Rolling with it
Weekends stress me out for a couple of reasons:
1. How are we going to keep Maya entertained for two whole days?
2. Weekends = eating out 1-2 meals a day. Eating out = an increased likelihood for a horrible stomach ache.
Instead of stressing out as always though, I decided to roll with it.
I rolled with breakfast…despite the fact that making homemade pancakes is torture because I have to make them, I can’t eat them, and I have to clean the mess up, I still cooked up a batch for Ali and Maya. How selfless am I?
Ali's pancakes with apple and kiwi slices
Maya's pancakes with fruit and chocolate chips.
Maya and I struck a deal: if she ate all her fruit than she could have 5 chocolate chips on her pancake. Why 5? Well because she is 5-years-old. Of course.
I rolled with lunch…I was so excited to meet with Sophia, Jenn, Andy, and Amanda at Loteria Grill at the Farmer’s Market.
Although I visited the Farmer’s Market daily when I worked next door at CBS, I never had a chance to eat at Loteria until yesterday.
I was going to stick with something safe and order the Summer Salad but when Sophia pointed out I could eat a salad anywhere, I decided to roll with it and be a little more daring. Thank you Sophia for giving me the push I needed!
I ordered two tacos, the Champiñones con Epazote and the Calabacitas.
Left - zucchini and roasted corn succotash with salsa verde, onion, cilantro, and queso fresco. Right - mushrooms with epazote, with onions, cilantro, queso fresco, and salsa verde.
I was feeling particularly daring and decided to order the Noptalitos as well.
Cactus salad served with salsa verde and queso fresco.
Unfortunately neither of these dishes were very good. The tacos were really small and bland. I am glad I tried the cactus but it wasn’t very flavorful either. Still, I ate everything (except the chips) because I was so hungry. I was still hungry afterwards but luckily, lunch wasn’t really about the food but the nice company instead. Plus it was a beautiful day and since we were sitting outside the food was really just an afterthought.
Thank you Sophia for organizing this great lunch…I can’t wait to meet up with you again.
I rolled with some coffee…I left lunch after a couple of hours to meet up with my brother. We headed to Urth Caffe for a cup of coffee. I love cappuccinos but I haven’t been ordering them because sometimes I get stomach aches from milk. So I was thrilled, and I mean thrilled to learn that Urth Caffe has almond milk!
Italian cappuccino with almond milk.
The price of this coffee rivaled some of the ones I’ve ordered in Paris but I was just happy to have a cappuccino minus a stomach ache. My brother and I sat outside and enjoyed the fabulous weather. My brother paid for my overpriced coffee without saying a word about how overpriced it was. My brother rocks.
I rolled with dinner…after Ali finally resurfaced after taking Maya to a birthday party and dropping her at his parent’s place, we headed out to dinner. One of my most favorite places in Los Angeles is Gulfstream but we don’t go too often because I have a bit of a problem paying $17 for Maya’s chicken fingers, plus the wait is usually 30-45 minutes or more. When I want to eat, I want to eat right then. I do not want to wait another 30-45 minutes. Lucky for us, we were able to get a table immediately yesterday.
I ordered my favorite salmon:
Cedar plank roasted salmon with roasted seasonal vegetables.
Ali ordered a burger:
Cheeseburger on a homemade bun, with a baked potato.
I rolled with the after-dinner entertainment…after dinner we decided to catch a movie. In a theater. This may not seem like a big deal but since it happens only 2-3 times a year, a theater movie is pretty exciting stuff.
We ended up seeing Remember Me which was excellent. Not only was the ending very unexpected but the cast was great too. The girls next to me were going crazy over Robert Pattinson, who I had never heard of. I was going crazy over Pierce Brosnan who they probably had never heard of. Have I managed to age myself enough?
So I learned a couple of things this weekend…
1. Entertaining Maya for 2 days is a piece of cake when she spends most of the time at her grandparent’s house.
2. There is no need to stress too much over eating out. Sure my stomach hurt a bit last night but sometimes a great day out is worth the pain.
While I'm not going to win Mother/Wife of the Year Award anytime soon, I haven't killed anyone yet or shot myself in the head. And that, my friends, is how I calculate success these days. 
FANCY THAT FANCY THIS 
looks yummy and i love the farmers market x
Yummy food! That all looks amazing!
Everything looks delicious, but I especially love the kiwi on the pancakes there.
that is extremely selfless of you to make homemade pancakes for your family!!! sorry you didn’t like your tacos – i didn’t like the ones i had at the loteria at the farmer’s market either but for some reason i dug the food at the fancier, hollywood restaurant location.
It was so nice to meet you! I subscribed to your blog through google reader and can’t wait to read more.
I would have been absolutely thrilled about almond milk at a coffee shop. I’m not a huge soymilk fan but I love almond milk. Almond Breeze is my favorite.
