Wednesday Dinner 11/3/10

I'm baaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!!! I had to take a much needed break from blogging because my life has gone in a whole nother direction from the last time I blogged. Let me start with saying "Hello, Good Morning"! I hope you are all well and life is treating you good. I took a break from "Wednesday Dinner" because I moved. YES Jody finally left the nest (Hahaha). This has been a life changing no scratch that a life style change for me and I am sooooooo HAPPY!!!! So due to moving and trying to work out my living expenses "Wednesday Dinner" was put on hold , however I’m back, re inspired and I have decided to switch the blog up. Twice a month I will be cooking dinner and having people over for dinner and twice a month I will be dinning out and either be eating solo or be accompanied by a guest. So this brings me to last nights dinner which was in house with my sister and if I must say so I did my thing on the ones and twos. I have an abundance of food in both my refrigerator and freezer! I wanted to make something good but I also wanted to use some of the items in my fridge before they went bad. So I decided to try this Chicken, Spinach & Mushroom Pasta, my sister Melissa told me I need to name it but for some reason I am only good at naming drinks not food (hahaha). Since I've moved out I've become an old person when it comes to eating dinner, I try not to eat dinner any later than 6pm so most nights I'm eating dinner by 5-5:30pm and I cook every night. I know that’s crazy but I get off work at 3pm so it’s only right, right? Anyway along with the pasta I decided to make this Greek Salad I've made before, which is really good & refreshing if I must say so myself! So here are the ingredients for the pasta & salad:


Chicken, Spinach & Mushroom Pasta (Prep time 45 minutes)


• 1 Chicken Breast


• 2 Cups of Penne Pasta


• 1 Bag of Fresh Spinach


• 2 Handfuls of Fresh Mushrooms


• Butter


• Extra Virgin Olive Oil


• Fresh Garlic


• Classico Alfredo Sauce


• Mozzarella Cheese


• Seasoning Salt, Garlic Salt & Black Pepper


• 2 Slices of Texas Toast


Greek Salad (Prep time 10 minutes)

• One bag of salad


• Feta Cheese


• Sliced Olives


• Tomatoes


• Cucumber


• Red Onion


• Italian Salad Dressing


• 1 Slice of Pita Bread

So let me start with the pasta, so easy to make and if made correctly its DELISH! First I cut the chicken breast in cubes and seasoned it with seasoning salt, garlic salt and black pepper. Warmed my skillet and put extra virgin olive oil & butter, let it get hot and then dropped the chicken in. I had to keep my eye on the chicken because I didn't want to burn it or for it to be under cooked. The chicken cooked for about 20 minutes and was done; the pieces were moist and very flavorful. Next it was time to sauté the spinach & mushrooms. I heated up another skillet with butter, fresh garlic (minced it myself) and seasoning salt let the skillet get hot then I dropped the spinach & mushrooms in. I let the veggies sauté for about 10 minutes and they were done. Now the alfredo sauce was up, I had about a little less than a full jar of Classic Alfredo sauce in the fridge, I didn't think it was going to be enough so I added a little milk in jar and shook it up, put the sauce in a little sauce pan add about 2 pinches of mozzarella cheese and let it boil for about 5 minutes, I added a little seasoning salt to taste. Next it was time to do the noodles, I boiled 2 cups of penne pasta, and of course pasta is tricky because you don't want to under cook or over cook your noodles. It took about 8 minutes for the noodles to be done and now it was time to mix everything up. I did a little sample taste and DAMN that pasta was DELISH. Next up was the Greek Salad, extremely easy to make even a cave man can make it (hahaha). I placed the lettuce in a bowl, cut up the red onions, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Added the feta cheese and olives and then put about 3 squirts of the Italian dressing on. Mixed it and abra cadabra the salad was made. I put in the fridge and warmed up my Texas toast and pita bread, I rubbed the pita bread down with some butter and let it get a little crispy along with the Texas toast. By 5:30pm dinner was ready , Melissa and I were ready to eat. We ate the salad first; I set the table and everything! Melissa enjoyed the salad and pita bread and so did I. The pasta was served as the 2nd course and I am sad to report Melissa doesn't eat mushrooms, so she picked them out. She enjoyed the pasta as well she told me "Good job Ashley". Over dinner we just talked about small things here and there, it was soooo HOT yesterday sheesh. After dinner we were both FULL so we sat on the couch and didn't move for about 20 minutes. All in all dinner was good and of course I'll get Melissa to leave a comment on the food. I really enjoy cooking and decided this would be a great addition to what I've been doing with "Wednesday Dinner". If you would like to dine at the "Wednesday Dinner" table or have a recipe suggestion, 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 "Life is so short...kiss slowly, laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly" Until next we I love you and peace! -Ashley

Wednesday Dinner 9/8/10

Good morning, love bugs!! Happy Thursday!!!! Life is good, I can't complain so let me get into this blog. I had been craving Chinese food for about a week. So I decided to visit one of my old faithful places, "Bamboo Garden" in LA off of Vermont and Manchester. "Bamboo Garden" doesn't have a website but check out the yelp link (http://www.yelp.com/biz/bamboo-garden-restaurant-los-angeles). I used to frequent "Bamboo Garden" years ago and they really had my heart but I haven't been there in some time. "Bamboo Garden" is your hole in the wall classic Chinese food restaurant, with menus posted all over the wall and offering many different food items this place is far from typical. The prices are extremely reasonable and would make one second guess themselves if they are not comfortable. "Bamboo Garden" offers take out only and only accepts cash. There were so many items to choose from but I decided on what I wanted and here is what I got:

No. 1- Chicken Chow Mein, Pork Fried Rice, Barbeque Pork, Egg Roll, 2 Fried Shrimp, 1 Fortune Cookie & 1 Almond Cookie
Broccoli & Beef

"Bamboo Garden" has a lot of dinner specials that come with 3 items or more and like I said the prices are extremely reasonable. So since I could only take my food to go it was back to the house to eat. The total for the No. 1 was $7.75 and the Broccoli & Beef was about $5.50 which rounded off my total $13.25 which wasn't bad for the amount of food I got, this meal was big enough for at least 3 people. I have so much food left over, by the time I arrived home the food was still HOT not warm but HOT and I appreciate that. The chow mien was yummy!! Hearty pieces of chicken and veggies!! Pork fried rice isn't my favorite but I did the trick, not to many pieces of pork so I got to really enjoy the rice. Barbeque pork was alright I only ate a few pieces of that not a huge fan of it but it was still alright. I didn't fool with the egg roll, the shrimp was BOMB with a little sweet & sour sauce it was right on point. The broccoli & beef really hit the spot it was BOMB also. All in all I was full and glad I stopped by "Bamboo Garden". If you like classic Chinese food stop by "Bamboo Garden" it’s the perfect place to get take out on date night or when it starts raining. They are open 7 days a week until 8:15pm however it’s located in the cut so if you’re not paying attention you’re going to pass it. If you would like to get on the "Wednesday Dinner" team 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 "Don't regret anything because at one point in your life it meant everything" until next week I LOVE YOU! -Ashley

Wednesday Dinner 9/2/10

Well good morning and happy Thursday! The weekend is here and I am so looking forward to this 3 day weekend. I want everyone to have a safe and happy Labor day! This weeks "Wednesday Dinner" was short but OH SOOOOOO GOOD! The sun was shining yesterday and it was such a lovely day here in California and I was feeling very Cali-ish with what I wanted to eat. I wanted something simple and flavorful and I got just that. I decided to stop by "All About the Bread" (http://allaboutthebread.com/), "All About the Bread" is located off of Melrose in a tiny little strip complex joined with another restaurant and a Pinkberry (EWWW). At first sight I got turned off because there was no parking in the front, however with a slight left turn into the alley I was greeted with Valet and I got a free hour of parking. Walking into "All About the Bread" I was immediately in sandwich heaven, I have to be honest but sandwiches are one of my favorite things to eat! "All About the Bread" was so clean, neat and it had this fresh aroma to it. I smelled the fresh bread being baked!!! There were quite a few people dining solo inside so I didn't feel alone and there were a group of guys sitting outside eating. With a variety of meats and cheeses and one type of bread ordering was easy, I was a little distracted because there was a cute guy taking my order but I was able to compose myself and here is what I ordered:


