Mamita's Pizzeria - Authentic and Delicious!

We LOVE pizza so when a place says they guarantee it's the best in 50 miles or its free, we have to try it.  Tonight Ron and I tried a new place and we were very pleased.

Mamita's Pizzeria is located at 2808 W 23rd Street in Panama City.  It's in a small building set a little back from the road, but when the Highway 390 expansion is complete they will have the prime corner spot!  That could take a while so we need to keep them in business now!

The restaurant wasn't crowded.  It was quite intimate actually.  There appeared to only be 1 server. He did a great job, once we got our drinks initially. We also met one of the owners, who came out from the kitchen to say hello to us. He was very nice and thankful to us for eating there.

We wanted to try everything! We couldn't do that...but we made a great effort.

We started with Garlic Knots as an appetizer.  They were awesome!  They were light and fluffy with the perfect amount of garlic and Parmesan cheese on top.  They are served with homemade ranch or marinara sauce - we had both!

Instead of settling on a large pizza of one style we ordered three different small pizzas.

I chose Mamita's Classic (The Italian Pleaser) - pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, ham, mushrooms, onions, Italian sausage, green peppers, and black olives...Yum!!!  I loved how the mushrooms and Italian sausage were sliced thin.  I don't like thick pieces of either of these so it was perfect.

Ron picked a Meat Lovers (All The Good Stuff) - pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, ham, Italian sausage, and smoked bacon.  It also come with hamburger but Ron didn't get it on his pizza.  He said this pizza was great!

Just look at those yummy pies!!

And we also got a Buffalo Wing Pizza - mozzarella cheese, grilled chicken, smoked bacon, spicy buffalo sauce, and homemade ranch.  It also comes with onions but we left those off since Ron doesn't like them.  This pizza....OMG...this pizza is awesome!

Sorry, I didn't get a picture of the whole pizza.  It was too good and we couldn't help ourselves.

I strongly encourage you to check this place out. We will definitely be back.

Be sure to sign up for their birthday club and email club so you can get special deals.  You can do that here: Birthday Club

Follow them on Facebook too: facebook.com/mamitaspizza/

Ranch "Chicken Fried" Cube Steaks

There's just nothing like good ole comfort food!  You know the kind I'm talking about...floured and fried and loaded with calories.

I have always loved cube steak.  My Mama used to make the floured and fried kind and it was yummy in my tummy.  She called it "chicken fried" which still really doesn't make sense to me since there is no "chicken" in it...LOL.  I don't fry foods often so this is one of the things I miss.  Craving the kind my Mama used to make set me on the mission of finding an alternative recipe that might still taste close to hers but wasn't fried.

I found a couple of recipes but they weren't exactly what I was looking for, so I changed the ones I found up a little and came up with this.  It was yummy if I do say so myself.  Don't be fooled by the picture - you really can't make cube steak pretty! :)

Ranch "Chicken Fried" Cube Steaks

Ingredients:

• Cooking spray
• 1 1/2 cups Bisquick
• 1/2 cup Panko Italian Style Bread Crumbs (I used Progresso)
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 cup ranch dressing
• 4 cube steaks
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

• Heat oven to 425°F
• Spray 13x9 inch pan with the cooking spray 
• In a shallow dish mix Bisquick, Panko, pepper, Italian seasoning, and garlic salt.
• Pour ranch dressing in another shallow dish.
• Coat cube steaks with ranch dressing, the coat cube steaks with Bisquick mixture, pressing in so coating sticks to cube steaks.
• Place in 13x9 inch pan.
• Drizzle with butter.
• Bake uncovered for 30 minutes (or until steaks are done to your liking)

Serve with mashed potatoes or rice smothered with white pepper gravy and another side of your choice and you have a great meal!  I chose broccoli - figured I would be healthy with at least one of the foods.  =)

Cinco de Mayo (with recipes)

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!

Did you celebrate the "fifth of May" today?  I did.  Why you ask?  Well...just because...LOL.
The "fifth of May" is a holiday observed to commemorate the Mexican army's victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.  The holiday is sometimes confused with Mexico's Independence Day, which is celebrated on September 16.

There's a lot of history behind this holiday and I encourage you to read up on it.  Here are some links to get you started:
Wikipedia - Cinco de Mayo
History.com - Cinco de Mayo

I have to admit that I (like many others) associate this holiday with Mexican food and Tequila.  I mean, really?  How you go wrong with that combination?  To the best of my knowledge I do not have any Mexican (or French) in my heritage...but that doesn't mean I can't celebrate Cinco de Mayo does it?

In an effort to be as authentic as possible tonight we had dinner fitting for the occasion...Mexican food and Tequila.  I made Mexican stuffed shells and a Cheesy Enchilada Rice dish...accompanied by a frosty mango margarita.  It was quite yummy!

In case you're interested...here are the recipes:

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 package taco seasoning
1 small can of refried beans
12-15 jumbo pasta shells
1 cup salsa
1 cup enchilada sauce
2 cups shredded cheese
2 green onions, chopped
Sour Cream (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.
In a frying pan cook ground beef.  Add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions. Add can of refried beans and simmer until beans are blended in with the beef mixture.  Set aside.
While ground beef is cooking, cook the pasta shells according to the directions; drain.

Pour salsa on bottom of 9x13 baking dish.  Stuff each shell with the meat mixture.  Place shells in 9x13 dish open side up.  Cover shells with enchilada sauce.  Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes remove foil, sprinkle shells with cheese, and return to oven until cheese is melted.
Top with green onions and sour cream.

Cheesy Enchilada Rice

Ingredients:
2 cups Instant Rice
1 cup canned corn kernels, drained
1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinced
3/4 cup enchilada sauce
1 cup shredded cheese
1 green onion

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.
Prepare rice according to package instructions.
Mix rice, corn, black beans, enchilada sauce, and 1/2 cup cheese together in an oven safe dish.
Bake for 15 minutes.  Top with remaining cheese.  Garnish with green onions.

Enjoy!  :)

More photo memories

Travel
This picture is from a trip we took in 2009 to Charleston, SC.  The trip was awesome!!!  We did a lot of sight seeing and pretty much wore our selves out doing it...but had so much fun in the process. The fountain had a sign that actually said to get in it...so we did...well at least Kristin and I did.  :)

Time

This picture is one of my favorite quotes about time.... #truth

Food

Food - glorious food!  If it wasn't for some of the gross stuff out there (like seafood) I could easily be considered a foodie.  Several years back Ron and I visited Memphis, TN and I made it a mission to eat as much BBQ as possible.  Before heading to Memphis we stopped in Clarksdale, MS.  After visiting the famous crossroads (you know the story, right?) we grabbed lunch at Abe's BBQ.  OMG - this might have been the best BBQ I have EVER had!!!  If you get the chance you have to eat there! Here's a link to their place: http://www.abesbbq.com/

Animal

Now you know what animal I will be posting a picture of right???  I will post a picture of Diezel every chance I get.  :)  Instead of a current picture though, I thought I would post one from one of the first days he was with us.  He was such a tiny little thing! I have a stuffed dog under a table in the living room...and it didn't take him long to find it. He loved this stuffed animal.  I think it made him feel like he was with his Mama or siblings...and he's still a snuggler. 

 Cell phones

The last photo for this post is cell phones.  Cell phones have almost become a part of our anatomy. Almost everybody has one - even very young kids. They have evolved from being a device that just makes or receives a call to a tiny computer that fits in the palm of your hands.  Amazing!!!  Cell phones started as huge bricks...then got smaller and smaller...and now they are on the trend of getting bigger again.  Check out this evolution: