Mexico

Jason and I have traveled quite a bit since we got married but somehow we'd never made it to Mexico, the most traveled to country by Americans, until a couple of weeks ago.  When my brother and his wife started making plans to visit us in San Diego, one of the things they wanted to do was take a trip to Mexico.  They had never left the county before so of course we were on board.  Our place in San Diego is just 35 minutes from the boarder crossing into Tijuana, Mexico.  There are lots of horror stories out there about Tijuana so we did our research, discussed driving vs. taking a bus and our end destination and finally settled on driving to Ensenada, a coastal town on the Baha California Peninsula.

We crossed the border with no issues in the morning and made the 2 hour drive to Ensenada.

Most of the drive was along the water, and even though the day started out grey, it was a very pretty drive.

Luckily, just before we arrived, the clouds parted and it ended up being a perfect day to lay on the beach.

After a few hours on the beach, we went off in search of some lunch.

Which was followed by some shopping.

I really, really wanted one of these NHL ponchos but convinced myself that, in reality, I would never actually wear it.

We stopped for some ice cream and got back on the road.  For only having one day in the country, I think we made the best of it.  We did get in the wrong lane coming home which resulted in a bit of detaining and a little extra searching, but we made it back unharmed.

Donut Bar

A couple weeks ago, a friend from high school posted about this breakfast spot while she was visiting San Diego.  As soon as I saw it I knew I had to check it out!  Once glance at their website and I knew I had to check it out ASAP!

San Diego Donut Bar

Each evening they post the next day's menu which is constantly changing.

There were so many unique and intriguing choices.

I finally settled on two.  Cake batter (that was almost the size of my head)

and red velvet cake.

Jason opted for a chocolate bacon and a boring cinnamon and sugar.

I cut mine in half and it was still huge and I could only eat half of it.

I finished the rest over the next couple of days.  They were delicious but I definitely recommend eating them fresh.  Next time I want to go with a group so we can get a bunch and share because it was really just too difficult to choose only one!  This will for sure be a spot we take guest who come to visit!  Rebecca, I hope you and Seth are ready for a donut tasting morning while you're here!

This Week's Eats {A link up}

Another menu link up!  I love how this keeps me accountable for my meal plan each week.  Meal planning, when I stick to it, helps us save money, waste less, and it's just so nice not having to think about what I'll make for dinner every single day.  Jason doesn't often make requests for dinner so when he does it's almost a given that I'll make it for him, whatever it is.  Even though we just had sausage and kraut, he asked for it again so it's back on the menu for the week.   We have a fundraiser for our Relay for Life team at a restaurant this week (if you're so compelled, you can make a donation via that link over on my sidebar, I'll be talking more about that more in the near future) and we have friends coming to visit next weekend so this is an exciting and unusual week for us.

Sunday:  Grill
Monday: Sausage & Kraut
Tuesday: Chicken Tikka Masala
Wednesday: Relay for Life fundraiser at Rubio's in LaJolla

 (if you're in the area, come out for dinner and support the fight against cancer!)

Thursday: Crockpot BBQ Chicken and homemade coleslaw
Friday: Tasty Shrimp {this has been on my pinterest for ages and I always put it in the running for the weekly meal plan and it always gets nudged out by something else, not this week.  It better not dissapoint!}
Saturday: Rebecca & Seth arrive in SoCal!!!!!!!!!!  Late night bites will be had in LA!

This Week's Eats {a link up}

More catastrophic fails sticking to the plan last week but that's the past.  We're moving forward with a positive attitude this week.

Sunday: takeout on the beach, soaking up the last bits of a warm weekend!
Monday: Chicken Bacon Ranch mac & cheese
Tuesday: French bread pizza (the perfect way to use the other half of a loaf used for garlic bread over the weekend)
Wednesday: Our favorite Crockpot tacos
Thursday: Chicken Salsa Enchiladas
Friday: French Onion soup and paninis

What are you eating this week?

This Week's Eats {A link up}

How is it already Sunday again?!?  Now that I'm back to working full time, after a 6 year hiatus, I find that the weekends go by so much faster than they used to.  I love having a jam packed schedule on the weekends but then I feel like I get no rest before the week starts all over.  We are back to having softball games on Wednesdays (it's the only form of exercise my lazy butt gets these days) and some big plans on Friday but I'm still excited to eat some of these meals this week, especially tomorrow's dinner!  I'm still not a huge fan of most CrockPot meals so I'm struggling to to find meals that are easy to make after a long day of work and still healthy or at least mostly healthy.

