Breakfast bars

I usually call them breakfast bars because that is usually when we eat them. Some people call them meal replacement bars. Whatever you call them they sure can come in handy. We keep a couple in Gio's diaper bag. The Kashi TLC bars really are not very sweet. My two favorites are the Toffee Chocolate Chip Harvest Power Bar and the Lemon Zest Luna bar.

My First Muffins

I glanced over at the three over ripe bananas in the bowl. "Well it's cool outside and I've been wanting to try to make muffins" I thought. ....Tada, here they are! The very first muffins I have ever made. Thank you Roossy for inspiring me. They were so easy to whip up. After my first batch, banana cheese, I wondered why I had never made them before and decided to made a different kind of muffin. The batch of muffins that taste like donuts turned out a little flat but the taste was still good. I think I might have been a little too generous with the baking powder.

Water Fun

The weather was hot so we decided to try out the new water table. Gio had great fun and enjoyed it very much. We got the it several months ago at the thrift store. It was still in the box! It is supposed to be a sand and water table but that just sounds like it would be too messy especially at his age. It came with a castle that is supposed to sit in the middle but try as we might we just couldn't put it together as you can see Gio never missed it. It has a cover and drain plug both nice features.

Sweet Sauce

Joe made this for me when we were dating and I still crave it from time to time. It is basically a very basic meat sauce with sugar added until it has a slightly sweet taste. It's served with a scoop of ricotta cheese. This dish tends to taste better as a leftover.

Shrimp And Bean Sprouts

We went to Lee's Chinese Grocery yesterday to get some agar agar. While shopping I noticed two boxes of fresh beautiful bean sprouts. Now when I buy beans sprouts they are usually about two dollars for a package about the size of a baggy. These were under a dollar a pound! What a deal. I bought a pound. "What am I going to do with a whole pound of bean sprouts?" I wondered, "...Ask Roossy." She gave me this recipe. The only changes I made were lemon pepper instead of just pepper and I added some radish sprouts I had. I served it. Tasted it and thought, "This is O.K. but needs some spice." I open a new jar of hot oil. I have never tried this brand before. The ingredients listed peanuts. I just assumed they would be powdered or peanut oil or something like that. Well, there are actual whole peanuts in it. It went perfectly with the dish. Another healthy and delicious recipe from my good friend. Thanks Roossy.

I Fell For Marketing

We ended up at T.G.I.Friday's for dinner tonight. Now I used to go to Friday's with my Grandmother when I was little. They used to have the best ice cream drinks and loaded potato skins. I remember several years ago we used to go there often and get a mushrooms steak and mushrooms dinner and a mushrooms chicken and mushrooms dinner. We each had our own loaded baked potato and shared the meat. The wait staff used to be able to wear their own hats and had buttons on their suspenders. Good memories. We went with friends last year and the menu had totally changed. It was very similar to every other restaurant. Some pasta dishes, some steak, some chicken etc. What made them different was the Jack Daniel's sauce.

Well this time the menu was very confusing. the menu was filled with big bright pictures of the food and happy people enjoying it. Some pages had descriptions but no prices. Others had basically the same thing with prices. Then on yet others was the same thing only smaller portions. No price was listed for soft drinks.

I ended up getting the Crispy Green Bean Fries (over five dollars) with a cool creamy Cucumber-Wasabi ranch dip and Potato Skinny Dippers (over six dollars) with melted queso and chorizo plus cool spicy Southwestern sour cream because I figured be daring, why try one new thing when you can try two. The green beans without the sauce tasted an awful lot like onion rings. The potato skinny dippers were basically steak fries neatly standing in a small soup cup. The chorizo didn't amount to more than a teaspoon of crumbles at best. It was sprinkled over the queso along with onions and tomatoes and there were just enough of them so you could tell what they were. Joe had the Sizzling Fajita Combo. The fire grilled shirt steak was fatty. The chipotle-grilled chicken was very good it was sprinkled with some seasoning that contained cilantro. Pop?? One refillable soda over $2.25!

Note there were no pictures on the menu of the potato skinny dippers (I wonder why??) and no description of what was on the loaded potato skins. The meal just did not match what the description led me to think. I felt taken by fancy pictures and descriptions. I can safely tell you we wont be back any time soon.

Steak For Dinner

For this dish I just threw together veggies I had on hand and it turned out to taste pretty good. There are mushrooms, organic asparagus, organic carrots, and radish sprouts. I'm not sure if the radish sprouts were organic but I know they were grown naturally without pesticides. I sauteed everything in a little olive oil then seasoned it with powdered garlic and pepper.

