Macaroni and Cheese in a Truck?

When I first heard about the concept of a truck filled with macaroni and cheese that would make lunchtime stops throughout the city, I was very excited.  It’s like an ice cream truck. For adults. Minus the ice cream, of course.  Their debut route was last week and I followed them on twitter to find out where they  would be stopping. But with the unbearable cold temperatures Chicago was facing and lack of stops near my job, I wasn’t able to convince myself to venture out to find this—what I hoped to be magical—mac n’ cheese truck. 

Fortunately, today, they were making a stop a mere few blocks from my job on one of the warmest days Chicago has experienced in quite some time.  I took it as kismet that I was meant to find this truck.  The stop they posted on their twitter was on Dearborn & Monroe. I arrived there around 11:43am, anxiously anticipating the 11:45am arrival of this truck as a crowd started to gather.  It turns out they weren’t able to find a spot to park at this location, but they keep an update on their stops via twitter (@thesouthernmac), so I was able to get information about the new location.  For this reason, I would definitely suggest you follow them on twitter for last minute changes and/or updates.

The guys on the truck were really friendly and when I was sad that they were out of the “Original Gouda” they kindly suggested I try the “Sun Dried Tomato.”  Now, I am generally not a fan of tomatoes, but I figured I had been waiting over a week to try their food and I’m trying to over come my pickiness so why not step outside of my food comfort zone?  After tasting my food, I definitely confirmed I am not a fan of tomatoes and I was really turned off when I discovered it was also mixed with caramelized onions. While the dish itself was pretty decent (if I picked around the tomatoes & onions—no one should have to work that hard for their lunch), I would definitely not order it again.  I’m hoping the next time I find them they have some of the original gouda mac’n cheese, because while I’m growing in my food tastes, I’d rather keep my mac n’cheese choices simple for now.

I’ll also be stopping by their restaurant, The Southern (www.thesouthernchicago.com), in Wicker Park.  Because while I like that the food comes to me, that also means I’m unable to make any special requests (hold the onions please), which is very important for a picky wanna be foodie like myself.

The Menu.  The guy told me he would have written neater if he'd known I'd be taking a picture :)



The packaging



White Cheddar & Sun Dried Tomatoes: Elbow macaroni, carmelized onions, heavy cream, bread 

Must Love Tacos

My love for tacos extends far and wide.  So when I see a place that has tacos, I must try them.  I can literally eat tacos everyday of the week, from different places, and not tire of them.  A taco from Chipotle is a completely different eating experience than a taco from my lunch favorite, Taco Fresco.  I've passed Flaco's Tacos (http://www.flacostacosonline.com/) many times on my commute to work, but I never was close enough to enter.  Last Saturday, Adrienne and were in the area and decided we would go to Flaco's Tacos.  She had been there before and assured me that it would be good.  


Though the name only mentions tacos, Flaco's Tacos is much more than that.  They have Mexican cuisine ranging from enchiladas to tamales to sopes.  My first inclination would usually have been to go for the tacos, but since I'm taking food risks everywhere else I go I decided I would take another one here.  The special for the day was the chicken enchiladas, so that made my choice simple.  Adrienne ordered the chicken taco and a chicken tamale, which she allowed me to sample.  My enchiladas were good but I was very grateful for the self-serve water container, as they were also really spicy.  The inside of the tortilla was coated in a green sauce (salsa verde perhaps) and I could only eat so much at a time.  It comes with a topping of sour cream, which I guess assists with the intake of such spicy food.  Even though I'm not a big fan of sour cream, I had to have a little to calm the spice.  I sampled Adrienne's chicken taco and tamale, they were both good.  But my favorite taco is a steak taco, so I will be sure to order them next time I go to Flaco's Tacos.  


The bonuses to this place include the late hours (open to midnight on school nights and 2am on the weekend) and the fact that they'll deliver!  Tacos driven to my door..what's not to love?

My enchiladas.  They come with beans & rice.  But I had to say no to the beans, I admit overcoming my pickiness will be more of a marathon than a sprint :)

A cut into the the enchiladas. 

