Taco Tuesday? Tacos Every Day!

Funny story.  When I went back home my friends and I were eating some Mexican Food and they made the comment how they wished they had some good legit Mexican Food near their campuses (they study in Washington & New York) and I agreed with them not really thinking it through to which they were not happy.  "YOU GO TO SCHOOL IN SAN DIEGO LITERALLY ONLY A FEW MILES FROM MEXICO WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?" ... woops

It was then that I had realized my friends and I HAD had some Mexican Food like Vallarta's Carne Asada Fries but had yet to find a traditional taqueria and taken advantage of being so near Mexico to have real good Mexican Food without having to bring a passport with us for a meal.

So yesterday some of my friends and I needed some comfort food and found this great Mexican place that was delicious and magical and all that we needed and will be going there a lot more often I just know (and hope). Not only was the food good, traditional, and cheap... it was FAST!

I mean as soon as we passed the place while looking for parking we knew we made the right choice driving to this restaurant.

Mmmmmm $1.95 tacos

Maria's Mexican Cocina is the name of this delicious Mexican restaurant in Downtown San Diego that my friends and I thoroughly enjoyed!

        

First off they kicked us off by giving us some chips and salsa AND even some Queso Fundido which is basically like a cup of melted cheese delicious for dipping and its like some NACHOS for appetizer with no extra charge.  I also ordered an Horchata to test out just how authentic the place is and it was delicious! Not too cinnamony and not artificial.  It was Good!

For our main dish I got a plate of fish tacos and my friend got a chicken tamale and they were both amazingly delicious.   The fish tacos were fresh and crunchy and super savory.  I actually do think I enjoyed my friends' tamale a lot more than mine but they were both really good.  The tamale was fresh and homemade and not super filling but just right .... she finished the whole thing and is a very small individual so the fact she finished it says a lot about how good it was.

So in summation, my friends and I will be enjoying a lot more authentic Mexican Food more often - and I am excited! NOTHING IS HOLDING US BACK TO EAT MEXICAN FOOD!

Not So Precious but Not So Bad

So if any of you remember one of my earlier posts or if any of you have checked out my tabs (Just Add Popcorn), it has been my goal to watch all 250 movies from IMDBs list of top 250 movies of all time.  I have been trudging through very slowly and when I can I burn through a movie and happily cross it off my list.

One of those movies... or actually, four of the movies on the list... are the three Lord of the Rings Trilogy movies as well as The Hobbit (the first one so far).  I mean, of course they were on the list after so many Oscar nominations and wins but admittedly I had not sen any of the movies.  NOW HOLD ON DON'T FREAK OUT! 

(this is a LOTR representation of how people usually react when I would say I had not seen any of the movies ... me being the elf lady)

I finally watched all four of them and surprisingly enjoyed them.  We went up to Lake Tahoe during my Winter Break and while we were there I burned through the first two and then watched the third one once I got back only to end up watching The Hobbit the following night.

Anyway, the main point of my blog post is that I think people should actually give the movies a chance.  A big reason I was very hesitant to watch any of them was because I found them to be geeky, weird, and dumb.  And I apologize.  The second one was actually my favorite one too I should add! Even though Gollum was in it who as a kid scared the begeezus out of me and still grosses me out (I feel like he is just cold and clammy and ew)

Ew

But essentially I gave in, realized I would eventually have to watch them since they are on the list and fully enjoyed then.  So I guess all I am trying to say in this somewhat short post is that no matter how weird or "not your type of movie" a movie may seem, you should give it a shot ... at least if they have good ratings.

No matter how out there they may seem...

Diabetic December

In the words of one of my SD friends: "Tis the effin' season"

I know it may be January and this post is titled with December but lemme just say last month was a lot of fun and deserves a post about it.  Winter Break is almost done for me and athough it will be sad to leave home and go back to San Diego.  I think my gut needs it.

I left San Diego cooking all of my meals which were just brown rice and chicken and SMALL PORTIONS to come home and find delicious home cooked meals everyday from my mom and a lot of going out to eat more delicious food and I think I am starting to pay for it but UGH ITS ALL JUST SO GOOD.

I just thought I would share with you all a little bit of the best desserts I had this Winter Break.  Also, sorry if the title is misleading but I DO NOT HAVE DIABETES ... but after eating all that I ate I have no idea how that is.  

Every year it is a tradition that my mom and I make Christmas Cookies together.  This has been going on for 6 years now we realized and were very surprised after calculating because we thought somehow it was only our 2nd or 3rd year.  Another tradition is our changing patterns of whether or not we share with people our cookies.. it varies every year depending on how generous and hungry we are feeling (this year we did not share with anyone... hence this post).

