Groupon Guru

Yes, the title of this post does, in fact, refer to the blog that my cousin, Lindsey, started when she lived in D.C. a couple of years ago, the basic premise of which was she bought whatever Groupons were advertised, tried out the restaurants and activities, and blogged about them.This was in the early days of Groupon, and I had no idea what she was talking about when she told me the focus of her blog. To be honest, I didn’t even really understand what blogs were.

It was actually Lindsey who turned me on to food blogs, showing me Jenna‘s and Kath‘s, telling me I’d love them because I loved oatmeal (or something to that effect). I guess you could say, in some ways, there would be no Smart Kitchen without Lindsey and her Groupon Guru blog.*

*Seriously, I know you all want to send her thank you notes and gifts. Contact me and I can put you in touch.

Sadly, she has not revived the blog. I don’t even remember what the URL is for it, so I can’t link to it….but regardless, I felt a little bit like a Groupon Guru last weekend, as I managed to use not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR Groupons (or Lunch Deals or Living Social vouchers) in one fell swoop. The first, you have already seen, was for the truffle making class at All-In-One Bake Shop.

The rest were all at restaurants. All of which I was super crafty and utilized my “only purchase if it works for take-out” rule in purchasing and using, thus allowing me to get more for my money (and more for ME), plus many more than one meal out of the deal.

First up? Lift Cafe.Mod design, with individual outdoor tables (high tables! with bar stools!), clearly intended for hipster Wi-Fi retreat…
…and plenty of outdoor seating (as all good Austin restaurants should have).
Bonus points for the menu on a chalkboard! [Y'all know I'm a sucker for that. I should probably put a chalkboard in The Smart Kitchen just so I can scribble random ideas on it. Or just words I think are funny...like ubiquitous.]
Inside, it was clearly a perfect spot for the weekend morning post-ride get together of bikers (not the Harley kind) and “place to take our small children to get them out of the house for a minute.”[There were a few people working on unknown projects on their laptops. Naturally. It is a coffee and smoothie shop at its core.] I, of course, investigated the soups of the day, and wished whole-heartedly it were a Tuesday as Roasted Red Pepper and Smoked Gouda soup sounded like a blessing from the soup gods on Mount Bowl-ympus.
I went for the Veggie Pasta instead…a relatively suitable alternative.It was quite good, and I ate it right away when I got home…it almost didn’t make it though, as the “to-go” soup container was just a coffee cup…granted it had the phrase “sippy hole” on it, so that made it slightly better….…but I had a bit of a perilous journey trying to contain that AND my veggie wrap.This was good…standard veggie wrap fare. I ended up taking it to school for lunch and it held up really well. Not dressed too heavily, and I LOVED the actual wrap (spinach I believe). And you can’t really be unhappy when there is avocado staring back at you.Although I was swayed by the Buddha’s Brew Kombucha I had first tried at the Bleet-Up a couple weeks ago…
…I went for a coffee, into which I put cinnamon and chocolate powder, and a dash of soy milk.
The coffee wasn’t anything special, but it gave me the first opportunity to try out Caitlin‘s adorable, handmade coffee “hugs.” [Just made that up. I like it.]

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From one coffee shop [slash] smoothie bar [slash] restaurant to another….
OK, without the smoothie bar and more of a substantial BAR bar. [I think the first time I went to Austin Java was the first time I saw a coffee bar with a full bar of beer and wine as well. I just didn't know what to do. Little did I know this was actually a common occurrence...at least here in Austin.]Also a much more impressive menu, making choices MUCH more difficult. Luckily for my brain, I had to think fast, as I was getting it to-go [and scored sweet parking because of it ].
I knew immediately I was going to get the veggie plate, if only because it is the best value for your money I have ever seen. SO. MUCH. FOOD. Not only do you get the veggie of the day (today: steamed broccoli), you get a heaping helping of both Austin Java’s incredible mashed potatoes (they taste like…potatoes!) and red pepper hummus, but also a side salad topped with roasted red peppers, a portion of their black-bean-and-corn pico with tortilla chips…
…and if you are still hungry, it comes with a bowl of soup also! I picked the Roasted Chicken, but also got a bowl of the Spicy Peanut Soup, since I had heard it was delicious. They were apparently out of lids for the soup containers…so the waitress/barista got creative with plastic wrap.
I went ahead and ate the Roasted Chicken Soup that day, as well as a bunch of the other veggie plate goodness….
[Although some of the hummus made it into my lunch this week with cottage cheese alongside!]What else did I order from Austin Java? [Yeah, those Groupons go a LOOOOONG way...]
A to-go order of their Crawfish Pico, which they said was like ceviche….but sadly was not.Loved that hunk of avocado on top (and ate it with my veggie plate later), but the crawfish pico was full of mayo, which is not like ceviche at all!
There were big hunks of crawfish that were super tasty….and even though it was spiced well and everything, I couldn’t eat a lot of this…too mayonnaise-y for my taste.

What about that Spicy Peanut Soup?
I ended up repurposing it by mixing it with a huge portion of spaghetti squash and topping it with the rest of the steamed broccoli and roasted red peppers from the veggie plate.
Now THAT was amazing.
And entirely of my own invention. I’m going to have to see if I can remake this from scratch….

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Last up? Apothecary Cafe & Wine Bar.
I had been here before, but only for a glass of wine with the girls…never for food (although I had nibbled on some of my friends’ appetizers).
What did I get in my takeout bag?
Choosing from the myriad of delicious salad and panini options was very difficult (peanut butter and Nutella, what?), but I went with something I would never be likely to make at home, considering my inability to make and omelet, and my failure at making crepes before:

Minced Pork & Marscapone Crepe with Dried Fruit Chutney

Who would have thought? Minced pork + marscapone + the chew of the dried fruit = AMAZING….even reheated later (I did have an initial nibble upon pickup). Cheesy pork is apparently a very good thing.

My crepe came with an avocado salsa fresca, which was yummy, too, but frankly, I didn’t really think the pork needed anything else. Those chips?
Those chips belonged to my sandwich!