Wednesday Dinner 3/14/2012

Good morning and happy Thursday!! Just 2 more full work days and the weekend will be here. Please be safe this weekend as we are expecting a heavy rain storm. Anyway let me get right into it! This weeks "Wednesday Dinner" was based on a text message I received. Not sure if you all are aware that when the Lakers win you can get 5 free boneless wings from "Wing Stop" (http://www.wingstop.com/) , I believe you send a text to 525377 to sign up, I think. Anyway so I decided to give "Wing Stop" another try, I haven't had "Wing Stop" in 2 years! Yes that is correct 2 years. 2 years ago during the NBA Finals I placed an order with "Wing Stop" by phone and was told my order would be ready in 30 minutes, I actually waited 40 minutes before leaving my house to go pick the order up. Once I got there the place is packed, which is understandable. Wings, basketball, Lakers, OK I get it. However! Once we stood in line for another 20 minutes to be told our order would be ready in 15 more minutes, I started to get irritated. So we waited, then a checked on the order 20 minutes later, still not ready! So I asked to speak to the manager, needless to say she was RUDE, UNHELPFUL and told me to call corporate. OK cool! So we left with NO WINGS! I called corporate the next day, sent an email to the owner of that location and needless to say I not no response and after that I vowed that "Wing Stop" would never get a dime from me because they suck at customer service! So I have been getting text for the 5 free boneless wings for about a year now and I have never used it. SOOOOOO yesterday was the day I decided to take a leap of faith and give them another try! I went to the "Wing Stop" by my house on Vermont and 83rd, its a fairly new location so I figured it was worth trying, boy was I WRONG! So I walk in and the place wasn't that crowded, there were about 10 people eating through out the place. So I didn't have to wait long, so I placed my ordered and I had:

1 Small Fry
10 Boneless Wings (Mild & Hawaiian Flavored)
5 Lemon Pepper Wings (FREE)
2 Ranch Dressings

So I was told my order would be ready in 20 minutes, OK cool. So I took a seat. "Wing Stop" is so WACK for charging for ranch! You order wings at "Art's Wings & Things" and they give you a million and one ranch dressings! Anyway, do you know it took those RATCHETS 45 minutes to complete my order. I forgot to mention that the ratchet who took my order actually needed to put her hands on my phone and read my text message about the free wings! Anyway in 45 minutes my order was ready, so I checked my bag because it was looking a little light! I was like "did they put my wings AND fries in the same container"? HA! Naw they didn't! Them ratchets forgot my damn fries! OK, so now I had to wait another 10 minutes for fries, OK! So I looked at my wings and noticed that the 5 boneless wings that were free were actually bone in wings! OK whatever apparently the ratchet who took my order did not see the word BONELESS in the text message! So my total for everything came up to $10.18 not to bad! So I got home and went to work on my food, I must say that "Wing Stops" boneless wings are good and the bone in wings aren't too bad either. The fries are good too. The thing that throws me off is that they SUPER SUCK at customer service! And that is something that I strongly believe in! I know a lot of people love "Wing Stop" because its cheap and the wings are good but they really need to get their customer service in order! If you search them on yelp.com you'll see they have horrible reviews based on their customer service which is sad! If you would like to be a "Wednesday Dinner" wing man drop me a line wednesdaydinnerwithash@yahoo.com and follow me on Twitter www.twitter.com/wednesdaydinner . In closing I'd like to leave you with this "Let your story be your testimony, let your testimony be youe journey, let your journey be your triumph and your triumph be your glory"! Until next week-Ashley

Wednesday Dinner 3/7/2012

Good morning, I hope you are blessed and doing well and looking forward to a fabulous weekend. Before I get into this weeks "Wednesday Dinner", I have to share with you the link for the "Invisible Children" (http://www.invisiblechildren.com.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/). Please watch the video and take a moment to listen and pray for these children! Also if possible make a donation and help raise awareness for the capture of Joseph Kony. Now this weeks "Wednesday Dinner" was homemade, YEP that's right! I decided to make soup! This is my 2nd attempt at soup making and I really enjoy it. So last night I made Santa Fe Chicken Enchilada Soup! Of course I added my own twist to it, here's the recipe:

http://www.kraftbrands.com/philly/recipes/Pages/Recipe-Detail.aspx?recipeId=122512#category=821&subcategory=