Monday: Chicken Bacon Ranch Mac & Cheese (this better be good, I've been thinking about it for 2 weeks now!)  This is also the only link I have for you this week, sorry about that!
Tuesday: French Bread Pizzas
Wednesday: Crock Pot Tacos that will be ready when we get home from softball
Thursday: Grilled chicken wings and corn on the cob
Friday: PENGUINS GAME IN ANAHEIM!!!!!!!!  (We'll have to grab dinner on the way to make it on time with the traffic)
Saturday: Kielbasa, sauerkraut and German fried potatoes

PS, if you haven't seen, I'm participating in a giveaway over at Just Jacq and you can enter here!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

This Week's Eats

I love this link up because it keeps me accountable to meal plan every week, even when I don't want to.  Somehow last week I only planned for 5/7 days, like we weren't going to eat the other 2 nights.  I made sure to account for dinner all 7 nights this week.  I've also started our meal plans on Saturdays since that is when I go to the farmers market and I can start with the ingredients that need to be eaten first (for freshness factor {what up unintentional alliteration}).  Plus it keeps all of my recipe links for the week consolidated nicely.

Saturday: Fondue!  Cheese, cheese and chocolate.
Sunday: The Pioneer Woman Sloppy Joes
Monday: Minestrone Soup
Tuesday: Sesame Ginger Salmon & Veggies
Wednesday: Okonomiyaki
Thursday: Eggplant Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce (this is SO GOOD)
Friday: BBQ Chicken Quesidillas

I'm so excited to eat this week!

This Week's Eats!

Once again, I've been riding the blog roller coaster.  5 posts in a week then 1 then 5 and then a week of nothing.  I've got to get better at spreading these things out and being more consistent.

Anywho, I'm here now and I'm linking up with Jessica Lynn to share with you what we'll be eating this week.  I am a magazine junkie and Cooking Light and Food Network Magazine are two of my favorites.  Until Pinterest came around, I almost exclusively cooked out of those two sources (and The Pioneer Woman's blog).  Since I discovered Pinterest, my magazines show up, I tear through them, eagerly dog ear marking pages with inspiring recipes then the get put on the shelf, forgotten.  This week I decided I'm not going to let all that inspiration go to waste, so everything I'm cooking this week comes from either Cooking Light or Food Network Magazine.

Here's what we're eating this week:

Sunday: Chicken and Dumplings {We love my go to recipe but want to try something different.  On a completely random note, that was one of my 1st recipe posts, I think it's about time I go back and redo it with some legit photos!}

Monday: Grilled Steak (for the husband) and veggeis {ok, so there is no recipe for this one, it was the husbands request}

Tuesday: Coconut Curry Halibut with Stir-Fried Veggies

Wednesday: Ramen {so excited to try this one, I hope my expectations aren't too high}

Thursday: Trying a new restaurant, still haven't decided which one.

Friday: Four Citrus-Herb Chicken and salad with a Warm Tomato Dressing

Saturday: We'll cook based on what we find at the farmers market that day.

Speaking of farmers market, we tried out a new one in Little Italy this weekend based on some recommendations from coworkers and friends and loved it.  It has a gorgeous view of the ocean and a great selection so we plan to make it our Saturday morning thing.

While we were there this past Saturday I had my grocery list for the week with me which included carrots for two different meals.  Jason wanted to try some of the fun, colorful carrots we always see but never try so we picked some up.

I used them in the chicken and dumplings recipe above that we had for dinner tonight....

and look what happened!  They turned the entire dish a lilac/grey color.

Luckily it tasted much better than it looked!  We both prefer the slight spice of the other recipe I use but agreed this one was also delicious!

I'd love to see what you are cooking this week!

Pacific Beach AleHouse

First of all, thank you for all of your kind words and prayers on yesterday's post.  Suicide is not an easy topic to discuss but it's one I feel needs some attention.

For round 2 of San Diego Restaurant Week we decided to check out PB AleHouse.  Too bad I massively failed at the research on this location.  When we arrived we were informed that the Ale House only participated in SDRW for the 1st 5 days and, well, the day we went was day 6.  OOPS.  Since we had biked the 5 miles to the restaurant and were already seated when we found out, we decided to stick around.

We had hoped to have this view from our table but the upper deck was completely full and it didn't look like anyone was going to be leaving any time soon...

So we settled for this view.

I big, pink, puffy heart reflections!

We started with fried pickles, one of my appetizers ever.  I'll order these every time they're on the menu.  Jason and I agreed these fried pickles were some of the best we'd ever had.  (And a beer sampler for Jason, we were at an "ale house" after all)

Jason had the sausage plate for his meal and he loved it!  The pretzel bread was super fresh and the pickled veggies in the middle were fabulous. 

I ordered the bbq chicken flat bread and it was...ok.  A little dry, it could have used more sauce.

(If you're keeping track, that's twice now that Jason's made a better choice than me!  Maybe I'll just start letting him choose what I eat.)

I couldn't finish all of my flat bread so we decided to share the leftovers with someone who would appreciate it more than we would.

Overall we loved this place.  If there weren't so many other great places to check out in SD, we'd probably return.  And who knows, maybe we'll return anyways.  Don't take my word for it though, check out what Katie thought of the PB Ale House when she visited last week for SDRW.

Chedi Thai Bistro

Back in September I celebrated my birthday at the San Diego Restaurant Week kick off party and had a blast so when we heard it was coming back, we immediately started researching which restaurants we wanted to check out this go around.


