Tuesday, 3/29/2011

I used shredded rotisserie chicken to make burritos this evening.  This is a hit or miss meal for Katie.  Sometimes she loves it and sometimes she hates it.  Tonight she hated it.  She messed around with the tortilla long enough to unwrap it and then demand that I fix it.  Once fixed, she would do it all over again.  It was a long meal. She didn't end up eating much and will most likely be very hungry in the morning. 

Monday, 3/28/2011

I got a Lemon Pepper flavored rotisserie chicken from Fred Meyer this morning. I shredded the dark meat to use later this week and chopped the white meat to use in a caesar salad tonight. I really wanted to have fancy croutons and dressing from a higher end grocery store, like MetropolitanMarket, but couldn't justify the extra cost and gas.  So, I stuck with a Fresh Express caesar salad kit. I added freshly grated parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper to make it a bit more zesty.  It was pretty good.  

Katie had chicken and rice left over from last night.  While she didn't eat much, we didn't have to trick her into eating it today:)

Sunday, 3/27/2011

I've made Caribbean Pork Bowls several times in the past year, but never took the time to type out the actual recipe. Tonight's the night I am finally going to get to it. The funny thing is that tonight's the first time I didn't use pork. I used chicken breast instead of pork tenderloin and found it worked just as well. Here's the recipe.

CARIBBEAN PORK BOWL
from Cuisine at Home's Weeknight Menus 

Makes 4 Pork Bowl servings
Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:
Blanch; Pulse with:
4-6 tomatillos, quartered (8 oz.)
1 1/2 cups fresh pineapple, chopped
1/2 cup white onion, chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, lightly packed
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 jalapeno, chopped
2 t. sugar
1/2 t. kosher salt

Blend:
1 t. chili powder
1 t. brown sugar
1 t. kosher salt
1/2 t. black pepper

Toss with Spice Mixture; Saute in 2 T. Olive Oil:
1 lb. pork tenderloin, trimmed

Stir in:
1/2 lb. kielbasa, cut into 8 pieces
2 T. garlic, minced

Deglazed:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice

Directions:
1. Blanch tomatillos in boiling water for 5 minutes, or until they begin to soften. Remove husk, drain and rinse in cold water.
2. Pulse tomatillos with pineapple, onion, cilantro, lime juice, jalapeno, sugar, and salt in a processor or blender until finely chopped. Cover and chill.
3. Blend spices.
4. Toss trimmed pork (cut into 1 1/2" cubes) with spice mixture. Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-high; saute pork for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Stir in kielbasa and garlic, and saute an additional 5 minutes, or until kielbasa begins to brown, stirring to keep the garlic from burning.
6. Deglaze with lime juice and boil until syrupy, 1-2 minutes. Serve with Black Beans and Rice, and top with tomatillo salsa.

The salsa recipe makes way more than is needed for one meal. The first time I made the dish, I poured the left over salsa into an ice cube tray and froze it. Now I can pop a salsa cube in the microwave for a few seconds and it is ready to use. 

The best part of the meal was how Ben and I successfully used reverse psychology on Katie and got her to eat her dinner! We told her we didn't think she could get the chicken and rice into her mouth using her fork. She responded by shoveled it in while grinning. It was awesome! We gave each other fist bumps after the meal was over and her plate was empty:) 

Saturday, 3/26/2011

For tonight's dinner, we had bacon cheeseburgers.  There was a shortage of cheddar cheese in the house; so, Ben and I topped our burgers with Pecorino Romano cheese.  I expected it to be a strong flavor, but instead it was barely noticeable.  The bacon rocked.  My cousin mentioned that he had started to slow cook bacon on the the stove top.  I tried it and was very pleased with the result.  It was crispy without being burnt.  Thanks for the tip Conor!

Friday, 3/25/2011

We had dinner at our neighbor's house tonight.  For those of you who know stories about some of our neighbors, these are nice, normal neighbors, not the crazy, weird, or scary neighbors.  Anyway, they made delicious bbq chicken, corn on the cob, biscuits, and salad for the meal.  Our other neighbors brought drinks and we brought dessert.  It was a fun evening.

