Puesto Mexican Street Food, La Jolla, CA

my family at the window bar

Um, we just had THE BEST lunch ever. I was invited to bring in my family to Puesto Mexican Street Food, located in downtown La Jolla. They're an upscale fast-casual eatery that serves real authentic Mexican food made from whole, wonderful ingredients. All meals are made to order at a walk-up griddle in front of us, customer, and are uniquely curated based on the diner’s tastes and desire.

the prep station counter

Puesto is family-owned and operated by brothers, Eric and Alan Adler, native San Diegans and La Jolla High School alumni. They have been open for just 4 months and have rave reviews all around town. I am so glad I was offered to review them because we may have never known of them. We don't get to venture out to La Jolla to eat very often so this was a real treat. We went on a nice Sunday afternoon for lunch. A treat it was too, we have never had tacos SO GOOD. If you want to read more, continue on...

First of all, like with all places I go to, I check them out online, their menu, atmosphere, location, reviews...they seemed pretty cool, casual relaxing style, which we like.

So let me talk about how to order at Puesto. Have a look here first, you're going to either order tacos, rice bowls or salads. Then you choose your Guisados -meats, they have carne asada (steak), pollo al pastor (chicken), pork or camarones (shrimp) and salmon or vegetarian options such as papas con rajas (potatoes and chiles), papas con soy chorizo (potatoes and soy chorizo), huitlacoche (corn truffle), flor de calabaza (zucchini flower) and nopales asados (cactus).

Next you'll chose your toppings such as ting (hibiscus, chipotle onion), grilled pineapple, and jalapeno. They offer sides of black beans, rice, corn, chips and guacamole and tortillas. For the sweeter stuff they have frozen horchata and mexican street cups of fruit and veggie sticks with lime, chili and sea salt. They have lots of drinks to choose from too.

Whew, I hope I haven't lost you. But if you need help deciding, they offer a recommendation menu, which is how I ordered. No decisions to be made except meat or veggie style.

So their prices are fair, you can get 2 tacos for $6.45 or 3 for $8.95, the meat and rice bowl are $6.95 as well as the salads and meat add ins are extra. Everything else is a la carte, but let me tell you, these flavors are worth it.

Their menu cards is how you place your order, circle what you want and how many. Then you walk up to the counter where you can see your order being freshly made right in front of you. This is where I got lost, trying to take pictures of the process, help the kiddos with their orders that I didn't even get to watch mine being made. oops. So would you believe all three of our kiddos wanted salad. This is easier to order, they chose shrimp and carne asada, then you pick what lettuces and other veggies to add, at the counter and they mix it all up for you, and these are big salad bowls you guys.

salad w/shrimp on the side

my shrimp, carne asada and vegetarian tacos

So I ordered from their recommendations menu, shrimp, carne asada and vegetarian tacos. I love that they have different ingredients like cactus, hibiscus and zucchini flower. I think all three of my tacos had some of each in them. Oh and yes they are gluten free friendly. Mr. ordered a carne asada and shrimp taco and something else from his own choosing, but I forget what all he had on them (I meant to take pics of each menu card but felt rushed). I also wanted to try their mexican street cups and frozen horchata but forgot to mention it. Next time.

Mr.s tacos

So, we sat at the counters at the windows (see top photo of my kids and Husband eating), they have the cutest little wooden stools to spin on, I mean sit on. Then we all dug in. Oh. My. Gosh. the oohs and ahhs coming from our full mouths, wow. Every bite was so flavorful, I kept telling Mr. to try this one, try that one...he even agreed, he says they were the best shrimp tacos ever. The kids gobbled up their salads too.
Wow I could go on and on, but I've got lots of photos to share too, this may be my longest post yet. =)

All in all, it was a great lunch, we got there just before a crowd came in, parking was rough, there's plenty of areas to park, but finding a spot in a tourist haven town is crazy. We parked a couple blocks away which gave us a nice walk and I stumbled upon a cupcake shop that serves gluten free cuppies. =)

Your reward for reading through my book, is another book of all my Puesto photos, click here to check them all out.

Please follow along with Puesto on their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Yelp and Blog.

Puesto
1026 Wall Street
La Jolla, CA 92037
phone 858.454.1260
Monday – Sunday 11am – 9pm
http://www.eatpuesto.com

leaving La Jolla

*Disclosure* I wrote this review for "Mommy? I'm Hungry!" about Puesto. The product(s) in this review were provided to me free of cost for the purpose of conducting my review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are not influenced by monetary compensation. Much thanks to Eric and Alan Adler for having us and my PR for inviting us.

