And Now For Something Lighter ...

 Occasionally, I eat something that isn't pizza and isn't super heavy. One of my favorite foods that I don't make but love to buy is chicken salad. I am a recent convert of chicken salads that are not the traditional version, and Chicken Salad Chick is a great place to branch out of my chicken salad ways! One recently opened up near us and we frequent it fairly often, even if its just to pick up a package to keep on hand in the fridge. 

Side note - they also have AMAZING egg salad if that is your jam. It's my jam, and I lean towards that more often than not. 

But this post is about the chicken salad! Some of our personal favs are the Classic Carol (traditional, all around Hungry Fam fav), Olivia's Old South (sweet pickle & egg - kiddo fav), Fancy Nancy (apples, grapes and pecans - Momma Hungry fav), and Cranberry Kelli (cranberries and slivered almonds). 

The Chick 

I usually get The Chick which is a scoop of chicken salad, I always get it on a croissant because it makes me feel fancy, and a side. I just tried their mac and cheese on this visit because kiddo raves about it and while I know it made this meal not as light as the subject led you to believe, it was worth it. I went with the Cranberry Kelli and the croissant is FULL of chicken salad. (See below)

Look at those cranberries 😋

So creamy. So good. 

I'm going to be honest with y'all, I could eat this meal a couple of times a week. We love Chicken Salad Chick and even though it's not local, we are so glad that this chain finally made it's way to Baton Rouge!

Read More

Mule Monday at the Merchant

 Mondays can be full of Monday-ness but when it's a Mule Monday, it's a great Monday! Our crew gets together around once a month to hit up Overpass Merchant, always on Mondays, and on this post I'm going to do minimal talking and let the pics speak for themselves. 

$5 Merch Mules if you are of age and enjoy that kind of thing

Fried Green Beans - the sauce is where it's at.

Fried Chicken Skins, a girl's best friend

Cheese Curds - always a winner 

Read More

Social Coffee

 

Next up on the list of local coffee shops to hit up was Social Coffee. Previously my Social Coffee experience came from them being set up a few times at Counterspace. It was also the reason I kept telling myself that I was going to (finally) hit up The Market at the Oasis. Sad fact, that didn't happen until a few weeks ago after I made this visit. 🙈 Disclaimer: I also did this visit in 2020 because, remember, 2020 taught me there are no rules, so just roll with life!

Social Coffee is located inside Chow Yum Phat, which is also worth your trip to the Overpass area, but more on that another day. 

I had gone to Blackwater Conservation Area and made the mistake of not eating breakfast before I went. It wasn't a mistake at the time though. At the time I thought that my plans would be to go enjoy some nature, get some steps in, and then find a local coffee shop close by to enjoy some breakfast. While I did enjoy some nature (check out the views I enjoyed so much that I went back the next day to do my 2021 goal planning below) and got my steps in, when I googled "coffee shops near me" - I know, I've got some very strategic searching strategies - nothing that came up was really close for my growling stomach. 

Sunrises over a lake win me over every time. 

So how did I end up at Social Coffee which is definitely not near Blackwater Conservation Area you might ask? I opened up my Instagram and saw they were offering 20% off to say goodbye to 2020. If you know me, you know I love a good marketing ploy...and not paying full price if I don't have to. Plus, this would be on my way back to my house to take a much needed shower. 

Unlike my major social awkwardness at Cedar House, I had a lovely conversation with the barista while he was making my latte. We talked about living in Nashville and real hiking vs "fake hiking" (I call what I do "fake hiking" because it doesn't involve actual hiking gear) I told him how I learned the hard way there are two conservation areas in the Central area and one is for real hikers and one is for fake hikers (Blackwater) and how the one for real hikers made me realize I was not made for real hiking. 

I had a conversation with an actual human I did not know, and it wasn't half bad. Maybe I can do this! But what you really want to see, the pictures. 

First up, the coffee. I mean, this is what it's all about, right? In keeping with my plan, I ordered a latte. I also ordered a chocolate chip cookie with sea salt from Counterspace to go with it because nothing says New Year's Eve breakfast like an amazing chocolate chip cookie. 

