Daylee Public House - To Go

Daylee Public House outdoor patio - on W. Main Street
Photo: Daylee Public House

It's no secret that I am a fan of Daylee Public House. I have introduced many people to Megan and her lovely establishment and have never had a bad experience. She makes you feel like you are with family when you are there (and the good family, not the crazy uncle that bothers you.)

Heat lamp at Daylee Public House
Photo: Daylee Public House

Daylee is good for small groups, large groups, private parties, catering, and more. There is plenty of space inside and out, and she caters to all seasons!

Grilled cheese and tomato bisque at Daylee Public House
Photo: Daylee Public House

My co-workers and I went to lunch on a very chilly Friday afternoon and ordered tomato bisque and fancy grilled cheeses from the menu. Though she has a create your own grilled cheese, we were all drooling over her menu options and ordered those. The boursin cheese and fresh ingredients put her grilled sammies over the top.

NEW Wraps at Daylee Public House
Photo: Daylee Public House

Megan also shared with us that she has four wraps on her menu now as well. I love a good wrap sandwich and these look amazing. I can't wait to try them out.

Soup to go at Daylee Public House
Photo: Daylee Public House

Besides just going to Daylee's for a meal and a good time, you can bring Daylee's home to your family. Megan keeps a fully-stocked freezer of take-and-bake meals that range from soups and sides to entrees and desserts.

Take and Bake Meals
Photo: Daylee Public House

I couldn't resist her freezer when we were there and brought home meatloaf (for two) and lasagna rollups (for the family).

The hubby was very excited to see the meatloaf in the freezer that we made it the next day. Every package comes labeled with the ingredients and directions. I whipped up some of my favorite creamy mashed potatoes and let the oven do the rest of the work with the meatloaf.

Daylee Public House Bacon BBQ Meatloaf

My mom makes a good meatloaf--I have never had much luck making one. Megan's is really, really good. It's juicy and the bacon takes it to another level. As you can see I like my potatoes because the meatloaf portion was decent sized and I loaded on the taters!

Other meals of Daylee's that I have taken home included stuffed meatballs, meat lasagna, and glazed carrots--all were fantastic. You can stop in and seen what Megan has Tuesday through Saturday or email her and she will respond and let you know what is currently available. I have never had a difficult time finding something I would like to eat from her selection.

As for catering, she will make you whatever you wish for your event--the skies the limit. My bridal shower was held at Daylee's and my mom and I put together a menu of our favorite items and Megan surpassed all our expectations with the food.

So consider Daylee's for all your eating and drinking needs. And watch my blog soon as I attempt to recreate her tomato bisque and grilled cheese at home.

Qdoba Loaded Tortilla Soup

I don't often get many packages on my front porch, but when I do, they are boxes full of awesome from Qdoba.

One of my fiance's little ladies brought in a large box from the front stoop and I was baffled as to what could be inside. To my very happy surprise, it was a promo box from Qdoba all about their new Loaded Tortilla Soup. The box contained a flyer, jump drive, canteen, hat, and Qdoba card loaded with two soups and drinks.

My guy found a perfectly chilly night to go try this out. I am always a fan of deep fried tortilla taco shells and it seems that every place has their own way of doing it.

Basically you build this just like any other item on their menu and customize it with what ingredients you want inside. The only difference is the broth that they add to all your ingredients.

My guy and I had our made identically with chicken and all sorts of yummy veggies, etc added.

Of course top it with cheese and sour cream and we were ready to enjoy.

Because the shells are holding liquid, I would recommend this is something you eat right away. I started by breaking off pieces of the shell and scooping up some of the thicker soup with it. It definitely had a kick, but I could manage.

I really didn't think at first that there was much food in the shell, but by the time I made it half way through, I was feeling quite full. It was very delicious and I would order it again but with more sour cream for my sensitive buds!

