The Cleanse

Hello my Fellow Gourmands! (Gourmand=food lover)

          Today I started a cleanse. "Cleanse" to me is a very scary word. I've never done one because I figured I'd be glued to the toilet or would have to at least be within 20 feet of one at all times. Luckily the cleanse I am doing is not that kind of cleanse. It still cleans your intestines but without stripping them of everything in them. It actually says you shouldn't have that run to the bathroom reaction. I am doing the "Advocare 24 day Challenge", the first 10 of which are an herbal cleanse. 

         The other reason I have been afraid of cleanses is, that on most of them you either ONLY eat fruits and veggies or you have to drink some strange mixture of Cayenne pepper, lemon, vinegar and honey. Barf!!! On the Advocare cleanse you still eat a lot of fruits and veggies but you can have and are recommended to have whole grains, leans meats and nuts. So pretty much you cut out fried foods, dairy, processed starches and sugar. I can do that. I had to tell cheese that we needed a break, which is kinda hard but manageable. 

        If you think you may want to try losing a few inches and feel great you can order the 24 day challenge at Advocare. To order check out the hyperlink to the left.  They also have some great supplements like Thermoplus that literally tricks you into thinking you are not hungry most of the day (not full, but just satisfied). It's FAN-TASTIC! Another thing they have, is this amazing energy drink called Spark. It gives you energy like coffee without the crackhead caffeine feeling. I LOVE IT! 

          All that being said, I am taking this as a culinary challenge and, boy, am I embracing it! I've done a bit of research on foods I can make and this week I think I will eat better than I normally do. On the menu is; scallops, pumpkin soup made with coconut milk, salmon and today is a butternut squash, spinach and quinoa salad. IT is SOOOO delish! Seriously I may make it all the time. It is both gluten-free  and vegan. Again BOTH scary words but this recipe is delicious! 

BUTTERNUT SQUASH, SPINACH, AND QUINOA SALAD!

1 cup quinoa

2 cups water

1 onion

3 garlic cloves (or 2 tsp minced garlic)

1/2 cup pinenuts

3 large cups spinach

1 bag frozen butternut squash

1 Tbsp coconut oil

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp white pepper

salt to taste

In a pot, boil quinoa and water. Add a lid and let it simmer until the water is gone. Remove from the heat and let cool a bit.

In a pan, heat coconut oil until liquid. Add the onion and cook it until its translucent. Add the garlic and pine nuts and cook those up too. Then add the spinach and butternut squash and lid the pan. Let the spinach wilt and the squash become tender, but not mushy. Once that happens add the cinnamon, white pepper and salt. Remove from heat.

Combine the veggies and the quinoa. You can then eat it hot or cold. Quinoa's taste becomes more bold once it is chilled. I like my food warm though, so I prefer it hot. 

I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as I do. It has great spice and flavor and is just plain yummy. Add it to the fact that you can have it on this cleanse and it is a winner. It would be great with poached salmon or bbq scallops. 

Peace and Blessings!

-Lo-

I'm baaackk! With some spice!

Hey there people of the world! Long time no talk....from me at least. These past few months have been craaazzzaaayyy! Since my last post (about my sweet Papa) he passed, I passed some kidney stones, we moved to North Albany, Kennidy started a new school, and on and on it goes. So my loyal readers I am so sorry that I haven't written in a long long time. 

I've kind of decided to revamp the old blog up a little bit. I'll be focusing more on food and cooking and DIY crafts than on life and it's meaning. But it will probably still be random at times when I write. 

On to bigger and better things;

This week my new friend, and neighbor, April and I strolled on over the bridge to the Albany Farmers Market and Antiques in the Street. Going over the bridge is kind of a big deal. There is a big change in environment and flow on "the other side of the bridge". So it was a bit adventurous of us to take this mile long trek. It was well worth it though because we both came home with a treasure trove of delicious and beautiful things. Among my bounty was fresh nectarines, GIANT apples, apples that have pink flesh, onions, squash, tomatillos, and anaheim peppers. Because I have "mommy brain" I forgot to take a picture of the tomatillos and peppers before I cooked them up. 

