June 12, 2011- Penne Rustica

Jennifer, Ben, Katie and I drove up to Lynnwood this afternoon to help Kate and Spencer unload their U-Haul trailer.  The trailer was completely unloaded 25 minutes after we arrived!  We all got to meet Kate's dogs Ana and Sota, named for Indiana and Minnesota.  Katie did pretty well with them, but was definitely too nervous to be left alone with them yet.  They are much bigger than she is and would have just knocked her down out of excitement.

After the trailer was unloaded, we went to Macaroni Grill for dinner.  I had Penne Rustica-- roasted chicken and aged prosciutto tossed with Parmesan cream sauce then baked until golden.  Ben and Jennifer shared the same dish, but did not opt out on the shrimp like I did.  We all agreed that they have made their portions a bit more reasonable.  In the past the dish was overwhelmingly large.  Katie had spaghetti with meatballs. While it didn't seem like she ate much, she did keep herself occupied during most of the meal.  Kate and Spencer shared a dish of Pollo Limone Rustica-- roasted chicken sauteed with imported penne pasta, lemon-basil cream sauce and fresh spinach, then baked until golden.

June 11, 2011- Cupcakes

Katie had chicken strips and grapes for dinner.  Ben, his mom, and I had cupcakes for dinner after Katie went to bed.  We ate a late lunch at P.F. Changs and just weren't hungry for another meal.  My cupcake was mint chocolate.  Ben's was triple chocolate.  Jennifer's was mocha flavored.  All were quite tasty.  

Our future sister-in-law, Kate, is moving to Washington to live with Spencer.  She is enrolled in the Family Nurse Practitioner program at the University of Washington and starts in just a week or two.  They have been on the road, driving here from Chicago, over the past couple of days.  They will arrive tomorrow and we spent the day preparing a surprise for them.  Jennifer and I created "welcome" posters, one for Kate and one for her dogs:)  We let ourselves into their home and left them fancy desserts, wine, flowers, chocolates, an umbrella for Kate, and treats for the dogs. 

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. 

June 9, 2011- Left Overs

We ate in shifts tonight.  Katie was hungry first and had a chicken strip which she dipped in ketchup.  Ben had a long commute home, so I ate by myself after getting Katie cleaned up.  I ate left over mahi mahi from Tuesday with a salad.  Ben ate a pork chop left over from Wednesday when he got home. 

June 8, 2011- Mesquite Pork Chops

Ben worked later than normal tonight, so I fed Katie before he got home.  She had a slice of left-over pizza for her meal.  Ben and I ate broiled pork chops that I marinated in Grill Mates Mesquite Marinade.  I usually overcook meat.  So, it was high praise when Ben said they couldn't have been cooked better:)  We had a side caesar without croutons to go with the pork chops. 

The best part of the meal was when Katie, who was watching "The Voice" in the den, came running in and said she needed a microphone.  I jumped up, pulled my mic from the closet, told her not to drop it or hit it on anything, and let her go.  She held it up to her mouth, humming and dancing along with the singers.  When each song ended, she would run into the dining room shouting "I did it!"  How awesome!  I love that little girl:)

By the way, "The Voice" is a fantastic new singing competition on NBC.  Far better than American Idol in my opinion. 

June 7, 2011- Roasted Garlic Mahi Mahi

We had sea salt and roasted garlic mahi-mahi with a salad for dinner tonight.  We've had this fish several times and love it.  The fillets come pre-marinated, individually vacuum sealed, and frozen from Costco.  I simply line a cookie sheet with foil, place the fillets on the foil, and bake in a pre-heated oven for 25 minutes.  The result is a delicious fillet of fish.  Tonight, I let the fish cook an additional 5 minutes since Ben was still on his way home.  It definitely dried out more than normal, but still tasted great.  

I planned on making a spinach salad with strawberries, glazed walnuts, and poppy seed dressing, but found that my strawberries were too past their peak to use.  The green grapes I used as a substitute were pretty good with the other ingredients.  I still prefer the berries, but it is nice to know I have other options.  Katie ate a few bites of fish along with several grapes for dinner.  I bet she wakes up hungry tomorrow morning.

June 6, 2011- Pizza

Well, it's been over a month since I last blogged. I have notes about what we ate for most of the past month, but the catch up game is just too daunting.  So, it's time to just start again with today.

Ben and I spent the past three days in a photography workshop in the Palouse hills.  The tour was led by Adrian Klein and Kevin McNeal of Northwest Photo Tours.  I gave Ben the tour for an anniversary gift, and he was kind enough to ask me to come along:)  Katie stayed with my parents while we were gone and had a blast!  The tour started Friday at 4pm and ended Sunday around 11am.  We were plain exhausted by the time it was over.  The 3:30am wake up calls and late nights did us in.  Thankfully we planned to come home today and not yesterday. 

After a very long drive home, including a stop to photograph the PSE Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility, we were definitely not in the mood to make dinner.  Katie pushed every one of our buttons during the drive home. As soon as we hit I-5 Ben called in our order to Garlic Jim's Pizza.  We had sausage and pepperoni on a hand-tossed crust.  Katie didn't want the meat on her slices, but did a pretty good job eating her pieces along with some grapes. 

Ah, it's good to be home:)