mushrooms – Loving Food, Fashion, & Life

Mexican Food With A DJ

Posted on August 23, 2014 by LFFL

Frozen Strawberry Margarita

Oh, how I LOVE when I discover a hot spot I am absolutely coconuts about. This Mexican restaurant was absolutely fun and amazing.

A girlfriend and I were gallivanting in the ritzy part of town and stopped by this joint on a whim Friday night for some girl time and good eating. We had never tried this place before and, you know, I like trying things I’ve never done and going places I’ve never gone to before—so I’m always game for trying something at least once. I’m all about livin’ life, baby.

The DJ was groovin’.

The drink side of the menu.

Patrons enjoying themselves.

Apparently they have a live DJ on Friday nights—and, boy, was he rockin’ it out! I couldn’t stop dancing in my chair! And you’d think, as it was a Mexican restaurant, that there’d be Mexican music playing—but, no, he played a mix of everything BUT Mexican music. Go figure!

People randomly got up from their tables to dance—even though there was technically no dance floor. But I love when people just dance wherever they can find some space! It’s a restaurant, after all—not a club. But it sort of turns into a restaurant/club on Friday nights.

The DJ was so good at DJ-ing, I couldn’t help but go ask him who he was and how often he played there. I had to get up another time to go ask him the name of a song he played that I had never heard before but found myself chair-dancing to. (I’m a good chair-dancer.)

He was kind enough to tell me the song name and that song is now my new favorite song of the moment as I keep playing it on repeat on YouTube while I’m in the house messing about and I find myself house-dancing all day. Oh, the little joys of my life—I tell you!

Mushroom Quesadilla with crimini & shiitake mushrooms, jack cheese, spinach, and crema; Gaucamole & chips.

Needless to say, the restaurant filled up with more and more people as the night went on. It’s obviously the “happening” spot.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, take yourself to a restaurant that turns itself into a “club” with a “live” DJ for some good eating and good dancing all wrapped into one.

Take-Away Life Lesson: For goodness sake, it’s probably not a good idea to try to drink a margarita on a completely empty stomach. (There was a reason that quesadilla HAD to be purchased as an afterthought—but that’s neither here nor there.)

Red Robin Burger

Posted on October 26, 2013 by LFFL

Sautéed ‘Shroom Burger made with mushrooms and Swiss cheese with a side of French fries.

Now I’ve had some great burgers in my lifetime, but I have to say I wasn’t impressed at all with my burger here. It was about as bland as bland could get.

I had to douse this with loads of ketchup just to somewhat enjoy it as it was sliding across my taste buds and going down my tube. The fries were ‘meh’, too.

I’m not so sure about the ‘Gourmet Burger’ part of the sign. Maybe I just didn’t give this place a decent chance and should probably go back and try several of the other burgers and menu items before I do a review.

Maybe it is an awesome place to go, but I couldn’t tell you that yet from my personal experience.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, give Red Robin a chance and maybe order something else off the menu other than what I did.

Take-Away Life Lesson: It’s hard to give a place a second chance when the first thing you order off the menu doesn’t even come close to impressing you.

Creamy Mushroom Cheeseburger

Posted on October 12, 2013 by LFFL

Made with ground beef, steak seasoning, smoked cheddar cheese, Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, French fried onion pieces, and whole wheat hamburger bun; topped with creamy mushrooms made with shallots, minced garlic, cremini mushrooms, balsamic vinegar, beef broth, Mascarpone cheese, chives, and salt & pepper.

Oh, yeah, look at that burger.

Recipe for—Creamy Mushroom Cheeseburger

So, if you have nothing else to do today, mix up some fun and new toppings to add to your hamburger.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Getting creative in the kitchen can make your burger taste different from the standard.

Creamy Tuna & Mushroom Linguine

Posted on October 8, 2013 by LFFL

Made with linguine, tuna, mushrooms, celery, onions, minced garlic cloves, butter, flour, milk, crushed red pepper, fresh parsley, olive oil, and salt & pepper.

Oh, my—the noodles and tuna make a perfect lunch.

Recipe for—Creamy Tuna & Mushroom Linguine

So, if you have nothing else to do today, make a tuna noodle lunch.

Take-Away Life Lesson: You can never go wrong with a tuna noodle mixture.

Vegetable Pizza To Love

Posted on September 8, 2013 by LFFL

Made with organic whole wheat pizza crust, pizza sauce, mushrooms, green & red bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, 5-cheese Italian, sharp cheddar cheese, and pizza seasoning.

I just LOVE a homemade pizza. There’s nothing like homemade. BUT I had no patience to make my own pizza dough—so the dough is store-bought from Whole Foods.

I just layered and lumped all the ingredients together and called it a day. Notice that it’s not even flat like most pizzas. I had to make a HUGE MOUND of veggies and cheese. It’s a mini-mountain.

There was nothing to making this and the reward was a lot of pizza cheesy gooey goodness all for me! I just sliced it right down the middle both ways for 4 huge slices of love. With slices that big you need two hands or a fork and knife. All that matters is that it ends up in your mouth.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, try making your own homemade pizza.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Always save yourself some time if you need to by buying store-bought pizza dough. If you have the time and the patience, I’d highly suggest making your own dough from scratch though.

Cheesy Quiches

Posted on September 2, 2013 by LFFL

4 Cheese Quiche — Spinach & Cheese Quiche

Made with sliced mushrooms, onion, frozen chopped spinach, eggs, milk, Miracle Whip, pie shell, and real bacon bits.

This is one of my favorite quiches. I can literally eat the entire thing myself within 2 days.

Of course I added MORE cheese and MORE bacon bits than what the recipe calls for—it’s what I do.

Recipe for—4 Cheese Quiche

Made with scallions, fresh parsley, eggs, Parmesan cheese, Swiss cheese, milk, and salt & pepper.

You probably have to eat 8 of these for just ONE good serving—but who cares?

Recipe for—Cheesy Crustless Mini Quiches

So, if you have nothing else to do today, make yourself a quiche and do NOT follow the directions to a science. Throw in extra cheeses and bacon bits and what not for your liking. You can’t go wrong.

Take-Away Life Lesson: You can pour an entire bottle of bacon bits into the mixture itself like I did AND put them on the top. This gave it SO much more flavor than just sprinkling the bits on the top only (like the recipe stated). Sometimes the recipes don’t know any better than you—so go with your gut.

Green Bean Casserole

Posted on September 1, 2013 by LFFL

Made with canned green beans, cheddar cheese, olive oil, chopped shallot, sliced mushrooms, flour, milk, cream cheese, salt & pepper, Parmesan cheese, dinner rolls, soy sauce, dried thyme leaves, and fresh chopped parsley.

I loved trying a new spin on just plain old regular green beans. I’d eat green beans for days made like this.

Recipe for—Sister Schubert’s Green Bean Casserole

So, if you have nothing else to do today, jazz up your green beans next time you have them as a side dish.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Vegetables always taste much better when you jazz them up—and crunchy crumb toppings never hurt anyone.