Food Truck Craze

Nick and I have been obsessed with all shows about food trucks. It's a dream come true that you can get so many different varieties of great food from a truck. I mean come on - it'll come to YOU... if you're in the right location. Birmingham doesn't have many food trucks. There's one downtown called Spoonfed but I haven't tried it yet. I don't get downtown very often.

Then there are the taco trucks. There's one close to my work off of Valley Avenue. It sits in a gas station parking lot. When I first saw it, I was too intimidated to go order anything from them. The parking lot was always full and it seemed that they were all hispanic (which means the food there is amazing.) Anytime you go eat food from another culture and you find the customers are from that area, it always means there's some good food there. Well, that's what I've experienced. Nick was the first to try it with the guys. Then he had to meet me there. After that, I pulled my big girl pants up and went on to order my own food to go. I love that truck. Love it. Wonder if they would follow me home so I won't have to cook dinner....

The tacos here are chicken, al pastor, and barbacoa. No organ meat for me thank you! Maybe I'll be adventurous enough to try it one day. Watching Anthony Bourdain has been visual courage for me... every episode is more encouragement to branch out and try something new.

The perfect roasted chicken

A recipe for the perfect roasted chicken can be found here. It is a recipe of Ina Garten. I have made this chicken numerous times and it has come out perfectly every time. No joke - that's EVERY TIME! I am totally amazed that I can roast a chicken that perfectly. And it is so scrumptious. It'll make you want all the skin too. I know that's terrible but you have to admit that the chicken skin is so delicious - it's crispy, salty, and full of the scent of thyme and lemon. My favorite part of this dish are the vegetables that are nested at the bottom of the chicken. The fennel flavors the carrot and makes it taste amazing. I can't stop eating the carrots and I don't like carrots that much. Try this recipe. You will not be disappointed. It would make an excellent protein for dinner guests and it's beautiful on a plate.

Dreamcakes

If you find that you cannot make it over to Gigi's in Hoover and you are somewhere near the Homewood area, go visit dreamcakes! They were in town before Gigi's came in. Their cupcakes are incredibly delicious as well. My girlfriends at work had a routine - go get Chicken Salad and fruit from O'Carrs then stop by dreamcakes for a 3:00 treat. It made the day go by much quicker when you looked forward to some sweetness.

The only complaint I've heard about the cupcakes from either place is that the icing is too much. I noticed recently that dreamcakes has tapered down on the mountain of icing that used to be on the cupcake. I know there are some people who would scrape the icing off and eat it first but most of the people I heard from say that it's such an improvement. I'll have to go and see I guess :) No need to just blindly believe what people say when it comes to cupcakes!

Vietnamese Food

Not sure if I ever posted our many trips to eat Vietnamese. I'm not even going to pretend I know what these are all called because I can never remember. I just try something different every time Nick and I meet for Vietnamese. We've tried two different restaurants and like different things about both places. The restaurant that we usually meet at is on Greensprings Highway and is called Pho Que Huong. I've never had anything there that I haven't loved. We've tried soup noodle bowls, noodle plates, vermicelli noodle bowls, summer rolls and the banh mi (sandwich). Yum! The other restaurant we tried was Saigon Noodle House off of 280. They are very good as well! Their banh mi had lots of meat in it but I didn't taste the pickled veggies - on second thought, I didn't taste it at the other restaurant either. I love pickled veggies so I would love to eat one with some pickled veggies with some bite!

The photos below were taken at both restaurants. I could eat all of this good stuff every single day. I even follow the Nom Nom truck because they sell banh mi's from a food truck in California. I know there is no way they would come down here but I love hearing about what they sell and love to see the response from their customers. Weird.... I know!

Don't be afraid to try Vietnamese food. Just ask for their advice and go for it! Try something new.

Pork banh mi. It has pork, bell pepper, pickled diakon and carrots, cilantro and jalapenos.

The toppings for your soup noodle bowl. Basil, bean sprouts, lime and jalapenos...
Another banh mi (from Saigon Noodle House).
Shrimp noodle dish from Saigon Noodle House.
Mmmm... now this was delicious. I wish I could tell you what it is called on the menu.
Can't wait to go back!

It's Saturday!