CHECK OUT OUR PRIDE AND JOY FOR CHRISTMAS 2013

These were our jelly cookies, the ones on the left were our "challenge" for this year.  We had never made them and they were pretty difficult to make since the cookies were fragile (hard to spread jam) and also you should know that the centers are supposed to be Christmas Trees... supposed to be.  The ones on the right we have been making every year and are my traditional favorites I usually eat 2 or 7 of them not too many 

The bars on the left are another set of "cookies" we have been making every single year and are my Mom's favorite and indeed are pretty dang good.  They have white chocolate chips, craisins, pecans, condensed milk, and clouds from the heavens.  OK but NO YOU GUYS LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THESE COOKIES ON THE RIGHT - this was our first year making them and holy crap they are mainly the reason we did not share treats this year.  They have chocolate, pretzels, and TWIX chunks in it and I LOST IT WITH THESE COOKIES THEY WERE GOOD.

But HOLD UP! There was more! We all have a bit of a creative side in my family and also hold the tradition of making sugar cookies which we later decorate as we please.

Now I know you are dying to know and YES I did make that cow and I also should let you know I made the Santa with the beard on the bottom left... the original cookie was a Christmas Tree shape but the oven did not like that and deformed it so I worked around it.

NOW THESE BABIES ARE MY PERSONAL FAVORITES OF XMAS 2013 BAKED GOODS

(cuz I decorated them)

They are just regular cupcakes but my mom found this marshmallow snowmen idea online and I let my creative side out (1. on the far left you can see a "melting snowman" 2. in the far back [hard to miss] is the "KING SNOWMAN" I dubbed him lastly, 3. is that guy on the right with half his head missing and a surprised expression on him... his story is that he was hit by a snowball and is still recovering from the shock haha)

Mmmmmmmmmmm it was all so good .... but guess what, it did not end there, 

and I am so glad it did not end with that

These delights are my expertise which I actually made back at school when my friend was down in the dumps and when my dad saw them on Instagram he made a personal request for some to made while I was home.

Their Name? Nutella-Mallow Pillow Pockets ... yes, that is their full name and they deserve each bit of it with how delicious and savory they are.  In case you could not tell from the name, they have nutella and marshmallow in them and are fluffy and crispy and chocolatey and marshmallowy and delicious and oh no I am drooling again.

We had them for post-dessert dessert while we watched a Christmas movie with some Hot Chocolate my sister had made and I decided to take the vanilla marshmallow that was all warm and gooey and lathered it on top and Oh Crap I Should NOT HAVE DONE THAT because my heart stopped, went to heaven, and wrote a personalized thank you letter to the angels for allowing us to have such goodness on Earth.

SO MUCH DESSERT AND DELICIOUSNESS IN DECEMBER I DO NOT KNOW IF MY BODY WILL EVER RECOVER FROM IT ALL BUT HONESTLY I THINK IT IS OK

Aca-Mazing

WOW I HONESTLY SERIOUSLY TERRIBLY APOLOGIZE TO YOU ALL FOR NOT POSTING THIS IN SUCH A LONG TIME I AM A HORRIBLE PERSON AND LOVE YOU ALL AND AM BACK!

Well now that that is out, I must share with you all in the holiday spirit since I am super excited for Christmas! Whether you celebrate or not (Happy Channukah a few days ago respectively to those who celebrate), I want to share my latest obsession.  

Acapella is amazing and I am a big fan of all of the music from "Pitch Perfect" and any other acapella groups but the greatest acapella out there (at least that I know of) is PENTATONIX.  They won NBC's "The Sing-Off" which I did not watch but I have watched almost all of their videos and love just about all of their renditions of their songs.  And to make it even better, THEY RELEASED A CHRISTMAS ALBUM - I KNOW RIGHT!??!!

My greatest obsession on the album is their rendition of "The Little Drummer Boy" which I basically binge listened to on my drive from San Diego to LA which is probably unhealthy but I was able to learn all the words and each time I sang it I sang different parts and was basically a one man acapella group.  Also it should be noted I played it so loud in my car that I sounded super good and basically sounded just like them which is unusual because I don't sing well but for this song I sounded amazing.

HERE IS THE LINK

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ_MGWio-vc

You all should listen to it it is amazing, although my sister and my friend did not like it for some reason but that don't even phase me because I still listen to it at least once a day and sing it in the shower and know all the right tones and melodies to hum along to I am just awesome basically haha

Aside from their holiday music they also did Radioactive with LINDSEY STERLING 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE2GCa-_nyU

AND OF Royals - AWESOME

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9XQ2MdNgKY

Medley of Daft Punk - SUPERB

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MteSlpxCpo

And they did "Somebody that I Used to Know" (this is the song that made me fall in love with them)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOKuAigsrec

But yea if you have not heard them check them out I promise they will NOT DISAPPOINT 

Side Note: definitely listened to them while writing this post , ITS GOOD TO BE BACK

who knew it would be during Finals Week that I would find time to post on the blog again?