-closed- Old El Paso "Family Taco Night"‏: MyBlogSpark Review and Giveaway

With the return of weekday routines, it may be difficult to gather the family together for a home-cooked meal every night. Amidst the hustle and bustle of a busy schedule, look to Old El Paso to bring fun to your dinner table and spice things up with a "Family Taco Night" fiesta!

Why not set aside time at least once a month for "Family Taco Night?" Old El Paso offers a variety of seasonings, sides, sauces, and meal kits as simple solutions for a night of catching up with the family over a delicious taco dinner. To satisfy your Mexican style cravings, the Old El Paso® line up of products includes chilies, dinner kits, dips and sides, enchilada sauce, refried beans, seasoning mixes, shells, taco sauce and salsa. The Old El Paso taco seasoning mix selection includes flavors like Burrito, Cheesy Taco, Chili, Fajita, Taco, Mild Taco and even a seasoning with 40% less sodium.

For a fun twist on Taco Night, be sure to try one of the delicious recipes below.
*Double Layer Tacos -Old El Paso Favorite Recipe! Layered taco shells and tortillas create the "double" in beef- and bean-stuffed tacos.
*Chicken Ranch Tacos -Need a new idea for a 30-minute dinner? Here's a twist on tacos using precooked chicken.

To keep your family laughing at the dinner table, have some fun with El TacodorTM, the world´s only Family Taco Night Game. With El Tacodor, your family can share a special night at home by challenging one another to quick fire trivia, wordplay and pantomime. Visit http://www.eltacodor.com/ today to download instructions, a score card, and a challenge sheet for even more fun on Family Taco Night!

In addition, my readers can visit http://www.myblogspark.com/uc/main/b069/%20to download a printable coupon for $0.60 off any two Old El Paso products today!

We were sent an Old El Paso "Family Taco Night" prize pack which includes a packet of original Old El Paso Taco Seasoning, a Cactus Chip and  Dip Serving dish, a set of 3 Fiesta Chili Pepper serving dishes and a $10 gift card to purchase our taco fixings. We love tacos here and they're so easy. I have lots of different recipes on my blog if you want more ideas. I think tacos are in order for this next week, so I can't wait to use these cute dishes!

oops, the giftcard fell on the floor & I didn't realize it was missing from the photo

One "Mommy? I'm Hungry!" reader will win a Old El Paso "Family Taco Night" prize pack also!

 

(This is a must before any extra entries will be accepted!)

1. All you have to do is share what kind of tacos you like! What do you put in them?

Earn up to 4 extra entries by showing some "Mommy? I'm Hungry!" bloggie ♥ with these rules*!
-Please post yourself 1 separate comment for each, letting me know which ones you do. Thanks!

2.  Follow me on Twitter @MommyImHungry and tweet about this giveaway (use my Tweet button, with these tags @MommyImHungry and #myblogspark with this URL in your Tweet)

4.  Follow along with this blog (please tell me how you follow, GFC, RSS Feed, etc...)


5.  Follow along with my Facebook Fan Page (leave first name, last initial)
6. Follow along with my recipe blog if you're hungry!

This Giveaway ends: 11:59 pm pst, Wednesday, December 1, 2010.
Please read the fine print:
- Open to USA
- Please leave your email
- Winner(s) will be notified by email and announced on my Blog, Twitter and FB soon after
- I will choose my winner(s) using Random.org
- Winner(s) will have 72 hours to claim their prize before a new winner is chosen
- Important! Please read about my giveaway rules HERE*

Be sure to check out my other giveaways too!

I wrote this review for "Mommy? I'm Hungry!" about Old El Paso. I received free product to keep for this review from Old El Paso through MyBlogSpark. All opinions for this review are that of myself & family. Product info & stock images provided by PR or Co.

*Please follow my recipe blog at it's new URL http://mommyimhungry.blogspot.com/

Cooking Light Complete Meals in Minutes: Review and Giveaway for 2 Winners!

I was sent a copy of Cooking Light Complete Meals in Minutes for review.