The Giant apple next to a normal size nectarine

The apple is as big as my hand

Kennidy and her pink fleshed apple

Firstly; for those of you who don't know Anaheim peppers are in between green peppers and jalepeno peppers. If you leave the seeds in they are pretty spicy. Like Holy Sweet Mother Mary, I can't see or speak and I may have peed my pants because I'm on sensory overload- Spicy! Even though I am a spice weenie I took the challenge and left the seeds in. Living on the edge right? Gotta get my kicks in where I can. (Side note: ALWAYS use gloves, a napkin, paper towel, whatever to block the peppers from your hands when cutting them. Other wise your hands will be on fire for several hours or even days. The oils from the pepper can burn your flesh. Your welcome for that tid bit and no I did not make this rookie mistake.....this time)

Secondly; tomatillos are one of the most under acknowledged fruit-vegetables. I would eat a tomatillo over a tomato or cucumber (other fruit-vegetables) any day. A tomatillo looks like its cousin the tomato only it is green and has a husk around it and generally gets no bigger than a golf ball. There are also purple tomatillos but I have yet to see them. If you happen to see them at a local market PLEASE let me know! I would love to make the elusive "salsa morado".  

I decided to make some salsa verde out of my farmers market finds. I use apples in it to mellow the spicy taste out a little bit. (I'm a weenie remember?) This recipe is sweet and spicy and savory and when you eat it with some tortilla chips, salty too. Forget trifecta this recipe is just a mind blower! I love it especially because it is so fast and so easy. The kids like it, the husband likes and I like it. It's a crowd pleaser in the Mendoza house. I also suggest cooking either some pork or chicken it it (in a crockpot maybe, eh?) for a complete, and flavorful main course. Goes great in tortillas with a little corn and rice. Yummm. 

Here is my recipe:

Salsa Verde

1 Large Anaheim Pepper cut in half

1 Pint of Tomatillos with husks removed and halved

1 Sweet Green Pepper with seeds removed and sliced

1 Walla Walla Onion quartered

1 Whole Head of Garlic separated and skinned

2 Green Apples sliced and seeds removed (skin on is fine)

Throw all of that on to a lightly greased cookie sheet and roast at 350 for 25 min or until garlic and apples are like butter to slice through.

Throw it all in a food processor until you reach your desired consistency. I like mine almost like apple sauce. 

That's it! So easy right? You get about 2 pint size jars of salsa out of this recipe. One for you and one for a friend, neighbor, or somebody else you really like. Hope ya'll enjoy it as much as I do. If not majfica (That's Portuguese for "More for Me").

Peace and Blessings!

-Lo-

Old Love....the proof is in the pictures

"My love for you knows no limits. It is timeless, spaceless, formless, unshakable and un breakable. In good times and bad, happy and sad, through the highst highs and lowest of lows know that I am there with you. I will be your strength as you have been mine, desire your best and highest good to manifest itself in your life. I see you completly healed, whole and living the life you are loving, surrounded by so many who love you, just as you are. You are an unbelievable comfort, grace, wonder, inspiration, soul deep connection for which I will forever be grateful. Do not think for one second you are alone, for two hearts and souls joined together in friendship, for this life and in many past lives, forges an unbreakable bond that only grows stronger in time. I love you. "-unknown

I am reminded of two things when I read this quote. The first is Christ's love for us. The second is the love my grandparents have for each other. Cue sappy love music :) Do you ever hear old people tell their stories of how they met or see those super cute threads on facebook of love stories. Well, my grandparents totally have one of those.

I was over at my grandparents today, spending time with my grandpa. He was diagnosed with late stage, metastasized cancer in September. The doctors didn't expect him to live through October but here it is in February and he is still here, he is one tough dude. (Proof is in the picture).