I followed a recipe that came out of the April 2007 Sunset magazine.  It was my first time making this dish.  I know it isn't polite to test out recipes on unsuspecting neighbors, but since I had all of the ingredients, I decided to risk it.  Thankfully, it was a success:)  Everyone liked it except for Katie.  She was the first one to get her dish, and she quickly passed it on to Ben.  She tried it again later on, but disliked it enough to gag and spit it out in my hand.  Ah, the joys of being a mom.  Here's the recipe.

STRAWBERRY CLAFOUTI

As easy to make as a pancake, this classic French dessert from the Limousin region involves pouring a simple batter over fresh fruit (typically cherries) and baking until puffed and golden brown. The fruit rises to the top, leaving a soft layer whose texture falls somewhere between custard and cake.

Prep and Cook Time: 1 1/4 hours.

Ingredients:
1/2  tablespoon  butter
8  ounces  strawberries, hulled and halved lengthwise
2  teaspoons  cornstarch
3  eggs
1  cup  milk
2/3  cup  flour
1/4  cup  granulated sugar
1 1/2  teaspoons  vanilla
1/4  teaspoon  salt
Powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 2-qt. baking or gratin dish with the butter. Toss strawberry halves with cornstarch until evenly coated, then arrange berries, cut side down, in bottom of dish and set aside.

2. In a blender, whirl eggs, milk, flour, granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt 15 seconds. Pour batter over strawberries.

3. Bake until puffed, golden brown, and set in the center, about 50 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm.

Thursday, 3/24/2011

Ben says that the chicken I made tonight was some of the best chicken he has ever had.  Whoo hoo!  I took a marinade recipe that my brother-in-law used and tweaked it based on what I had in the house.  Here's the recipe I ended up with.

MUSTARD AND HERB CHICKEN MARINADE

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Canola Oil
1/4 cup White Vinegar
1/4 cup Dijon Mustard
1/2 cup Lime Juice
1 tsp chopped Garlic
1 tsp Lemon Pepper
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Thyme
1 tbsp Oregano

I marinated four bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs in this mixture for an hour and half.  They grilled, skin side up, on indirect medium heat for 50 minutes.  I did not turn them over.  They were perfectly delicious and tender.

Katie kept refusing to eat any chicken until we told her she couldn't have any yogurt until she ate a bite.  She ate her bite, agreed that it was yummy, and then gobbled down a handful of bite-sized pieces.  Three sat at our table for dinner, and all three were satisfied with the same food.  How nice:)

Wednesday, 3/23/2011

Ben and I finished off the Impossible Taco Pie tonight.  Katie first asked for a hot dog with bread and ketchup.  When the answer was no, she asked for chicken nuggets.  I was thrilled that she actually ate them.  

Much to Ben's disgust, the chicken nuggets were drenched in ketchup.  To me, that just makes them complete:)  I'm a big fan of ketchup, but I do have my limits.  The other morning we went out to breakfast and Katie dipped her pancake into ketchup.  The gross part is that it was already drizzled with maple syrup.  Here's her cute little dipping hand in action:

Tuesday, 3/22/2011

Wow, I just realized that I've been writing this blog for a year today.   Happy Blogiversary to me:)
 
We gathered with our parent support group at Mike, Naomi, and Oliver's house this evening.  They made two quiches for the main dish- spinach/mushroom and asparagus/ham.  And, yes, the plural of quiche is quiches:)  The rest of the group brought bread and a yummy green salad.  We took butterscotch chip, oatmeal cookies and vanilla ice cream for dessert.  I was only planning on taking cookies, but when Katie and I left out one cup of oats, I worried that they were a bit too crispy and thin to stand alone.  I realize that when baking with a two-year-old, I am responsible for the accuracy of our counting and measuring.  However, I also realize that baking with a two-year-old leads to many distractions.  I'm just thankful that they still tasted delicious.  Here's the recipe for the cookies:

OATMEAL SCOTCHIES

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or grated peel of 1 orange
3 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
1 2/3 cups (11-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Butterscotch Flavored Morsels