We haven't been eating out a lot lately. Trying to save up for my daughter's softball tournaments. I cook at home but it's nothing special at all. Just whatever I can throw together so I haven't been posting much of anything. I have my magazine's out today so I can get some inspiration for healthy meals for the family. Hopefully they'll work out and I can take some pics of the food and share the recipes with you. I'll also add the weight watcher points for those interested.

I saved my points yesterday because I knew that we would be eating out after my daughter's games. We chose to eat at Taziki's in Hoover off of Hwy 31 mainly because it's right next door to Gigi's cupcakes and I wanted to treat the kids to a cupcake. I planned to try a few bites of the cupcakes but count a whole so I wouldn't mess up and eat too much.

Taziki's has other options other than gyros so I wanted to try something that didn't have feta in it.

My daughter ordered the hot beef tenderloin sandwich with fruit and chips. She wanted the sandwich without the horseradish sauce. Every single bit of the sandwich was gone so I would venture out and say that she loved it. Oh and another clue? Was the mmmmm momma mmmm this is so good. You should try it!

Nick ordered the pork tenderloin with grilled asparagus and roasted potatoes. He commented that the pork was cooked very well and was seasoned perfectly. So A+ on his lunch too. He didn't finish all the asparagus so I took it off of his plate to try it - YUM! Tonight I'm going to buy some asparagus to grill.

Stephie ordered the pasta special. It was grilled chicken and penne pasta on top of a salad with basil and balsamic vinegar dressing. I had that exact salad when I went to lunch with Kristy in Tuscaloosa and enjoyed it.
My youngest daughter ordered the grilled chicken on a bed of rice with fruit. She ate the chicken but didn't like the way the rice tasted. They added lemon I believe and some parsley and she's not too fond of anything green. I ended up eating her rice (traded her my potato chips for the rice). I liked it but I could see why she wouldn't eat it. She likes her food to be simple - rice with a bit of butter and that's it.

I ordered the pork tenderloin sandwich with veggies. It was very good. I ended up eating my sandwich, fruit and Noelle's rice. Counted all of it and it was well within my range. So I could sit back and enjoy my lunch without any feelings of failure - HAHAHA! But the pork was tender, the veggies were fresh, and I believe the bun was a potato bun. Not too sure though. Could have done without the sauce they put on it. It was some type of aioli but it just tasted like honey mustard - and I'm not a huge fan of honey mustard.
The pictures are kinda dark but you can see what kind of cupcakes we ordered. Nick ordered the Boston Creme (our favorite! VERY good!) and my youngest daughter chose the red velvet (best I've ever eaten).
My oldest daughter ordered the chocolate with vanilla frosting and chocolate chips (I could pass that one up) and the kentucky bourbon (liked it but I'm not a huge fan of all the nuts). My girls can't wait to try some more. I told them we would go every now and then on different days so they can try different flavors.

Lost!

3.2 pounds! Doesn't seem like a lot but I'm excited it's going in the right direction. I wish I had lost at least 5 but that doesn't seem like it would be a reality without some strenuous exercise - in which I haven't even attempted at this point. My joints are squeaky and cry out in misery if I do anything but walk (excuses excuses!). I will start some movement soon though because I know I need to. But as I am trying to change the way I eat, I need all my motivation to be focused in that for now - for at least 2-3 weeks that is. I'll start my workout planning soon!

Work has been stressful for the past few days. I'm surprised that the stress hasn't caused me to black out and hit the chocolate but it hasn't.... yet. I keep fruit in the fridge at work and a small weight watcher chocolate bar in my drawer. So far so good! I still have those thoughts... go get a juicy delicious cheeseburger with all the goodies mmmmmm or what about those doughy kolaches in the kitchen mmmmmm. But I'm able to push on through and decide not to eat them. Now I'm not in a fantasy world where I'll never touch the food again but I know that if I don't really want them, pass them by. If there comes an instance where I'll have additional stress or irritation from not having one, then I'll eat half of one. I'm on a roll people!

Speaking of which, I'd like to let you know what a kolache is! You can get them at Shipley's Donuts off of Lorna Road. They bake ham, pepperoni, turkey, sausage and sausage with fresh jalapenos in a potato dough (not sweet) with some cheese. So what comes out is a roll of fresh bread with cheesy hot meaty goodness inside. They are delicious but very heavy so eat with caution!

