TRAVEL San Francisco: Yummy Good Eats part three... Dinner

I absolutely love eating out in San Francisco.  There are an overwhelming amount of amazing, offbeat places to check out, there is always something for everyone, always an option for just about any type of food you are looking for.  I know I have just scratched the surface with the spots I was able to visit.  I'm only going to highlight three restaurants today, but I have plenty of other places to tell you all about, that's for sure!  At some point, be on the lookout for another post about some more great eats in the city of SF!

My favorite dinner experience was at Foreign Cinema, in the Mission District.  There was such a super cool vibe - just an excellent, unique ambiance. Without even taking the food into consideration, the experience itself was great. If you're seated in the partially covered and heated outdoor area (definitely worth it), you'll be treated to an old foreign film being played on a big outside wall - sometimes with audio. The service was great, the waitstaff very friendly and accommodating. The menu was fantastic - a bit fancy, but great and eclectic and ample.   The food was excellent, I had a Burratta Salad as an appetizer, and it was absolutely mouthwatering.  I also had a fantastic steak, which was cooked to perfection.  Keep in mind that you get what you pay for, so be prepared for a pricey meal. Note: There is an extensive oyster bar, wine list and cheese menu, and the desserts were amazing.  Also, they have a weekend brunch on Saturdays, which I did not go to, but I would guess is amazing.

Late one night wandering around Union Square, I stepped into King of Thai Noodle on O'Farrell Street, mainly because it was open and I was hungry. And even though it looked kind of like a sketchy strip mall type of restaurant, it was packed. I gotta say, I was pleasantly surprised with my meal.  My huge bowl of noodle soup was piping hot, really tasty and cheap, and it came out quickly.  It was totally tiny and cramped inside, but the service was good and fast, and I would definitely stop in again to try another noodle bowl.

John's Grill, a very well known seafood/steakhouse right in the heart of the city, is apparently a favorite with locals and celebrities.  I went there early one night with friends for dinner based on some really good yelp reviews, and was happily surprised that I didn't have trouble getting a table. I'm assuming because it was pretty early at about 6 pm. Two of us had the Filet Mignon, which was cooked perfectly. The menu didn't mention that the steak came with sides, so we each ordered a side, and ended up with way too much to eat! I had the Roquefort Salad to start, and it was huge - could have easily been a dinner salad because it was covered with shrimp, and there was enough for at least two. Our waitress looked like she didn't want to be there and wasn't friendly, but I suppose she did her job. They didn't have mojitos or the particular wine that we were hoping for, unfortunately. The atmosphere was kind of neat though, old timey wood walled steakhouse feel with nice dim lighting. If you like dessert, I highly recommend the chocolate mousse - it was fantastic. Overall, the food was very good, just priced pretty high in my opinion - our bill was $180 for two salads, 2 steaks, 2 sides, 1 seafood dinner, one glass of wine and one dessert.

Be sure to stop back next week! I'll be posting about some of my awesome experiences in traveling through California.

fail

Want to hear something that makes me feel like a huge failure at being a stay-at-home-mom, wife, and mother in general?  This is a hard confession for me because I don't usually like to admit to being less than perfect at my job.  

I hate cooking dinner.

There, I said it.  And I know hate is a very strong word.  

But let me clarify.  I like cooking in general.  At my leisure.  In a leisure suit maybe even.  I like baking and making meals, I just don't like the pressure of having to plan and cook a spectacular dinner every damn night.  I think this makes me get a D- in SAHM-ness.   Yeah, if I got a quarterly report card, in DINNER, I would definitely be lucky to get a D.

Well, when my husband was in law school, it was great.  He went to school at night after work, so it was kind of great in the respect that I didn't have to cook.  Like, I could easily throw something together for the kids on a paper plate (wooHOO quick and easy cleanup!) and be perfectly content with a bowl of cereal for myself.  I like cereal.  And I really appreciate paper plates.

