Week 74 Menu

One of our first weeks here in the Bay Area we went to Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. It was AWESOME. I took so many great pictures and have just been waiting for the day when I have time to write up a good entry about our visit. I still haven't done that, so I'm just going to tease you with one of the photos today. I promise to share more Tartine with you soon!


MONDAY:
- Nate's Birthday! Cate and I will plan something special, but can't write it here or we'll spoil the surprise! :)

TUESDAY:
- BBQ Night (hot dogs and/or hamburgers)
- Baked Beans
- Corn on the Cob
- Watermelon

WEDNESDAY:
- Homemade pizza (click through and look for "Uncle Tony's Pizza Crust")
- Salad

THURSDAY:
- Breakfast for dinner (Hillary - last week you posted "mixed berry waffles" - do you actually mix berries into the batter or are you just topping them with berries?)

FRIDAY:
- Pork Chops
- Rice
- Veggie

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- Steak on the grill (that just sounds good, we'll see if I can find some on SALE)
- Baked homemade french fries
- Salad

Bring on the menus! I've said it before, I'll say it again...I love seeing what you are all cooking every week. Being able to browse your menus/recipes for ideas every week is such a huge help. THANK YOU!

Holy Zucchini!

My friends are always trying to find ways to get on the blog...and my friend Natalee wins the prize this week.


She's working on her first garden and planted enough zucchini to feed most of the Bay Area for the summer. She decided to give me her state-fair-worthy zucchini...not because she likes me more than anyone else. She just wants some blog exposure, and she deserves it. This zucchini makes my strawberry look like a raspberry!


I just love summer and fresh produce.

The Goods: Splendido Little Tomatoes

As I was eating these tomatoes at lunch today, I thought they were just too pretty to NOT be photographed.


These are my favorite store-bought tomatoes. They are from Trader Joe's (surprise) and are called "Splendido Little Tomatoes."

Wanna know something funny? Ever single time I've bought these (which is a LOT) I thought they were called "Splendid Little Tomatoes," because they ARE splendid! As I was posting the picture just now, I saw "Splendido" and thought, "Just my luck...Trader Joe's misspells the label the day I want to post about them." DUH. Splendido are a type of tomato (yeah, can you tell I'm a big gardener?). I've been misreading the label this whole time!

There is a happy ending to this silly story...if you don't have a Trader Joe's, you'll still be able to get these splendid splendidos! :)

Free Giveaway! ProFlowers Encore!

For those of you who were bummed when you didn't win the last ProFlowers giveaway...you have another chance! ProFlowers is giving away 2 more $50 gift cards - 1 each to 2 lucky TWFD readers! You'll be able to get whatever you want with your gift card...flowers, plants, awesome FOOD (remember these?).


And, don't forget Mom...Mother's Day is coming fast, but you still have time to send her something sweet, or pretty, or both! I just received this AMAZING bouquet from a good friend yesterday (pictured). Seriously gorgeous, and the vase is wicked cute. And, if I were a Mom (wait, I am!), I would totally dig this, too (oh wait, I do!).

Back to the giveaway...just post a comment on this post by Midnight PT, Friday May 9th. Two winners will be randomly selected and announced next Saturday, Friday May 10th. Make sure there is a name associated with your post somehow so I know who the winner is! And don't forget to come back next week to see if you're the winner!


I seriously do love ProFlowers, and not just because they're so good to my readers. The flowers are amazing and their yummy treats are too!

Be sure to visit through this link (or any of the links above) to get a special 15% discount! Just in time for Mother's Day!

Good Luck!

Free Giveaway! Rock Scissor Paper Apron & Tea Towel

Are you dying to get your hands on my new apron? Now's your chance!

Rock Scissor Paper is giving away an ultra-hip, super-stylish, very-cute apron/tea towel set to a lucky TWFD reader! You'll be thinking up things to cook just to have an excuse to wear your new apron! The winner will be able to select the pattern of their choice for one tea towel and one apron. Be sure to explore the rest of the Rock Scissor Paper site...SO many great things, including loads of potential Mother's Day gifts!

The drill's the same as all the other giveaways...please post a comment on this post by Tuesday, April 29, Midnight PT. Any comment will do! Make sure that there is a name associated with your post so I can identify the winner. And be sure to check back next Wednesday, April 30 to see if that winner is you!

Good Luck!

What girl doesn't need an ultra-chic hot pad?

I love my new apron & hot pads (or "warm" pads, according to Cate)! They are making my new kitchen very happy. And I love how I found them.


Right after we arrived in the Bay Area a few weeks ago, I saw a post on Decor8 that I couldn't resist...a home & lifestyle sample sale put on by Modern Economy at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. San Francisco? Cool designers? SALE? I'm there!


