Cream Scones

Recipe from Joy of Baking:
We enjoyed them with Lemon Curd- Yum!

My favorite colour

Family Room [view from kitchen] Before:


After:


Do you like?

The red won't be as bright when I paint the walls and hopefully install the "built-in" shelving on either side of the fireplace. We now have room for all four of us on one couch- sweet!

Menu Plan Monday

Last week I did Chicken Carbonara on Tuesday, Chicken/Mushroom Marsala on Wednesday, Turkey Sandwiches on Thursday, Marinated Flank Steak on Friday, Dan and I went out for a date Saturday night and the boys had leftover Flank Steak with beans in a quesadilla. Sunday we didn't go to the Lacrosse game and had another marinated Flank Steak with salad and leftover garlicky potatoes.

Dan went to the Butcher's which prompt me to think of the menu in 2 minutes and was how we ate flank steaks last week.

Monday: Lunch: Turkey roll-sandwiches
Dinner: Bacon Cheese Burgers or Rachel Ray's Beer Braised Bacon Burger and salad.
Tuesday: Lunch: Quiche and strawberries
Dinner: Kids eat free at Roadhouse Grill [they have an amazing Texas Egg Rolls that Dan will love; the boys love the kids ribs with bbq sauce]
Wednesday: Lunch: Pasta- probably a light Alfredo sauce with lots of veggies
Dinner: Chicken and vegetables curry over brown rice
Thursday: Lunch: Canadian Ham and Pineapple Pizza
Dinner: Asian styled Burgers [Teriyaki sauce and grilled pineapple], coleslaw, and homemade baked beans.
Friday: Lunch: Ploughman's Platter
Dinner: Greek Burgers, cucumber salad, and leftover beans
Saturday: Lunch: National Guard BBQ [I'll bring a fruit salad and vegetables with hummus to keep us healthier] Dinner: Eating Well magazine's Chicken with Honey-Orange Sauce, broccoli, and rice
Sunday: Lunch: Eat out
Dinner: Cream of Asparagus Soup, crab cakes, and salad

Then we should be promptly sick of burgers at the end of the week :)

For more menu planning ideas go over to Organizing Junkie!

My how the time has flown...
We have been enjoying having Dan/Dad/Husband home for these last few precious days. Dan and I even had the opportunity to go out on a wonderful date last night.
And the clock is ticking as we have one last week left...

Cyrus speaks

Tautology or otherwise known as "self-evident truth"

Example: When you jump. You go up and down.
As he is eating strawberries he tell you "Mom I am eating strawberries." Yes I can see that.
"I will win or I will loose" [when playing a game]

The examples are true- straight from Cyrus' mouth.

Living Lovely

Another post for the Living Lovely series hosted by Mt. Hope Chronicles and this week focuses on:
Share on your blog your thoughts and ideas for making connections and memories with our families in simple, but profound ways through special treats, random surprises, and seasonal activities.

Special treats is code for dessert around here. My kids love it when I make waffles every Saturday or Friday morning [or any other time of the week], our weekly [at least once a week if not more] we'll have tea time and sometimes I'll bake something like scones, brownies, or cookies. The boys love gelato and ice cream but I don't keep any at home so we have to go out and about to enjoy some and hence Cyrus has put an ice cream maker on his birthday wishlist. Snow days mean hot chocolate days! Last year I had a new year resolution of learning to make pies and those are a special treat that even the boys like to help me make. Last week we had two pies in one night: Beef Pot Pie and Banana-Coconut Cream Pie! Any time it is sunny outside the boys ask if it is warm enough for a BBQ because BBQ ranks very high for a special treat! For your birthday, you get to choose your resturant [usually Sushi] and dessert which has been ice cream cake lately.

Random surprises I love to do: go for a hike, drive, or visit someplace new. We would make a fort inside and have a "camp-in" day that we'll be taking outside with a tent this summer and hopefully camping in the great outdoors a couple of times this summer. The fun and excitement of a new lego set to build together. Checking out a family movie at the theatre. Giving everyone money at a bookstore- literally can spend hours looking over books until we each figure out what we want most.

