Taste of Mama Sparkles - New Seasonal Salads at Boudin SF!

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I've always been a huge fan of sourdough bread. And Boudin Bakery seems to do it best. I mean, just look at this crab. Who wouldn't want to devour that in one sitting?!

Seriously tasty bread. So, I knew that Boudin had fantastic bread...which also means that their sandwiches are the bomb because of the bread. But, I hadn't tried their salads before. I've never been a huge salad eater. Perhaps it's because of the all the sad, pale iceberg lettuce and wilty cucumber and tomato combinations out there. They just don't taste that great. I like a little substance to my salad, which surprisingly is kinda hard to find.

I was willing to give Boudin's salads a shot though - because if they can make delicous sourdough bread in the shape of a crab, they should be able to make a decent salad, right? Luckily, my suspicions were absolutely correct!

At the San Diego blogger event, Chef Alan (who is awesome by the way), presented four salads to us. Each one was totally unique, and there was not one hint of iceberg lettuce, wilted cucumbers or pale tomatoes to be seen.

Instead, we were treated to spring mix, baby spinich and crunchy romained lettuce. These salads were packed with yummy things like chicken, green beans, goat cheese, beets and mangoes. As a "salad hater" I just could not get enough! These are the salads we got to try:

These are the Mango & Red Quinoa, Bacon, Blue & Beets, Forbidden Rice & Chicken Sesame and Lemony Couscous salads. I loved them all, but if I had to choose a favorite it would be a toss up between the Mango & Red Quinoa and the Bacon, Blue & Beets salads. The mangoes were super fresh with just the right amount of quinoa, red grapes and goat cheese. The house-made citrus vinaigrette was delicous! And how can you go wrong with bacon, blue cheese and beets? The answer is, you can't. This salad was jam packed with hearty goodness, including chicken, green beans, spiced walnuts and ranch dressing.

Needless to say, I will be back very soon for more salad AND for some crab bread! If you try any of these seasonal salads, let me know what you think!

What about you? What's your favorite item at Boudin Bakery?

Home Cookin' Chicken 'n Waffles with Chick-Fil-A

It's no secret that we are huge eaters of all things Chick-fil-A. Our kids seem to think that where there's cows, there's chicken to be had which, in our case is actually pretty accurate.

*Insert obligatory cute pictures here:

There's also this cool thing called the Chick-fil-A Mom's Club which I'm a part of. Aside from getting to offer valuable input and feedback, I also occasionally get treated to yummy goodies. The #DressUpYourNuggets promotion is my opportunity to share with you my best semi-homemade idea to dress up those addictively delicious chicken nuggets. I came up with two different ways to serve CHICKEN 'N WAFFLES because really...is there anything more satisfying?

We'll start with the easy way:

Step 1: Get a box of mini Eggo waffles. Sure, you could make your own waffles, but why on earth would you want to do that? Plus, these are way cuter. And don't forget the Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets!

Step 2: Toast the waffles. You can do that, right? Put them on a plate. You can even make pretty patterns, if you like.

Step 3: Stick some butter in the middle of the waffles, drizzle with your favorite syrup, and eat it all up!

Okay, now for my gourmet version.

This is what you would serve at a party, or if you wanted to make it seem like you have some mad cooking skills. The thing is, it's still totally easy, which is key. Get a load of this:

Seriously? How cute is that?! Okay, the trick here is the adorable mini plate. In this case, I used one from my daughter's play kitchen. Spread the waffle with a bit of butter - honey butter if you wanna be extra fancy, delicately place a chicken nugget on top, and drizzle lightly with syrup.

Enjoy - I know I did.

Taste of Mama Sparkles - At Home with Chick-Fil-A

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So, you know how I crave Chick-fil-A at least once a day? Well, this past weekend we had a super fun Jake and the Neverland Pirates party at our house. Since we were having it in the morning and would be serving breakfast, the only logical choice for food was from Chick-fil-A!