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375° F.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl. 3. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats and morsels. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
4. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes for chewy cookies or 9 to 10 minutes for crisp cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Monday, 3/21/2011

Ben and I ate Impossible Taco Pie for our dinner tonight.  One more meal of it remains for this week.  Katie ate some peanut butter, a bite or two of banana, and a bunch of carrots!!!  I asked her if she would eat some and jumped to prepare them when she said yes.  I pealed one carrot, chopped it into small sticks, and then steamed them until fork tender.  Katie knocked two carrot sticks onto her tray while she was stirring them in her bowl with a fork.  I took the bowl away along with her other food and drink options.  I told her could have them back after she ate the two pieces of carrot.  To our surprise, she at them and then asked for more carrots!  Win!  Win!  Win!  In the end, she didn't want to eat anything else for the night.  Whoo Hoo for steamed carrots!

Sunday, 3/20/2011

Our good friends Melissa and Dave invited us to join them and their daughter, Lucia, for a playground play date and dinner this afternoon.  We were pleased to have an open schedule so that we could take them up on their invitation!  Katie had her first big playground fall today.  She was swinging on a big kid swing and took her hand off the chain so that she could turn to see her daddy.  That was the exact moment I reached in to push her again.  Yes, I pushed her right off the swing.  She screamed and cried hard, but was back on the swing just a few minutes later. She seems to be just fine. She was laughing and playing in no time and ate a big dinner.  Thank God she wasn't hurt.  I think she was just startled and surprised by the fall.  We are actually really thankful for the flexible rubber mat under the swing set that absorbed much of the fall.

After the playground, we went to Angelina's Trattoria for dinner.  It was our first time there.  What good food!  We started with two orders of fried mozzarella.  YUM!  I can't remember the last time I had that dish.  For the main course, I had chicken parmesan with garlic penne noodles, Ben had chicken piccata, and Katie had a cheese pizza.  Melissa had the lasagna, Dave had chicken cannelloni, and Lucia had spaghetti with meatballs.  The girls got small scoops of ice cream with their kids meals.  It is safe to say that they are big fans of ice cream.  While slow to eat it, they both finished no problem with big smiles:)

Saturday, 3/19/2011

Our church potluck group, The Crock Pots, gathered tonight at Tom and Cherie's house.  Ben made BBQ country style pork ribs this afternoon for us to take.  While delicious, the pork was not as good as the first time he made it.  We think it had to do with the BBQ sauce.  We used Stubb's Spicy Bar-B-Q sauce, which was definitely spicy.  In fact, Tom and Cherie's daughter, Katie, was brought to tears when she tasted it.  We didn't know to warn her that it was spicy.  Tom made fantastic fondues tonight- cheese fondue for the appetizer and chocolate fondue for dessert.  Laura and David brought a tasty green salad.  It was a great meal:)

We had a small group tonight, just six adults, two kids, and one babysitter.  It was the perfect group size for carrying on one conversation.  When you get more than six people talking, the conversation splits into smaller groups.  We gathered at 5:30 and were sad to leave three hours later to take the babysitter home. 

Friday, 3/18/2011

We made an Incredible Taco Pie for our dinner tonight.  A layer of browned ground beef, seasoned with taco seasoning, topped with green chilies, and covered with a mixture of milk, eggs, and Bisquick.  Baked and topped with shredded cheddar cheese.  YUM!

Katie ate dinner separately while Ben and I prepared the taco pie.  She had grapes, cheddar cheese, goldfish crackers, and some deli turkey.  She was particularly excited about the multi-colored crackers we got at the store tonight.  She was having a meltdown over not getting to sit in a car-cart at the store.  The crackers were the cheapest, fastest bribe I could give her to ensure a tear-free shopping trip. 