I really enjoy that Qdoba is branching out in many different directions from their original burrito menu. Their chips and cheese is still my fave in town and you can see me once every other week leaving Qdoba with a three cheese nachos on my lunch. 

If you don't want soup, definitely try the nachos or the girls' favorite, the quesadilla. And the chips, you must get their chips. The lime salt blend on them makes them irresistible for me.

However, with our lack of "late Spring temps" lately, this soup would be a perfect warm up meal to get you thinking of summer heat!  Or have it for Cinco de Mayo next week!

Thank you Qdoba for supplying me with this opportunity to learn more about your latest menu creation and be able to try it. I can't wait to see what you have in store next!

Key Westconsin Soup N Salad

I have been trying to bring a lunch with me to work every day, but occasionally I like to splurge and head on out in Waukesha and grab a bite to eat. Sometimes it's with friends and other times I take the meal back to my office.

It was a snowy Wednesday a few weeks back when I didn't bring a lunch and craved a warm, thick, creamy soup. I scoured every soup menu in town I could think of, yet couldn't find a soup that was tempting my buds. Then I remembered Key Westconsin has soup. I called them up to find out the flavors and was told they had a Cod Chowder and Baja Chicken.

I worried the chowder would be too fishy for me, and I inquired about the spice level of the Baja chicken. Rita, the owner, told me it just had a mild kick and was really delicious. I decided on ordering their soup, salad and cheesy bread combo I saw on the lunch menu.Baja Chicken was my ultimate choice, despite the 'mild kick' warning. So, with my decision made, I began my journey.

I bundled myself up and headed over the river to the restaurant. I was able to snap a few shots of the beautiful snow covered Riverwalk on my walk over.

Upon entering Key Westconsin, I immediately regretted my decision to take my lunch back to the office. The tropical vibe was just what I needed to warm me up. (Sorry I didn't take any pics of the inside, but check out their Facebook page for the view). I still took the lunch to go, but I am definitely keeping their inside atmosphere in mind for February and March when I need a break from the gray and snow.

I got back to work with piping hot soup and a delightful salad. The soup definitely had a kick of spice but I liked it - it warmed me up! I could have used a dollop of sour cream, for both the creaminess it would add to the soup and to help mellow the spice a bit. Any person that likes some spice would find this soup excellent. I chose the mango dressing for the salad and was pleased with my choice. It was the perfect amount of sweet to counter the spice of the soup. I was definitely a member of the clean plate club that day!

And the cheesy bread!! I remembered this from other times I have dined at Key Westconsin. It is crispy, melty, and full of yum!

I have dined at Key Westconsin for the Fish Fry, lunch and dinner and it's always consistently good - so full of flavor. A friend of mine keeps mentioning that we need to go back and her birthday is coming up, so I think we are due for another visit very soon.

They are also really well known for their Gluten-Free menu. Some of my fellow blog friends have mentioned this place in their writing about dining Gluten-Free in the Milwaukee area.

From their Facebook page, I saw they just celebrated their 4th Anniversary. Congratulations to them - well deserved! I have also read that the Shrink N Drink dinners are extremely popular and sell out regularly. From what I have read, a doctor or psychologist gets anonymous questions from the diners and using her knowledge and some cunning wit, she answers them. I have been told it is a laugh out loud event. Pair that with some amazing seafood dishes and this sounds like a fun evening.

The Key Westconsin bartenders come up with some great tropical cocktails, Card Game Night looks to be a new feature, and live music on the weekends brings in the crowds. There's a little bit of something for everyone - all decked out in Jimmy Buffet, Johnny Bahama style!

Cauliflower Soup

For my cousin's New Year's Eve party, I brought a huge bowl of vegetables with dips - the healthy option for us! I was going to buy a pre-packaged veggie platter but found out that was actually going to be more expensive and have less variety to buy individually. Sure I spent more overall, but the pre-packaged option only had carrots, tomatoes and celery in it. How boring!

