Lauren's First Birthday Party: The Food

We like food. A LOT! So when it comes time to plan a party, it is at the top of my mind. I like lots of color, variety, flavor and texture. This is great, but it takes a lot of time and effort...time and effort that I never have when it comes right down to it, and all of the work gets dumped on my mom and Justin...so this time...I came up with the idea to just have it catered. We debated. Justin wanted to do it ourselves to save money, but when we (actually, my mom, because I was too frustrated to have an adult conversation) broke down the costs of barbecuing, Justin agreed that it was worth the extra money to have it catered.

I checked with a few places, but ultimately went with our favorite Mexican restaurant EVER! When I was pregnant (and able to eat) I would eat here once a day. So it only seemed fitting to go with Rosa's Cantina (not to be confused with Rosa's Tortilla Factory down the street). Everyone loves the food. Even my dad. We still drive the hour to Temecula once a week to eat there. Yumm!

Included in our catering were homemade chips, assorted salsas, which are to die for, and guacamole. We served this as our appetizer and added what I like to call "stadium cheese", ya know, that runny, spicy cheese they sell at sporting events under the name "nachos" but it really isn't cheese at all.

The main course consisted of huge chaffing dishes of Rice and Beans, Carne Asada, Pollo Asada, and Carnitas. There were Corn and Flour Tortillas and we added Sour Cream, Cheese, and Lettuce to the toppings.


It was a HUGE hit. And it was so much easier and no one was stuck at the grill and everyone got what they liked.

And it was nice enough for everyone to eat outside and soak up the beautiful views and nice breezes!