A(nother) trip to the park

I never could have imagined how much time I would be spending at the park once Ben was old enough to want to play.  He wakes up talking about going to the park and often reflects upon his favorite part of the day (our time at the park).  I appreciate how great our community is even more than when we moved here, as there are parks GALORE to choose from.  (Thanks, property taxes...)

This one, Stipek Park in Bothell, is my favorite as it's close enough to walk to and has cute little trails throughout it.  It also has a huge, grassy field that Ben likes to run around in.

Meal Planning: Week of May 12th

Review from last week:

The Chicken Tortilla soup was great as usual.  I always forget that the recipe as written is makes such a huge batch - we had it for dinner 2 nights and lunch a few times.  And it was great to have w/ a margarita on Cinco de Mayo!

The Spaghetti and Meatballs from Blue Apron was simple and tasty.  Ben really liked this one, too.  There is something about making Spaghetti and Meatballs from scratch that makes me feel like a legit mom.

The shrimp and quinoa "fried rice" was one of my favorite Blue Apron dishes so far!  So filling and full of flavor.

And the chicken and black bean enchiladas with salsa verde sauce was very tasty.  Much more flavorful than the enchiladas I typically make with canned sauce.

To celebrate Mother's Day with my mom, we took another PCC Cooking class!  This time, the focus was Spanish cuisine and we learned how to make Paella!  Yum!  These classes are so much fun, and I learned SO much.  Simple little tips like:

• The "right" way to cut an onion
• That the smaller you dice an onion or garlic, the more potent it will be in your dish - i.e. leaving garlic cloves whole will leave just a hint of flavor vs. overpowering a dish.
• How you should never cook with Olive Oil above a medium heat on the stove - anything requiring a hotter burner should be cooked with a different, "high-heat" oil.
• The difference between Paprika and Smoked Paprika.  All this time I have been using regular Paprika in recipes that call for smoked and I'm telling you, it makes a serious difference.

Marinated olives in lemon zest and thyme:

Roasted crispy chickpeas with smoked paprika:

Roasted tomato and pepper salad with anchovies and mozzarella:

Spanish Paella:

Almond cake:

I'm not kidding when I say that I will be having a Spanish dinner party with this exact menu sometime this summer.  Yum.

Plan for next week:

Friday: Leftovers or something from our freezer.  We made a Costco run on Sunday, so we are stocked with chicken, meatballs, cod, halibut and fresh vegetables to roast or grill.

Saturday: Lemon Chicken with Artichoke Hearts (we never made it last week)

Sunday: I've requested grilled flank steak ("turf") and some sort of "surf" for my Mother's Day dinner :)  

Monday: Cod chipolte and sauteed vegetables.

Tuesday: Blue Apron Meal: Blackened Drum over Cheddar Cheese Grits with Sorrel, Parsley and & Chive Salad

Wednesday: Blue Apron Meal: Black Lentil Soup with Smoked Sea Salt & Sour Cream

Thursday: Blue Apron Meal: Roasted Sweet Potato & Caramelized Onion Pizza with Creamy Bechamel, Fontina Cheese & Arugula Salad

Blue Apron - Who wants to try it?

Every so often, Blue Apron sends me links to send to friends who may be interested in trying their services!

I currently have 3 links to share with anyone who wants to see what this is all about:  It's good for 1 free box of food containing ingredients to make 3 meals (2 servings each meal).  It will require you to sign up, but you are able to cancel at any time (or skip any week you don't want a delivery).  We obviously love it, so I love introducing it to others!

If you want one, it's yours - just send me an email or leave a comment!  

Garbage Truck

"Hi, garbage truck.  Dada, garbage truck!  Garbage truck is green!  Dada, driving truck.  Up up up up UP!  Down.  This is my garbage truck.  MY truck.  Driving truck on Thomas.  Bye, garbage truck".

24 Hours of Freedom in Seattle

When trying to decide how to celebrate Greg turning the big 4-0, we found ourselves reminiscing about the days before Ben when we could leisurely stroll around the city, eating and drinking and not having a schedule we had to keep up with. Truth be told, I think I have completely forgotten how to relax.  Even when I'm at home, it feels impossible for me to sit down until things are clean, organized, put away and everything on my checklist is complete.

We came up with a plan: Ask my mom to come watch Ben and spend the night in Seattle.  That way, we would not have to worry about nap schedules, bed times, or getting up early with a kid who has for some reason been waking up between 5 and 6am lately.

This past Saturday, we left the house around noon and drove straight to the International District for Dim Sum at the House of Hong.  

Next, we went downtown and checked in at the Westin.  We had a room with a great view - score!  

After getting settled, we walked to Pacific Place (stopping briefly at Nordstrom on the way), and enjoyed some wine and a snack at 6th Ave Wine Seller.  If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend stopping at this place - great food and wine selection, and it seems to be a hidden gem.

Later in the evening, we went to our favorite Seattle stop - Barolo.  Best HH around.

And for our final, late night stop, we finished our evening at Serious Pie for pizza.

And after all of this eating and drinking, it was great to be able to sleep in!  After we woke up, I desperately wanted to get home to Ben - which confirmed that I am still not ready to be away from him for very long!

ABC's

Lately with Ben, I'm having moments almost daily where I find myself saying, "WHEN did he learn how to do that"??  I swear, he has all sorts of things queued up in that brain of his, ready to release them at anytime and blow my mind.

I realize that this is not the most clear version of this song, but here are the facts:

1) I have never heard him sing (or say) a song, ever.

2) We have been singing this song to him for months and months, and all he does is dance along and ask for "more song, mama" when I finish.

3) He did this out of the blue.  Like, there we were, about to put on jammies and go to bed, and I walked in the room to him singing (much more clearly than the take I captured on video - he must have gotten distracted looking at himself in the reverse camera) and I just stood there, stunned, as he sang the entire song.  

Another funny thing lately I've noticed is him saying things in a sing-songy way.  Like when playing with his trains he will sing, "Choo chooooooo, Thomas!  Cho choooooo, Thomas! Thomas goes up up up up up up UP".  LOL.  

Meal Planning: Week of May 5th

Review from last week:

The Turducken was delicious.  Maureen baked a loaf of bread and I made roasted veggies: brussels sprouts, baby potatoes and carrots.

Instead of the cod w/ tomato sauce we had cod and shrimp in chipolte sauce.  I had forgotten how delicious this sauce was, and I'm so happy I had enough to make a double batch of it.  (Recipe below).

Instead of the stuffed chicken breasts, we had paleo nachos again.  (Not pictured).

We had pizza paninis too, a blue apron recipe I pulled from their website, and they were great!  I'm always happy with pizza in any form.

Plan for next week:

Friday: Lemon Chicken with Artichoke Hearts

Saturday: Greg and I are going on vacation - to Seattle!  My mom is staying with Ben and we will be snacking and drinking around town ;)  Our only MUST stop is to Barolo.  Lentil Soup here I come.

Sunday: Chicken Tortilla Soup

INGREDIENTS

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (15 oz) can kidney beans
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans
• 1 (15 oz) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
• 1 (12 oz) can beer  (or 1 can chicken broth)
• 2 cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
• 1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning
• 3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts  (1lb of chicken tenders)
• shredded Cheddar cheese
• sour cream
• tortilla chips

DIRECTIONS

Place the onion, kidney beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer or chicken broth, and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker.  **Add taco seasoning, and stir to blend.  Lay chicken breasts on top of the mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered by the other ingredients. Set slow cooker for low heat, cover, and cook for 5 hours. 
 

Remove chicken breasts from the soup, and allow to cool long enough to be handled. Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup, and continue cooking for 2 hours. Serve topped with shredded cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips

Monday: Leftover soup

Tuesday: Blue Apron Meal: Whole Wheat Spaghetti and Meatballs.  I'll probably make some zucchini noodles for myself.

Wednesday: Blue Apron Meal: Chicken & Black Bean Enchiladas

Thursday: Blue Apron Meal: Shrimp Quinoa "Fried Rice" with Asparagus and English Peas

Friday: Halibut Chipolte.

*2 chipotle chiles in adobo

*3 tablespoons tequila or vodka
*2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
*1 tablespoon ketchup
*1 tablespoon adobo sauce, from chipotle can
*1 clove garlic, chopped
*2 teaspoons packed light brown sugar
*1/4 teaspoon salt
*1 tablespoon olive oil

~Throw it all into a blender and hit puree.