Here's something else - you can order food from their restaurant online and either pick it up or have it delivered to your home! We ordered from the San Diego Sports Arena location, and it was seriously so easy. Just choose your desired date and time, and then you get to pick your food. They've got a variety of different trays for you to choose from, like chicken nuggets, fresh fruit, sandwiches, wraps, salads, packaged meals and desserts. You can also order items individually. Since we were having breakfast, we went for the delicious Chick-n-Mini trays and Fresh Fruit tray. Hubby went to pick them up and the chicken was hot and ready, right on time. Check out our spread:

Yes, Bean is cheering in the background for the arrival of the food.

Love the colorful presentation.

Looks great no matter how you look at it. 

Bean's second helping of honey buttery deliciousness.

Best breakfast ever!

Many of our friends are Chick-fil-A fanatics just like us, so the food was especially appreciated. And while we love going out to eat at the restaurant, it was a special treat to enjoy what we love so much in the comfort of our own home! It was a convenient option for us and really simple to set up. I think it's just as easy as ordering a pizza, but way more satisfying and healthier! You can order food online and check out the menu here. Thank you Chick-fil-A for making our party extra yummy!

*Thank you to Chick-fil-A Sports Arena for providing the food for our party.

Taste of Mama Sparkles - Happy Birthday, Mary See

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Have you heard? Mary See, from the delectable See's Candies is celebrating her birthday this weekend. This is the perfect excuse to go indulge in some chocolate!

Last week, I got to attend a preview event of the new See's Candies at Fashion Valley mall.

Love the fun decor!

The store smells delicious and, as all the See's Candies stores do, resembles Mary See's original kitchen. We were treated to a variety of yummy samples of fine quality chocolate. Good thing I didn't eat dinner!

So many different kinds of chocolates. It's hard to choose just one!

They put us to work behind the counter and had us stuff our own boxes of chocolates! It is much more difficult to pack a perfect box than one would think. It requires exact timing, precision and a bit of up close magic to pull off these moves. I kept at it though, and managed to pull it off.

My "perfectly" packed box of chocolates!

What's your favorite candy from See's? Happy Birthday, Mary See!

Taste of Mama Sparkles - When Life Gives You Lemons...

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Make lemonade! Our new house has a giant lemon tree.

This fruit is actually a cross between an orange and a lemon, which I found out is called a meyer lemon. We also have a smaller tree of regular lemons. So on a warm summer night, Bean requested that we make lemonade and so that's exactly what we did:

Our recipe was pretty simple - 1 cup sugar, 1 1/2 - 2 cups lemon juice and water. It came out quite tasty. I would love to know your favorite lemonade recipes...and also what to do with all these lemons! Leave me your best recipes in the comments!

Taste of Mama Sparkles - Smashburger

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Last month, I had the opportunity to attend the grand opening of the newest location of Smashburger in Kearny Mesa. I went with a friend and we were able to try out anything on the menu (except for the milkshakes, which we were given samples of).

Smashburger is known for their fresh, certified angus beef that's never frozen. The meat is smashed on a flat grill to sear in the juicy flavors. Finally, every smashburger is served on a butter toasted artisan bun and topped with a selection of real cheeses, fresh produce, and top-quality condiments. I had heard so much about their signature San Diego Smashburger so that's what I opted to try. It's loaded with fresh avocado, cilantro and onions, pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, sour cream and spicy chipotle mayo on a torta roll. The combination of flavors was outstanding, making for a very tasty, delicious burger. I also got some smashfries which were equally yummy.


My friend went for the Spicy Baja because she loves jalapeños. It also had pepper jack cheese, guacamole, lettuce, tomato, onion, and spicy chipotle mayo on a spicy chipotle bun. Sweet potato fries are on the side.


We were given samples of the milkshakes, made with Haagen Dazs ice cream. I preferred the vanilla to the chocolate but both were refreshing. The real ingredients in the food really made a difference. These were fresh burgers at their best. We left happy and extremely full and satisfied.