The sale was great! So many pretty things to behold...to buy...to resist buying. :) Among my spoils were the very cool hot pads from Deadly Squire, an apron I'd had my eye on from Rock, Scissor, Paper (visit their site - special Earth Day sale today!), and a perfect little calendar from Good on Paper.

I must do a plug for Modern Economy. They put on sample sales for participating designers periodically throughout the year. The goal: to support independent designers...and in turn give design-minded consumers a chance to decorate their life without breaking the bank. Very cool. Meg Mateo Ilasco, designer and author of Craft Inc.: Turn Your Creative Hobby into a Business, is the very talented founder and host for the Modern Economy sales. The next sale is in Portland, OR...with plans for Philly & NYC in the future! If you ever get a chance to attend, do!

'S Wondra-ful, 'S Marvelous

My friend Adrianne introduced me to Wondra. It's a quick-dissolving flour made specifically for thickening gravies & sauces. Granted, I do like using a roux for this purpose, but I'm generally too lazy and just throw flour into my gravy. Wondra is nicer than flour because it really does dissolve quickly. Just make sure if you don't mix it with water first that you wisk as you add it...or you will still get some lumps. ANYWAY...thanks to Adrianne for this great tip! I used it tonight when I made gravy to go with our roast...the gravy was AWESOME.

If any of you (including you, Adrianne) are Wondra aficionados, please share any tips or tricks of the trade. I'm still new with this stuff.

(Don't forget to post your menu for the week...I'm doing two posts today, so the Weekly Menu is right below!)

The Goods: Swedish Meatballs

My dad is Swedish, so I grew up with a Swedish grandmother who could COOK. Which means I KNOW Swedish meatballs. Maybe one day I'll share her recipe...it's quite the undertaking, but it's worth it. Until then...here's an easy way to get pretty good Swedish meatballs...


Ikea. Yet another awesome thing about our new 'hood is the close proximity to Ikea...a few miles at the most. So awesome when you're moving. We grabbed a bag of their frozen Swedish meatballs and a packet of their cream sauce last time we were there. It's not what Grandma used to make, but it's pretty good! Pair it up with the traditional boiled new potato (fancy, eh?) and some pickeled herring and you're good to go! Okay, I'm teasing...I would NEVER eat pickled herring, no matter how much my dad and brother try to convince me otherwise. A nice salad on the side is a BIT more palatable for me. ;)

Week 64...Lights, CAMERA, Action!

I found the camera cord! AND I'm ready to cook. Let's get this show on the road!

We took our first trip up to "the city" (i.e. San Francisco) yesterday (more on that later). We had a blast. It really is a great place and I can't wait to explore it more.


Milton's is a restaurant/deli in Del Mar (San Diego area). They also have a baking company and they make my most favorite sandwich bread, Whole Grain Plus. It tastes great, is full of whole grains and fiber, and has NO high fructose corn syrup. I thought it was local to San Diego, but it's not - you can get it everywhere! I was so excited when I found it this week at my new Trader Joe's. Go get yourself some, you'll be happy.


I'm actually going to cook this week. For real.

MONDAY:
- Caprese Salad
- Good bread
- Spinach salad with pears, feta cheese & Brianna's Blush Wine Vinaigrette

TUESDAY:
- Kitchen sink quesadillas
- Chips & Guacamole

WEDNESDAY:
- Chicken noodle soup
- Good bread

THURSDAY:
- Leftovers

FRIDAY:
- Fettucine alfredo w/broccoli & chicken
- Salad

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- Pot roast
- Mashed potatoes
- Veggie
- Rolls (I sure hope they have Rhodes in the Bay Area!)

Now, what are YOU eating this week?

The Goods: Awesome Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Oh my goodness. My friend Karen is the best. She sent me a dozen chocolate covered strawberries from ProFlowers this weekend. Chocolate covered strawberries are one of my greatest weaknesses when it comes to dessert. Seriously, if I have a good chocolate to dip them in, I can eat a whole container of strawberries no PROBLEM. It's healthy if it's fruit, right?


Since I am a connoisseur of this delectable treat, I thought I'd let you know these puppies from ProFlowers are DANG GOOD. Huge sweet strawberries, good quality chocolate. And since they look so pretty on the plate (plates that Karen gave to me, by the way...that girl has good taste), of course I had to share them with you. Enjoy!

Recovering Grapefruit Junkie Lapses

I went through a phase with two good friends where we ate red grapefruit ALL THE TIME. That was a super healthy phase in my life: everyday we ate grapefruit, spinach and cottage cheese for lunch and worked out together after work. Those were the days...what happened?!?! I'll tell you what happened...TJ's chocolate covered pretzels, that's what.

