Cheese Please

Well this is the first of many Mexican restaurant reviews to come.  Anyone who knows me knows I love Tex-Mex food, especially cheese enchiladas.  I usually make a quick judgement about a restaurant based on this one dish.  Today I visited Rosa's Mexican Restaurant on North 11th Street in Nederland.  I'd been here a few times before and decided to make a to-go order today.  This is a small restaurant along the side of the railroad tracks on Twin City Highway.  I think it was most recently the Railroad Cafe.  It is a local, family run restaurant.  The menu is small, but seems to have all the basic Mexican dishes covered.  They have a $5.99 lunch, where you can pick dishes like tamales, burritos, quesadillas and of course enchiladas.  I got the lunch cheese enchiladas and it comes with rice and beans.  You also have a choice of gravy or queso on the top.  Please don't judge based on this photo because in my opinion, Mexican food doesn't always look appealing.  Plus my beans seemed to have shifted during the drive home :)

I've had the queso before ($3.99 for a small) and it was good, but I really enjoy their salsa.  Their fountain drinks are only $1.99, which nowdays is pretty cheap.  I was also looking at their menu today and noticed they serve breakfast until 10:30, and some of it looked really good.  I'll have to try that out with the family on a weekend.  Overall, the prices are very reasonable, and I love the fact this is a local place.  Since I've only tried the cheese enchiladas, go try something different for me and let me know how you like it.  Comments are always welcome!

Jump 'til You Drop

Earlier this year my son went to a friend's birthday party at Jumping World in Beaumont and quickly declared that's where he wanted his birthday party.  It is located on South 11th Street in Beaumont, in a big building set back from the road that used to be a bingo hall.  So in August we had the kids' birthday parties there.  I was very impressed.  It is very clean and has tons to keep the kids busy.  We went today after a soccer game since we had passes for one free hour of jumping (given to you when you book a party there).  This is just one side of the trampolines.  There is another side like this one, for older kids.  

There are age requirements listed on all the activities, and workers stationed at each one to make sure kids are taking turns and playing safely.  There's also a toddler trampoline, toddler bounce house and trampoline dodge ball court.

My kids' favorites seem to be trampoline basketball and the foam pit (of course)!

They also have very clean restrooms, a drink machine and a snack bar, where you can even get some hot items.  Although you have to pay extra, there are several arcade games and a water ball activity, which is $7 for 3 minutes.  I probably wouldn't have paid the $14 if we had already paid to get in, but we used our free passes.  Plus, the kids laughed the whole time.

Back to the birthday parties, our host did everything.  She cut the cake, served pizza and drinks and even helped pick up after all the gift unwrapping.  It was so nice to sit back and let someone else do the work and just enjoy the moment and take pictures!  It is a little pricey, with a weekend party being $250 for 10 jumpers.  Each additional person is $20, but the package does include pizza and drinks for the kids.  If you're not going for a party one hour of jumping is $11 per child.  When we went today, it being a Saturday, it was rather crowded, but sometimes you look past the cost and crowds knowing you have a happy, worn out kid for the rest of the day.

The Boss

I've driven by Boss Burger on Twin City Highway in Nederland dozens of times but never thought about stopping until I started hearing the talk of how good the burgers were.  It is basically a food truck which seems to be permanently parked at this location.  Yesterday I stopped to check it out.  I went at 11:00 in the morning to beat the crowd and walked right up to order.  They have hamburgers, pulled pork and blackened chicken.  The people working the truck were very friendly.  I got a burger deal for $11.00 which included the burger, fries and a can drink.  I sat at the picnic tables and enjoyed the weather and watched the traffic.  My order was ready in about 8 minutes.  In my opinion the food was definitely worth the price.  You can easily spend this much at a fast food place and not get near the quality.  The burger was very big and the meat was juicy.  So if you have any hesitations about stopping here, try it out!

Fall Decor Deals

Fall is my favorite time of year.  I love the crisp, cooler weather and the anticipation of all the holidays coming up.  It also gives me a good excuse to decorate with sunflowers, pumpkins, and halloween decor.  Last week I went to Michael's in Beaumont.  In my opinion, Michael's offers the most affordable holiday decor out there.  They have some really cute, rustic items this year.  Here are some things I picked up.

They are also having a 60% off Fall Clearance event.  I picked up a flower arrangement that was previously $29.99 on sale for $10.99.
I do love Hobby Lobby, but a lot of people forget about Kirkland's in the Target shopping center in Beaumont.  They are also having a 50% off Halloween and Harvest sale this weekend.  They have some great coupons online, and they also have an extra 25% off clearance this weekend.
Last year I went to a local craft sale at Faith Tabernacle Apostolic Church on Highway 69 in Port Arthur.  They had some really cute crafts and lots of unique fall and Christmas decor at very reasonable prices.  It is this Friday and Saturday.  Get there early because it's always crowded.  They also have delicious barbecue take-out lunches.  So have fun and get some shopping done before the rain hits!