If there is one thing I’m picky about, it’s my sandwich preferences. I don’t like certain kinds of meat. I don’t like my sandwiches made with the wrong ingredients. I’m a creature of habit, so I try to avoid change. Still, when you hear about how good the Reuben sandwiches are at Zingerman’s Deli in Ann Arbor, a little change is worth trying…at least once.

Food Network featured the Zingerman’s Reuben on its television show, The Best Of… If you have never seen this show, the premise is the hosts of the show go around the country to find the best of a particular food item. In Ann Arbor, they found the best Reuben, at Zingerman’s Deli. This Reuben features mounds of corn beef, Swiss cheese, freshly baked Jewish Rye Bread, sauerkraut and homemade Russian dressing. I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted to try one of these sandwiches. They sound absolutely perfect and they’re made in the traditional Reuben way.

So, when I found out Zingerman’s would be offering a Reuben Kit in celebration of Father’s Day, I simply had to try a kit. When I found out that Zingerman’s doesn’t send out sauerkraut, I was apprehensive. In its place is sweet and delicious coleslaw. In all my OCD-ness I was worried about one little change to a traditional sandwich. How would the coleslaw differ from the sauerkraut? Would the sandwich still be as good?

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How would you like to drink the most delicious of smoothies that only has six calories of fat? You actually lose fat and become more energized by drinking the Tropical Smoothie Café’s Lean Machine. Just 173 calories with Splenda (and 473 with Turbinado) the Lean Machine is the best of the best when it comes to weight loss treats.

Sure, I need to lose weight. I’m a chubby guy in a wheelchair, but I don’t like having to sacrifice taste to do it. Nobody wants to eat cardboard and while I have some willpower, if my food tastes like cardboard I’m not going to want to stay on my diet, nor can I guarantee I’ll be able to stick to it long term. Maybe a few weeks, but that’s my limit.

The Tropical Smoothie Café’s Lean Machine is the first smoothie I tried from the café. I chose it because I like strawberries and bananas. Those are the two main ingredients in the Lean Machine. The smoothie also includes Fat Metabolizer and Energizer. So, you only get six calories of fat and the drink is pretty much free calories of fruity goodness.

The smoothies by the Tropical Smoothie Café use real fruit and they are perfectly blended. While Fat Metabolizer and Energizer come in this particular smoothie, you can order them or one of the other smoothie boosters for a nominal fee in any of the other smoothies you purchase. The worst thing about this smoothie is its price.

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I love wraps. I know most people think wraps are healthy and might not necessarily taste good, but that’s probably one of the biggest misunderstandings about wraps. In my day, I’ve had some really good wraps. The university I attended used to have a wrap shop and I’d get everything from the Buffalo Chicken to the Taco wraps. I just like the flavor and taste of wraps in general. Still, I’m picky about what I like on my wraps, so I’m often impressed when I find a wrap I can eat that I don’t have to personalize.

The Tropical Smoothie Café is quickly becoming one of my favorite restaurants. I love smoothies and I love refreshing summer foods, especially with summer just around the corner. Our first trip to this relatively new restaurant chain in nearby Grand Blanc, MI was one that made me a lover of all things smoothie. Not only did I get a smoothie that was huge, I also got the most delicious wrap I’ve ever tasted.

The King Caesar wrap is made of the absolute finest ingredients. That is what made the wrap so good. I’ve never had lettuce so crisp and delicious. The King Caesar is made up of strips of deliciously tender chicken breast, romaine lettuce, vine-ripe tomatoes, Parmesan cheese and Caesar dressing. These ingredients are wrapped in a garlic herb tortilla. In total, the wrap is 557 calories. If you get this with a Smoothie, you’ll barely be able to eat all of this, so it makes an excellent, reasonable calorie meal.