And, now that I've mentioned it, I would like to wag my finger at all of the parents who don't take the time to unbuckle the seat belts of car style grocery carts correctly.  I would guesstimate that 90% of the car-carts out there have broken or missing seat belts.  What the heck!  I have used MANY buckling devices in the last two years, and not once have I broken a buckle.  To all of those parents out there who have broken a buckle by being impatient, I would like to thank you for making me disappoint my daughter almost every week at the grocery store.  Unlike you, I don't let her sit in a cart without a working seat belt.  It's just not safe.

Thursday, 3/17/2011

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  We finished off a couple night's worth of left overs tonight.  Ben and I split the remaining pork chop from Monday and the Kung Pao chicken from Sunday.  Katie had a bowl of whole wheat penne pasta with cheddar cheese melted on it.  To our surprise, she ate most of it!  

In honor of today's holiday, Ben and I added green food coloring to our margaritas and to Katie's flavored water.  She thought it was soo funny to have a bright green drink.  And after dinner, we slurped down some green jello.  Katie enjoyed playing with it, but wasn't interested in eating much of it. 

The green margarita.

Katie with her St. Patrick's Day drink.

Wednesday, 3/16/2011

This carbonara recipe came off of the Dreamfields Pasta spaghetti box.  Ben was in charge of the meal tonight.  The texture of the dish was great tonight.  He got the bacon really crispy, which helped with the overall flavor.  We used Pecorino Romano cheese, and although I really liked it, we feel the dish could still use more cheese. I'm sure it's not the best carbonara recipe out there, but it's fairly easy to make at home without a lot of special ingredients.

SPAGHETTI CARBONARA

Serves 6
By Chef Antonio Cecconi

Ingredients:
1 box Dreamfields Spaghetti
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic minced
8 ounces sliced bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 eggs
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. In a 2-quart Dutch oven or sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Cook garlic and bacon for 5 minutes or until bacon is crisp; drain off fat.
3. Mix together eggs, Parmesan and Romano cheeses, parsley and pepper; set aside.
4. Drain spaghetti; immediately return to saucepan over low heat. Add egg mixture; quickly toss with spaghetti. Add bacon mixture; toss. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper if desired.

Tuesday, 3/15/2011

After very large lunches today, we had pretty small dinners.  Ben had a half a sandwich with corned beef, cheddar cheese, and mayo.  I had a slice of peanut butter toast. Katie had yogurt and applesauce and a bite of banana. 

Monday, 3/14/2011

Today I marinated three, one-inch thick pork chops in Weber Grill Creations White Wine and Herb marinade mix.  The pork chops were in the marinade, in the refrigerator, for three to four hours before I broiled them.  I took them out of the refrigerator for the last hour so that they would get back up to room temperature.  They were broiled on high for 7 minutes on each side.  They were very tender and moist with great flavor.  

I made a side salad of spinach, goat cheese crumbles, mandarin orange segments, and balsamic vinaigrette.  Katie gulped down her oranges immediately and then spent 1/2 hour horsing around before she finished eating her small portion of pork.  We had to bribe her with one more piece of orange in order to get her to finish eating.  At the end of her meal, she said she wanted ice cream.  While Ben and I discussed her request in code,  she announced that she was "all done."  Discussion done.  More ice cream for us:) 

Sunday, 3/13/2011

After two nights of eating out, it was time to make dinner at home again.  We tried a Chinese dinner kit from Wanshai Ferry.  I selected the Kung Pao chicken variety, because it seemed the safest and most likely to taste good:)  It was pretty good and fairly easy to make.  The kit came with everything we needed except water, vegetable oil, and chicken.  The box said it would be ready in about 30 minutes, and that was accurate.  Katie didn't want to eat much of the chicken, but would if it meant she could have another peanut.  I think it was just a bit too spicy for her taste preferences.  She drank a lot of milk with her meal tonight.

Saturday, 3/12/2011

Our good friend David plays the Horn in the Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra.  He always lets us know when his concerts are, and tonight was the first time we decided to go.  It helped that the first half of the concert was targeted at children.  David sent us a personal invitation, encouraging us to bring Katie to the concert.  Boy, are we glad we did!  She LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it!  The concert was in Seattle Town Hall, which has pew-like seating.  We chose to sit in a place with a column directly behind us.  That allowed Katie to stand on the pew to watch the action.  She was waving her arms frantically like she was playing the violin and conducting.  What joy she exuded!  Here she is, looking cool before the concert started:)

We met up with David and his wife Laura before the concert to have dinner.  But, before I talk about dinner, I have to share a funny story about the concert.  David decided to change into his tux between dinner and the performance.  He had grabbed his tux out of the dry cleaning pile before heading out the door.  It was only after he got on stage that he realized he was wearing Laura's dress slacks, not his tux pants.  HA!  He said he was surprised at how long they were.  She always wears them with heals.  Oh, sooo funny!

Anyway, for dinner we went to the Rock Bottom Brewery.  I had chicken parmesan, which was really good!  The chicken wasn't covered in a heavy breading, but instead, seemed to be pan fried with some herbs.  Covered with melted mozzarella and marinara sauce, the chicken was great.  The linguine it was sitting on was not very interesting and didn't add much to the dish in my opinion.  I think it might have had some oil on it, which prevented the sauce from sticking to it.  Ben had the Bourbonzola burger, with Jim Beam® Bourbon glaze, Gorgonzola cheese and crispy onion straws.  He said it was good, but not as good as the similar burger at Red Robin.  

I gave Katie some chicken and pasta from my plate, and she had a few fries from Ben's plate.  Mainly, she just made a mess.  By the time we got home from the concert around 9:30pm, she was hungry again.  She ate two cups of applesauce and had some crackers before she was finally ready to go to bed.  Boy, Daylight Savings Time is going to be a rude awakening for her tomorrow!

Friday, 3/11/2011

Ben went to a photography workshop today with his friends Ryan and Tim.  Ryan's wife, Vanessa, drove up from Puyallup this evening so that she and Ryan could go out to dinner with Ben, Katie and me.  Thinking that we might be able to beat the Friday night dinner rush by a few minutes, we decided to give Cactus, our favorite West Seattle Mexican restaurant, a try.  Luckily, we did, quite literally, just beat the rush and got a table right away.  

As of late, I haven't been able to keep myself away from the half order of nachos at Cactus.  I got the olives on the side for Katie, asked for no guacamole, and added chicken and chorizo.  This time, I think they skimped on the cheese a bit.  I had too many chips without any cheese on them.  Over all, it was still delicious.  Ben had a half order of nachos too, but with different ingredients.  He asked for no olives, jalapenos, or pico de gallo, and added chorizo and skirt steak.  Katie polished off my olives very quickly and then picked at her cheese quesadilla. 

It was so nice to catch up with Ryan and Vanessa.  We last saw them at Katie's birthday party in December. 

Thursday, 3/10/2011

Tonight was a repeat of Tuesday's pasta dish of Spicy Tomato and Basil pasta sauce, whole wheat penne noodles, and hot Italian sausage.  I am very pleased that Katie was willing to eat the noodles.  I know it seems strange to encourage my two-year-old to eat noodles, but sometimes it is the easiest thing to feed her and she doesn't have a history of eating them well.

Wednesday, 3/9/2011

When I was growing up, my mom would sometimes make cornmeal pancakes for dinner.  This week I decided it was time to introduce them to my family.  This morning I searched the internet until I found a recipe that only called for ingredients I had in the house.  I didn't want to make an extra trip to the store today.  The pancakes turned out great.  Ben and I really liked them, but Katie was not a fan.  She ate applesauce, pre-packaged with no extra sugar, and some bacon with just a few bites of pancake.  Even adding syrup didn't entice her to eat more.  Here's the recipe for the pancakes.

CORN MEAL PANCAKES

Ingredients:
1 cup ALBERS Yellow Corn Meal
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, (optional)
1 large egg
1/2 cup NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk

Directions:
1.  Combine corn meal, honey and salt in a medium bowl. Slowly stir in boiling water. Cover; let stand for 10 minutes. Stir in flour, baking powder and cinnamon just until blended.
2.  Combine egg and evaporated milk in a small bowl; add to corn meal mixture. Spoon 1/3 cup batter for each pancake onto a heated, lightly greased griddle or skillet; cook for about 1 minute, or until bubbles appear. Turn; continue to cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until golden. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve warm with maple syrup or applesauce, if desired.

Makes 4 servings.

I made a fancier applesauce for Ben and me to eat.  I cored, peeled and roughly chopped up two honeycrisp apples and put them into a saucepan with a 1/4 cup of water.  I covered the pan and turned the heat on medium and let them steam until soft enough to mash.  When they were ready, I roughly mashed them.  Ben added some Splenda and cinnamon to his applesauce, while I had mine plain.  Soo good!

Tuesday, 3/8/2011

Ben is a big fan of Fred Meyer's bulk hot Italian sausage.  I like it too, but it's Ben's favorite.  Tonight we cooked up a pound of it and used it in a pasta dish.  We like to put it in breakfast scrambles and omelets too.   We had cooked, whole wheat penne noodles left over from last Friday in the fridge.  I tossed the noodles with Classico's Spicy Tomato and Basil pasta sauce and heated it all up in a sauce pan.  Knowing that Katie wouldn't like the spicy sausage, I only added it to the bowls for myself and Ben.  Such a simple and satisfying dinner!

Monday, 3/7/2011

I haven't been to Costco in a while, and my supply of frozen lean ground beef is long gone.  While at Fred Meyer this week, I decided to buy a couple pounds of beef to get me by until I could make it to Costco.  I was surprised to see how much more expensive it is at F.M, especially when looking at the lean beef.  It was $2 more per pound.  So, I opted for the more fatty, less expensive beef this week.  It was still more expensive than at Costco. The dish I made tonight tasted sooo much better with the fattier meat.  What a cruel reality!  The fats really do enhance flavors. 

Anyway, we had Green Beans and Ground Beef with some white rice.  Katie ate some rice and one green bean.  And, it took her twice as long to eat that as it did for us to finish off our full servings.  Next time, we will be serving it with leaner beef and less flavor.

Sunday, 3/6/2011

I knew I was going to want to make pizza this week, but was pretty sure I wasn't going to want make my own dough.  So, I went with a package of two eight-inch pizza crusts from Boboli.  Tonight Ben made up a batch of Zesty Pizza Sauce, added it to the crusts, and then covered them with mozzarella and pepperoni.  Boy, did it ever hit the spot.  Katie ate a little of it, and was kind enough to share her left overs with with two of us.  Score!

Also, the sauce recipe makes enough for a couple medium pizzas.  We put the extra sauce in the freezer to use some other time.  

Saturday, 3/5/2011

Today I was at the Fauntleroy UCC women's retreat all day at the St. Mary's on the Lake Peace and Spirituality Center.  The guest speaker/facilitator was Jane Kurtz, an award winning childrens' author.  She led the group through several creative writing exercises, which I loved.  The first one of the day was my favorite.  She started by reading us a poem titled "Where I'm From", written by George Ella Lyon.  Jane then invited each of us to take 15 minutes to write our own poem, beginning with "I am from..."  I don't know if I am done with mine yet, but here it is, as it stands at this moment.

Where I'm From

I am from
chocolate, for medicinal purposes only
from keys, sharp & flat, black & white
from songs, solo, duet, & family quartet
from rainbows, dancing, beautiful, and full of promise.


I am from
purple- lavender & lilacs, fragrant & fresh
yellow- sunflowers & gloriosa daisies, bold & bright
red- scarlet runner beans & geraniums, private & poised.

I am from
Pinecrest, the house on the lake
from hours spent floating in the sometimes chilly lake
from talent shows, always fun & silly
from rousing games of pinochle- bid, pass, trump, YES!

I am from
a family- a mother, a father, a brother
grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends
from tickles, hugs, laughter, and love
from Ben & Katie, meant to be.

I'd love to hear what you think of this poem.  I'm sure I haven't written one since high school.  