Unfortunately though, the impending end is becoming nearer and nearer. We all know it and so we are trying to spend as much time with him as possible. I had the idea to make him a slideshow of all the pictures of his life, so he could see how blessed he has been. My Papa really has had a blessed life, he has never had to bury a child or a sibling, he lived to be an old man, traveled the world, and dutifully served Jesus. I have no doubt, NO DOUBT at all that when he gets to those pearly gates that Jesus will tell him "well done my good and faithful servant". It makes him getting sick a little easier, knowing that this is not goodbye. Anyways back to the slide show.....I have been collecting pictures from family members and friends and tonight my grandma asked me to take one down from their office. She said it was the most important picture to have in the slide show, it was the picture she fell in love with. That being said here is their love story.......

My Grandma Surae grew up with 2 younger sisters, my Papa Mert grew up with 2 younger brothers. Grandma's sister Janelle dated Papa's brother Norm in high school (after both Grandma and Papa were out of school). Papa was single and was talking to Norm about it. Norm mentioned that his girlfriend had a sister who was single. Norm asked his girlfriend for a picture of her sister and gave it to Papa. He kept that picture in his wallet.
Grandma was reading the newspaper one day and saw a picture of a gorgeous army soldier and cut it out and kept it on the mirror of her dresser. It was a picture of Papa. (proof in the picture)

Neither of them had ever met, yet they both had pictures of each other. Grandma said she fell in love with the man in that picture before she ever even met him.
Eventually Norm introduced Papa to Grandma and he asked her out! He was so nervous though he brought along his cousin Terry. (Proof in the picture).

My papa is first on the bottom row and next to him is Terry

 Terry thought that Grandma was pretty cute so he asked her out, but she said no, she was already in love, and really hoping that Papa would ask her out again, this time just the two of them, luckily he did.
Fast forward a bit and the two of them get married (Proof in the picture)

 and forward a little more and they have a baby, Gregory-my dad. (Proof in the picture).

 And eventually my Aunt Christine and Aunt Lisa. (proof in the picture)

Papa always made sure that my grandma was taken care of, she took care of the kids and him and he took care of the bills.
Grandma went along with Papas dream of owning a farm (proof in the pictures)

and being a "cowboy" and moved from California up to Oregon. He soon retired after moving up here and spent his days working on the farm-for fun, as well as traveling to wherever Grandma wanted to go. (Proof in the pictures)

in Israel

England

They have this saying, if one of them goes on a trip, or even gets out of bed early, or up from the table, they say "I'll save your place". Papa told Grandma that when he gets to heaven he's just saving her a place.
When looking at them, they seem like any ordinary older couple, they are not super lovey dovey but the family all knows that they have each other up high pedestals. Papa has always put Grandma right behind his relationship with God and Grandma has always done the same. (Proof in the picture)

When the movie "The Notebook" came out, I went and saw it with my Grandma. At the end of that movie the couple essentially dies next to each other in bed. It's already such a sad movie but that just melts you even more. So Grandma and I are both teary watching this and she says to me "I hope that's how your Papa and I go out." Then came a flood of tears. I highly doubt that's how it will work out. But the two of them really do seem whole with each other. One without the other just seems so wrong. But like the quote above says "Do not think for one second you are alone, for two hearts and souls...... for this life and in many past lives, forges an unbreakable bond that only grows stronger in time." I think that's how it will be for them, after all he's saving her place.

Dream List February 2012

I love love love lists. I don't know why, maybe it's the closet compulsive organizer in me. Why that organizer doesn't make an appearance more often???? I don't know. To appease my mind I have compiled a list of things I love, need, and want. Here it goes

Love-things I am happy and grateful for

1. Jesus....Man that guy is SO cool. Beyond being the savior of the bent, broken, and damned, he teaches me about friendship, love and mercy every day. 

