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. 

Wednesday, 2/9/2011

Katie and I had a little bit of everything for dinner tonight.  She had some left over stir-fried steak, gold fish crackers, pears, and peanut butter.  I had the left over pizza, some pear, and a few bites of steak.  The steak continues to be delicious, but the snow peas didn't hold up as well. 

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. 

Sunday, 10/3/2010

There is a great butcher shop at Pike Place Market called Don and Joe's Meats.  The guys that work there are super friendly and give helpful suggestions about which cuts to purchase for a recipe.  Yesterday, Katie and I met Ben downtown for his lunch break.  We walked up to the market for some chowder and stopped at the butcher shop on our way back to the car.  We purchased one of their "All-Season Special" bags of meat.  For $42, we got:

• 1 lb. Bacon
• 1 lb. Bulk pork sausage
• 3 lb. Ground beef
• 2 lb. Whole chicken legs
• 2 lb. Prime top sirloin steak
• 1 1/2 lb. Pork chops
• 3 1/2 lb. Cut-up Fryers

It is already packaged, labeled, and frozen.  All I had to do was take it home and put it in the freezer.  Done:)  I did keep out the prime top sirloin steak for dinner tonight.  I let it defrost in the fridge overnight, and then Ben took it out this afternoon to get to room temperature.  He seasoned the steaks with salt, pepper, and olive oil.  They were grilled on Direct High heat for about 8 minutes.  Ben said there were some flare ups on the meat and that he thought his piece was overcooked.  I really liked the charred bits and thought my piece was great!  

We made a salad with mixed greens, glazed walnuts, and Bartlett pears tossed in poppy seed dressing.  Katie ate a good amount of cheese and pears for her dinner. 

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:)

Monday, 5/17/2010

We finished off our left over grilled chicken breasts tonight. I fixed a spinach, strawberry, and pear salad, with a balsamic vinaigrette. Katie was a super fan of strawberries today. She had some with each meal. Nothing more to share about this meal:)

Saturday, 5/1/2010

What a fun day this was. My friend Elly and I hosted a bridal shower for our friend Lauren at my home. I will create a special "Bridal Shower" post later on with details about the shower. It was perfect!

After the bridal shower, we all went to downtown Seattle to the CanCan, a kitchen and cabaret, for the bachelorette party. I'd been there two times before, once for another bridal shower and once for a 30th birthday party. There is a tiny stage and the tables are packed in. Each show I've seen is a bit different, but always very entertaining and slightly odd at the same time. We arrived at 6pm so that we could have dinner and relax before the 7:30 show. Our ticket included a 3 course meal. Here's what I ordered:

1st course: Vegetarian soup made with fresh market produce (it is located at the Pike Place Market)
2nd course: Salad Ortaggio- spinach, pear, gorgonzola, and spiced walnuts tossed in balsamic-basil vinaigrette
3rd course: Three Cheese Macaroni- penne pasta in a sauce made with pecorino, gorgonzola and parmigianno cheeses, fresh sage and bread crumbs.

The food was delicious, the show was fun, and the drinks were tasty! I highly recommend a visit to the CanCan if you ever need something different to do in Seattle.

Monday, 4/19/2010

Boy, today I just could not plan a menu for this week. After writing down the staples we needed and looking after dozens of recipes, I decided Katie and I just needed to go to the store. Thankfully I wasn't indecisive at the store. For tonight's meal I got a rotisserie chicken from the Fred Meyer deli and made the following salad to go with it:

BALSAMIC & PEAR SALAD

Ingredients
3 cups spring mixed greens
1/2 pear- diced
handful of craisins

Dressing
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon salt
dash of pepper

The recipe makes enough dressing gor 3-4 salads. So, go lightly when you pour it on your salad and save some for another day. Tip: If you warm the honey a little, it will mix with the other ingredients easier.

My mom sent me this recipe...not sure where she got it, but I love it! Katie was a big fan of the chicken and did a fair job eating the pear pieces we gave her. Although she did have a good number of goldfish crackers today, I'm pleased that I didn't have to give her any cheese today:)