So I walked around the produce section of Woodman's and picked up all my favorites to bring along - carrot slices, celery, cauliflower, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, yellow and green peppers and cucumbers. I picked up a light ranch dill dip and Woodman's had a new brand for free with coupon. I bought a spinach variety of that dip. Both dips and the veggies were well received and almost gone by the end of the night.

I did have some leftovers of the veggies and started looking at some recipes to create a soup using the veggies. I found The Pioneer Woman's Cauliflower Soup and decided to modify it slightly to fit my tastes and use what I had in my condo.

I started with dicing some celery, onion and carrots. I added the onion to a dutch oven with some margarine (recipe calls for butter) and sauteed it for a bit. 

I then added the carrots and celery to get the veggies soft.

 Then I threw in the cauliflower and parsley, covered the pot and let it simmer for 15 minutes.

Next, I poured in the stock and let it simmer some more.

In a separate pan, I mixed together margarine (recipe calls for butter) and 1% milk (recipe calls for whole milk, but I don't buy that kind). And then I added this mixture to the veggie and stock mixture.

The half and half is added to the pot when it's removed from the heat. A little stirring to get all the flavors melded and it was looking great. I seasoned lightly with salt and pepper and decided to throw in some more carrots and broccoli to give more flavor and some color.

I did not add the sour cream to the recipe because I already felt the soup was rich enough. I wanted to keep it a little healthier as well.

I made a half recipe of The Pioneer Woman recipe and it came out to be 4 servings. I have been eating it all week and it's very flavorful. I love that the cauliflower absorbed the flavors during the initial simmering.

This week was exceptionally cold in Wisconsin with noon temperatures hovering below zero. Add in the wind chill and it was quite bitter - can you say "return of the polar vortex?" Soup was the perfect thing to bring to work to help me stay warm!

100 Happy Days: Week 9

This "cold-cough-aching-wheezing-hives-whatever-I-have" is still here to stay and definitely putting a damper on my happiness. But I'm trooping through and still doing my best to be a part of the world. I have never been this sick for this long, but I think it's finally on it's way out! Dr.s just say it needs to run its course, but it's starting to feel like last winter with the "polar vortex" - never leaving!

Anyways, I did have some great happy moments that I want to share with all of you. 

Day 60:

Allison Art House had a Ladies Night Out event and I attended with my friend Tiffany. I found great unique gifts for some of the ladies in my life. I love this shop. Watch for more on it on my blog soon. PS - I won the door prize too!

Day 61:

Dinner with my parents at Matteo's. This is one of my favorites in Waukesha and although I wasn't feeling the best, quality Italian food near a roaring fire definitely helped me feel better. And I got to see many pictures of my parents' trip to Paris. Win, win. 

Day 62: 

I spent Saturday cooking all day and watching Netflix. I made two soups and my grandma's specialty cookies with a few tweaks for ingredients I dind't have. More on the soups and cookies to come. As for the Netflix.....Gilmore Girls, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990 version), Pocahontas and more Gilmore Girls. 

Day 63: 

I didn't post this on social media but I think it's important to post now. My mom and I went to Wine & Dine in Milwaukee and tried many new eats and treats. We found my mom a few more cocktails that she would like and I found a few restaurants I have to try. Time with my mommy is always time well spent. 

Day 64:

This quote definitely got me through the day. With me still dealing with this cough, I will laugh at just about anything to help cheer me up and I love sleep right now. 

Day 65:

Flowers - a way to a girl's heart and happiness. I was completely surprised by this delivery.....to my work. It showed the person really cares to remember where I work and send me a little something special. These definitely helped flip around my day and week and I am forever grateful for this thoughtful gesture. (Let's just say that someone was raised right!)

#100HappyDays

Saturday: A Cooking Day

If you follow me on Facebook, you already know that I spent a Saturday cooking up a storm in my house to get meals set for myself for the week.

