Back On Track

Since I'm no longer sick and have no other excuse, I've been back in the kitchen with all new dinner recipes. The last two weeks weren't all that bad though. In fact, it was kind of nice to fall back on all the old classics that our family really enjoys. But I love trying out new recipes, so this week I came back strong.

First, from Rachael Ray's Book of 10, I made BBQ Sloppy Chicken Pan Pizza.

Rick and I enjoyed this one. Tyler said he didn't like it, but then he cleaned his plate, so who knows? My only complaint is that it was overly sweet. The recipe calls for two boxes of cornbread and I used Jiffy (and only 1 box, at that). Between the Jiffy and the brown sugar in the meat mixture....it was just to sweet. But that's an easy problem to fix, so I'm sure we'll be making this again.

From one of my issues of Food Network magazine, I finally got around to making Cajun Shrimp and Rice.

This was great. A fast and simple meal. I was worried that Tyler might find it too spicy, but he didn't mind at all.

Next, from an old Light and Tasty Annual, I made Broccoli Bean Pasta.

I can't believe I waited so long to try this recipe. Probably because the title doesn't convey how good it really is. For a vegetarian meal, I was impressed. It's kind of like an Italian macaroni and cheese, but with beans and broccoli added in. Mmm....mmm, good.

Tonight I made Pizza Scones, from Family Fun magazine.

I hate to say it, but I was disappointed with this one. They were so bland, which I really can't understand. They were full of basil, oregano, sun-dried tomato, pepperoni, and mozzarella, but they still lacked something. Maybe salt? Parmesan cheese? I'm sure these would be outstanding with just a small tweak in the flavoring, but as the recipe stands....not so much.

And to go with the scones, I made Rachael Ray's 15 minute Tomato and Bean Soup.

Disappointment again. I can't believe it....two whammies in one night? I don't know what to say. It looks good. It's full of good things, and yet it's lacking in flavor. I didn't have an entire cup of fresh basil, so I used maybe 1/3 cup of fresh and about 1 teaspoon of dried basil. Maybe the flavor of the soup is dependent upon the fresh basil, and lots of it.

Weekend Pictures

Here's a little peek at our weekend.

As I mentioned yesterday, we took Tyler over to Lowe's on for their Build and Grow project.

They were making monster trucks, which even Rick was excited about.

Tyler had his truck built in a matter of minutes, giving him all the more time to apply the stickers and fold up the little cardboard cars. After then it was smash and bash time.

Back at the house, it was time to give the new grass it's first trim.

It's growing in nicely. The grass is looking more like a whole unit, rather than staggered strips. It's so bright and green....much nicer than the grass in the front yard.

Rick also moved the patio set to the back so we could enjoy our new yard. We never really used it out in the front anyway. I guess it was more for looks.

Tyler grabbed one of his new chapter books and started reading. It's a Flat Stanley book. He already finished one earlier in the day and was on to his second.

Meanwhile, I was plowing through The Thorn Birds.

Note to self....if you're going to read on the back porch, do it before 5:00 p.m or wait until after 8:00, otherwise the sun will blind you when it comes around the side of the house.

We brought Max outside, so he could check out the new grass too.

He likes to chew on the blades of grass, but unfortunately after the trim, the grass was too short for him to reach.

But that didn't stop him from trying.

Lego Day

Phew....I was MIA there for awhile! That cold I was fighting was quite a doozy. I can't remember the last time I was so sick! Just when I was starting to feel better last weekend, I think I veered off into sinus infection land. Not fun. At all. But I'm glad to say I'm finally feeling normal again.

That's a good thing, because we went out and hit the town hard this morning. Tyler had a craft to build at Lowe's and then we went to the toy store and Costco.

We went to Toys 'R' Us to look for a new watch for Tyler since the Transformers one he had literally broke into pieces. We were after a Lego watch that we'd seen online and lucky for Tyler, they had it in stock at the store....among other things.

Besides the watch, we found a small Lego kit on the clearance aisle for $5. It's a 2-in-1, so it makes an excavator and a bulldozer. Pretty neat.

Here's a look at the new watch. It's not digital like his old watch, but he's surprisingly good at reading the time anyway.

And then in the mail came a gift from Grandma.

