Tag Archives: pizza

Mondo Monday!

You really have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to use that title. Basically since before I even visited Mondo in Middletown, CT a week ago today (last Monday) for some tasty Groupon-funded pizza! Colin of Taste of New Haven and I hit up that particular spot because he is an avid pizza lover (New Haven, pizza, obvious connection), and nothing is more fun than dining with a fellow foodie! Middletown was also a nice central location between the Hartford and New Haven areas.

View from our seats (we sat by the bar). Image courtesy of mondomiddletown.com.

We started with a small tapas-style Misto Plate, which I forgot to take a photo of (d’oh), but it did contain some tasty things. So, you can’t blame me when I was so excited that I dove right in and forgot my blogging duties. I love sampler plates, and this one contained a perfectly-portioned mix of dressed greens, polenta croutons, prosciutto, fresh cheese, marinated red peppers, and olives. I had a little of everything, but I have to say the polenta croutons were my favorite items on the plate. So crispy and satisfying!

For our pizza, we went with something I’ve been dying to try for so long: Oozy Egg Pizza!

Mozz and romano cheeses, egg, truffle oil, and half prosciutto (my half).

This pizza was beyond beyond incredible. The crust was at the perfect crispness: a satisfying crunch, and strong enough to eat one-handed (you know what I mean…nothing is more annoying than a weak crust that leaves toppings falling off a slice, no matter how delicious). The lack of sauce didn’t take away from the pizza at all – in fact, it added to it. White pizza was the only way to go on this one. The prosciutto and egg on my half combined to give me the taste of a breakfast sandwich on a pizza – but I’m not talking about an Egg McMuffin here. It tasted completely gourmet!

No bite was left standing – obviously. Mondo has so many other pies that I want to try and I hope to get back for another visit sometime. It’s a bit far from my house but I really think my mom would enjoy their veggie pie – and they even offer wheat and gluten-free crust options!

I cannot believe that Thanksgiving is in just a few days…this year has absolutely flown by. I’m hoping winter flies by just as fast so I can get to spring already!

Have you ever tried runny egg on a pizza? Do you like prosciutto on any other types of pizza?

Definition of Random

Happy to say that I was in a better mood yesterday – thank you for your de-stressing tips! This post is pretty random, but I have a lot of thoughts floating around in my head today.

I had a good day at work yesterday and an interesting class (Law, Business, and Society – we learned about torts and product liability) at night. Something I learned involved the famous lawsuit in which a woman was initially awarded $2.7 million in damages from McDonald’s for the third degree burns she suffered from as a result of spilling their 190-degree coffee on herself. I always thought the reward was ridiculous, but after hearing the full story from my professor, I’m actually changing my tune a bit. Turns out McDonald’s knew about their coffee being hot enough to cause 3rd degree burns within several seconds, but opted not to decrease the temperature after deciding that the money they would continue to pay out in settlements to people with burns was worth spending, compared to the money they’d lose in profit if they made their coffee the same temperature as everyone else’s. And that is why the punitive damages amounted to $2.7 million – because that is the amount of profit McDonald’s was making on its coffee in a single day. The punitive damages had a meaning and sent a message, which is indeed a function of punitive damages. So maybe the award wasn’t so ridiculous after all – what do you think? You learn something new everyday!

In other news, Faith Hill had her big comeback into country music at the CMA’s on Wednesday night. I was a bit annoyed when I was watching my DVR recording last night, and she started singing OneRepublic’s “Come Home” for her performance. I LOVE OneRepublic and their first album is one of my favorite albums of all time (and it has that song). I’m going to make an assumption (so that may make an ass out of me, but I digress) that many people watching the CMA’s didn’t know that she is not the original singer of this song because they may not know OneRepublic’s first album very well. If you’re gonna make a comeback, make it with a new song! Now many people probably don’t realize she’s covering it!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxW0cPo7F_o]

I have so many posts that I have been planning for you guys! I have all these backed up food photos that I want to post today, but hopefully soon you guys will be seeing posts on:

For now, just check out some pictures of food I’ve been eating.

