lizzy's guide to san diego

I've been working on a San Diego Guide for a long time now so here it is! A few things to keep in mind. These are just a few of my personal favorite things to see, eat and do while in San Diego. I don't drink, party and I have small children so this guide is geared towards family-friendly or clean, adult fun without kids (that part is minimal cause we haven't been able to do too much in that area).

cute print from here

To Eat:
Con Pane: I've mentioned this before but it's my favorite place to eat in San Diego - favorites: brioche cinnamon rolls are perfection, veggie cobb on rosemary bread, Italian sandwich on kalamata olive bread and you have to get their dark chocolate chunk cookies and/or peanut butter toffee cookies.

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Cucina Urbana: a favorite adult place of ours - favorites: daily polenta ragu board, mushroom pizza, squash blossoms appetizer - make a reservation at least a week in advance unless you don't mind dining really late and/or at the bar.

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Burger Lounge: my favorite burger in San Diego - maybe ever - favorite: all natural, grass fed beef, perfect buns, awesome sauce, white cheddar and my mom and sister are obsessed with their quinoa burger for the vegetarian types.

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Snooze: this is the BEST breakfast in San Diego. There's a LONG wait on the weekends so get there early, but it is worth every second. One of the best things about this place (besides the awesome retro vibe and the unbelievably delicious food) is that they'll split their meals so you can get half savory, half sweet. My favorites are the Chilaquiles Eggs Benedict and the Cinnamon Roll Pancake (not on the menu).

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George's at the Cove: We love eating at the Ocean Terrace at sunset. It is the most romantic view and great food - favorites: Mexican shrimp cocktail, smoked chicken, broccoli and black bean soup and grilled halibut with roasted corn and tomatoes is amazing (not usually on the menu but it's often the special).

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The Kebab Shop: downtown, casual spot - favorite: the falafel doner kebab and they have yummy fries

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Rincon Del Mar: the BEST fish tacos ever. Good prices, tiny place, ghetto locations - basically all the components of a great taco shop.

Ortega's Mexican Bistro: Baja style Mexican - cool atmosphere, great food - favorites: queso fundido appetizer is amazing and very rich. Everything we've had here has been good.

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Taco Surf: beach side whole in the wall where everyone is in either wet swimsuits or sandals. Great to grab for breakfast on the beach - favorite: I like the breakfast burrito with refried beans, hashbrowns, bacon, cheese and they have the best hot sauce! 

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Piatti: romantic La Jolla spot - favorite: ricotta ravioli with lemon cream sauce, amazing bread, pizza.

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Tender Greens: delicious, healthy "California" food - favorite: I almost always get their daily special and I also love their cobb salad.

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Blue Water Seafood Grill: not super nice but incredibly fresh fish - favorite: perfectly grilled, fresh fish on a sandwich, taco or plate or salad.

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Boney's Bayside Market: cute little market on Coronado Island - favorites: the perfect place to pick up a sandwich for a day in Coronado.

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Mariposa Homemade Ice Cream: looks crazy outside and inside but you won't regret it - favorite: cookies 'n cream - has cinnamon in it! - and chocolate peanut butter (sadly, a rotating flavor).

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Richard Walker's Pancake House: busy, downtown breakfast place - go early! - favorite: just plain ol' amazing buttermilk pancakes.

Extraordinary Desserts: hip, evening, dessert spot - perfect way to spend a night out. We always bring out of of town guests here! We even had several of their cakes at our Open House after we got married. favorites: the Viking cake (my favorite), Passion Fruit Ricotta Torte (David's favorite) and their hot cocoa is rich and heavenly.

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Tacos El Paisa, Inc.: not a fancy place (i.e. probably don't go there at night) but it has really good street tacos. favorites: carnitas, carne adobada and pollo asada tacos.

Board & Brew: really good sandwiches in Del Mar. favorites: all their sandwiches are good but I usually get the Turkado or the Chicken Club.

The Cottage: what is sounds like - an adorable little cottage in La Jolla. Really delicious breakfast or brunch with a looonnnng weekend wait.

Punjabi Tandoor: our very favorite Indian food in San Diego. Don't bother anywhere else. It's totally out of the way and in the strangest business park neighborhood but it's just dang good. Also, has very little seating and served on styrofoam plates so don't expect anything fancy. favorites: chicken vindaloo, vegetable samosa, malai kofta.

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Pizzeria Luigi: some of my favorite pizza by the slice - favorites: BEST BBQ chicken - when they have it - and the Frenchie - honey ham, pear, caramelized onions and blue cheese.

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Basic Pizza: across from Petco ball park, go before hitting up a Padres game - favorites: mashed potato and bacon white pie or the sausage, pepperoni and onion red pie and their salad is amazing.