While I may not eat grapefruit every day anymore, I still LOVE LOVE LOVE red, sweet grapefruits (and Ruby Red juice, which I can chug, chug, chug). As I was enjoying an especially tasty grapefruit today (even Cate ate a few pieces!), I decided I needed to share some pictures of it with you (yes, I went picture crazy today) as well as the most killer technique for eating it.

The BEST WAY EVER to eat a grapefruit:

1. Get yourself a red flesh grapefruit - sample varieties are Ruby, Rio, or Star.


2. Peel the grapefruit.


3. Break it in half (the only reason it's cut in my pictures was because it was pretty...you don't have to cut it) and peel off the rind from the grapefruit flesh. The rind pretty much stays together while you peel off the flesh from each slice.


4. Enjoy!!!


Forget a spoon. It's only going to massacre your fruit, destroying the texture. Trust me - it is so much better this way and worth the extra 5 minutes it takes to peel. Yum.

The Goods: Costco's Orange Chicken

I've been meaning to write about this forEVER...but I would always forget to take pictures of the food! Finally got my act together.


Today I want to discuss frozen orange chicken options. If you've been reading the blog for a while, you know I always sung the praises of Trader Joe's Mandarin Orange Chicken (in the freezer section). It's yummy, we loved it, ate it all the time. Then one day we tried Costco's version (also in the freezer section and comparable in price). I never thought Costco would trump TJ's, but in this case it did.

Reason #1: The Meat. I mean, just look at those yummy frozen chicken pieces! It's all white meat. TJ's isn't. Seriously, the first time I poured the Costco version on the baking sheet, I was shocked at how much more appetizing and yummy that chicken looked.


Reason #2: The Sauce. I don't necessarily agree with this reason...but Nate does. The sauce is different. I actually kind of like TJ's sauce better because it has a little kick to it, but Nate definitely likes the Costco sauce better. It's more orange-y and fresher tasting. Despite my affinity for the TJ's sauce...I agree the Costco sauce is dang good. And the quality of the chicken in the Costco version definitely makes me willing to give up the TJs sauce.

So there you go. Orange Chicken review finally done. I feel like I've cheated on Joe, but hopefully he'll forgive me.

Super Baby Food

I have a few friends right now who are starting their babies on solid foods. I was talking to Nate about it and he suggested I do a quick post! Sorry to the non-baby people out there...although, the book I mention below is a great baby gift idea!

Tip #1: When it's time to start your baby on rice cereal, use Earth's Best brand. Trust me...not to get too graphic on a food website, but it will keep your baby's system happy, if you know what I mean. :)

Tip #2: Super Baby Foodby Ruth Yaron is a GREAT resource. If you want to make your own baby food, it's a must-have. If you don't want to make your own baby food, it is still a very handy book to have around. I used it a lot in the beginning. It really helped me to know what foods I could feed to Cate at what stages, etc. Despite eventually giving up on making my own baby food, I'm still very glad I had the book at my fingertips. You gotta get it, mommies!

So, that's all I have to say on the subject...well not really, I've got plenty to say on the subject. I'm just giving you a break for now. :)

Week 51 Menu

Tonight we had Costco's Chicken Corn Chowder (remember from last week's picture?). It was awesome. Nate and I both really liked it. Two thumbs up! Add a slice of Trader Joe's yummy bread (previously featured here), and you've got yourself a nice cozy dinner for a frigidly cold San Diego winter's night. ;)


Time for a menu. Hmmmm...what to eat...maybe some real cooking this week? Maybe not...

MONDAY:
- Orange Chicken (stay tuned this week on commentary on my new favorite orange chicken...sorry Trader Joe)
- Veggie Stir Fry (Trader Joe's freezer section)
- White Rice

TUESDAY:
- Waffles
- Fruit

WEDNESDAY:
- French Bread Pizza
- Salad

THURSDAY:
- Leftovers

FRIDAY:
- Sausage Alfredo Lasagna (Thank you, Isa! She brought this last week and we were able to freeze half of it - so nice.)
- Salad

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- Beef Stew
- More of that good Trader Joe's bread

Now, bring on the menus!

Winter = Hot Chocolate (even in San Diego!)

I know you're all going to laugh at me (I would, too, if I lived somewhere else right now), but it has been quite chilly here in San Diego lately. I swear! :) Anyway, it's been good hot chocolate weather...so thought I would share my two most favorite hot chocolates with you.


First, Williams-Sonoma has the best hot chocolate. You'll see in the picture that right now I have the peppermint, which is good, but I think the plain is even better. Why is this stuff better? Because it's hot CHOCOLATE, not COCOA. The only way to go is to actually have chocolate shavings melted in your milk, not powdery cocoa stuff. SO GOOD.