Your daughter is adorable! I love the 5 chocolate chips on her pancake. Too cute!
You are so sweet to make pancakes for your family even though you don’t eat them! (Ironically, I’ve been thinking about pancakes all day…but haven’t made any. 😉 ) Your blogger meet-up looks like so much fun…definitely all about the wonderful company!
It was great meeting you yesterday!!! I’m officially a follower now. 🙂 Looking forward to more meet-ups.
Your daughter is so adorable. I love the expression on her face.
weekends stress me out too. but mostly because lack of class = lack of structure = lack of work done. haha!
That’s a super fantastic weekend u had and those pancakes are sure worth ur effort…actually all ur love that went thru those pancakes….i love the 5 chocolate chippy stori :-)))cutey….
actually i love everything that happenned in this post:-))))
have a fantastic week ahead:-))))
So, “Remember Me” was good? I had my doubts, but put it in my Netflix queue.
I stress out over weekends sometimes because there’s so little time and so much to do. However, I’ve gotten a bit more relaxed. I’m bummed I couldn’t meet up with you guys! Looks like fun 🙂
Have a great upcoming week 🙂 See you soon!
Glad you were able to roll with everything and have a good weekend!! 🙂 I would not be able to make pancakes if I wasn’t going to be able to eat ’em, so I am very impressed not only that you made ’em, but that you made ’em so pretty and yummy looking for Ali and Maya. I know they appreciated it! 🙂 So cool to see you with some of my other fave bloggers!! Too bad those tacos weren’t too good… but like you said, it’s about the company!!
I would love to meet you and Sophia. I am so impressed by both of y’all! Ha Parisian coffee, funny you mentioned, last December we went there, and decided to get ourselves ripped off.Seriously two cappuccinos and that expensive, but nevertheless at least I got the taste of French coffees 🙂
That sounds like a great weekend. And I totally get the going out to a movie being a treat thing! Remember Me was a good movie. I really think the ending tied it all together and made it that much better.
Awww – how cute is that “I love Dad” outfit?
Maya´s lovely!
😀
Have a terrific week, Ameena!
Brazilian XOXO´s,
Gabriela
smart cookies. when i first started reading i thought ” she needs to stop stressing about eating out”…why? because it is the STRESS that will upset your stomach, more than any food…boy, i have and am learning that…the food is rarely the culprit…or at least its not murderous…its the stress…a wise friend reminded me of that.
love salmon 🙂 and pancakes, yay!
there must be pancakes u can eat though. there are lots of gluten-free mixes…or lots of flours sans gluten or whatever else…i am convinced u can have it, try to enjoy and explore…do u ever eat your date muffins and stuff?
hey, i know its all a battle though…oftentimes we stress and stress and it is so consuming and mesmerizing.
that said, maya is beautiful ! and your blogger meetup so fun…everyone looks great.
I need to practice a little bit of rolling with it. Looks like you had a great day. It seems like when Raymond and I finally do have kids I need to get my folks and his folks move to Houston so we can drop the kiddos with them… now if I only knew how to convince them to move ..
Thanks for the reminder to do my best to go with the flow, Ameena. I stress over way too many things (especially food). I could definitely do better when it comes to rolling with it.
Haha, while darling Sophia was at lunch I was chilling out at Venice Beach with the guy I’m dating. She hadn’t realized I was back from NYC.
Can you not eat pancakes because of the gluten? I’m sure if you’re craving pancakes, there are some gluten-free recipes. Perhaps coconut flour?
mmm salmon. SORRY I COULDN”T MAKE IT! i was tangled up in errands with mom before she leaves here!
Fun weekend!! I wish my local coffee shop had almond milk!
Those pancakes look nice and fluffy…yums. you’re such an awesome wife and mom!
I totally know what you mean about it being a big deal when you go to the movies in an actual theatre. I think last year the hubby and I only got to go once. But this year we’re on a roll, we went once already…teehee. Coincidence that I just posted a robert pattinson movie post up as well. glad you had a nice weekend.
Youre such a good mom and wife!! If Im not going to eat something, I just wont make it. Maybe I should work on that – who knows, maybe it would make more people like me!! lol
Oh my god, I just *heart* “Lotería” – that is one of my ALL time favorite places in LA. Just love, love, love it! They also have a restaurant on Hollywood, which can be a scene but takes reservations and the menu has quite a few other options (like really great margaritas).
Glad that you enjoyed the weekend – don’t you love it when that happens?!
Eating out too much can do a number on my stomach as well, but I love going to spend time with my friends and family 🙂
It looks like you had a nice blogger meet-up! I think it’s good to be adventurous every once in a while (as long as it doesn’t wreak havoc on your stomach) 🙂
Can you please share the recipe of your fluffy pancakes with me? I know only the flat variety. Yours look so yumm – not sure why Maya had that expression though; probably the fruits. 😀
Is the movie “Remember Me” from Sophie Kinsella’s book with the same name? Girl has accident, wakes up in hospital with memory of how she became glamorous and carries/ wears branded stuff?
Hi Jeena – the pancake recipe is on my recipe page…I think the key to fluffy pancakes is not to mix the batter too much. And keep the heat on the stove low.
Remember Me is not the same as Sophie Kinsella’s book, which I really liked too! The movie is totally different but really good. You can click on the link in my post to get to the movie’s website.
I love that Maya is wearing an “i love dad” shirt while you’re the one cooking her breakfast. Ironic. I also love that you and your brother are so close and meet up for dinners and coffee dates. My sister and I aren’t even that close. And I also love those weekends where you just go with the flow and have a good time. Glad you got to enjoy one. 🙂
your pancake issues: making, cant eat, cleanup = the reason I have made p’cakes once in 5 yrs. nuff said.
The alm milk cappuccino. nice!
Maya and entertainment, LOL
The blogger meetup wrote on sophia’s blog that i would have died for the chance to meet up with all you cool kids 🙂
the pic of maya at the table..doyou guys live urban? in san diego we lived downtown and it’s very interesting, good and bad, raising a kid very urban like that. anyway, just curious 🙂
If I can’t eat pancakes, NOBODY is eating pancakes. End of story. You are so much better of a human being than I am! Haha.
Sorry about the bad choice of location. I think we all agree it just wasn’t that fantastic! I heard that Loteria Grill is better in other places…I think we should avoid the Farmer’s Market since it probably is more tourist-oriented and the food is sub-par.
I didn’t know you can make cappuccinos with almond milk! I didn’t even think it will froth up nicely…Yay! I adore almond milk more than regular milk, that’s for sure.
Can’t wait to see you again…I hope you’re not gonna get sick of my face lol! 😉
Your day of rolling with it looks wonderful. That almond milk cap looks like something I would LOVE to roll with too! YUMM
your meet up looks so so fun! im JEALOUS! thank you for your get well wishes on my blog 🙂
thats awsome that urth cafe has almond milk! I haven’t seen that as an option anywhere!!
Your brother is so sweet… he was probably so happy that you found something that you liked! I’ve never been to a coffee shop (that I know of) that serves almond milk.
Oh, and that movie! I have been wanting to see that so I’m glad that you gave it two thumbs up.
torture indeed!
a plus
the paris food blague
This does look like a great weekend. It’s always fun to try new things, as much as I usually cling to the tried and true favorites at restaurants. Good for you for being adventurous. And I’m glad that “Remember Me” was worth seeing! I was wondering how it would be as I’m not a huge Robert Pattinson fan. I go to the movies at least once a week so I’ll be sure to check it out! Thanks!
A cappuccino with almond milk?! I swoon.
And what a fun meet-up. Sorry the food was so-so, but it sounds like the company was awesome!
Good looking salmon! I love the compromise with Maya and chocolate chips- kind of like what my mom used to do with me when I was a kid.
oh i love that you let go and went with it. for me i have a hard time becasue i tend to feel bloated when i eat out-i will be specific-bloated and fat-ugh.
your salmon looks delish and i will try to roll with it too next time 🙂
Cedar plank salmon is seriously the BEST way to cook salmon! It make it so flavorful!
And I’m happy for you that you decided to go with the flow, life is much happier that way 🙂
Cooking pancakes without being able to actually eat said pancakes – most selfless thing EVER!
way to roll with it! i have a rough time with that to, so i can definitely empathize. good for you for stepping out of your comfort zone.
gotta love grandparents!!! 🙂
hey you, i’m finally back and caught up on your last couple posts…can’t wait to go to urth cafe for the overpriced coffee…i’m sure it was worth it! the most i’ve paid in LA is $6 at LAMILL (best cafe ever) but worth every sip! def want to hear about your lunch too…how funny w the paparazzi and all, that park always draws attention!
OOXOXOXOX
We are definitely going to hit up Urth Caffe…you are going to love it!!
Sometimes I stress out about eating out a lot, but in the end (when I have the presence of mind to realize it) it’s more about the company than the food itself. That being said, sorry your tacos were no good! They look so yummy.
I feel like a 5-year-old, but I really want chocolate chip pancakes right now!
Haha this made me laugh. You make her pancakes and then Maya wears a “I heart dad” shirt. Life can be so unfair! haha
heck yeah for just rolling with it…it’s what i’m trying to consciously do now too
ummm and i’m superjealous you have a coffee place that serves almond milk???? i need one of those!!
what a fun blogger meet up! sorry your food wasn’t better. i’ve had some interesting/yummy food at loteria before but of course for me, it’s all about the chips when it comes to mexican food 🙂
OMG i WISH i had known that remember me was going to end like that! i really did like the movie until the end and then it was like, oh man wayyyyyy to much for me. im glad you guys enjoyed it though!!