Small Honey Turkey & Swiss and Chips

"All About the Bread" makes all their sandwiches with the works which include (Vegan mayo, mustard, onions, pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, Italian dressing, and roasted peppers, mild or medium Chicago style peppers). At first sight this might seem like a lot on a sandwich however its not. I got everything except the peppers, I asked for those on the side but I guess the guy didn't hear that. I was a little taken back that the drinks and chips were so expensive! A bottled drink is $3.00 and $1.75 for a bag of chips (SHAME) good thing I had my water in my purse. I waited about 5 minutes for my sandwich to be made, "All About the Bread" cuts their meat and cheeses in house which is great. So my name was called and it was time to dive into my sandwich. And it was LOVE at first bite! The freshness in this sandwich was so apparent! I could taste every veggie, the meat and the cheese. This sandwich was not overly saturated with onions or anything. It was absolutely amazing!!!! The vegan mayo along with the Italian dressing gives this sandwich its stand out taste! My total came to $8.25 which included $6.50 for the sandwich and $1.75 for the chips. Unfortunately I only ate half of my sandwich but it was good down to the last bite. I strongly suggest that you get familiar with "All About the Bread" real soon! I am claiming this as my #1 sandwich place!!! I will definitely be going back sooner than later! If you would like to get on the "Wednesday Dinner" invite list 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 "You can't arrive to your new situation until you leave your old destination. Until next week stay fly- Ashley

Wednesday Dinner 8/25/10

I know I am a little late, however I was debating if I should blog about last weeks dining experience, which I would like to say was less than appetizing. Last week I had a lot going on; Shelby was preparing to leave for college and life was hectic last week, however we managed to get her off safe and sound. So last week was Shelby's last "Wednesday Dinner" for a while and the last "Wednesday Dinner" for August (I mean that’s nothing special but hey). So I was trying to get her and Melissa out for dinner, however the 3 of us together are extremely indecisive, we went to dinner about 8pm which is very late for me but whateve! We couldn't decide what we wanted to eat so I made the executive decision and decided to try "Nathan's" (http://nathansfamous.com/PageFetch/), "Nathan's" has a new location in Manhattan Beach and I have to say that I was not pleased with the service or my food. We arrived around 8:20pm and it was just all bad, the cashier/order taker was very sharp and rude. The food was gross! It had an overly fried taste to it, here is what we ordered


Melissa- Bacon, Cheese & Ranch Fries
Shelby- Chicken Tenders
Ashley- Hot Dog Combo with Onion Rings

Everything was not appetizing, I am not sure how a hot dog can't taste good but it happened. I think it’s because the bun wasn't soft! I don't think I'll be going back to "Nathan's" ever! See the pictures and decide for yourself. Over dinner my sisters and I laughed and joked as we always do! My food came to a total of $6.40 which is a little much for a hotdog combo! If you would like to get on the "Wednesday Dinner" crew drop me a line wedenesdaydinnerwithash@yahoo.com and follow me on Twitter www.twitter.com/wednesdaydinner. In closing I would like to leave you with this "In order to have demands you must be in demand" Until next week -Ashley

Wednesday Dinner 8/18/10

Good Morning!!!! Today is a great day, I am a little tired but nonetheless I am here! Special "Shout Out" to summer for finally arriving. Yesterdays "Wednesday Dinner" was very quick and I kept to myself. Yesterday the sun was shining and I was feeling like eating something light and something I hadn't had in a while. I had been craving Hawaiian BBQ, I know I know, Los Angeles is really the last place to get authentic Hawaiian BBQ but hey it is what it is. So I decided to stop by "Q Hawaiian BBQ" which doesn't have a website and there is nothing really on the yelp link. "Q Hawaiian BBQ" is located in the heart of my neighborhood in Inglewood on Crenshaw in one of the new Inglewood Plaza strip mall buildings. "Q Hawaiian BBQ" is very clean and neat on the inside however the customer service SUCKS! I don't know what is going on in Inglewood but I've noticed that the customer service is horrible at a lot of these food establishments, which I think is a crock of shit! Seeing that in Inglewood we pay the highest tax 10.25% which is just utterly ridiculous. Anyway let the "Wednesday Dinner" story begin. I ate a little early because I had plans later on in the evening, I arrived at "Q Hawaiian BBQ" about 4pm and there were a few people in there, there was this group of 2 guys in there and they kept looking at me (WEIRD) because I don't like when people stare at me. Anyway I was looking at the menu and I decided I was going to switch it up and I ordered and this is by pure memory because I can't find my receipt:


