potato soup

I doubled the ingredients because I knew we would probably have more than one bowlful.

10 medium red potatoes, rinsed, peeled and cut up in small chunks

2 medium celery stalks, chopped

1 chopped carrot

1 cup of half and half (the original recipe called for milk)

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

3 green onions, thinly sliced

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

-Put potatoes, celery and carrot in a large pot with water to just cover them.

-Boil for about 25 minutes until all is tender.

-Without throwing the water away, take a cup and remove about half of the ingredients from the pot and place them in a bowl so that you can mash them up.

Mash away.

Place the ingredients back in the pot with the other ingredients that you left there.

Add the half and half, salt, pepper and mustard along with the green onions.

Stir all.

Creamy potato soup – use larger chunks of potato, to your taste

Creamy potato soup

Heat everything through for at least a half hour so that all the flavors are blended.

I like the flavor of mustard and 2 teaspoons was not overpowering for me. If you prefer to leave the mustard out, you can add a different flavor that you like. Some people add garlic, cilantro, parsley, thyme — the choice is yours to please your palate.

This goes great with gingerbread.

Enjoy!

Coleslaw

I have never been a fan of coleslaw made by Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) or store bought that sometimes is too dry.

So, I decided to try a recipe by Betty Crocker. Â I have to admit, this is supposed to be a “light” recipe but I forgot to buy the “light” ingredients.

The ingredients are as follows:

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon celery seed (I used celery salt)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 medium head cabbage (shredded or chopped)

1 small carrot (about 1/2 cup)

1 small onion (about 1/4 cup)

Mix all ingredients except for the cabbage, carrot and onion.

Add remaining ingredients and toss until it’s well coated then refrigerate for approximately 1 hour.

(Note: Â If you use the onion in this recipe, I’d use a sweet onion or less onion — otherwise it has too strong of an onion taste.)Enjoy!

Yogurt

For many years, I have looked for a good yogurt.

Yogurt has “friendly” bacteria that is good for digestion. I have not found very friendly yogurt though. I have found yogurt that is sour, liquidy or too sweet (even with the fresh berries inside).

One yogurt called Activia actually made me sick. I received a coupon in the mail and decided (at the time) since it was a new product, I would try it.

I ate the whole container and then became sick. It felt like I had the flu. After a couple hours, the feeling passed but I never forgot the experience. I threw out the other 2 containers.

Imagine my surprise then to find a yogurt called Stonyfield here in Woodbury. I can eat this every day.

The texture is smooth, almost like pudding, and it is neither too sweet nor too sour. And they also have my favorite flavor — mango.

Stonyfield Yogurt

In addition to yogurt having friendly bacteria, most have potassium, magnesium, B-12 and calcium.

Finally — a yogurt I can appreciate.

Paninos Restaurant in North Oaks, Mn

Paninos is an Italian restaurant located in North Oaks, Minnesota at the Village Center.

Paninos Restaurant in North Oaks, Minnesota

We stumbled upon this restaurant after looking at houses late in the evening.

The restaurant was well lit and we were greeted well when we entered. It has tables and booths and a relaxed atmosphere. Murals are on the walls throughout the establishment.

Mural on wall of Paninos Restaurant in North Oaks, Mn

Mural on wall of Paninos Restaurant in North Oaks, Mn

The garlic bread did not really taste like garlic although the presentation was good.

Garlic Bread at Paninos Restaurant

We had an appetizer for one of our entrees called the Cracker Pizza. The crust was thin as expected. Just the right amount of cheese and ground beef. The crust was a little soft since we expected a crunchier crust due to the name “cracker” pizza.

Cracker Pizza at Paninos Restaurant

The second entree was the cavatappi bolognese. It was okay. We probably could have made this better at home.

Cavatappi Bolognese

Overall, it was a good dining experience.

Paninos is located at 857 Village Center Dr in North Oaks, Minnesota.

Tasty Bite

Sometimes, I get a little lazy and I don’t want to cook.

For occasions like this, I usually get something that’s boxed and quick to make. I had tried Tasty Bites before and they were not too bad. I decided to try a new one called Kashmir Spinach.

Tasty Bite Kashmir Spinach

I was disappointed. The envelope enclosed is put in boiling water for a few minutes, then opened and served. The picture makes it look like you get a lot of paneer cheese. If the cheese was there, it had mostly disintegrated. There was a lot of soupy like spinach.

