Zoes Kitchen

I've seen Zoes Kitchen in Gainesville and Jacksonville and wanted to try it out.  So I was excited when a Central Florida Lady Bloggers event was held there.

Zoes Kitchen is a fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant.  And there was tons of yummy foods to try!  I think my favorite was the hummus trio.

There was traditional, red pepper, and basil pesto served with pita bread and cucumbers.  The basil pesto was the overall favorite of the group.  We couldn't stop eating it!

Then we tried the Greek Salad which had tomato, cucumbers, olives, onions, feta, and greens.  We topped it with Zoes Kitchen Greek Dressing.

I **might** have been picking out all the cheese to eat first!  Love it!

Next came the sides

Pasta Salad with fresh basil and feta

Seasonal Fresh Fruit

Potato Salad made with baby reds

Rice Pilaf with fresh seasonings

And Braised White Beans with fresh rosemary

I am not normally a bean person.  And I can't believe I'm saying it.  But this dish was a very close second favorite of mine of the night.  They were absolutely delicious!  I could easily have eaten the whole bowl and not shared at all!

Some kabobs came out next.

Shrimp & salmon kabobs with zuchinni

Steak kabobs with roasted red bell pepper and onions

And chicken kabobs with grilled peppers, onions and tomatoes

Be warned--the shrimp and salmon ones had a kick to them!  The steak was my fav of the three.  Often times the steak can be tough and dry, but not here!  It was cooked perfectly.

We also go to try Spinach Roll-ups which were tortillas with mozzarella, fresh mushrooms, feta, roasted tomatoes, and scallions served with a dipping salsa (we were warned the salsa was spicy so I didn't try any)

And grilled chicken breast

For dessert we tried the Ya-Ya's Handmade Chocolate Cake

It had the texture of being not quite all the way done--which I love!!  I *may* have had three of these pieces! (Hey, that's why I run!)

We walked away stuffed!  They're opening a restaurant on my side of town in Dr. Phillips by the end of June and I can't wait to go try more items off the menu (especially the Mediterranean Baked Feta).  And I'll definitely be ordering more of those braised white beans!

Tijuana Flats Wants To Give You The Bird!!

Tijuana Flats is having a limited edition item this month--seasoned ground turkey!!

All of your favorites can be made with it for this month only (although hopefully it might become a permanent item in the future.)  And this Sunday, they're having a special--Turkey BOGO!!

I attended a Central Florida Lady Bloggers event there last week and got to try a bunch of yummy items!

The first item we tried was a Turkey Tostada.  It was lightly fried corn tortilla with refried beans, melted cheese, toppings, salsa, and of course--TURKEY!  

Outside of dessert, this was my favorite menu item of the night! 

Next up we tried the Mahi Tacos topped with cabbage, pico de gallo, and a southwest citrus vinaigrette. 

The mahi in it was cooked deliciously!

Next came the Blackened Chicken Flautas.  I'd been wanting to try these but always stick with my standard so I was excited!

They were perfectly crispy and I loved that it came with queso to dip in!

Our last entree item of the night was a Ground Turkey Norrito Bowl (no + burrito = norrito).

I loved their take on the bowl.

And finally--dessert.  Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Flautas!

These are simply amazing!! I could eat the whole platter by myself if allowed!!!

We left stuffed and happy!

I learned some fun facts about Tijuana Flats--it was started in 1995 by a UCF grad and is now in 6 states!  And they have a foundation called the Just In Queso Foundation where all proceeds from the sale of each bottle of Just In Queso Hot Sauce go to.  

And another fun fact that I especially enjoy but didn't until now-- with ID, all teachers get 10% off!

Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe

I'd been to Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe several years ago so I was looking forward to trying the yummy food again for a Central Florida Lady Bloggers event.

Our event was held upstairs and we had lots of yummy food!

Chinois Salad

Sushi!  California Roll, Spicy Tuna Roll, Rainbow Roll and there was a Shrimp Tempura Roll too.

Miso Glazed Salmon--I think this was my favorite thing of the night!

Sauteed Sea Scallops

BBQ  Chicken Pizza and Italian Sausage Pizza (not shown--Margarita pizza).  I loved that there wasn't a lot of red sauce and there were huge chunks of ricotta cheese on Italian Sausage one!

Yummy dessert trio!

It was a great night full of food and fun!

*FTC Disclosure:  I was provided complimentary food and drinks but as always, all opinions are 100% my own.

Give Kids the World Blogger Bash

When I ran the Give Kids the World Gingerbread Run this past November, it was the first time that I had seen it.  I was amazed.  So when I got to attend a Blogger Bash there, I jumped on the chance.

The Bash was held in the new Towne Hall, which just opened in June.  

We listened to a presentation by several speakers, including Pamela Landwirth.  I learned so many things about this amazing place.

There are 144 two bedroom villas currently and they are breaking ground on 24 more which should be ready next summer.

Everything is paid for, for these families--food, rooms, tickets to the theme parks.  Give Kids the World is a magical place where families can go to escape their illness for a little while.  Every Monday, it's Halloween where kids can go trick-or-treating for candy.  There's Village Idol on Wednesdays and it's Christmas every Thursday where each kid gets presents.  Disney and Universal send out characters so the families don't have to wait in line at the parks.

After listening the presentation, we were treated to dinner at Cafe Clayton.

Local restaurants provide food for GKTW-- Boston Market, Papa Johns, and Perkins.  But you won't find any logos anywhere on property.

I decided on some yummy food from Boston Market.  We were also treated to cupcakes from Gigis.

And I got to take a picture with Reme, one of the friends of the Give Kids the World Village.

Then it was time to take the tour.

The first place we went to was probably my favorite.  It's called the Castle of Miracles.

  When every child arrives, he or she gets a gold star to write his/her name on.  Then the star fairy goes and puts their star in the sky.

Then we checked out Scoops of Hope where kids can have ice cream any time, even for breakfast.

Amberville is a mini train station that has video games.

So many things are wheelchair accessible too---the Enchanted Carousel

Lori's Magical Flight has 2 pink butterflies that are handicap accessible.

And the pools are zero-entry so kids in special wheelchairs can go in.

Marc's Dino Putting has a unique story.  A wish kid named Marc wished for one million dollars.  When his parents asked that if he couldn't have that, what would he want, he replied that he just didn't want to be forgotten.  He passed away shortly after his trip to GKTW.  When the mini golf course was being created, they discovered that it would cost about 1 million dollars so they named it after Marc.

The Safari theater has special events.

And you know I had to get a pic with the giant popcorn box outside.

And I had to visit the house of Mayor Clayton.

It truly is a special and magical place and charity (and only 6.9% of money raised goes towards administrative costs...that's incredible!)

Want to get involved?  Join Kevin Bacon in the #GKTWChallenge  What's that?, you might ask.  Well, seven-year old Ethan challenged Kevin Bacon to see who could eat the most ice cream in 6seconds.  And the loser has to donate 6 dollars to Give Kids the World.  Why six dollars and six seconds?  Because everyone in the world is connected to a child with a life-threatening illness by six degrees or less.

I truly felt honored to be able to take a tour of the Village and know I'll definitely be back to volunteer.