Sunday, 1/30/2011

Ben was in charge of preparing dinner tonight.  I was babysitting at a friend's house all afternoon and couldn't be much help to him.  He made buffalo chicken fries and served a wedge of iceberg lettuce on the side.  Katie was not at all interested in the chicken, but she did show a surprising interested in the lettuce.  

Ben altered the quantities for the hot sauce mixture ingredients to try to increase the heat and decrease the sweetness.  He used 1/3 of a cube of butter and only a 1/2 tablespoon of honey.  We plan on having this again tomorrow, so he cooked up two pounds of chicken.  He worried that there was not going to be enough sauce for the extra chicken, and so we doubled it.  I didn't know that he had halved the honey in the first batch of sauce.  So, I added a full tablespoon of honey to the second batch.  The result of these changes was a slight increase in heat and it was still too sweet.  In the end, we didn't need the second batch of sauce. 

Saturday, 1/29/2011

I ordered a pepperoni pizza from Garlic Jim's for Spencer and Katie to eat for dinner last night.  We finished off the left overs for our dinner tonight.  

Friday, 1/28/2011

Tonight, Ben and I had a fantastic date night.  A year ago my name was selected in a drawing for a free night's stay at the Hotel Monaco, Downtown Seattle.  That is the same hotel we stayed at on our wedding night and our first anniversary.  How very cool!  Anyway, we had to use the gift certificate by the end of this month.  It's January 28th.  Yes, it was time to use it or lose it.  Thankfully Ben's brother, Spencer, was willing and available to stay with Katie while we took a night off.

After getting Katie and Spencer settled, I took the bus into Seattle to meet Ben.  We checked into the hotel and went out in search of food.  We ended up being able to get a table quite quickly at the Purple Cafe and Wine Bar.  What a great meal!  Here's what we ate:

Appetizers

I had the pork and chicken sausage with cranberry-apricot chutney and pecorino sardo gran cru cheese.  Ben had lamb chili with polenta croutons and rogue smokey blue cheese.  The cheeses were served with a fig jam which was delicious.

Drinks

We each enjoyed a flight of wine--four wines to sample.  I had the red wine flight from Italy with these wines:

• cabanon ‘augurio’ . provincia di pavia . 09
• fattoria pogni . chianti . 08
• il trullo . primitivo del salento . 08
• vinosia aglianico . irpinia aglianico . 08

Ben had the red wine flight from Washington with these wines:

• substance merlot . washington . 08
• l’ecole syrah . columbia valley . 07
• gamache ‘boulder red’ . columbia valley . 07
• brand cabernet sauvignon . columbia valley . 08 

The Substance merlot in Ben's flight was fantastic.  We each had a glass of that with our entree.  It was divine.  

Entree

We shared the artisan cured meat pizza with soppresata, coppa, spanish chorizo, mozzarella, fresh oregano and tomato sauce.  The flavor of the meats took us back to our vacation in Italy.  On that trip, we purchased a variety of cured meats in Greve and ate them with cheese, bread, and wine for a meal at our bed and breakfast.  Who would have thought this meal would take us back to that wonderful vacation.  Here's a photo of that picnic meal for fun:) 

Dessert

The desserts were perfectly sized--small:)  I had the ruby port chocolate torte with cocoa nib whipped cream and port fudge sauce.  Ben chose the bittersweet espresso truffles.  He said the truffles were good, but mine was definitely the better of the two desserts.  Yum!!!  

After dinner we saw Black Swan.  I'm so glad we saw it in the theater.  There were parts of the movie that just needed to be presented in a bigger scale than our TV would have.  While it was definitely a disturbing movie, it was beautifully acted and had amazing cinematography.  

Thursday, 1/27/2011

I put together the following delicious salad for our dinner tonight.  I used a honeycrisp apple and bagged spinach.  The honeycrisp apples are expensive compared to many of the other varieties, but I find that they are consistently good in flavor and texture and the others are not.  So, I choose to spend the money on the good apples rather than waste it on the bad apples.

CHICKEN, APPLE, WALNUT, SPINACH SALAD

Toss the following ingredients together in a poppy seed dressing:

1 1/2 cups of chopped rotisserie chicken
1/2 apple- diced
1/4 cup glazed walnuts
Freshly ground black pepper
baby spinach

Katie ate some blueberries, mandarin oranges, ham, and peanut butter toast. 

Wednesday, 1/26/2011

I reheated our stir fry left overs from last night in a frying pan with a little bit more chili oil. Katie wasn't as eager to eat this dish tonight, but she did eat a little. She was more interested in dumping the contents of her bowl onto her tray than she was in eating.  Oh well, at least she's cute:)  Here are a few photos I took of her this afternoon while we were working on crafts for Valentine's Day.

Tuesday, 1/25/2011

We had stir-fry for dinner tonight.  I followed a recipe that we used right after Thanksgiving that is intended to help you use left over turkey.  Instead of using turkey, I used cubed rotisserie chicken.  I added some chili oil to the skillet to bump up the heat, but I don't think I added enough.  When I reheat it tomorrow, I'll add some more. 

One great thing is that Katie ate the meal with us!  She started with slices of bell pepper while I was cooking, then ate a decent amount of noodles, chicken, peas and peppers during the meal.  She didn't finish her serving, but she did try everything in it. 

Monday, 1/24/2011

We grilled burgers in the rain tonight.  I seasoned lean ground beef with Lawry's seasoning salt, A-1 steak sauce, and black pepper.  I added an egg to help hold everything together.  We made three patties out of a pound of beef.  Ben and I each had one topped with cheddar and bacon in sandwich thins for buns.  Katie ate less than a quarter of hers.  