Lucky for them my family was really hungry and we had rice to pour it on.

I don’t think we’ll be buying it again. At least, not this particular one.

Agave Kitchen in Hudson, Wisconsin

It’s hard to find a good place to eat in the Woodbury, Minnesota area. They mostly have a lot of fast food or franchise-type restaurants.

After viewing a couple homes in Hudson, Wisconsin, we headed into their small town looking for a place to have dinner.

Fortunately for us, the place we were going to eat was having a large dinner party and was closed.

Then it happened. We found the Agave Kitchen located in downtown Hudson, Wisconsin. The food was delicious and was similar to what we are used to coming from Seattle, WA which has so many good restaurants to choose from.

When you enter, there is a bar area with booths off to the left. In the back, which is where we sat, there are more booths. The noise level may have been high had we been sitting closer to the front of the restaurant, but in the back, it was fine.

They have a mini menu that you can order things from (and it’s cheaper) which worked great for me because I didn’t want a big meal.

We decided to start with a couple appetizers. (So much for a small dinner … )

Our first appetizer was the portabella mushroom fries.

Portabella Mushroom Fries

My husband and son ate them up rather quickly so I have to assume they were good.

The second appetizer we had were the onion rings.

Agave Kitchen Onion Rings

The waitress had warned us that the onion rings were not round. So — who cares? What she should have warned us (me particularly since I don’t like spicy food) was that they have a bit of a spice added to them. I couldn’t figure out what it was. However, they were so good, I kept eating them in spite of the spice. Delicious! Even if they are a little greasy.

I then had my “dinner” which were the filet mignon sliders.

Agave Kitchen Filet Mignon Sliders

I had never had a “slider” before. These were tiny and served with carmelized onions and bleu cheese crumbles topped with green olives. Again, delicious. I was not disappointed that they were tiny either because they filled the empty spot in my stomach just fine.

My husband had the chicken enchilada.

Agave Kitchen Chicken Enchilada

This looked way too cheesy for me but … it got eaten. The enchilada has shredded chicken mixed with a creamy verde mushroom sauce, covered with more cheese and then baked. It also came with rice and beans. The sides looked a little dry to the eye.

Overall, the best place we’ve eaten since our move to Minnesota. Hudson is right across the St. Croix River so it’s not too far to get to.

Outback Steakhouse in Woodbury, Minnesota

We have been to the Outback Steakhouse before and decided to try it again. This time we had a little challenge in getting the food right.

Being a creature of habit, I ordered the same thing as I did before, the Outback Special which includes a 6 ounce sirloin with 2 sides. I selected the Sweet Potato and the Blue Cheese Pecan Chopped Salad.

They always serve a wonderful warm bread with soft butter on the side.

Outback Steakhouse bread

Then the Blue Cheese Pecan chopped salad is served. This is always one of my favorites. It has the right amount of “bite” to it.

Outback Steakhouse Blue Cheese Pecan Salad

Lastly, the sirloin is served. I always ask for it to be cooked well done — no pink! When I received it, the first thing I did was cut into the steak. Sure enough, it was not well done. Back it went. The manager personally delivered the next steak and kneeled next to the table while I cut into it to make sure it was well done. Nope! Back it went. The third time they got it right.

The manager explained that they had a new cook.

The sirloin was moist and was seasoned very nicely.

Outback Steakhouse Sirloin with Sweet Potato

I always forget to ask them not to put brown sugar and butter in the sweet potato. A sweet potato tastes fine with no added flavoring.

My husband ordered the steak fried steak that comes with green beans and garlic mashed potatoes. I took a bite and it tasted fine. Kind’ve reminded me of my mother’s Puerto Rican empanadas (steak coated in crumbled crackers and then fried).

Steak fried steak

When we received the bill, the manager had deducted the price of the sirloin.

Way to go Outback!

Outback Steakhouse Gift Card

Black Bean and Roasted Pepper Soup

When I’m told “I’m going to make dinner” and the person proceeds to get humongous amounts of red and poblano peppers, my eyebrows go up in “I don’t know about this.”

But, the meal was delicious. This was not spicy like I thought it would be and was served with pumpkin cornbread muffins. Very delicious. Fresh cantaloupe on the side was also served.

Black Bean and Roasted Pepper Soup

You can find the blog and recipe information by clicking here.

Thank you Sam!