Park Ave Grille (Freehold, NJ)

June 17, 2018 By Hollie in Diners Tags: Diner, food, lunch, new jersey, restaurant, review, sandwich 1 Comment

Recently I found myself at the Park Ave Grille in Freehold, NJ. Freehold is an area I haven’t been to a lot of diners. I’ve wanted to go to the Park Ave Grille for a while, but it’s only open until 4, so the timing hasn’t worked out.

Atmosphere: B
The Park Ave Grille looks like you stepped into a time machine to the 80s. It’s located in a large shopping center and attached to a laundry mat.

The inside is small and seats about 30 people. There are plenty of booths, tables, and a bar. Most of the Park Ave Grille is covered in vintage wallpaper, booths, and an assortment of tea kettles. It was much more unique than many diners!

Coffee: A
The coffee was brewed hot and fresh each time. I appreciated that the mugs were sturdy. The coffee was often refilled, and I have no complaints.

Food: A
The Park Ave Diner has most anything you could want for breakfast or lunch. The menu is low key and not many “fancy” items, but diners don’t need to be. There were all sorts of wraps, sandwiches, salads, and breakfast items. I decided to order the Monte Cristo sandwich which came with fries.

I’ve never had a Monte Cristo sandwich and what better time to try one than a diner. The bread was french toast and stuffed with turkey, ham, and cheddar cheese. I feel like I’ve been missing out because the sandwich was excellent. The french fries were some of the best I’ve had in a while. To say the meal was surprisingly good, is an understatement.

Service: A
The waitress was extremely friendly, and the food was brought out quickly. In fact, I was in and out of the restaurant within 30 minutes. Beating that is hard!

Cost: $
For my meal and coffee, the cost was around $12. Important to note, this is a cash-only business!

Overall Thoughts/Summary:
I was pleasantly surprised with the Park Ave Grille. I have never had a Monte Cristo sandwich, and it was great. The service, food, coffee, and overall experience was excellent, and I’ll be back.

Atmosphere: B
Coffee: A
Food: A
Service: A
Cost: $8-15 (cash only)
Overall: A

You can see all diner reviews here.

Questions for you:
Have you ever had a Monte Cristo sandwich?
Where are your favorite french fries from?

Meal Favorites

February 17, 2016 By Hollie in Food Tags: breakfast, dinner, food, health, lunch, salmon, steak 27 Comments

When I wrote my last post about food, I had no idea how the post would be perceived. Since I no longer write much about food, you never know how readers might respond. Everyone needs to eat, and food and nutrition are an important part of running and working out.

I thought it would be interesting to showcase some of my favorite foods and meal staples. I’m not great at cooking, and I don’t shop at a lot of specialty stores. Most of my shopping comes from the three closest grocery stores to me: Wegmans, Shoprite and Whole Foods.

I shop at Wegmans and Shoprite for most of my groceries and Whole Foods for fish, steak, and some produce.

When someone asks your favorite food, I feel like it’s a weird question. You can’t compare items like steak to donuts, both are delicious but it’s hard to compare. I have a lot of favorite foods. I like sugary treats, but I also like a big juicy steak too.

Favorite breakfast item:

Breakfast is easy for me. I have a waffle with peanut butter. I’ve been doing this for years, and it’s always worked for me. I eat a waffle every morning, whether I’m running, racing or just resting. I’ve never had a stomach issue. I use Bisquick and just add water. I also use flour, egg, baking powder and milk if I don’t have the mix. I can usually run between 1-2 hours after eating. I don’t like to run on an empty stomach. I generally eat within 20 minutes of waking up, relax and then go for a run 1-2 hours later.

Artsy waffle for you

Lunch:

Lunch depends on if I’m at home or if I’m at work. Most people know I work at a local running store. It’s hard to predict a day in a retail store and no two days are the same. I can’t plan to bring a big meal because I might not have time to eat it. I could have plenty of time, or I could be snacking the entire day. I’ve become used to it, though, and I honestly don’t mind either way.

I usually pack easy to eat sandwiches or bars so that if we get slammed, I can still eat. It’s not like I can tell a customer “Go away I’ve got to get my lunch on”. I’ve been looking for an easy “bar” recipe if anyone has any.

