• Food

    Pandemic Baking: I made a lot of things

    True Confession: I’ve been using a lot of baking flour lately. When quarantine first started back in March in California, I didn’t know what I was going to do with myself. It was the month where we were buying toilet paper like crazy, stocking up on bananas, making schedules for the whole family (and we are not schedule people) and buying 25 lbs. of flour from Costco. So when my mother-in-law dropped by to give me some sourdough starter chips “just for fun”, I quietly set it down on the counter and didn’t think about it again. Only I did. After reading the lengthy instructions on how to make the…

  • Food

    what the hills y’all: a trip to alemany farmers market

    What the Hills Y’all: Adventures of a Texas girl living in San Francisco Grocery shopping is different here than it was for me in Texas. Back home there was an HEB or a Kroger where I could get all my produce, deodorant, batteries and canned goods in one place. I’ve found the Safeway supermarkets here to be disgusting. Dirty, crowded, old produce and prices that make me cringe. So now I do my shopping 3 ways and make a day of it: produce at the local farmers market, everyday items at Trader Joe’s, and anything else I can’t find at Safeway. This Saturday I took a trip to the Alemany…

  • Food

    what the hills y’all: mission food tour

    What the Hills Y’all: Adventures of a Texas girl living in San Francisco Have you ever been on a food tour? I’ve never been on one, but since I live in San Francisco in a mecca of food comas, I thought it would be great to take my mom and sister on one while they were in town. I’ve always been somewhat of a foodie, and living here gives me an overwhelming amount of choices that any diet plans can be thrown out the window in one bite. So while my husband and I are trying to find our next favorite food spot, and my mom and sister in town, we decided…

  • Food

    what the hills y’all: why you should go local

    Grocery shopping is more than just getting the food you need for the week, it’s an experience. When I lived in Dallas, my sister and I would go grocery shopping together and catch up on everything. There are different kinds of shoppers, you see, and my sister and I were the same. HEB in Houston will always be my favorite grocery store. It’s clean, have both mass and specialty foods and was like a half grocer, half dinner pick-up. In San Francisco, it’s a different story. The city is packed with places to find fresh food in varieties of organic, vegan, gluten-free and any other version of food you’d like.…

  • Food

    what the hills y’all: date at upcider

    What the Hills Y’all: Adventures of a Texas girl living in San Francisco note: I was not compensated in any way by HowAboutWe for this post. I just wanted to share my experience with you! Last week, Justin and I had our first date night experience using the service HowAboutWe for Couples. I had heard about this service in Dallas, but never got to try it since they don’t service the area. When we arrived in San Francisco, and found out HowAboutWe actually does “date experiences” for couples, I immediately signed Justin and I up for a date at Upcider. For those of you who don’t know, HowAboutWe is part…

  • Food

    what the hills y’all: foodsploring in the mission

    What the Hills Y’all: Adventures of a Texas girl living in San Francisco There is so much food here. So. Much. Food. Going “foodsploring” in the Mission district is awesome as it’s known as the Hispanic part of town, so my inner Mexican comes out. It was only a matter of time before my tastebuds and the food here officially met. Here are some places I would recommend if you are looking for a new spot to check out. Note: No calories were counted for the duration of this post. 1. Rustic Pizza  After quickly figuring out that a reservation is strongly suggested if going out to dinner on a…

  • Food

    Brand Love: The Most Interesting Man in the World

    Having been in the marketing world for 10 years, I’ve always been in love with brands that have managed to make their product become bigger than themselves. Coca Cola is by far my favorite (I mean come on, it’s just sugar and water!), but Nike, Target, and Sephora rank high on my list. Here is one of those brands. *note, although I totally wish I could say Dos XX contacted me to rave about their brand, I would be lying. This is not a paid post but simply a showcasing of brilliant branding.  [embedplusvideo height=”325″ width=”625″ editlink=”http://bit.ly/1bAYCYx” standard=”http://www.youtube.com/v/rlmwXolYH9A?fs=1&hd=1″ vars=”ytid=rlmwXolYH9A&width=625&height=325&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=1&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=¬es=” id=”ep7267″ /] Dos XX. I have to say I’m not a…

  • Food

    sweet potato muffins

    So let’s say you’re looking for a new muffin recipe. You’ve tried blueberry, banana nut and even chocolate chip (I mean who doesn’t like chocolate chip muffins?). You want something healthy, but you don’t want to sacrifice taste. These sweet potato muffins are not too sweet, can be topped with butter, honey or even granola for an ideal side to brunch, lunch or in between. It’s made with shredded sweet potatoes, Splenda sugar blend and coconut oil, adding to your much-needed fiber intake and cutting the calories. Let’s get started! This recipe makes 12 muffins, but you can halve it or triple it depending on how much you need (especially…

  • Food

    squash lemon bars

    I’m intrigued by baking recipes that contain vegetables in it like beets, zucchini or sweet potato. Sometimes they are awesome and others are just plain gross. This recipes folks, is fantastic. Why? Because you can’t taste the vegetable 🙂 When you try these lemon bars, you would never think they have grated squash in it. Squash is packed with beta carotene, an antioxidant that helps protect the body against free radicals as well as lutein which helps in preventing various eye problems like cataracts disease. We’re not getting any younger folks. Now that we know the good stuff in it, let’s get down to business. First let’s get our ingredients…

  • Food

    banana coffee cake

    “Hey sweetie? Could you do something with these bananas before they go bad?” “um, sure, how about banana bread?” “No… I don’t know… Just make something with them.” That’s the direction I received before making this super yummy banana coffee cake. Technically it’s kind of banana bread, but with sugar and cinnamon and all sorts of other spices. Plus it’s perfect with a good cup of coffee. Mornings just got better. First let’s get all our ingredients ready: Mixing wet ingredients first and then add the dry ones. That batter looks pretty tasty. Add some nuts and stir together. The recipe called for walnut but pecans would’ve worked as well. Spread…