Happy Cows Come From California

... Yes, that slogan extends beyond just our California cows.  It now officially extends to Casey.  And her bottomless-pit of a stomach that doesn't know when enough is enough.  I was actually reading an article in the NY Times today about studies that show certain people have a greater biological reaction to food.  I then spent the next ten minutes trying to figure out how they conducted an entire study about me without my knowledge.

Anyways, today I had some amazing plans to meet up with a fellow foodie friend for dinner in the City, so I figured I'd do my best to behave myself for the first half of the day.

Breakfast was a little twist to my beloved Cake Batter Pudding Oatmeal:
Chocolate Overload Oats!
Ingredients: 1/2 cup of oats, about 3-4 tbls of no-sugar-added chocolate pudding mix, 1/2 cup of almond milk, 1 1/2 cups of water, 2 packets of sweetener. Add ins [after I took the picture] included puffed rice cereal, walnuts, and chocolate chips :)

I sped through breakfast, because I was excited to pack my lunch for work.  I know, it's ridiculous how food-centric I am.  But last night's Loaded Taco Salad had me slightly obsessed.

 

In case you can't tell, when I find a dish that I like, I basically repeat it errrrday until I get sick of it.  I'm still waiting for that to happen to froze yogurt, oatmeal, and pastries (in general)... but it still hasn't happened.. after eating my way through nearly two decades of meals.

Okay, I'm over my boring repeat meals [although they were DELICIOUS] but my dinner(s) are too good to put off any longer....
Ike's Place in the city!  Adam Richman from Man Vs. Food has been here and he tackled one of their largest creations: The Lex Luther

This place is amazing.  They have a billion unique sub sandwich combos - vegan and vegetarian included - served on their homemade breads.  I actually had to enlist the help of some food experts to help me narrow down the choices.  Bean lady chose three very interesting sandwiches.  Some of which included jalapenos poppers and deep fried zucchini.

My friend chose the "We're Just Friends" Sub Sandwich.  Don't ask me what's in it.  I just know it was damnnnnn good & tasty.

I ended up choosing the Vegetarian Jessica Rabbit -
Veggie breaded chicken, tomatoes, lettuce, jalapenos poppers, buffalo sauce, Ike's dirty sauce (which comes on every single sandwich), and pepper jack cheese.  I opted for no ranch... cause I'm health conscious. duh.

We then headed to this cute dessert shop that specializes in french macarons.  My foodie friend's all-time favorite food is the macaoon and he literally sends me pictures of places that are known for this french pastry... and this shop has held the number one spot on his "Macaron Places To Try Before I Die" list for the past year.  And who am I to deny him of his desires?!?

How cute is this? All of the ladies had thick french accents

Tough decisions to be made...

I think we settled on an orange passion, a nutella hazlenut, a rose, a green tea, and a vanilla bean.
He ate the majority, but I managed to sneak a bite of each one - for quality taste testing purposes.  I'd have to say my favorite was either the hazlenut or the green tea.  I'm so asian.

Of course, I'm a frozen yogurt gal, but it's always a little chilly in the city, so I decided to try out a new place and satisfy my froyo tendencies by going to this crazyyy rice pudding place!!!!! Also on our "Top Dessert Places To Try Before I Die."  Apparently, this list is also published....

 The guy suggested I try the chocolate ganache as my topping... so of course I did.  He was sweet enough to include my decadent chocolate topping for free :) because I'm so darn cute.  In reality, the poor guy probably felt bad for me after I told him I had never tried their famous rice pudding before soooo he cut me some slack.

I went for half coconut and half pecans & praline rice pudding with chocolate ganache topping :)

They're also known for their frozen yogurt & their cool old-fashioned mix-in technique.  screw that.  I want me some rice pudding.

At this point, any sane person would get in the car and drive home... but we were already on a food high.  So we continued to explore the culinary delights the city has to offer.  And we found ourselves hobbling around the Mission district after polishing off a chicken tamale con mole, 2 papusas, a few chinese bakery goods, and a slice of banana creme pie.  :) OOOOPS!!!

Guys, I eventually had to stop taking pictures because I could barely lift the spoon to my mouth, let alone lift an entire camera and take a picture.  That's how full I was. Am. Currently still am.

I'm delirious at this point.
But... I can't complain.  Happy Cows Come From California!!!!!