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