Taste of Chico Review

As promised, I am offering my opinion about The Taste of Chico since it was my first time attending the event!

So, my review may not be the best depiction since I started off my day with Champagne Brunch at Bellas unexpectedly thanks to the boyfriend (side-note, you pay $5 over your meal price for champagne, and they are not stingy in ANY way with their bottles, so that was an awesome deal)!

After the champagne, I headed to the event with my friend and her boyfriend. For anyone who has never attended, you pay for different types of tickets. I, of course, bought the ticket that included the most alcohol and food tastings for a prime experience! My ticket included 8 food tastings, 9 alcohol tastings & I think 6 non-alcohol tastings, not like it mattered because I did not use the non-alcohol punches :) My ticket price was $34.

I had initially planned on being VERY choosy with my food punches, but I let go of that mindset once I hit the beer garden. I started off with Aca Taco, which was delightful as always and I got to say hi to my old friend Maritzi who is always a joy to see. We then stopped randomly at some casino stand (Feather Falls I think) and were given a really tasty Chicken Salad, which I proceeded to drop on the ground (NOOOOOOOOO!) fumbling for my camera.

After the salad fiasco, I grabbed a sandwich sample at Broadway Heights which made me feel a lot better. They were sampling their Pesto Chicken sandwich, which is awesome. With three punches down on my card, I decided to stop to grab a bite at Priya which was SO good. I really enjoy Indian food, but wasn't impressed when my bf and I dined there last, so I should definitely give it another go.

After the great food sampling, we decided it was time to head to the Beer/Wine Garden. We got a cute little commemorative cup to place our samples into and take home as a souvenir. 

I stopped to get some Stella Artois (my fave) first, and then tried some different brews that were new to my taste-buds (most of them were not to my liking). We soon found that many of the vendors were not remembering to take the alcohol tickets, so I had about 5 samples of Great White :) I think we were in the Beer Garden for at least an hour or more, which was plenty of time for us to get a good (major) buzz on. I ended up giving away a lot of my tickets in the end, so I definitely got my value out of that portion.

Once we left the Beer Garden, it was probably time to go home (reiterating Champagne consumption), but we had plenty of food punches remaining. I then had the chance to try what ended up being my favorite stop of the day: Upper Crust! 

I used two of my punches at Upper Crust and tried out their salad trio, which was fantastic, and a light berry dessert. After trying the salads, I have decided I must go there for lunch ASAP. I've heard they have an amazing lunch offering, but I've never been, so it is time to check it out!

After Upper Crust, it was time to retreat home for a nap. I neglected my lonely little punches, but I had a great time, a $34 well spent, and will definitely attend next year!

Live Fit Challenge Update, Easy Summer Recipes

I want to first give a little update on the Live Fit Challenge... So, my little tricep injury was a major set-back the first week that I started the program. I got to the point where I could not bend my left arm at all. That sucked. I had to majorly modify the plan and only do the ab and leg workouts. As far as cardio, I just stuck to the elliptical with my hands at my sides. Needless to say, I was ecstatic to regain my mobility and get back in the groove of things toward the end of last week!

On Saturday, I did a full upper body workout and did not have issues with pain. I now make sure I stretch majorly before and during my routine. I'm really enjoying incorporating weight training into my workout plan and I have noticed some small changes, which is nice.

As far as weight loss goes, I think most of the weight I thought I had gained was water weight. Word to the wise: Don't weigh yourself the morning after a weekend long vacation laden with wine and tasty (but unhealthy) food choices! Although I was pretty let down the first morning of this program when I weighed in, it was also kind of nice to lose 5 pounds in 4 days! Geeze. You know it's too awesome to be true. Good 'ole water retention. I'll have a more realistic weigh in tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes. I don't expect a lot of change since I'm likely building muscle mass. I'm more interested in toning than anything else, so I'm okay with that.

Lately I've been trying to get more creative in the kitchen, and I've gotten into a Roasted Red Bell Pepper kick. I don't like roasted peppers out of a jar (they're gross and taste too burnt half of the time). You can easily roast your own peppers by setting your oven to 400 degrees, cutting a bell pepper in half and de-seeding, spraying a cookie sheet with Pam, and letting the peppers cook for about 8-10 minutes (keep an eye on them!). Once you take the peppers out of the oven and let them cool off a bit, make sure to peel off the skin that has hardened and lifted.

Roasted Red Bell Peppers are great on their own in salads and sandwiches, but I've been food processing them up with other pre-prepared items to add some freshness.

I have been loving adding peppers to store-bought jarred marinara (with extra garlic of course). For dinner the other night, I made some whole wheat pasta with chicken meatballs and doctored up marinara sauce:

Last week I made a plain hummus into something homemade (deceivingly) for guests. I took a store-bought Red Pepper Tapenade and food processed with the roasted peppers. The consistency came out like this:

You'll have quite a bit to save for later, but you can place a generous dollop on some store-bought hummus. It was tasty!

On this particular night, I had my best friend over and we were set on making Blackberry Mojitos! On a summer night, there's nothing better, really!

For our Mojitos we used:

1 Shot Premium Silver Rum

4 Mint Leaves

3 Lime Wedges

4-5 Blackberries

Sugar Free Sierra Mist

Crushed Ice

Basically you throw all of the fresh ingredients into the bottom of the glass and mull them together. I don't have any fancy bar tools, so I just used the back of a wooden spoon. The drinks were super refreshing and also really healthy (Approx. 100 Calories each, 115 if you were to eat the berries).

You can substitute blueberries or strawberries and the drink would be just as tasty. It was nice to change things up a bit. 

Lastly, I made a batch of tasty salsa! I love homemade salsa during August-September when the tomatoes are in top condition. My salsa this time consisted of:

1 Garden Tomato

10 Grape Tomatoes

Handful Cilantro

4 Cloves Garlic

1 Garden Bell Pepper

1 Jalapeno

1 Anaheim Pepper

1/2 Medium Red Onion

Juice of 2 Limes

1 Ripe Medium Plum

I processed all of the above ingredients in the food processor until everything was chopped finely. I then coarsely chopped about 7 more Grape tomatoes for extra texture and added salt and pepper to taste.

Pardon the dorky Instagram picture, I guess that's the only one I took. The plum balanced out the spiciness really well and the salsa was very tasty!

For a quick/healthy dinner to go with the salsa, I made quick Enchiladas for dinner:

2 Servings

Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees

2 Frozen Burritos (I used Amy's Organic)

3/4 Small Can Enchilada Sauce

1/2 Cup Fat Free Shredded Cheddar (1/4 cup per burrito)

Add all ingredients in a baking dish and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Bake for 55-60 Minutes or as instructed on Frozen Burrito packaging.

The finished product looks kind of like a blob, but trust me, it's very tasty!

I rambled on sufficiently for tonight, but it is seldom these days that I get the chance to sit down to blog, so I may as well make it count!

This Sunday I am going to The Taste of Chico event and I am SO excited since it's the first time I've been able to go. I'll try to post a review about the value of the event for the cost of the ticket I purchased next week :)