Next weight update will be next Tuesday. Let's see how I do!

Tomorrow is the day!

To get nervous and run away because it's weigh in day! Nah, I'm not nervous but am interested to see how well I did. Well, I'm not going to judge on how "well" I did by the weight I lost because they may not be directly related. I'm just happy that I made great choices in what I ate. We'll see!

We stopped at Western to get our groceries this weekend and I found this wine. HAHA! I am a middle child and can be smarty pants. LOL! Too funny - I should have bought it and tried it out.

This morning I tried oatmeal. I cooked it with skim milk and added fresh blueberries and Splenda. Can I say YUCK? I would rather have wheat bread or a boiled egg. I didn't like it at all. What am I doing wrong? I guess I need to look up a recipe to see if I can improve some oatmeal. The thing is that I need to find a quick meal that I can make.... that tastes good... that will sustain me through lunch. Any ideas?
I wish I had a better picture of the dinner I made tonight. Very tasty and filling. I made wheat rotini and paired it with pork loin, eggplant, onion and romaine. I sauted the onion and garlic, added the cut up pork loin (slivers) and browned the meat. Then I added the egglant and cooked it with a bit of chicken stock. Add the romaine last to keep the crunch. The sauce was a chinese - chinese 5 spice, soy sauce and oyster sauce. Delish.

Urban Standard

Saturday was date night! Me and Nick went with Steph and Devin to watch our friend Jon David Wise play the violin with some local musicians at Urban Standard. I've been to Urban Standard before but it was just a quick stop in to grab a drink after the loft tour in Birmingham. I'm just super glad that we didn't go eat somewhere before stopping in.

Their entire menu looked great. I did what I usually do and look at every plate that passed by. I would have loved to try a little of everything. I'll just come back to eat. I am on weight watchers so I had to be smart with my selection but to tell you the truth, everything that went by looked to be a sensible portion of a variety of fresh vegetables and lean meats. I love hummus so I chose the hummus, pita, olives, cucumber and salad plate. I didn't eat all of the pita and shared with my honey.

Steph decided to try the grilled cheese. Their grilled cheese had a side of jelly - I believe it was grape jelly or was it balsamic jelly. I'm not 100% sure but I tried it. I tried a couple of bites of the the sandwich dipped in the jelly. Mmmm can't get over that salty sweet taste. It was delicious.
And as always, Nick ordered my favorite meal. Their steak was cooked perfectly - tender and perfectly medium rare. I can't wait to go back and order it again. It was served with roasted eggplant, squash, tomatoes and fingerling potatoes. Very simply served and you could taste the great roasted veggies. He cleaned up his plate.

Devin ordered the chicken salad over their spring salad mix with strawberries and blueberries. Delicious chicken chunks with just enough mayonnaise. They give you a lot of salad and chicken salad so be prepared if you order it.

We are going back for dinner very soon. Our first dinner experience was excellent. Great company, great music and delicious food. Our night was perfect.

Next time we are ordering the grilled tofu and the lamb. See you soon at Urban!

Food choices

I'm proud of my food choices and love the new Weight Watchers program. I love it because fruits and veggies are free foods. Well some veggies are! I go straight for the apple, pear, celery, spinach or peach when I need a pick me up snack. And it doesn't take any points from my total so that makes me incredibly happy! Here are some of my choices from the week:

-coffee with splenda with 2 tbsp of creamer measured

-wheat toast with a slice of cheese

-apples, pears, a banana (eat in moderation), plums and peach

-sandwiches rolled in a wheat pita, lettuce, lean turkey, mustard and cheese slice

-lots of water and coke zeros every now and then

I went to Jim and Nick's for lunch and had turkey brisket, collard greens and a cucumber/tomato/onion salad and ate one cheese biscuit (found the smallest in the basket).

We also went to Cheesecake Factory where I opted for the grilled salmon with salt and pepper, brown rice (ate half), and broccoli. We ordered steamed edamame for appetizer (which was excellent!). I was so super stuffed and satisfied. Great lunch and only used about a third of my allotted points for the day. I didn't want any cheesecake or bread.

