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Tag: Boars Head

The Mainea of Maine

One of my favorite things to eat are bagel sandwiches. When we first got to Augusta, Maine and I began looking for places I could eat Bagel Mainea popped up several times, and each time I figured it wasn’t worth my time to call. Where I’m from most bagels have soy in them, why I don’t know – but they do, and thus they are a delicacy I simply cannot indulge. Finally after a couple of days where hubby found me drooling over the photos of all the bagels, he talked me into calling them.

Bagel Mainea table markers so they can bring you your food. This is my favorite.

Hallelujah they do not use oils of any kind in their bagels, and to make it even better…they use real butter on their toasted bagels. (Cue the hallelujah chorus sung by angels.) They are a full service deli, having boars head meats and cheese that they will slice to order. Add into the mix a plethora of bagel sandwiches to choose from, and more ‘flavors’ of bagels than I’ve ever seen – all made fresh, and I was in a literal heaven.

My favorite bagel is the Everything bagel, and theirs took it to new heights in my estimation the kosher salt mixed in with everything, made it amazing. When I added to it with their Harmony fillings, minus the humus because they weren’t sure what kind of oil was used, and this bagel sandwich loving girl and found her new favorite breakfast/lunch place. It helped that they served decent coffee, and offered milk substitutes other than soy, and they were OK with me bringing in my own coconut milk for my coffee! The Harmony consists of Turkey, ham, cucumbers, tomatoes, and avocado you seriously can’t get much better than that. Well the humus would be a great addition, but I’ll wait until they aren’t as busy so I can find out exactly the kind of oil they use, but still the sandwich is phenomenal without it, so I’ve got nothing to loose.

My favorite before soy, and I’m an even bigger fan since my soy allergy.

If you are looking for breakfast, coffee, lunch, whatever…This is an amazing place. The employees are very helpful, and willing to do the leg work if needed to find out about allergies. Plus their place markers, so they know where to bring your food, are as unique as they are. We were the comic for a Freudian slip more than once. Also, another nice touch are their hot beverage cup protectors. You get to choose what panoramic view you put on your cup. I chose poppies, butterflies, and a field of wild flowers. Whatever strikes your fancy that day, from bagels to your cup decor they aim to please. I can’t wait to return!

Every unique touch just adds to the experience. Pets are welcomed on their porch, and as I said they are willing to look into their food for your allergy if you point them in the right direction.

Joanie’s Deli And Bakery

 

What does a girl do when she is told by her doctors to eat more calories, especially if she is a rabbit food loving freak?  Why she finds places that serve BIG yummy salads!

Can you say fresh?

Can you say fresh?  And can you say YUM?!

OK, so my doctors didn’t want me eating more salads they wanted me to eat more calories than a salad has to offer.  But when you are a rabbit food lover who has very specific food allergies, you do your best to eat what you love…because then you’ll eat more in a day, which is the over arching goal of eating more…right?

Oh. So. Yummy.

Oh. So. Yummy.

During some of our weekends –  when we have to be out the house so people can look at our house – we would go up to Woodland park and stop for lunch at Joanie’s before heading back to the house, or out into the mountains for some light hiking.

Woodland Park is a nice drive up Highway 24 from Colorado Springs, not so long that you feel as if you’ve been in the car all day, just for a salad…but also not so short that we couldn’t be out of the house for the  2-5 hour window needed.  The longer we needed to be out the more we would do, after eating.

One great thing about Joanie’s Bakery and Delicatessen, other than the fact I can eat what I like even with my food allergies, is that we can take Chaz with us and sit on the covered patio.  It’s away from the street, and well protected. So it pet friendly, provided you don’t take them inside. (Though we have been told that they just might make an exception for Chaz…”because he’s so cute”. However, we don’t want the health department to close them down, so we keep Chaz outside.)

He's ready to eat. I share the egg yolks from my salad with him.

He’s ready to eat. I share the egg yolks from my salad with him.

I can actually sit outside, kind of, and enjoy my meal. A very rare treat for me.

See that first seat on the left? Yep that's my favorite spot at Joanie's.

See that first seat on the left? Yep that’s my favorite spot at Joanie’s.

Plexi glass protects us from the smoke the wind might bring in, and the over hang keeps the afternoon sun from reaching me.   I couldn’t eat breakfast there, with the dog, because I wouldn’t be able to sit outside. But once the sun reaches noon the porch is shaded and lovely.

Joanie’s is located at 110 East Highway 24, Woodland Park, CO  719-686-9091.  They only use Boars Head meat and cheeses for their salads and sandwiches, and their staff is very knowledgable about what goes into everything – even their salad dressings.

So if you have questions go in and ask, they’ll tell you exactly what they use. For example…knowing that soy is in practically everything, but not in most mustards, I get their honey mustard dressing.  They only use canola oil in their dressings, but if there is mayo or soy sauce (duh) in the dressing it’s a non-starter for me. So that takes their ranch and asian fusion style dressings, and the blue cheese, out of the equation (I just don’t like blue cheese) leaving their honey mustard or vinaigrettes for me to enjoy.

Now their vinaigrettes are lovely, but since I typically get a Chefs salad,  there is lots of protein to be had – a must for my picky body – I get the honey mustard.  It is a better paring with the bacon.

Once I had the Chef with their raspberry vinaigrette… again the vinaigrettes taste great, but for me they aren’t the best paring with the bacon.  The honey mustard gives you a nice zip and zing without over powering the meat…bacon.

Hubby loves their sandwiches, he’s had their version of grilled cheese, the Roast Beef Melt and many others that I don’t remember. Why?  I’ll let you ask.  Because I can’t eat them.  I cannot envy something I’ve never tried, and thus I find them unmemorable.  However, my I can eat anything hubby enjoys their sandwiches.

So if you fall into the I can eat anything category, be sure to check them out also.

I have even gone with a vegetarian friend of ours, and she was able to get exactly what she wanted…catered to her liking.  We both left satisfied, and ready for our trip back down the mountain.

For Labor Day hubby and I grabbed the dog and headed out to get a late lunch and so I could get photos for you…in case you are like me and need a visual aid from time to time to ensure you are where you think you should be.  Though Woodland Park isn’t that big still I want to be thorough.

And since I am a foodie who forgets to take photos of their food…I had a purpose in going there…I took my phone and my camera.  Try not to drool on your electronic devices.

 

Next time you are in Woodland Park, checkout Joanie’s if its time to eat.  Let me know what you had and what you thought.

 

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