2. My family-Blessed by them, what more can I say?

3. High heels, lipstick and mascara-literally all I need to feel pretty. 

4. My Crockpot. Seriously it's a wonder machine.

5. The color green-living in Oregon is a total plus for this one. I am blessed to see that color everyday everywhere I go. I love it!

6. Gardening-I wish my green thumb was just a little bit greener though. I feel big things for this year though. 

7. Pinterest. My family is eating better, my house is cleaner, everything is better with pintererst.

8. The seat warmers in my car. If I drove a piece of poo car and still had seat warmers I would be so happy still.

9. Crossword Puzzles-I embrace my inner elderly person and love doing at least one (sometimes 2) of these a day. 

10. Cooking-It is my happy place.  

Need-things that need to happen/ I need to get STAT

1. Exercising-needs to be more of a priority.

2. Playing more with my kids, specifically my daughter-she has got the short end of the stick with the whole new baby deal, but she's handled it like a champ

3. Eating Healthy/Dieting-Yup, goes hand in hand with that whole exercising thing....gotta get that pre-baby bod back.

4. Devotions in the morning-Typically I do them at night, because mornings are a little crazy for me. However, I read recently that Jesus would seek out the Father in the morning, before the sun even rose and I need to do that too. 

5. Prayer for our mission trip-I have not been doing a good job of this lately/at all. Feel free to join me, prayer for softening of hearts both our group and the people we are going to be witnessing to, prayer for funds to come in, and prayer that God would do a miraculous work while we are in Oaxaca. 

6. A one piece swimsuit-this tiger earned her stripes with this kiddo and doesn't want the world to see them

7. Patience- With my kids and my husband- I lose my cool all to often

8. To skype with my sister-Lindsey if you are reading this, we don't skype enough and I miss you So much. 

9. To get off my booty and clean my house-I probably shouldn't be writing this blog right now, there is always stuff to do in this house

10. To declutter-I need to make a garage sale pile in a bad way, there is way WAY too much stuff in our house. I need to start living more simpler. 

Want-not completely necessary but they would make life easier/more fun

1. Chickens-Names are picked out, we just need the coop and the chicks. 

2. My garden planned out- trying a new style of gardening this year called "companion planting" and I just haven't got the hang of it yet. 

3. A wide striped Chevron skirt/dress(notice the one on the link is not available :(- I swear nowhere has this, and I want it, maybe I should learn to sew

4. My husband to be happy-I know he is happy-ish right now, but he works so dang hard. I would love to be able to see him relax a bit. 

5. The sun to shine a little bit more. Oregon, while beautiful, can be a bit dreary. 

6. To finish my dang cookbook. So SOOOOO close to being done with it. 

7. An endless supply of stamps-I never have forever stamps/international stamps when I need them

8. Shabby Chic Toms-Adorbs!

9. To travel out of Oregon/California/Washington in the near/immediate future-My mom and sister are going to Leon France for my Aunts wedding and I would just die to go with them, however not practical at this time in my life. 

10. A new pair of Wedges (preferably two toned/patterned) would be dandy. 

There it is my dream lists of February, who knows what the future holds for the next few lists. 

Peace and blessings!

Valentines FOR HIM!

I am so excited for this Valentines Day! This is the first year (since 2009) that Joe and I get to spend the actual day together! His schedule, in years past, have put him working on pretty much every holiday including this one of love. So when I found out that his shift had Valentines day off I had all these grandiose ideas for what we would do. Then came the bummer news.....he's in class....all week....in Portland (1.5 hours away)....until 5pm. You know when you see the air leaving a balloon and the balloon quickly shrinks and makes that horrible noise while flying all over the place? Well that was my emotion to that news. Then I picked my emotions up and decided that I will not let that ruin our Valentines, it just won't be a fun filled, all day adventure like I had planned. Joe told me since he was going to be in class that he couldn't plan an evening date so it's all on me this year. I decided that if I am responsible for planning this date that I was going to go all out, no holds bar for a special date for him. 

