What I Ate Wednesday #75: We Did It Right

I think in the process of running my parents all around the bay area, we ran ourselves into the ground a little too. Unfortunately, they’re heading back home today and as much as I may need a little more sleep, I don’t want them to go. It has really felt so much more like home with them here. If I had my whole family with me, I wouldn’t think twice about where I was. Anywhere. I miss ’em already but Nathan and I both made sure we did it right!

There was some healthy food…
The Plant Cafe

Venus Breakfast Berkeley California

…some home cooked meals…
Sweet Potato Zucchini Red Pepper Frittata

Black rice bowl chipotle orange chicken Half Baked Harvest

Jerk shrimp fried plantain wheat berries Half Baked Harvest

…some brunching…
Challah French Toast Tomate Cafe

…a little pizza…
Zacharys Chicago Style Pizza

…more than one ice cream/gelato trip…
Olive Oil Dark Chocolate Chunk Gelato

Coffee Break Chocolate Peanut Butter Tuckers Ice Cream Alameda

…LOTS of Asian food…
Coffee Ribs Lai Hong Lounge

Eel Clay Pot Lai Hong Lounge

Pea Shoots Lai Hong Lounge

Sake Jime Salmon Iyasare

Iyasare Berkeley California

Drunken Noodles Spice I Am

Spicy Grilled Pork Bibimbop HRD Coffee Shop

Chisari Yojimbo Alameda

Sushi Yojimbo Alameda

…a few drinks all around…
Bear Republic Beer Sampler

Lagunitas Beer Sampler 2

Lagunitas Beer Sampler

Buena Vista Cafe Irish Coffee

21st Amendment

…and so many incredible memories.
Bear Republic Cheers

Buena Vista Cafe Irish Coffee Cheers

I absolutely cannot wait to see them again. It’s been such a great week. Cheers!

Food for Thought

Where is your favorite place to take out-of-town visitors?

Mom and Dad Do San Francisco

I’ve been a bit MIA on the social media scene for the past few days since my parents have gotten into town, but I make up for it with pictures!

Wednesday

Citizen Chain San Francisco

Biking is good for your ass.

Mom Dad Golden Gate Bridge

First view of the bridge!

Biggest Sweet Potato Ever

Biggest sweet potato I ever done seen!

Thursday

Sweet Potato Zucchini Red Pepper Frittata

Feeding the fam before a day of drinking. Killer frittata!

Bear Republic Beer Sampler

Bear Republic beer samplers! #1 and #2 for the day.

Bear Republic Cheers

Cheers!

Sbragia Healdsburg California

Doin’ wine country.

Sbragia Healdsburg California

Mom and Dad doin’ wine country.

Lagunitas Beer Sampler

Lagunitas beer sample #1.. #3 for the day.

Lagunitas Beer Sampler 2

Lagunitas beer sampler #2. Made it #4 for the day and Dad could hardly wait 😉

Friday

Pacifica State Beach

Dragged em to the beach.

Mom Me Pacifica State Beach

The boys went climbing and we took a sit.

Iyasare Berkeley California

One of the many beautiful dishes at Iyasare.

Saturday

Eggs Benedict Spice I Am Source Vegetarian Gelato

Ran around town with Mom while the boys took a rest day. So much good food!

Sunday

Alcatraz Cutoff

GET ME OUT! Oh.. there’s the door.

Alcatraz Dad

He looks a little too happy to be behind bars. Ha!

The Plant Cafe Blueberry Kombucha

Blueberry kombucha on tap to top off a delicious lunch at The Plant.

Buena Vista Cafe Irish Coffee

Buena Vista Cafe. Home of the original Irish coffee.

Buena Vista Cafe Irish Coffee Cheers

Cheers! Again!

We may or may not be drinking and walking them into the ground. And you bet your butt we’re headed to more breweries and doing lots more walking tomorrow. But we’re having a great time and I love having them here!

Food for Thought

What is your favorite thing to do when you have out-of-town visitors?

Bumming Around This Old Town

For the first time since the move, we had a lazy weekend. It’s been nice going out on adventures every weekend, but I think it’s all caught up with us and we just needed a weekend of bumming around. We have to remember sometimes that it’s just necessary to recharge for the week.

As usual, the weekend’s events were based much around food. Nathan found a legit banh mi place where the sandwiches are $2.50 a pop! He was entirely too excited and had to try them immediately so before heading over the farmers’ market, we stopped in and picked up 2 sandwiches for him; bbq chicken and roast pork.