Second, Mexican hot chocolate. Right now I have Ibarra, but Abuelita is great as well. This hot chocolate comes in blocks that you melt in the milk (again, so much better than cocoa)...and the flavor can't be beat!


Today Cate had her first hot chocolate. She was SO excited and loved every drop. It was really fun sitting there drinking it with her. Today was the last day of just "Mom & Cate"...my mom gets here tomorrow AND...it's official, we go to the hospital Saturday night to have the baby! That's right, even with crazy amounts of contractions for 10 days now, no dilation and no baby arrival in sight. Unbelievable. Anyway, Cate and I had a great day together, topped off with hot chocolate and reading books. Life is good.

Oh My Darlin'...Clementine!

Nate always says that eating Clementines makes it feel like Christmas...I have to agree.

The Goods: Trader Joe's Hawaiian Potato Chips

With the due date just over 2 weeks away, my desire to cook has decreased dramatically. The desire to eat, however, is as normal as ever. :) I haven't really had a lot of cravings (if any)...but I can't get enough of these potato chips from Trader Joe's. Seriously, I eat sandwiches for lunch every day just so I have a reason to eat the chips (I've been able to resist eating them straight out of the bag, amazingly). ANYWAY...just thought I'd let you know these are GOOD. The weirdest part is I couldn't STAND these chips the first trimester. Go figure.


On a pregnancy-related note...I AM craving the smell of ink. You know, really "yummy" ink that smells so good in some paperbacks, newspapers and coupons (like the value pack coupons)? I just finished a paperback that I honestly would have rather just smelled than read. Don't get me wrong, it was a great book, but it just smelled soooo good. Sniff sniff. Baby better come quick before I get too crazy.

Milk on the Rocks

If you read my blog, that means you probably have some level of trust in the things I tell you. Today I'm asking you to tap into that trust and give me a chance, because I'm CERTAIN that some of you out there are going to think I'm crazy!


Last night I was eating a cookie and with some milk. Not just any old milk. Ice milk. That's right folks, ice IN the glass of milk. "What?!?! That's WEIRD! Ice doesn't belong in milk! Gross!" Just a sampling of comments I've received from friends over the years, and maybe even what you're thinking right now. Trust me - it's awesome. The picture above is really an equation that will allow you to reach milk nirvana. If you're having a hard time drinking this down (ha ha), keep in mind milk is mostly water anyway, so really it's not a big deal if the ice melts a bit. In fact, I don't even really LIKE drinking milk that much. I've gotta have it on the rocks or not at all.

As I was drinking my icy milk last night it hit me - I have a food blog that bunches of people read - and none of those bunches can talk back! (Well, I guess you CAN comment, but you know what I mean.) Remember, you trust me. I know what I'm talking about. TRY IT. What's the worst that can happen?

The Goods: Cheese Crumb Cake...mmmm...

The beginning of my pregnancy was a doozy - so so sick - just thinking about it makes me feel not so good. And sadly during that time I never wanted sweets or desserts, which is SO unlike me. The last few months, however, my love of "treats" (side note: Nate thinks it's so funny when I say "treat" and now Cate says it too) is back. Maybe not such a good thing...


It definitely wasn't a good thing at the grocery store last night. Despite the fact our house is full of Halloween cookies and candy, I just couldn't resist this box of Entenmann's Cheese Filled Crumb Coffee Cake (say that three times fast). Oh so bad, but oh so good. I'm pretty picky about my treats, but this prepackaged goodness makes the cut. And hey, I'm pregnant and need to pack a few more pounds on before baby comes in six weeks (wait, SIX?!?! I'm not ready!).

Apples & Horses

The fires are still going. What a week. Our neighborhood remains just outside the evacuation area, so we're still home. But the 513,000 people who have been evacuated are still not home. Keep sending prayers to San Diego! (The Hostess with the Mostess, a fellow San Diego blogger, had to evacuate twice yesterday! She wrote a good post about the fires yesterday if you are interested in reading more.)


Today we discovered there are some "refugee" horses staying on a grassy area near our apartment. Nate picked up some delicious NY Honey Crisp apples yesterday at Trader Joe's, so we decided to share the 'deliciousness.' Cate and I just came back from visiting and feeding the horses (nice to get out of the house for a minute, even if the air is disgusting). They were beautiful and gentle animals. Hopefully they can go home soon!


It's been amazing to see this week how calm and supportive the community has been. The evacuation locations are organized, clean and literally flooded with donations from other San Diego citizens. It is refreshing to see people come together in such a positive way at such a difficult time.