July 18, 2011- Hot Dogs and Cheese Puffs

Tonight I will not win any awards for feeding my child the healthiest foods.  But, she ate well, and we were both happy at the end of the meal.  I grilled Hebrew National hot dogs and served them with Cheetos Puffs.  I sure do love those!  She also had a little bit of cheddar cheese and a bowl of fresh berries.  She didn't nap today and was definitely looking tired while she ate.  Just when I thought she would say she was finished, she asked for more food.  I'm glad I stalled for a bit, but she did end up saying she was done.  

Ben called a little after 6pm, and we got to talk with him for a while.  His first meeting, the big one, went very well.  Whoo hoo!  After the call, I read Katie one more book and took her up to bed.  In less than five minutes she was out.  I'm so thankful that her lack of afternoon nap didn't turn into a terrible bed time.  And now, it's 7:10 and I have the whole evening to myself.  Hmmm, perhaps I have time for a little crafting, reading, TV, ice cream, and extra sleep:) 

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:) 

Monday, 10/25/2010

Just like yesterday, today didn't go as I planned.  Our internet connection went down yesterday afternoon and still wasn't back today.  I waited around the house this morning for a call regarding the service appointment that never came.  So, our morning grocery shopping trip was postponed until this afternoon.  The technician showed up about 10 minutes before I was going to put Katie down for her nap.  She was so excited to have the tech in the house, that there was no way I could get her down until he was gone.  She kept saying his name, Jason, and "fix it" over and over again.  It was pretty cute:)  She also kept trying to make sure he knew that there was a vacuum in the room with him by saying "vacuum" repeatedly too. 

When our connection was re-established and Jason said goodbye, Katie finally went down for her nap.  We weren't ready to go grocery shopping until 4pm.  I looked out the window and saw a sheet of rain outside.  Great.  I called Ben and offered to pick him up from work so that he wouldn't have to come home via the bus in that weather.  He was kind enough to accept my offer and then go grocery shopping with us.  Katie had been asking to be in the car cart at the store all day.  When we got to Fred Meyer, the car cart was already claimed by another family.  Fortunately for us, the dad offered us the cart since his son had been in it many times.  His son was not very happy about it.  In fact, we "drove" past him once and he glared at us.  Oh well.  At least Katie was happy! 

When we got home, we broiled chicken breasts that I had marinated in Grill Mates Chipotle Pepper Marinade.  The chicken was moist and delicious.  Ben and I really enjoyed it.  We had iceberg lettuce wedge salads with the chicken.  Katie would not even touch the chicken to her lips tonight.  Instead, she ate half a hot dog, dipped into ketchup, and drank water with ice and a little diet lemon/lime carbonated water in it.  She was a happy girl:)

Saturday, 9/11/2010

A couple days ago I put four chicken breasts into a chipotle pepper marinade.  My original intention was to use it that night, but we ended up having other things instead.  Tonight we needed to have dinner in a hurry and grilling the chicken was our fastest option.  I learned a valuable lesson...marinate chicken for a long time!  The chicken was awesome--the kind you hope to find on a pub sandwich.  This was the first time we have used this flavor of Grill Mates marinade.  We were both really impressed.  We served it with a caesar salad.  

Katie wouldn't even touch the chicken to her mouth.  She opted for a "ha dahg".  That is toddler speak for "hot dog".

Thursday, 9/9/2010

My company's annual picnic was this afternoon.  I signed up to bring a main dish to the potluck, because there always seems to be an abundance of dessert and only a few main dishes.  Not wanting to cook, I decided to pick up Thai food from Buddha Ruksa on the way to the picnic.  If you live in the Puget Sound, are open to going out to eat in West Seattle, and you like Thai food, you need to check out Buddha Ruksa.  The food is delicious, the staff is very friendly, and the prices are really reasonable.  Anyway, today I picked up an order of Crispy Garlic Chicken and an order of Phad Prik Khing--stir-fried fresh green beans, tofu, bell pepper, and kaffir lime leaves in curry paste.  When it was time for me to take Katie home from the picnic, I was thrilled to find that there was enough of both dishes to take home leftovers for dinner.  Score!!!

Tonight, I heated the Phad Prik Khing up in a small saucepan and microwaved the chicken.  Ben and I finished those plus the remainder of the Hot Mango Chutney Cashew dip, from his mom's birthday party, for our dinner.  We thoroughly enjoyed our meal:)  Katie was not OK with the spice of the Thai food or the dip, so she ate a hot dog dipped in ketchup.  I think she enjoyed her meal too;)

Sunday, 7/11/2010

Today was our "catch up from vacation" day. Ben processed and posted the photos we took during the Moser family reunion. I seem to have accomplished making a mess of the house. Guess I'll have to clean up tomorrow;) We still didn't have much to eat in the house, so we ended up stopping at KFC for dinner. We ordered fiery grilled wings to share, Katie had a hot dog, and Ben and Katie had corn on the cob. The wings were really good! Katie ate all but two bites of her hot dog, so I think she liked it:)

Katie's corn cob was a bit hot. We told her she would have to wait to eat it until it cooled down, that it was "hot". When we finally gave it to her, she said "hot, hot" and then blew on it. Each time she went to touch it, she would say "hot". We are now confident that she understands what hot means. Score one for the parents!

Monday, 6/7/2010

Today, I bought my first t-bone steak...ever. I thought Ben would enjoy a good steak for dinner, and the t-bone looked pretty good. Unfortunately, Ben had to work a bit late. So, I ended up sharing a pear and hot dogs with Katie, and saved the steak for Ben. He grilled it up when he got home, seasoned with salt, pepper, and olive oil. He had a small spinach salad to go with it. I added goat cheese crumbles, mandarin oranges, and a splash of balsamic vinaigrette to the spinach. I was right- he did enjoy a good steak dinner. And, he saved a piece of steak for me to have another night:)

Saturday, 5/13/2010

The birthday surprise for Ben's grandma was absolutely perfect! She was blown away that all of her family came to celebrate with her:) After a restful night's sleep listening to the ocean, we gathered for breakfast at the beach house. Then we headed back to the hotel so that Katie could nap around 11am. Turned out Ben and I needed naps too.

After our naps, we had lunch and headed to the beach to play. I should point out that it was Katie's first time playing in sand. Her Grandma Jennifer showed her how to brush her hands together in order to remove some of the sand. We went back to the beach house for dinner.

We had grilled hotdogs and hamburgers for dinner followed up with birthday cake and ice cream. The cake was carrot with raisins and nuts, so Ben passed on it. I am not usually a carrot cake fan, but I am always a butter cream frosting fan...so I had some:) Katie definitely enjoyed the cake!

Thursday, 4/29/2010

With a batch of chili in the fridge, I decided to make and eat my first ever chili dog. I grilled a couple of big sandwich buns and Hebrew National Polish Beef Sausages. Spooned on some chili, sprinkled on shredded cheddar, and TA-DA...chili dogs. Ben said they were great. I thought the taste was good, but don't really need to try it again. I prefer to eat my hotdogs/sausages separate from my chili.

We cut up part of a sausage for Katie and gave her some chili. Seems like she is now a cheese snob. Shredded cheese no longer works for her. It must be sliced or cubed. Fine by me, shredded cheese gets everywhere!