TACOS !!

I. Love. Tacos. I love Mexican food. I love the fancy tacos from the food truck. I love the hole in the wall Mexican restaurant. I love fish tacos, taco sald, taco soup. OMG TACOS !!

I have not however made tacos as good as I can get out and about. I don't know what it is.

Pictured above are two of the best tacos I've eaten recently.

Left: FOOD TRUCK! Y'all know I love the food truck. They have great tacos! My favorite happen to be the chicken kind, they're in a soft tortilla and have rice, lettuce and cilantro. They come with some pico de gallo but I loathe raw onions. I always ask for it without. They have a great salsa to go along with it, I can only assume they make this. It's just the right amount of too spicy. Delicious. Spoonfedgrill.com also has fish tacos, steak, and pork! I've tried all, but I keep going back to the chicken.

Right: Rosie's Mexican Cantina in Huntsville, AL. Oh my yum. This was the SUPER TACOS! from their lunch menu. They were HUGE and packed full of taco innerds. Chicken and sour cream and tomatoes and lettuce and cheese and then I put guacamole on there and nomnomnomnom! Rosie's is always a treat when I visit Huntsville.

Please people! I want to make great tacos! Give me some of your recipes and suggestions for taco greatness!

Tomato wrap.. mmmmm

It may not look too delicious but this contains so much goodness omg.

I've been trying to come up with quick and easy meals I can throw together when I'm not in the mood to really cook. Sandwiches are OK, but these wraps have become my favorite!

I picked up these tomato wraps at my grocery store because they looked pretty (I'm a sucker for visual appeal) but I can't really tell the difference between these and like the wheat wraps. I had to nuke the wrap in the microwave for a couple of seconds just to get it to become more bendy and contain all of this goodness.

Contents:

Sabra Roasted Garlic hummus

Boston lettuce (because it looked pretty...)

Roma tomato cut into slices (I like romas because they're small and I won't have half a tomato sitting around)

Fresh Mozzarella cheese (the skim kind.. blah it's dry. I think I'll splurge for real moz next time) A generous dizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Sooooo good !! I'm trying to perfect some way of containing the juiciness of the tomato and balsamic. It's rather messy to eat so you have to hold it over a plate. So worth the mess though!

Taco Soup Goodness

Taco soup is pretty new to my rotation of comfort foods. I’ve had many different varieties! All contain different ingredients or embellishments. I say just throw a bunch of stuff in a pot and cook it! It’s probably bound to come out edible..

I’ve adapted this recipe many times. I’ve made it with ground beef, and thrown some Rotel in the mix; I’ve also omitted Rotel and just used a couple of cans of diced tomatoes. Every time I make it it always comes out different.

The wanted to cater the last batch I made more towards the Weight Watchers program I’ve been following. I used chicken instead of ground beef, I also omitted the can of corn I would normally put into the soup. Since Weight Watchers seems to be very carb-based I decided that if I didn’t add corn, I could add corn chips! I wouldn’t miss the corn, but the corn chips will add texture and flavor. It was a major success!

Here is the recipe I use:

1lb cooked ground beef, or boiled shredded chicken breast.
1 can of no salt added diced tomatoes (trust me you’ll be putting enough salt in here)
1 can of Rotel (mmm Rotel…)
1 package of low-sodium taco mix (here’s the salt)
1 package of Hidden Valley Ranch Dip Mix (here’s more salt!)

Sometimes I get fancy when I’m feeling less lazy and sauté an onion and garlic in a little olive oil before cooking.

Basically dump all of that into a pot, you may need to add a can-full of water depending on how soupy you want your soup. Serve with corn chips, cheese, and sour cream! NOMNOMNOM!

Drunk Foods

Everyone has their favorite go-to food when intoxicated. Usually it’s of the fried and carb-laden variety. I mean, how else are you supposed to sober up? Requirements for quality a drunk food establishment include:

Fast service: You can’t be making drunk people wait for food.
Fried options: To absorb all of that gut wrenching alcohol.
Atmosphere: You must blend in with the other guests, can’t be making a fool of yourself falling over in line for your cheese fries. If you pass out in a booth, you probably won’t be the only one.

For me it’s a grilled cheese and fries basket - add honey mustard, from The Purple Onion.. With an iced mint sweet tea. *omggg drool*

The Purple Onion is a staple of Birmingham cuisine that caters to the drunks. It’s open 24 hours a day seven days a week and specialized in everything from salads to burgers and gyros. There’s always a hunk of lamb behind the counter basking in its own juices, none of the staff speak English, and there’s a nacho cheese dispenser in plain view. How could you go wrong?

I’ve been a long time fan of their grilled cheese.. I love me a grilled cheese period! I don’t know what kind of mystery processed cheese or fat they use on these but they’re so good! I used to dunk them in ketchup (Hey, I was drunk here, and it’s like tomato soup!). One night long ago I got bold and decided to try some honey mustard, a condiment I’ve always held an irrational fear of due to my absolute hatred of mustard.