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You might be surprised to know that I’m as picky about what I drink as I am what I eat. I drink a variety of things, but certain brands of beverages suit my fancy more than others. For example, I’m a Coke drinker. Give me a Coke Classic, Mello Yello or Sprite any day over some of the other brands of pop out there (though I’m a sucker for A&W root beer and I am a major lover or Faygo Red Pop and Orange). I also like certain flavors of smoothies and slushies, certain kinds of juice, and I tend to drink a lot of water – especially carbonated flavor water.

When I heard Taco Bell was offering a new frozen, fruit drink I was curious, but cautious. Taco Bell isn’t exactly known for making delicious, drinking delicacies. As it is, some of its newer food offerings aren’t exactly as good as their television commercials make them out to be. When Ashtyn and her mom wanted to buy the frozen treats I got to try them without having to devote myself towards drinking them if I didn’t like their taste.

The first time we purchased the Fruitista Freeze treats Ashtyn got the Strawberry and her mom got the Mango Strawberry. After one drink of the Strawberry, which I kindly stole from Ashtyn, I was hooked. Bursts of strawberry goodness with chunks of strawberry mixed in make for a delicious and refreshing treat. The strawberry was so good we bought Fruitista Freezes the very next day. This time, Ash bought us one Mango Strawberry and one Strawberry Freeze (while her mom bought a Strawberry). I wasn’t sure how I was going to like the Mango. Surprisingly, it was pretty good.

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I had been seeing advertisements for Red Robin during every Detroit Tigers baseball game I watched. I’d never even heard of Red Robin, so I figured the restaurant was closer to Detroit. Come to find out, there is one in nearby Flint, MI. So, I decided I was going to try one of their delicious looking burgers.

For those who do not know what Red Robin is, it is a burger chain that is located in various states across the United States.

I should tell you, I’m very picky about how I like my burgers cooked. While I prefer my steak perfectly rare, I like my hamburgers medium. I don’t like them too well done or crispy. I don’t like them too mushy or raw. I also like the perfect arrangement of spices and condiments to give it the ideal burger flavor. I sometimes won’t even eat Ashtyn’s burgers. Well, I used to scoff at her burgers, but she’s finally figured out what I like and if anyone can make it to perfection she can.

The first thing I was impressed with was the endless boatload of French fries you get with your burger. Not that I could have eaten the serving I was given, but Red Robin certainly gives you everything you pay for and then some! To top things off, I ordered the Sautéed ‘Shroom Burger and let me just tell you, their burgers are huge! They ask you how you want them to cook your burger, which is awesome because most restaurants don’t do that. They also let you decide exactly what you want on your burger.

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There are a whole slew of restaurants (typically the best in town) that are all the way on the other side of the city. For one reason or another we don’t get over there too much, but when we do we will usually stop somewhere and pick up dinner since there are some options we either haven’t tried or don’t get to normally enjoy. Just a couple of days ago we had a chance to get over there and after much deliberation (and I mean much, since my mother isn’t easy to please) we finally ended up at our area’s local Red Robin.

It was a visit to their website that really clenched the decision. I knew my mom would like a lot of their food options, including things like fish and chips, onion rings, and gourmet burgers. I didn’t know if I would be able to sell her on a burger (she’s picky about when she wants one), but I knew the fish and chips with onion rings instead of fries, would be a super simple selling point. So, off to Red Robin we went.

I have to say the inside is quite swanky. I really liked the basic motif with the celebrity pictures on the wall and the past moments of pop culture (Campbell’s Soup can, anyone?). It was a cute restaurant and a nice environment all around. They didn’t have smoking, which was a negative for my mom, but she was willing to forgive them because they had Coke and if the food was good, there would be no problem. If I could have gotten her out of there without seeing the bill I think she would have been in love. Of course, my mom can’t imagine spending anything over McDonald’s prices for a meal out to eat, so that was to be expected.

I didn’t find the prices to be too bad, but it’s not somewhere that we will be going a lot just for the fact that it is a bit more than your average burger joint. For a family of four with meals and one appetizer it came to just over $66, not including tip. The service was excellent, by the way.

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