A Lego man sticker book. Once Tyler fills all the stickers in, I'll have to study up....that way I'll know a Lego man when I see one!

Bugs In The Garden

In last month's issue of Family Fun magazine I saw a super cute idea for making garden markers. But before I could make them, I had to wait patiently for the boys to go through eight containers of milk so that I could have the lids. Once that was done, I stopped at the craft store to pick up the rest of the supplies, which was simply floral wire and a few pieces of craft foam.

With all the supplies in hand, the whole family sat down this weekend and got to work.

I'm glad I had some good crafters by my side because it was a little tedious making so many of those little buggers. But now I'm happy to say that all the vegetables in the garden are properly marked.

Tyler made this little guy. He's the pirate of Cat Poop Hill. Actually it's really a hill for our cantaloupe, but the neighbor's cat thinks otherwise. But why a pirate? So he can exclaim "Aarrgh" and scare that pesky cat away from constantly digging up our poor cantaloupe seeds. That'll work, right?

Elsewhere in the garden, the non-pirate bugs are looking good. (Ignore those weeds, I pulled them up last night while grilling the pepper steak packets)

I like this one. He's in charge of watching out for my peas, which are currently trying to take over the universe.

Father's Day

For Father's Day, Tyler and I decided to make a special dinner and dessert for Rick. Tyler picked out a recipe for dinner from his Gooseberry Patch cookbook. It was for grilled pepper steak packets, because (in case you didn't know) Rick loves steak.

The recipe was super easy. All you have to do is put the ingredients inside a piece of foil, wrap it up, throw it on the grill for 10 minutes and you're done!

I sliced the meat and divided it among the packets. I also prepped the veggies, then Tyler did the rest.

After 10 minutes on the grill.....yum! It tasted just like broccoli beef. And there was practically no leftovers, so I think Rick approved.

For dessert.....

Rick's favorite ice cream. Baseball nut from Baskin-Robbins. I tried to be sneaky, so I got the ice cream yesterday while Rick was at work, but Loose Lips Tyler blabbed the secret at least 3 separate times. Arrrgh!

When Rick got home from work, Tyler said, "Daddy, we're hiding a surprise in the house for you....and you'll never find it!". Then when we were going out to dinner, we drove past Baskin-Robbins and he goes, "Look, that's where we got the ice cream today!". And then while we were eating dinner, Tyler spilled it all and said, "Daddy, we've got ice cream waiting for you at home!".

But as Tyler continued to remind me....at least the flavor remained a surprise.

Eat up boys. Happy Father's Day!

New Toy

Partly to keep up with all the other kids on the street, and partly because Tyler's growing up so fast, Rick bought him a new razor scooter. Tyler's old scooter had 3 wheels total, 2 in the back, so this is an upgrade for him.

He's only had it for about a week, so I thought we could take it to the park today and really break it in.

Off he goes!

After making it all the way around the walking path, we stopped at the playground for a little bit. There were several birthday parties going on and plenty of kids to play with. Well, what do you know? Tyler's finally getting big enough to do the monkey bars by himself.

Of course we had to stop and take a peek at the ducks even though we didn't bring any bread. We must have looked pretty sad and sorry, because the next thing we knew, that man in the background came over and gave us the rest of his loaf. How nice!

So we were able to feed the ducks after all.

We started to feel a sprinkle or two while we were feeding the ducks, but then it really started raining and we decided to head home. Talk about some crazy weather! We've had a ton of rain this month.....isn't it almost Summer?

Baked Goods

One thing our kitchen is never lacking, even when I'm sick, is some type of homemade baked good. Before I left for California, I made my first ever Angel Food Cake completely from scratch.

The recipe is from one of my Cooking Light Annuals and it's a black and white version, so it's half chocolate, half vanilla. It wasn't a bad dessert, but I'm not sure it's worth the effort and 12 wasted egg yolks. We just ate it with a little bit of whipped cream, but maybe if we'd added some sliced strawberries and ate it more like a shortcake, it would have been better.

While I was away, Rick ventured into the kitchen and tried his hand at a batch of Chocolate Mint Cookies.