Then after law school, certain times of the year, work would be way busier for my husband.  Like, busy where he'd be in the office sometimes til 11 or 12 at night.  I got used to those schedules and loved that I still didn't have to come up with food too often to satiate a guy's appetite.  Plus, I'm pretty sure that nothing that I'd make could compare with the sausage and peppers or pulled pork that his grandparents throw together with ease.

So lately, his job is a snitch less demanding night-wise, (JUST A SNITCH) and he gets home most nights by 9 or 10.  So I get the call.  Every day.  "What's for dinner?"

"What's for dinner?"

That is my least favorite question ever.

Hm.  How about sushi from that great sushi spot?  Or a sub from Subway?  Or pizza?  Yeah, every guy loves pizza, right??   I am such a fan of takeout.  Isn't it great to have someone else cook for you?  Then the worst thing is deciding where to order from.

But sheesh.  Takeout is like, so unhealthy.  And expensive.  And it makes me feel guilty that I didn't provide something for my family myself.  I am home all day.  And now that every kid is in school - there is absolutely no good excuse for me not to have a dinner put together every night for my family.

I sometimes feel like the only stay-at-home-mom who hates the whole plan/implement dinner thing. It sure seems like nobody else says it out loud!  You know, I'd be willing to bet that it's a dirty little secret in the SAHM community.  

Maybe I should make a support group.

best and worst

In our family, when we sit down at the table to have dinner, everyone shares what their best and worst of the day was. Many times answers are pretty generic, but I like that it opens things up for discussion. Like the other night Megan confessed that she got a yellow card at school because she ran in the hall (quick recap: green card is good, yellow is a warning, red is bad). She didn't mention it to me before her turn sharing "worst," so it made me feel like she felt more comfortable putting it out there that way. So of course we talked about it, consequences for behavior at school, etc. It took Brooke a long time to understand that "worst" meant bad. No matter how many times I tried to explain it to her, she'd inevitable say something like, "My best was that Mommy and I made jello, and my WORST was that Daddy came home for dinner!"
Poor Daddy.
Last night's bests and worsts:
Alex - best: someone broke their arm at the basketball game and it was really cool (nice.) worst: he had to clean all of the GARBAGE out of his room before he could play a video game.
Megan - best: she made a plan to bake and sell cookies with her friend to raise money for the victims of Haiti. worst: We didn't have pink piggy ham for dinner and she didn't get the blue car when she was playing Barbies even though she called it first.
Brooke - best: she got the blue car while playing Barbies. worst: Megan wouldn't let her use the pencil sharpener, and Mommy only played four games of Hi-Ho the Cherry-O before dinner.

oh my white chicken chili!

Last night I made this chili, and it was FANTASTIC. I practically licked my bowl, so I decided to share the recipe.

What's nice about this recipe is that you can mess with the spices to make it spicier, I actually went a little outside of the "white" factor and put some hot sauce in mine, because I like it hot. I also kind of liked that it was soupier than the red chili I usually make. This recipe makes a ton -- about 8-10 cups, so there will be plenty for leftovers.

WHITE CHICKEN CHILI

3 cups diced chicken (I used pre-cooked rotisserie chicken - it was GREAT)

3 15 oz cans Great Northern Beans

3 14 oz cans of reduced salt chicken broth

3 garlic cloves crushed

1 4 oz can green chilis

1 small onion, chopped

2 TBL cumin

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp ground cayenne pepper

(1 4 oz can jalepeno peppers) optional

*reduced fat sour cream

* shredded cheddar cheese

You can either cook this in a slow cooker on high for 2 hours, or on the stove for about an hour. Add all of the ingredients together in one pot. Tastes even better with a bit of shredded cheese and sour cream on top. Serve with a side salad and crusty roll and you're good to go!

*wish I could give someone credit for this recipe, but I emailed it to myself a year or so ago, and I do not remember where I got it from!