Fiber One whole wheat english muffin, topped with banana and Cinnamon Raisin PB

Saturday’s breakfast – this is my favorite plate ever from my childhood 🙂 and my favorite breakfast that I hadn’t had in FOREVER! Also, I finished that jar of Cinnamon Raisin Swirl yesterday morning. Sad – but I did open a jar of Mighty Maple today!

Packed salad and fruit/cottage cheese while I waited to get my car check-up.

Had egg whites and Moe’s black beans as my protein in the above salad beast.

BBQ chicken and veggie pizza slices.

I came home for dinner Monday night and was surprised to find Giovanni’s pizza waiting for me – PSYCHED. I love their pizza. So thin and crispy!

Moe's black beans + pico de gallo

Needed a little somethin’ on the side.

Roasted brussell sprouts and whole wheat pasta

Tuesday my mom surprised me with those brussells and like the nerd I am, I was psyched. On the spaghetti we put the bruschetta-flavored oil dip mix that I got at the AppleFest. It was just as good as the sample I had there!

Meatloaf, pico, roasted brussells, and broccoli

Tonight I had an awesome dinner – the above (baby) plate, eaten with my (baby) fork, plus more meatloaf and some kalamata olive bread I got at the farmer’s market recently.

Yoplait plain greek yogurt and Uncle Sam strawberry cereal

Just finished off the above snack – dumped the yogurt out of the container into the cup and mixed with the cereal.
I’m headed to Group Step after work today – can’t wait!

What’d you have for dinner last night?

October Opportunities

Happy October! I can’t believe September is already gone. It seriously flew by! Though I love summer and being warm, I did get a little excited as I was driving to the Coventry Farmer’s Market yesterday (gonna have to post about my purchases ASAP) and saw the fall foliage creeping onto the trees, as well as signs announcing various local fall festivals and Halloween events. I love me some fall! EDIT: Right after posting this I discovered I had won two free tickets to the AppleFest that I mention in this post – is that fate or what!?

Right near my dorm!

Meghann did a post on things about October that she is looking forward to, and though mine may not be as hardcore as hers (marathon training? Umm…) I thought it sounded like a good way to get myself excited about the month ahead and give other people ideas for fun things they can do this fall at the same time!

Amazing fall beverage I had on Saturday: bourbon infused with peach, apple, and cinnamon at Rooftop120 in Glastonbury, CT.

So for those of you who want to know…what am I looking forward to about October?

1. Visiting Tennessee

Orange Nation AKA my family.

In the last weekend of this month, my family and I get to fly down to UT to see my sister and catch a football game! I’m so excited to see Hannah’s school and her dorm, and also to tailgate and attend my first UT football game since I was very young. My family is made up of some die-hard Vols fans, and despite being a UConn alum, I will always be a Vol through and through! I was just raised that way. There really is nothing like SEC football and I’m hoping the fall weather will be out in full-force for the game to add to the fun, cozy vibe of bonding over the game with my family.

Yes, that was my uncle’s 50th birthday cake.

2. Fall Festivals

Oh wow, just thinking about all the fall-like events I have lined up for this month gets me so psyched! The AppleFest in my town is always a huge deal, and like a townie nerd I seriously can’t wait. I even plan to volunteer at our church’s baked potato booth at this event, and if you didn’t know already, I’m a serious baked potato addict.

I also just recently found out about a few wine-and-cheese festivals at local farms that are reasonably priced and will be happening in the weekends to come. I am so excited to try new wines, cheeses, and more, as well as support local farms and vineyards. They’re all so reasonably priced and it’s a good idea to do a local search to find out if anything like this is happening in your area!

Corn maze in South Windsor, CT.

I’m also pretty excited to completely nerd out and check out the CT Renaissance Faire and their Halloween Knights event this weekend. I love all things Halloween and Lidia and I are planning to hit up this thing to shop, eat, and oh yeah, dress up. Yes, I ordered a costume off of WalMart.com.

Lidia and I are no strangers to nerding out when it comes to fall activities.