Adri's chicken taco & chicken tamale. 

FYI: The weekly specials

Recipe: Milky Way Cupcakes

Part of being a foodie is the preparation of food, so I figured I’d use this site to document the recipes I come up with.  I am always thinking of new concepts for cupcakes and a few months ago I decided to turn my favorite chocolate bar into a cupcake.  Thus, Milky way Cupcakes were born!  I’ve been playing around with various “plain” cupcake recipes  to doctor up with different candies and flavors and I found one I love.  I use the same “plain” batter for my cookies and cream cupcakes and I have also altered it slightly to make fruit flavored cupcakes.  These cupcakes consist of pieces of Milky Way candy bars and they’re topped with a decadent caramel frosting.  To say this cupcake is sweet would be quite an understatement.  Below you’ll find the recipe along with my photos of the process.  Feel free to comment on where I could improve and also let me know how it turns out if you decide to try it out on your own!

“Plain” Cupcake Recipe: 

1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup milk

***Add 8 little bars or 2.5 regular sized bars to the mix for the Milky Way cupcakes.

Mix Butter & Sugar in a large bowl.  Stir each egg into the mixture, making sure the first is fully incorporated before adding the second egg.

Mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder & salt in a separate bowl.

Since I don't drink milk, I keep several cans of evaporated milk on hand for recipes that require milk.  Alternate mixing the dry ingredients with the milk into the sugar mixture.  Stir until fully blended.

The Best Part: Milky Ways!

I used my cutting board to chop the miniature Milky Ways into smaller pieces.  

Mix the chopped Milky Way pieces into the batter.

The cupcakes are ready to go in the oven.  Bake at 350 for 16-18 minutes.

 Caramel Frosting: 

This recipe I obtained from allrecipes.com (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/caramel-frosting-i/Detail.aspx)

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons milk

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

**I use this recipe as a base and then add more milk and powdered sugar, alternatively, until I get the texture and amount of frosting I need.

Melt the butter in a saucepan.  Add the milk after the butter has fully melted.

Add the brown sugar to the heated mixture and bring to a boil for approximately one minute.  Remove the brown sugar mixture from the heat and add the powdered sugar and vanilla.  Continue alternately adding powdered sugar and milk until  you achieve the desired texture and amount of frosting you need.

Milky Way Cupcake!

Will Paint for Food

So I spent Sunday afternoon helping my friends --the Beam sisters, paint their condo. And in return I knew that I would be fed.  The choices that were thrown out right away were thai or mediterranean. And honestly it didn't matter to me because I wouldn't know what to order from either place.  I haven't had thai food in many years and when I did go I ordered a shrimp fried rice, it's what I usually order at chinese food joints because I figured it was the safest way for me to go.  So when they noticed I didn't have an opinion either way they settled upon thai food.  And then they asked the dreaded question: what I would like to order?  Honestly, my issue with trying new foods is I never know where to start and sometimes having no starting place can be rather overwhelming.  So I told them I was open to trying anything.  The menu that they settled upon ended up being a tofu pad thai, yellow curry, and chicken fried rice.  Yes, I must say the idea of eating tofu definitely did not appeal to me, but I'm trying new things so of course I ate it.  The tofu wasn't as awful as I expected, it basically takes on the flavor of the foods it's prepared with, but I still wasn't a fan.  And I must admit, at 26, it was my first time having pad thai.  Would I order it again?  Probably not.  At least not on my own, but I'd definitely try more if there was a group consensus to order pad thai.  Surprisingly, I was a fan of the yellow curry, as long as I was able to avoid the huge chunks of onion. Ben's Noodle and Rice (http://702005883887882512.weebly.com/) is located on the north side and they have a pretty quick delivery service.  So if I ever find myself in Rogers Park area and in need of fast thai food, I would definitely keep it on my short list. 

The Menu

Yellow Curry

Pad Thai w/ Tofu

Fried Rice w/ Chicken

My Portion of it all..I tried a little bit of everything :)