Are you annoyed with your teen for spending waaaaay too long in the bathroom?
Looking to elicit a laugh from the loo?
Share this with them the next time they text you from the throne, and maybe your teen might reply to you, too:
Bonus: see here, an actual text conversation from teen who received this very emoji and subsequently replied to her mother!!!
I blame it on my dad. It has taken almost a year for Mom to come hang out for a few days all because Dad decided to have foot surgery on one foot, then the other. I know, how selfish of him! Sheesh!!
But, we made it and hoo-doggies, our lunch was good! Or, at least two-thirds of it was.
Bale French Sandwiches is a shop in Mira Mesa, part of the greater San Diego area. The web site mentions how they offer a fusion of cuisines, and I’m discovering that there are a lot of Vietnamese and French shops around this part of town. The small shop was hopping when we stopped by right in the middle of lunch hour- it’s always a good sign when you try a new place and see that it is really busy, right?
Here’s our report:
I was expecting to eat my whole ham sandwich as it was just the right size- about a five inch bun. But noooo, I’m here with Mom, remember. In her mind you don’t order for yourself, you are ordering to share. Mom always gets her way with food… she’s four feet ten inches of a taste testing machine, I advise against getting in her way when it comes to food. There went half my ham, but I did get my share of her shrimp sandwich.
Guess who’s sandwich was the best? Hers. I never would have ordered a shrimp sandwich. A Shrimp Sandwich? Really? It was delicious! Way better than my ham, in fact, there was no comparison. I didn’t care for mine at all. I wonder if it was a different kind of ham than one usually sees in a sandwich shop? I’ll have to ask my Vietnamese friends. We wimped out and asked for our sandwiches without jalapeño, and I regret not asking for extra cilantro like Mom wanted to order. Get the extra cilantro!
The egg rolls, by the way, were also delicious. Our combo meals were around five dollars, each for a hot sandwich, two freshly fried egg rolls and a drink. Mighty cheap for a lunch combo, in my book. And Bale also has a super catering menu, I know where I am going to pick up three different large trays of appetizers for a crowd for under $100- Bale French Sandwiches.
You make Rice bowls!
Rice Bowl with Sriracha Tobiko Sauce
-Preheat grill. Brush the fish with oil on the bottom (the side that will be down on the grill) and the teriyaki sauce on the top.
-Grill tuna on medium heat until just cooked through, about three to four minutes total (ours was less than one inch thick…), no need to flip over on the grill (there- you have just avoided the big mess that usually accompanies grilling fish… you’re welcome).
-Fish can also be seared and served very rare in the middle. “Cooked” ahi is a very subjective term.
-Mix mayonnaise, sriracha and tobiko/masago/sweetfish roe in a small bowl. You can also use pre-mixed Sriracha Mayonnaise… I cheated.
-Serve a portion of the fish over rice and drizzled with the sauce. We served our rice bowls with shu mai dumplings and edamame on the side.
This recipe was inspired by that fabulous food blog DamnDelicious.net, specifically her recipe “Teriyaki Salmon with Sriracha Cream Sauce.” You should visit that site just to ogle her photos and drool over the food ideas. Seriously, go!
While we liked this recipe overall, (International Boy approved but The Boy had to be made to choke it down), both The Husband and I think that we really would have liked this better with salmon.
But I don’t have 50 pounds of frozen salmon.
I have ahi.
So there.
We love our baked chicken around here. This is one of the first dishes my mom taught me to make, and hers is still king in my book. We have a way of preparing it so that it tastes like one of our favorite snack- Snicker Snacks (the same ones I shared with our awesome school security guards, “SnickerWhat’s-its and Thank Yous,” on 2/3/15). I should call it Snicker Snacks Chicken:
This is super easy- In a 9″ x 13″ baking dish, place a quartered chicken (or 8 chicken thighs), skin side up, brush with a mix of 2 tablespoons melted butter and 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, and then sprinkle with onion powder, garlic powder and Lawry’s seasoned salt; bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes, until the skin is nice and crispy.
We like this served with any vegetable side and mashed potatoes, usually. I think these are the best staple seasonings- Penzey’s Toasted Onion Powder and California Garlic Powder, and Lawry’s Seasoned Salt. Honestly, these are what I reach for every day.
But…
I switched up the chicken for today’s New Menu Monday, and tried a simple, easy lemon chicken dish:
Lemon Chicken, from Annies-Eats.com
Bake it long enough, do not be afraid, and you will be rewarded with a lovely crisp skin glazed in lemony goodness. I liked this recipe, even though I overcooked it a bit in the end. I think it is because my thighs were of different sizes. That does sound like a personal problem, but I assure you I am referring to the chicken thighs here. Ha.
The Boy liked the usual “snicker snacks chicken” better, The Husband liked it, International Boy liked it well enough, I gave it a Seal of Approval, “I’d Make This Again” Vote. I really liked the fresh lemon flavor… nice and bright. Yum! I highly recommend following the recipe- do not skimp on the fresh, real lemon zest or juice, and use fresh garlic. They really make this dish shine. Great recipe, Annies-Eats.com!
Just saw this adorableness:
branching out... on a limb 