After doing some blog work at Java Coast I headed to The Counter to meet my cousin, Allie, for lunch. Allie just moved to Chicago so I’m looking forward to getting to spend some time with her now that we’re in the same city for the first time in about 9 years!
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I’d been to The Counter once before with my brother and sister-in-law and I definitely enjoy it because there are a million options! You can either order a burger off their regular menu, or you can make your own!
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Of course, I chose the make your own option. They have a regular burger, a turkey burger, chicken or a veggie burger. They also have a market selection which changes regularly; today it was a crab cake, and that’s what Allie ordered! I went with the turkey burger, which I chose to do over a salad rather than on a bun. Then you get to pick your cheese, toppings, and sauce! They have a million options for each! I went with cole slaw, shaved carrots, scallions, and grilled pineapple with the apricot sauce! It was so good! Unfortunately I completely forgot to take a picture since I was so distracted by getting to see Allie! I promise I’ll work on this problem of mine…
Later on in the afternoon I headed over to my brother and sister-in-law’s condo to take their puppy, Molly, out to the park in an attempt to get some energy out! Did I mention they got a puppy? Because they did, last week, and she’s adorable!!!! And vicious…. She’s currently teething and thus finds it perfectly appropriate to chew every part of my body that she could get a hold on! She drew blood today!
But then you look at that cute puppy face and can’t stay mad for long. Do you see that stick she found? (Okay, I found and shoved in her face to keep her from chewing on my thigh…). She’s pretty darn cute, just can’t wait for this biting phase to be over! Molly is an 8 week-old golden retriever and has tons of energy! One of my favorite things is getting stopped by people and pretending she’s my dog. Haha, I love being “Aunt Katie”; all the fun and much less work! I recommend this method to everyone.
When I got home I was STARVING so I made up some Zucchini “Spaghetti”. I’d heard of making spaghetti from zucchini and I’d been wanting to try it out for a long time. This also became a game of “what can we use up in Katie’s kitchen?”. I’m heading home to Kansas City on Friday for a week and I need to use up perishables!
To start, I used a peeler and peeled the skin off the zucchini and then kept using the peeler until I had peeled it into tons of thin slices! Took forever… I then steamed that in the microwave for about 3 minutes.
Once that was done, I put chopped broccoli, onions, green onions and chickpeas in a bowl and steamed that as well for about 2 minutes. I tossed it on top of the “spaghetti” and threw on some marinara sauce! It was absolutely delicious!
And, of course, I finished the evening off with some sugar free instant pudding mix in Greek yogurt (tonight was butter scotch!).
Does anyone else have/had/or know someone with a puppy? They can be adorable, but frustrating all at the same time! Anyone else have the same feelings?
All I can say, is I’m glad I’m “aunt” Katie. Kudos to my brother and sister-in-law for being such great, patient parents!