Great, currently untapped, weekend brunch! Mixteco!

chicken, tortilla soup

yer hero

huevos el bajio

first opening into the poached eggs

full look on the inside. poached egg, chorizo, and corn masa boat, smothered in a creamy poblano sauce

eat-ing!

moms making fresh tortilla shells. how beautiful is she while she's working?

there's even an entrance for pets!

Mixteco Grill at 1601 W. Montrose Ave. in Lakeview is mostly known for their excellent, delicious Mexican dinners. They make amazing pork chops!! But they have begun to serve brunch on the weekends, not the weekdays! And they're brunch specialties are Monte-licious!!

They have Huevos & Chorizo, Chilaquiles, but the last two times I went, I had the Huevos El Bajio! These are poached eggs, which I love, served in a philo dough like, corn masa boat, smothered in a creamy poblano sauce, and topped off with a savory, and juicy chorizo. Some of the best chorizo I have eaten in months! Not greasy, cheap, full of fat and grisel, but tender, juicy, and full of spicy flavor that I can almost guarantee you'll enjoy. If not, well.... that would change the dynamic of our relationship. Just sayin.

They also make fresh corn tortilla shells, they are not from a factory, nor are their chips. and they have fresh squeezed oj, and pretty good coffee. And the dinners are unlike most any other Mexican spot within miles!

These jerks are closed on Mondays, and don't open till 5 p.m. week nights. And now they are open at 10, or 10:30 a.m. on the weekends, until 2 p.m. to serve you up a superb brunch! And there is currently no line, or wait for a table.

La Palapita, Paleo Style... tricks!!!!

 The one and only "La Palapita."

Chi-Ips!!!!

Char broiled steak!!

Bringin back the fake tat's yo!

Open that deliciousness up, and take a look inside.

MONTE-LICIOUS!!!!

Eat It!

Eat It!!!

Gizzity Gone!

La Palapita is in Chicago's lovely Portage Park neighborhood at 4263 W. Milwaukee Ave. Yes there are now tons of Mexican spots in Chicago, and yes there are a lot of good ones. Palapita is one of the great ones!! When I was a kid, you could say "La Palapita" 3 times in a row, rub yer belly, and the burritos would magically appear! It was wonderful! Now I have to drive there. Sad face.

If you follow me, you know, I love everything, and anything that is made on a char grill, and La Palapita's steak tacos are char grilled, and always have been. This place has been around for over 20 years! And I have been going there for all, over 20 years. I learned to order my food in Spanish thanks to this place. I actually used to hate hearing my cousin order in broken spanish, I felt the guys hated hearing it. I was wrong, and it makes things much easier.

If you love excellent, meaty, savorful, steak tacos, this is the spot. The also have excellent, house made chips, and salsa. I do not respect a Mexican spot that gets their chips from a bag. They also have excellent, but super sweet, Rice Water. Plus they have amazing rub on tattoos for only 50 cents!!!! I can eat, and get a cool tat in the process.

Now the Paleo portion. I have changed the way I look at food, and most meals I eat now, I cut the carbs, and the stuff that's not so great for me on the inside. And here is a perfect example. I enjoyed every bite of this delicious STEAK BURRITO, and none of the carbs. I lost weight eating this meal, just by opening the burrito, ya gotta ask them not to cut it, and eating out all the goodies with a fork. When I was down with my meal, I left feeling satisfied, almost full, not bloated, or tired, and I had a great meal out. You can do it too. If it works for you, because it definitely works for me.

The other thing I should mention, Palapita has their own parking lot, which helps, and they sometimes have a cute girl taking yer order. Sometimes. They have other food options besides burritos, and besides steak. But that is what I go there for, but anything else is there is great too. 

Since my injury, rutured achilles tendon, I have been cooking at home. Here is an excellent treat for you.

So I ruptured my achilles tendon a few weeks back, and needed surgery. Surgery was a success, and I feel great. But I have not left the house, except for doctors appts. I live on a second floor, and I am not so good on the crutches, and you know I love to eat out. What to do?

Well, my wife and I, mostly her, have been cooking every single meal at home over the past two weeks. But where I can help, I love to feel of use. Plus cooking is so much freakin fun. Anyway, I decided to help one day by looking for something interesting, and delicious to eat. My wife had mentioned her famous cheese stuffed dates, and that got the juices flowing.

