17 Bean & Barley Soup & Chicago Diner

When I was at Trader Joe's the other day, I picked up a bag of their 17 Bean & Barley Soup. 17 beans!!! How can you go wrong with a 17 bean variety??? Ummmm, you can't! I typically don't fully read the directions on anything, I am a self-professed scanner. That being said, I totally didn't read the recipe properly. I soaked the entire bag o' beans as opposed to the 2 cups the recipe called for. Oh well. I did, however, only use the recommended 2 cups. I added carrots, parsnips, celery, and garlic. I also tossed in a bunch of spices. It was soooo good! I'm probably going to make more today with the rest of the beans and freeze it for lunches. The Dad and I both really enjoyed this soup and it was so easy! I didn't even offer it to the kids as A: there were beans in it (lots and lots of beans) and they don't like beans so much. B: it was a soup and they don't like soup so much, either. They did have Gardein nuggets and broccoli. That, they really liked.

Mmm mmm! Look at that steam! It really was so good! 

For dessert, we had some num num nummy Cherry Chip Soy Ice Cream, also from TJs.

Last night, we went on a little field trip into the city. I had heard wonderfully amazing things about The Chicago Diner and wanted to give it a try. 

Both The Dad and I ordered the famous Reuben. I opted for sweet potato fries and he ordered the tomato bisque.  

The fries and the soup were amazing. The sandwich was amazing, as well. However, once I got to my second half, I was a little overwhelmed by the cheese. They use Daiya and after a while it had that gooey weird texture that freaks me out so. I ate about 3/4 of the sammy and all in all, it was really good. 

Kid 1 ordered a Whopping Deluxe Burger sans sauce. Kid 1 devoured that thing!!! And, ate the rest of my Reuben!! Kid 1 also had his first shake EVER as he's allergic to milk. Very exciting! 

Kid 2 ordered the nachos. Unfortunately, there was too much "stuff" for him to really enjoy it. I, on the other hand, thought they were AMAZING!!!!

Kid 3 went for a naked Garden Salad with a side of sweet potato fries. Yet another winner! She loved it, she did pick out the beets, though ;)

And, finally, Kid 4. Kid 4 ordered the mac & cheeze. Sadly, she was not impressed and only ate a wee bit. She did, however, suck down her chocolate shake.

Do you see that thing???? WOW!! Topped with whip and chocolate chips!! Yee Haw!!! All of the kids had that shake and man oh man was it amazing! 

I took a piece of the cocoa mousse cake home because I was stuffed. It, too, was yummy!!! I will be back, maybe for their brunch or the Country Fried "steak".