Cantina Laredo

Hola! It's been a while!! I have been sooooo busy with school and life that I just haven't had a chance to blog - but no worries, I'm still here:)

The other night some friends and I decided to go out to dinner.  We wanted to try a new restaurant and also visit a new area of town.  So we decided to head out to Midtown Omaha and try out Cantina Laredo!
I was a bit nervous when walking into the restaurant because I thought that it was going to be super expensive and I wasn't going to be able to eat for a month afterwards, but to my delight, it was about an average priced menu!   The decor in the restaurant was a little different than I had imagined it to be - it was mainly "modern" art with a few fire places, and wooden tables.  I enjoyed the setting of the restaurant, but it just did not seem to fit with my typical "Hispanic" styled cultural likes.
As we sat down at the table, we were served with complimentary chips and salsa.  The chips were absolutely amazing as well as the salsa that was on the table.  I was pleasantly surprised and had high hopes for the meal!
To my guest diners, they thought that the menu was "un poco dificil de leer" (a bit difficult to read), but no worries, I helped them understand:) It was a nice sized menu with quite a few choices, probably about 25 options, which is good for a restaurant.  I've always heard that the more options you have at a restaurant, the worse some of the food will be; just because it is hard to cook so many different dishes in one kitchen; so more of the food is likely to be frozen or pre-cooked.
I was delighted to see that they offered a few Mole dishes - which are my favorite!! So I ordered the chicken mole dish which is a black chocolate pepper sauce atop chicken rolled in flour tortillas.  I know, it sounds a little strange to think that chocolate, peppers, and chicken would go together - but in Oaxaca, Mexico (where the dish originated), it works perfectly!  I also added a side of guacamole, just because Mexican restaurants cannot be fully critiqued without testing the guac!

The food was served in about 10 minutes after we ordered, which made me a little leery to begin with.  It just seemed really fast to have made three dishes!  I was so excited to try my chicken and mole because I had not had it in a looonnnggg time!  I have to say that the food portions were a bit small for what the price was, but my dish was pretty good.  It was not the best Mexican food that I have had in Omaha, but average of what you could find at restaurants around town.  The guacamole was probably my favorite thing that I ordered, although, once again, it was a small portion for a steep price (I don't know if this has anything to do with the Avocado shortage... but if it doesn't, I would not order it).  The picture that you see below is a side of guacamole, which cost me $3.50!  I was not very pleased when I got the check.

My guest diners ordered your basic enchiladas, one beef and one chicken.  I could tell that neither of them were into their dishes.  The one who ordered beef said that hers tasted like canned chili that was rolled in a tortilla - so I was curious.  I tried a bite, and confirmed, that yes, it was definitely some Manwich-type food.  Let's just say, neither of them will be returning, and neither will I.  

I was thoroughly disappointed when we left the restaurant, mainly because I had heard good things about it and there was even a "best of Omaha" sign in the restaurant.  I would have rather spent $6 at Lina's and had one of my favorite meals than gone to this place for $15.  But, you win some you lose some!

Overall, I would rate this restaurant a 4 out 10 stars.  It was worth a shot, but was just not on point.  

I would LOVE to hear from you if you have tried Cantina Laredo!! What were your thoughts on this restaurant?? Maybe we hit a bad night, I don't know, but I was overall not impressed, and I would not recommend this restaurant.  

Hasta Luego!! 

P.S. If you are still interested, here it their link!

http://www.cantinalaredo.com/

Boston Cream Pie Cookies

Boston Cream Pie is one of my favorite desserts!!  I LOVE the cream filling in the center; and when you pair that with cake and chocolate... What could be better??? So, when I came across this recipe, I had to try it!! Read through the page, and at the bottom you will find my critique of this recipe! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Cream filling:
6 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch                          

1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup of milk
6 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1 egg yolk, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cookies:
9 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup of sugar
2 Egg yolks
1 Egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 Cup + 2 Tablespoons cake flour
1 Cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 Cup + 2 Tablespoons buttermilk                                                          

Glaze:
2 Ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
4 teaspoons butter
1/2 Cup whipping cream
1 Cup confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar)

Directions:

(Cream filling)
1. In a small heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Stir in milk and cream until smooth. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat to low; cook and stir 2 minutes longer.
2. Remove from the heat. Stir a small amount of hot mixture into egg yolk; return all to the pan, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat. Stir in vanilla. Cool for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a small bowl. Press waxed paper onto surface of custard. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

(Cookies)
1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks, egg, vanilla and lemon peel. Combine the cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk and mix well.
2. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets.

