Locals Eats: Thai Basil

This week's stop as Thai Basil with some friends.  It was so hard to find!!!  It is in a shopping center that I am familiar with and we could hardly find it and here is why:

We drove around the whole place so confused.  I actually tried to scout it out on an earlier date and couldn't find it!  My friend in the car spotted it for us!  We walked in and the atmosphere was ok, felt a little cheap to me.  We sat at a table in a little secluded room by itself.  The place was a little muggy but I think that's because we are transitioning between summer and fall and they had the windows open. 

The prices seemed pretty good (about $8-$10 for lunch dishes) but when they came out they were really small.  Not that I minded because I could actually finish my lunch and not feel stuffed but our usual haunt (Rama Thai) has the same prices, same quality food, and serves at least a little bigger portions so I can get away with 2 meals out of it!

I got the pineapple curry and it was actually very good!  Everyone was really happy with the way their food tasted so that is a major plus.  We even had some Thai-newbies with us.  But seriously, lots of sauce here, little food.  Hm.  And the service was a bit weird.  She brought out the dishes one by one (I guess as they were ready in the kitchen).  We all could have easily finished eating before one of us got his food!  Odd.  So overall, not bad but not great either.  I would go to Rama Thai if you had the choice.  They are close enough that if you are going for dinner, its a good idea.  We went during lunch hour so we picked what was closest!

Thai Basil
199 New Rd #72
Linwood, New Jersey

(609) 926-9339

Local Eats: Peter's Diner

This was from last weekend.  We often stop at this diner on the way home from Philadelphia because it is along the back way home.  We usually stop in there pretty late then but this time we decided to meet a friend for breakfast on Saturday on our way to Ikea (in Philadelphia).  Its been pretty good every time I've gone and the service is always okay.  Not great but not bad.  They also give you tons of food it seems so I guess its a good price!

Anyway, it started off bad right away.  I wasn't in the mood to argue and while ordering my breakfast, I asked about grapefruit juice and she said "cranberry?"  and I just blew it off.  That annoys Rob because I didn't argue but I was happy with either and wasn't in the mood to correct this waitress (she seemed like she didn't want to be bothered by doing her job that day).  Then Rob tried to order the pancake special but asked to get a short stack instead.  She argued with him and rang him up with the short stack plus a coffee and a side of bacon which was way more expensive than the special (and he didn't get OJ).  Overall, not happy with the service!  This was just one waitress so I won't say the whole place is terrible.  This waitress was just awful.

My food was pretty good.  I just got scrambled eggs with homefries, toast, and bacon. 

Just normal breakfast!  I think everyone was happy with their order so that is a plus!  And I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing about the diner but they have a HUGE dessert display.

When we stop in late night, we sit at the counter a lot there.  I've never actually gotten any of the desserts!  They all look delicious but they are all gigantic servings too so I know I can't eat it unless I split it with someone.  Overall, we were annoyed with the waitress but fine with the food.  Nothing amazing here really.  The place is always packed.  We've actually had to wait for a table before.  The atmosphere there is pretty nice.  If you are driving by and just want to grad some basic diner food, then this place is fine but I wouldn't go out of your way.  Good late night eats!

Peter's Diner

1741 S Black Horse Pike
Williamstown, New Jersey 08094
(856) 740-4422

Local Eats: Formica Brothers Bakery Cafe (Northfield)

I love Formica Brother's.  I don't go here nearly enough.  It is just as it says, a bakery.  You walk in, surrounded by amazing breads and pastries, temptation at every turn!

 

I actually stopped here twice in one week!  We go to the Northfield location (which isn't the original - in Atlantic City)  Rob and I decided to head over to try a different place for breakfast.  Not too many choices for breakfast since it is a bakery and not a breakfast place but enough for us.  Rob got a simple pork roll and cheese on a bagel and I got one of the specials.

Scrambled eggs with peppers and cheese on a multigrain roll.  Oh this was so delicious.  I love their multigrain bread and that is the main thing I wanted here.  LoL.  It was pretty big and I didn't finish it all but that is mostly because I got a scone also:

I asked them to warm it up so they threw it on their panini press for a second.  It was delicious!  I absolutely love scones.  They aren't too sweet but just right for me.  I added a bit of butter for moisture since scones are usually pretty dry.  Honestly, this one was not and I probably could have skipped the butter!  So delicious!

Then a few days later, I made plans to meet a friend there for lunch.  I went with the turkey and avocado sandwich and she got the rueben.  I was jealous!

I just love that picture of the melty delicious cheese.  Soooo tempting!  I was really happy with my sandwich though too.  I ate half and saved the rest for the next day.  The avocado held up well and it tasted fine as leftovers!

One of my favorite things about this place though is how friendly people always are.  I always feel welcome and at home when I go in there.  I tend to be indecisive when I'm there so I'm probably an annoying customer.  Just too many delicious things to choose from!  They always answer all my questions though and do their best to make your food the way you want it.  Besides all that, their bread is just amazing.  If you are in the area, just stop in for a roll to snack on! 

It is a little pricier because it is a nice bakery but I think it is totally worth the extra little bit.  The atmosphere is great, you can see right into the kitchen in the back where they bake the bread (big glass window).  The pastries, breads, and sandwiches are all to die for.  Definitely one of my favorite stops!

Formica Bros. Bakery Cafe

Kensington Square
200 North Tilton Road
Northfield, New Jersey, 08225
Telephone: (609)-646-6565

Weekend & 5K Report!

Will I ever get a completely free weekend?  No, I don't think so either.  Ah well, at least it makes for interesting blogs.  I wish I had more time yesterday to blog so I could have split these up.  Anyway!