First up on the list was Chedi Thai Bistro in LaJolla.  I absolutely love Thai flavors (except the chilies, you know, one of the main ingredients) so this was a no brainer for us.  I wish we had gone during the day so the photos would have turned out better but we both work full time jobs so dinner time it was.

The ambiance was great, the service was fantastic and most of the food was delicious.

If your town doesn't have a restaurant week, the idea is that restaurants sign up to participate and then choose a set menu (or at most, a very limited menu) and a set price.  Chedi Thai Bistro had a 3 course menu, a choice of starter, entree and dessert.  Depending on the entree you choose, their were different prices.

Jason started with the smallest chicken wings I've ever seen, but boy of boy were they delicious!  I would have loved a huge plate full of them.  I chose my favorite Thai dish, Tom Kah Kai.  It might have been the best Tom Kah Kai I have ever had in my life.  A giant bowl of this to go with a giant plate of those wings and I would have been set for the night.

Unfortunately I finished the soup and it was time for our entrees,  black pepper lamb for him and a tummeric curry noodle seafood for me.  Jason LOVED his and about licked his plate clean.

 Mine had a good flavor but the curry was a tad grainy and even though it said "mild" on the menu, it was so spicy I couldn't eat it.  I ate about 5 bites before I gave up and just ate my husband's rice.

We finished with a slice of chocolate cake and ginger creme burlee.  I had really high hopes for the ginger creme burlee but I didn't taste any ginger what so ever.  After another really long and stressful week at work, this was the perfect date night with my main squeeze.  I'm so glad we tried this place and I'm sure we'll be back.  (The drunken noodles the guy next to us had looked and smelled SO good, I have to try them)

Happy Friday folks!  I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Weekend in LA

Another post titled with a song title, anyone know it?!  It was by far the most played song on my iPod this weekend.  Last week was one of those weeks that started off rough and just kept getting worse.  When I found out on Wednesday that we were off for MLK Jr's birthday, I wasted no time booking Jason and I a hotel room in LA for the weekend.  Not only was our wedding anniversary on Sunday but I just really needed a weekend away.  We went without a plan and it ended up being the perfect combination of adventure and relaxation, exactly what we needed.

I found a spot that I knew my husband would go gaga over, the Old LA Zoo.  When they opened the current LA Zoo and moved the animals, they left behind the old enclosures and some of the cages at the Griffith Park Zoo.  Jason LOVES the zoo and he's a giant kid at heart so I knew he'd love this.

I was correct.

From there we headed to Olvera Street, one of the oldest streets in Downtown LA.  We had some wonderful Mexican food at La Noche Buena, and that means a lot coming from me because I don't normally like Mexican food.  The avocado cream sauce and the cucumbers on the tacos won me over.

Jason had a midterm due that night so after dinner we went back to the hotel so he could do some school work then headed out in search of a bar for a few drinks.  Our original destination was a complete bust.  It was in a seedy part of town and everyone going in was 50+ and dressed like they were still trying to be 25.  We decided to just drive toward the coast and stop at the first respectable looking bar we found.  We ended up having a great time at the place we found but we were reminded how lucky we are to have found each other at a young enough age.  Watching 30 year olds try to pick each other up was both comical and depressing.

Sunday we had a bit of split personality.  We spent half the day being tourists and half of the day blending in with locals.

First up, the epitome of tourist traps, Hollywood walk of fame.  We were there for less than an hour and that was more than enough time for us.

Then we did a little vintage shopping at the Melrose Trading Post.

Had lunch at the farmers market (my burger and pickle chips from Short Order exceeded my expectations and the Yelp reviews).

After a quick stop at our hotel to let the puppy dog out, we spent some time walking around Venice beach.

Where we were treated to the most spectacular sunset I have EVER seen in my life on our way to dinner.

I stopped so many times to take photos I thought we were going to be late for our reservation (that and the fact that I thought the map said 1.7 miles but it turns out it was 4+ miles from where we parked to the restaurant, oops!)

Seriously?!? It was perfect!

We had dinner at The Lobster.  It was a last minute decision so I was thrilled they had room for us and even managed to find us a table overlooking Santa Monica Pier.

The food was delicious and the service was spectacular.  It was the perfect celebratory evening.

After dinner I was chilly so we stopped for some warm drinks to hold while we walked around a bit in Santa Monica.  We I didn't last long, after the 4 mile trek we made to dinner, before we hailed a cab.

Sunday we had a few last "must do" things to check off our list before we headed home, starting with a trip to see the Hollywood sign.  We didn't end up where we had intended but we got close enough to take a few photos and call it a check in the completed column.

Apparently LA has some wicked food trucks so we headed to "Miracle Mile" area where a dozen or so food trucks hang out for lunch.

I had a sandwich and spring roll from Banh in the USA and Jason had currywurst and fries from the No.1 Currywurst Truck.  I should have had the curry, it was SO GOOD, mine was just fine.

And with that, we were out!  LA, you won, I thought you'd be O.K. but it turns out I kind of love you!