Oliver T's and Whole Foods Market - Going out to dine in, Episode I

Sometimes you want something good to eat but you don't have the time to make it yourself. Perhaps you don't have the time or don't feel like going out to a restaurant and sitting down for it. Maybe you're thinking ahead and you want something for the next day.

If you don't feel like getting take out from a restaurant you can visit either Oliver T's or Whole Foods Market for some excellent choices.

Oliver T's is located in Grand Blanc, Michigan, and can be easily found due to it's marquee style sign on the front of it's store. The first part of their store has a little bit of everything in it. From toys and tableware, candy to cigars, and gifts to picture frames. The rest of the store is all edibles. There is a great selections of shelf items that will make any meal better. Fresh foods of all kinds. A huge selection of beers and all other libations. Then there is the deli and the bakery. The deli serves up the "not your everyday sandwich's", and the bakery has some of the sweetest selections you can find.

When we were there last weekend I decided on a "Cajun Turkey" sandwich, and my wife got the "Tuscan Turkey". Mine had horseradish and a scallion remoulade sauce, and hers had a spread made with mashed artichoke hearts. We also picked up some "Salmon Spread" and crackers. All of it was very good!

We were also in the mood for dessert that day and wanted to try a cake. After hearing the run down of what was behind the glass we decided on a "Hazelnut Cappuccino" cake. Now I'm not a fan of coffee. I love the smell of it but don't like the taste. I do however like Tiramisu, so I was ok with this. The cake was good but was too heavy on the espresso for my taste.

Whole Foods Market has a few locations in southeast Michigan, (the one in Ann Arbor is our favorite) last weekend we visited the Rochester Hills store. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that this one had been upgraded. The store always seemed a little cramped with little room to move around in. But now they moved, just down the road! They took over a building previously occupied by another grocery store, with lots of room, and it looks great inside and out.

They are the world's largest retailer of natural and organic foods. Being a grocery store there are staple items we like to pick up whenever we go there: 365 Everyday Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Tea's Tea - Pure Green, and their Smoked Mozzarella Pasta Salad - which can be found in their deli. They too have a large selection of adult beverages. There is a salad bar that would rival any restaurants set up, hot food bars, prepared foods, deli, not to mention a sections for both middle eastern and Asian foods. Followed up by a great bakery with lots of bread choices and desserts to die for.

On this day we picked up one of our favorites, the "Smoked Mozzarella Pasta Salad", and also some "Cajun Potato Salad". Both of which proved to be excellent side dishes.

We stopped into the bakery for a dessert to help end the night. We found one that both of us could enjoy - "Chocolate Mousse for Two". It was so good and so rich we couldn't finish it and had to save it for the next day!

Our Tip: Both of these stores are well worth the trip. When you're at these stores please look through the whole store, who knows what you'll find! We plan on keeping the visits to these stores on the blog to further share their beauty.

Rainforest Cafe - Great Lakes Crossing

Have you ever been traveling around with your kids when one of them is having a really bad day? We have! Our youngest has been getting his two year molars in recently... all four of them. Last Friday we decided to take the kids to the Detroit Zoo. Unfortunately we had to keep stopping to try and sooth Mr. Cranky in the back seat. We ultimately realized that we wouldn't have enough time to make it through the zoo if we had kept going.

We needed to find a place that might help our son remain calm. We found this at Great Lakes Crossing. An outlet mall with plenty of restaurants and a play area for kids. Since breakfast was our last meal, food was our first priority.

As we walked in we quickly decided that the Rainforest Cafe would probably be our best chance at happiness for the kids. If you've never been there, the idea is a restaurant inside of a forest, with lots vegetation, animatronic animals, and fish tanks full of colorful swimmers. They have a thunder storm that comes around every fifteen minutes, complete with rain. Since it's a big chain restaurant they also bring out a flaming volcano paired with a song, if it's your birthday. They even have a gift store in front filled with stuffed animals and others toys that will probably break within two weeks of your purchase.

After a quick story to the hostess as to how crazy our day had been, we were seated right next to one of the small aquariums. It wasn't small like ones in your house, but small in comparison to the others in the restaurant. My wife's chair was dirty, but easily replaced with one from an adjacent, empty table, thanks to our early afternoon dinner time. The kids took the window seats so they could watch the fish.

Our oldest son order a slushy drink that comes in a sport bottle with a toy inside of a second compartment screwed into the bottom of it. He gave the toy, an alligator action figure, to our youngest. Who, when he got back from exploring the sites with mom, was happy. Good job big brother! I had a beer and mom had a "yummy" mixed drink.

We started with some appetizers. "Cheese sticks" for the boys, which were good. "Lettuce wraps" for us, which were great! They came with noodles, cheese, and shredded, spicy chicken that was delicious!

For dinner we ordered "pepperoni pizza" for the oldest, and "mini burgers" with fries for the youngest. My wife had the "Macadamia Crusted Tilapia & Coconut Shrimp", which came with rice. I picked the flat iron steak, with coconut shrimp and shrimp scampi, which came with mashed potatoes. It was called the "Triple something?".

When they brought the food out they mistakenly brought out mini hot dogs instead of mini burgers for our youngest. After three folks from the wait staff and about five minutes he had his food.

Our oldest enjoyed his pizza as always. Our youngest dismantled his burgers and ate only what he wanted to, and barely touched his fries. Everything I had was overdone except the potatoes. I "needed" A1 for my steak, and you should never need it, but only want it. I did like the dipping sauce for the coconut shrimp. The fish for my wife was good, and she enjoyed her coconut shrimp. Though for some reason they decided to make the rice for this island style dish, a Mexican style rice. It was in my wife's words, disgusting and dry. It didn't go along with the theme for the dish at all.

After receiving the almost triple digit bill we realized that we were paying not only for the food but also for the atmosphere.

Our Tip: If you need a place to eat that will keep the kids happy, this could be the place to go. Just remember what your paying for. Locally they have a deal where kids eat for $1.99 on Wednesdays. Go there on this day and at least make your wallet a little happier.