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To Do:
Mercato Farmer's Market: in Little Italy only on Saturdays from 9 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. - such a fun, beautiful thing to do in the morning. Great food and as you walk up the market street, turn around and observe the ocean behind you. Also, fun music and great street food vendors.

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Bike around Coronado Island: see tip above about Boney's Market - so fun to start at the San Diego bay side after picking up a sandwich to take with you and then make your way all around the island, stopping every once in a while to take in the beautiful views and dream about living in one of the amazing homes there.

Day trip to Coronado Island: if you don't want to bike around the island, drive over to the Hotel Del Coronado and walk around the historic hotel, then on to the boardwalk and into town to look at the cute shops (Seaside Papery is a favorite). This is also my favorite beach in San Diego for kids - clean, small waves and nice crowd. Plus they're public bathrooms aren't heinous (although they never have soap!)

Cabrillo National Monument: fun thing to do for a few hours to see some views, walk around the lighthouse and check out the nearby tide pools - check here for low tide times.

San Diego Zoo: do NOT miss going to the San Diego Zoo at least once in your life - we have annual passes and after having been at least 20 times I still never get tired of going. It's world famous for a reason!

Sea World: we also have annual passes to Sea World and love it but we usually don't go in the summer - too many people - but their summer shows and nightly fireworks are really fun.

Seaport Village: pretty touristy but it's still fun. Kids may like walking along the harbor and seeing the boats, there's a fun grassy area with trees to climb if you want to have a picnic, and always interesting street performers and artists along the boardwalk.

Hike Torrey Pines: if you want to get a small workout with beautiful views of the ocean and La Jolla, hike up this paved path. It's free as long as you can get a parking spot along the main road, otherwise parking is $10.

San Diego Harbor: this is where you would leave for a cruise and the USS Midway would be a really fun thing to do with kids who love big boats, planes, anything historical.

Mormon Battalion Center/Old Town: I'm not just mentioning the Mormon Battalion Center because I'm Mormon - it's actually really amazing and interesting! Fun for kids because it's really interactive and you can pan for gold at the end. Afterward there's some fun things to check out in Old Town.

La Jolla Coves and Shores: my second favorite beach in San Diego - fun to walk along the shoreline and see the sea lions. Also good for snorkeling.

Balboa Park: this is a free, beautiful place to spend an afternoon (or a full day if you want to visit museums). Beautiful gardens, Spanish village, interesting museums. If you come in December, be sure to visit for December Nights. There are free organ concerts on Sunday afternoons in the organ pavillion. Also, lots of free summer concerts.

Cedros Avenue: take a leisurely stroll down this cute street filled with boutiques and shops. Be sure to stop in at my favorite store - Bixby and Ball. There's also a farmer's market on Sundays from 1:00 - 5:00 p.m.

Transportation:
San Diego doesn't have great public transportation but it's OK. We do have the trolley which takes you to some of the main sites in the central area of San Diego and you could likely take a cab to some other sites that aren't in that route. However, I think renting a car is a good idea if you plan to do anything that's not in downtown area.

"less guilt" chocolate chip cookies

Sometimes, even (or especially) when you're dieting, you just really need a warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie. If you're like me and you love chocolate chip cookies more than any other food in the world, then it's kind of imperative to living happily. These cookies are seriously delicious and I can't believe that they're only 85 calories per cookie (as opposed to the typical 130 calories in most chocolate chip cookies).

Let's get real for a minute though. These are still not healthy so I'm not going to label them as "healthy cookies". I see these so-called "healthy" cookies on Pinterest and it just makes me laugh. Sweetened with banana or agave or dates or whatever is still sweetened. So let's just be honest and call it what it is - a treat. I will call these "less-guilt" cookies though because they have whole wheat pastry flour, egg whites, applesauce and only a teeny, tiny bit of butter in them. So, I guess they're healthier than my original recipe! I took these to my neighborhood block party and thankfully, everyone gobbled them up and loved them! I never even told them they were "less guilty"! That's a win in my book.

Adapted from Skinny Taste (I love this website! Check it out if you're trying to lose a few pounds!)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

2 Tablespoons salted butter, melted (I am going to try these with EV coconut oil next or I'm betting you could omit this altogether)

1 egg white

2 Tablespoons unsweetened apple sauce

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (must be pastry flour!)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (I used these)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two Silpats on cookie sheets (or just spray cookie sheets but the Silpats are so much better!)

Whisk flours, baking soda and salt in a bowl until combined. In a separate large bowl beat sugars, butter, egg white, apple sauce and vanilla until light and fluffy. Scrape down sides of bowl and slowly incorporate dry ingredients until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips. 

