Restaurant Wars DFW - The Quest for Tex-Mex

As you may have read in my last post, I have been looking for good, non-chain Tex-Mex in the DFW area. I had tried a number of places (see "The Search for Tex-Mex") and none of them were really exciting. I left off one, Primo, and it was again, okay. Not bad but nothing stellar. However, today, I found a wonderful place - Mariano's. I had passed by it, can see it from the highway, since I've been up here but it was in a slightly sketchy area. After the past failures, I decided sketchy or not, I've got to try it. The first clue this place had potential was the number of cars in the parking lot. At least double the cars any other place has had. I went in and sat in the bar area (easier when you're by yourself - at least they generally have a TV with sports on). On the way in, there is a big plaque sign noting that this was the home of the 1st frozen margarita. Ok...I'll play. I basically am not a tequila fan and therefore not a margarita fan but I figured "when in Rome". The "Wanda" margarita was the special of the day and it was half-price. I got one and it was really good. The kicker of knowing I was in a good Tex-Mex place was the salsa. They had 2 of them, one regular and one roasted. OMG!! They were both delicious but that roasted one was awesome! I had mixed fajitas for my meal and they were very good, very flavorful. Flavor is what I was missing from the other places and I'm so glad to have found it. Now, there was one drawback to this place - it is a bit pricey. Not horrible but not something to go to daily. I believe, now that I have found this place, that I can find a good hole-in-the-wall place that is a bit more reasonably priced but I'm so happy to know that I have a place to go now.

Restaurant Wars DFW - The Search For Tex-Mex

I'm on a quest. A quest for good Tex-Mex. Being from Austin, I've had access to some seriously awesome Tex-Mex. I guess maybe I might be a bit spoiled as I'm having a terrible time finding good TM. It's not bad, it's just - meh. Locos breakfast tacos - okay food, fairly decent salsa. Nothing exciting. Lupe's Cantina and Bar (Comida con sabor) - Yeah...not so much. Queso meh. Salsa ok. Refried black beanTa dip actually pretty tasty. Tacos ok. Nothing exciting. Mercardo Juarez - Salsa was cooked and tasted like Italian tomato sauce. Carnitas were tender but had no flavor. Guacamole was ok. Mi Cocina - So far this is the best place I've been. Salsas were pretty good. Chips were nice and lightl. I had shrimp and bacon quesadilla. It had some great crema/cheese in it. Still not the best but the only one I'd go to again. I was trying to not go to chain restaurants but I needed good salsa so I went to Chuy's. I'm super glad there is one up here. I'm also going to have to hit up Torchy's. Got to go with what you know. I'm still going to try new places as I'm determined to find one. There has to be one. Somewhere up here. On a different note, I did find a great Peruvian restaurant. Food was really good and had great flavor. I will definitely go back.

Restaurant Wars DFW - The first two weeks

Since I'm working and living up in Arlington in the Dallas - Fort Worth area, I get to try a bunch of new restaurants. I figured I would do reviews and pass them along to you all. But I'm only going to do the laces that aren't in the Austin area. So let's get started. I will use a scale of 1 to 5 for my ratings with 1 the lowest and 5 highest. Boomer Jack's - Lincoln Square: There are a number of locations around the area but not sure if full on chain restaurant. I sat at the bar and the bartender, James, was very nice and attentive. Good beer selection with a lot of local and other craft beers. They had the Rangers game on so I enjoyed being able to watch. Food was pretty good. I had an avocado chicken club salad. The lettuce was cut a little small but the flavor was there. Overall, I would give this place a 4.0. Will definitely go back. The Keg Steakhouse and Bar - Arlington Highlands: This is a chain restaurant but not one I was familiar with. Nice atmosphere - looks like a fun date place. Again, I sat at the bar (it's just easier when you're by yourself). Jesse was the bartender and he was super nice! Very helpful and fun to talk to - talked about the area and fun things to do. I had a very nice glass of red wine and decided steak was the way to go for dinner. And I'm so glad I did! Excellent steak - cooked perfectly medium, very tender, and loved the bonus bleu cheese crust. Jesse recommended the twice baked potato for a side and that was a great choice. This restaurant gets the top score of a 5. I couldn't find anything wrong with it at all. Piccolo Mondo - Lamar and Collins: This restaurant is in a strip shopping center with Whole Foods as the anchor store. The décor is nice but simple. They have music almost every night. I enjoyed piano and saxophone when I was there. I also got to enjoy Emily, the very nice bartender. She was very nice and helped me make my dinner choice along with letting me sample a couple of wines. I also got to talk to the owner who is from Siena which is one of my favorite cities in Italy. Really delicious food! I had orecchiette arrabiata with Italian sausage. I decided I needed some limoncello after dinner and that was good. They had my favorite Italian dessert - cannoli so I had to order one to go. Had that today and it was good! I give Piccolo Mondo 4.8. Rio Mambo - Lamar and Ballpark Way; Pretty outside of the restaurant but it is kind of bland inside. Again, went to the bar area but no seats directly at the bar so had to sit at a little table. As you can't really tell from the name, this is a Tex-Mex restaurant. I got chips and salsa quickly. The red salsa was ok and the green was much better and spicier. Service could use some help. My waitress came over and I asked for water and I asked about a couple of beers. She brought me tastes of the beer. When she returned, I told her my beer choice and asked again for water which had not come and I also ordered an appetizer. My food came but no napkin/silverware brought. Had to ask one more time for water. I finally got that and then ordered my entrée. I ordered tacos al carbon. They were pretty good. Honestly, the chips and my beer were the best part of the night. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't all that. I might try them again and sit somewhere else. However, my rating for this particular trip is 3.5. That is all for the first installment of Restaurant Wars DFW!!