I don’t know what brand of honey mustard this is, where it comes from, or where it’s been. It is hands down the best honey mustard I’ve ever had. Nothing will ever beat how deliciously tangy, and creamy this stuff is.

I. Would. Eat. It. On. Anything.

Their fries – just your standard crinkle cut fries, but they are so coated with so much yummy seasoned salt goodness it could burn a hole in your tongue. That’s why you need the honey mustard for the fries too; the sweetness really balances things out!

Their mint sweet tea, OH MY YUM! You know mint tea; you drink it all hot with some honey when you have a sore throat. Yeah brew that mess up southern style with about two cups of sugar per gallon and you’re on your way to heaven in a styrofoam cup! Hell, throw the grilled cheese and fries in a to-go box and it’s like a meal floating on a cloud sent from above!

Man yall, just typing this I feel the need to throw down and few Jim Beam and Cokes followed by some Bud Lights so I can have an excuse to eat this!

I did learn my lesson from this.. obviously all of the karaoke-ing and drinking lead me to make some horrible choices in food and I actually GAINED weight last week. Oh noes.. No biggie though, you live and learn!

A New Direction!

Yo Food Blog! What is up? Long time no blog about food!

So things have changed in my life and with the help of Weight Watchers I'm choosing to eat better things and make better decisions with food. I've learned a lot! I feel great! I'm also down 10 whole lbs! Woop woop!

So you may not see anymore chili bacon cheese burgers around here (I don't think I've ever eaten such a thing, but it sounds delicious haha!). I hope to share recipes and adaptations of foods to fit a healthier diet! Real foods that don't come frozen in a box (I don't believe in those things, if you're into them heateatreview.com is an awesome little site about them!). I'll also continue to dine out from time to time and I hope to share meals I get on the go that are a better option from the norm.

Now I'm no inspiration for health here, but I do what I can do. Hopefully I can show people that little changes can make a world of difference!

Ramen: Meal of champions.

If you're going to eat ramen outside of a dorm room you have to have fun with it right?? haha! Seriously, we eat ramen all of the time in the house...

I received this bowl from one of my best friends for Christmas and I LOVE it !! I cannot eat ramen or any noodle soup from any other bowl...

I pose this question to you all:

Do you eat & enjoy ramen??
How do you prepare it?
Do you add anything to it like cheese or hot sauce?

I WANT TO KNOW PEOPLE!! Really, I need reassurance that we're not the only ones with this still in our cabinets hehe.

Fried Green Tomatoes: More than just a movie...

I always crave fried green tomatoes when they're not in season. Like my stomach has a timer that must receive fried green tomatoes once every six months or something. I was very surprised to see the freshest looking green tomatoes in the produce department of my local grocery store in the middle of January!

Oh yes, I took them babies home, coated them in buttermilk, flour and cormeal.. then fried them up! In a cast iron skillet of course.

This was actually my first attempt at fried green 'maters and I was pleased! They were simple and tasty just like I've always eaten them. I don't need no coating mix or whatev pssssssh!

Next time I make them, I'll put them in a BLT. BOOM your mind has just been blown!

Oh my yum...

Chocolate covered bacon.

'Nuff said.

Spoonfedgrill dot com AKA THE FOOD TRUCK!

If you are a friend of mine (and if you're reading this you probably are because I haven't really branched out.. boo..) you know I'm always tweeting or Facebooking about the food truck!

Recently food trucks have been all the rave yo. There's a show on the Food Network about them, and well, they're just everywhere now.. This food truck specifically comes around my place of business at least 3 days a week and has never disspointed me.

The meal pictured is a turkey rollup with thyme roasted sweet potatoes. I love this wrap! It has turkey, greens, tomatoes, sauteed apples, apple butter, cheese (I think it's provolone) all wrapped up in a whole wheat tortilla and grilled to perfection. It is for reals one of my favorite things on the menu.

They also offer delicious quesedillas! I have had one with steak and bleu cheese, also they have one similar to the turkey wrap, but it has chicken, cranberries, and GOAT CHEESE! I think I have said enough.. you must track down this food truck!

Check out their site and follow them on Twitter to find out where they're going to be!

Zoe's Kitchen, I heart you...

I cannot express to you guys how much I love Zoe's Kitchen. I have never been dissapointed by anything I have ordered from them.

Recently (well in the past 6 or so months) Zoe's Kitchen has added hummus to their menu. I've always been confused as to why they didn't have hummus on there before, being that they're a Greek-ish restaurant. I love me some hummus. Whether it's from the Purple Onion at 3 A.M. after a late night at the bar, or from a grocery store with some pita waching Lifetime movies :P

Zoe's Kitchen has paired my two favorite things into one meal here. Hummus and their greek salad! Their hummus is really fresh and bright tasting! Their greek salad is no joke also. I'll often order a large greek salad from them and eat the whole box.. I think it's the salad dressing.. oh yes.