I made sloppy joe's for family dinner night and used plenty of red peppers and onions. I plugged it into the recipe builder on weight watchers and found out that a serving was only 7 points. So I ate my sloppy joe on slim wheat sandwich bread and measured out a serving of fries (5). As I cooked, I made sure I had some black olives available to snack on so I wouldn't go for chips or extra sloppy joe right out of the pan. That worked wonders!

I also bought some Weight Watcher bars at my meeting so if I wanted something sweet, I could eat a bar. I got the toasted coconut and chocolate bar (YUM!), the lemon bars (okay), and the chocolate caramel bar (haven't tried) and they are only 2 points a bar. So far it's taken the place of the candy bars I head for around 3:00 every afternoon at work. It's been a great for me.

And last but not least, I cooked breakfast this morning. My daughters wanted an omelet and I wasn't sure I wanted that. I ended up frying two eggs in olive oil, then threw in some spinach and lean turkey breast. It was so good! I didn't use fresh garlic so I threw in some salt, pepper and garlic powder. Delish!

I'm going to look through some recipes and see what I can make for them family. I'll blog about my findings soon.

Cupcakes!

HaHa! Right after my losing weight blog comes a blog about cupcakes. Too funny.

I've been hearing great things about Gigi's cupcakes. Imagine my surprise when I drove by the new Chase mall and saw that they are readying a Gigi's cupcakes right next to Baha Burger. Now that is WAY to close to where I live. Of course, I looked up the website and thoroughly enjoyed reading her story. What an inspiration! And then to hear everyone in Tuscaloosa singing Gigi's praises - I had to go check them out when I went to Tuscaloosa last week.

It did not disappoint at all! We ordered the orange creamsicle, pink lemonade, red velvet and summer fun. They were all so good, but my fav was the red velvet. I could only eat bites of the cupcakes because they were so rich and I wanted to try all of them :) I can't wait for them to come into Hoover - it's going to be my treat on good days. Wonder if I can find the nutritional values on these goodies.

Yum!

Losing weight

I have been trying to shed these pounds for years! It took me fifteen years to get this way and I need to realize it will take a while to shed them. It's weird - I want to lose the weight but when the tough gets going, I just sit down and quit. Yep - I'm a quitter when it comes to losing weight. Granted the last few times I tried, I lost weight and then got pregnant... gained the weight back, and then quit the dieting. Oh and this isn't Nick blogging - it's Jenny. It's been a hard road - it totally stresses me out to not be able to eat what I want but what I need to understand is that what I want is so bad for me. If I keep continuing the way that I am going, it will only be harder on me, my family and my attitude.

I decided that I am sick and tired of being this way. I have to be honest - yes, I love food. And yes, I hate planning ahead - I'm more of a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl. But look where it has gotten me and my family. I am way overweight, my husband could stand to lose some weight, my daughter is telling me that she would like to eat healthier and overall we don't eat enough fruits and vegetables.

I took the first step on Tuesday and joined Weight Watchers. Weight Watchers has always been a plan that I can work with and lose weight. I called my mother-in-law because she wanted to attend the meetings with me. I changed the start date about four times because I had my kids with me and I didn't think I could bring them with me. I went anyways - I went in, weighed in and asked about bringing the kids to the meeting. I was told that if they made any noise that I would have to leave. I totally understood since I wouldn't want to sit through a meeting with fussy kids. But lucky for me and thanking God, they didn't fuss at all - they sat and played quietly.

I feel great about starting the program and am ready to make the right choices. I'm including the kids in my journey and cooking well for my family. This is a great start for them and an even better life change for me!

I HATE taking pictures of myself because I see what other people see. I cannot believe that I've gained so much weight. But I am going to face it now, be in photographs, and start taking care of myself. Here's to losing weight!

This is me after having my third child. I keep telling people - I'm going to lose weight but I just had my third child. Let me tell you - I can use this exact excuse for YEARS. I've proven it too - I used that excuse after my first turned four. The girl I was talking to said, "Oh my goodness, you just had a baby? How old is she." I was totally embarrassed that I had to admit that she was four years old.