3. Halloween

Even though I am unfortunately past the age of trick-or-treating, and now past the age of college bar-hopping as well (I maintain my opinion that Halloween is the best weekend of college each year), I still can’t help but get excited for Halloween. I’ve already started decorating my work cubicle and bought a little ladybug outfit to wear there since the holiday falls on a Monday. This will also totally reflect how much of a grandma I am, but I’m excited to spend my first Halloween at home handing out candy. Please don’t make fun of me. I think it’ll just be fun to see the excited kids in their costumes!

There’s really nothing like a college Halloween.

I also think that it’ll get old after about 15 minutes since a) no one ever comes to our house and b) I can’t really stand kids. But we’ll see how it goes.

If a Green Man shows up on my front step, I’ll be shocked.

4. FOLIAGE.

Foliage right by my house!

There’s really not much more I can say about this. I just love fall leaves. LOVE THEM. On a sunny day there is just nothing more beautiful than driving down a road framed on either side by orange, yellow, and red leaved trees.

Driving through upstate NY.

5. School

I’m such a loser. But yes you read that right, I enjoy school and in October, we really start getting into the meat of material in courses now that we’re past the intro stuff. So yes, I am looking forward to school. Maybe not starting my ten-page paper, but at least it’s on a subject that I’m interested in (corporate ethics and marketing in the fast food industry). And with school also comes more time studying in my new favorite cafe each weekend. Their newest coffee flavor is chocolate dipped banana – what’s not to love?

What are you looking forward to most this coming month? Do you have any goals for the month that you want to share?

PS. Completely off-topic but I totally forgot to post one of my pizza creations in my pizza making post!

Broccoli and fat-free ricotta. Not the most creative of pies but certainly tasty. Those are roasted brussels on the side 🙂 favorite roasted veggie.

Quirky Eating Techniques

Eek, talk about a boring title! At least it tells you what this post is about right? Give me some time to get this title thing down, I swear I will!

The other day I got to thinking about weird habits we have when eating certain foods. I’m not talking about weird choices of food or odd combinations. I’m talking about quirky ways you eat some foods. I think it’s interesting to hear what others do and thought I’d share some of my weird ways!

How I Eat a Sandwich

When making myself a sandwich, I cut off the crusts. I usually munch on about half of them while I’m building away, but end up throwing the rest out. Once it’s time to dig in, I like to eat all the edges off of the sandwich first. I start at a random point and eat until I’m left with a circular-shaped sandwich. Then I kinda attack the circle arbitrarily, and my whole system goes out the window. But without fail, I must eat the edges first! I have no explanation for this, but have been doing so since I was 5 years old or so, which is when I started living off an average of three peanut butter sandwiches a day (this continued until age 18).

My rule probably wouldn't even have worked on this monstrous turkey sandwich from the food court at MGM Grand's Foxwoods Casino

How I Eat Pizza

I’ve got to start at the end, of course. Once I got caught starting at the crust, due to a blistering-hot pizza slice that I couldn’t wait to dig into, and got caught in the action. That’s how weird my friend thought it was that I was eating pizza that way.

Cheese slice at Giovanni's Brick Oven Pizza in Glastonbury, CT

But I swear that’s not the norm! I have to start at the end of a slice, stop at the crust, and set it all aside on my plate. Then after I’m done with the “heart” of the pizza (and you can be rest assured I’ll finish it all), I like to assess how full I am. Usually I have room for at least a few of those crunchy, delicious crusts. Sometimes I have room for all of them! But the bottom line is I like to fill up on the actual pizza portion of the pie first, and then do crust if I have room. Waste not, my friends.

How I Eat Pears

I like to hold pears (bosc only please) at the end with the stem, and eat what I call the “butt” of the pear first. I think that’s the most satisfying, “meaty” part! And I know there’s a little stem part at the bottom (not a stem, not sure exactly what it’s called) but I just eat that. And I often times end up eating some seeds when I get to the core, and I don’t care. As my friend Kim says, I let very few portions of the pear go to waste. My sister says it reminds her of an ice cream cone.

Picture a pear instead of an ice cream cone. Same thing.

How I Eat Kiwis

I eat the skin. No more explanations needed, right? You think that’s weird enough I’m sure. I really like the skin though and I bite into kiwis like they’re apples. I actually picked up that habit off of blogs.

