The Chili's Experience

Chili's in Mansfield, TX.

Chili's?

I have a confession. I have never been to Chili’s. Yes. Shocker. The saddest part is I live about 10 minutes away from one and still never managed to go. My friend was craving their cheese fries, so we decided to make a day out of it. 

            If you don’t know what Chili’s is, like I did, it’s a grill and bar that serves Tex-Mex style food. As we went in, the host stand was decorated in Halloween décor. It was quite adorable. To the left was the bar area and to the right was the actual dining area. A server greeted us and took us to our booth. Her name was Patricia and she was very nice. I told her that it was my first time and she welcomed me and walked us through the menu. 

The Menu

 

            The menu had a wide variety. They have everything from burgers to chicken sandwiches to salads and soups to pasta to all kinds of appetizers and desserts. Basically, anything you wanted, they had. It was great. My friend suggested we try their famous 2 for $20. This is a great deal.  It consists of a shareable appetizer and 2 entrees of your choice. All for $20. Not including tax, of course. The appetizer choices they had were Fried cheese, Texas cheese fries, chips and salsa, chips and guacamole and fried onion rings. For the entrees, you could choose from a Bacon Burger to Chicken Quesadillas to Cajun Chicken Pasta to Ribs, etc. The options seemed endless. 

The Meal

Cajun Chicken Pasta

            We started off with the half order of cheese fries and can I say how good these were? They came in a miniature skillet, topped with bacon, chives and jalapenos and served with a side of a ranch. Needless to say those cheese fries didn’t last two minutes at our table.  For our entrees, my friend ordered the Classic Bacon Burger. I was still a little indecisive. It was a toss-up between the Cajun Chicken Pasta and the Crispy Honey-Chipotle Chicken Fingers.  In the end, our server convinced me into getting the pasta. When our food came out, I was quite excited. My entrée consisted of penne pasta tossed in Alfredo sauce served with grilled Cajun chicken, diced tomatoes, chives and parmesan sprinkled over top and served with a slice of Texas toast. Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is.  Half way through my meal, I was full, but I powered through it like a champ and finished every last bite. Which, probably isn’t the best thing to do, because I couldn’t even get out of the booth, but it was completely worth it.  

Thoughts

 

            Would I go back? Definitely. I highly recommend this place. Apart from the great prices, the food is really good, in my opinion of course. Next time I visit Chili’s, I’m definitely going to have to try those Crispy Honey-Chipotle Chicken Fingers, because they sounded really good.


Check out my twitter @dm_foodmadeeasy for my complete Chili's experience. #myfirstchilis

What is your favorite meal to order at Chili’s?

Making Memories

Behind The Scenes

The holidays in my household are much calmer than what's shown in the movies. It usually consists of both of my parents, my little brother and I and even my dog. Each year we come together and remember everything that we are thankful for and enjoy a delicious dinner cooked by my mom. I recently found out I really don't know much about my parents childhood, especially my moms. My dad is much more open about his life and how he grew up, but my mom seems to shut it off. So this process actually helped me become closer to her than before. Basically, the goal of this was to get to know my parents more and listen to stories of how they celebrated the holidays.

Miguel (left) and Rocio (right) celebrate the 2013 holidays.

When I asked my mom if I could interview her, she seemed hesitant at first, but then agreed.  The beginning of the interview was a tad tense, but as went deeper into the questions, the more she started to loosen up and reveal more details about her childhood that I had personally never heard. It was almost like this curtain was lifted.

When I approached my dad, he was in the middle of watching a soccer game, so he also seemed hesitant to answer a few questions. Same thing, at the beginning of the interview he was short and was taking long pauses, but the more we got into it the more he started to loosen up. His personality shined through more and more.

There is one question during the interview that I asked them both that said:

    How are the holidays different in Mexico than in the United States?

It's really interesting how much they differ. For example, in Mexico they have bonfires and they go around to each house in the neighborhood and sing about the birth of baby Jesus. Whereas here in the U.S we keep it to the privacy of our own homes. We still throw parties, but they're kept inside.

In the end I learned a lot from my parents and wish them the best in the long run.


How do you celebrate the holidays?

Easy Veggie Pasta





 

 

I came across this recipe called rotisserie chicken and vegetables with noodles. Now doesn’t that sound good? It had diced carrots, chopped broccoli and shredded chicken. It had everything the title said it would. I was instantly inspired. So, I decided to head over to Whole Foods and try it out myself. I did end up making a few modifications to it, because honestly, you can add almost anything to pasta and it will most likely taste delicious.  I decided to keep the broccoli, but skipped the carrots. Not a big fan of carrots. I added bell peppers, yellow squash, snap peas, mushrooms, and onion. Instead of the fettuccini noodles, I used penne pasta. When it was all cooked, I tossed the pasta in Alfredo sauce and seasoned it with black pepper, red chili flakes and sprinkled parmesan cheese over top. The end result was quite good, if I do say so myself. My parents said they enjoyed it, as they went back for thirds. It’s definitely a keeper in my book.

 

 

Veggie Pasta

Time: 30-35 mins.

Serves: 6-8

 

 

Ingredients:

2 bunches of broccoli

2 bell peppers

2 yellow squash

1 handful of snap peas

2 packages of brown bello mushrooms

2 packets of Alfredo sauce

8oz. of parmesan cheese

1 16oz. box of penne pasta

1 onion

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt (to taste)

Red chili flakes (to taste)

Black pepper (to taste)

Cayenne pepper (to taste)

 

Directions:

1.       Boil water in a large pot. Add pasta and let cook for about 7-10 minutes. Add a pinch of salt to water. Once cooked, drain pasta and rinse.

2.      Chop up broccoli, bell peppers, onion, and squash. In a large baking sheet, place chopped vegetables and snap peas. Drizzle olive oil over vegetables and season with salt and black pepper. Place in oven at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes or until vegetables are soft.

3.      Slice mushrooms. In a large skillet over high heat, drizzle olive oil and sauté mushrooms. Cook until they shrink and become golden brown.

4.      Add pasta and vegetables to skillet. Lower heat to medium and stir in Alfredo sauce. Add red chili flakes, cayenne pepper and black pepper to taste.

5.      Once everything is combined, turn off heat and sprinkle parmesan cheese over top and enjoy.

 

Suggestions:

-         Feel free to make modifications. For example, you could add carrots, shallots, zucchini, green beans, spinach, eggplant, cabbage, etc.

-         Also feel free to season it as you wish. For example, you could use marinara, teriyaki, soy sauce, or just salt and black pepper.

-         Cook the pasta al dente. Meaning not to firm or not to soft. Appealing to the teeth.

 

-     Rinse pasta of you're going to use it immediately or for a cold dish. For a hot dish, do not rinse.

-         This goes great with any protein or alone. I paired it with roasted chicken breast but you can pair it with shrimp, scallops, beef, etc. The list goes on.

 

What’s your favorite way to prepare pasta?