Some quick and easy staples. Sometimes quick and easy means I order down the road from work:

Power bars are one of my favorites, especially the cookie dough

French toast bagels from Panera make their appearence often.

French toast bagels from Panera make their appearance often

Quick and easy salads

I crave soup in the winter. My two favorites are split pea and lentil

I crave soup in the winter. My two favorite kinds of soup are split pea and lentil

I recently got a take out pita bead sandwich which has become one of my favorite lunch buys.

I recently got a takeout pita bread sandwich which has become one of my favorite lunch buys. It has pesto, chicken, and melted feta

Dinner:

I’ve said this more times than I can remember, but I am a very simple dinner person. I like meat, potato and vegetable. I rotate through all of them, but both my husband and I aren’t fancy cooks. Our meals tend to take between 15-30 minutes to cook. Luckily my husband is the same way. He cooks the meat, and I prepare everything else.

Some of our favorite meats:

steak
salmon or any pink fish (we aren’t fans of too many white fish)
chicken
Squid (yes, one of my favorite, if not favorite meats is squid)

Steak and kale (I love T-bone steaks because they are so fatty, anyone else?)

Another T-bone

Sea Bass and Squid from the other night

The usual suspects

We frequently cook some vegetable or have a salad. My current favorite vegetables are eggplant and squash, but it varies.

Vegetables of (current) choice:

eggplant and squash
asparagus

Eggplant sauteed in oil and garlic is the easiest and most deliscious vegeatble

Eggplant sauteed in oil and garlic is the easiest and most delicious vegetable

Then, of course, there is the grain/potato portion of dinner. Current favorites include

Pasta or rice (because it takes 5 minutes!) I went through a phase with pasta where I didn’t eat it much and always chose other items over it. Now I can’t get enough.
Sweet or normal potatoes
Bread from Panera. If you recall, my husband won a year supply of Panera bread from a race last year, and we use it to buy a loaf. Panera bread goes well with everything in my life.

Pasta with spinach and cheese

As you can see, my husband and I are simple eaters. We don’t spend hours creating perfect food dishes. Spending a few hours is some people’s hobby, but we know we like fast, simple and easy food! We save fancy eating for going out.

Questions for you:

Do you prefer cooking simple food or fancier recipes?

Does anyone have any “bar” recipes?

Americana Diner (East Windsor)

March 8, 2014 By Hollie in Diners Tags: breakfast, brunch, coffee, Diner, dinner, food, lunch, new jersey, restaurant, review 16 Comments

It’s time to kick off my diner review session on LOLZ. For now, I’ll be backtracking with diners I’ve been too, and then I can begin to venture to new diners. Though I imagine having gone to several different diners already in NJ, I’ll take forward steps before finishing.

—–

I have been to the Americana diner (East Windsor) a few different times with a few different people. I was first introduced when not living in the area. The Americana diner is located close to the NJ turnpike and 295, so while driving back from the New York City Marathon dad and I stopped at the Americana Diner.

The day after running a marathon pretty much anything tastes outstanding. I must admit every time I’ve gone to the Americana Diner I haven’t had a bad meal. So it wasn’t just post-racing goggles reviewing.

Americana Diner Atmosphere: A

It’s a very high end looking diner. There are three different rooms to be seated in, the “typical diner scene,” a banquet area and dimly lit bar. I’ve sat in all three, and all three are nice.

Americana Diner Coffee: A

My standard comparison is getting coffee and whip cream to put into the coffee. They provided me with both. One thing I love about this diner is they provide a pitcher to stay at your table, so you never run out. The coffee is great. The whipped cream is homemade and served in a pitcher. This diner received the best whip cream award.

I would come back multiple times just for whip cream.

Americana Food: A

Brushetta Appetizer

I would order it again. There are four different pieces of bread with four different topics (hummus, grapes, goat cheese, and mozzarella).

New York Omelet (with lox)

The omelet and toast were delicious. They also served a fried tomato (something I haven’t had since living in England).

Skylark Salad (with salmon)

Without a meat addition, I would have found myself hungry. I would recommend getting some meat. I do wish the salad came with actual bread. Otherwise, the salad was good.