To make it more flavorful, I did the following: 1. seasoned my chicken with pepper, garlic salt and seasoning salt. 2. added chopped onions to the mix and 3. added cheese to the bottom of my soup bowl. I have to say this soup was bomb.com! And it took less that 45 minutes to make! Once the soup was done I added cheese to the bottom of my bowl, ladled the soup in the bowl and topped the soup with cilantro, tortilla strips and sour cream. I will definitely be making this soup again and if you like soups, I suggest you try making it too. If you'd like to join the "Wednesday Dinner" round table drop me a line wednesdaydinnerwithash@yahoo.com and follow me on Twitter www.twitter.com/wednesdaydinner. In closing, I would like to leave you with this "Each one teach one" until next week- Ashley

Wednesday Dinner 2/29/2012

Gooooood morning!!!! The weekend is almost here so cheers to that! So yesterday we got an additional day and it was officially LEAP day, ayyyeeee! Anyway last nights dinner was short and to the point. This place is one of my secret treasures and I absolutely love it!! Not sure if you guys are up on "CW & Chris Fish & Chicken" (http://www.cwandchris.com/) they are located on Western Ave, 1 block before Gage. This place has some of the best fried fish and chicken I have tasted and I personally think its one of the best fish places in Los Angeles. Because of the weather conditions yesterday, I so wanted something quick and take it home. So here is what I ordered:

3 Item Combo with 2 Sides- Catfish, Shrimp, Oysters, Coleslaw & French Fries
1 Side Order of Hushpuppies

The total for the 3 item combo was $11.70 and the hushpuupies where $1.25, not bad considering all the food I got. CW is a family owned business, its not the nicest looking place inside or outside however the customer service was great and my food was ready when I got there! The fish was very good, well seasoned and nicely fried. The shrimp was ok not my favorite! But the oysters were delish!! I enjoyed those a lot! That was my 1st time trying the shrimp and oysters from there! I probably won't have the shrimp again but the oysters I definitely will! If you are not familiar with CW check them OUT! If you would like to be a part of the "Wednesday Dinner" tribe drop me a line wednesdaydinnerwithash@yahoo.com follow up on Twitter www.twitter.com/wednesdaydinner. In closing I'd like to leave you with this "Don't murder someone who's already committing suicide" until next week -Ashley

Wednesday Dinner 2/23/2012

Good morning, boy what a sluggish morning I had! Anyway, I hope you all are well and looking forward to a grand weekend. This weeks "Wednesday Dinner" was very special to me because I got a chance to hang out with one of my really good friends, Pooh. She is such an amazing woman and friend! Hey Pooh! Thanks for dinner and our talk last night! You are appreciated! Anyway Pooh and I met up in Lakewood at the "Elephant Bar" (http://www.elephantbar.com/) now I have to be honest, I have not been a huge fan of the "Elephant Bar" for many years because my 1st experience there years ago was horrible. But over the years it has grown on me. I do appreciate their modern decorum of Asian fusion in the restaurant and there customer service is good. I think what had me turned off was the food, but it appears their menu has gotten better. So Pooh and I sat at the bar and I was kind of disappointed that there were NOT any cute guys in the area! Hahaha! I kid I kid. Pooh was already seated and had her 1st drink poppin by the time I got there, once I sat down the drinks, food and conversation started to flow! Here is what we ate & drank:

Ashley- 1 skinny margarita, spinach & artichoke dip & a wedge salad
Pooh- 1 regular margarita, one skinny margarita & chicken in lettuce wraps

I have fallen in love with the skinny margarita! Where has it been all my life, haha. It has less calories then your traditional margarita which I love. So over dinner Pooh and I just caught up on life and had a really good conversation about friends and life. And I have to say being her friend I am a firm believer that God puts people in your life for an amazing reasons! I have found a true friend in her! All in all dinner was good! I am sure you all are familiar with the "Elephant Bar" if not your lame! If you would like to get a "Wednesday Dinner" friendship bracelet drop me a line wednesdaydinnerwithash@yahoo.com and follow on Twitter www.twitter.com/wednesdaydinner . In closing I'd like to leave you with this "I didn't change, I grew up" until next week -Ashley

Wednesday Dinner 2/8/2012

Good morning and happy Thursday!! Lets all push through these next two days and get ready for the weekend, ayyyyeeee. This weeks "Wednesday Dinner" was a little weird! I had dinner with a friend of mine who I won't name, I'll just refer to him as he, him and his (hahaha). But having dinner with him wasn't weird the place were we ate was weird. So I had purchased a whole bunch of gift certificates from Restaurant.com (http://www.restaurant.com/). One of the gift cards I purchased for a place called "Magic Skewers" (http://www.magicskewers.com/home.html) located in Manhattan Beach on 22nd Street and Marine, walking in we were a little surprised! This is truly a whole in the wall, which is cool because I love those type of places. So here is were it got weird; there was no one there to greet us, we had to seat ourselves, and it took about 15 minutes for the guy to come over and get our drink orders and then another 15 minutes for him to come back with the drinks. There was about 2 other families that were dinning as well and it appeared that the guy who helped us was the only guy working. So by the time we got our drinks we were ready to order, here is what we got:

Ashley- Chicken Kabob and Shrimp
Him- Chicken Curry and Chicken Kabob

It took about 25 minutes for the food to come out, while waiting I was checking out the decorum of the place and it was really weird! It seems like this place has really been hit by the recession and maybe back in the day they had it going on but as of last night not so much! So the food came and the plate set up was really cute! It was very vintage! But a little too much food for the plate. All meals come with rice, pita bread and salad. I got the additional onions and mushrooms with mine but that was a total waste! It tasted really bad! The shrimp was ok, it was suppose to be shrimp scampi but it sure didn't taste like it! The pita bread was HARD, I took one bite and was off that! The best part was the chicken kabob and the salad. The chicken was juicy and a pretty nice size! It wasn't over or under cooked and it was seasoned very well! His food was ok too, the curry was a little weird and a little dark for curry but whatever. All in all it was good. The guy who served us was extremely friendly! The other thing I didn't like was that they only took cash or checks? Who the hell takes checks at a restaurant?! I don't think I'll be going back to "Magic Skewers" anytime soon but I am glad I tried them out. The total came up to $53 and some change, I had a gift certificate for $25 off so it brought the total down to $28 and some change. Not sure how we spent $53 on dinner before the coupon because sadly those kabobs weren't worth that much. I did enjoy myself and I left full however I didn't have any left overs but oh well! If you want to make a "Wednesday Dinner" kabob drop me a line wednesdaydinnerwithash@yahoo.com and follow on Twitter www.twitter.com/wednesdaydinner in closing I'd like to leave you with this "Good people bring out the good in you" until next week -Ashley

Wednesday Dinner 2/1/2012

Good morning and happy Thursday!! Hope you are all well and looking forward to the weekend. This weeks "Wednesday Dinner" was so disappointing!!!!! So my original plan was to go to dinner with my good friend Jesse but Jesse got stuck at work doing over time so that was a no go! So by the time I looked at the clock it was damn near 8:30pm and I was just getting to dinner, I never eat that late but ehh well shit happens. Anyway, so I decided I would give "FreeBirds" (http://freebirds.com/) a try. I heard about them and seen them around, what I really wanted to try was their fish taco but the location I went to didn't have fish! This was the 1st of my many disappointments! I went to the location on Jefferson & Figueroa and parking over there is for the birds. Good thing there is a parking lot in the back! So I walked in and noticed it was very colorful inside! The menu is very straight forward but very Chipotle like! However they do offer a few different things like (flavored tortillas, queso sauce, mixed cheese and different sized burritos). They are a little cheaper than Chipotle also. So once I noticed they didn't have fish I should have walked out but I decided to give it a try and here is what I ate:

Chicken Salad

My chicken salad came with ranch dressing, chicken, cheese, corn mixture, black beans, tomatoes, spring mixture of lettuce and sour cream. The salad was pretty big and I didn't finish it all. The total for the salad came up to $7.06 which wasn't bad at all. So I took my salad home, but getting out of the parking lot was a process. Apparently the pay machine was down and everyone got free parking last night!!!!! SCORE!!! So I got home and it was time to eat! So the salad smelled really good but ummmm it wasn't at all!!!!! The chicken kind of had a funny taste to it, there was barely any ranch dressing on the salad so I had to use my own. The salad was just definitely missing something, I finished about half of the salad and I was done. Maybe I need to give them a try again and try something else who knows. The set up in there was very college like. No one had on uniforms and everyone was wearing a baseball hat?? Not sure what that was all about and my salad bowl didn't have a plastic top they covered it with foil. Anyway I wouldn't recommend "FreeBirds" to anyone because I was very disappointed. If you would like to be a "Wednesday Dinner" free spirit drop me a line wednesdaydinnerwithash@yahoo.com and follow on Twitter www.twitter.com/wednesday dinner. In closing I would like to leave you with this "God gave you 2 ears and 1 mouth for a reason....... Listen more talk less" until next week -Ashley

