To think the holidays are suppose to be about rushing to the mall, waiting in line forever, and having joyful arguments with family members you haven’t seen in months, well this year nature decided to make it even more uncomfortable by showering the midwest with plenty of cold weather. I don’t know what I enjoyed more, early frost on my windshield, or the torrent of ice and rain that left me without power for eleven hours! About the only two things that worked for me last Tuesday was my F-150 pickup and my iPhone. I used the truck to get some food and the iPhone to call MidAmerica and let them know our power was still out. The lesson learned is that you should always speak with a live operator when calling the power company, otherwise they will assume that the truck they sent out an hour ago fixed the problem, and you will still be sitting in the dark without power. It could have been much worse though. There was no wind at all during the storm and when you have at least a half an inch of ice on trees, any slight breeze is a catastrophe waiting to happen.

One of the better places in Coralville, Iowa to eat lunch is Huhot Mongolian Grill. I often go there during the work week to do an early lunch. For less than $15 (that’s including a drink and tip) you can have multiple servings of make your own mongolian style dishes and have them cook them for you on their huge grill. Personally I prefer early weekday lunches because there is less of a crowd. On the weekends and during dinner hours the place is often packed and so you find yourself waiting in line for about ten minutes at the grill.

I personally recommend the following ingredients: Chicken, your favorite noodles, a good helping of bamboo, pineapple, onions, and celery. For the sauce use five spoonfuls of the yellow curry, on spoonful of garlic chili, and half a spoonful or ginger. This makes for a good combination of flavor and heat. If you have a sweet tooth after all those servings, they have some tasty desserts. For minuses, do not order the soup; it is a tad watered down and not very memorable.

Overall, HuHot is a good place for lunch, and is one of the few places where the food is pretty healthy for you.