Family Affair at Cheddars Scratch Kitchen

This past weekend, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen(whom you might remember as Cheddars Casual Cafe) treated my family and I to lunch at their Sugarland, TX location. There's nothing that makes me happier than to spend time with the ones I love, over food and great conversation. Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen is a casual, family oriented restaurant that serves quality food at a reasonable price.

As we arrived, we were escorted by a host to our table where we were greeted by Haley(our server). As we looked around, we could see other families, friends and couples all there sharing a meal(this is probably why I refer to it as a family oriented establishment). Our server was enthusiastic and friendly; partaking in conversation as well as recommending some of her favorite items on the menu to us to try.

Before we could even think, she recommended we start with their Croissants( not on the menu), her excitment and enthusiasm made us decide to have 2 orders of their Croissants. WOH! this girl knows what she's talking about. They may look like your ordinary Croissants in the picture below, but what you can't see is the melted honey butter on them, so good.

Following our indulgent, we ordered our drinks and meals. To drink, as pictured above: Cabernet, Maui Margarita w/ a shot, Frozen Sangria, Coors Light, and the Passion Punch. Having double the number of cooks than any other restaurant, Cheddars Scratch Kitchen invest a lot time in the preparation of meals. Therefore, they invite guests to use the food preparation time to engage in conversation. I appreciated that time, because sometimes you can go eat some place and not find any time between ordering and eating to truly enjoy your company through laughter and conversation.

Speaking of laughter, during our conversation time. My brother noticed a song that was playing softly in the background. As we all quieted down to listen, we realized they were playing Tabu Ley & Mbilia Bel's Tonton Skol; one of our father's favorite songs. We all broke out in laughter, wondering how this song was playing in an American restaurant, while we were there to add to that. That small moment right before the food came was priceless. Now let's get down to the good stuff;

Key West Chicken & Shrimp: Grilled Chicken & Shrimp, topped with a pineapple  pico de gallo over rice. A side of sweet corn & cheesy rice and brocolli 

Dijon Chicken & Mushrooms: Grilled Chicken drizzled with honey dijon, served with mushrooms and a side of fries and green beans.

Grilled Salmon: Hand-cut in house, grilled to order and served atop rice  and a side of mashed potatoes and beans

Steak: Served atop fried onions, served with a side of cole slaw and mashed potatoes with gravy

Chicken Fried Chicken: Hand-battered and served on atop Texas toast with mashed potatoes and gravy, and a side of green beans

Haylie Duff's Sweet Scarletts Grapefruit BBQ Chicken Skewers Recipe

As I reflect on the things that I have been able to do through my full-time job as well as Brunch & Conversation this year, I've learned that it's important to be wonderfully kind to others. I've learned that what you project out into the world is returned back to you in some other similar form. I'll be the first to tell you, sometimes it's not an easy task. Not everyone is going to love you and you won't love everyone, but that doesn't mean you can't be a kind person. I want to encourage you to be more "Wonderful" this Valentine's Day( like these grapefruits that I've been eating for the past month.)

Speaking of grapefruits, I recently received these refreshingly juicy grapefruit in the mail to review. They're from a new Texas brand called Wonderful Sweet Scarletts; which comes from the same company that gave us Wonderful Pistachios & Almonds, POM Wonderful and Wonderful Halos. Sweet Scarletts are grown, harvested and packaged in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. They are fresh and juicy and would go perfectly with a nice salad or as an addition to some delicious meals. The brand recently partnered with actress Haylie Duff and she was able to create this Grapefruit BBQ Chicken Skewers recipe I'm sharing with you. You can purchase these grapefruit at your nearest Walmart, H-E-B, Sam's Club, and Target.

I tried her recipe out (sans wooden skewers) and paired it with a chopped scallion and turmeric fried rice that also had the BBQ sauce mixture. Want to try this recipe? Wonderful Sweet Scarletts is giving one lucky reader a gift basket filled with their Texas Red Grapefruit, recipe cards, a grapefruit spoon, cutting board, grapefruit bowl and an apron. Enter below...