Joe was in the mood to grill. He grilled two steaks. We inhaled the first one before I could photograph it.

Eggplant For Lunch

Eggplant fried in a combination of olive and canola oils. I seasoned the oil with a few spices. The eggplant is topped with sundried tomatoes, cheese (I can't remember what kind),and parsley.

Pictures from Sugar Bush B&B

We spent the night at Sugarbush Bed and Breakfast. We felt very at home there. Mom and I are still trying to figure out what it was that gave us that home away from home feeling. I just love older homes they have such character and each one is unique. Most houses built now days are standardized and boring. In our room were three of the coolest doors, two short stubby ones and one tall skinny one in the bathroom. The old fashioned tub was soo cool. My parents had a beautiful view from their very large bedroom windows.






They also had a cabinet in their room that contained robes, little round soaps and other toiletries. The steep and winding stairs definitely added interest. Gio absolutely loved the swing and I'm sure would have swung there happily all day long if we would've let him. The fruit plate was picture perfect and Gio's favorite part of breakfast. We were so worried about traveling with a toddler but they provided a highchair and we rented a crib from them.

I Felt A Cold Com'in On

Gio has been fighting a cold for almost a week now. As soon as I think it's gone because his nose has not run for several hours, I turn around and there it is running again. I have tried cutting out dairy which usually helps because milk products are "known phlegm producers". I've been giving him Quantum Cold And Flu Formula drops in either water or juice. The next step is sprinkling probiotic in his drink. It worked last time.

Yesterday I didn't eat very well. For breakfast I had a sweet breakfast bar that I know had dairy in it and I did not take a dairy pill. For lunch I had Ghirardelli Raspberry Chocolate squares as well as commercial chocolate coconut and butter cookies (did take a dairy pill). For dinner we went to a local diner. I usually order the turkey dinner but they were sold out. They roast their own and it is delicious. I ended up having a ranchero chicken sandwich with sweet potato casserole and potato skins with sour cream. I shared a piece of chocolate cream pie for dessert (did take a dairy pill).

Late that night my throat was scratchy and I felt a cold coming on. I had two glasses of water each containing about 35 drops of Quantum Cold and Flu. The next morning I still wasn't up to par. I ended up making an omelet that contained everything but the kitchen sink. I looked in the refrigerator and took out any leftovers I could find. I found radish sprouts, broccoli, roasted corn, a bit of steak, a few slices of pepperoni, some scallions, and some leftover Thai food. I mixed everything together with eggs and added some frozen spinach as well as powdered garlic, onion, and beet. I also put in some pepper and parsley. When it was fully cooked I topped half with an organic Colby cheese and the other half with an extra sharp cheddar. I usually put catsup on my omelet but this was so tasty that it didn't need it.

Well, by the end of the day the scratchy throat was gone and I felt great. Just shows what eating poorly can do to your immune system and how eating veggies can keep you healthy. It could be all in my head but I like to think not.

It's That Time Of Year

View from the college parking lot.

Yes, it's graduation time and here I am with my two graduates. Gio and I belong to MOPS. He graduated from the infant room to the toddler room. They "face painted" at "truck" and a tree on his arm and he was just so very proud of it. Whoever did the face painting was definitely gifted. I saw a little girl with the face of a deer on her cheek and it was very detailed.

Joe graduated from college. We had a great time at his graduation. The food was phenomenal. The punch ran from fountains. They had grazing stations. There were cookies, brownies, stuffed mushrooms, shrimp rolled in filo, a variety of cheese and crackers, pepperoni, fresh fruit trays, salsa, hummus, deep fried chips for dipping, olives, roasted red peppers, deep fried dessert cheese, scallops wrapped in bacon, breaded beef tenderloin, and slices of wraps. There was other stuff that I wasn't really interested in or can't remember.

A Visit To Some Of The Greats

Gio is very lucky to have many greats. He has three living Great Grandparents one Great Aunt, two Great Uncles, and several Great Great Aunts!!! When we left the B&B we headed off to visit Gio's Great Aunt Jay and Great Uncle Dick. We had a lovely visit. After leaving their house we gave Great Grandma a jingle and ended up meeting them for dinner at a local truck stop with a decent buffet. Great Grandpa decided to forgo the buffet. He ended up having french toast. Sorry no photos of our visit. We were too busy chit chatting. After dinner we went back to their apartment to visit some more before heading home for some much needed sleep.

A Visit To Great Grandma's

Gio gives Great Grandma a kiss. He has his own word(s) for each family member. He has decided what he will call Great Grandma. We just haven't been able to decide if it's Me Ma or May May but if we asked him "Where is Great Grandma?" he would point to her.

Great Grandma and Gio look at a book together.

This is Dawn and Figaro Great Grandma's newest lawn ornament. She names all her lawn ornaments and many have a short story. These two are twins and Dawn was named Dawn because that is when they were born. They are decorating the kitchen table until better weather arrives.

She enjoys baking and usually has whipped up some homemade treat(s) for us every time we visit. On this visit we enjoyed fresh strawberries, delicious baked that day bran muffins with golden raisins and picked earlier in the day fresh baked rhubarb pie. She even had a special kid's cup for Gio out of which he drank several cups of purple grape juice.

3 Small Gifts

For Mother's Day I received Three small gifts. The first came during breakfast. I just couldn't wait to give my Mom her Mother's Day gifts. After I opened mine she said "Well, I guess I'll give you mine now too." I really wasn't expecting anything. She handed me a small card. "Hmmm?!?" I thought. I opened it and to my surprise it was a gift card to a local clothing store. I haven't bought new clothes in quite some time. Most of the clothes I buy are "new to me" clothes. I look forward to the treat of shopping for new clothes. Which brings me to my second small gift.

We ended up buying cold cuts, bread, lettuce, and cucumbers for lunch (of course we bought other stuff too). While Mom and I brought the bags in the house Bob gave me what I like to call a mini vacation. Ahhh, they're GREAT! Stay at home Moms really don't get any breaks during their work day. Where is Gio and what is he doing are two questions I ask myself everyday more times than I can count. Every once in awhile my parents or my husband will watch him for a few minutes to a few hours so I can get some me time. Many times my mini vacations are unexpected, like this one, and those are the best.

After dinner which consisted of pizza, wings, and cannolis for dessert I received my third small gift. Joe gave Gio a fairly large gift bag to bring to me. I looked inside to find a small black box. I opened it to find a beautiful blue topaz and white gold ring.

Wow, what a lucky Mom I am to have received three gifts that while physically small were packed with large amounts of love which makes them incredibly special. It's not the size of the present or how much money was spent on it that makes the gift great.

Happy Mother's Day!

Gio says, "To all you Moms out there have a great Mother's Day and all you kids remember to be nice and give your Mom lots of hugs and kisses."

A Picture with a story

I was making dinner when Gio walked in with this coat on backwards. I stood there for a second in amazement (he had never done this before) then praised him for putting his coat on. I then ran as fast as I could to get the camera and "capture the moment". I turned it on on my way back to the kitchen and I'm glad I did because I was able to capture this photo of him no longer in the kitchen and almost no longer in the coat.

Recently Prepared Dishes

The recipe for this came from a cookbook I've had for years. The recipe called for 1/4 cup lime juice. Well I put in the juice of one lime and the lime zest. It ended up having a tropical almost aftertaste to it that just didn't go well with the other things going on in the dish.

I call this dish Thanksgiving With A Crust. I adapted a recipe I saw in the afore mentioned cookbook. It has ground turkey, frozen squash, celery, and onions in it. Gio enjoyed everything except the crust which is very strange because he just loves carbs.

Again from the afore mentioned cookbook. The difference here is that I pretty much followed the recipe for this one. I did add some freeze dried tomatoes and half the rice is brown. The recipe called for all white rice.

Teriyaki Pork. For this I used bottled organic teriyaki sauce and veggies I needed to use up.

Fun In A Field

Gio carried the same rock pretty much the whole time we played here. He kept looking for a better one but never found it.

A boy, his dog, some dirt and THE rock.

"Hey, check out this rock."

Hey, check out this dirt.

one little boy + one big tire = one cute picture

Baking Lesson

I decided to make some chocolate chip cookies. I had some leftover coconut milk and had been thinking of a way to use it. ??????? Replace the butter in the recipe with the coconut milk. "One type of fat for another" I thought. Besides, I love the rich texture and coconutty flavor that coconut milk brings. "Coconut and chocolate go together" I reasoned. I have never used this brand of chocolate chips before but when I sampled them they seemed like they would go well. I used the recipe on the back of the package. It called for vanilla. The batter looked just perfect but I thought, "Well.... It called for vanilla I better put some in." I was out and used some chocolate liquor instead. Instantly the batter became thin. Forget that the finished product looked like pancakes and fast forward to the taste test. Disappointing. They were very light and had not even the slightest hint of coconut flavor. In fact not much flavor at all. I tried it. Didn't like it. Will not be substituting coconut milk for butter again. Lesson learned.