Goodbye Auburn!

While in Auburn I fell in love with a lot of the food that was special only to Auburn. I decided I would share some of my favorite food and restaurants there.

Barbecue House

Barbecue House is one of the stops you must take if you're ever there. Not for lunch or dinner, but for breakfast. It rivals for best breakfast ever. I usually order a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit, but really anything is delicious.

Chicken Salad Chick

Chicken Salad Chick was new to Auburn when I first moved there and quickly became popular among the students and the locals. My favorite thing to order is the buffalo barclay chicken salad on a crescent. You definitely don't want to leave the restaurant without trying their grape salad. It is heaven on earth.

Veggies To Go















Veggies to go is the place to go if you're wanting a southern style meal fast. There is no way I could pick a favorite combination of food there. I will say that I love their meatloaf, but other than that I mix up what veggies I want on the side.

Big Blue Bagel

Big Blue Bagel has branched out from Auburn, but it is one of my favorite places to go to for lunch. I have moved from favorite meals there several times through the years I lived in Auburn. My latest favorite and what is pictured above is the California on an everything bagel. It has cream cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, and brussel sprouts.

Momma Goldberg's Deli

Momma G's is the perfect place for lunch, dinner, or a really late night meal. It is defiantly the place every Auburn student has gone on a monthly bases if not a weekly basis. I usually order a momma's love all the way with nachos (doritos, melted pepper jack cheese, and jalapenos).

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is one of the more expensive restaurants in Auburn, but it is totally worth it. My favorites there are their cobb salad and their turkey wraps. One of their specialties is sweet potato chips. Them dipped in honey mustard dressing is soooooo good!

Fuji's

Fuji is known for their sushi. They have the best in Auburn. I liked to mix it up when I went there, but most of the time with a ginger salad and either a california roll or a kasakami roll unless I was feeling adventurous.

Zazu

While Zazu has great entrees, their dessert is the best thing on the menu. If you ever go there you must order a s'mores waffle. It is one of the best tasting desserts around!

Old-Fashioned Meat Loaf

Yield: 4 servings * Overall Price: ~$15 * Calories: 340



 Ingredients:

Served here with mashed potatoes and green beans

1 pound ground beef

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped bell pepper

1 egg, lightly beaten

8 ounces canned diced tomatoes with juice

1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

Toppings:

1/3 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon prepared mustard

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix all meatloaf ingredients well and place in a baking dish. Shape into a loaf.
Toppings:

Mix ingredients for topping and spread on loaf. Bake for 1 hour.

Thoughts:

This recipe is from Paula Deen. I didn't use bell peppers because I don't like them, so I substituted them with green chilies. It was really easy to make.

Swimmer Cake Pops

When I was home a couple weeks ago, me and Andrew talked about how you could make a swimmer cake pop. I decided I would try to make them before finals week took over my life. I'm sending him a box full to see if I pass the swimmer's test.


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Loaded Potato Soup

Yield: 4 servings * Overall Price: $13.71 * Calories: 325

Ingredients:

4 (6-ounce) red potatoes
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup prechopped onion
1 1/4 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups 1% low-fat milk, divided
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 bacon slices, halved
1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4 teaspoons thinly sliced green onions

Directions:
1. Pierce potatoes with fork. Microwave on high 13 minutes or until tender. Cut half; cool slightly.
2. While potatoes cook, heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; saute 3 minutes. Add broth. Combine flour and 1/2 cup milk. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Cook 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream, salt, and pepper.
3. Arrange bacon on a paper towel on a microwave-safe plate. Cover with a paper towel; microwave on high for 4 minutes. Crumble bacon.
4. Discard potato skins. Coarsely mash potatoes into soup. Top with cheese, green onions, and bacon.

Thoughts:
This was pretty easy to make. Embarrassingly enough I had to re-make it because I burnt it the first time around, so make sure to keep an eye on it even though the recipe has you doing more than one thing at once. This tasted pretty good, but if you were going on taste alone I would use a different type of potato besides red potatoes.

Chick Cake Pops

When I was home my mom wanted me to make some cake pops for the people where she works, so I made these chick cake pops since it's getting close to Easter.

Chicken Breasts with a Parmesan Crumb Topping

Yield: 4 servings * Overall Price: ~$20 * Calories: ~300

When I went home last week, I decided to make my parents dinner. They really enjoyed not having to cook and thought the meal was delicious.

Served here with spaghetti and ciabatta bread

Ingredients:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
5 tbsp pesto sauce
3/4 cup fresh ciabatta breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
finely grated rind of 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425*F. Cut a deep slash into each chicken breast to make a pocket.
2. Open out the chicken breasts and spread 1 tablespoon of the pesto into each pocket.
3. Fold the chicken flesh back over the pesto and place in an ovenproof dish.
4. Mix the remaining pesto with the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and lemon rind.
5. Spread the breadcrumb mixture over the chicken breasts. Season with salt and pepper to taste and drizzle with the oil.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until the juices run clear when a skewer is inserted into the thickest part of the meat.

Thoughts:
This was pretty easy to make. It was hard to find ciabatta bread crumbs pre-crumbled, so my dad was nice enough to toast the bread then crumble it. I would definitely make this again.

Citrus-Roasted Salmon

Yield: 4 servings * Overall Price: ~$15 * Calories: 366

Served here with sautéed zucchini and corn

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons honey
4 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 (6-ounce) can thawed orange juice concentrate
4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets, skinned (1 inch thick)
cooking spray

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400*
2. Combine first 9 ingredients in a bowl; brush both sides of fish with orange mixture. Reserve remaining orange mixture. Place fish on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400* for 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.
3. Place remaining orange mixture in a small saucepan; bring to a boil, and cook until reduced to 1/2 cup (about 2 minutes). Serve with fish.

Thoughts:
This is the first meal I've made that I haven't really liked. It had a really strong fake orange taste to it. It got better as I went along, but I wouldn't make this again.