Friday, I was feeling super cute in my new jeans from Target for 4.95!  AWESOME!  So I snuck a picture in the bathroom at work.  Hehe :)  Rob and I stayed home Friday which bored me out of my mind but he is always tired from work.  He took a cute picture of me on the couch.  Otto (one of the kittens) cuddled with me for like 3 hours.  Seriously, Otto loves me!














Saturday, Rob was working overtime (yeah paid overtime!  Woohoo!) so I was free to do as I pleased.  I wanted to run errands after I worked out.  I played my UFC Trainer game for Kinect (it is really a workout and not a game) and had a blast!  I punched and kicked away for about 25 minutes.  Can't wait to play that game again!  My arms were pretty sore this morning.  Took a picture for a challenge for my Fabulous Fitness team (on Facebook and Spark People).  Anyway, so with my free day, I invited my mom out for breakfast and errands.  Well, we went to breakfast and got side tracked in Historic Smithville.  They have a bunch of cute shops and it was such a beautiful day, how could we pass it up?

 This was a cute little figurine they had at the breakfast place.  How adorable!!!

 OMG, Vera Bradley overload!  I got a new wallet and had to resist the rest!  This was in a florist that I always skipped.  Not anymore!

 This shop (above) had an amazing loose leaf tea selection.  You could fill a little baggie or a little mason jar.  I got a baggie full of one of their green teas and I can't wait to try it!  They had a bunch of other cool stuff too (like this magazine called "Mary Jane's Farm" I think.  It was awesome but I wasn't in the mood for buying it).

We stopped at the bakery and our stuff just looked so cute on the flowery tablecloth! Anyway,  it was an excellent day spent with mom just walking and chatting.  Definitely nice to enjoy the beautiful weather too!

I came home to the most wonderful surprise ever:

I follow "Tina Haurpert" (blogger Carrots 'N' Cake) on Open Sky, a website where she can post her favorite products.  You may remember a while back when I bought stainless steel straws from there. I was so excited to get my 6 jars of Teddy Peanut Butter.  I have problems:

So I'm going to be eating a whole lot o' peanut butter for a while!  YUM!!!

In other news, we have a broody hen!!!  That means that one (actually 2) of our hens are sitting on their eggs (and others) trying to hatch them.  It about 2 weeks we are going to have more chicks!  We have to separate them from the rest of the chickens though or the roosters will try to kill the chicks.  I guess we're going to be busy figuring that out this week!

I also checked on my garden and things are looking good!  Can't wait to reap the labors of my hard work!

Saturday afternoon we had to make an appearance at a barbecue and then we headed home early to get ready for my 5K today!  I set out my clothes and got everything ready:

You have got to love my orange shorts, right?  I have a little bit of an obsession with bright colors :)  Here are some pictures from our 5K.  It was Christmas in July for the Salvation Army but apparently they don't make red for women in workout clothing!!!  Hence the crazy colors.  Oh, and I officially made the conversion to sports undies.  The blue things are underwear shorts.  Best. Purchase. Ever.  Loved them today during my race!  Never going to wear normal undies during a workout ever again!!!  So now you've seen the true color of my shorts, on to the pictures where the sun washed out the color for the photos:

Of course, we had to get a picture with Santa!  I was running this with my friend Lauren who you've all heard of before.  Her friend Kate was there too who I've met a few times.  The above picture would have been super cute if that mean guy didn't try to blow past me!  Oh well!
I wasn't really sure what I was going to do today but I was feeling pretty good.  I got hung up in the start line sprint and it felt good so I kept a steady speed.  I checked my Garmin a few times (which actually worked today!!) to make sure the pace wasn't *too* fast though.  Kate was right behind me and asked about our pace and I laughed that she knew why I kept checking my watch.  I hung out with her and her hubby for the first 2 miles.  I couldn't believe how quick we were!  During the second half (it was an out and back), it was HOT and I was feeling overheated.  Around 2.25 miles, I decided to slow down a bit and let them go.  If it wasn't so hot, I would have been able to hang at that pace I think!

With the finish line in sight, only about .10 to go, I could hear heavy breathing to my back left that... sounded like Lauren's boyfriend!  Eek!  So I picked it up but his long 6'2 legs just slaughtered me and he beat me by about 2-3 seconds!  Haha!!!

That is Joe and see my bright orange shorts back there???  But I came in quickly!

 30:04!  My current PR!  My 5Ks have just been getting faster since my first one.  This is a good streak I need to keep up!  And Lauren rolled in about a minute later!

I am so glad Lauren kept with the running.  She is doing great with it, seriously.  She is smoking my times from my 5Ks!  Anyway, we got a post run sweaty picture:

Just same random pictures.  We hung around for a while since one of the guys had put in tickets for the penny auction.  I also said since it was such a small 5K that we should wait for the awards.  They all laughed at me, saying we were all too slow.  I just reminded them that maybe there were so few people in the age group that one of us might have a chance.  Well, Lauren got 3rd place in her age group!!!!  She was so shocked and I was happy for her!!

She was totally shocked and excited!  She got a cool medal and a gift card to Wendy's (which happens to be across the street from her house, lol).  Here is my race report from my Garmin:

Garmin Website

At first I was bummed I didn't beat a 30 minute 5K (by 4 seconds!!!) but then I realized that a 5K is 3.1 miles, not 3!!!  So my average pace was 9:40!  That is super fast for me!!!  Also, my last 1/10 of a mile, my pace was 8 minute/mile!  Wow!  I am definitely getting a little faster :)  This was definitely a fun race today, way better than I was expecting.  I think I am going to pick more small 5Ks like this one to run.  Big races are fun to do when they are long ones because they are better supplied but for a 5K, it doesn't really matter.  Its all about the fun and raising money! Oh, and the best part about running in Atlantic City?  We got to the outlets afterwards.  This is my version of Heaven: