Meet Bella - The House of Fauci's Farmhand

Hart's Firehouse BBQ - A House of Fauci's Restaurant Review

Over this past weekend we were driving home from Dallas down 281 and our tummy's were rumbling so we began our search for a non chain restaurant. Half way though our drive we drove through a tiny town called Lampasas and found a tiny little bbq restaurant on the corner of the road, Hart's Firehouse BBQ, so we decided to give it a chance and we were happy that we did. Thankfully we arrived when the line was not out the door because shortly after it got really busy.

As you walk in you see a huge chalkboard menu with a variety of options and as you order it is prepared for you; so the ordering and paying process is quick. I wanted to get a picture of that cute little chalkboard but as I was trying to sneak a picture, my husband looked and me and said, 'Really?'. SN- I must get over this photo embarrassment.

The restaurant is small, a bit cramped when it is crowded but I do believe they are expanding the seating area and there is also seating outside. The ceiling is painted as a Texas flag and there is a cute little condiment bar that has bbq fixins' such as bread, pickles and onions.

Wanting to order something semi healthy I ordered the chicken and my husband ordered ribs. I just noticed that we ordered the same sides, mac and cheese and pinto beans. My oldest daughter ate off of my plate and my two younger girls ate an order of french fries; which were absolutely amazing. The sides were great and so were the ribs. I will have to admit my chicken was a bit dry but it was the last piece so that might have had something to do with the dryness. 

Having kids we visited the restroom at least 3 times during our visit The restroom was located outside in a cute little building; one stall for women and one stall men. 

On this day, it was gorgeous, the sun was out and the skies were clear. As we traveled down 281 we passed a lot of bikers. I am not sure if this is a hot spot for bikers or if it was a convenient spot, but whichever, after we had ordered customers that included a lot of bikers started to line up. It was actually really cool because they all seemed to know one another. 

As Hart's Firehouse BBQ's website says they are 'Just a stone throw from Ft Hood and Killeen- and a lazy Sunday drive from Temple and Austin'. If you are ever in or near the area you should take a beautiful drive, enjoy the scenery, take a tour of the small towns in the area and eat some really good BBQ. 

Written by: Aimee Fauci

Fiesta de los Reyes at Market Square in San Antonio Review

Our first year to celebrate Fiesta, we celebrated at the Fiesta de los Reyes at Market Square. This is one of the largest free Fiesta celebrations that includes a variety of live entertainment and music and over 30 food booths. 

I think what we love the most about Fiesta de los Reyes is the cultural that is all brought together in one place. The bright colors, the smell of fresh food, especially the Mexican food that is being cooked right in front of your eyes, including fresh tortillas. 

During our time at the Fiesta de los Reyes we take the time, as we do with all of our visits at Market Square, and grab a sweet from Mi Tierra Restaurant and Bakery. 

Fiesta de los Reyes has live entertainment, from dancing to music. What is great is that all types of entertainment is happening at once so you have a choice as to which type you want to be entertained by. There is a stage inside of the Market that might have a team of dancers or a young girl singing her favorite Selena songs or you can go to either end of the Market and see what other types of entertainment is going on. You may even spot 'Mexican' Elvis standing like a statue, taking pictures with fans, or dancing.

This Fiesta event is open from 10am to 1am. We have only gone during daylight hours because we have kids, but I am sure that after the sun goes down the party really gets started. So grab your brightest outfit, toss on your flower hat or your fanciest Fiesta hat, and 'Show Us Your Shoes'. 

VIVA FIESTA! 

Written by: Aimee Fauci

It's Not Always Rainbows and Butterflies

Like most moms, I like to post the really cute pictures of my girls. The pictures with them smiling ear to ear or pictures of them sleeping quietly having fallen asleep after a long day. I also like to post really cute videos of my girls saying silly things or doing something really talented; like this for example:

     

                                     

or this:

or this:

                                   

It's funny because I see other moms post the cutest pictures of their kids and post adorable videos as well. Often times seeing perfect pictures and videos might make one think that mommy hood is full of rainbows and butterflies and their life and family is picture perfect. Well, let me show you the flip side of my household! SN-- These videos are when my oldest two were under 3. The one of Bella was, not kidding, last week!  

Little Miss Lexi was crying because she had a case of the jealousy.  

                                      

Miss Gia was crying because that is what she does to try and get her way. 

Little Miss Bella likes to do a 'fake' cry and add the 'Whaa' with her cry. Not kidding she will say 'Whaa'. In this video, my Bella wanted off of the potty and wouldn't you know.. she stopped crying when I let her off. 

I love my girls, they make me giggle but at times they are the best actresses around and I wish that a TV producer could see them turn it on and then turn it off on queue so we could get paid some big bucks! 

So is your household always 'Rainbow and Butterflies' or can you relate to my crazy House of Fauci's?

Written by: Aimee Fauci

King Williams Fair-- San Antonio Fiesta

When we first moved to San Antonio three years ago we kept hearing about a huge event called Fiesta. Fiesta is a huge city wide event that is held for a few weeks, yes, weeks, in the month of April and kids even get a day off of school. There are so many city wide celebrations that take place throughout these weeks that it is hard to choose which ones to attend.

For the past two Fiesta's one event that our family chose to attend was King William's Fair. As stated on their website, 'the King William Fair is the primary fundraising event for the King William Association, a non profit organization which works to preserve and protect the oldest historic district in Texas and promote the unique cultural heritage of San Antonio.'  

The festivities at the King William's Fair begin at 9am with a fun street parade. We always make sure to arrive at least 30 to 40 minutes early so that we get a decent parking spot and get the parade spot we want. The first year we went we sat outside of the fair in a little neighborhood and the second year we sat on the inside of the fair very close to the porta potties. (Sadly my daughter's tummy decided not to feel so well, but I have to say since it was still early the potties were clean).

The parade is fun, bright and colorful. We love the wacky floats that represent many companies throughout San Antonio. My advice is to study the parade route and choose the seat that is near the beginning of the parade; especially if you have kids. The first year we went we were at the beginning of the parade route so the girls got a lot of treats from the people in the parade, but the second year we were near the end of the parade so there were not many goodies left for the kids. 

All types of vendors, from food to crafty ones, line the streets of the Fair. I will be very honest and say that if you want to comfortably look at the vendor booths or/and if you want to eat from the food vendors, go early because these streets and the lines can get ridiculously crowded. 

My favorite part of King Williams Fair is the King's Kingdom Vendor. This is a sectioned off area that has little games and very little rides (maybe 3), live kid music/ entertainment, and a craft station. The only reason why I enjoy this area is for the main craft area. They have a couple of long tables set up with all types of decorating items from fabric to glitter to markers to streamers. Before you go to the table they have people with brown paper bags standing next to little chairs waiting to size your head for the bag. After your head is sized, they shape the bags into big hats for your head. Afterwards, you proceed to the table so you can decorate and jazz up your new hat. Beware, you must be slightly but politely aggressive to help get your child's hat decorated. The King's Kingdom Vendor is a great area for kids, and making the hat can be fun, but the area is small and it gets ridiculously crowded. If you only have one child, it may not seem too bad, but if you have multiple kids it can put a toll on you. 

The past two years I enjoyed King William's Fair, but I think I will skip it this year. With three kids under the age of 10 and one still in a stroller the crowd put a huge toll on me and made it not as enjoyable as I had hoped. If you have kids, my advice is to arrive early, watch the parade, go immediately to the kid area and then grab some food. It is amazing how quickly the streets fill up with people. I do love the ambiance. The houses on each street are so beautiful and I wish that someone would invite me in to take a tour of these homes, but so far none have. The cost to enter King William's Fair is only $10 for ages 15 and up and kids are free. If you have never been to King William's Fair you should at least go one time for the experience, but watch out for the Cascarones -I've linked my Cascarones tutorial so you are ready! 

Written by: Aimee Fauci

Pre Sweet Tagatose by NuNaturals- A House of Fauci Review

I recently entered a contest held by Dawn from Spatula's On Parade for a variety of NuNaturals products. When I received the email that I won I was super excited. Not only do I love to win, but I love to win products that are on the healthy side of life. After opening the 11 pound box that was sent to me I was in shock at how much NuNaturals sent me; I am still amazed today and quite thankful. My goal is to use, share with my friends, and review these products and share my review on my blog. Of course with all of these products, it will be a slow process, but today I am going to share my review of my use of NuNaturals Tagatose. Feel free to refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tagatose if you are not sure what Tagatose is; I did. I also made sure to taste a little bit on my finger and it tasted like sugar.

Thankfully the box of NuNaturals goodies came with recipes. I found a recipe, a sweet one of course, that had few ingredients and ingredients that I had in my pantry. 

I settled on a recipe called 'Low Carb Peanut Butter Cookies With Tagatose', however I did have to make a few substitutes. I used a regular egg instead of an 'organic' egg and I used almond butter instead of peanut butter; I don't think the changes made a difference. 

I mixed up all the ingredients and then rolled them up into little balls, plopped them onto a cookie sheet and then pressed a fork into them to give them character. 

After I pulled them from the oven I had to let them cool on the cookie sheet before I dove in for a taste test because they were not firm and would fall apart so I had to be patient. After they cooled a bit, I did my taste test. They tasted just like peanut butter cookies, soft not crunchy, a little bit too sweet but they were not bad and my husband agreed. I sent a few home with some friends and they also said that they were good and that their kids enjoyed them as well. 

Now normally I can eat a batch of cookies, without even blinking, but I only ate one of these and let me tell you why. On the package it states 'Warning (that is always scary): Tagatose may have a laxative effect with excessive consumption. If this happens, reduce consumption.' Now the words 'laxative effect' scare the heck out of me. I don't want to be in a situation, especially while on the road, where I have a panic emergency poo attack (yep, I said poo), so I only ate one. I am a sweet lover so I knew that if it did not have this warning I would have at least eaten six! 

NuNaturals is a really neat company that offers a lot of products and samples on their website that will help you cut the sugar out of your life. Click on this link to learn more: https://www.nunaturals.com/productcategory/31 .

Written by: Aimee Fauci

Mi Tierra Restaurant & Bakery- Review

Each time my family visits San Antonio's Historic Market Square I always make sure to stop at Mi Tierra Restaurant and Bakery.

I absolutely adore Mi Tierra for two reason; their ambiance and their bakery. Mi Tierra is decorated Christmas year round. When you walk in you will see brightly colored decorations hanging from the ceiling and Christmas lights strung all over. It is beautiful and fun! 

When you walk through the doors of Mi Tierra you automatically notice a crowd of people that are hypnotized by a glass case that holds amazing bakery items. According to Mi Tierra's website, the bakery has been in operation since 1957 and they have a basement bakery where baked goods and candies are brought up throughout the day. If you walk into Mi Tierra and you think that the crowd looks too overwhelming to stay, don't worry, the line moves quickly and while you wait you can look in the glass case or grab a paper menu and try to figure out what treats to order.  

Each time I visit Mi Tierra I must get at least one pecan praline; fresh pralines are the best! I normally try to grab a few other bakery treats so the family can try something new. I have never been disappointed with any of my selections. If you need help with what a certain bakery item is you can either ask when it is your turn or you can save time and grab a paper menu. 

If you are a local, if you are a local that has out of town company or if you are a tourist, Mi Tierra is a must visit while in San Antonio. Each time we have visited, the staff has always been extremely nice and welcoming and there is also live Mariachi  music that will play for a small fee, but it is worth it. If you cannot make it to the Market, you can order these awesome treats online! They make great gifts or you can kick back and eat them all yourself; I know I would and could. 

Written by: Aimee Fauci