Seasonal activities that we look forward to are: cutting down our Christmas tree and decorating it, sledding, walking through the Rose Garden, theatre shows, Thanksgiving for the yummy food, Dr. Suess Birthday and everyone's birthdays, baseball games [Our first Portland Beavers game will be April 20th this year as the boys help me celebrate Mom and Dad's Wedding anniversary], military/air shows, when family from out of state come and visit us are always special events, picking out pumpkins [and making pumpkin pies for Halloween season], playing at water fountains when the weather is warm, pumpkin soup for Day of the Dead, and some events we'll be adding this year are St Lucia Day [Swedish Holiday], gardening in our own garden, and making homemade Christmas gifts together.

A real person writes this blog...

Here I am on St. Paddy's Day with Cyrus. Solomon took the picture and has trouble with half way clicking to auto focus and then clicking to take the picture but maybe the out-of-focus makes me look prettier. You can see my hair getting pretty long and staying naturally wavy... Anyways just thought I would let you know what I look like in case you are having a hard time picturing the person who writes this blog :)

Monday Menu Plan

Monday: Fish [Snapper], rice, and asparagus
Tuesday: Chicken Carbonara or Chicken Marsala Pasta
Wednesday: Quiche [Bacon, onions, spinach, and possibly asparagus] with country potato
Thursday: Since I didn't make it last week [I made Beef Pot Pie instead]- Salmon with a Vodka Lemon sauce over Noodles with asparagus
Friday: Honey Glazed Salmon with roasted vegetables
Saturday: Roast Shoulder of Lamb with Caramelized Baby Onions and Honey [Morrocan], Sweet Potato salad, Couscous with Spring vegetables, and Tabbouleh
Sunday: We're thinking of catching a lacrosse game so probaby take-out

For more menu ideas visit Organizing Junkie!

It is not Spring until you can play baseball...

and Mom is the cheerleader slash sports-photographer!

Another family succumbs to the Wii's powers

The Wii is really a great family system that has kid friendly games...

Living Lovely

Mt.Hope Chronicles is hosting a blog series: Living Lovely with Family and I am joining at week 2: What are some things we do weekly as a family to make meaniful connections and memories?

Games: We play a lot of games: board games, card games, outside games X-box, and now the new Wii. Solomon wants to learn how to play chess so this summer I'll teach and hopefully well so he'll learn. Most often we play Go Fish, Crazy 8s, and Battleship [at the Coffee house around the corner from our home].
Outside: We're fans of being outside especially when it is sunny [and we don't get as much sun as this Californian is used to]. Parks for play and hike, soccer, baseball, tag, tennis, and basketball. We have just added gardening to our list of favorite things to do together outside.
Food: That old saying: "The way's to a man's heart is through his stomach" is partly of how my husband asked me to marry him but I see in my boys that they seem to say "I love you Mom" and "Thank you" the most when they are eating so the saying applies to little boys too! While eating together as a family is a daily routine, cooking with mom is something each of the boys look forward to. They have their days of when they help me cook/bake and they love it! The one on one time with Mom and the chance to show off yummy creations to the rest of the family.
Farmer Market: We would go every week all year long if not twice or three times a week when we lived in California- just a wonderful place to socialize, get interested in different foods [the samples are great for growing boys], the shopping stands are lower than at the grocery store and at the boys' level which gets them more interested in grocery shopping, meeting the people who grow the food really helped their interest in gardening, and we'll always get something yummy to eat. Here in the Northwest- most of the Farmer Markets don't go year round but thankfully one starts its season tomorrow. When the weather is nice- we play afterwards.
Tea time: Not everyday but a couple of times a week, the boys and I participate in Tea Time- sometimes at home and sometimes at a cafe. We drink tea, coffee, hot chocolate, or something cold and talk, play game, or I'll read out loud before we discuss. It is nice to just sit and relax with the kids so we can just focus on one another instead of the never-ending to do list.
Library: We go to the library once a week [although with our recent move, we got out of the habit]- we'll browse, read out loud, check out books, comics, and sometimes movies for us to enjoy independently or together during the week.
Art: The boys love to make and do art and I'll be there admiring their use of colours and imagination as I work on my own projects: blogging [the art table is right next to the computer], cooking [as they work at the countertop or dining table], knitting, or just doodling myself...
Dad: Dan works a variety of shifts/days from week to week, month to month and on his days off whenever they may be, the boys always look forward to male bonding activities such as "wrestling", Dan's teasing sense of humor that gets us all giggling and laughing, and moments where we can all participate in games and outside activities. With his deployment happening soon, I'll be starting a weekly art/writing time for the boys to share their week with Dad and mail them off!

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

I have been MIA

Between unpacking and organizing, maintaining my cleaning and cooking-from-stratch style of cooking [which makes a LOT of cleaning up to do], enjoying our new house and yard, settling into a new routine, family time, etc I haven't been on this blog in a while.
Quite honestly I am not sure how much I will be on for the next two weeks. Time has flown by and soon Dan will be leaving for his first month's training- April 5th is when he gets activated. We'll be spending this time together so you'll have to pardon my lack of attention to my blog in the meantime...
Dan is ending work next Tuesday to spend time with us at home and Solomon starts his Spring Break this Friday.

Monday Menu Plan

I wish I shared with you my menu planning for last week- I had an awesome week of cooking and tasting.
Monday was a light alfredo sauce over fettucine, spinach, and seared scallops.
Tuesday was a Quiche
Wednesday was Chicken Marsala Pasta [my first time making marsala sauce and it was so easy and tasty!]
Thursday I made Jamacian Jerk Chicken with a Sweet Potato, Corn and Bacon Salad and the sweet potato salad was a HUGE hit so try it and you won't be disappointed.
Friday I made Chicken Saltimbocca with asparagus- Cyrus was so wowed by tasting dinner that he declared that I was beautiful- proof once again that you can win any male heart through his stomach
Saturday- Dan and I made Chili.
Last night I made baked potatoes and we loaded them up with Chili, bacon, broccoli, sour cream, and cheddar cheese.



So this week:
Monday: Stuffed Shells with a homemade red sauce
Tuesday: Roast with vegetables in the crockpot
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Teriayki Salmon with Noodles and a spinach salad
Friday: Salmon with a Vodka Lemon sauce over Noodles with asparagus [Cuisine at Home Pasta Edition recipe]
Saturday: Pizzas: BLT and canadian ham and pinapple
Sunday: Some kind of Chicken Curry

Thoughts on children and parenting...

“…We must let our children meet their own difficulties, find their own solutions to knotty problems and gain experience for themselves. It may seem hard but what a sense of satisfaction there is when one feels sure of the ability in oneself to meet a difficulty…” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

“Leadership is not just about delegating power, it’s growing human capabilities. This is exactly what we do when we raise children.” ~Shaunna Sowell Senior Vice President, Texas Instruments

Monday Menu Plan

I am baaaaacccckkkk!

Monday: Sweet Potato and Black Bean Cakes and fish tacos.

Tuesday: Curried Chicken Salad Waffle Sandwich except I'll be using Greek Yogurt with real lemon juice squeezed in it and a tad bit of sugar to cut down the sour slightly.

Wednesday: Pork in the crockpot to make shredded pork tacos.

Thursday: Leftover shredded pork with bbq sauce to make pulled pork sandwiches served with coleslaw.

Friday: Tuna melts with cucumber slices

Saturday: Chicken and Barley Soup which is basically a chicken noodle soup but barley instead of noodles.

Other items: Gluten-free Banana Bread
For more menu planning ideas visit Organizing Junkie!

Welcome to my new kitchen!