After eating one bite, I decided that he's either missed his calling as a cookie baker or that he's got a guardian angel on his side, because believe me, he simply cannot mess up when it comes to cookies. I don't understand it either, because he almost never bakes, but when he does....it's blissful. When he printed the recipe, the quantities were doubled, so he ended up making a huge batch. And even when he accidentally put in only half the amount of butter, the cookies still came out fantastic. Yum!

Then last night I made Pumpkin-Date Loaf with Cream Cheese Swirl.

I can't really comment too much on this one because I still can't smell or taste anything properly. But according to Rick it smelled good and Tyler's been gobbling it up, so it can't be that bad.

The Gift For Himself

Don't ask me what happened this week, because I pretty much slept my way through it. I've been sick with the same cold and cough that Tyler just had, along with all the other kids at his school.

After coming home from California, I went straight to bed and have stayed there for the most part, with the exception of taking Tyler to and from school. In the afternoons when he's home, he's been visiting Lego.com, which he recently discovered. They have all kinds of online games to play and coloring pages that he's been printing out.

But Father's Day is just around the corner, so last night I peeled Tyler off the computer, changed out of my pajamas and went to Michael's to make one of their Father's Day crafts. They had, I think, around 5 different crafts to choose from throughout the week, and last night they were doing duct tape wallets.

Yep, duct tape wallets. Who knew duct tape came in such fancy colors and prints? I was impressed!

I thought we had an understanding that the wallet would be for Rick, but Tyler was so in love with his creation, that he decided to keep it for himself. Maybe it's better that way. I don't know if Rick could pull off such a fancy looking wallet anyway.

Down Goes The Grass

While I was away, the boys (well, mostly Rick) were hard at work laying down the brand new sod. Rick had big plans to have the sod delivered on Friday morning, work all weekend long, and surprise me with a finished yard by the time I came home on Monday. But you know that saying about the best laid plans....yeah, his didn't go so well either.

For one, the sod company ended up delivering the sod a day early. So the surprise was already out the window at that point. And then Tyler got sick....

Even so, the first day of laying sod went pretty well.

The company says the sod needs to be laid down within 48 hours for the best results. Actually, the sooner the better. That's why the sod along the back of the house looks the best.

The grass that was put down on day 2, along the side of the house, doesn't look quite as happy. I'm sure it'll pick back up though.

Regardless, I am so happy to see some green in the backyard.

There is still a section of dirt off the side of the porch where Rick plans to put some brick to make an extended patio. But first we have to move that pile of dirt, those empty plant buckets and that garden box cover. Ohhh, the end is so near!

Graduation Day

I'm finally back from Los Angeles.....phew, what a trip! I'm so glad I was able to go and see Anni graduate, but geez, what a long drive. It's no wonder she flew here the last time she came to visit! But that's what sisters do. They endure the 1000 mile drive, or whatever it takes to be there for each other. (Is it just me, or did that just sound like a Lifehouse song?)

Getting back to the point, Anni's graduation started bright and early Saturday morning. No kidding. It was at 8 a.m.

Here come the graduates, filing into Drake Stadium. Yay! There's Anni, second in line.

Once the graduates had all taken their seats, then the professors came in and took their places on the stage.

And then the diplomas were handed out. Unfortunately, they called her by "Anna", instead of Anni. But hey, at least she's gets to have The Terminator's signature on her degree instead of the far less exciting Gray Davis, that I have on mine.

I swear I'm not the shortest sister, I'm just the only one not wearing heels.

After the graduation, Anni took us on a tour of the campus, which seemed kind of prestigious. Much more so than any of the campuses I attended, that's for sure. Must have been all those giant brick buildings. I'm a little jealous.

Saying Thanks

This is Tyler's last week of school before he starts the Summer session with a different teacher. That means it's time to say thanks to his current teachers for the wonderful year he's had.

Last month, Tyler made that cute little school house gift box at Lowe's, which we planned on giving to his morning teacher. Yesterday after school we went out and bought some treats to go inside and some gift cards too.

This is what it looks like from the front side.

And the backside, with a Starbuck's gift card in the slot.

For the inside, we got some chocolate from a local shop called Boehms. Tyler and I had a few samples while we were browsing.....yum!

For Tyler's afternoon teacher and the teacher's aide, I made some Thank-you cards and put gift cards inside as well.