What came out of it was one of the tastiest freakin apetizers I have had in a while. Or until we find/create another delicious treat. So let us check out what we have here...

Dates (pitted, and split down the middle)
Italian Sausage, or any sausage to yer liking
Bacon
Tooth picks

After you pit, and split the dates, over stuff them bitches, and I do mean over stuff them bitches!! With Italian sausage, or any sausage to yer liking, then wrap a slice of bacon, that has been cut in half, you do not need a full slice of bacon, around the stuffed date. Then run a tooth pick through it to hold it together. Bake in a baking pan for on 375 degrees for 25 to 35 min. Keep checking till they look done. You will know what that looks like, and if you don't, do not try this recipe. But remember, meat should be cooked all the way through to prevent you from becoming ill. Which you probably already are, if yer a fan of mine. And I love you for it!!!!!!!

Enjoy these, and if you don't.... I don't wanna hear about it!

Also, this recipe is Paleo, and somewhat healthy for you. That is if you don't eat a ton of garbage to begin with.

If you are here from the commercial you saw this evening....

thank you for checkin out my blog. And thank you for making it worth my freakin donation to DSTW.

This is a food blog for foodies, and yer beginner food appreciater. My goal is to give you good tips on where, and what to eat when you to that special spot I have found, or have been tipped off to.

check out the spots, send me suggestions to yer favorite spots, no matter where they are. I travel for the love of food. And please, if you dig my blog, become a follower of the blog.

Thanks for checkin out my blog, at this hour you could be checkin out porn... but yer here, and I love you for taking the time. Well, not literal Love, but the appreciative love you have in someone who digs yer passion.

Some of my favorite Italian food by non-Italians.

Leahs Pizzeria & Restaurant in Muskego, Wisconsin at S63W13640 Janesville Rd (this address actually works in a GPS) has some of the all time best Garlic Bread I have ever eaten in my life!!

So first off, let me explain how I discovered Leahs in Wisconsin, which by the way, is not that far, with no traffic, and worth the trip if yer in or around Milwaukee, wi. Anyway, how I know bout this spot.... The owners son, used to live across the alley, and then across the street from me in any almost parallel location on the his block as I am on mine. I met this guy years ago in improv classes, and later did a few shows with him in the city. There came a point where he owed me money, he was bad with debt, so to ease me, he would give up frozen pizza, lasagna, and garlic bread he had from his dads place. Even though it was he and his wife's dinner, I appreciated the gesture as it became mine & my wife's dinner. As we ate these frozen pizzas and what not, we couldn't believe how freakin good it was, and even after being frozen. So I couldn't wait to get there and have it fresh. And I finally did after years of not having it delivered to me as a lame form of payment. He actually still owes mr a hefty amoutn of cash, and I paid full price at the restaurant when I ate there after driving for almost an hour and forty five to get there. Sheesh!

Now the food.

Seriously some of the most Monte-licious Garlic Bread I have ever eaten in my life. They bake the bread in house as a loaf, cut the loaf into a bit of a cubed, rectangular loaf, then soak in a garlic infused butter and re bake it till it's golden brownish/yellow. And it is crispy, buttery, garlicky, crunchy deliciousness you have not had anywhere else.

I had the lasagna which is not made in a sheet, stored in a fridge and served as ordered. Their lasagna is made fresh in a personal ramekin bowl. It is made with mozzarella cheese vs. ricotta, and they put mushrooms under the first layer of cheese for an extra special flavor in the meat lasagna. The sauce is rich, robust, and full of flavor that is fresh.

My buddy had the steak sand wich which looked, and tasted ridiculous. It comed served on their garlic bread, with a baked on melted cheese, oh my god was it delicious. The steak is a thinly sliced rib eye I believe, smothered in sweated down onions. So good.

So id yer near Milwaukee, or feel like makin a trip, check it out.

One other funny thing, the menu references to "Care and Smiles" at Leahs, and every time I called for the hours, or my wife would call to ask a question, or even when my buddies wife called to double check hours on our way up, the guy who answered the phone was really suspicious, and kinda jerky over the phone. But when we ate there, we met the culprit, and he was surprisingly nice.

Sorry I have been away for a while.

I actually hope you care too. I have been lazy, my crutch in life, but I also have been eating a more "whole food" diet. No not Whole Foods the grocery chain, although that is where we shop, but "whole food" meaning nothing processed, out of a box, mixed together, etc. I am not on a diet, just looking at what I put into this dump truck of a body.

I had a Type 2 Diabetes scare a few months back, plus my knees were killin me like everyday, and I was close to 300 lbs. ....Again! I do not want an early death, and that is exactly what I was/may get. So I am trying to add years, instead of taking them away.

I still eat all the good stuff I enjoy, just less of it. Actually a lot less. I am trying to do my best 80% of the time, and the other 20% of the time, well I kinda abuse my body with a bunch of carbs, starchs, and sugars. Which, to much of that stuff wreaks havoc on my insides. Right now, I am running a VW Bug engine in a Dump Truck body, and that just ain't cuttin it. My poor heart keeps wondering what it did wrong to me, it feels like it owes me money the way I've been treating it. Liver too!

All that being said, you will still see me eating all the good stuff, but maybe with a fork, no bun, and topless. Topless, T-O-P-L-E-S-S!!! You'll do it!

P.S. I still eat burgers, steaks, cheese, bacon, vegetables, & fruits. I just cut back/down on the processed parts of my meals, and the heavy starches and un-natural sugars. Truth is, I usually hate buns, they are freakin filler for the most part. Rice constipates me, clogs my system for a day. And I actually love real whipped cream on fresh berries almost more than my beloved Dark Chocolate. And I still eat fat a$$, jucy, meaty, delicious burgers with cheese, bacon, and an egg, but I skip the bun. Well I skip most of the bun, I scrape the gooey parts that absorb all burger blood/juices. And I do my best to eat grass fed, organic, non hormone meats from local farms. Plus it tastes way better, and it supports people I can see/touch and speak too. Not a faceless corporation. Besides, have you ever eaten an egg from a chicken that just roams a farm freely eating bugs/berries, and dirt? The yolk from even the tiniest eggs are firm, upright, and almost orange. Not flat, runny, and yellow like a crayon. And the taste... You just gotta try one to see what I am talking about. And my desserts are mostly fresh berries and fruits that are not sprayed with chemically induced pesticides, with organic, non hormone treated, home made whipped cream. And I cook most everything in butter/Ghee.

So I will be posting again soon, mostly from my cheating meals, but every now & again you may see something a bit different. Don't be scared.

One last thing, why the change? Diabetes was right around the corner, and I hate medicine, plus being overweight makes it really hard to get health insurance. In a parallel universe, my wife has been reading up on eating in a paleo/caveman/primal blue print way, and everything she would read to me just seemed to make sense. So with the Diabetes breathing down my neck, and a doctor trying to prescribe something to lose weight and help with my insulin, I decided to take my new knowledge, and take things into my own hands. Almost two months in and I am almost 20 lbs. lighter, no scare of diabetes, and my knees feel the best they have felt since I was on a ten day steroid cycle. And before that, my knees haven't allowed me to run up and down stairs sine I was in my twenties, or early thirties. I have been running up and down the stairs all week, and loving it!!!!

Italian Turkey instead of Italian Beef. And it is Superb!

It's been a while, sorry. It is summer, and I am outdoors more than I am indoors.

Francos Italian Bakery & Deli in Streamwood, Il. at 1550 Bourbon Parkway has one of the most creative sandwiches I have had in a long time. I say creative cause I have never heard of, or even thought of an Italian Turkey sandwich in my entire life. Ever. And Francos has thought of it, and perfected it!

It is an Italian Beef, but with turkey, and turkey au jus instead of beef. And if yer a lover of turkey sandwiches, this may end up being one of yer favorites. Just imagine a well seasoned, herbed, beef sandwich in a fresh made crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside bun and then switch the meat to turkey and you pretty much got it. The Italian Turkey! And the buns are made in house, it's a bakery, and a deli.

The Italian Turkey is "Monte-licious!" and completely worth the drive for the sandwich. They also have excellent baked goods, deli sub sandwiches, and hot foods like pasta, and other Italian specialties.

I must mention that when I first went here I was confused and felt like I didn't like the sandwich that much, I told my friend that who told me about the place and she hasn't spoke to me since then.