Recipe Review

The new recipes I tried this week were pretty good. Nothing mind blowing, but they're all worth making again.

First, I made Spinach Turkey Meatballs, a recipe I found while searching on the Taste of Home website.


The ground turkey was on an awesome sale this week and this was a perfect way to use it up. I browned the meatballs in a skillet before throwing them in the oven, so they'd end up with a little more color, but otherwise followed the recipe. Tyler was a bit suspicious of all the spinach, but Rick and I ate them up without any complaints.

Next we had Chicken Broccoli Shells, another Taste of Home recipe.

This recipe was good, but kind of time consuming. I had to cook and cut up a few chicken breasts before I could get started, as the recipe calls for precooked chicken. I also used fresh broccoli instead of frozen and that took additional time to prepare as well. My only suggestion, as far as taste goes, it to use a good quality alfredo sauce, not the cheap Ragu stuff that I used.

Then we had Asian Barbecue Chicken, this one from Cooking Light.

This was probably the easiest meal of the week, since it was simply marinated grilled chicken. I served it with peanut butter noodles and a mixture of broccoli and pea pods for the veggie.

For a morning treat, I made a batch of Apple Bran muffins.

This was a contest winning recipe from Taste of Home, and as expected, they came out super yummy.

To go with my coffee, I made some Nutella Biscotti.

These came out alright, but the flavor was not as great as I was expecting. And they're pretty soft as far as biscotti goes, so that was a bit of a disappointment. They'll be eaten up, I'm sure, but I probably won't make them again.

Memorial Day Parade

It was kind of a last minute decision, but this morning we decided to head downtown and check out the Memorial Day Parade. We normally spend our Saturday mornings at some hardware store or another, building projects with Tyler, so it was nice to do something different for a change.

The parade started around 10:00 and was led by a group of Marines.

Next up was a float by the local Kiwanis club.

And then some candy was handed out.

Lots of candy.

There were a few marching bands.

And those kids blowing bubbles all over the place.

And some really cool cars. Look at those watermelon flames!

The parade finished up with another group of Marines.

After the parade was over we still ended up going to the Home Depot, not to to build, but to buy a few replacement plants for those that didn't survive the transplanting process. Yep, our work in the backyard never ends.

Surprise By Mail

Today, Tyler's having a really fun Friday! For one, he finished his contract at school early this week, which means that he was able to have a fun Friday. Those are basically free days where you can play games instead of doing school work. So today he brought in his Trouble board game to play with his friends.

Once school was over, the fun continued over at the Family Fun Center where Rick and Tyler went for a Go-Kart ride. But there were some super speedy racers today so the boys came in 4th place.

Then back at the house, Tyler found two packages with his name on them....both from Grandma Mimi.

What is it.....what is it?

Get out! Yummy cereal samples!

And stickers. Cool!

Out of the second package came two new books...

which he started reading immediately.

What a nice surprise. Thanks Mom!

The Case of The Missing Money

Making the change sorting bank at Lowe's was probably one of the most fortuitous things Tyler has ever done....otherwise, I'm not sure he would have his hands on so much money. Previously, when he used his piggy bank, that's all he ever got....pennies. But now he gets it all. Quarters. Dimes. You name it.

And wouldn't you just know it, he filled up the quarter slot. That's 10 dollars folks! Time to go cash it in.

I always feel funny going to the bank to ask for coin roll wrappers, so I just stopped at the $1 store and got some there. Then after picking Tyler up from school, we headed straight to the bank.

Looks like everything's in order.

Time to start rolling.

Once Tyler finished wrapping his quarter roll and added it to the two penny rolls he already had, he was ready to cash it all in for a whopping $11. Wow!

And he knew just what he was going to do with it too. On the way back home, we stopped at Walmart to pick out a new toy. He already knew what he was getting, so he just grabbed it off the shelf and went to pay. But when it came time to fork over his money, he realized that he only had $1.....he was missing the $10 bill. Nice. So we had to leave the toy at the register and quickly retrace our steps. Luckily, we found it. It was on the floor in the main aisle next to the toys. Phew! It was starting to feel a little like the time I'd unwittingly dropped Rick's wallet on the beach in Hawaii.

So can you guess what he bought?

C'mon, that's easy! He got a new K'NEX kit.

The Bug Problem

We've got a bug problem. A huge bug problem. Millions of nasty little aphids are eating our Purple Leaf Sand Cherry shrubs that we planted in the front yard a few years ago.

Turns out that the Sand Cherry is highly susceptible to disease and bug infestation. Good to know!

So as our first line of defense, we picked up some ladybugs from the local home and garden True Value.

It says there's around 1,500 ladybugs in that little pint sized container.

I thought it was going to be an easy process, but it was actually kind of tricky transferring the bugs from the container onto the shrubs. Once you opened the lid, the ladybugs just wanted to swarm out and wander all over the container.....or up your arms. It took awhile, but we finally got them out of there.

And once they were on the shrubs, they immediately went to work.

Thank you ladybug....now eat faster. Faster!

At The Market

One thing I miss about living in California are the year round Farmer's Markets. I especially miss the one in Westchester where we used to live. The oranges were to die for and don't get me started on the bran muffins....there's nothing better.

Our Farmer's Market here in Yakima just opened on Mother's Day and today was our first visit.

Tyler somehow siphoned a few dollars from his Dad before we left the house and was on a mission to buy his own bag of kettle corn. Because you know, to him the Farmer's Market = kettle corn.

There were several booths, but it seemed like most everybody was selling the same thing....onions, rhubarb, and asparagus. But I guess that's always how it starts out in the Spring.