Step 1: finding a sitter. Literally everybody I know have plans, and probably everybody they knew have plans for the evening as well. So I went will my fail safe; my mom and dad. Luckily their anniversary falls 2 days after Valentines so they don't really celebrate Valentines and gladly and willingly will take our kids. 

Step 2: reservations. If you live in the Albany/Corvallis area, you know that our selection of restaurants is limited, our selection of Fine dining restaurants is even more limited. I called all the restaurants that appeal to the hubby and I and they were all booked for Valentines. Over a week out and they were filled already!!! I was freaking out. How was I going to make this day special for Joe? Well his class is in Portland, and while I hate driving I am willing to pick him up from class to go to dinner there. (He carpooled with a few other guys this week so we didn't have to worry about having both our cars up there). I call around and most places up there are booked for regular dinner hours and have like 4:30 or 10:00 open, not happening. I found a place I've never heard of before, Aquariva. They have a special Valentines menu-4 courses- with local ingredients and wine pairing and it's right on the river...how romantic. I booked us for 5:30, hopefully Joe's class doesn't run late because I am wayyyy excited about this place. (Food review to come on Aquariva, check the link for their normal menu). 

Step 3: his gift. This was perhaps the easiest part of this whole plan the date out thing. I decided to make him a man bouquet. I'd seem them on pinterest, but I went a little bigger on mine. See I have this movie scene idea in my head for when I pick him up. You know in Pretty Woman when Richard Gere's character is in his suit holding a bouquet of roses and he is by the limo at the end? Well I kind of want to do that; sub suit for nice dress, roses for the man bouquet and limo for Saturn Vue, lol. Below is how I constructed the bouquet and what you will need if you want to make one too. 

Step 4: home. When we get home from dinner I wanted to surprise him with some chocolate covered strawberries and champagne. So instead of ordering berries for a ridiculous price (seriously 6 strawberries for $20, thats crazy!) I made my own. I even attempted to decorate them. Below, below is how I did that. 

Not super pretty but they will suffice. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentines day! I will fill you in on how ours goes.  Surprise your fella/friends with something fun! Ciao!!!

The man bouquet:

You will need:

A bucket/mug/pale-(I used a large popcorn bucket that I found at the craft store-it was big enough to fit a 6 pack in it-optional)

Florists foam or styrofoam would work too

Florists wire or wooden dowel

Hot glue gun with LOTS of hot glue

Airplane shots

Cigars

Scratch its

Candy

Beef Jerky

Anything else your fella would like (duck tape, popcorn, twinkies, you name it)

 optional (paper for cutting out flowers to glue to the tops of everything)

Ribbon

Confetti/stuffing for the base

Fill the base of your bucket with florists foam (or a 6 pack and florists foam in my case) 

Start hot gluing the florists wire to the objects of your bouquet. Make sure it is sturdy because it will have to stand on its own. Once the glue is dry stick the wire in the florists foam. Fill up the bucket with the remainder of your goodies. I cut out paper flowers and glued them to the top of everything to give it a flower bouquet look. Here are a few examples

cigars, scratch its and beef jerky

Candy, airplane shots, and a lighter for the cigars

You can barely see the 6 pack in the base

Mini treats as well. 

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

1/4 cup dark chocolate

2 Tbsp. Heavy whipping cream

1 Tbsp. Butter

Strawberries

Sprinkles/Nuts

Mix all chocolate, cream and butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 45 seconds and let sit for about 1 minute. Stir until mixture is velvety smooth. Dip strawberries in until mostly covered. If using sprinkles, immediately dip into sprinkles.  Place on a wax paper/parchment paper covered dish and chill. Let them harden for 10-15 min and serve whenever you are ready. 

 Bon Apetit!

A Favorite Mistake

Joe and I (and I suppose the kids too) belong to this amazing church. I know most people say that their church is fantastic and amazing and all that, but ours really REALLY is. It goes so much deeper than the message we receive on Sunday (which is also so amazing), we have developed strong relationships with several people in our church and one of the ways we did this was by joining an Ekklesia (house church, small group, etc). The people in this group have truly become family to us. 

Our Ekklesia gets together weekly for dinner and usually a message, some weeks we have game night or worship. Something that our group has decided to do is follow Gods commandment to go tell others about Him. We are going to Oaxaca (pronounced Wah-haw-ka) Mexico this summer. We are going to be leading a bible day camp for kids there and also building chicken coops in the rural villages surrounding Oaxaca. As you can probably guess this trip is going to be pretty spendy. We are taking Kennidy but leaving Cruz with Grandma. SO for the 3 of us it is going to be over $4000, but more about that later ;)

Our group is currently fundraising for our mission and this weeks fundraiser was a combination bake/garage sale. Unfortunately Joe and I are going to be out of town for a wedding so we can't be at the garage sale, so to compensate I baked my birth weight in baked goods. No joke. 

Here's the proof.

There was more but *oops* it got eaten. Lets just say certain members of this family have impulse/portion control issues. Their *plural* names will remain anonymous. 

I made Snickerdoodles, Oatmeal cookies, and White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies AND cinnamon rolls and a mystery roll.....read on. 

Lets preface this mystery roll story by saying I am a terrible planner. These darn rolls cost me 2, almost 3, trips to the grocery store. 

I used one of my culinary idols recipes for the cinnamon rolls. The every fancy and beautifully buttered Miss Paula Deen. If it came down to shadowing one of my culinary/domestic hero's for a day I would be so stuck between her, Martha Stewart, & Ina Garten. Throw Oprah in there and we have a serious dilemma. 

Needless to say this is a pretty great Paula recipe. Lots of butter. Here is the link to the recipe on her page. I made one batch true to her fashion of these delicious cinnamon rolls. Then I ran out of cinnamon, rookie mistake. I still had 3 more batches of dough too, so I was literally up poop creek without a paddle. I scoured my brain and I came up with a brilliant idea, one I had never heard of before. So I am officially capitalizing on this idea....drumroll please......dum dum dum dum 

PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY ROLLS!!!!!!

 ***mindblown*** Delicious!!! I made 2 different kinds, with 2 kinds of peanut butter and 2 kinds of jelly. Luckily I am a mom to a 7 year old and a staple in her diet is peanut butter and jelly so we had lots of it on hand. I made a crunchy peanut butter and grape jelly roll and also a creamy peanut butter and raspberry jelly roll. Both equally delicious. 

I altered Paula's recipe a little bit; here is my rendition. 

 Dough

2 1/2 tsp. yeast 

1/2 cup HOT water 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup warmed milk 1/3 cup melted butter  1 tsp. salt 1 egg 4-41/2 cups flour

Filling

Peanut Butter

Jelly 

1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 200. Mix the hot water and yeast in a bowl and set aside. Mix sugar, warm milk, melted butter, salt and egg until well blended. Slowly mix in about half of the flour (a little more or a little less is NO big deal) then add in the yeast mixture. Add the remaining flour until the dough is easy to work with, again a little more or a little less than called for is ok. Next knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for about 5 min. Spray an all glass or all metal (no rubber or plastic) bowl with some Pam and add your dough. Cover with a light cloth towel.  This next step is super important(!!!!), SHUT THE OVEN OFF. Put the bowl in the oven and leave the door cracked open. The light heat will help your dough rise faster. Let the dough rise for about an hour or until the dough doubles in size. Then take it out of the oven and punch it down. Roll out the dough until it is about 15x9 inches, bigger or smaller is okay too, it just depends on how thick/thin you like your rolls. 

Now here is the fun part. In a bowl mix up a few table spoons of peanut butter and a few tablespoons of Jelly until fully blended. 

Re-reheat oven to 350. 

Spread it on top of the dough evenly. Roll up the dough and slice with either a really sharp knife or with dental floss. You should get between 10 and 15 slices, depending on how thick you want your rolls. 

Drizzle melted butter all over bottom of a baking dish (usually I would use a 10x13 dish but I made smaller batches for the bake sale). Add roll slices with a little space in between them. Let them rise again until doubled, usually about 20 min or so in a warm kitchen. 

Bake in the oven for 30-35 min. (Less if you like your doughs a little doughy). 

I wouldn't do a glaze on these because they are already pretty sweet and a little savory and I think a glaze would make them too sweet, but maybe you feel differently. 

Obviously these are a little bit healthier (but not much) than regular cinnamon rolls. They still make a yummy breakfast/dessert. And there is a little more variety with these bad boys; experiment with different kinds of nut butters and jellys. Maybe drizzle some honey on them. IDK, just have fun with it. 

Back to our mission trip. If you feel at all led to help us out financially on this trip,deltaministries is the link and all you do is  click on Donate/Payment, Click on Donate Online, under Categories & Funds choose Short-Term missionary support from the dropdown, then in comments type that you want your donation to go to Lauren & Joe Mendoza and put our team number which is #2013409FS. We really appreciate any help we can get! Plus we will send you pictures and a thank you card....even in Spanish if you want :) 

Thank you all so much for reading! Cheers!

Soccer Mom & The Upper Deck Pub

   This has been the year of new things for our little family. For my daughter it has been soccer. Who knew that my sweet little girl would find a passion in a sport that I literally know almost nothing about. And by almost nothing I know that; you kick the ball and can't touch it,  there once was a guy named Pele (beyond that I know nothing about him), 2 of the best looking guys in the WORLDs names are David Beckham and Christiano Rinaldo and they both play soccer too. Other than that, completely at a loss. I was that kid that wasn't coordinated at all and things involving hand/ eye & foot/eye coordination were especially difficult. That aside, Kennidy loves it. She also is not currently super coordinated but she is trying her very hardest. 

   Moment of honesty, being a soccer mom is totally not all it's cracked out to be. It involves lots of down time and waiting and waiting and, oh yeah, waiting. Being a bit of a nervous parent, I don't feel comfortable just dropping Kennidy off at soccer and going home for an hour, so I wait at her soccer practice. Luckily she's doing indoor soccer so there is no rain and wetness to brave. The other great thing about her doing indoor soccer is that there is a pub in the sports park. Who knew??? Certainly not me. So now while I am waiting I can order an appetizer such as tots or chips and salsa (they even have pizza and a few other things) and a beer. Since my family lives right down the road I usually have somebody there with me cheering on my little lady, so we can even order a pitcher. 

Proof that we did just that, ordered a pitcher. P.S. this picture shows only 2 glasses, but there was 4 of us splitting it. I really am not a lush :)

The Upper Deck Pub offers a pretty decent sized selection of beers on tap, including some not-so normal ones (this week they had Nectar Creeks Honey wine on tap-aka Mead. It's like a not sweet apple cider without the apple taste. It's made from honey and water and that's it! So good. Shout out to my sister and brother in law @ the "Broads World" blog for introducing us to this yummy stuff). Upper Deck also has a few wines to choose from too. Wednesday is $1 taco night as well, which is pretty neato and they also offer monthly brewery tastings. The price is reasonable for both food and drinks. 

Plus a whole other row of brews on tap, in addition to this one!

Decor for this place includes an array of soccer scarves hanging from the ceiling and some random sports memorabilia. They have a pool table and dart boards as well. A nice clear glass wall lets you see what's happening on the field while staying toasty warm inside the pub. 

Next time you're at the sports park for an indoor soccer match/hockey game/ kids birthday party I suggest you give this hidden gem a try. Also if you're looking for a place to hang out with your friends that nobody knows about this would be the place or maybe just somewhere to hang out where you won't run into people you know (this is a small town after all). 

The tiny sign telling you there is a pub there, other than that you would have NO CLUE! Super secret :)

Cheers!