July 10, 2011- Cheeseburgers

We made really good cheeseburgers tonight.  Ben grilled frozen hamburger patties from Costco, seasoned heavily with Lawry's seasoning salt.  We both topped the burgers with cheddar cheese and bacon.  I added ketchup and pickles to mine while Ben added barbecue sauce.  Katie ate most of her mini cheeseburger, dipped in ketchup of course:)  We all ate pears to go with our burgers.

Usually I'm not very worried about selecting organic products at the grocery store.  But, I have to tell you, I always find the organic pears to taste much better than the non-organic pears.  Maybe it's simply because they have been picked when ripe.  No matter the reason, I'm thankful for very yummy pears. 

July 8, 2011- Sazerac

Kate and Spencer kindly offered to babysit Katie for us tonight. Date night...what a treat! After getting her settled in with them, I met Ben downtown for dinner and a movie.  We planned to keep our food costs down by sticking to happy hour menus.  We ended up at Sazerac since the happy hour menu was offered until 8pm, two hours longer than most restaurants. 

We started with Crispy "Truffles"-- a deep fried ball of yukon gold potatoes and truffle cheese, coated in bread crumbs, served with truffled aioli.  I really expected a fancy potato chip when I ordered them.  What a pleasant surprise.  Next, Ben had the pulled pork sliders with a mustard based bbq sauce, and I had the cheeseburger sliders with garlic aioli.  We wrapped up the meal by sharing the grilled housemade Andouille sausage.  It had a great texture and a unique flavor.  The food was wonderful, but so were our seats.  

We were seated at the chef's counter, which meant we could watch the chef prepare food while we ate.  The thing we miss most about not having cable television anymore is The Food Network.  We love watching people prepare food.  Tonight it was just like we were part of a live studio audience for a Food Network show.  What fun!  The chef greeted us and said goodbye when we left, but was heads-down the entire we were eating.  I wonder if he likes being watched so closely while he works. 

The movie we saw was Horrible Bosses.  Oh man, that is a hilarious movie!  We were in a packed theater and the whole audience laughed and groaned and jumped as one.  If you liked The Hangover or Bridesmaids, I've got to think you will love this movie!  We will own it for sure.

June 22, 2011- Cheeseburgers & Hotdogs

We were planning on going to the home of our friends for dinner tonight, but they had to postpone due to a schedule conflict.  So, we ate hot dogs and left-over cheeseburgers with fruit salad for dinner.  I put frozen raspberries, green grapes, bananas, pears, and mandarin oranges in the fruit salad.  It was quite delicious!  

By the way, Mom and Dad, we've used up the last of the raspberries from last year's harvest:) 

June 18, 2011- Cheeseburgers

We hosted our church potluck group, Crock Pots, at our house tonight.  It was a really small group this month, just 5 adults and 3 kids.  While we missed those who couldn't come this time, we did enjoy having a single conversation that everyone could hear and participate in.  We grilled hamburgers, seasoned heavily with Lawry's seasoning salt, and smothered them with cheddar cheese.  Watermelon and chips were served on the side and ice cream wrapped up the meal.  After the meal we played several games of Banagrams.  I love that game and wish we had time to play it more often!

Here are two adorable photos of Katie's friend Esme enjoying her ice cream cone.

And, here are several fun photos of Katie chowing down on watermelon.

June 17, 2011- Luna Park Cafe

I planned on having left over barbecued chicken tonight, but it didn't sound good.  We continued to let carbs entice us by heading to Luna Park Cafe for dinner.  I had a bacon cheddar burger with fries.  Ben had chilli fries with a hot link in it.  Katie nibbled on a cheese quesadilla and had a couple fries.  We all shared an ice cream sundae for dessert.  Ben and I are sufficiently stuffed and satisfied. 

June 14, 2011- Refrigerator Roulette

Ben had plans with a couple friends after work tonight.  Katie and I were planning on going to our PEPS gathering for dinner, but ended up staying home because she wasn't feeling well.  We've been fighting a cold for several days, and I thought we were on the mend.  When she was really fussy after her nap this afternoon, I looked at her throat.  It was swollen and red.  We'll probably end up at the doctor tomorrow to get her checked out.  We have a new baby in our PEPS group, and I don't want to get that family sick.  

When asked what she wanted to eat for dinner, Katie surprised me and said pepperoni.  She never wants to eat it on a pizza, but seems to like it just fine by itself.  Although she told me she didn't want any cheese, she ate a stick of string cheese when I handed it to her.  She also had a few slices of apple.  I had a cheeseburger, using a left over grilled patty from last Friday. 

June 10, 2011- Cheeseburgers

We grilled cheeseburgers for dinner tonight.  When I went grocery shopping on Monday this week, I bought two packages of hamburger.  I kept the lean meat in the fridge, expecting to make taco meat with it.  I put the fattier meat in the freezer, planning on using it for our hamburgers tonight.  Well, I didn't make up the taco meat and forgot to defrost the meat from the freezer.  So, I ended up using the lean meat for the hamburgers.  I added Lawry's seasoning salt and A-1 Steak Sauce to the meat to add flavor.  By some kind of miracle, the burgers held their form and didn't fall apart when flipped on the grill!  In the past we have added an egg to lean ground beef to help it stick together.  It hasn't been very successful.  Since tonight's grilling experience was positive, I think I'll leave the egg out in the future. 