Love in a cup, and in a cookie. 

And now, the vibe pic. 

Peep that the latte art still strong 

I love the floors and the light fixtures. They also have the good luck cats that you see in many Asian restaurants (I love those) All in all, I feel way cooler by being inside here and also not cool enough to be here at the same time. 

Loved everything about this place. A friendly barista, great coffee, good pastries, a vibe that makes me feel hipper than I actually am. I definitely see a return visit in the near future. 

Read More

Top Burger Alert...From a Pizza Joint

 Warning, I'm about to make a pretty bold statement in this post. The Hungry Fam went to Pizza Byronz and while we obviously got pizza since it's in the name, we grabbed a couple of burgers too. We split all burgers and pizzas between the four of us, and I am going to advocate that we do this more often because I never would have tried the burgers here if we didn't. 

Of course, we had to get a couple of pizzas - a classic Cheese Louise and a square pepperoni and while those were tasty and eye-catching, we're not going to spend too much time talking about them because I want to discuss the burgers. But here's some pizza pics because I feel like they need some love too. Hungry Fam Pizza Fave was the Square Pepperoni. Vote: 3-0 (Momma Hungry declined to vote)

WINNER: Deeper dish crust- more of a Grandma style

Classic crust, great flavor

Let's Talk Burgers...at a Pizza Place

Ok y'all, Pizza Byronz has two burgers on their menu. Both are high quality, and the vote on which burger the Hungry Fam liked was not a unanimous decision. However, one of these burgers I would easily put in the top 5 burgers I've had in this city. So let's talk burgers...

The Classic Double

First up, is the classic double: two patties, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayo on a brioche bun. There's nothing about this burger that I didn't like, except that it feel apart on me. Can you really complain that a burger falls apart? Not really, that just means it has too much yummy goodness for the bun to contain. Brioche makes everything better, but this burger would have still tasted good on any other bun. (Side note - the flat fries - 🤤😋) 

Fun Note: Want to get an amazing burger while saving some cash? Come get this burger on Wednesdays when it's $5. That's a steal and will taste better than whatever fast food burger you were willing to settle on. 

Now...for one of the best burgers I've eaten in a long time, the Flamburger. 

The Flamburger

Looking at the Flamburger, it doesn't look like much. I agree, and to be honest, I almost didn't try this burger. But since I did in order to fully participate in the family vote at the end of the meal, I would have regretted not trying it. 

The Flamburger comes with cheddar, bacon and tomato inside the flambee dough. Our waitress described it perfectly when she said it's like a burger calzone. Y'all, that flambee dough made me want to keep eating the burger. It was full of bacon, full of cheese, full of flavor. I'm going to be honest, I didn't taste the tomato. Side note - I don't really like the texture of tomatoes and usually try to remove them if possible. 

This burger is definitely in the top 5 burgers I've had here in Baton Rouge and I've eaten a lot of burgers. Now that I've had this burger it leaves me with a dilemma for when we go back to Pizza Byronz - do I order pizza or a burger? Y'all know that pizza is my love language, but I think this particular burger could win me over when I'm back here. 

Hungry Fam Burger Fave was the Flamburger. Vote: 3-1 

Have you had the burgers at Pizza Byronz? If so, what did you think? Is there something else on their menu that I would be missing out on if I didn't try? 

Read More

Joe's Bakery

 As I mentioned before, my goal for 2021 is to enjoy as many local coffee shops and bakeries that I can. While I have not had the cupcakes from Joe's Bakery, YET, I did have to share about them because of the amazing cookies and pie that I ordered for New Year's Eve/New Years Day. 

I discovered Joe's Bakery on Instagram and, full disclosure, entered a contest they were running and won! That made the challenge of what to order with my discount a struggle. Every one of their cupcakes sounded amazing, and I knew I didn't need to order all of them for our very small family. (Flash forward - I plan to purchase multiple types for when our book club meets next month so I can sample multiples.) Every cookie seemed like it needed to come home with me, and I LOVE a good chocolate chip pie and they have one of those with potato chips?! Needless to say I ended up with one of the potato chocolate chip pies and some of the peanut butter kiss cookies. 

Let's talk about the pie first, after I show you how gorgeous it was...

Gorgeous! 😍 From first bite, it was obvious this was a homemade pie crust and not the Pillsbury ones that I buy when I attempt to make pies. No shade to the Dough Boy, but you can always taste the love in a homemade pie crust. This is the guy that I rang 2021 in with, and I have zero regrets on that. A little bit salty, a little bit sweet, I spent more time trying to figure out where the potato chips were as I continued eating. It was apparent after multiple slices that they were crushed up VERY fine, so the amount of care put into this pie was quite obvious. I was told by the Hungry Fam that I could order another one anytime I want to, so I guess I need to mentally plan a date for that. 🤣

Next up are the Peanut Butter Kiss cookies. I went with these as my New Year's Eve treat to myself and was planning to save the pie for New Year's Day but opted to ring in the year with both! I mean, why not? I could have eaten all 6 of these cookies in one sitting, but did not. I eventually ended up eating 5 out of the 6 though. 😐

I love these cookies. Literally love these cookies. However, I usually don't make cookies for myself. These cookies were about as close to perfection as a cookie could get. The peanut butter cookie was firm enough to hold but soft when bitten into and the kiss on top was slightly soft to the bite. I'm not 100% sure if those little white specks are sugar, but it seemed like it to my tongue and if anyone wants to buy me a box of these cookies, I will gladly eat them and might need to be reminded to share. 

Have you ordered from Joe's yet? If not, check them out here and order some cupcakes or cookies or a pie ... and then call me to come over and eat them with you! 

Read More

Modesto

 One of the biggest roles that I have in this family, as I was reminded by Mama Hungry today, is to be the official guinea pig of the family when it comes to new and new to us restaurants in the city. One that I have been dying to try is Modesto. I've come to think of Rocca as the upscale version of Lit, and in my head it would seem that Modesto would be an upscale Izzo's. 

Since this isn't a restaurant that the Hungry fam as a whole would try outright together, I knew I was going to have to find a friend or more to join me. I've been waiting for a Tuesday to present itself as all tacos are $3 on Tuesdays, and it worked out that one of our friends who did not join us for our Mule Monday Crew at Overpass Merchant last night was available tonight to join me! 

Since we went straight from work, we hit Modesto not too long after 5 which was still in time for some happy hour specials. One thing we learned for next time, make a reservation. While we got lucky and were able to get a table on their cute, heated outside patio, it was still a chilly day here in the 225. And we would have been bummed if we would have had to pivot after finally making some time to hit this place up. 

We started with the dip trio, which is queso, guacamole, and either black or refried beans. Bonus? It's only $10 during happy hour, and makes for a lovely presentation.

I would like the board and cups these came in, please. TOO CUTE!

It was totally worth it! The salsa (that comes when you sit) was amazing, and spicy. When our trio arrived, I instantly went in for the queso which was tasty, and also spicy. I'm not a fan of guac, but my friend is so that was all hers. The beans were all mine, and I was mentally preparing for those to surprise me and be spicy too (they were not). 

Next up, tacos! All tacos are $3 in honor of taco Tuesday. I opted for 2 tacos since I couldn't decide which one I wanted: the Pescado Baja (fried catfish, cabbage, roasted corn salsa, avocado and crema) and the Cabo Shrimp (grilled or fried shrimp - I got fried - mango pico, avocado, and crema) 

Things I need more of in my life? That mango pico. Y'all, it was delicious! Also, the fried catfish on the other taco was heavenly. It was crispy, but not super crispy, so you still could really taste the flavor of the catfish with the cabbage and the roasted corn salsa. Roasted corn salsa, also something I could use more of in my life. 

Since my friend and I had lots to catch up on, I decided we needed a dessert. I ordered the white chocolate bread pudding and while I shouldn't eat an entire portion of this by myself, I would willingly make myself sick if I needed to in order to finish. 

That's a big kid portion of white chocolatey, bready, caramelly, whiskey sauced goodness. It was so soft and not super spongy like some bread puddings are. It was very light and hot in the middle, which was quite welcome being outside on this cool night. Add to the list of things I need more of in my life, the whiskey sauce. I might start campaigning they need to sell it by the bottle. 

Modesto is a place that really just gets you (as evidenced by the sign below in the ladies restroom). When I listed all of the things I need in my life more, I believe they are best summed up by saying I need more Modesto. Guess I better start keeping my Tuesdays clear. 

Read More

Cedar House Coffee

 

If there is anything that 2020 taught me, it's that we really can't take being able to go somewhere or do something another day for granted. This led me to start my 2021 Enjoy All the Things a taaaaaad bit early. Also, with more time off of work than at work that last week of 2020 and Hungry Jr. staying with Momma and Papa Hungry back at their house, I had some free time on my hands. Seemed like the perfect time to hit up some coffee shops and get some fake hiking in. (Like on not super primitive trails, but trails that are still maybe a tad bit unpaved and less traveled.) 

One of my good friends had recently been to Cedar House, so I made my trek across town to check it out. I was one of those weird people who got there not too long after it opened because I wanted to grab my coffee prior to hitting up one of the BREC parks close by. I've decided that my drink of choice and each of the places this year will be some sort of latte. Whether that be a cool specialty latte or just a regular latte would depend on the place and the day. For Cedar House, I opted for a regular latte...and a chocolate muffin because it looked amazing. (And in my head, I was going to do a lengthy walk through the woods, so I needed sustenance!)

I had brought a couple of books to read with me since there's only so much people watching you can do before people start to get annoyed and think you're creepy. Also, there's not really many people to watch when you get to a coffee shop when they open. Also, as an introvert, I wasn't going to actually strike up conversation with the barista...this is something I'm working on this year though, that whole talking to people thing...partly inspired by the book in the picture. 

For me, the best part of going to a coffee shop and getting a latte is the artistic element of it. I enjoy watching the barista do whatever voodoo they do to make the fancy art in the foam on top. As a very non-artistic person, this impresses me tremendously. Almost to the point that I don't want to drink it...almost. 

Close up of the fancy latte art

While the coffee was good and I definitely want to go back and redeem my super awkward interaction with the barista, coffee shops tend to attract people for the overall vibe. At least that's what I've heard/seen on the internet. And we all know that makes it true. 

I was not expecting to walk in to the modern, sleek furniture and layout when I pulled up to a coffee shop that is pretty much in what looks like a strip mall. My little booth was adorable and my sciatica was grateful for the little pillows there to support my back. The seating area across from where I was sitting was too cute and looked like it was taken from some of the coffee shops I've been to in larger metropolitan cities and plopped in Baton Rouge. 

Cedar House is definitely a "don't judge a book by it's cover" coffee shop. From the outside, I never would expected what I saw when I opened the door. (Which I think was obvious to the barista and the customer chatting it up when I seemed confused as I walked in.) It was a very relaxing and welcoming vibe that makes it a great place to catch up friends over a cup of coffee, be alone with your thoughts, or to people watch while you read a good book. 

Read More

2021: Enjoy All The Things

 

Hello internet friends! At the end of my 2020 Baton Rouge Pizza Tour, I had many people ask me "so what's the plan for 2021?" To be honest, I hadn't really planned for this to be a "thing." Pizza is my favorite food, and it had been a goal for a while now to eat at every pizza place in the city, so when 2020 rolled around I made it a half joking, yet half serious "resolution". 

But it was one of the highlights of a pretty crazy year, and so I began asking people for their thoughts on what I should do for 2021. When I was asked, I had a gut reaction of two things and was trying to decide between them. I did get some really good options from the people, and intend to revisit this list and put the question to the public again next year. 

Some of the options I got were: 

• Bakeries
• Coffee Shops 
• Tacos
• Dumplings, that then led to a category we referred to as "pocket food" (dumplings, empanadas, kolaches, etc.)
• Queso 
• French Fries 
• Burgers 

The two that I had been debating on when asked this question was coffee shops and pastries. I feel like those go well together, and when the first two suggestions I got were bakeries and coffee shops, I knew it was settled. So I'm calling my challenge "Coffee and Cupcakes" because I like alliteration and think it has a nice flow to it. 

