Sick of Eating Out

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I really love eating good food. I also love going out to eat. The problem lately is that those two things just don’t go together.

Recently my husband decided that after eating at a big name, sit down place for lunch and neither of us enjoying it very well, he would take me to a well known grill,  locally.

So this local place has people flocking to it daily. Or at least that’s the feel that we both got from Facebook. Guess what? When we walked in, there were exactly 2 other patrons in the whole place.

The atmosphere was odd to say the least. Everything seemed to be like walking into a pine box. The floor, walls and tables were all the same exact wood and color. Oh and the bar was the same. Separate rooms had us a bit ovewhelmed to where things like the salad bar and restroom could be. We took a table near the door we entered.

My husband ordered grilled chicken with peppers and onions with fries and a salad from the salad bar, I ordered chicken nachos. We both chose our favorite drink, sweat tea.

After 30 minutes of waiting for a refill on our drinks, not being able to find the salad bar and listening to the employees squeel (along with a lot of bad language) in delight over who knows what, the owner brought our food.

She first asked who had the salad…well neither of us had a salad. I explained that I had chicken nachos and my husband had grilled chicken. I was very underwhelmed when she sat my husbands plate down.

On my  husbands plate was 4 grilled chicken tenderloins, with a few strips of bell pepper and onions, and a heap of crinkle fries.  The taste was a bit of a Mexican spice, but not really enough to identify  more about anything on his plate. The fries were….plain. This was served for what I remember as being around 12.99.

My “nachos” were served, after we discovered some red tortilla chips underneath the salad the owner was holding. A huge bed of roughly (hugely) cut romaine was topping a handfull of wonderful tortilla chips. This was all topped by jalepeno slices from a jar, aproximat4ly a taqblespoon of finely grated cheddar cheese, rings of fresh onion, oversized diced tomatoes, and a large diced (the pieces were large, not the portion of chicken) Mexican/Italian seasoned chicken. On the side were 2 plastic cups of bottled salsa and 2 cups of sour cream. Both with plastic tops…as in they grabbed them out of the fridge already prepared.

I kept trying to pick out the seasoning on the chicken, and it was so overwhelmed with thyme that the other spices were more of a blackened seasoning taste.

When I eat nachos, I expect 3 things:

1. Mexican seasoned meat (usually beef or chicken)
2. Cheese in large proportions (preferably melted)
3. Chips topped with #1 and #2

Well I guess that in a way I did get #3, if you don’t count the salad that was in between the chips and the nacho toppings.

I don’t want you to think that I’m crazy, and don’t like anything that’s different. This is far from the truth. What I do like is getting what I order. I love fresh salsa, I love the whole “Mexican Experience” when it comes to food. What I didn’t get was any type of experience that was positive.

Oh and the tea. Don’t let me forget about the tea. When you make tea, you must wash your containers very well first. I know that sounds like a given, but if you don’t you will have at least a faint taste of “sour” tea. Most places don’t have a problem with this, however this “GRILL” did. It was gross…it didn’t matter a lot, we didn’t get refills anyways.

I have been told that there are new owners taking this grill over. Lets please pray that they can take this place to a new level with their food and entertainment. There’s a lot of need for both, if done correctly in our area. And if you have any questions on making good grilled chicken or nachos, please don’t hesitate to contact me! lol Its really not all that hard, promise.

Mama’s Favorite iPhone Apps for Shopping

Shopping Apps

If I’m out shopping for something and need to check a price on something, these are my favorite apps! Right now all of these apps are FREE! (that could change, so grab them up now!)

• Amazon Mobile: With a barcode reader, you can check prices and even order straight from Amazon! I use this app not only to check prices, but also to check for reviews on products while I’m out shopping.
• Ebay Mobile: You can buy or sell with Ebay apps! This is great for saving money, or making money! (Also check out Ebay Deals, Ebay Fashion and Ebay Selling apps!)
• PayPal: So easy to check your balance or send payments! A must have for anyone who buys or sells on Ebay or takes PayPal payments of any kind.
• BarcodeHero: Another great app for checking reviews on products.
• RedLaser: Want to make a shopping list from your pantry? Use RedLaser not only to scan your canned goods, but check prices on them also (both local and online!).