I made a fruit salad of apples, mandarin oranges, and bananas to go with our burgers.  Katie quickly ate her oranges and wasn't happy that we wouldn't give her more.  Her butt gets raw if she has too much acidic fruit.  (Sorry if that is TMI.)  We held firm with our "no" answer and she eventually gave up:) 

Sunday, 1/23/2011

We played a game of refrigerator roulette tonight.  I finished off the last of the Italian sub stoup with a slice of toasted bread.  Ben ate the last of the chicken cutlets and a slice of toast to soak up the delicious sauce it was cooked in.  Katie had a piece of toast and applesauce.  Well, at least we have room in the fridge for tomorrow's groceries:)

Saturday, 1/22/2011

For a couple years now, Ben and I have been promising to take at least one day a month to go shoot photos.  We take photos of our family all the time, but rarely get out to take non-family photos.  Well, today we finally made it happen!  We went to Seward Park, which is located on a peninsula on the West side of Lake Washington, South of the I-90 bridge.  There is a view of Mount Rainier as you look between Seattle and Mercer Island and over Renton.  Ben got a couple great shots of the mountain while I focused on the park and neighboring community.  Katie was on my back in the ergobaby carrier with the pink camera she got from Uncle Spencer.  Mostly she took photos of my fleece:)

After the sun was done dancing on the clouds, we went to Columbia City to try a new restaurant for us.  We went to Spice Room, a Thai restaurant on Rainier Ave S.   We were a bit hesitant to go in because there was no one else in the restaurant when we first walked by.  But, we decided to be brave as long as they had a booster seat or high chair for Katie.  We are glad that they did, because the food was good.  And, by the time we left, there were many more people seated and happily eating.  When the host brought a booster seat for Katie, he also brought out a bib and kid friendly silverware.  The waitress brought Katie water in a cup with a lid and a straw and asked if she wanted to color.  Katie was immediately satisfied with our choice:)

For dinner, I had to try their Crispy Garlic Chicken to see how it compared to our West Seattle Thai favorite, Buddha Ruksa.  It was darn good.  The chicken was tender and the flavor was bold and delicious.  Ben thought it had a kind of fishy flavor to it that he didn't like, but I didn't notice it at all.  When I looked back at the menu, I saw that it is stir fried in a mix of soy and oyster sauce.  Perhaps that was the source of the fishy flavor. Anyway, Spice Room's Crispy Garlic Chicken reminded us of how Buddha Ruksa's used to be.  Lately, the chicken at Buddha Ruksa has been dry.  So, comparing the current chicken preparation from both restaurants, Spice Room wins on this dish. 

Ben ordered Swimming Rama.  It was a plate of spinach leaves, topped with sliced chicken breast and covered with warm peanut sauce.  The sauce and chicken were great, but neither of us was a fan of the warmed spinach.  I could only eat one bite of it.  Something about the warmed texture wasn't appealing.  For Katie, we ordered chicken satay (skewers) with peanut sauce.  She ate one bite of chicken and then munched on rice the rest of the meal.  The chicken satay was good, but I think one of the skewers wasn't cooked all the way through.  The lights were dim, so it was hard to know for sure, but I did stop eating that one.  

All in all, I think it is a restaurant worth going to again.  There were several other dishes that looked really good that we would want to try.

Friday, 1/21/2011

We had oven fried chicken for dinner.  It is a really simple, delicious main dish.  The recipe can be found on this previous post: http://duckywhit-whatsfordinner.blogspot.com/2010/11/monday-11222010.html.  Tonight I used drumsticks for the chicken.  They were super moist and tasty.  Katie ate one and a half drumsticks.  I guess that means she liked it too:)  For a side, I sauteed strips of red and yellow bell peppers with some minced garlic and kosher salt.  They were tasty, but cool down too fast.  By the end of the meal, they were cold. 

Thursday, 1/20/2011

I made an Asian flavored dish of ground beef and green beans tonight. It includes fresh ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes. On several occasions, I have made this dish without the correct amounts of beef and beans. The proportion of sauce to main ingredients is never quite right if the beef and beans are not what the recipe called for.  I followed the instructions tonight and it was perfect!  Katie enjoyed the ground beef in the sauce, but she was not interested in the beans. 

GROUND BEEF AND GREEN BEANS
from a cookbook called "Recipes I Have Known and Loved"

Sauce:
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/3 cup cooled broth
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce (we always used regular soy sauce)
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 teaspoon cider vinegar

Main ingredients:
1 tablespoon oil
1 pound green beans, trimmed and sliced diagonally into 2-inch lengths
2 teaspoons finely minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons finely minced garlic (2 large cloves)
1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes (the original recipe called for 1/2 teaspoon...not enough!)
1/2 pound lean ground beef

Instructions:
1. In a small bowl, combine all the sauce ingredients. Make sure the cornstarch is completely dissolved. Set the mixture aside.
2. In a wok or large skillet, heat the oil for 30 seconds over high heat, and add the green beans. Stir-fry the green beans for about 4 minutes-the beans should be tender-crisp and lightly charred in spots. Remove the green beans with a slotted spoon, and set them aside.
3. Add the ginger and garlic to the pan, cook them for 30 seconds, and then add the pepper flakes and beef, crumbling the meat with a spatula. Stir-fry the mixture just until the beef loses its pinkness. Drain off all the excess fat from the pan.
4. Stir the reserved sauce once more, and add it to the meat. Cook the mixture, stirring it, for a few minutes until the sauce thickens. Fold in the reserved green beans, heat the mixture for 1 minute, and serve.

Wednesday, 1/19/2011

A couple weeks ago I started setting candles out on our dinner table Monday nights.  I dim the lights and we have a special family meal with some candlelight.  Well, I forgot to set our table with candles this week on Monday.  I made up for it tonight with a few Valentine's Day themed candles.  Katie really loves it!

For dinner, I made a salad of spinach leaves, diced honeycrisp apple, glazed walnuts, crispy bacon pieces, and a poppyseed dressing.  It was much better than the salad I made the other day.  For the main dish, I made chicken cutlets with bacon, rosemary, and lemon.  It is a really good dish that doesn't require that much prep.  I used chicken tenderloins instead of chicken breasts.  They cook faster and are more tender.  Here's the recipe:)

CHICKEN CUTLETS WITH BACON, ROSEMARY, AND LEMON
- from Cook's Country magazine

Ingredients:
5 slices bacon, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 garlic cloves, sliced thin
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions:
1.  Fry bacon in large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, about 5 minutes.  Transfer bacon with slotted spoon to plate lined with paper towels.  Spoon off all but 2 tablespoons bacon fat.