3. Bake at 400° for 5-7 minutes or until firm to the touch. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

(Assembly and Chocolate Glaze)
1. Spread custard over the bottoms of half of the cookies; top with remaining cookies.
2. For glaze, place chocolate and butter in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil. Pour over chocolate and butter; whisk until smooth. Stir in confectioners' sugar. Spread over cookies; let dry completely. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 4 dozen.

So, after making these cookies, I had to try one! They were delicious!! Although the process was long (about 3 hours total, including waiting time), they were good!! The only thing I did not like about them was that there was not a lot of cream.  When assembling these cookies, I found it hard to add a lot of cream without them toppling over.  The good thing about an actual Boston Cream Pie, is that you can add as much or as little cream as you prefer.  

It was a little difficult at first getting a hang of the sizing on these cookies when placing the dough on the cookie sheet.  The dough was very sticky and hard to handle, but that is because the cookies are more of a cake-like texture.

I would definitely make these cookies again, but I would maybe tweak the style or assembly of them somehow.  Overall - 4 out of 5 stars!

*Note: I did not use "cake flour" in this recipe, as it calls for; I just used regular all-purpose flour - and they came out fine.

Source: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/boston-cream-pie-cookies

Oatmeal & Banana Pancakes

So, I have been eating pretty healthy lately.  Although I have made a few mistakes (occasional pop being my weakness), I think I have been getting a hang of eating well! I will say, it does take extra time to pack your lunch in the morning and to make some of the food that you need to pack; but it is so worth it!  I have been allowing myself to one "whatever" meal per week and after that meal I usually don't feel all that great.  Eating well and eating good food will make a world of difference.
So, since I have been eating healthy, eggs and fruit has been my breakfast of choice for the past few weeks.  Eggs get old. Fast. Really fast! So I found this pancake recipe online and decided to give it a try - anything but eggs!

1/2 cup instant oatmeal
4 egg whites
1 really, really ripe banana, mashed
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 Tablespoons of applesauce
pinch of salt (I omitted this... kind of by accident) ha!
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of water, milk, or juice - I used milk

The directions are simple: Mix everything together in a bowl and cook up like a pancake!! I tried adding some frozen strawberries on the first pancake, but I was not a fan, probably because I generally do not like frozen strawberries unless they are in smoothie form!

I was a bit skeptical while I was standing there waiting for the batter to cook.  But it was worth a try! Anything but eggs. After about a 7 minute wait - these things are thick - I placed the hot pancake on my plate and dug in!

I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't all that bad!! It was actually pretty good, and a great change from eating eggs!! The only thing that I would tweak a little from last time is that I may add a bit more cinnamon or vanilla.  It was very tempting to put something on them, like syrup, just because that is the norm in eating pancakes.  So because I did not add syrup, I felt like it was lacking that extra kick!  But they were MUCH better than eggs! Ha.
I would love to hear what you think about them! Give them a try and let me know what you think!! Good luck!

Spain!!

Hola! I finally found some extra time to blog about my last adventure - SPAIN!!
I was able to go on a missions trip to Spain this last November/December and it was quite the experience!! Not only was the whole trip amazing, but the food was pretty good too!! Although different than I had imagined, it was very good and even surprising at times! I'm going to share a little bit of my food experience with you today, I hope you enjoy it!!

First off, let me say this; Jamba Juice is by far one of my favorite juice/smoothie places - and for this Midwestern girl, that means I can only indulge in my craving about once a year.  This was one of those times my friends... and it was good! You better believe that was my main mission in the airport!

So as I mentioned before, this is probably just my European ignorance, but I did not expect to eat the food that we did in Spain!  Because I have been to Mexico and Guatemala, and I knew that in Spain they ate a lot of Paella, I thought it was going to be similar to Mexican cuisine... I was WAY wrong!! In Spain, they eat a TON of seafood! Which was really good at first, and it was different, since I am used to eating farm animals! Haha.  But seriously, you could expect either shrimp, or fish at basically every meal - and if you didn't experience and seafood, you were probably eating ham!