For all you San Diegans out there, Smashburger is giving us a little tour of Chicago for the month of October. The Windy City burger is made with juicy, smashed-to-order, 100% Certified Angus Beef, topped with layers of melted cheddar cheese, haystack onions, lettuce, tomato, and Gulden’s® spicy mustard on a hand-cut pretzel roll. This signature burger is only available until October 31st, so get there now! Check out Smashburger online for more info, locations and to view the entire menu.

Taste of Mama Sparkles - Coco's Bakery Restaurant

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This weekend we decided to hit up Coco's Bakery Restaurant to check out their Seasonal Entrees and desserts. Between the summer heat, a hungry kid and a fussy baby, the air conditioned restaurant with yummy food was a welcome change.

The menu was full of delicious sounding options and scrumptious photographs, but I decided to go with the Fresh Peach Summer Salad:


This was delicious! It came with chicken, feta cheese, walnuts and refreshing peaches, topped with a tasty dressing. The perfect summer meal. This was Hubby's pick:


Prime Rib and Mushroom Ravioli. I didn't try it, but he ate every last bit. We finished our meal with the Fresh Peach Cobbler:


Summery, sweet and so good! We also took a piece of the Fresh Blueberry Lemon Harvest Pie home, but that got devoured before I could get a picture.

This was our first time eating at Coco's and I don't know why we never went until now. The seasonal dishes were just right for a pleasant evening out with the family. To find a location near you, check here And if you live in Oceanside, there's a play area for kids at that location! We'll have to check it out sometime. Enjoy the rest of summer - let me know if you try any of the seasonal recipes and what you think!

Taste of Mama Sparkles - Dove Ice Cream

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Summer time means time for ice cream! There's no better way to cool off on a hot day than with some ice cream, and Dove makes the experience extra sweet!

I love to eat ice cream, but I hate scooping it out of the tub. Even with a hardcore ice cream scoop, it requires so much energy for me to get one scoop out. Then, I find myself scooping another because I don't want all my hard work to go to waste. I end up eating too much ice cream and feeling slightly ill afterwards.

Dove makes it easy to enjoy ice cream with their bars, which come in five yummy sounding flavors. Peanut Butter Swirl with Milk Chocolate, anyone? I tried the Miniatures which turned out to be just perfect. Each box comes with a good amount of these little bite sized ice cream bars and they are only 70 calories. They are just the right size and satisfied my ice cream craving without making me feel sick. They are also wonderful for kids who don't know when enough is enough! Our box lasted more than a week.

The next time I want ice cream, I'm heading across the street to the grocery for some Dove bars. No more struggling with the ice cream scoop for me!

Taste of Mama Sparkles - Happy Canada Day!

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Today is Canada Day and you know I gotta represent! Therefore, allow me to redirect you to an older post of mine that outlines a few Condiment Combos from a Crazy Canadian. Enjoy.

Taste of Mama Sparkles - Pretzel Crisps

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Listen up, because this is a really cool story. A couple of weeks ago, I was procrastinating my time away on Twitter, when I saw someone mention a company called Pretzel Crisps. To me, this had delicious potential, so I looked them up. Further intrigued, I wrote them an innocent tweet inquiring "Where can I find your delicious sounding snack?"

They tweeted back that they were found in the deli section. Furthermore, they said "Give us your address and we'll deliver some to you." Okay then! I did just that and waited impatiently for my snacks to arrive in the mail.

A couple of days ago, there was a knock at my door. I answered it and standing before me was a lovely woman named Jeannette. What's more, is that she was holding these:


Yes, that's two huge bags full of snacks. Personally delivered. I used to tell myself that customer service was overrated, but this is something else entirely. This is beyond cool.


Included were six awesome sounding flavors. My son immediately grabbed the the Garlic Parmesan in the green bag and began chowing down.


Ever since, he's been asking for more of the "yummy green crackers." Yes, they really are yummy. I like pretzels, but they can be kind of heavy. And crackers are good, but they get tedious after a while. Pretzel Crisps are thin, and are sort of a cross between a pretzel and a cracker. Just the right combo if you ask me! You can follow Pretzel Crisps on Twitter - @PretzelCrisps. Anyone want to come over and help me eat some?