Today was probably one of my top 10 days as far as pure bliss and happiness. The weather was pretty cool and sunny this morning all things considered and I woke up feeling semi-good:) We decided to have a do “whatever” day.
The do “whatever” day started with this…
The downtown farmer's market
Look at some of the gorgeous things we saw!
Beautiful flowers
Another flower
Doesn't this make you want to have your own garden?
This could make a whole lotta onion rings!
Sadly this baby pug was not for sale:(
My favorite buy from the market: purple beans
After the market we headed to midtown to eat here.
Enter Ingredient take 2
We thought that we would give Ingredient a 2nd chance as last time we were there they just did not have anything that I wanted on hand. Seriously, when the manager comes out after you finally pick your 5th choice for brunch to apologize you know you have either entered into a bad meal or the place is trying to find its footing. In this case I have decided hands down it is the later. Here is the menu. I ordered the dim sum wrap and had fries as my side because it was our do “whatever” day and hell, I just was in the mood for fries.
The wrap
What I liked:
- The wrap was delicious. The peanut sauce added the right amount of sweet/savory flavor without being too heavy or overpowering. The texture of the whole thing was spot on! The glass noodles, peanuts, and diced veggies had a great crunch in each bite.
- The fries rocked! Nothing better than a well cut fry that comes out crisp on the outside and still a bit soft on the inside.
What I thought could have been better:
- The chicken was supposed to have a curry flavor. If it had curry flavor I could not taste it. What I could taste is the fact that the chicken was of good quality and was grilled. I love the fact that it was grilled, just wish that I could have had more of a curry flavor.
Overall thoughts:
- We would go back again for sure. The menu is so huge and I had a hard time choosing today so I know that it would be no trouble to find something new order. Plus I would love to try the sides of grilled veggies!
- I would say that Ingredient is similar to a Panera (price wise), but with lots of choices and of higher quality.
- You can tell that the staff is still trying to find their way and that they are still in the process of working out the kinks. Even so I would gladly go back a third time without hesitation!
- I love the fact that they source local suppliers and products! They even have The Roasterie as their coffee/tea selection.
As if the day the day could not get any better look where we ended up this afternoon thanks to a radio spot.
O-mazing!
I am a huge fan of ice cream and yogurt and when I heard that the new yogurt shop opened up today we made a b-line to west O for O Red Mango.
Just the facts
Looks like a deal to me
I <3 coconut!
Toppings Bar
Kevin's
Mine
How it works:
- You get a cup and choose from 10 different self serve flavors of frozen yogurt (tasting is welcome)
- Once you are happy with your yogurt you then move on to the buffet of toppings. They range from nuts, to cereal, to fruit and everything in between!
- You then weigh your yogurt concoction and pay up
- Finally, you get to enjoy some frozen paradise!
Brett the manager of this place did an amazing job! We did not know that due to the grand opening today that all yogurt and toppings were free until we got to the register. We were more than happy to wait in line for over 20 minutes even before we knew it was free.
Overall thoughts:
- The yogurt was hands down the best that I have EVER had! I tried most of the available flavors today, but settled on some coconut, blueberry, and Pom.
- Each flavor tasted amazingly fresh like they had captured the essence of what the fruit or flavor actually tastes like. There is no “fake” taste or flavoring.
- I love that there is a buffet of toppings. Sometimes you want fruit and sometimes you want to drench your frozen treat in chocolate. You get to decide just how much.
- It is a gluten-free option for those with allergies.
- Sadly, they were out of Madagascar Vanilla when we went through, I guess that just means I will have to go back:)
- I have a sneaking feeling that this will now be our go to treat, especially when I am back up in riding condition.
There you have it, our do “whatever” Saturday in which we did anything we liked and tasted whatever we wanted.
LIFE IS GOOD!
Enjoy the weekend!