Today’s home cooks hunger for recipes that have it all—fast, easy, delicious and healthy. Enter Cooking Light Complete Meals in Minutes, a new cookbook that allows cooks to choose exactly how much time they want to spend in the kitchen—whether it’s 15, 20 or 30 minutes—and find the right recipe in a snap. Flexible enough to fit into anyone’s busy schedule, Cooking Light Complete Meals in Minutes ($29.95) is on sale now.

This ring binder recipe collection is brought together by Cooking Light magazine’s renowned Test Kitchen professionals and dietitians with the adage that there’s no need to sacrifice taste, nutrition or quality for speed. Brimming with over 700 amazing recipes—including savory main dishes, appetizers and beverages, salads, soups, and sandwiches—dinnertime will never get boring.
The book’s easy-to-follow, engaging design includes:
-500+ color images
-Icons identifying each dish as a 15-, 20- or 30-minute recipe
-Complete nutritional analysis for every dish
-Lay-flat ring binder format for easy navigation
-Cooking Class how-to tip boxes and photos showing readers the fundamentals of healthy, quick cooking

I decided to try their recipes for fish tacos and a smoked fish (tuna) spread, since I had both freezer packed and needed to be used. The smoked fish spread was really easy to put together, all in the food processor. It tasted pretty good, but I just get myself to like smoked fish. My oldest liked it, and I didn't even tell her what was in it, but she guessed tuna! The fish tacos were good too, these were pan cooked, and with the simple slaw it was quick to make also. This book has SO many recipes, info, tips and more, I've got my eye on a few other recipes to try.

Smoked Trout (yellow fin tuna) Spread-

smoked trout (smoked yellow fin tuna in my case)
fat free cream cheese
red onion
lemon juice
extra virgin olive oil
horseradish
Dijon mustard
salt
hot sauce

Fish Tacos with Cabbage Slaw-
green cabbage
tomatoes
green onions
cilantro
lime juice
extra virgin olive oil
salt
tilapia
chili powder
corn tortillas
-diced avocado

TWO "Mommy? I'm Hungry!" readers will win a copy of Cooking Light Complete Meals in Minutes also!

 

 

(This is a must before any extra entries will be accepted!)

1. All you have to do is share what your favorite Light recipes are.

Earn up to 6 extra entries by showing some "Mommy? I'm Hungry!" bloggie ♥ with these rules*!
-Please post yourself 1 separate comment for each, letting me know which ones you do. Thanks!

2.  Follow me on Twitter @MommyImHungry

3.  Tweet about this giveaway (use my Tweet button, or use these tags @MommyImHungry with this URL in your Tweet)

4.  Follow along with this blog (please tell me how you follow)


5.  Follow along with my Facebook Fan Page (leave first name, last initial)

6.  New here today? Welcome! Please tell me how you found my blog!

7. Follow along with my recipe blog if you're hungry!

This Giveaway ends: 11:59 pm pst, Friday, November 26, 2010.
Please read the fine print:
- Open to USA
- Please leave your email
- Winner(s) will be notified by email and announced on my Blog, Twitter and FB soon after
- I will choose my winner(s) using Random.org
- Winner(s) will have 72 hours to claim their prize before a new winner is chosen
- Important! Please read about my giveaway rules HERE*

Be sure to check out my other giveaways too!



I wrote this review for "Mommy? I'm Hungry!" about Cooking Light Complete Meals in Minutes. I received free product to keep for this review from Cooking Light. All opinions for this review are that of myself & family. Product info & stock images provided by PR or Co.

*Please follow my recipe blog at it's new URL http://mommyimhungry.blogspot.com/

Cinco de Mayo Eats

Cinco de Mayo today! What will you be having to celebrate with? I'm thinking tacos or something of the like. I've gathered some of my delicious eats that would be great to have, what can I get ya? Just click a title to get the recipe.

Beer Battered Fish Tacos


Pork Carnitas and Pico de Gallo


Crock-pot Tacos


I forgot the Mexican rice!



Tortilla Chicken Soup


Taco Seasoning Mix


Fiesta Brownie Cups


Mexican Wedding Cookies


enjoy,

Beer Battered Fish Tacos with Baja Sauce

Some years ago I finally took the plunge and tasted a fish taco. The thought of a piece of fish in a taco weirded me out, but have never been a big fan of a piece of fish, unless battered & fried. Well, I fell in love, and now it's the only thing I order from a Mexican taco shop. This is one food I could never get bored with! I did some searching for a recipe and found this one from Lori of Recipe Girl, which is also the same as the one here. I've only made these twice in the years, only because my family won't eat fish. My oldest ending liking these so yay, 1 for my team!

Anyways, I used frozen, thawed tilapia for mine, cutting each filet in half lengthwise. I served this up with some mexican rice and refried cheesy beans. I kept them warm in the oven as I fried each batch.

click to get a better view

Note: this recipe does need 2/3 hours marinating time!

BEER BATTERED FISH TACOS W/ BAJA SAUCE

BAJA SAUCE:
½ cup sour cream
½ cup mayonnaise
2 tsp Mexican seasoning (I used this one)
1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced
¼ cup fresh lime juice
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro

TACOS:
1 lb firm white fish fillet, cut into 1½” pieces
12 oz bottle Mexican beer
1 Tbs Mexican seasoning
vegetable oil
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp granulated sugar
½ tsp baking powder
1 cup Mexican beer
½ tsp hot sauce
12 fresh corn tortillas, warmed
1 medium lime, cut into wedges
¾ cup shredded queso blanco or Monterey Jack cheese
3 cups shredded green cabbage
½ red onion, cut into strips

1. Prepare Baja Sauce: Combine all ingredients; stir well. Refrigerate until ready for use.

2. Place fish in a heavy-duty large plastic ziploc bag. Combine bottle of beer and Mexican seasoning in a bowl. Pour into ziploc with fish; seal and chill 2-3 hours.

3. Pour oil to depth of 1½” in a deep skillet or Dutch oven. Heat oil to 360° F.

4. In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, sugar and baking powder. Whisk in 1 cup beer and hot sauce. Drain fish, discarding marinade. Coat fish in batter.

5. Cook fish in batches about 4 minutes, or until done. Drain on paper towels.

6. Place 2-3 pieces of fish on each tortilla. Squeeze lime wedges over fish; top with remaining ingredients. Drizzle with baja sauce and serve immediately.

Servings: 6

enjoy,

Steak Tacos and Pico De Gallo

Mmm, tacos! I usually do chicken, but had a craving for steak. I used a simple thin sliced cut of meat, marinated in some fajita seasoning with some red onion and cilantro in oil. Grilled it up, sliced and served with shredded lettuce, sour cream and pico de gallo in a tortilla. I would've put some avocado in there, but I was not about to pay $2 for 1 small avocado!

My Pico De Gallo:

3 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced fine
1/2 large red onion, diced fine
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 TBL crushed garlic
salt & pepper to taste
juice of lime

Combine all, and allow to sit in the fridge for a few hours.

we love our tortilla pan -a cast iron griddle

-closed- Mrs. Renfro's Gourmet Salsas: Review and Giveaway for 2 Fans!

Mrs. Renfro's Gourmet Salsas are perfect for finding ways to feed your family healthy, delicious and quick meals while getting the best value for your money.

All salsas are:
· Gluten-free and Fat-free
· Made only with natural ingredients
· Found in most leading grocery and specialty food stores in all 50 states, Canada, the Caribbean and the U.K.
· Perfect for today’s busy and cost-conscious families looking for short-cuts in healthy meal preparation
· Every 16 oz. jar features a simple and tasty recipe right on the label for creative and healthy meal ideas.
· Easy on the pocketbook, costing about $3.49 a 16-oz. jar

Mrs. Renfro’s salsas come in a variety of flavors that are sure to please any taste bud ranging from mild to sweet heat to hot to scary hot. Flavors include: include Peach, Roasted, Garlic, Habanero, Mango Habanero, Raspberry Chipotle, Black Bean, Pomegranate, Tequila, Chipotle Corn, Green and award-winning Pineapple, among others. Its newest salsa is also its hottest – Ghost Pepper – made with the world’s hottest chile pepper, Bhut Jolokia., and is also a 2011 Scoville Award Winner.

As a community minded company, in 2007, Renfro Foods launched its Pink Lid Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign. Six of its top-selling salsas - Mango Habanero, Green, Black Bean, Raspberry Chipotle, Habanero, and Peach - were all re-fitted with pink lids and new labels. A portion of the sales were given to organizations and institutions involved in cancer research. To date, the company has donated $45,000 to cancer research.



Additionally, Mrs. Renfro’s salsa was named among the “125 Best Packaged Foods for Women” by Women’s Health magazine.

