quesadilla – 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.)

A World Cup Watch Party

Posted on June 29, 2014 by LFFL

Bread Pudding topped with caramel sauce; served with vanilla ice cream.

Another World Cup gathering and, naturally, I couldn’t resist having some good food. I started with a chicken quesadilla which was crunchy amazing. I just love a crispy tortilla. Then I had to move on to dessert—bread pudding.

This bread pudding was so huge in comparison to the bread pudding I normally get from my hometown diner. It was wonderfully delicious and helped with my nerves while watching a close game.

USA vs. Germany game outdoors.

Marinated & grilled chicken, onions, pico de gallo, and pepper jack cheese in a crispy tortilla; served with salsa & sour cream.

USA vs. Germany game indoors.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, enjoy a good game with good food along with other rambunctious people.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Loads of good food can always help when your nerves are shot.

The World Cup Excitement!

Posted on June 27, 2014 by LFFL

Ready for the game & some good food!

The GOAL dance!! Yeah, baby! Score USA!

I just love, love, love when the World Cup rolls around every four years! I actually wish we could enjoy it every year—I mean, four years is a long time to wait for the World Cup to roll around each time. Geez!

But when it does—I’m all over it! There’s so much excitement and adrenaline going all around. I love it! And to think it goes on for an entire month! I turn into a crazy person hooping and hollering all over the place jumping up and down—some of you would never claim me as your own.

These are times you have to plan your days off work so you can watch the games “live”—because, God forbid, you hear about what happened before you’ve had a chance to watch the game you taped before you get home. That’s the worst part, trying to avoid the media and people around you talking about it when you haven’t even seen it yet! So to avoid that problem—it’s much better to watch the games “live”—and it’s more fun that way anyway.

Vacation Martini made with Malibu Red, Hirman Walker Peach Schnapps, pineapple juice, and strawberry puree.

Potato skins topped with bacon, cheese, and scallions; served with sour cream.

Beef sliders with onions, pickles, ketchup, mustard, and cheese.

Chicken sliders with lettuce, tomato, red onions, cheddar cheese, bacon, and pickles; served with chipotle ranch.

Chicken Quesadilla made with chipotle tortilla with three cheeses, pico de gallo, and grilled chicken; served with chipotle ranch & fresh salsa.

Seasoned hand-breaded chicken tenders; served with macaroni & cheese, and onion rings served with ranch & honey mustard sauces.

Monte Cristo Sandwich made with sliced turkey, ham, and Swiss cheese on yellow bread dipped in egg batter; served with raspberry aioli sauce.

Vanilla ice cream ball rolled in cinnamon & crunchy topping, topped with honey & whipped cream.

Full slab of baby back ribs topped with barbecue sauce; served with loaded mashed potatoes, and macaroni & cheese.

I always hope the USA and England are two of the top 32 countries that make it to the World Cup to begin with—and, if so, I’ll start by following them. If and when the teams I follow drop off, I’ll start “picking” other teams to follow that I’d like to see win.

Sometimes it’s hard choosing because though I like to see the top playing “well-known” teams win, I also sometimes root for the underdog because those teams hardly ever win anything and aren’t as “popular.” I start feeling bad for them sometimes. It’d be amazing to see a small, lesser-known country beat a popular top-playing country that always seems to win. But I’m always USA and England first and foremost.

So far, I’ve been going to local sports bars to watch the games so I can enjoy some fabulous eating as well. As you can see, there was no shortage of food around me—and you know how I love being surrounded by food!

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. It was a vision of loveliness.

USA vs. Portugal game.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, pick a team you’d like to see win and follow them throughout the World Cup. If they drop off the map, pick your next favorite team and follow them. Keep doing this till the very end. You may be overly surprised by how much you actually enjoy the World Cup even if you’ve never been a big fan.

Take-Away Life Lesson: When you act like a crazy person over the games, your friends, family, and co-workers may not claim you as their own—especially if they don’t “get” what all the fuss is about. But WHO CARES?!! You’re enjoying life, BABY!

It's A Rock Star Mexican Night

Posted on July 8, 2013 by LFFL

Chicken Chimichanga with rice and beans.

So I decided to stop at a Mexican joint to get take-out. Surprisingly, the food actually made it to my house this time without getting devoured in the car first.

If you’re wondering why there are two entrées, wonder no more. It’s ME we’re talking about here! When you can’t decide between entrées, you know my rule of thumb—just get them both to enjoy.

Chicken Quesadilla with rice, beans, lettuce, guacamole, and sour cream.

My fun evening:

Eating Mexican, listening to ‘Treasure’ by Bruno Mars blasting through my crib, bobbing my head like a rock star, dancing all around the house, and stuffing my face.

Yeah, it’s what I do. If you could only see me now. I’m having a great time! Can it get any better than this?! It’s one big party for ONE, y’all!! Heeeyyyyy!

Topped it all off with a Gooey Butter Cake. Yeah, that’s right. The super nice man who is always surprising me with butter cake all the time, DID HIS THING AGAIN!! And I’m LOVIN’ IT! Yeah, baby.

I love unexpected surprises (it makes me smile BIG) and I’m not one to turn down a free butter cake—EVER!

So, if you have nothing else to do today, find your favorite Mexican restaurant and order up some take-out food, crank up Bruno Mars ‘Treasure’ (or one of your favorite songs), and dance like there’s no tomorrow while you bob your brains out!

Take-Away Life Lesson: When you can’t decide what you want the most of off of the menu—just get one of each and stop stressing your brain. It’ll be ok. Eat from both entrées. And if you try really hard, you could probably stretch some of it out for tomorrow’s leftovers.