I had a lot of ingredients to use up in my house and started cleaning out my freezer. I had things in there I didn't even remember buying but am glad that I did.

Every good soup starts with some onions and this Broccoli Cheese was no exception. I found it via Pinterest and decided to try it out. 

 I deviated from the recipe slightly in that I used Half & Half instead of Heavy Cream and added carrots and ham for more flavor. This turned out wonderful!

Then I started organizing my cookbooks and found a recipe for an acorn squash and sweet potato soup. I didn't have acorn squash but had a leftover part of a butternut squash that I needed to do something with. Into the oven with a little EVOO and I roasted those up with  scallions and garlic.

 I had never roasted squash in my oven before and it definitely adds another layer of flavor to the soup. I brought some for lunch today and can't wait to have it.

 Then it was time to make gyro meat in the crockpot. I found the lamb that I bought a few months back and realized now was as good a time as any to cook this up. So simple and the crockpot basically does all the work. Again this recipe was found via Pinterest, but I specifically hunted this one down after having these at a friends.

After two hours in the crockpot, I got a tortilla ready with a cucumber dill greek yogurt dip, pilled on the tomatoes and meat, topped with lettuce and feta cheese and was in business!

It was just as delicious as I remember.

 I also found a packet of Pesto mix that I forgot about. After making it the deliciously fatty way with butter and oil, I saw that you can sub any amount of butter you choose for water to lighten it up. Oh well, you only live once right? It was really tasty and coated my noodles nicely. I had enough for two meals with this and could take some to work then.

 As you can see, all my containers are ready to go for the week - 4 containers or Squash soup, 2 large containers or Broccoli Cheese soup and the chunk of Gyro meat - this girl is set.

Easy Eggs

I'm not someone that typically picks eggs for breakfast. I like French Toast, Pancakes, Waffles - the carb-loaded dishes. But this past Sunday, I decided to get myself started on the right path and eat some quality protein and make some eggs.

Omelets, hard boiled and scrambled are the only ways I like my eggs. Runny yolks gross me out! So I cracked two of them in a bowl and added some milk. This gives fluffier eggs with a smoother texture. I add a little salt and pepper right at this point so it cooks into the eggs and I don't salt them after.

I was going to go for an omelet but then decided to be less fancy and add the veggies directly into the eggs. I started by chopping some green pepper and tomato up and then added that into the pan I planned to use for the eggs. A little EVOO spray from my MISTO and then added some spinach to that. I sauteed it all for just a few minutes - the spinach was wilting and the hard crunch from the veggies was gone. I put the veggies on the side and using the same pan and another squirt or two from my MISTO, I poured in the eggs over medium-high heat.

I let the eggs sit for just a minute and tehn start scraping around the pan. Once the eggs started to clump into their scrambled state, I added in the veggies. Then just a few flips around in the pan to make sure the eggs were cooked through and voila breakfast (almost done).

I put the eggs on a plate and sprinkled a little Romano cheese over the top and served with a side of toasted light wheat bread (ok I couldn't completely ignore the carbs that were screaming my name) and some four-berry jelly. This was a great breakfast. I only missed the butter on my toast slightly but I survived. I didn't need that extra bit of fat with all I had going on.

This filled me up for all of the morning and through the Packers game (sad loss). I didn't even realize I forgot to eat lunch until I headed out on my run and realized my body was very low on fuel. After three great miles on a new route I made, I came home and made a sandwich quickly to tide me over.

Later that night I made a big pot of Broccoli Potato Cheese soup and my 'whipper-doodle' broke. For those that don't know, my whipper-doodle is the name my mom came up with for the immersion blender and it stripped out. I would guess it's two years old now and used maybe a dozen times so I'm a little bummed that it died so soon. This one was mid-range in price, so I would hope that spending a little more is going to provide me one that will last a little longer! Luckily my birthday is right around my corner and I shared with my mom the devastation of the whipper-doodle's death and she thought that a new one would make a great present!