One Taco Two Taco

One Taco Two Taco

                My family does not have the luxury of eating out regularly.  Since we have birthed the children, we always seem to have a tough time managing the kid’s needs and getting to eat our food while it is still warm.  There is usually some type of spilled mess that I feel the need to clean up before our server spots the flowing river that will make its way down the table, pooling on the floor.  And inevitably either my husband or I have to remove one child or the other from the restaurant because they wanted or did not want some food item touching another food item on their plate and they proceed to have a screaming fit to express their dislike.  We are a hot mess with young children and we know it, so we opt out of most of the trendy new openings where people can easily see our crazy life.

                When I was invited to attend a soft opening of One Taco Two Taco I was truly excited and figured I could make a date night out of it for my husband and I.  Sadly, we did not make it because one of the kids was not feeling well.  I shrugged off the opening and I did not really think too much about it until the day that One Taco Two Taco opened to the public.

                It was lunch time, I was home and the kids were in school.  Although I was in the midst of school work, I seized the moment and bolted out the door to eat some tacos.  I am super picky when it comes to food. Picky as in the ingredients quality has to be something I would have chosen to cook with myself.  The recipe needs to be totally authentic or a completely new, twisted version. I mean, I do not want a Taco Bell type taco from a locally owned eatery.  Not only am I selective with the food itself but the environment in which I will be eating is also important.  The music playing in the background, the color of the lighting, the ability to see what is happening or not happening in the kitchen will all influence my experience.

                There are always, always some hic-ups during the first day of a new business.  Whether it is computer glitches, an item left off the plate or the air conditioning goes out, something will go wrong.  Knowing this through personal experience, I kept my expectations realistic and just wanted to eat something as fuel for my body and not for my soul.

                I was pleasantly surprised by the scene.  The décor was fresh and swanky without being over the top.  There is a sort of chic, modern atmosphere with cool toned colors, yet warm lighting.  It made me feel comfortable and impressed me more than I thought it would.

The server was friendly and quickly took my order of Carne Asada Fries, which by the way is a healthy serving, and two of their specialty tacos.  The tacos by themselves would have been sufficient to feed my husband. 

My food arrived and holy smokes it had an amazing presentation.  The server placed a piping hot, cast iron trivet on my table.  It was piled high with pencil thick fries, marinated beef cuts and fresh pico-de-gallo.  The two tacos were of the same quality of pleasantness. You could clearly tell the food was fresh and cooked with care.  To say that I enjoyed the flavors would be an understatement.

One Taco Two Taco has definitely earned my business.  If I were to recommend a restaurant it would be this one.  The family friendly, yet modern feeling dining room with excellent, affordable food is a win for me and my family. I hope you and your family will enjoy One Taco Two Taco as much as I do.

                

Brussels...

I have had a lot of parents ask me the age-old question. "How do you get your toddlers to eat brussels sprouts?" For that matter, how do you get them to eat any green food?! This is what I tell them: start early and disguise it.

I cannot remember the first time I fed Jesse or Daisy brussels sprouts; it's just something we always have eaten. Yeah, yeah, get it out ... I know you want to laugh that I named my kids after "The Dukes of Hazzard." It was a fluke, but that's another story.

Anyhow, I'm sure I introduced brussels sprouts like any other food, and I just kept offering it to them. Yes, I probably paired bacon with them at first. Everyone loves bacon, right? Maybe not, but do you see what I did?

This is what I do with the non-veggie eaters who I feed: mask that seemingly non-edible veggie with something they like.

I love to use a thick-cut, applewood-smoked bacon. I only use about two crumbled slices while roasting the vegetables. Once the brussels are browned and the bacon is crispy, I'll toss it with a bit of lime zest for good measure.

Each time I make the dish, I cut back on the amount of masking. Next thing you know, everyone is eating happily and enjoying themselves. The veggies are usually the first thing that disappears from the plate.


That is how I get the littles and the hubs to enjoy eating their veggies.

Egghead!

You know I'm an egghead. I eat a lot of eggs. I'd probably eat only eggs if I could. Okay, maybe not only, but pretty close.

With all the egg-eating I do, I've become accustomed to a certain amount of, well, crackage technique. Here is my theory.

There's a huge difference between eggs. Not necessarily between white and brown eggs, but between the "got-from-a-local-farmer/free range/cage free/ humanely treated/organic".
Personally, I only recently have noticed the "humanely treated." It kind of surprised me. I guess I was thinking all "free-range, cage-free, organic" were treated humanely. Boy, was I wrong!
I have learned that the "organic" label does not guarantee "humane" treatment. Organic just means that the item was produced out of a non-genetically modified base, which don't get me wrong, is still great!

However, in order to get the best egg crackage, the bird needs to eat, roam and lay eggs like nature intended, without the chicken ever receiving a handout. I mean, they lay one egg a day!

So, I am saying that aside from getting eggs directly from a local farmer, humane eggs are the way to go: perfect crackage, nice sun-colored yokes, and taste you can enjoy!

