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!

Starting The Garden

Over the weekend, Tyler and I got to work planting our vegetable garden. It's kind of a late start compared with previous years, but I guess that's what happens when you're so preoccupied with other things...like finishing the backyard.

Rick tilled the boxes for us, but after that we were on our own.

We used seeds for the most part and Tyler did a great job putting them in the ground.

Here he's working on the peas, but we also planted beans, corn, carrots and cantaloupe.

We only got a few starter plants this year. I thought we'd try the Roma tomato and see how it goes.

And of course some red and green bell peppers.

Also in the backyard, I've been enjoying the finches that have been visiting the thistle feeder. We get quite a crowd in the mornings and afternoons. I didn't even know we had those yellow guys around here!

Weekly Review

This past week in the kitchen I made a classic with a twist, a few tropical inspired dishes, and another that was just plain off in outer space land.

To start off, I went with something sure to be a hit, Barbecue Meat Loaf.

It was a basic meatloaf with bottled barbecue sauce added into the meat mixture and topped with it as well. Nothing fancy, but I thought it was moist and flavorful. Not quite as tasty as the meatloaf muffins I made last month, but still pretty good.

Next I made Grilled Tilapia with Pineapple Salsa, a recipe out of the latest Taste of Home Annual.

I've been looking for a tilapia recipe that our family will love and this just wasn't it. I didn't think the tilapia itself had much flavor. It was seasoned with olive oil, lime juice and salt, but that wasn't enough I guess. The salsa was good though.

Also from Taste of Home, I made Spicy Shrimp Wraps.

These were really good. They have shredded cabbage, taco seasoned shrimp, and a mango/salsa mixture wrapped in a flour tortilla. I followed the recipe loosely and made my own taco seasoning for the shrimp and my own pico de gallo style salsa. Yum!

Finally, I made Southwestern Falafels with Avocado Spread.

Now I'm not sure what constitutes a falafel, but these were basically mashed pinto bean patties. Granted I didn't serve them in pita pockets, but still, they were kind of weird. They looked great in the picture (in the cookbook, not so much online), but in actuality, I wasn't impressed...at all.

Free With Purchase

They got me all right...those clever marketing schemers over there at Kellogg's. All they had to do to get me to buy an obscene amount of cereal was to offer me super cute reusable shopping bags in exchange.

Oh ♥ ♥ ♥ I love these bags! And all I had to do was buy 6 little boxes of cereal...two for each bag.

The only problem....Kellogg's cereals are generally full of sugar with little to no nutritional value. In other words, stuff I don't normally buy. All of the healthy cereals were more expensive and not on sale, so I only bought one box of plain shredded wheat. Oh well, the boys can enjoy the sugar high while it lasts. They know that cocoa krispies, apple jacks and the like are rare sights around here.

Rick even tried to tell me that he'd eat them as a dessert or late night snack. Yeah right. I saw those apple jacks in his cereal bowl this morning.

So to ensure that at least some of the cereal was in fact eaten as a dessert, Tyler and I made a half-batch of cocoa rice krispy treats today after school.

But enough about that....I want to go shopping with my new grocery bags!

Fingerprint Art

Our library books were due today, so after school I took Tyler to return them and pick out some new ones. Lately, all he wants to read are his Encyclopedias. He's been working on the animal one that his grandma sent him. We're on the bird chapter...my favorite. So I went easy on the new library books since I can hardly pull him away from the encyclopedias.

But we did find something neat in the arts & crafts section.

A fingerprint drawing book.

Once we got back to the house, it wasn't long before Tyler was hard at work. He borrowed some ink from my scrapbooking supplies and started stamping away.

And adding the details.

And before dinner was ready, he already had one full page complete...front and back. He thinks he'll be finished with the book tomorrow, but I'm not so sure about that.