Wednesday Dinner 1/18/2012

Wasssssssup!!!!!!!! Happy Thursday to you all! I hope this has been a cool short week for you all and that you have a wonderful weekend. Let me just get right in to this weeks "Wednesday Dinner", I was on a solo mission looking for something fresh and filling. I was craving a salad but not just your regular lettuce, tomato and dressing salad. I wanted something good, filling and fresh! I had been wanting to try this place called Salad Farm" (http://www.saladfarmrestaurants.com/). I passed "Salad Farm" numerous times on my way downtown, but I never stopped in. Well last night was the night! "Salad Farm" is located on Figueroa, it sits in a shopping plaza that has the strangest parking lot I have ever seen, however the parking was free! Which is rare! Anyway, walking in the place was not crowded at all, there were 2 people in front of me and 2 people working there. Looking at the menu one might get excited with all the salad choices! Not only do they serve salads, they also have stuffed baked potatoes, sandwiches and soups. "Salad Farm" is very clean and they use nothing but fresh ingredients. The set up is actually like a buffet and they make your salad there right in front of you. So it was time for me to order, I had:

#7 Chinese Chicken Salad

It took all of like 2 minutes for the lady to make the salad, it was like she was a salad magician! The salad had iceberg lettuce, carrots, green onion, wantons, rice noodles, cabbage, chicken, mandarin oranges and almonds. The salad was topped with an oriental dressing and that salad was HUGE! Definitely enough for 2 people. Anyway the salads at "Salad Farm" range from $7.95-$9.75 which isn't bad. The one thing I did NOT like was that I was charged $.75 for extra dressing and extra mandarin oranges. So I took my salad home and it was time to eat! This salad was everything my life needed yesterday! It was fresh and so good!!!!!! It was way more than I needed and I have enough for lunch today!! If you are not familiar with "Salad Farm" get familiar! My total for the salad with the extra dressing and oranges was $10.28, I will definitely be going back. If you would like to join the "Wednesday Dinner" crew drop me a line wednesdaydinnerwithash@yahoo.com and follow on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/wednesdaydinner . Also stay tuned for a HUGE announcement next week for the month of February. In closing I'd like to leave you with this "Don't play hard to get if your hard to want" . Until next week, smooches -Ashley

Wednesday Dinner 1/11/2012

Good morning!!!! And so it is Thursday and the weekend is almost here, CHEERS!!!!!!!!!! I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend and are looking forward to a long fabulous weekend for those of you who are off on Monday due to the MLK holiday! Anyway this weeks "Wednesday Dinner" was dedicated to one of my favorite burger joints "Fresh & Meaty" (http://www.yelp.com/biz/fresh-and-meaty-burgers-los-angeles)!! My plan was to be on a solo mission this week because I have just been out of it all week, but Shelby hit me and wanted to know what my "Wednesday Dinner" plans were. I told her and she said her & Melissa were gonna come over (slow down turbo, hahaha). I decided to make it a family thing and include my mom (Big Deb) and my dad (Charlie). So let the "Wednesday Dinner" story begin. I got to my moms house and my sisters were too hyped! They both looked cute, not
sure if they thought we were going to some fancy burger stand or what but I had a mental laugh that was out of this world. Anyway if you know anything about "Fresh & Meaty" you know if you don't call your order in you'll be waiting for at least 45 minutes for your food. So I placed our ordered waited a good 10 minutes and left. "Fresh & Meaty" is located on the corner of Florence and 7th ave, not the nicest looking place on the outside or inside but hey! The reason why I love "Fresh & Meaty" so much is because the food is cheap and good! For about $6 you can get a nice size burger, fries and a drink, whhhhhaaaaaattttt???? Yea that's right, all that for $6. However I must say the customer service there sucks big time! I usually find myself waiting at least an additional 10 minutes for my food when I call it in and I've noticed no one working in there is smiling. Anyway here is what we ordered:

3 Meaty Specials (Turkey)
1 Meaty Special (Beef)
1 Meaty Special (Beef)- No cheese, pickles or onions add chili

Basically a "Meaty Special" includes a burger (turkey or beef) with or without cheese, fries and a drink. The price is about $5.83 and the burger comes on toasted bun,with mayo,lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles and cheese if you like. Anything extra like bacon, chili, egg of course is extra. The total for everything came up to like $27, which is not bad to feed a family of 5. Anyway we waited like an additional 20 minutes for the food but at least the food was fresh! So we went back to my moms house and it was time to eat. Its funny when its dinner time the entire room is silent. Anyway the burger was good as always. The burger is well seasoned and well done and all the toppings are fresh! No wilted lettuce, mushy tomatoes, nothing like that! My only issue is I DO NOT like the fries (sad face). "Fresh & Meaty" offers  those thick ass potato fries, with the skin still on them YUCK! Some people like them but for me I prefer thin fries. All in all dinner was good and spending time with my family is always great! Everyone enjoyed their burger which was a plus! My sisters and I had a conversation with my mom and all I can say is it was HILARIOUS! My mother is a riot and my sisters just add to it. Anyway if you are not familiar with "Fresh & Meaty" get familiar. Also if you would like to become a "Wednesday Dinner" scout drop me a line wednesdaydinnerwithash@yahoo.com and follow me on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/wednesdaydinner . Inclosing I'd like to leave you with this "Know WHAT you want before you know WHO you want" Until next week, duces!-Ashley

Wednesday Dinner 1/4/2012

Well I'm officially baaaaaack. Took a minute off but I am back and ready to be better than ever. I hope you all have been well and have missed me as much has I have missed you! I hope this year has started off positive and refreshing for you. Now enough of all that, let the "Wednesday Dinner" story begin! Yesterday was dedicated to my sisters Melissa and Shelby! Its been a minute since we all have spent time together. Shelby had gotten us tickets to see Chelsea Lately so the plan was to go to the show and then go have dinner. I had taken the day off work so I was all excited to go. But in true Shelby fashion she was late waking up which meant we were late to the taping and didn't get in. Oh brother! However we will have priority seating and entry to the taping the next time we go back. So it was extremely early a little early for dinner but whatever, luckily the studio and the restaurant we were going to go eat at afterwards were in the same area. So off we went to "Sushi Stop" (http://sushistopusa.com/). "Sushi Stop" was brought to my attention by my friend Jesse (if your reading this your famous now, hahaha. What up Jesse!). This was my 3rd time at "Sushi Stop" but the 1st for my sisters. "Sushi Stop" is a very small but friendly place. With all sushi items $2.75 and limited seating you can't help but to at least try this place once, however for me I have become addicted. Most sushi spots over charge for everything and the quality and taste pretty much suck, but at "Sushi Stop" that is not the case! Service is good, food is good and I've never waited longer than 15 minutes to be seated. "Sushi Stop" sits on the corner of Mississippi and Sawtelle, this street is kind of like a Japanese food fest with all the other restaurants surrounding the area. Anyway Melissa & Shelby were a little skeptical of trying "Sushi Stop" because of the extremely low prices but they were also excited to go. So we got there waited about 15 mins and we were seated. And Oh guess who was in there looking like a celebrity has been?!?! Remember "Buddha" from "I Love New York"???? (http://www.buddytv.com/articles/i-love-new-york/i-love-new-york-buddhas-letter-13523.aspx). Yea him, we sat right by him and his date and I must say this man talks EXTREMELY LOUD!!! I was embarrassed for the chick he was with because I knew all their business because I heard everything he was saying. I don't remember hearing her say anything so maybe she wasn't interested or who knows anyway back to the food. When your ready to order your given an order form to fill out and then return it back to your server, here is what we ordered:

2 Sashimi White Fish
2 Crispy Rice
2 Popcorn Shrimp Rolls
2 Stuffed Jalapenos
2 California Rolls
1 Salmon Avocado Roll
1 Spicy Tuna Roll
1 Crunchy California Roll
1 Philly Roll
1 Spicy Tuna Tempura Roll
1 Order of Tempura

Whew looking at it now we ordered A LOT of food! Anyway I love that fact that the sushi is not coming out all at one time, considering the amount of space given it would be impossible to enjoy your food if it was all brought out at once. Anyway the sushi was DELISH!!!!! My new favorites are the stuffed
jalapeno and the popcorn shrimp roll. Both Melissa and Shelby loved "Sushi Stop" and definitely will be going back! Over dinner we laughed and joked and it was like old times. It amazes me to see how wonderful and beautiful my sisters are becoming! Watching them grow has truly been a gift! Before leaving you know I had to try a dessert! I decided to have the Ginger Creme Brulee, and surprisingly it was very good as well! All in all I was full and happy when we left. The total for everything came up to $51.50 not bad at all. If you are not familiar with "Sushi Stop" get familiar! And if you would like to be a part of the "Wednesday Dinner" crew drop me a line wednesdaydinnerwithash@yahoo.com and follow on Twitter  www.twitter.com/wednesdaydinner. *Disclaimer: I totally forgot to take pictures this time so I stole some photos from their website. Won't happen again*. In closing I'd like to leave you with this "Protect the things you love and love the things you protect". Until next week 2 fingas! -Ashley