Mediterranean Salad

This was my favorite of the two salads I’ve had. The only thing it lacked is a roll. I love when salads come with bread.

Americana Dessert: A

Carrot cake

Their desserts are a bit confusing, and you choose one (for $3). They bring out an entire tray of different choices, and you choose one or several. They are bite-size and perfect for sampling, if I wanted to go big or go home, I would get the whole tray. With spring I’ve been enjoying carrot cake, and with the ice cream, it was perfect.

Ice cream

The vanilla ice cream was creamy and served in a milkshake glass. I was surprised by the amount (gladly surprised) they gave us.

Americana Diner Price: $$$$

For the amount of food, you receive the price isn’t great. It’s relatively small portions, and as someone who eats a lot more, I could use bigger portions. The food, however, is very high quality and probably the overall best diner food I’ve been to so far. I would order everything I’ve had again.

Americana Diner Overall impression: A

I would go back. It’s one of the high-end diners that you would bring your parents too or go for a nice dinner or brunch. Although it’s a little bit expensive for portion size, the food is delicious, well prepared, and tasty.

Overall I give it 8 out of 10.

It’s hard to start with one of your top five favorite diners because then you compare everything else to a very high set bar. Either way, if you are stopping on the turnpike near East Windsor, I would 100% recommend the Americana Diner.

I do recommend they add bread to their salads. I’ve never had a bad meal, and no one I’ve eaten there with has had a bad meal. On another note, they are also the most social media active diner I’ve come across. I often find myself interacting with them on twitter (which deserves bonus points in my book).

**All thoughts are my own, and I paid for my meals in full. No compensation was given.

Questions for you:

What is the best whip cream you have ever had?

Eating on High Mileage

October 24, 2013 By Hollie in Breakfast, Food Tags: bars, breakfast, coffee, cold, dinner, eggs, Fish, food, healthy eating, lunch, potatoes, Protein, salad, snack, soup, steak, vegetables, waffle 39 Comments

A lot of people question how I eat enough to withstand 100 mile weeks. It couldn’t be possible to ever gain weight while running 100 mile weeks and you couldn’t possibly eat enough to withstand that activity…ect.

First and foremost, I only ran 100 mile week. I didn’t run 52 but rather just 1. That was my peak week and most of my other weeks were between 60-80. Most not all. As much as I want to credit myself to running multiple 100 mile weeks, I know I would just get injured running several in a row. (or more then 1).

I’ve rambled about this a few times but blogging nutrition and real life nutrition is not the same thing. I feel bad for certified dieticians and nutritionists that also blog. They get mixed in with other bloggers whose research involves personal research and study which is not the same as being certified. Point blank: it’s not. I’ve taken plenty of nutrition classes but don’t know nearly enough as someone who has studied and has their undergraduate, masters, or even PhD. I can tell you what has worked for me but that is no way telling what will work for you or that is right or wrong.

The majority of healthy living blogs focus on getting enough vegetables, fiber and more vegetables into their diet. If I ate half the amount of vegetables that some people do, I would be able to run 1 mile…maybe 2 with deciding it was time to go home.

When you run high mileage and exercise you must learn that you have to eat a lot of foods that aren’t high in fiber. You must eat food that is still healthy but you can’t eat 3000 calories worth of broccoli. You also can’t eat 3000 calories worth of ice cream. Both will result in you not feeling great for a run.

A typical day for me looks something like this right now:

Breakfast: 400-500 calories

Coffee+cream (100-200 calories…my vice).

Some of my breakfast choices lately have been: Bagel and peanut butter, egg sandwich, eggs and toast, waffle with Greek yogurt or peanut butter.

A standard waffle with peanut butter and yogurt has been my go to before races right now and I think I’ll stay to that before the marathon (as well as a bagel with peanut butter while waiting around beforehand). My standard race day nutrition used to be a bagel with peanut butter and yogurt but I had stomach cramps a few races back and it was enough to change my mind.

Raspberry pancakes make me happy

Bagel+peanut butter+yogurt also make me happy

French toast bagels are my favorite (panera or wegmans FYI)

Run

Lunch (within an hour of running) 500-800 calories

I’ve been having a lot egg sandwiches lately. Eggs, avocado and cheddar cheese on a bagel. I really just have whatever is in the fridge. It could be a sandwich, soup or salad. I don’t have a standard post run meal or lunch. I normally just like to eat what is in the fridge.

Sometimes I’ll go to the gym in between, sometimes I won’t. (now that I’m tapering, I don’t).

egg and ham sandwich

lentil soup (this cold has got me craving it)

Soup with parm cheese so good

Random salad I attempted to make restaurant worthy…they never are as to why I try and eat salads at restaurants more.

Snack: 200-300 calories

I consume a lot of yogurt

No really…’

Baked apples are good (especially in the cold)

I also eat bars on the go…snickers marathon bars are really good

I normally have a snack sometime in the middle of the day. I’ve been enjoying apples and peanut butter lately but that is only because apples have been so cheap at stores. I also have left overs if they are in the fridge.

Dinner: 800-1200

As if anything else is planned, my dinner is the least planned and changes daily. I am such a meat and potatoes kind of person. I’ll have a serving of meat (steak and fish being my favorite), some sort of vegetables (cooked kale, brussel sprouts and spaghetti squash are my current favorites) and some sort of grain. I’ve been better about eating a carbohydrate such as bread or race. I’m actually not a big pasta fan (I don’t like the consistency) so I tend to eat more rice and bread.

steak and potatoes

ham and potatoes (and apples)

Sweet Potato+Salmon+mushrooms (I’m so different)

I normally like to make a smoothie at night with a cup of milk and protein powder. I have a big sweet tooth so often times I’ll just have ice cream. I don’t really schedule a treat at night but if I’m craving something I’ll have something. Whatever I’m craving I generally have at night. I go to bed around 9-10 personally.

ice cream

ice cream, cherries and whip cream

Protein shake

hot cocoa and whip cream

—–

I know this is very vague but it’s how I eat. I don’t worry or stress about food or getting my vegetables daily. As much as I say I want to meal plan, I don’t. If I eat too many vegetables then I don’t feel good running. I don’t know how people eat so many vegetables (honestly). I do strive to get vegetables but not overboard. I try and get enough protein, carbohydrates and fat but I don’t track it and it doesn’t ruin my day. I found the less I stress about food the easier it is. I’ve never had a problem getting enough food and have never lost weight during a training cycle.

I will say I’m hoping to do a carbohydrate deplete and then carb load during my final week of taper.

Questions for you:

What does a typical day for you look like?

Do you plan your food weekly or eat when you are hungry?

Savory Crab Waffles

June 17, 2013 By Hollie in Breakfast, Food, Recipe Tags: breakfast, brunchs, crab, food, lunch, Pancakes, recipe, seafood, waffle 22 Comments

I’ve been really digging savory waffles as of late. Although I like my chocolate, alcoholic and whatever else…savory has been what I’ve been feeling lately. Also what I’ve been feeling is cleaning out my hoarding collection whether it’s foodie items or clothes or random junk. Which is where I found 5 cans of crab meat.

So I bring you a very simple and awkwardly named savory crab waffle. That sounds awkward typing out though but I sat here for quite some time and couldn’t think of a better name.

Besides my smoked salmon waffle, this has honestly become my favorite savory waffle to date (and in top 5 favorite waffle recipes). I like it so much I’ve gone through all five containers of crab meat and will probably end up buying more…then complaining when I grow tired of it and once again have five containers of crab meat.

2/3 cup flour
1 cup water (I tried milk once and it tasted a bit odd to me, water actually tastes better in this case)
¼ feta or crumbly blue cheese
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
Spices I used: Old bay and garlic

Mix water and egg.
Add flour, spices and baking powder. Add extra water if needed. Add cheese and about ½ of the craned crab. (Save the rest of the canned crab for topping).

Mix and pour on waffle maker.

Once done…top with more crab.

Questions for you:

Favorite seafood?

How do you get rid of things when moving?

FueledByLOLZ

Running and Laughing through the Garden State

Tag Archives: lunch

Park Ave Grille (Freehold, NJ)

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