Using a cookie scoop, place on cookie sheets about 1" apart. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes (mine needed 12 minutes) and let cool on a wire rack. Store in a plastic container.

it's a lovely day in the neighborhood

I love the street where we live. On Saturday we had a neighborhood block party put together by my 80-something year old neighbor, Joe. Joe is the "keeper" of our street. He knows when people are out of town and puts their trash cans away when they're gone. He checks on my military wife neighbor whose husband is deployed. He brings the kids Christmas and Easter presents and every afternoon, he walks down the street and smokes his cigars (not so crazy about that one but he at least he always puts it behind his back around other people). We like Joe. He's lived in the same house across the street from ours since the early 1950s. 

A few months ago he told me that he was going to throw a block party. I thought that was a great idea and offered to help him plan it but he emphatically said that he was going to do it all himself. Well, this wasn't just a little potluck party with a few lawn chairs. He rented two jump houses (one for the "big kids" and one for the younger kids), a dunk tank, ping pong tables, clowns who did face painting and balloons, a food truck with shaved ice, popcorn, hot dogs, hamburgers, french fries and even live music (which was really fun to listen to even when I came inside to feed the baby). He sang a lot of great music and had a fun personality that kept the party going for several hours.

There were canopy tents with long tables and chairs, tons of drinks and even a designated smoking area. I appreciated that people weren't smoking around all the kids. Joe even opened up his own house for people to use the restroom so they wouldn't have to leave the party. It was the block party of all block parties! William did not want it to end!

I was really surprised when William said he wanted his face painted. He normally doesn't allow strangers to come near him (which is often OK by me) and I thought he would be afraid of the clowns but they were super nice. When she asked what he wanted painted on his face, he said, "A doggy." So, a doggy he got. Isn't he the cutest little puppy dog you ever did see?

When we got home I picked him up and let him stand in front of the mirror. He was really into himself and stood there for a while, checking himself out. Then he started making all kinds of funny faces while I died at his cuteness. 

I love this kid.

I would gladly be a hobo in this yard

One of my friends had a little brunch mom party the other morning at her house. This is a new friend and I'd never been to her place before so when I walked in and saw their amazing yard and deck, I was floored. Yards in San Diego amongst those I associate with is pretty rare in general, but this yard was so beautiful! Shaded by enormous trees with a huge deck overlooking Cowles Mountain and a pretty valley below. It was picturesque. I have serious backyard envy. Luckily, my friend is incredibly sweet and she has a son a month younger than William and another son just one day younger than Frederick. I hope she invites us over for more sandbox playing! 

the hills are alive

Next year my family is heading to Denmark for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. We've been planning this trip for the last few years and now it's less than a year away. So exciting! After our time in Copenhagen and the island of Bornholm (where my Nielson family is from) we're all splitting up and doing our own thing before returning home to the States. I've been to Europe a couple of times but David has never been so we'd like to go somewhere relatively close to Denmark and go somewhere I've never been (I've seen London, France, Ireland, Denmark and a tiny bit of Sweden). We were thinking that it would be really cool to go to Munich, Salzburg and Vienna. We only have about 6 days. What do you guys think? Have you been to Germany and Austria? What did you love? What would you recommend? Looking at these pictures of Salzburg make me super excited to go there in the spring!

fathers day 2012

We had a nice and very chill Father's Day. David slept in a bit while I made him breakfast (my standby of veggie egg scramble and veggie sausage - we shared a piece of toasted sprouted bread with natural peanut butter on it as a treat. Ha!) Then he read the Father's Day cards we got him and got ready for church.  I snapped a few shots of my boys in their Sunday best. People say dressing boys isn't fun but I beg to differ.

The boys took naps after church (oh, blessed naps) so David and I actually got to spend some time together. It was a Father's Day miracle! And he even rubbed my feet for a second. Plus I got to take a nap. It was pretty awesome.

For dinner David grilled up some amazing carne asada with mini peppers and I made an avocado salsa, spicy Mexican cabbage slaw and we had some strawberries for dessert. It's amazing how sweet fruit tastes when a) it's in season and b) you haven't had sugar in almost two weeks. P.S. Before everyone asks for the carne asada recipe - it's premarinated from this amazing butcher in David's hometown that we buy. It's the best ever and he ships all over the world.

David is a great dad. He has had to learn a lot on the fly as the youngest of three and never really being around babies growing up. He is a lot of fun with William, works really hard to support our family so I can stay home with our boys (for which, I am eternally grateful) and sacrifices a lot to make me happy and to be the best dad he can be. I read a quote the other day that said, "Every father should remember that one day his son will follow his example instead of his advice." I feel confident that my boys will turn out pretty dang awesome if that's true.