Tag Archives: chili’s

R and R: Rest and Regret

I loved reading the comments on Friday’s post about Instagram media literacy! I figured many of you would be able to relate and I will be replying to the comments and continuing the discussion as soon as I can.

Major thanks again to everyone who was so supportive of my planned rest day this past Friday, from those who had tweets waiting for me before I even woke up, to those who checked in the day after. Whenever I wasn’t THINKING about not waking up to work out before or not driving to the gym after work, I felt okay. In fact (I will never not ask you guys to support me so please don’t take this the wrong way), sometimes I’d be good and not thinking about missing a workout and then I’d get a tweet or text asking me how the rest day was going, which unfortunately reminded me that I was taking one and made me feel guilty again. Catch-22!

UConn reunion: Ravi, Kelly, me, and Jeff.

UConn reunion: Ravi, Kelly, me, and Jeff.

My co-worker convinced me to pop into a Friday happy hour at a dive bar down the street from the office, because I always miss co-worker gatherings since I hit the gym after work. I figured since I wasn’t going to the gym that day, I should take advantage and stop by before I went to meet my college friends (above) for dinner and a night out. Ravi and Kelly were visiting from Long Island and Redding, CT (respectively) so that’s why I felt missing the gym and spending more time with them was important.

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Chili’s Gets a Menu Upgrade

Chili’s is one of my favorite chains, because they really do have more options than you may think. When one is feeling indulgent, there are plenty of delicious fried bites. My go-to move back in the day was to order the appetizer trio and pick the most heavy options…spinach and artichoke dip, BBQ wings, and fried eggrolls. Nowadays I try to stick to meals that’ll leave me feeling good, and Chili’s has those choices too! I always used to order the shrimp tacos with grilled shrimp instead of fried, but now they’ve taken a page out of my book (or some marketing/product development employee’s book…) and officially added those grilled shrimp tacos, along with other fresh Tex-Mex fare, to their menu!

Check out that avocado – the actual meals did indeed contain those generous amounts of it!

I hit up our closest Chili’s location with my parents on a Saturday night. It was pretty crazy as usual, but we found a booth in the bar and sat down right away. My mom brought a coupon from the Facebook page for free chips and salsa – nice!

I love the chips at Chili’s, but do wish they offered a chunkier variety of salsa. Runny salsa no es bueno.

Grilled shrimp tacos, black beans, and corn on the cob.

My meal was so good and I finished every last bite. I poured some of the beans into each taco, and as I was eating them, let any “fillings” that came out drip back into the bowl of leftover beans. Then, when it was time to finish them off, I had a cup of beans with pico and other goodies in there! The unbuttered corn on the cob was so, so good. My mom and I asked the waitress if it was roasted, but she said no, it’s just cooked on the stove top. Baffling! Why does it taste so much better than corn from home?!

Grilled veggie tacos.

My mom and I traded our last tacos to each other so that she could try the shrimp and I could try a grilled veggie taco, which is one of the new menu items that I’ve never ordered before. SO GOOD! I was impressed with the variety and amount of veggies in each taco. Quite satisfying!

My dad's chicken club tacos with rice and beans.

My dad went the more traditional route and stuck to the Chili’s standard rice and beans as the accompaniments to his chicken club tacos. He said the chicken was cooked very well, and he’s a big bacon lover, so it was a nice combo of indulgent and healthy!

We had a wonderful meal and I give Chili’s props for adding healthier options to their menu that don’t sacrifice taste at all.

Have you tried any of the new Chili’s menu items? What’s your favorite taco?

Tennessee Recap: Part Five (Grand Finale)

Morning! I’m about to head back to work for the first time in over a week thanks to Snowtober. I really can’t complain. I was fortunate enough to have power back by Wednesday, and work and class cancelled. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t be bummed about going back to work. I’ll miss cafe days and morning workouts. What I am glad to get back though, is routine. I definitely thrive on it and now my days will be much more plan-able.

I don’t event feel like I am coming off a weekend – just a long vacation! It really feels like forever since I’ve gone into the office. It also feels like forever since I started telling you all about my trip, but I finally am gonna conclude my story today, so we will be back on track to regular posts tomorrow – I already have SO much to catch you guys up on that’s happened since I returned!

Anyway, so ended the surprise-extended Tennessee vacation. Yes, I’m on the level of calling this a vacation, not a trip. There’s a difference, agreed?

Monday (Halloween!) morning, I did a workout (30 minutes incline walking, random upper body free weights) and went to meet my sister at an Einstein Bagels on campus. I was supposed to start my paper, and ended up writing a paragraph and spending the rest of the time on the blog. Oops.

UT has SO many chains on campus. I can’t believe it! At UConn we just had a few chains in our Student Union, but their University Center has a ton, and this Einstein’s wasn’t even in that building. We had UConn-branded cafes, but they have branded cafes, and I like it better.

The Einstein’s was filled with the smell of toasted asiago bagels. The menu was impressively extensive! I kept it light because I was eating an early lunch, and had one of the best fruit cups I’ve ever bought (usually they’re sucky, but this one had a ton of fresh pineapple and strawberries) and a very good coffee with steamed skim milk.

Later I got to go to my second chain-mission, Chik-fil-a, for my very favorite fast food sandwich: the Char-Grilled Chicken Sandwich. I am OBSESSED with their honey BBQ sauce and pickles. Chik-fil-a is slowly spreading up north and is in Mass now, but still not CT. COME ON UP Chik-fil-a, we are ready for you!

Headed to the airport after that and spent the first flight with my book and a nonfat chai tea misto from Starbucks.

When we landed, we had a couple of hours to kill in between our connection, and I was STARVED. We passed a Chili’s and I knew immediately what I wanted – Mexican food!

My mom got a large Stella and we shared chips and salsa to start. They really hit the spot.

I ordered the chicken fajitas, because this Chili’s was a Chili’s Too and had a limited menu and didn’t offer the shrimp tacos I usually get. Change is good though, I was just a little chickened out (ha) after this meal after having chicken earlier for lunch! This dinner was, by the way, one of my earliest ever (4pm). Takes me back to the days of waiting for the dining halls to open for dinner at 4:15.

I didn’t have any of the tortillas or guac since I had filled up on some chips, but I did pour all the salsa on top of the chicken and veggies, as well as a side of black beans. I polished off that entire thing. Yes I think that made about four servings of chicken that day – ha!

Thank you for following my recaps of my little getaway – I hope you enjoyed!

Are you a Chik-fil-a fan? What about Chili’s? How are you feeling on this Monday?