Chicken Skewers:

• Wooden or Metal Skewers
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Handful of cilantro
• Pinch of sea salt & black pepper
• Wonderful Sweet Scarletts 

Grapefruit BBQ Sauce:

• 1 Wonderful Sweet Scarletts Grapefruit, juiced
•  Pinch of grapefruit zest
• 1⁄4 cup ketchup
• 1 heaping tablespoon Dijon mustard 
• 1 heaping tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons scallions or chives, chopped

1. Dice chicken into 1 inch pieces.
2. Slide on to skewers and season with sea salt and black pepper.
3. Grill until chicken is done, or no longer pink in the center. 
4. Baste Wonderful Sweet Scarletts Grapefruit BBQ sauce across each skewer 
and garnish with cilantro. 
5. Garnish with additional Wonderful Sweet Scarletts Grapefruit wedges (optional).

02.08.16 Update: Congratulations Sandra Meaders, the winner of Sweet Scarletts Grapefruit giveaway. Thank you everyone for entering, reading, sharing and commenting.

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Pollo Tropical - Houston, TX

Restaurant:
Pollo Tropical

Location: 
6522 Westheimer Road
Houston, TX 77057

Hours: 
M-Su 10:30a-12a

Ambiance: 
Imagine yourself walking into a beachfront restaurant at one of your favorite locations(or just imagine yourself in Miami, that'll do the trick). As you walk into this establishment, you make way to a refreshing, Caribbean inspired atmosphere that makes it seem as if you're really near a beach. Pollo Tropical brings the beach to the city, offering Caribbean & Latin foods, fast food restaurant style. The restaurant has been growing over the past year, and their expansions include the Houston market. With north & south Houston down, it was a matter of time until they opened a central location. I had the opportunity to eat at this restaurant before it was opened to the public, and oh what a treat. I truly hope that they won't lose their aesthetic like most do.


What I Ate:
I consulted one of the cashiers on what to order(we all know how I get overwhelmed with lots of choices). I knew I wanted plantains and Yuca(no, I'm not kidding, they have those), in addition, I went for the 1/2 Chicken with Yellow rice and a Mango juice with 2 shots(yes, they serve alcoholic drinks).

The food was fabulous, as I enjoyed my environment I kept wondering why no one had thought of it sooner. The idea of bringing the beach to the city, and serving Caribbean food in a "fast food" type of way. Any way, I enjoyed my experience, my food, and the ambiance of this place- And I truly hope they do well and last. Make sure you get out and try it, tonight is their Grand Opening(I might be there, again).

Chicken and Waffles For the First Time

     The past couple of days have been jam packed at work. So many changes and great growth within the team. Today was my supervisor's last day in office, so our director treated us to lunch at Adair Kitchen.

I've always been curious about Chicken & Waffles, so I decided to have a stab at it. Plus it's one of their most popular dishes.

We grabbed a table while we waited and I was facing the widow looking out at the entrance. Something about this place makes me feel at ease, and I've only been there twice!

My Chicken & Waffle came and woh, was it intense. I wasn't sure how to handle it, or myself for that matter. Knife and fork in hand, I cut into the chicken and cut a small portion of the waffle and raised my fork up to my mouth for what would be my very first bite, my very first bite(OH MY GOD).

I suddenly found myself continue. All while I was eating, I looked around at my co-workers' plates and how their food was much healthier than mine and how much color and life their plates had(does that ever happen to you?) I continued to eat, but kept finding myself eating the chicken and waffle separately- something about eating them together reminded me of a chicken sandwich. I somehow wanted to appreciate them both for their uniqueness. 

Once I was halfway, I had to call it quits. I threw in the towel. What, who does that? Who orders Chicken & Waffles and doesn't finish? But seriously, it's so filling. I decided to be honest with myself- after all, if something went wrong I would have hell to pay #sensitivestomachproblems. After maybe about 30 minutes to an hour, I no longer felt full. Magical, if I make it to tomorrow in one piece - I will raise a glass or take off my hat to this Adair recipe.

Stay tuned. . .

Update: Wednesday, June 04, 2014

I drank a small cup of milk last night while I ate the last bit of the chicken and had a little tuna after work. I didn't want to eat a full meal because I knew it would be hard on my tummy if I did. It might sound odd(usually does to most people), but milk settles my stomach- Its some scientific neutralizing stuff(look it up!)

Although, I went to sleep a little scared because my tummy was making all sorts of sounds; I was able to fall asleep and stay asleep until the early morning. I slept well, woke up well rested.

So as promised,

Cheers!