Ideal Protein - Is it ideal for me?

On 2/24/16 I started a new eating plan, Ideal Protein. How did I get to this point? I tried the Whole 30 diet and I gained weight. I went to the doctor for my annual girl visit and had to do my least favorite thing, weigh. OMG! The scale reading scared the crap out of me. It was a weight I thought I'd never see and one I never had seen. This was during my whole 30 experience. So I asked the doctor what I could do as I'm at my wits end, last straw, rock bottom. Her options were surgery or Ideal Protein. Surgery isn't going to happen. Most of the people I've seen that have had it done gained their weight back because they didn't learn to eat right. So no...not for me. I said let's look at the Ideal Protein plan. I looked everything over and was a little leery as you have to eat 4 cups of veggies a day and if you know me, you know I don't like a lot of veggies. But I'm determined and I decided I had to go check it out. I went to my initial visit to get started on Monday, February 23. I met Heather, my consultant, and liked her immediately. She's nice and down to earth. We talked about the plan and what was involved. I got all my measurements done and was very happy to see that my doctor's scale was like 12lbs off. But still, need to lose!! I'm in! I got my food and supplements and made a plan for the store that evening. I started on Tuesday. I ate the IP apple oatmeal and made my lunch. I have eaten baby kale, baby spinach, cucumbers, lettuce. It was crazy but I did it. So between salads like that and zucchini, I was getting in my veggies. I had my first weigh in that Friday. I lost 4.4lbs!!! Very exciting! Then there was Sunday. I ate breakfast, a little late as I went to Carnaval the night before, and then had some lunch and went to the grocery store to stocked for the week. I'm shopping, making my way through the store. I'm starting to go to the meat dept and all of a sudden, I feel like I'm either going to throw up, poop my pants, or both right there in meat dept in front of all the poor unsuspecting people shopping there. Deep breaths. I found the closest HEB employee and asked where the bathroom was and high tailed it that direction. I parked my cart, grabbed my purse and my shopping bags, and hauled ass into the bathroom. Luckily, there was only issues from one end. But I didn't feel great the rest of the day. Today, I had such a hard time getting my lunch down...aka veggies. I texted Heather and told her that I don't think I can do this. She gave me a tip and I'll try it tomorrow and see. I'm a little worried. I'm truly determined to lose weight but I may have to find a different way to do it. I'm looking at WW, aka Weight Watchers, and I'm ready for that if I need to be. I guess we'll just have to see how things work out in the next few days. It was going to be tough...I knew that but I don't want to feel bad on top of having to choke down food I don't want to be eating but have no choice because I don't have anything else I'm allowed to eat. Wish me luck and I'll keep you posted.

T-Pellets Update

So I tried T-Pellets. I got them 1st at the end of August and another dosing at the beginning of December. Well, I'm not going to get any more of them. They really did seem to help my workouts and make them better. However, I didn't feel the extra energy or any of the other benefits. In fact, I got a couple of things I wish I didn't get...acne like a teenager and excess hair on my face. Yeah, I know I'm 50 but I don't want a hairy face! Seriously...it's not fun. I was supposed to get energy and lose weight but didn't get those benefits. I will say, though, that I got what seems to be some serious benefit out of my workouts. Sean tried his best to kill me and I was dreading the next couple of days afterward but the surprise was - no soreness. I was wondering if I was really working out hard and flat out asked Sean. I felt like I was but maybe I wasn't. But Sean told me I was so that made me feel great. So no more pellets. I'll see what happens without them. I hope my workouts will continue to be as awesome as they have been. I guess we'll see.

haiku baby

Blue Bell, oh Blue Bell! You left us in despair but the clouds are lifted.

My journey with T-pellets

I know there is no simple thing to do to lose weight. Trust me! I'd have done it by now if there was. However, I do look for things that help. I heard a while back about T-pellets and decided to check it out. I'm going to see Dr. Reid at Restora Austin. I read all about the pellets on the website and heard his own story one morning on 101X. They're supposed to give you more energy, improve your workouts, and hopefully, help you lose weight due to the first 2 parts. I went in for a consultation and it seemed like this is something to try. The pellets are testosterone. They are bio-identical hormones so it exactly like the hormones our bodies produce. However, sometimes our bodies don't produce enough. To start, I had to get a bunch of lab work done. Testosterone, thyroid, glucose, blood count were done. Dr. Reid says that a woman's testosterone level should be between 100-200. Mine was 12. Hmmm?? Guess that means I'm lacking a little. Maybe that's why I don't get the workout results I want and I get frustrated and stop going. Doc says that I'm a great candidate. However, this isn't a miracle pill (pellet in this case). You have to exercise and eat right and get moving. He's done these on people who are surprised to not have any results but they aren't doing anything. He, on the other had, got the pellets, watches what he eats, exercises and he lost 60-80 lbs. Pretty cool. I went in on Monday morning and got my pellets. I have 5 all testosterone pellets placed in my right butt cheek. Yes, it does require some lidocaine with a little slit and the pellets are placed under the skin. It doesn't hurt. It's a little sore now but it's no biggie. I can't swim for a few days. That's ok. I have a dressing on and it comes off in a couple more days. Now, it's not going to be a change overnight. It takes a while. I will lab work done again in a month to make sure my levels didn't get too high. If so, then my pellet dosage will be adjusted with other hormones. This is a great place to write about this and document how it works. I'm really excited!! I'm happy to let everyone know my progress. Wish me luck!!