Burger Hoedown

I am so sorry to everyone! I did not realize it had been so long since I had posted in my blog I have just been so busy with school and work and what not but hey! on the brighter side, I am here and posting about FOOD!

I'm not sure about you but my posts about food are my favorite because they get me all excited and hungry and hopeful that someone will randomly bust into my room offering delicious dishes but it never happens.

Hodad's is the topic for today and it is me and my friends' favorite place for burgers.  But the thing about these burgers, is that we can never seem to go to Hodad's without completely stuffing our faces and ending up ordering delicious french fries and onion rings and chocolate shakes as well

Located in Ocean Beach, CA and Downtown San Diego, CA this awesome burger joint has even been featured on FOOD NETWORK: ON THE ROAD.  I have so far only been to the one in Ocean Beach and whenever I go it is always with a big group of friends which I think makes it so much more fun since we all munch off of each other's sides and take sips of each others milkshakes too.

The only thing I do have to note is that no matter what time you go (it seems), there is always a line outside the door that seems like it would take forever but with good company and a tall person to shade you from the sun, it goes by fairly quickly AND it is totally worth it.  Also, if you wanted to you can just walk in with your group, order at the counter, and take your food to go.  This is what my group of friends did when we were a literal group of 18 and we just took all of our burgers and junk food and walked about 2 blocks down and sat in a nice grassy lawn by the beach.

Recommendation include EVERYTHING ON THE MENU, I am actually a bigger fan of the onion rings than I am on the fries but then again it is up to you really. 

 I also have to mention that the staff there is awesome.  They all have the same style of having some form of facial hair, a trucker hat, tattoos and A KICK ASS PERSONALITY.  But seriously, they are the most chill servers around never wanting to cause problems and always keeping the customer in mind.  If there is anything wrong with your order they are quick to fix it and are always joking around.  Ask for a sticker and you can easily get one it is great!

So go ahead and wear some loose pants when you go because you are NOT going to want anything tight around your waist when you eat there.

Les Misery

No, sorry, this is not about Les Miserables I am sorry but at least with this title you do not have to exert any phlegm and can actually pronounce it correctly.  This post is actually about the 1990 Thriller "Misery" starring Kathy Bates and James Caan.  The movie is awesome and I found it to be a very fitting post considering Kathy Bates' latest role in "American Horror Story:Coven" which she is nailing every week since its premiere so far in my opinion.

I really wanted to do this post because a lot of my friends did not know who Kathy Bates was and I freaked out and thought it was my duty to make sure others knew who exactly this great actress was.

So "Misery" is a thriller based off of Stephen King's hit novel "Misery" where a famous novelist gets into a car crash up in the snowy mountains and is rescued  by his self-proclaimed BIGGEST FAN (played by Kathy Bates).  The writer soon finds himself in deep trouble when his Biggest Fan drowns him with her obsession and will not let the man leave.

Like how creepy is that!?! And don't worry, I did not spoil anything because I was told that exact same plotline and was still freaking out as my sister and I watched the movie and were definitely screaming at the TV screen and sweating with blankets tightly wrapped around ourselves.  

Sweet ol' Kathy Bates from "Titanic" and "Fried Green Tomatoes" decided to give me a whole new perspective on her acting capabilities with this movie and she also gave me enough reasoning to always road trip with somebody and never drive anywhere far with terrible weather conditions unless I want .... well, you'll find out what happens.

The movie won Kathy Bates an ACADEMY AWARD and a GOLDEN GLOBE both for Best Performances by an Actress and let me just say that she was up against Julia Roberts, Michelle Pfeiffer, Susan Sarandon, Angelica Huston, and the head honcho - MERYL STREEP so if that does not put it into perspective of how well she did I have no idea what other way to tell you to watch this movie.

I think it is on Netflix but I am not 100% sure, but either way if you do not have netflix I am sure you have some means of finding a way to watch it and SUPER DUPER RECOMMEND it especially since it is October and it is perfect for Halloween especially for those of you who are not Horror fans but LOVE a good thriller

Be Careful Though, She is Out There

Straight Up Muggin' It

Shopping for Birthday gifts most of the time (at least I have found them to be) can be one of the most difficult things to do especially when you want to express to someone you care about how awesome they are.  Typically what happens to me is that I realize it is someone's birthday soon and then I think, "OK, what is it they like? Well, they like that stuff so much they ALREADY have everything they would want from __________ .... well maybe I can give a gift card? But typically family members you don't speak with on a regular basis give those....shit."