Friday, 4/22/2011

Tonight we drove to Spokane to spend Easter with my family.  Katie and I met Ben downtown for dinner before starting our drive.  In the past we have headed straight out only to have to stop for a meal an hour down the road.  It seemed, since we were not able to leave before 5pm, that having dinner first would be better for traffic and our stomachs.  We went to a Red Robin just a block away from Ben's office. 

Katie had chicken strips and fries with ranch dressing and chocolate milk.  Ben had buffalo wings and a side caesar salad.  I had a bacon cheese burger without the bun and a side salad.  I ordered the burger in a lettuce wrap.  Well, that was just way too much lettuce.  Yikes!  I ended up pulling the burger out and eating it on it's own.  I sure did miss having ketchup on it.  It is amazing how much sugar is in a tablespoon of ketchup.  Too much for maintaining a low-carb diet right now.  

Our dining and travel plans worked perfectly.  We only had one minor slow down on our way to Spokane and didn't have to stop.  We are looking forward to a lovely weekend with our family:)

Monday, 4/11/2011

Ben took today off to extend our vacation a bit.  Even though I had to work a couple hours this afternoon, it felt like an extra day of vacation with him home.  Tomorrow Ben and I are going to start an Atkins diet.  I'm addicted to carbs right now and need to cut back.  I can only seem to cut back when I follow a strict plan.  Since Atkins worked for me before, I know I can do it.  I am thankful that Ben is willing to try it with me.  It would be hard to follow it while making him foods I can't eat.  Since tomorrow we will have to cut out almost all carbs, we went out for the last carb-loaded meal we will have for a while.  

We finally had a meal at Jak's Grill.  We've heard nothing but great praise for this restaurant.  We got there just after 5:00pm and were seated right away.  Ben and I each had a burger.  I went with pesto mayo, bacon, and cheddar on my burger.  Ben stuck with the standard red pepper mayo and added bacon and blue cheese.  The burgers were outstanding.  The Seattle Metropolitan magazine ranked them in second place behind Zippy's Giant Burgers for the best burger in Seattle.  We do not agree.  Jak's should be #1.  There really is no comparison.  We both opted to upgrade from french fries to potato pancakes.  The pancakes were good, but I preferred the fries I swiped from Katie's plate.  Katie had chicken strips and fries for her dinner.  For dessert, Ben and I each got a chocolate mousse layered cake a la mode.  Yes, we could have shared, but I didn't want to.  Katie had a single scoop of vanilla ice cream.  

I am sufficiently STUFFED.  I think I will be ready to cut out carbs tomorrow:)

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!

Saturday, 2/26/2011

I purchased a pound of ground beef on Monday this week to make hamburgers for our dinner tonight.  Well, the beef didn't last in the fridge as I expected it to.  I ended up making an extra trip to the grocery store this afternoon to get more.  It was worth it.  Our burgers were delicious.  As usual, Ben mixed in some A-1 Steak Sauce, Lowry's seasoning salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a little cayenne pepper.  Oh, and he added an egg to help it all stick together since it was pretty lean beef.  Although the patties didn't hold their shape well and sunk below the grates of the grill, the parts that came off of the grill were good;)  We topped our burgers with sharp cheddar cheese and bacon and put them on top of Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins.  Katie and I added dill pickles and ketchup, while Ben stuck with mustard. 

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:) 

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, 9/30/2010

I planned to make meatloaf for dinner tonight.  Unfortunately, I didn't look at the recipe close enough to see that I needed one and a half pounds of hamburger.  I only had one pound.  So, Katie and I did a mad dash to the grocery store to get more hamburger at the last minute.  We got the ground beef and then decided to make hamburgers instead.  The meatloaf would have taken an hour to prepare and bake.  I knew we would be too hungry to wait for another hour, plus the five minutes to drive home.  

It was a good decision to go with the burgers.  They were fantastic!!!  We grilled them with a little butter in the center of each patty.  YUM!  Topped with cheddar cheese and crispy bacon, these burgers were probably our best yet.  I seasoned the ground beef with A-1 steak sauce, Lawry's seasoning salt, black pepper, and a touch of cayenne pepper.  We used sandwich thins for buns and had raspberry, banana, and grape fruit salads on the side.  Katie loved the raspberries and grapes.  She said she wanted "burger", but in the end, it seemed like she just wanted ketchup.  Incidentally, she likes grapes dipped in ketchup. 

Sunday, 9/26/2010

It was nice to be home with Katie after a day away.  She had a great time with her grandma, but did not nap for her.  After lunch at home, we all went to our church's re-dedication.  The building just underwent its first significant renovation in 50 years.  It included the addition of an elevator, new office space layout, a new conference room, a large gathering space directly outside the sanctuary, and a large patio.  Here are a few photos Ben took of the new space last week.

The new patio off of the enlarged narthex.