2.  Meanwhile, place flour in shallow dish.  Season chicken with salt and pepper, dredge in flour, and shake to remove excess.  Add butter to reserved bacon fat in skillet and heat over high heat, swirling to melt butter.  When foam subsides, reduce heat to medium-high and cook chicken until browned on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes per side.  Transfer chicken to plate, leaving fat in skillet and over loosely with foil.

3.  Reduce heat to medium and add garlic, rosemary, and pepper flakes.  Cook until garlic is browned and crisp, about 2 minutes.  Add broth and lemon juice, scrape up browned bits from bottom of skillet with wooden spoon, and simmer until slightly thickened, about 4 minutes.

4.  Return chicken and bacon to pan and simmer, turning chicken once or twice, until sauce is thick and glossy, 2 to 3 minutes.  Adjust seasonings and serve.

Tuesday, 1/18/2011

We met with our PEPS group at Sara, Aaron, and Ari's house tonight.  At our last gathering, we decided to move forward with the potluck format with a few adjustments.  We are no longer going to have someone bring snacks for the kids.  Each family will be on their own for feeding their kid. The last family to host doesn't have to bring anything the next time.  And, the non-hosting families will be on a rotation for who brings what.  That way we remove the race to pick a dish off of the Facebook event.  Anyway, it should remove some of the stress for the group.  

Tonight we brought a loaf of bread to go along with the gourmet mac and cheese with chicken Sara prepared.  Barb and Tadd brought a caesar salad that was fantastic.  The dressing and croutons came from Metropolitan Market and really made the salad.  Jen brought outstanding chocolate brownies.  Ben and I each had a small bite of Katie's brownie.  I definitely wanted more.  

Everyone stayed until after 8:30 tonight.  The kids were having a great time.  Ronan had fish crackers and was very nicely sharing them with Katie.  They definitely have a connection over food sharing:)  Jackson pushed Ari around on a toy, back and forth across the house, over and over again.  They giggled and squealed and had so much fun!  Oliver got in the mix a bit when his dad brought out a book to look at. 

Monday, 1/17/2011

I made my standard salmon cakes tonight, but something was off.  I was a bit short on salmon, so I added some more panko bread crumbs.  When I started to shape the cakes, I realized the mixture was really wet.  I think the partial lemon I had in the fridge must have been more than a half a lemon.  The outsides of the cakes were crispy, but the insides were still a bit juicy.  The flavor was still good, but they were not as good as normal.  

I also tried to make a salad similar to the one we had at our potluck on Saturday.  I added diced yellow bell pepper, mushrooms, and crushed tortilla chips to spinach leaves and topped with a balsamic vinaigrette.  I avoided too much dressing by not putting enough on.  Ben thinks including the apple slices would have helped the flavor balance.

Sunday, 1/16/2011

We had our third helping of this week's batch of Italian Sub Stoup while watching the Golden Globes this evening.  Nothing new to report on the stoup, but I have to say, many of the dresses worn to the award show were quite ugly in my opinion;)

The big accomplishment of the day was that we managed to get our new treadmill upstairs, thanks to the help of Ben's brother, Spencer.  I could go into lots of details about what went as planned and what didn't, but the bottom line is that we got it up there.  It was heavy and made us sweat a lot.  I can't wait to start using it!

Saturday, 1/15/2011

3 batches of spices for the beef chili

We hosted our church potluck group at our home tonight.  I made a batch of beef chili for our contribution to the potluck. The others brought:

• Chili with sausage and beans
• Jalapeno cornbread
• Shepard's pie
• Spinach salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, apples, yellow bell peppers, and mushrooms
• Pigs in a blanket

After everyone arrived and the food was prepared, we sat down to watch the film "Inlaws & Outlaws".  It is a wonderful film that shares the love stories of several couples and singles, both gay and straight. There was a screening of the film at our church earlier in the week, but most of our group could not attend.  Our friend Laura suggested we watch it during our gathering too.  I'm really glad she did.  I found the film to be very moving.  It reminded me of how thankful I am to have already found the love of my life. 

Friday, 1/14/2011

Tonight I had my first singing gig outside of church with my group "Trillium Soul" at C & P Coffee Company.  After getting Katie settled with the babysitter, Ben and I slurped down some yogurt before heading out to get set up.  We had a great audience of friends and family.  The show went really well. One of my friends said I sang better than I ever have before.  What a great compliment:)  Ben took these great photos of us at the show. 

Me, Bron, Betsy, and Jeff

Me at the keyboard

Betsy on guitar

Bron on guitar

After the performance adrenaline ran out, I quickly realized that the yogurt was no longer doing anything for me.  I was starving.  We packed up all our gear and went to Zeeks Pizza for food and drinks with our friends.  The drinks and breadsticks came out quickly.  The pizza took forever.  After a very long wait, the waitress told us that our first pizzas were cooked too long and were being recooked.  Ugh.  I was still very hungry.  Our Cherry Bomb pizza, Italian sausage, sweet-hot roasted red peppers, parmesan, fresh basil layered over mozzarella and fresh tomato sauce, was finally served five minutes after we hoped to be heading home.  I quickly ate one piece, boxed up the rest, paid, and headed home so that I could take our babysitter home.  Oh well.  At least we have good left overs for tomorrow:) 

Thursday, 1/13/2011

Tonight we had our second serving of this week's batch of Italian Sub Stoup.  It was still tasty and delicious:) 

Wednesday, 1/12/2011

Katie and I met Ben downtown tonight for dinner at Ivar's.  We had a great meal there last week and decided some chowder would hit the spot tonight.  Ben and I shared a caesar salad and then each had a bowl of smoked salmon chowder.  Katie did a pretty good job eating her chicken strips and fruit.  She gobbled down the grapes, slurped on the pineapple chunk, and turned her nose up at the melon offering. 

The kids menu is printed on the back of a paper diver's mask with the eyes and nose cut out.  There are rubber bands on the sides that can be slipped over your ears to hold it in place.  Katie enjoyed wearing it, but really liked to make "momma wear" it. 

Tuesday, 1/11/2011

We finished the marinated flank steak tonight with a Southwest salad on the side.  I made the salad with leafy romaine lettuce, corn, crushed Tostitos Artisan Fire Roasted Chipotle chips, and Marie's creamy chipotle ranch dressing.  I've been looking for this dressing for months and finally found it at the Fred Meyer's in Redmond.  What a lucky find!  The salad was very tasty.  The only thing that could have made it better was bacon:)

Monday, 1/10/2011

I made a stop at the grocery store yesterday on my way home from a rehearsal.  I was going to pick up just a couple things, but ended up buying enough to make a few meals.  Snow is predicted this week and I just don't want to have to go out if I don't have to.  I decided to make Italian Sub Stoup for a couple of our meals this week.  Thankfully, I remembered all the ingredients:)  This afternoon Katie played nicely by herself and let me get it prepared before Ben got home.  She just isn't into soups; so, it was just for me and Ben.  

This was the first time we have had it without the garlic toast floaters.  After two months of holiday carbs, we are trying to limit our bread intake. Instead of seasoning croutons with red pepper flakes, oregano, and parmesan cheese, I just added that mixture to the top of each bowl of soup.  The yummy croutons were missed, but the stoup was still delicious. 

Sunday, 1/9/2011

For tonight's dinner we finally finished off the pork chops I broiled last week.  I reheated them in the toaster oven, wrapped in foil in a baking pan.  I cooked them at 300 degrees for a half hour or so.  They turned out pretty good.  Much better than if they were just microwaved. 

For our side dish, I prepared broccoli.  This is the first time I have made a broccoli dish that I intended to eat...EVER.  I've steamed it for Katie before, but it is historically one of those foods that makes me gag.  A couple months ago, our friends Laura and David served baked broccoli for us, and both Ben and I liked it. I should point out that we were both very brave to try it:)  Since I knew we liked that preparation, I got the recipe from Laura to use tonight.  I followed the directions for adding garlic, and it was a success!  Here's the recipe from Cook's Illustrated.

ROASTED BROCCOLI

Trim away the outer peel from the broccoli stalk, otherwise it will turn tough when cooked. For Roasted Broccoli with Garlic, stir 1 tablespoon minced garlic into the olive oil before drizzling it over the broccoli.

Ingredients:
1 large head broccoli (about 1 3/4 pounds)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Ground black pepper
Lemon wedges for serving

Directions:
1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position, place large rimmed baking sheet on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Cut broccoli at juncture of florets and stems; remove outer peel from stalk. Cut stalk into 2- to 3-inch lengths and each length into 1/2-inch-thick pieces. Cut crowns into 4 wedges if 3-4 inches in diameter or 6 wedges if 4-5 inches in diameter. Place broccoli in large bowl; drizzle with oil and toss well until evenly coated. Sprinkle with salt, sugar, and pepper to taste and toss to combine.
2. Working quickly, remove baking sheet from oven. Carefully transfer broccoli to baking sheet and spread into even layer, placing flat sides down. Return baking sheet to oven and roast until stalks are well browned and tender and florets are lightly browned, 9 to 11 minutes. Transfer to serving dish and serve immediately with lemon wedges.

Saturday, 1/8/2011

I bought a flank steak at the beginning of the week and finally got around to using it today.  It was a close one.  I think one more day and it would have been thrown out.  Once again, I made up a batch of marinade from Grill Mates.  I used the Montreal Steak flavor today.  The recipe says to add water, oil and red wine or white vinegar.  I went with red wine.  Now that I am reading the recipe again, I wonder if it was implying red wine vinegar or white vinegar.  Oh well, too late now;)  The marinade wasn't as thick as most of them we've used.  It didn't seem to stick to the meat as well.  As a result, the flavor was a little light.  But, it was still good.  Ben braved the cold weather and grilled the steak.  Mine portion of the steak was still a bit bloody when he brought it in, so I opted to nuke it in the microwave until it was more done. 

Ben made a nice fruit salad of raspberries, bananas, and pears to go with the steak.  All three of us enjoyed our meal. Katie consumed her berries before Ben and I sat down at the table:)

Friday, 1/7/2011

We had beef burritos again tonight.  Katie really wanted my burrito last night.  Tonight I filled our tortillas with a bit more meat than normal so that she could have one end of mine.  It worked well.  I just cut off a couple inches and she went to town! I really like it when she is willing to eat what we are eating:)

Thursday, 1/6/2011

I was planning on serving left over pork chops for dinner tonight.  But, when Ben called on his way home from work, he told me that he was really looking forward to beef burritos.  Burritos weren't on my menu for any day this week.  One of two things must have happened.  Either he had a dream in which I told him that was what we were having for dinner, or we had a serious miscommunication.  Since his heart was set on it, I pulled a pound of ground beef from the freezer and started working it in a frying pan until it was thawed.  I managed to get it thawed, seasoned, and ready to put onto the tortilla within five minutes of when he got home.  I'm a pretty darn good wife, if I do say so myself;) 

Wednesday, 1/5/2011

I marinated three large, bone-in pork chops for our dinner tonight.  I used Grill Mates Peppercorn Garlic marinade packet.  This may have been the first time we used this flavor on pork.  It turned out REALLY good:)  I broiled the chops on high for 8 minutes on the first side and 7 minutes on the other.  I think we agreed that they were done perfectly:)  We had a caesar salad for our side dish. 

When I look back at my previous posts, I see that I frequently marinate the meats we eat.  I don't think I ever marinated or broiled before I met Ben.  So, thanks Ben for introducing me to that method of preparation. 

Tuesday, 1/4/2011

At 3:30pm I got a call from my Aunt Mary.  She and my Uncle Greg were in town to see the Picasso exhibit at the SAM.  They wanted to know if we were free for dinner.  YES!!!  What a treat to get to see them:)  Katie and I stopped getting the ingredients together for the cookies we were about to make and got ready to go.  Thankfully, we had only measured out flour when we got Mary's call.  They wanted to meet at Ivar's on the waterfront.  What an easy place to meet them!  It is just a couple blocks away from Ben's office and the company parking spot was open for us to use:)  Our PEPS gathering was tonight too, so we only got an hour with them before we had to head back to West Seattle.  

For dinner, Ben had fried plump tiger prawns and a salad.  Katie ate french fries, oyster crackers, and a bite of cod.  She really only wanted to color on her menu.  I had a bowl of wild Alaskan smoked salmon chowder, which was fantastic, and some of Katie's uneaten fish.  Greg had a bowl of clam chowder and helped Mary finish off her fish and chips.  

At PEPS Ben and I limited ourselves to just a couple bits of baked macaroni and cheese each.  Oh...it was SOOO good.  Naomi said it was from a gourmet cook book which doesn't cut corners on getting the recipe right.  

It was a really great night!!!

Monday, 1/3/2011

We had chicken and peas for dinner tonight.  I took a pound of chicken tenderloins and marinated them for three hours in Grill Mates Tomato Garlic Basil marinade.  I broiled them on high for 8 minutes.  Yum!  The tenderloins really take on the flavor of marinades exceptionally well.  We ate up the rest of the sugar snap peas I prepared yesterday with the following tasty dipping sauce.  I only made a half recipe of the sauce, because a little goes a long way.  Katie really liked the peas and only ate a few bites of chicken tonight.

SPICY LEMON DIPPING SAUCE- from Alton Brown's cookbook "I'm Just Here for the Food, volume 2.0"

Ingredients:
2/3 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup sour cream
Zest from one lemon, chopped fine
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon red chili flakes
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the mayo, sour cream, lemon zest, lemon juice, red pepper flakes and tarragon.  Taste and add salt and pepper as desired.

It is very important to only use dry peas.  The dip won't stick to wet peas.  The dip also goes well with carrots and other fresh veggies. 

Sunday, 1/2/2011

Jennifer sent us home with left overs from our Christmas dinner.  Thanks Jennifer!  We reheated turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes and added sugar snap peas.  I boiled the peas for three minutes and then put them into a cold water and ice bath to stop the cooking.  All three of us enjoyed the peas.  Katie and Ben dipped their pea pods in ranch dressing.  I dipped mine in roasted red pepper hummus.  I really hoped it would be a good way to consume hummus without bread or chips.  But, I didn't like how the flavor of the peas and hummus went together. 

Ben and I spent yesterday and today cleaning and re-arranging our bedroom to make room for a treadmill.  I've been wanting one for at least a year and can't wait to get it!  I hope my excitement to get it transfers into an excitement to use it:)

Saturday, 1/1/2011

Welcome to 2011!

We planned to meet Kate and Spencer at Buddha Ruksa for dinner tonight.  It was closed.  Our backup, Cactus, was also closed.  We ended up meeting at Hi-Life in Ballard and had a good meal.  Hi-Life is managed by Chow Foods, which also manages Endolyne Joe's in West Seattle. 

Kate had a butternut squash pizza, which both she and Spencer liked a lot.  Spencer ordered the hickory smoked spareribs, but they were out of them.  His ravioli backup wasn't as good as he hoped it would be.  Ben and I both ordered cast-iron bronzed rockfish-- spiced & seared Pacific rockfish over smoked polenta & adouille hash with sauteed kale.  We both loved it.  It was our first time trying kale.  Ben really liked it.  I liked it okay, but mainly because it was tossed in some yummy dressing.  The texture was a little difficult for me.  We ordered Katie a plate of grilled chicken and carrots.  She ate a few carrots, but wouldn't take a bite of the chicken.  She mainly wanted to drink water and color:)

Friday, 12/31/2010

Today concluded the travel portion of our holiday vacation.  Here's how our transportation for the day went.

• After saying goodbye, Jennifer left the house before 8am to go to work
• After making sure all of our luggage would fit in the car, I drove Kate and Spencer to the nearest lightrail station.  They took that to the Amtrak station in Portland. 
• I drove back to Jennifer's where Ben and I finished loading the car.
• Ben, Katie and I hit the road for Seattle.
• Kate and Spencer took the train to Seattle.
• I dropped Ben off at home and took Katie to the Seattle train station to pick up Kate and Spencer.
• Back at our house, Spencer and Ben finished unloading the car while Katie and I gave Kate a tour of the house.  
• Kate and Spencer said goodbye and drove up to Spencer's home in Lynnwood.  

As is our standard operating procedure, we went out for dinner.  We tried Endolyne Joe's, but it was too busy.  Our backup, Eats Market Cafe, was open with plenty of tables available.  We had a great dinner. Ben had a cowboy burger with thick-cut buttermilk fried onion rings and bbq sauce on top.  I had a bacon cheese burger.  The burgers were delicious and juicy.  Katie had a grilled cheese sandwich, sliced and stacked into a tower, with apple slices.  What a nice way to end a very busy travel day. 

Thursday, 12/30/2010

Kate surprised Ben and me today by having a deep dish pizza delivered to the house from Chicago.  The pizza came from Giordanos, one of the most famous pizza restaurants in Chicago.  It was half-baked and packed in an insulated container with dry ice for shipping.  Kate had asked Spencer what she should get Ben for a gift.  Spencer joked that Ben would love a deep dish pizza.  Kate ordered, UPS delivered, and we all enjoyed it for an early dinner.  Katie gobbled it down:)

Wednesday, 12/29/2010

Spencer's girlfriend, Kate, arrived from Chicago late last night.  It was nice to finally meet her this morning!  The six of us, Jennifer, Spencer, Kate, Ben, Katie and I, went to Zoolights at the Portland Zoo this evening.  It was very cold and we even had some snow:)  We all got hot cocoa or coffee as we entered the zoo to take the edge off.  Katie did great with her cocoa.  I don't think she spilled any of it.  It was true progress for her!  What a spectacular light display!  I was really impressed.  There weren't many animals out to see, but we did see a momma elephant and her baby Sam, otters, monkeys, snakes, penguins, and fish. 

Kate, Spencer, Jennifer, Ben, and Katie

After the zoo, we drove to Montage, a restaurant which serves Cajun comfort food.  We've tried to go there several times and have been thwarted each time.  We thought we would be home free tonight since it is a Wednesday.  Nope.  No such luck.  There was an hour wait when we arrived.  We ended up going to Gustav's, very close to Jennifer's home.  It was actually a much better option for us in the end.  Katie didn't nap today and fell very asleep on our way from Montage to Gustav's.  She didn't wake up as Ben got her out of the car, into the restaurant, or as we laid her down on the bench of the booth we were seated at. 

Ben and I shared a small order of chicken alfredo with penne noodles.  It was really good.  Jennifer had Königsberger klopse-- poached pork and beef meatballs, caper sauce, and spätzle noodles.  Kate and Spencer shared a plate of rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, and brussel sprouts.  I don't think they ate many of the brussel sprouts.  Ben, Spencer, Kate, and I all enjoyed Hacker Pschorr Dunkel Weisse-- a true dark, German hefeweizen.  Yum!!!  

Katie woke up after the bill had been delivered to the table.  We think she thought we were just sitting down.  She acted like she should be getting her dinner soon and was not happy when we said it was time to leave. 

Tuesday, 12/28/2010

Jennifer and Spencer were kind enough to watch Katie tonight while Ben and I went out on a date!  It was so nice to talk with each other over dinner without constant interruptions. We talked about our goals and hopes for 2011.  How nice to do that before the year is half way over:)  We went to the Macaroni Grill for dinner and then saw the latest Harry Potter movie.  

We started dinner with a couple drinks, and then we shared a caesar salad and an order of Penne Rustica, without shrimp and double chicken.  Ben loves shrimp, but he was okay with adding more chicken in order to share with me.  We definitely didn't need our own meals--sharing left us both full.  We had great wine with dinner too.  I wish I could remember what kind it was.

Monday, 12/27/2010

Ben's Grandma Ackers spent the afternoon and evening with us today.  For dinner, Jennifer made a casserole of sorts out of the Christmas left overs.  She lined the bottom of a 9x13 pan with mashed potatoes, added a layer of stuffing, and then placed sliced turkey over the top.  I think the left over gravy was added too, but I'm not sure where in the process.  She baked it in the oven, and we had a tasty meal.  

After dinner, the traditional Christmas poker game began.  In Grandma Ackers' Christmas card she wrote, "bring lots of money."  I attempted to play the first couple of years I was part of the family.  But, I just don't care for the game.  Last year I sat at the table and watched everyone else play.  This year, I sat at the table and read a book on my new Kindle:)  I enjoyed listening to the banter without the pressure of trying to remember what to do with each hand.

Sunday, 12/26/2010

This afternoon we drove to Ben's Aunt Chris' house for the annual Ruegg family gift exchange.  It was nice to spend time with our extended family and catch up a bit.  We got to meet a new baby in the family and watch Katie play with her cousins.  Jennifer made cute little tuna sandwiches, and we took cinnamon roll cookies.  Since we snacked for three hours, we didn't need a big dinner.  We finished off the tuna sandwiches and ate more dessert.  

I must say, Katie has been a trooper.  We've been gone since Tuesday and her naps and bedtime have been anything but consistent.  She went to bed gladly and let the adults settle in for a movie. 

Saturday, 12/25/2010

Merry Christmas

We began this day with my parents in Spokane.  We opened presents with Katie.  When her presents were opened, she began to help us with ours too. She is a very lucky girl.  Santa brought her a baby doll, and her grandparents got her a Tickle Me Elmo and a tent with connecting tunnel.  She was in 7th heaven with all of the new things and paper to play with.  At 10am, my brother Matt, his wife Jenna, their daughter Braelyn, and my grandparents Norm and Kate joined us for brunch.  My parents made a delicious baked apple french toast casserole and paired it with breakfast sausage.  We are blessed to have Jenna with us for this holiday.  She is in the Air Force and was sent to New Jersey at the beginning of December for training before her deployment to Afghanistan next year.  Thankfully, she was given leave for a week and her grandfather gave her a plane ticket to come home.  We pray for her safe travels and return in August.  

At 1pm, we loaded into the car with my parents and went to the airport, heading to Portland.  Again, no full-body scans at the airport:)  By the time we got to the airport, got our luggage checked, and went through security, it was time to board the plane.  How's that for great timing?!  Spencer, Ben's brother, was waiting for us in the Portland airport.  Their mom, Jennifer, was home working on dinner.  She made a delicious Christmas meal for us.  She made a sausage stuffing and stuffed it into a turkey breast, which cooked in her crock pot.  She had delicious sage dinner rolls, a fruit salad, a green bean casserole, and mashed potatoes to go with the turkey and stuffing.  It took longer for the turkey to get to the right temperature than she expected, but it was quite tasty and moist when we finally got to eat. 

While we waited, we opened more presents.  Katie continued to be in awe and excitement with each present that was opened.  That is, until she opened new crayons and a Disney princess coloring book.  After that, it was hard to encourage her to move onto her other presents.  She received a camera from her Uncle Spencer and a shopping cart from Grandma Jennifer.  With no nap and irregular schedules for the past several days, she was exhausted by the end of the day.  

Friday, 12/24/2010

One more day in Spokane and another opportunity to reconnect with an old friend.  My friend Heather, from high school, and her husband, Mike, drove up from Lake Oswego, Oregon, this morning and came to visit us this afternoon.  I haven't seen Mike since their wedding, almost 13 years ago.  And, I haven't seen Heather since I was pregnant with Katie.  We had a nice quiet chat, catching up, while Katie napped.  We got Katie up so that they could meet her before we got ready to go to church. 