How I Eat Salads

I MUST chop my salads into the tiniest pieces possible. I can’t stand picking up a huge spinach leaf with my fork and awkwardly trying to get the whole thing in my mouth (that’s what she said, I know) or taking a bite that just has WAY too much of one flavor in it. I love salads but always have to put a good two minutes (minimum) into chopping them up. Of course when a restaurant has a chopped salad, that’s even better, but it’s rare that a restaurant will satisfy my salad standards enough for me to actually order one.

Eyebrow Raising

And my weirdest quirk of all…my eyebrows. Let me explain. Whenever I bite into anything, if it’s a bite of ANY substance, I must raise my eyebrows. I don’t know why it happens. It’s not like they’ll pull my mouth wider or anything! But it’s just a natural reaction to taking a bite, and one all my friends poke fun at.

Caught in the act with a wild boar burger at Ray's Hell Burger Too in DC.

Are you guys as weird as I am? Share your eating quirks!

Adventures in Pizza Making

I decided a few months ago to give pizza my title of “favorite food”, especially since so much can be done with it to add in terms of using additional awesome foods as toppings. So essentially, one could take pizza and have a perfectly acceptable vehicle to pile on, let’s say, your top 5 favorite foods.  “Well I love peanut butter, so that won’t work,” you might say. NOT SO FAST! Randy’s Wooster St. Pizza offers an amazing peanut-butter bacon white pie. See, anything is possible in the world of pizza!

Back at school in my senior year, I was lucky enough to have some friends who both had kitchen-equipped apartments and shared my love for pizza. Our minds dreamed up all kinds of amazing combos, some taken from our favorite restaurants, some very traditional, and some never-before-seen (by our eyes, anyway). If you can forgive another post of iPhone photos, I thought I’d share some of the awesome combos we created and sampled last year.

Breakfast pizza: salsa, egg beaters, goat cheese, broccoli, red pepper, tomato, turkey sausage on Boboli wheat crust

The eggbeaters worked well on this, and I think using salsa instead of marinara really kept the breakfast theme going since salsa and eggs are definitely a combo that isn’t unheard of!

Pesto, olives, feta, grilled chicken, pepper

Conventional – but delish!

Bosc pears, caramelized onions, brie, walnuts, egg whites, agave nectar.

This may be my favorite combo out of any in this post. The agave nectar was UNREAL on this pizza. And the brie made it.

Mexican vegetarian pizza (fat-free refried beans, shredded cheese, olives, crumbled taco shells, peppers, onions, salsa)

Served side-by-side with some chicken enchiladas!

Fruit pizza (cool whip, kiwi, blueberries, strawberries, banana, unsweetened cocoa powder chocolate sauce)

The recipe for the chocolate sauce used in the above pizza can be found here! I’ve made this a couple of times (for fondue too) and it’s an AMAZING healthy option for a dessert. You don’t even need to use the evaporated milk it calls for – I just used skim!

Bison burger pizza (bison, ketchup, mustard, pickles, shredded cheese, tomato, shredded lettuce)

Definitely not your conventional burger pizza. Those are popping up all over the place lately, but I’ve never seen one made with bison before! Very worth the $8 for the pound of meat. It was amazing!

And of course you can see the Greek pizza that Jeff and I made in my previous post about Greek food.

What’s the weirdest pizza combo you’ve tried?

Meet Caitlin

I’m a 28 year old full-time working girl living in Boston (previously lived in Connecticut). I’m passionate about food/drink, restaurants, self-love, fitness, and the ever-present search for balance. I write about that journey on this blog – I hope you enjoy!

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Design Credit

My header was originally designed by Mai Le and later tweaked by Chris Roggi to match this theme, which he helped me customize. He also moved me over to self-hosting! Both can be contacted through their sites for design & development work!

Disclaimer

I am not an RD and do not have any official training, certifications, or degrees in nutrition or fitness. This blog is a way to write about my life. Any views I express are mine alone, based on what works for me, and should never be taken as medical advice. Always talk to your doctor or a trained professional before starting a new diet or fitness plan. In addition, this blog and its content are in no way affiliated with Kate Gosselin, “Kate Plus 8”, TLC, or any related affiliates.

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