Sent from my iPhone

My Misspelled Menu

The story of my life "Misspellings". I can remember being in the elementary school and trying out for the spelling bee. Ok, truly I didn't even really know what was going on until I was asked to spell "chocolate". Failing miserably, I left feeling pretty stupid.
Over the years, I have strived to be better. I do all the things suggested to become a better speller. I read, I write, I have even gone as far as studying the dictionary. It has been getting better over the years, but I am no scalar.
When I am writing a menu, or recipe I am super paranoid and extra critical. It's my least favorite task.
It's funny though, when I'm cooking none of that enters my space to freak me out.
So when you choose to read my thoughts, know this. I'm actively aware of the "situation". And, if I'm this bad, this far along, imagine how torturing it was to read 10 years ago ;-)
Thanks for living me despite my faults.

Cool school garden, Claud A Taylor

Stumbled upon this very cool school garden today while playing with the family.
It's so refreshing to see the school taking the time to teach about where our food comes from. Awesomeness all the way around! From the pallet made compost pile to the neatly aligned rows sprouting fresh greens :-) Thanks for taking the kids back to the root!

Whole Foods Columbia!!

WooHoo, Whole Foods has opened here in Columbia! I was so extremely excited to hit it up. I dropped my son at school and my daughter and I headed that way on opening day. Mind you, I had no shower and was wearing workout cloths. Geesh, at least I had a fair chance of not knowing anyone.

 I had heard how fabulous it from a friend that went on the pre-tour and I was drooling like a bull dog to get there. I was dreaming of all the fabulous local product I was going to discover and  I was excited to see some I was already familiar with.

We get there and bam, holy parking craziness. There are cars everywhere and nobody is being , well a courteous driver. I finally scored a sweet spot by the Basil restraunt. Sweet!

In we go! No carts, no biggy, it’ll keep me from buys a bunch of stuff. I swear it was so packed in there but somehow it really didn’t matter. I was in my own Disney world. We roamed around trying to get a handle on what was where, and how to shop the store. It was glorious.

The floor was super shiny and the bulk section was just amazing. The fish man was refreshingly smiley and helpful, even after I had a twenty min conversation with someone I ran into that I know through friends. Great, yoga pants and funky hair.

Bulk foods

It was so much to take in, I opted to enjoy what I had seen and, actually left the store without even getting the groceries that I really did need.

Mr. Mom Monday rolled around and I headed back to my Disney World CHILDLESS! I picked up my friend and we rolled out.

Parking was easy, carts available and I was still overwhelmed and excited. After I relaxed and started to see it as a grocery store and not my imaginary pantry, I started noticing things. Comparing products from all the stores I shop, looking at prices, looking at where thing come from and most of all looking for some local farmers product I was positive I would find.

I saw several items from here, but mostly not. Glad to see City Roots made it in but I kind of figured they were a given.

My overall realization was that yes, It’s a wonderful addition to our community. However, Whole Foods is not a farmers market, and if you want to shop local you still need to go looking for it. Rosewood Market, Earth Fare, Soda City Market, Kershaw County Market, Old McCaskills Farm, Ovis Farms and the many others I am so thankful for. I may not get to everyone all the time, but I do make my rounds and am so very grateful to have you in makeup community.

So I welcome the great addition and am still super excited for my shopping trips there.Shop on Columbia :)

Make your own Trail Mix :)

Random Recipes I make

                                             


 Meat Loaf                                                 

1 Lb Ground beef
2 eggs
1 cup or so of stove top stuffing
1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 diced sweet onion
1 tsp olive oil

Saute onion in olive oil, and mix with the other ingredients bake at 375 for about 45 mins covered then another 10-15 uncovered.

Steak fajita's


Flank steak
Sweet corn
Tom's
Jalapenos
Cilantro
Onion
                                                      Lime

Rub: Crushed red pepper flakes, paprika, salt, ground mustard, ground ginger, Cumin, brown sugar. about 1/2 or so of each minus the red pepper  flakes. adjust to your liking add a pinch of pepper flakes for light heat, two for medium and three for more heat.

put rub on meat, let come to room temp then grill or broil ( I usually do about 10 mins each side on a piping hot grill.) slice against the grain and pile rest the ingredients on a soft tortilla and squeeze lime

Broiled Salmon

Fresh Salmon Steaks
Ground Ginger sprinkle
Ground Mustard sprinkle
Olive Oil drizzle

Broil for about 10 mins or s, until flaky


Brussels & Bacon

Brussels quartered
2 strips Bacon chopped
Salt & pepper
Lemon zest

Roast first 4 ingredient in oven at 425 for about 10 mins, toss roast for another 5 ish. Put in bowl add zest, toss and serve

Birthday Party on a Dollar or two

Goody Bags

Today is my baby Daisy's first birthday and I am "That Mom" who would buy a pony and walk it down the red carpet to present it to my queen of sheba. Yes, yes, I am. And I am ok with that, however my reality is not.
Ok, so first I went overboard on the invites. Small and sweet was my intention, but I think there might.be more people at her party then there were at our wedding..  Silly me, oh well at least I know I can cook for a crowd and it will be great.
But wait! The kids, it's a kids party and half the quests are kids, what are they going to do?
Well, clever me, I'll make up a game, hand out goody bags and send them home all sugared up.
The game: a simple bean bag toss using a recycled 1/2 pallet, some cool vynal baskets fome the dollar store, and bags I already have! Nice. One down and two to go.
The goodie bags; brown bags tied with twine filled will a few "normal candy", some I can't even begin to understand and simple blowers and toys.
Woohoo, I just killed one bird with two stones...wait, two birds with one stone.
Anyway, I find myself obsessed with this birthday stuff. The party is Saturday so stay tuned for more on this ongoing crazy mom.