Oh, and I suppose I should talk about dinner too:)  After the retreat, we were invited to Lyn's house for appetizers and drinks.  I wasn't sure what or how much was going to be served, and thought it might be a while before it was ready.  So, I stopped at McDonald's for a quick burger before going.  I'm glad I did.  There was plenty of food for all, but it wasn't my kind of food.  Lyn served smoked salmon with cream cheese and capers to spread on bread, a toasted mushroom spread on bread, seasoned cashews, and brownies.  The cashews were delicious, but I feel a couple handfuls of cashews is enough for anyone at one sitting:)  Even though the food wasn't my cup of tea, I had the most wonderful time with the women of my church.  What a compassionate group of people.      

Friday, 3/4/2011

Our church's women's retreat began tonight with a potluck at one member's home.  I made a chicken and pasta casserole to take.  I started with sweet Italian chicken sausage, sliced thin and then pan fried it until a little brown around the edges.  The sausage was mixed into a store-bought, creamy, four-cheese alfredo sauce with rotisserie chicken.  Once it was all hot, I added some cooked penne pasta, and stirred it all together.  There was enough to make two small dishes (see photo) for Katie and Ben and one medium casserole dish for the potluck.  We topped each dish with shredded mozzarella cheese and put them in the oven to let the cheese melt.  

I was running a bit late, so I didn't do any more with my dish other than cover it and transport it to the potluck.  Ben had more time; so, he turned on the broiler and got the cheese a little crispy and golden brown on top.  I wish I had had more alfredo sauce for the dishes.  Although very tasty, they were not as moist as I hoped they would be. 

Thursday, 3/3/2011

We had enough rotisserie chicken remaining to have chicken burritos again tonight.   For the second night in a row, Katie played with her burrito, but didn't eat more than a few tiny bites.  I wonder when she will switch to being hungry at the same times we are:)

Wednesday, 3/2/2011

I shredded a rotisserie chicken yesterday, getting it ready to use for meals this week.  It is so much easier to shred the meat when it is still warm, rather than waiting to do it after it is cold.  For tonight's meal, we made burritos with some of the shredded chicken.  I put a couple handfuls into a frying pan, heated it up a bit, added chicken taco seasoning and water, brought it to a boil, let some of the moisture simmer off, and then add it to tortillas with grated cheddar cheese.  It was a tasty, simple meal. 

We are really struggling, as most parents of toddlers do, with getting Katie to eat what and when we want her to.  She is rarely hungry when we are.  And, when she is sitting at the table to eat, she spends so much time playing and trying to get our attention to look at whatever she is doing, that it takes an hour each meal.  She is an expert at pushing our buttons during meals.  For instance, she won't take a spoon full of food directly from her bowl to her mouth.  She has to make a pit stop and rub the food on her other hand first.  Then she needs to get our attention to show us the mess she made, maybe ask us to clean it up, but still hasn't eaten anything.  Argh!!!  It gets very frustrating.  We know that she is just programmed to experiment and push boundaries.  We just don't have to like it.

But at the end of the day, we say our prayers and she is our sweet girl again.  She folds her hands in her lap and says "Dear God."  We then take turns thanking God for the people and things in our lives that make us happy and asking God to help those we know need it.  She finishes with a sweet "Ah-men."  What a dear girl she is:)

Tuesday, 3/1/2011

We went to Jen, Andy, and Jackson's home for PEPS tonight.  They served pasta with a puttanesca sauce. It was my first time eating that sauce, and I had to ask what it was.  It's a tomato based sauce that includes garlic, onions, chili peppers, olives, capers, diced tomatoes, and oregano.  It was pretty good, although I did avoid the olives.  Those of us contributing to the rest of the meal brought a caesar salad with great croutons, bread, doughnut holes and brownies.  I feel very fortunate that we were placed in this group two years ago.  What nice, caring, and funny people to know and see regularly!

The little boys ran back and forth through the house so much that they were sweating.  For a good 20 minutes, two of them ran while holding their shirts up and yelling "belly button."  They were hilarious:)  Katie ran after the boys, but was always about a half a length behind them.  I do think she is slower than they are, but she was mainly behind because she would watch them run away from her and then start to follow.  It is a delight to see them actually playing with each other.