#4 Hawaiian BBQ Mix- BBQ Chicken, Katsu Chicken, BBQ Spare Ribs (White Rice, Cabbage & Macaroni Salad)

The total for this came up to $8.70 which wasn't bad at all, I ordered my food for "here" and clearly that meant nothing! Because my food was still served to me in styrofoam but whatever. The food: the bbq chicken is pieces of dark meat matted and cooked like chicken breast. It’s grilled with a hint of bbq flavor but not overly saturated and served in whole pieces, the katsu chicken is their version of fried chicken. The katsu chicken is a mix of white and dark meat and it’s served sliced. The bbq spare ribs (which are my favorite) are your traditional koren bbq spare rib but just sold in a Hawaiian restaurant. The cabbage (which I love) is your regular cabbage, no fancy seasoning or anything, however I have to make it known that I like my cabbage soft! The macaroni salad taste like something I'm not used to but something I have gotten used to, the best way to describe it is it’s not overly done with mayonnaise and seasoning but suttle and good. It took me about 15 minutes to eat my food and people watch. As I was enjoying my food this young man decided to sit right across from me and eat his food and as I was looking down I saw the crack of his ass. Ummm it was to pack this food up and be OUT! and that's exactly what I did! I was full and I had to get to my mom's house because Shelby was having movie night with her friends, Shelby leaves for college next week (sad face). The movie night was hilarious and Shelby has a great group of friends, their loud but a great group. All in all dinner was great and if you are ever in the Inglewood area stop by "Q Hawaiian BBQ" and give them a try. If you would like to get on the "Wednesday Dinner" shopping list 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 “Promise little and do much" Until next week xoxox Ashley

Wednesday Dinner 8/11/10

Good Morning, honestly my loves this morning I DO NOT feel like blogging. I am beyond tired, I over slept this morning, made it to work an hour and 15 minutes late. I woke up with enough time to shower, brush my teeth, and wash my face and dress. I didn't do my hair and I'm wearing flip flop, I know I know shame on me. But hell I made it to work! Yesterday’s dinner was extremely special to me!! I had dinner with my Grandma (Grandma on my mom’s side); my Grandma was taking me to dinner for my birthday. Yes my birthday was officially 2 weeks ago as of today, but better late than never. My Grandma had given me 3 choices of places she wanted to take me and one of those choices was Marie Callendars (www.mariecallendersgrill.com/) which is now called Callendar's Grill located at the Howard Hughes Bridge. Let me give you this disclaimer first “Callendar's Grill” is totally different from Marie Callendars as far as the menu and the set up of the restaurant, however if you Google “Callendar's Grill” the Marie Callendar website comes up (I hope they can fix this). So it was just my Grandma and I for dinner, I love spending time with my Grandma. She's always so young spirited and vibrant and I love that about her. "Callendar's Grill" is very clean, neat and modern in the inside it reminds me of a restaurant you would see in a movie. It’s very spacious and a perfect place to hold a dinner party. Their menu is very simple and they offer a selection of "Tonight’s Specials" on a separate menu, it didn't take my Grandma and I long to decide what we wanted. First we placed our drink orders and here they are:


Ashley- Glass of Riesling
Grandma- Cosmo Martini

Riesling wasn't my first choice for wine originally I wanted a glass of Kendall Jackson, but they were all out (a little strange but ok). So now it was time to order (sadly I am doing this review all by memory because the website doesn't reflect what we ate). But here it goes:

Ashley- Blackened Tilapia with a creole sauce served with jasmine rice
Grandma- Quiche & Waldorf salad Sampler