There was some nice music though. These ladies were playing on African Marimbas.

And kettle corn, of course.

Then I saw these peonies for sale and thought, 'hey, we planted some of those in our yard and they sure as heck don't look like that'!

But what really caught my eye was this table full of basil. They had every variety I've ever heard of and even some that I haven't. They had regular basil, Thai, cinnamon, and even lemon basil.

I didn't buy any of it, but I did end up bringing home several stalks of rhubarb, some sugar snap peas, a cinnamon beehive pastry, and caramel corn for Tyler.

The Party Scene

Sigh, You know how it goes....another weekend, another party. Or so it seems to be for Tyler lately. Today he went to a birthday party for some twin boys in his class that were turning 6.

We arrived right on time with an armload of presents...two for each boy. We went shopping yesterday after school and Tyler picked out a small K'NEX kit and 100-piece puzzle for each.

The party started in the boys' backyard, which was beautiful, by the way. I was kind of jealous. It's going to be a long while before our backyard matures like that. Tyler was in love with the trampoline and says we need to get one right away. Hmmm, is our yard even big enough for one of those?

Meanwhile the parents were preparing lunch.....grilled hot dogs, chips, fruit, cheese and such.

Whoa, are those banana slices on Tyler's hot dog!?

Rick and I left just as lunch was being served, but man it sounds like those kids had a good time! It was an Indiana Jones themed party and the boys were both dressed up like Indy, complete with hats and whips (You can see one of them on the trampoline in the previous picture). The kids had an adventurous trek through the backyard where they had to cross a path covered with snakes, search for diamonds in a sand pit, and crawl through a tunnel all while in search of the secret treasure. But they had to watch out for the red poisonous ants and the natives in the bushes that were shooting poison darts (or was that Grandma shooting marshmallows...hard to tell)? And the cake was pretty cool too, according to Tyler. He said it had a mountain on it with a big ball. Huh, sounds a lot like the temple of doom, if you ask me. Yup, I think we missed out on a fun one, Rick and I.

Winner's Circle

No losers here! All of the new recipes I tried this week were absolute winners. Phew, it's nice when that happens for a change!

First we had Pizza Pasta Toss, a recipe out of the Quick Cooking 2010 annual.

I've made pizza pasta before and wasn't too impressed, but this recipe is really good. Maybe because you have to make your own sauce instead of using products out of a jar....it really makes a difference. And of course we used turkey pepperoni to cut down on the fat.

Next we had Lumberjack Hash, a Cooking Light recipe.

I don't usually serve breakfast type meals for dinner because Tyler doesn't much approve of the concept, but I got away with it here, and boy was it good. We also had scrambled eggs and fruit salad on the side, which made a very filling and delicious meal.

Then we had Spaghetti with Parmesan and Bacon, another Cooking Light recipe.

I don't know why it doesn't say so in the title, but this is basically a carbonara....you know, bacon and eggs pasta. What I love about it though, and the reason I made it, is that it's a pantry meal. I had everything on hand, the boys ate it right up and Tyler even asked for seconds, so what more can I ask.

Finally we had Smokey Red Rice and Chorizo with Black Beans.

I don't know if the title gives it away, but this is a Rachael Ray recipe, and a super delicious one I might add. I waited all the way to the end of the week to try it though, because I wasn't sure Tyler would go for....well, any of it. The rice cooks up to a gorgeous red color thanks to a roasted red bell pepper puree and some paprika. And on top of that is a combination of black beans, fire roasted tomato, and sliced Spanish chorizo (or linguica in my case, as Spanish chorizo in unavailable on my side of the universe). I can't get over how pretty this meal turned out and it tasted so good too. Mmmmm. It's a good thing we've got some leftovers.

Prize for Second

It's been kind of wet and dreary this past week. Not much sun to speak of or even warm temperatures for that matter. Nothing but gray skies and wind around here.

But at least it wasn't raining today, that's a plus. So to make the most of our semi-decent weather, we stopped at the Family Fun Center on the way home from school and took a spin on the Go Karts.

The other day Rick was telling Tyler that pretty soon he'll be able to drive his own go-kart because he's getting so big. So of course, today he asked if he could drive his own car. Ummmm, not quite yet, buddy.....in the passenger seat you go.

Nine laps later, the boys came in second place.

What?! They still won the checkered flag?

After the race, we took Tyler inside to play a few games.

Once he had a pile of tickets, he cashed them in for a notepad, pencil and some stickers. And a few pieces of candy...don't forget about the candy.

The Little Things

It's almost Friday again, I can't believe it. Time seems to be going by so quickly. For the most part things have been business as usual, so I guess it's just the little things that have made our days special.

On the school front, Tyler was especially pleased to see two brand new yellow tricycles added to the playground this week.

The red ones were getting old and didn't even have platforms on the foot pedals....they just had plain metal rods.

So that made the yellow tricycles super cool! I agree.

In the mornings we've been enjoying Date and Maple Scones. Yum! I've had this recipe marked in my one of my cookbooks and in a serendipitous moment at the grocery store, I came across several bags of dates that were marked down to .99 cents. Super Score! I think I should go back and buy a few more bags and throw them in the freezer.

Yesterday the rain was coming down in sheets.

But I think that might have something to do with our rain gutters. So like the kids in the Cat in the Hat, we had to stay inside to play.

And Tyler beat me at a game of Connect 4. No kidding.

Today I had big plans to go outside and pull some weeds, but then it started to hail, and I decided to bake a cake instead.

Barley Flour Chocolate Cake. Delish!