The new entrance to the building which gives an immediate view of the church and YMCA offices.

The new narthex/gathering place. 

Katie almost made it through the entire dedication.  We ended up taking a five minute walk outside so that she could get some "too sleepy" energy out of her system.  Soon after the ribbon cutting took place, we went home and put Katie down for a nap.  Just an hour later, Ben and I took a nap too:)  The fridge didn't have much in it for dinner; so, we went to Luna Park Cafe for dinner.  

Katie chanted "burger" all the way to the restaurant.  When I gave her some of mine to eat, she wouldn't eat it.  This was not surprising.  She did eat a few of my french fries and drank some chocolate milkshake.  I had a bacon cheeseburger with pickles and ketchup.  Ben had chili cheese fries.  We ordered Katie her very own chocolate milkshake from the kid's menu.  We thought it would be smaller for kids.  Nope--it was exactly the same size as the small chocolate milkshakes we ordered for ourselves.  Don't worry--we didn't let her's go to waste:) The food at Luna Park Cafe is delicious; it is just hard not to eat too much. 

Thursday, 9/2/2010

This evening my brother Matt, sister-in-law Jenna, and niece Braelyn arrived from Spokane.  They are spending the holiday weekend with us.  What fun!!!  Braelyn has been a pretty sick kid since she was born, but she is looking great now.  She has a beautiful smile, gorgeous hair, and gives wonderful hugs.  Can't wait to get to know her more this weekend!

For dinner, we made up hamburger patties and threw them on the grill.  I purchased ground beef with 20% fat instead of our usual 5%.  What a difference that made.  We didn't need to add an egg to help keep the patties together and the burgers didn't stick to the grill at all.  Ben added our standard seasoning to the meat--A-1 steak sauce, Johnny's Seasoning, and freshly ground black pepper.  We all topped our burgers with cheddar cheese, and Jenna and I added dill pickles.  Together with beer and Doritos, we were happy campers:)

Thursday, 8/5/2010

Yay, it's hamburger night! After my failed attempt to season hamburgers with Worcestershire sauce a couple weeks ago, it was time to go back to our standard seasoning. Ben mixed a good amount of A-1 Steak Sauce, Lawry's seasoning salt, an egg, and cayenne pepper into our lean ground beef. Even though this was our standard mix, the pre-cooked burgers seemed really juicy tonight. As a result, they did not flip very well. Thankfully, it just didn't matter. They were sooo good. We topped them with slices of cheddar cheese and dipped them in ketchup (for me) and A-1 sauce (for Ben). I was going to grill strips of yellow squash too, but the squash was no longer good when I cut into it. So, we will just have ice cream with chocolate sauce later tonight:)

Tuesday, 7/20/2010

It was a hamburger kind of night. I wanted to try something different with our burgers. I took a pound of lean ground beef and added an egg, 1/4 cup of Worcestershire, freshly ground black pepper, and a little kosher salt. In the end, we had pretty ugly, but nicely flavored burgers. The combination of a really hot grill and cold meat resulted in a lot of meat sticking to the grates. We topped the burgers with cheddar cheese and bacon. In the future, I need to make sure to use thick bacon for burgers. The thin stuff just gets lost when paired with flavorful burgers.

To go with the burgers, we grilled sliced yellow squash. The strips of squash were tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper. After they came off the grill, we added Red Robin seasoning salt. I added a bit too much to mine, but could see how that would be a positive flavor addition with the correct amount applied. Katie wouldn't eat the squash, but she did eat some of the hamburger meat. Her favorite part of the meal was dipping her fingers into ketchup.

Monday, 6/21/2010

Months ago, Jennifer, my mother-in-law, mentioned that she had purchased and was enjoying Oroweat's Sandwich Thins bread. I've seen the packages in the store, but hadn't bought them for our family yet. Today, at Costco, there was a big display of them. The price looked pretty good, so I decided to try them out. Ben grilled burgers for us and toasted a couple of these buns. They were great burgers! We were both really pleased with the Sandwich Thins. Good thing, because I purchased a bag at Costco. We won't run out for a while;) I made a mango, banana, and mandarin orange salad to go with it.

The burger went over really well with Katie. I gave her a nice big, mommy-sized bite to work on at the beginning of the meal. Halfway through my burger, I decided I better take a photo of it for the blog. As I tweaked the settings, Katie kept begging for more. By the time I got the photo I wanted, I only had a little bit of the burger left. Looks like a slider. I'm glad she liked it! Oh yes, and, she likes ketchup too:)

Tuesday, 6/15/2010

PEPs was at Jackson's home tonight. Jen and Andy made grilled up delicious jalapeno cheese burgers with grilled buns. I heard Jen say the recipe came from a Weber cookbook. They also had a few small, unseasoned cheeseburgers for the kids. There was a big bowl of potato salad, which Katie liked, and corn on the cob. For dessert, we had warm brownies with vanilla ice cream. YUM!

Highlights from the evening included Ari and Katie giving each other fist bumps. Katie, Ari, and Ronan did some dunking at the basketball hoop. All of the kids taking turns on the wooden rocking horse. Boy, can they rock!