How to Keep Freezer Meals Fresh for Months

As a kid I was amazed at infomercials, and did eventually talk my mom into ordering a thing or two. What really convinced her to buy one of those items was a live demonstration while we were out shopping.

Daddy was a farmer which automatically made Mama a canner.

Mama only froze one of her vegetables, because of all the food she’d lost to freezer burn when she was younger. Gone are the days of freezer burn. Today she still uses this same unit that is over 20 years old! It was well worth the money, of around 300.00 at the time.

The FoodSaver really does just that, it saves your food.

My mom has frozen corn that lasts for years! Her famous dish at almost every church or family function was her creamed style corn. It wasn’t quite as creamy as one may think, and was the simplest of dishes to make. Her secret was the FoodSaver. I can’t say that it was a secret, because she told everyone!

As soon as she cut the corn off the cob, blanched it (in the Microwave no less!) It went into the handy bags, the machine sucked all of the air out and sealed the bag, then into the freezer. Mom always used a chest style freezer with boxes of the same types of vegetable, and rotated the boxes during the year.

Why am I telling you all of this about freezing vegetables you may ask?

Because if you can store corn in the freezer for 2 years (sometimes longer), you can make sure that your Once a Month or Once a Week Cooking is safe for a few months in your freezer. No one likes to start cooking something, and then start smelling something icky! All of that money goes down the drain, and you order pizza for your family. We’ve all done it, and it always makes me sooo frustrated and mad.

Mama didn’t loose all of her hard work in the garbage because of freezer burn, and neither will you.

Believe me when I say that my Mama was very picky about her food and the quality and taste. She canned everything for many years until she found this , in her eyes and mine, priceless jewel.

The great thing now, is that you don’t have to use those pesky rolls of bags if you don’t want to. They offer precut and sealed bags! Mama would love these!

It’s Party Time! Blis Giveaway (worth $125)

Thanks for coming, sit a spell and I’ll whip up one of my famous Chocolate Pound Cakes for y’all!

It’s that time again! I totally spaced last year, and missed UBP9. Well I didn’t space, I was working on a new blog and thought it wasn’t a good time to get traffic to one that was about to be obsolete, kwim? Now that I think of it, so much has happened in the last year. I fell in love, got married went from a family of 4 , 1 dog and 1 cat, to a family of 7 with 4 dogs and 1 cat.  Warmer weather is coming up, and as long as there are no more injuries, sickies or who knows what else, we will be spending a lot of time at the lake and the river here soon.

You can read more about me under the About page at the top. I will soon have a monthly “column” at  Sensational Divas Review and  will be blogging a little more at Eat Sweat Lose.

For a few of my most popular articles you can read:

• Top 10 Simple Living Blogs
• Handmade Gift Ideas for Women
• Clutter Free Gift Ideas
• Inside Black Apple – Brownies
• The Summer Head Cold – Tomato Tea

It’s Giveaway Time!

Now on for the giveaway! I know that’s why you are here, that’s ok I still love you.  Over the last couple months I’ve talked to the creators of Blis (Best life information system) about doing a review and giveaway. Life, specifically wedding, interrupted. So here we are with a fabulous offer!

I have been searching for an electronic Control Journal/Household Planner for years. Let me tell you, there’s just not anything out there that puts everything together on one page….until now! Blis has it all! I can access it from anywhere, it doesn’t need to be loaded to one computer…I can login from my phone! and there is a print version! How about that!

Just because I think you should know, here are some details:

• Full Calendar with Day, Week + Month Views
• Email Reminders
• Create, Edit + Save To Do Lists
• Plan + Save Vacation Details
• Plan + Save Party Details
• Easily Link To Websites
• Menu Planning + Grocery Lists
• Electronic Recipe Box Storage
• Track Online Purchases
• List Gifts To Purchase
• Organize Household Contact Information
• List Emergency Information
• Record Home Inventory Room By Room
• Maintain Household Appliance Records
• Record Home Updates + Repair Information
• List Service Provider Information