The bottom pic is me at 19 or 20 years old. I was in college at the time and dating Nick. This is where all the weight gain began. I remember days of eating at McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Chinese Buffets and Auntie Anne's just came to Bham so we ate a ton of pretzels. Being a broke college student, we ate at a burger joint right down from campus that sold incredibly cheap burgers. I can imagine that they were incredibly fattening.

It's not easy to admit to all of this but I wanted to. I wanted to blog about it so I can look back and see my journey! We're still going to look for great places to eat in Birmingham but I'm going to make wiser choices and if there are times that I don't, I want to blog about it too so I can learn from my choices.

Easter Sunday food

You can always count on some good food in the south during holidays! We always go to Granddaddy's after church. I made grape salad as my side dish. It's delicious. I learned how to make it from my friend Dawn. She made it for a woman's conference at church and I had to have the recipe.

It's pretty simple: 2 cups red grapes (seedless), 2 cups green grapes (seedless), 8 oz cream cheese softened, 8 oz sour cream, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup chopped pecans and 1/2 cup brown sugar. I couldn't find green grapes so I used red - it's prettier with both colors. Melt the cream cheese, sour cream and sugar in the microwave and mix well. Add the grapes and stir. Place in a pan. Let it cool in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to set. Then before serving, add the brown sugar and pecans. I doubled the recipe.

Here is what it looked like when it was done. It was a hit!
Steph made the pasta salad. She uses tri-colored pasta, black olives, cucumbers and grape tomatoes cut in half. She adds italian dressing and mixes. Easy and really good!
Grandaddy always provides the ham. I love salty ham but Nick likes sweet. At this point, I don't mind either.
Suzy made deviled eggs. I've never tried to make deviled eggs and I don't bother trying because Suzy are amazing.
Debbie brought the cupcakes. They are too cute! She said she looked for green edible paper but couldn't find any. I think they are precious!
I didn't try the cookies either. They looked good though. Rhonda made them - she had a couple of prepacked cookies - nothing wrong with that because they are easy and taste great.

Chicken, Broccoli and tomatoes

There are days where I just don't want to find a recipe to make dinner. I looked in the fridge and found some chicken thighs, broccoli and grape tomatoes. I bought them at Publix because they were on sale. I decided to cube the chicken and saute it in olive oil. I seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder and dried thyme. I use garlic powder when I don't have fresh garlic to use. I would rather use fresh garlic!

After browning the chicken, I added the broccoli and tomatoes and mixed the food up. I added a cup of water and covered with a lid to steam the vegetables and finish cooking the chicken. I cooked brown rice as a side. It didn't take much time to cook and it was great! The kids loved it which in itself, is a HUGE deal.

Seoul Restaurant

There is a Korean restaurant off of Greensprings that Nick and I like to go to for Korean food. I really don't know of another Korean restaurant near us. I have a Korean friend from the St. Louis area that said he liked it but they had some items that he wish they had. Hopefully we'll find another one that we can try as well. My favorite is Kimchee. I could eat it with anything!

They start you off with side dishes or appetizers. Pictured are (left picture): Black beans and anchovies, kimchee, turnips and seaweed. (Right picture): Kimchee. YUM!

Pickled cucumbers. I love these. They are pickled and a bit sweet.
Spicy bean sprouts and seaweed. Both are so good. I can eat them by itself but Nick likes to wait for the rice so it will not be so spicy.
I ordered the rice bowl pictured on the left. The rice was placed in a hot pot that made the rice that contacted the bowl crispy. There were pickled veggies, stir fried veggies, some pork on top of the rice and to top it all off... a fried egg. They gave me a chili sauce to put on the rice that was not too hot. It was a spicy sweet red chili sauce that was so good. Nick got the beef bulgogi - stir fried beef, onions, bell pepper and sesame seeds. His tummy was not up for spicy that day.
The food was good overall. I was not a huge fan of the beef because I would have liked it with more spice but I did love my rice bowl. If you go, be adventurous!