I was able to choose which flavors to review, so I went with salsas not so hot. So the Peach, Garlic, Roasted and Pineapple salsas were sent. After looking at their site in their recipe files, I chose to make thier peach salsa chicken. I served it over rice with extra salsa (I reserved), it was really good! Even smelled great grilling.

 Grilled Peach Salsa Chicken
4 boneless chicken breasts
1 jar Mrs. Renfro's Peach Salsa


Place 4 boneless chicken breasts in container and pour 1 jar of Mrs. Renfro's Peach Salsa evenly over it. Let marinate overnight in refrigerator. Grill over medium heat, turning occasionally until done.


Another time we just snacked on the Garlic salsa with chips. Even my  7 year old loved it. I came in and asked, "Where'd all the salsa go?", the dish was empty! She said she couldn't help it, it was "soooo good!" hahaha
I used a cup of that garlic salsa in the recipe for crockpot tacos the other night. Tonight we're having the leftover crockpot tacos made into nachos, and I'm going to use some of the roasted salsa in some melted cheese sauce. These salsas have my family's approval!


You may also find them on Facebook and Twitter too!

TWO "Mommy? I'm Hungry!" readers will win 4 Mrs. Renfro's Gourmet Salsas of their choice!!

 

(This is a must before any extra entries will be accepted!)

1. Become a MIH Blog Follower with either Google Friend Connect or by email and visit their site tell me which 4 flavors you'd choose if you won.

Earn up to 3 extra entries by showing some "Mommy? I'm Hungry!" bloggie ♥ with these rules*!
-Please post yourself 1 separate comment for each entry, Thanks!

2.  Follow me on Twitter @MommyImHungry and tweet about this giveaway URL
(use my Tweet buttons above or below this post)

3.  Become a MIH Facebook Fan

4. Become a follower of my recipe blog if you're hungry



This Giveaway ends: 11:59 pm pst, Thursday, January 19, 2011.
Please read the fine print:
- Open to USA and Canada!
- Please leave your email
- Winner(s) will be notified by email (check junk files!) & announced on my Blog, Twitter & FB soon after
- I will choose my winner(s) using Random.org
- Winner(s) will have 72 hours to claim their prize before a new winner is chosen
- Important! Please read about my giveaway rules HERE*

Be sure to check out my other giveaways too!


I wrote this review for "Mommy? I'm Hungry!" about Mrs. Renfro's Gourmet Salsas. I received free product to keep for this review from Mrs. Renfro's Gourmet Salsas PR. All opinions for this review are that of myself & family. Product info & stock images provided by PR or Co.

Cholula Hot Sauce

Let me tell ya, it's been madness around here, which is why I am late getting this posted for you all. Ack, so sorry.

Cholula hot sauce is a blend of piquin and arbol peppers, ground into a delicate pepper paste then combined with seasonings and natural ingredients. The result is a flavorful hot sauce with a balanced heat for which it is referred to as "The Flavorful Fire". Cholula is great on just about anything from eggs, burritos, tacos, pizza, wings, soups, burgers, nachos and more.

Cholula recently encouraged fans to submit pictures of their favorite game day recipes to their Twitter page, with the hashtag #choulamadness, for a chance to be featured as their “Recipe of the Week” on their Facebook page to win great Cholula prizes.

Cholula is available in four flavor varieties:
- Original
- Chipotle
- Chili Garlic
- Chili Lime

We were sent a 4-pack of Cholula Hot Sauce to use in a recipe to share. BUT let me tell you, I have come up with a recipe for Cholula Chicken Burgers that I want to try out, but I made a recipe from their website for a cholula chorizo pizza. I was craving pizza so I made that, we already had burgers before I got my pack. I'll still do the burgers, maybe next weekend and share them on my Facebook, so watch for those.

So Cholula is the choice of hot sauce in our home, Mr. LOVES it. He's always happy when I get to do reviews for them. He loves the original flavor, I love the garlic one and the lime one on fish tacos.

The recipe for the Pyzanos Pizzeria Cholula Pizza I made can be found here. Mr. loves cholula and chorizo so I knew he'd like this pizza and he did. I went ahead and made a gluten free crust and minused the chorizo for mine, it too was really good and spicy.

Be sure to follow along with Cholula on their Flickr, Twitter and Facebook.


*Disclosure* I wrote this review for "Mommy? I'm Hungry!" about Cholula. The product(s) in this review were provided to me free of cost for the purpose of conducting my review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are not influenced by monetary compensation. Product info & stock images provided by PR or Co.