While I may not hit up every coffee shop and bakery this year, I will keep you updated on my progress as I try new places and revisit old favorites. Feel free to drop any suggestions you have, as my google search for this year of Enjoy All The Things wasn't was easy to craft as last years. 

Read More

Big John's Fast Fries

 

Happy New Year! Well friends, I took a longer hiatus than I thought I would for the holidays, and promise to catch you up from some of the cool things we ate earlier in December at a later date. But today, I want to tell you about my experience at a new place in town. 2020 wasn't the easiest of years. And while we lost some good restaurants, we gained some new ones to try! Since I had most of the week off of work, I thought I would take a trip across town (when you can't eat inside a place, that's a trek!) to try out Big John's Fast Fries. 

Big John's Fast Fries follows a similar menu model as Raisin' Canes - have a limited number of items, but make them awesome. Big John's has only one item on their menu - French fries. Genius, because who doesn't love fries? (Except for what I would assume is a small handful of people.) So take the fries, but dress them up. Kind of like how we all love a good grilled cheese and then restaurants offer us a "grown-up" version that has some fancier than Kraft singles cheese and maybe some bacon and/or tomato and we fall back in love, Big John's does the same thing with fries. 

So, ordering your fries is a very simple but difficult three step process. Simple because you only have to make three decisions. Difficult because narrowing those three decisions down is TOUGH!

Step 1: What kind of fries do you want? This is the easiest step, in my opinion. I went with the regular fries, but you can also be fancy and order garlic parmesan or spicy pepper fries. (Spicy pepper might happen next time.)

Step 2: Pick your gravy. This is where it gets a little difficult. You have 5 options that all sound amazing. It really comes down to what flavor profile you are in the mood for. 

Creamy Chicken: Shredded chicken in a white gravy - a cross between an Alfredo and a stroganoff 

P'Tator Pork: Sweet shredded pork in a mac & cheese style sauce

Roast Beef: Shredded beef with savory gravy

Pizza: Sausage and pepperoni in a fresh veggie sauce with peppers and onions

Taco Chili: A blend of taco flavors and chili beans

Step 2 was a hard one for me, but I went with roast beef. Shocking, right friends? Many of you would have expected me to get the pizza fries. Fooled you! 

Step 3: CHEESE ME! Y'all know I love cheese. This was the hardest step for me. The cheese options are mild cheddar, sharp cheddar, mozzarella and pepper jack. For me it was a tossup between mozzarella and pepper jack, so I asked which cheese they would recommend. When they said pepper jack, I didn't need to debate anymore. I went with the experts and go the pepper jack. 

So, how good were these fries? Well, let's just start with me telling you that I enjoyed them in a strip mall parking lot. Thanks to Covid, I couldn't go inside the restaurant and since I live about 20 minutes away, I was very concerned about the fries getting soggy by the time I got home. So I pulled over into a strip mall parking lot and dug in!

How cute is this box?! Also, how dusty is my dashboard? Don't judge. 

The finished product on first opening

It may not look like much, but y'all ... that little box was JAM PACKED with flavor. When I say it tasted like poutine on crack, I mean it. The pepper jack really takes this thing to the next level. The roast and gravy was like it had been sitting in a crockpot forever (or like 10 hours or so) and was so tender and the flavors reminded me of when my grandma would make us roast and rice and gravy for multiple meals a week growing up. It was heavenly. I didn't need to eat the entire box, and probably shouldn't have since I was beyond full with just half of the box but I wasn't going to let those fries get soggy and that gravy and cheese go to waste. Oh no, I did my part for the good of everyone to leave no fry behind. 

One thing I didn't get was the dessert fries. I know, I was also like "DESSERT FRIES?!" I'm intrigued, very intrigued. But considering ordering savory fries was decision overload, I couldn't make a decision on dessert fries in the same thought process. Guess it means I have to go back, right? 

If you haven't been to Big John's yet, go. Don't wait for another invitation. And if you go, tell me what you ordered so I can copy you the next time I go. Oh! And if you get the dessert fries, fill me in on what that's like, ok? Or just buy me a box...either way. Can't wait to eat our way through 2021 together! 

Read More