The dish pictured above is melon with ham on top.  It was one of the first official meals that we ate in Spain and it was quite a revelation!  I would have never thought to put these two foods together but it was surprisingly pretty good.  You have to realize that the ham in Spain is different than the ham in the US.  It is more of a thin ham that is almost a jerky-like texture.  It can be served at breakfast, lunch, or dinner and has a very unique flavor.  

The dish pictured below, is Paella!  This is probably the most common dish that you will find in Spain, and I would consider it to be their staple dish.  It is basically rice, spices, and seafood!  It is really tasty in most places and even better when it is homemade!! The best meal that I had in Spain was at someone's house - they made the BEST paella! Then again, everything is better homemade right?!

So as most of my friends would probably know, I am a HUGE fan of the Guiness Book of World Records.  I have all the books from the year 2000 and on and even a few of the old books from back in the 1970s and 1990s.  One of my life goals is to be in the Guiness Book of World Records someday, I just think all of the amazing feats and records are amazing.  SO, I was thrilled when I was able to visit "The Oldest Restaurant in the World!"  This restaurant was really cool! It had so much character and was even partially underground!! Here is a link to the restaurant if you would like to learn more about it: 

http://www.botin.es/?q=en

As you can see below, the official Guiness plaques displayed in the front window and inside the restaurant.  We did not eat at the restaurant because it would have been really expensive for 13 people, but we did get to take a tour, which was really amazing!

So as I mentioned before, we ate a ton of seafood!! Here are some pictures of the seafood that we enjoyed while we were there!! 

The little corn-dog looking things are actually Tuna rolls, and the onion ring looking things is actually fried Calamari - which was actually really good, if you're a texture person though, I would say it is not for you!

What I found really interesting was that in Spain they had quite a few Asian restaurants!! This one was called "The Wok" and was similar to a HuHot here in the states.  But the fresh seafood was much better!! Although I steered away from the seafood at these types of restaurants because there was a lot to choose from, and we ate a ton of seafood all the other meals. 

I could not believe how much they had to choose from at their buffets! It was bigger than your typical China Buffet here in the midwest.

So as you may know, my favorite candy of all time is a Kinder "Bueno."  I first experienced these delightful things in Mexico in 2010 and then got to buy some again in 2012 when I was in Guatemala!  Well, in Spain, they were everywhere!! They were even stocked in the regular grocery stores!! I was in heaven.  

While in Madrid, we got to experience a typical "US" style restaurant.  One of the leaders said it was one of the only places that had milkshakes, I never realized how unique milkshakes were!! Here in the US, you can get a milkshake at just about 60% of the restaurants!! So I was very surprised to hear that they were so rare.  *Note to self - if you ever want to open business in Spain and make a bunch of money, open an milkshake stand!*

Pastries and baked goods were also a big thing in Spain, and they were delicious!! I ate so much while I was in Spain, I don't know how I didn't gain like 10 pounds!!  

One of the major things that had a lasting impact on me from Spain was the amount of time that they spent talking to each other over meals.  In Spain, it was typical to spend two hours at one meal.  Togetherness and family are really important to the people in Spain.  The laid-back approach to life is probably what keeps them happy and healthy.  

I never expected to learn so much from the lifestyle or meal times in Spain, but often times it is where I learned the most.  It is always interesting to me how mealtimes can define a culture.  

In the US it is uncommon now to spend even one meal a day with your family - which I believe is one of the reasons why some families are not as close to each other as they used to be.  We are so focused on working and not wasting time that we often do not even get to know the people we are closest to, I found it interesting that by the end of my 2 weeks in Spain, I knew a lot more about the people there than a lot of the people back home.  

There is a lot more that I could share with you about the mealtimes and food in Spain - this is just a glimpse of my two weeks.  If you have questions or comments, feel free to leave them below and I will answer as soon as possible! I hope enjoyed looking at some of the pictures!! 

Hasta pronto!

Eating Healthy 101

Well, It's been one week now since I started eating super healthy! Like I said before, processed foods are out and lean proteins, fruit, veggies, and rice are the main food groups for the next month.
The beginning is always the hardest.  Taking time to make all of the food, as well as setting aside time to go to the store on a weekly basis to keep fresh fruits and veggies in stock is tough.  But once you get the hang of it and in a routine, it is really rewarding!
The benefits of eating healthy outweigh the the negatives by billions... Even if you can't have your favorite fried foods or sweets, it is so worth it in the long run.  Now, I will say, I cannot imagine living life like this my whole life, unless I moved to a tropical places where fruits and veggies were readily available...(South America, Central America???) But there are a bunch of more healthy choices that I could be making on a regular basis.  I think after this month, I will try as hard as possible to maintain this healthy eating, but sometimes a burger and fries is unavoidable, which is perfectly okay.
By the way, did I mention that in the first week I lost 4 pounds!? I was a little shocked.  But I guess that goes to show what eating healthy and added workouts will do for you!