[This is what I look like, LOOK I EVEN SIT DOWN TO THINK ABOUT WHAT TO BUY]

Perhaps a lot of you go through the same thought process, or maybe you are actually awesome at buying birthday gifts, and if so I envy you.  If you are more like me and struggle sometimes, I have a solution... at least for one gift.

Starbucks actually has this cool mug you can buy that you can draw whatever design you want on it, bake it for like an hour or something, and then the design stays imprinted on it permanently.

LOOK! Isn't that cool?

And since Starbucks is in just about every city across America, I am sure you could easily find the nearest Starbucks location and pick one up.  It's really fun designing whatever it is you wanna make for said birthday person (or Christmas person since that season is approaching too) ((Or whatever holiday you wanna celebrate, everyone could use a good mug))

Anyway, it comes with a double sided pen with white ink to draw on the lower black region, and on the reverse side of the pen is black ink to draw on the upper white area.  I actually bought one as you could guess and made one for my sister for her birthday!  It was a little nerve wracking since it is kind of marker that I was drawing with but I found that you can first draw with pencil and it easily erases by wiping it with your finger.

So if you could not guess from the design I did, my sister loves Disneyland and all things Disney so I put a popular quote from Walt Disney himself "It's Kind of Fun Doing the Impossible" and I even looked up Walt Disney Font online and was able to draw it by looking at a template.

I was nervous at first and it definitely took me some time to figure out what it is I was going to draw but I was really happy with the end result and think it summed up Disney and my sister fairly well.. my favorite is the Pocahontas at the bottom on the back of the mug

I tried to capture the majestic beauty in her hair which admittedly was really difficult, I mean look at those locks, but I managed to do it and had a lot of fun doing it.  Also, I guess I forgot to take a picture of it but I drew a star on the inside of the mug so after finishing a drink she could see the evening star/ wishing star/ second star to the right/ pretty star.

But yea, I honestly had a lot of fun and might even buy another DIY (Do It Yourself) mug and make one for someone else but I am not officially sure.  I definitely recommend it and think that someone will love it especially since making something homemade shows a lot of love.  It shows a lot of effort in my eyes, and would love a homemade gift since you realize that when that person was making the gift, they literally saved time in their day to work on something FOR YOU.

Pretty Much Pretty Patties

What do I love almost as much as food you ask? That's easy ... Dessert!

Let's be serious for a moment, dessert is a whole separate category from food because you eat food for meals and for snacks and what not, but you can never be too full for dessert.  Like when you are at a restaurant and you are stuffed full of delicious FOOD ...and then that rapscallion of a waiter/waitress comes over with the dessert menu because they saw into your eyes that you have an on-again-off-again love/hate relationship with sweets and just know you cannot say no.

OR WORSE! When they actually bring the freaking cart around that has the example desserts and you know they have been sitting there for a while because every server uses it to tempt every customer into desserts but yet it all looks so good.

ANYWAY! I am not even talking about desserts at restaurants in this post but that was my rant about sweets/desserts and now to the best part.

1. Macarons are amazing. 2. I think they look like "Pretty Patties" from Spongebob Squarepants. and 3. I think if I ever went to Europe and tried legit macarons I would probably cry, then die, then come back, stuff my face with macarons, cry some more, and then die again - in that order.

[Look at that, these things are so good the gif is bugging out]

I do have one place in particular I must talk about though that sold me some awesome macarons and that is Dolcissimo Bake Shop.

Located at:

13885 City Center Drive, Suite 3010

Chino Hills CA 91709

Ph: 909.591.3646

Store Hours:
Monday to Thursday 10am-8:15pm
Friday & Saturday 10am-9pm
Sunday 11am-7:15pm

At the Shoppes at Chino Hills (North of LA) in California my sister and I were walking around and found this little shop on side of the shopping center, went in, and were super happy with our find.

Now we unfortunately did not get a chance to try everything since we had just eaten BUT if you understood what I was ranting about earlier, we did buy some macarons without too much guilt. 

YEP, YOU READ THAT RIGHT, NUTELLA & FRUITY PEBBLE FLAVORED MACARONS

and not only were the Nutella macarons flavored like nutella, the insides were creamy nutella spread

... you know, maybe it wasn't even nutella flavored... but I just know that they were delicious.  At that moment I really wished I had not eaten lunch and rather we had just gone straight to Dolcissimo and filled ourselves with macarons and cupcakes.

So if you are around the area or visiting LA or maybe even just in some part of California... Go to Dolcissimo and you will not be disappointed.