Pork Belly & Off The Grid.

I'm a sucker for food trucks.  I'm always tempted by what they have to offer. 

With out the constraints and costs of running a traditional restaurant, food trucks are independent, nimble and extra creative in what they cook up. For me it's a great way to try quality food without the extra effort of going to a restaurant.  And the idea also is that they are a bit cheaper than a traditional restaurant, because of the low overhead cost.  But that's not really true, at least not in this area, as I find that most food trucks prices are the same as in a good restaurant, with just smaller food portions.

I regularly visit my favorite truck in Fruitvale, Sinaloa, which I wrote about here.  Sinaloa, makes the most amazing tortas (sandwiches) ever. Their $5 for a giant sandwich, is a steal.  I've tried tortas from many different places and they never compare to the ones they make there.

I have some friends refer to food from food trucks as "street meat", which always makes me laugh. Some people are too cautious to buy food from a truck.  Where is their kitchen, what really goes on in that truck anyway?  Food trucks, by the way, are regulated by the health department just as any restaurant is. 

Recently, one Saturday after a soccer practice I was finally able to go to a Off The Grid event. OTG organizes gathering spots for food trucks all over the Bay Area.  A "..roaming, mobile food extravaganza", they call it.   They are San Francisco based, and for a long time only stayed near the city. But recently they've come closer to Oakland and last summer they were in Alameda at a shopping center every friday.

When faced with a gathering of food trucks, the choices can be overwhelming. There is food from literally all over the world, tons of different types, lots of variety.  What to pick?

I walk around, take my time, reading the menus and I watch what others are eating.

I finally decide on Nicks Wheely Good Breakfast. Because....they have a pork belly sandwich!  Oh, I'm also a sucker for pork belly.  Pork belly is such a bad way to describe a cut of meat.  But it's the most tender, tasty, delectable part of the pig.  I never cook it and rarely, rarely order it. (Mainly because it's rarely on menus).  Their description on the menu; maple glazed, arugula, fried egg... convinces me to get it.  And a guy who just ordered one tells me that it's the absolute best and he always gets one when he can.   

So back to my Maple Glazed Pork Belly Sandwich.  I have to wait for ever for it.  But that means it's fresh and that's always good.  And when I see it....

Close-up of my sandwich.  Charlotte in the background.

I can tell right away that it's going to be good.  And it is.  Fresh foccacia bread, pork belly which is made into a tasty hash, with sharp arugula and a perfectly fried egg...all together.  A perfect blend of flavor and texture.  I'm oohing, and aahing while I'm eating.  It's incredibly rich, but not in a gross way. It's so flavorful and just melty. That awesome pork flavor that you can only get from pork.  It's the perfect meal in a sandwich. I'm so, so glad I tried it.  And I can't wait to track them down and get another one :)  And by the way, the price for this sandwich, $8 is really fair.  It's a big sandwich and top quality.  It's the kind of meal that stays on my mind all day.  An experience that lasts a while.  Really great.

The line was only two deep.  

Then of course I want to try desert.  And desert food trucks are not as common.  There are too many cupcake food trucks.  Anyway, I find this Pacific Puffs truck, all the way from San Francisco, it seems. Expensive, ($3.25) cream puffs.  I opted for the mini versions which are $2 each, so that it's easier for our family of five to share.

I really can't stand over priced food. It makes me a bit mad.  But these were good, and of course I wanted more than just half of a mini... I had to share theses with my three kids!

Three little cream puffs.

I can't wait to go to my next food truck gathering.  Be sure to go hungry, take your time and enjoy yourself.

Tiny Homes. Really Tiny.

I came across this movement of Tiny Homes.  Have you heard of it?  I don't know if "movement" is the right word, but it is a thing for sure.  Downsizing and simplifying, living small. People who build/buy and live in miniature homes, that can fit in a parking space.  Imagine that. 

About 320 square feet of living space, that's how tiny!  And they live in these homes, full time.

Tiny home (MoleculeTinyHomes.blogspot.com)

Cozy. Also from the above website. 

And by the way, when I googled "Tiny Homes" I also found a blog about a person who obsesses over decorating tiny rooms, like a dollhouse. She re-arranges furniture and re-designs the doll house rooms and takes pictures and blogs about it and she's quite popular.  She has lots of interested readers who want to know where she bought the furniture, or how she made that tiny throw rug. Who knew?  I love learning about quirky things like that. 

But these little houses for humans, are people's full time homes.  They are built on wheels, like a camper, to circumvent some kind of a building permit rule.  There are companies and contractors who specialize in building and designing these and their popularity is rising.  They are permanent homes usually even though they are on wheels.  They have little gardens and porches and almost always a cozy looking loft in the rafters for sleeping.

(From ecojoes.com/tiny-house-big-savings/)

I read blogs about people, and even families with kids, such as TinyHouseFamily, who decide to downsize their whole life and move into a home like this. 

It gets me thinking about my minimalist side.  I know that for me, having fewer things, and fewer things to take care of, clean, keep track of, put a way and fix, makes me feel better in general.  I feel less stressed, less anxious and burdened.   And yet I live in a largish house full of stuff, like most families do.

But on the other hand, I like to have things on hand, just in case. We are lucky enough to have a large storage area below our house (let alone we also own a self storage facility), and so I keep collections of things such as; various empty glass jars, a large amount of old towels and sheets, and about twenty different quart size containers of paint, because I'm convinced I may need those sometime.  I might needs those class jars for a kids project. like making snow globes.  And all those old sheets, I may need for Halloween costumes or a future sewing project.  And the paint.. I may find an old piece of furniture I want to fix up and paint.  I might.  

So I save all this stuff because I can and I have the room, but meanwhile it contributes to stuff and clutter in my house.   And that sort of clutters my brain.

And our clothes in our closet?  How much do we really wear?  

How much time do I spend shuffling my "things" around in my house?  I make a pile of things at the top of the stairs, to go downstairs, and pile of things at the bottom of the stairs to go up, another pile at the entrance of our storage space and a pile of things in our hallway that need to go to our garage. It's an endless cycle of organizing stuff.

I feel like a squirrel shuttling my nuts around my den, tucking things away.  Cleaning our house consists of moving things from here to there, to there and here.  

I wonder what it would be like to have to pair down your possessions to only have things you really, really want or need.  It sounds like a nightmare on one hand, (how would I decide what to get rid of?) but maybe it would free up my time for other more fun things. 

If I lived in a tiny house, then maybe instead of caring for and organizing my things so much, I would spend more time doing things I truly enjoy.  

But what do you do when you have friends and family over?  Most of these homes involve some furniture re-organization in order to reveal a tiny dining table.  The "couch" doubles as a storage container and bed.  There's just no place to hang out and sit.  I think that would be deal breaker for me. And also the fact that we have 3 kids.  There's no way living in a tiny home is possible with three kids.