Lunch - Pita sandwich

Thanks to Mollie G., we went straight to the deli counter at Publix and got some of their pepperoni. It is very yummy! My youngest daughter does not like sandwiches. She will take the bread right off and eat the lunch meat. So I saved her a step and packed her lunch with: rolled up Boar's Head Black Forest Ham, Pepperoni, Mozzarella stick, pickle, fritos and strawberries. I started the week by writing notes for her lunch box. I found scripture that would be easy for a child to understand. She loves her notes so much that she has decided to save all of them so she can look back at them when she's older. She is my sentimental sweetie. Love her!!!

For my oldest, she got a pita sandwich. I mixed spinach, romaine and mushrooms and added Paul Newman italian dressing. Stuffed the pita with the salad and added shredded mozzarella. Then topped it with ham. She said her sandwich was amazing... made me so happy!
She had her pita sandwich, mozzarella stick (I didn't add much to the sandwich since she had the stick), a pickle, strawberries and for snack/dessert a special K bar. The pita sandwich is a HIT so if you are looking for a lunch for your teenager - make her a pita sammy!
I need to look up some recipes or different sandwiches to send so it doesn't get boring for the kids.

Catherine's Market

If you do head out to the SpringHouse, you need to walk in to Catherine's Market. It's a small little grocery store with a seafood case and deli. You don't see many small markets anymore - you usually find mega-grocery stores. It was refreshing to see this grocery. I didn't have anything to buy but when we head down next time, I plan on getting some of their fresh baked bread.

The greens looked so vibrant. I couldn't resist taking pictures of the vegetables. I had to check to see if they were using green lights! HA! They weren't - the greens were just beautiful as were the fruit.

My new favorite - fennel. I love licorice so I really love fennel. If you roast veggies with fennel, you will not be disappointed. It gives the veggies such flavor. Mmmmm... think I'll have to roast some vegetables soon! I roast fennel with onion and carrots. It's so good.

I really wish there were bunnies there on Saturday! I wanted to take some pictures with the Easter bunnies.

SpringHouse

If you are ever in the Lake Martin area - heck, you need to drive to the Lake Martin area - go sightseeing, hit the thrift store at Children's Harbor, go to the antique mall and then go straight to the SpringHouse after building up your appetite.

Nick and I love to celebrate my birthday at Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, Alabama so it's natural that I would love the SpringHouse equally. Both restaurants are amazingly fresh and everything is cooked to perfection. I love that they use fresh items that are grown locally. Perfect!

A photograph of the back of the restaurant. I missed visiting the circular area that sits behind the restaurant. Mollie told me that it reminds here of the knights of the round table. I would love to see it the next time I come. Nick will definitely take me to lunch here again soon!
H was unsure of the menu items. They weren't in the least bit weird or as Anthony Bourdain says the "nasty bits". Everything looked great - I wish I could try everything. H ended up selecting the chicken tenders and fries. The chicken was fried in a cornmeal batter - reminded me of fried catfish. The french fries were crispy and a bit burnt (YUM!) - not burnt to a crisp but had that crisp taste. I thought it was delicious.
I forgot to take a picture of the housemade pimento cheese spread with homemade crackers. It was so so good. Wish I could recreate it.... I'll definitely try to. I picked the pork loin on a bed of white beans and english peas topped with a ramp pesto. MMMmmm Of course H ate most of the pork on everyone's plate. I would most definitely recommend the pork. Now I need to try everything else on the menu. Devin got the burger topped with a fried green tomato and pimento cheese spread with their homemade chips. I can honestly say that the burger was well cooked with a tang from the tomato and a creaminess from the cheese. I will recommend that to anyone. I want to eat it again!
Here's the crew! I'll tell you what everyone ate other than what I said above: Debbie and Rhonda had the pork tenderloin like I did, Mollie had the pizza and Stephie had the blue cheese salad.
It was too windy and a tad to chilly to sit on the back deck. I will want to sit there the next time we come. The view was gorgeous.
The view. Rolling green with a barn and the water beyond. This kind of view makes you want to create... to absorb nature... to bask in God's artistry.
And yea... we got dessert. I didn't get the camera out in time. We POLISHED it off in minutes. Each of us bought a different dessert and tried everything. We ordered the chocolate decadence, the pecan pie, Smore cake, banana pudding, and strawberry shortcake. I was one stuffed happy mother.
Please go try the SpringHouse. I have a good feeling you'll love it! If you're not sure what to order, then invite me. I'll go and show you what to get :)