Today, I made this for lunch and it was delicious! I was able to cook my Salmon in some official Spanish Olive Oil!! 1 week down, 3 to go!

Twenty-Fourteen

Happy New Year!! ¡Feliz año nuevo! 

Well, as you all know, with the new year, comes new resolutions!! This year, I am starting out with a month of healthy eating! 

Let's be honest, after the last few months of winter and the holiday season, I am no where near my 1/2 marathon shape that I was in a year ago! Not only that, but I am sugared out!! For real.  By the end of Christmas day I thought I was going to turn into a giant sugar cube... bleh.  

The truth is; sweets, sodas, fried foods, and fatty foods are bad for us! I know, you probably already know this!! But let me reiterate this for you - they are BAD for you! They make us feel lethargic, make us gain weight, cause us to sometimes have energy spurts that last for hours - causing insomnia, and a bunch of other side effects!! But again, you probably are already aware of all of these facts.  I have known this too; but who really wants to eat "healthy?" I mean, healthy food is often seen as bland, and tasteless.  You don't see advertisements on TV for broccoli and bananas.  You are constantly being told to order pizza, grab a burger, or even get a FOURTH meal! It's convenient, cheap, and there for you when you need some fries at 3am.  I agree, healthy foods are not cheap, especially in the midwest - but I bet a few small changes in spending for most of us could allot for some healthier eating.   

I am not saying that we should not be allowed this kind of stuff once in a while, but consuming it all of the time is downright self-sabotage.  

So, for the month of January, I will not be eating anything that is sugary, overly salty, fried, processed, or contains artificial sweeteners.  This means that fruits, veggies, lean proteins, rice, and nuts are going to be my diet for the next month!  It is an easier version of the 7 Day Detox Diet which I did a while back - just because I am allowing more protein and carbs if they are unprocessed.  If you have read my blog, you may remember that after the 7 Day Detox, I was feeling amazing -although it was hard, I did feel great by the end!  I am hoping that I feel the same way throughout this month!  I will say, that I am allowing one meal per week to be "off the record."  Just because I know sometimes we have family dinners, or meetings that happen over a meal - and I don't want to be "that person." Haha. But maybe some weeks those situations will not arise and I may choose to have one meal that is off the charts - because we should be allowed treats once in a while!

 

Anyways, it has already been three days - and I am feeling great! The first day I ate healthy and cut out all sugars, salt, and processed food, I slept like a rock that night!  I can already tell the difference! 

I will keep you updated on how it is going, and I encourage you to try it with me!! It is only one month.  One month is such a short amount of time in the big scope of things, but one month has the potential to change your life! They say it takes 30 days to develop a new habit... 

Homemade Biscuits

Have you ever bought something prepackaged or frozen from the store, made it at home, and thought to yourself, "these are wayyyy better homemade!" Well, that is always the case with me and biscuits! There is nothing quite the same as homemade biscuits (as with just about anything prepackaged).
I love waking up in the morning and having fresh biscuits with various jellies, eggs, and bacon.... Although not extremely healthy by any means, it conquers the morning better than any fast food restaurant!
Here's my favorite recipe for biscuits that my mom has been making us for so many years!

Ingredients
2 Cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons shortening
2/3 cup of milk

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Combine all of the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly.
3. Cut shortening into flour mixture until well-combined and crumbly (picture below).
4. Slowly add the milk into the mixture until it becomes a desired rolling consistency.
5. Flour counter surface and rolling pin; Then dumb out dough onto surface and roll out dough.  Roll out to about 1/2 inch thickness.  Then, using a circular shaped cookie cutter (or biscuit cutter), cut out biscuits and place on an ungreased cookie sheet or baking stone.
6. Bake for about 10-12 minutes in a 450 degree oven; Until the tops are brown.
7. Enjoy!

These are super simple to make and do not require a bunch of time!! I can tell you that they are way better than the prepackaged biscuits and maybe a bit healthier too!! I hope you enjoy them!!