It took about 15 minutes for our food to come out and during that time my Grandma and I just talked. We sat in a booth which had a window view and that was great because we got to people watch. I was a little taken back that there was no bread bout out to us while we were waiting????? So the food comes out and both entrees looked delicious. My food was piping HOT! This was my first time ordering Tilapia, I've been getting tired of fried foods and wanted something light with a lot of flavor and that’s what I got. The Tilapia was grilled and blackened; it was very fresh and tender. The creole sauce was a little too spicy for me (since I've been having run ins with heart burn lately), you can't go wrong with jasmine rice. I would have liked this dish a little better with some kind of grilled vegetables, and a different type of sauce. My Grandma's food was the BOMB, if you are not familiar with Quiche (it’s a baked egg pie that’s filled with whatever you want to put in it). This quiche had bacon, spinach and gouda cheese, served with a waldorf salad. Of course I took a taste and it was DELISH! It was very fresh and refreshing, in my opinion the perfect summer dish! I should have gotten what Grandma got! But mine was good for what it was. Over dinner my Grandma and I continued to talk and I love talking to her. She has been such a great Grandma to me and to all of my cousins. I remember when I was little spending so much time with her, playing dress up and just letting her love me. I have so many wonderful memories with her, although she doesn't use the internet I just want to say THANK YOU GRANDMA & I LOVE YOU!!!!! After both of us were only able to finish half of our food it was time to pack it up and go, however my Grandma wasn't going to leave with out letting our waiter now that it was my birthday and that I am a blogger. Thankfully no one came over to sing happy birthday, I did receive a slice of free pie. I ordered:

Double Cream Blueberry

This pie was DELISH and it was just the right size slice, I single handedly finished that slice of pie and I only offered my Grandma a slice when I was 2 bites away from being finished. All in all dinner was GREAT, the total came up to $46.30 which isn't bad. I recommend you stop by and visit "Callendar's Grill", so after dinner with my Grandma I went to meet my homie Justin to catch this movie screening. Justin came up on some passes to see the screening of "The Lottery" the new movie with Bow Wow. OMG Justin is theeee worst (hahaha) we were like 30 minutes late for the movie due to parking issues but SHOUT OUT to the lady that gave us a pass and let us in. The screening was at the Man Chinese Theater in Hollywood (www.manntheatres.com/). I am not sure what the fascination is with Hollywood, but it’s always too crowded down there. When we finally got in the movie, it was crowded; we sat about 4 rows from the bottom. I won't spoil the movie for you guys but its cute, everyone go see it when it comes out and support the black dollar! Thanks Justin for thinking of me I had a good time! If you would like to get on the "Wednesday Dinner" letter head 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 "Do something life changing and that’s when life changes" until next week, blessings - Ashley

Wednesday Dinner 8/4/2010

Hello and Good Morning. My deepest apologies for not blogging last week, however there were a lot of things going on in my life last week. But with the grace of God I am back and feeling better than ever. This weeks "Wednesday Dinner" was very special to me because I was able to spend it with my favorite "youngins" as I like to call them (Shelby, Taelor, Genova and Maya). All of them will be going off to college within the next two weeks so I need to try and spend as much time with them as possible. So I invited them to meet me at the "Grand Lux" (http://www.grandluxcafe.com/) yesterday for a late lunch/early dinner and they all agreed. When I arrived of course they weren't there yet, but they didn't keep me waiting long. Looking at them I can't help but smile because I have watched them all grow and blossom into young ladies. Especially Shelby and Taelor, sheesh it makes me feel so OLD! But they all looked so cute and it’s clear that they are really growing up! "Grand Lux" has Happy Hour and you don't have to be 21 to sit in the bar area and enjoy Happy Hour. So we were seated at the bar and it was time to get "Wednesday Dinner" crackin! During the week "Grand Lux" has drink specials during Happy Hour, yesterday's special was a Raspberry Cosmo and OMG that was theeeee best Cosmo I've ever had! And it was only $5.00 (SCORE)! I decided that I would order for Shelby and I because we like a lot of the same food and Taelor, Genova and Maya would be on their own. So here is what was ordered:


Ashley & Shelby- Skillet Meatballs, Mini Buffalo Bites, Mini Lux Salad, Crispy Calamari, BBQ Pork Sliders, & Fried Pickles


Taelor- BLT with no Tomato


Genova- Skillet Meatballs, Mini Buffalo Bites


Maya- Mahi Mahi & Shrimp Scampi

Let me just start by saying that Shelby and I did not get all that food at once it was spread out over the course of time we were there. Our waiter was good, shame that the tip was already included but oh well. So let me start goin in on the food: Skillet Meatballs- DELISH! These are chicken meatballs (which I've never had) the meatballs were so moist, seasoned very well and topped with a very good marana sauce and cheese served with mini slices of garlic cheese bread. For $5.95 you get 3 meatballs and about 4 pieces of garlic cheese bread and in my opinion it’s worth every bite. Mini Buffalo Bites: its buffalo flavored chicken and cheese rolled into a mini ball and fried DELISH also! Served with blue cheese the only thing missing is carrots and celery that would have made this complete. However you get about 8 mini buffalo bites for $4.95 you can't beat that! Mini Lux Salad- was your average side salad, an arugula spring mix with tomatoes and a huge crouton served with balsamic vinaigrette dressing this salad was very refreshing and enough for 2 for $3.95. Crispy Calamari- calamari is one of Shelby and I's favorite things, this calamari is fried in a tempura like batter and was very GOOD! also enough for 2 and served with traditional marana sauce it was worth $4.95. BBQ Pork Sliders- I am not a huge pork fan but for some reason these stood out to me, these pork sliders were DELISH! Served on mini buns its bbq pork, coleslaw and a pickle, it’s just the right size I think a big sandwich like this would have been too much. I give the bbq pork sliders 2 thumbs up and for $4.95 you get 3 not too bad. Fried Pickles- now I have had fried pickles before and I wasn't impressed but these were the best I've had so far. These were dill pickles fried to perfect (not to crunchy and not to soft) and were served with an amazing remoulade sauce. Hi five to the "Grand Lux" for this one!! For $3.95 you get about 10 pickles and its well worth it, these pickles were so YUMMY! By the time we were finished Shelby and I were on FULL! Taelor is such a picky eater she had the BLT and didn't get the T (tomato) she doesn't like them. Genova was satisfied with her Buffalo Bites and Meatballs. Maya was late (as she always is! Haha) and she ordered the Mahi Mahi & Shrimp Scampi which I tasted and it was amazing, I am going to have to try that when I go back to the "Grand Lux". Over late lunch/early dinner we laughed and talked. I love hanging out with my "youngins" because they keep me young (hahaha). Shout out to the "Grand Lux" for playing some good oldies while we were eating. I have to say that I am so proud of Shelby, Taelor, Genova and Maya. They are all working and getting ready for college. Shelby is going to Channel Island, Taelor is going to Howard, Genova is going to San Francisco State and Maya is going to El Camino. I am so glad to have them in my life and I LOVE YOU GIRLS, good luck and much success in your futures xoxox. The reason why I mentioned the pricing of the food because "Grand Lux" has mini tapas specially priced and also Monday-Friday Happy Hour were drinks are specially priced and selected appetizers are $5.00. "Grand Lux" has one of the best Happy Hour I've seen so far, starting at 4pm and ending at 6:30pm what more could you ask for and as I looked at my reciept I am pleased to inform you that "Grand Lux" now takes reservations. The bill came and the total damage was $112.74 (WHEW) with 18% gratuity included shame! It was time to leave the "youngins" were going to the mall and then who knows where else. I got in the wind and had some business to handle. If you live in L.A. there is no reason why you haven't been to "Grand Lux" if you haven't kill yourself NOW! (haha), but get familiar with it. If you would like to get on the "Wednesday Dinner" bandwagon drop me a line wednesdaydinnerwithash@yahoo.com and follow me on Twitter www.twitter.com/wednesdaydinner. In closing I want to leave you with this "Success builds character, failure reveals it". Until next week lots of love -Ashley