Katie wore the most adorable dress to church tonight.  Black velvet top with cream roses at the neck, a cream skirt and bows front and back.  We got to church early in order to run through our song a couple times before the service.  While we waited for the service to begin, Katie spun around "dancing" in her dress.  Precious:)  We waited until after the the service to eat left over chicken casserole and fruit for our dinner. 

Thursday, 12/23/2010

Facebook is a wonderful thing.  It has allowed me to reconnect with friends from all parts of my life.  One person I've reconnected with is my friend Amy from high school.  We sang together in a women's quartet among many other activities and music groups. Since we were going to be in Spokane longer than a couple days, I asked my parents if it was okay to invite Amy and her family over for dinner one night.  They were more than happy to have guests join us!  Thankfully, Amy was free tonight to come over with her kids, Allie and Will.  Her husband was working and couldn't join us.

For dinner, we fixed a chicken casserole, see recipe below, and fruit salad.  Dad made delicious rolls out of his award winning whole wheat bread dough.  Amy brought a caesar salad to round out the meal.  For dessert, we enjoyed chocolate covered marshmallow bars, caramels, and peanut brittle.  After dinner, Ben and my dad were kind enough to take the three kids upstairs to run around.  It gave Amy and me a chance to talk and catch up beyond the Facebook statuses we usually rely on.

CHICKEN CASSEROLE

Ingredients:
1-1.5 lbs. cubed chicken breast
1 can cream of chicken or celery soup
1 box of cornbread or chicken stuffing
8 oz. shredded mozzarella

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly coat a 9x13 pan with non-stick spray. 
2.  Cover the bottom of the pan with cubed chicken breast.
3.  Spread soup over the top of the chicken.
4.  Evenly spread the mozzarella over the soup covered chicken. 
5.  Prepare a box of stuffing according to the directions on the box.  Once cooked, fluff with a fork and sprinkle over the cheese.
6.  Cook 45 minutes, or until chicken is baked through.  If chicken is slightly frozen, cook up to an hour. 

Wednesday, 12/22/2010

After dropping my mom off at work this morning, Ben, Katie and I drove out to visit with my Grandma Kate.  While Ben kept Katie occupied, Grandma taught me how to make peanut brittle. What fun! This was the first time I have ever made candy from a recipe that depended on using a thermometer.  I helped Grandma make the first batch, and then she watched while I made the second batch.  I am pleased to say I didn't mess it up.  The brittle was delicious.  Now, I just need to get myself a marble slab so that I can make it myself;) 

We left Grandma's house and met up with Josh and James, two of my friends from youth group, at a Starbucks.  It was wonderful to catch up with them.  It's been several years since we crossed paths at church.  After finishing our hot beverages, we picked up my mom from work and headed to church.  I am going to be singing Christmas Eve at church with my dad and a few church friends.  We gathered at the church tonight to go through the song a couple times.  Before we sang, we ate pizza and chocolate chip cookies for dinner. 

Tuesday, 12/21/2010

Whoo Hoo!  We're on vacation!!!  Our taxi arrived promptly at 5:30pm to take us to the airport.  The driver patiently waited while we installed the car seat and got our six bags, stroller, and selves into the car.  We got the car seat and one bag checked for our flight and sailed through security with no issues.  And, for those who are curious, we did not have to pass through the full-body scanner.  

We ate dinner at the Seattle Tap Room, past security at the entrance to Concourse B.  Katie and I shared a basket of fish and chips.  Ben had a grilled chicken and bacon sandwich.  We were starving by the time we got to eat.  So, we ended up eating too much.  Thankfully, Katie is now old enough that she is required to have her own seat on the plane.  I'm very glad she wasn't on my lap during the flight:)  

The plane departed relatively on time and landed in Spokane, where we will spend several days with my family.  Life is so very, very good.

Monday, 12/20/2010

We are leaving for our holiday vacation tomorrow.  I didn't want to dirty any more dishes or add more left overs to the fridge.  Instead, we worked on getting rid of the left overs we already had.  We finished off the pizza we made last week as well as the two extra chicken sausages we cooked up for the pizza toppings. 

Sunday, 12/19/2010

We had a very simple dinner tonight. We fixed ourselves tuna fish sandwiches. Katie and I like dill pickles on ours.  Ben would prefer that pickles not exist:) After Katie went to bed, Ben and I polished off the cake and ice cream. Thanks for having a birthday little girl!

Saturday, 12/18/2010

Today I need to share about more food than just dinner.  This morning, I made Cream Cheese Clouds, delicious breakfast pastries from the Kraft, Food and Family magazine.

CREAM CHEESE CLOUDS

Ingredients:
1 can (16.3 oz.) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
1/2 cup  sugar
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 pkg.  (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, cut into 12 cubes
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350°F. Separate dough into 12 biscuits; press or roll each to 1/4-inch thickness.
2.  Mix sugar and cinnamon in shallow dish. Dip cream cheese cubes in melted butter, then roll in the cinnamon sugar. Place 1 cheese cube in center of each dough circle; gather up sides of dough to enclose filling. Press edges of dough together to seal. Place, seam sides up, in lightly greased muffin pan. Drizzle with any remaining butter; sprinkle with any remaining cinnamon sugar.
3.  Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Note:

When I couldn't find a package of 12 buttermilk biscuits, I opted for a package of 8 large biscuits with the same overall weight.  Other than cutting the cream cheese into 8 cubes instead of 12, I followed the recipe exactly.  I still used a regular sized muffin pan and baked them for 15 minutes.  If you aren't a big fan of cream cheese, this may not be the best recipe for you.  If you like cream cheese, you are going to be in heaven:)

For lunch at Katie's party, we put out fixings for cold-cut sandwiches, offered a variety of kettle chips, a berry salad, and, of course, cake and ice cream.  

