One Cup of Joe...

To go along with my previous post on how knowing the amount of calories can help everyone shed a few extra pounds during the holiday season, read the following article to learn more about everyone's favorite drink: coffee

Panera Bread's New Look

Have you visited your neighborhood Panera Bread recently? If you have, you might have noticed a few changes. They have updated their menu boards with the calorie count for each item they sell. I know not everyone counts their calories but this is a nifty tool for consumers to have in order to make better food choices. I for one, love the new menu boards. When I started my diet last year, I counted my calories to keep track of everything I ate and keep focused on my weight goals. I still like knowing the amount of calories food items at restaurants have because it helps me make a better educated choice on what I eat. If you are in a hurry for a quick lunch, try Panera Bread's You Pick Two with a half size tuna salad sandwich on honey wheat bread and either their low-fat black bean soup or low-fat garden vegetable with pesto.

Another new trend for Panera Bread is their frequent card. They rolled out the Panera Bread card at the end of October, which gives consumers freebies every once in a while. The card can be found at your local Panera Bread and all you have to do is go online, create an account and you receive a free pastry or drink right away to use during your next visit.

Holidays in a Box!

If you want a taste of the holidays, buy a container of Hood's Sugar Cookie Eggnog. It's like you are drinking a sugar cookie! Now, I am not a huge fan of regular eggnog since it has a thick and "eggy." However, this limited edition eggnog has a milk texture leaving behind a sweet taste and it goes down smoothly. I just had it with dinner last night and it was FABULOUS!!! The place where I usually find it at is Publix and they only have it for the holiday season (mid November until end of December). It is a pricier than the regular eggnog but totally worth it. I also saw a non-alcoholic edition of Southern Comfort Vanilla Eggnog which I am thinking of buying next time I stop at Publix.

Bahama Breeze

I took my mom to Bahama Breeze a few weeks ago for her first experience. Living close to I-Drive, she had passed the restaurant numerous times and always wanted to go but had not been able to. Since the restaurant does not take reservations only call ahead seating, I called on my way to have our name written down. I asked how long the wait was for a party of two and I was told 15 minutes. Once we arrived, 5 minutes later, we checked in with the hostess and was told it was going to be a wait time of 25 minutes. It was a Saturday night close to 9pm so the restaurant was packed with people. I would have thought that in order to maximize space they would keep a close eye on their waiting areas. However, when we were looking for seats near the bar area to wait, the wooden seats had dirty plates, napkins, and bottles everywhere. We had to move things around to make space. Once we were seated 30 minutes later, our food arrived at rapid speeds. The Roasted Cuban Bread was amazing! The bread has a combination of vine ripened tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, fresh cilantro, and basil. My mom ordered the Bahamian Seafood Chowder which is a cream base soup with shellfish and vegetables, topped with fried shrimp. My entree was different than what I had expected but it was a pleasant surprise. The Fresh-Pan Seared Salmon Pasta comes with cut up pieces of salmon in a passion fruit cream sauce with fresh spinach and basil on bow tie pasta. The service and food were exceptional, the only negatives were waiting extra outside and the cleanliness of the bar area.

Service-5
Food Quality-4.5
Food Quantity-5
Cleanliness-3