Banh Mi Ba Le BBQ Pork Sandwich Yelp

BBQ Pork Sandwich – photo taken from Yelp

With his breakfast [and lunch] in tow, we went over to the farmers’ market. We ventured over there a few weeks ago, but only for a quick bite and didn’t really get a chance to walk through. After I got my coffee and a delicious vegan burrito from Donna’s Tamales, we went to check out all of the stands. I can’t wait until we have all of our stuff back and I can really stock up and start cooking!

We grabbed a couple small things here and there, but the big purchase was our special Sunday night dinner—half chicken and rosemary roasted potatoes from RoliRoti. Unfortunately we got there too late for the brussels, but that just meant I had to whip some up at the hotel! It was so delicious and nice to have a special meal.

Sunday Dinner RoliRoti Chicken Liguria Foccacia Pedroni Balsamic Vinegar Brussels Sprouts Sweet Potato

Perfect way to kick off a new week.

Back-tracking to dinner on Saturday, we went back to Burma Superstar, which was our very first dinner in California. We tried all new dishes this time—much lighter dishes this time—and were pleased overall. We’ll definitely be heading back again to try more.

Burma Superstar Rainbow Salad Chicken Basil Pea Leaves Coconut RiceThe star of the show was definitely the pea leaves which we first tried at Lai Hong Lounge. I’m on a mission to find them to make at home!

And speaking of home, this is our last week at the hotel! On Friday, we finally get to move into our new place. That’s not to say we will necessarily have our things delivered yet, but at least we’ll be in our own place. I have a feeling we’re going to putting the oven, disposable baking trays, and paper plates to good use but I think we’ll have fun getting creative with it 🙂

You can be sure I’ll be getting creative in the kitchen soon and I can’t wait to share what I whip up! This week ahead is for getting everything prepared for the final leg of the move and getting myself ready for the Hot Chocolate 5K on Sunday.. first race since October! And this one ends with chocolate 😉

I hope you all had a marvelous weekend!

Food for Thought

Did you do anything exciting over the weekend?
What do you have planned for the week?

What I Ate Wednesday #64: The First Weekend

I’m here, I promise! I haven’t forgotten about you! It has been a crazy couple of weeks, though, with the move. But we’re in California now and we’ve had a great time eating. I mean.. exploring! 😉 That said, I have to share the first weekend of tasty treats we’ve found!

Enter another photo dump post..

San Francisco California CA

Ohhhhh the hills!

Friday

Burma Superstar
Aka our first dinner in California!

Tea Leaf Salad Burma Superstar

Tea Leaf Salad – their most well-known dish and for good reason! Tons of flavor and lots of crunch.

Pumpkin Tofu Stew Burma Superstar

Pumpkin Tofu Stew

Mint Chicken Burma Superstar

Mint Chicken – Nice and spicy and paired perfectly with the noodles.

Garlic Noodles Burma Superstar

Garlic Noodles.. nuff said.

Tucker’s Super Creamed Ice Cream

I definitely have a thing for homemade ice cream [thanks, Mom!] and there was no doubt this was the real deal.

Alameda Honey Pumpkin Ice Cream Waffle Cone Tuckers

Pumpkin and Alameda Honey ice cream in a homemade waffle cone. Good thing we decided to share “2” scoops!

Saturday

Almond Milk Latte

Almond milk latte.. the first of many.

Dinosaurs

Portabello Bahn Mi Dinosaur

Portabello Bahn Mi from the smallest restaurant ever.

Toronado

Toronado

Beer at Toronado. This may be our new place.

Umami Burger

Smother Em Fries Umami Burger

Smother ‘Em Fries – Shredded short rib and house gravy. Nathan didn’t even give me a choice!

Earth Burger Umami Truffle Ricotta

Earth Burger – Mushroom & edamame burger, butter lettuce, cipollini onions, and truffle ricotta. I could have eaten a pound of the ricotta!

Sunday

Oakland Farmers’ Market

Oakland Farmers Market Blue Bottle Coffee

Blue Bottle coffee and a cheesy bread stick. Breakfast of champions!

Razan’s Organic Kitchen

Grilled Salmon Kebab Wrap

Grilled Salmon Kebab packed with roasted veggies, tahini, hummus, and lentil rice.

Ayinger Celebrator Prost

Prost!

And that’s not even all of it! I’ve had some pretty fabulous lunches as I’ve been out in San Francisco looking for a place to live. If you’re dying to see some salads [which you really should be..] you can check them out on Instagram. You’ll also see my workouts so I can keep up with eating this way 😉

Food for Thought

Have you been to San Francisco before? Tell me the places to hit up!