For dinner, we went to the home of our friends, Kurt and Hilary, for our monthly church potluck.  Everyone was asked to bring an appetizer this month.  I decided to try another new recipe, Bacon Appetizer Crescents, also from the Food and Family magazine.  They weren't very pretty, but a big hit.  The recipe was supposed to make enough for 24 servings, 4 crescents each.  We only had a handful left over and there were only 10 adults at the potluck.  I'll definitely be making this one again.

BACON APPETIZER CRESCENTS

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
8 slices  OSCAR MAYER Bacon, cooked, crumbled
1/3 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/4 cup  finely chopped onions
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbsp.  milk
2 cans (8 oz. each) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

Directions:
1.  Heat oven to 375°F.
2.  Mix all ingredients except crescent dough.
3.  Separate each can of dough into 8 triangles; cut each triangle lengthwise in half. Spread each dough triangle with 1 generous tsp. cream cheese mixture; roll up, starting at short side of triangle. Place, point-sides down, on baking sheet.
4.  Bake 12 to 15 min. or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Friday, 12/17/2010

My mother-in-law, Jennifer, and brother-in-law, Spencer, are spending the weekend with us to celebrate Katie's 2nd birthday.  They both arrived tonight and had dinner with us.  I made Spicy Peanut Chicken with a Balsamic and Pear salad on the side.  For the salad, we used just a teaspoon of the vinaigrette.  It was plenty for the four of us.  Spencer doesn't care for craisins; so, I added those to the salad after he had taken his helping.  

After getting Katie to sleep for the night, I worked on decorating her Elmo birthday cake.  It was definitely a challenge to get the deep red and black colors for Elmo's face.  I ended up using an entire container of gel food coloring for each of those two colors.  I first applied the red frosting so that it was pretty smooth. Once I had full coverage, I roughed it up with my finger tips so that it looked more like Elmo.  I did have to make two batches of the butter cream frosting.  I used butter flavored shortening in the first batch and it made the base frosting too yellow.  In order to avoid a yellow-eyed Elmo, I made another batch with plain shortening. 

Thursday, 12/16/2010

Happy 2nd Birthday Katie!!!

My company's annual meeting took place today.  Since both Ben and I had to work, my Aunt Margie came over to be with Katie for the day.  Thanks Margie!  We wanted to give Katie one birthday present before we left for work.  We woke her up shortly after 7am, got her dressed for the day, and brought her downstairs to see her new drawing easel.  Margie tells me that they spent the majority of the day drawing on the easel.  What a hit!

For dinner, I put together a pizza using a Pillsbury pizza dough, homemade sauce, mozzerella cheese, shredded rotisserie chicken, and thinly sliced Italian chicken sausage.  We were thrilled when Katie decided she would eat the pizza too.  She wasn't interested in the sausage or shredded chicken, but ate the crust, sauce, and cheese willingly. 

Wednesday, 12/15/2010

I shredded some of the left over rotisserie chicken from Monday and made chicken burritos tonight.  Katie wasn't interested in a burrito and opted for a pb&j sandwich instead.  About halfway through her half sandwich, she declared that she wanted a cookie.  We told her she could have a cookie when she finished her sandwich.  It took AN HOUR for her to finish that half sandwich.  I think Ben and I finished eating in 10 minutes.  After a half hour, Ben left the table to get some other things done while I waited with Katie.  Finally, the sandwich was gone and she got her cookie.  You would think that she would eat it quickly given how long she had been sitting and waiting for it.  But no, it was another 25 minutes before she finished that dang sugar cookie. My goodness, that was a long and boring meal.

Tuesday, 12/14/2010

We were looking forward to homemade pizzas at our PEPS gathering tonight.  Unfortunately, we were kept home when Katie developed hives during the afternoon.  We weren't able to identify any source for them and were thankful when they went away several hours later.  Since I didn't have a meal planned for tonight, we baked a few battered halibut fillets from Costco.  We had a small fruit salad to go with it. 

Monday, 12/13/2010

This week is going to be very busy.  I've planned for simple dinners to help us get through the week without stressing about meals.  For dinner tonight, I bought a savory rotisserie chicken from the Fred Meyer deli and put together a Fresh Express salad with strawberries, almonds, and spinach.

Sunday, 12/12/2010

We had a caesar salad and made Buffalo Chicken "Fries" for dinner tonight.  We followed a new recipe that I found in a Cuisine at Home magazine.  Here's the recipe followed by a couple notes.

BUFFALO CHICKEN "FRIES"

Makes 4 servings (1 lb.)
Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
1/3 cup hot sauce (such as Frank's)
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 Tbsp. honey
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, sliced lengthwise into 1/2-inch-wide-strips, seasoned with salt and black pepper
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup vegetable oil, divided

Directions:
1.  Whisk together hot sauce, butter, and honey in a large bowl.
2.  Toss chicken strips with flour in a large resealable plastic bag until coated; shake off excess flour.
3.  Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large saute pan over medium-high; add half the chicken strips, saute until browned, about 2 minutes per side, then transfer to hot sauce mixture and toss to coat.  Repeat with remaining oil and chicken strips.

Notes:

1.  I used chicken tenders instead of chicken breasts.  They truly seem to be more tender and it took less time to cut up the pound of chicken.

2.  I didn't let the chicken brown quite enough.  I was worried about overcooking the chicken since the recipe said it would probably take only 2 minutes per side to brown.  

3.  The sauce was tasty, but not nearly hot enough to be called "buffalo".  I used the regular Frank's hot sauce.  Next time, I'll try the really hot variety to see if that makes a difference.  Ben thought the sauce tasted too much like honey and wanted more punch from the hot sauce.  

4.  I ended up eating the leftovers for lunch one day and dipped them into McDonald's buffalo sauce...yum!  Now, that's the flavor we were hoping for with the recipe. 

Saturday, 12/11/2010

We ate left over Impossible Taco Pie. This is a great meal for left overs.  It reheats really well and tastes as great the last day as it does the first day. 

Friday, 12/10/2010

We ate left over Impossible Taco Pie.