New This Week

I've been sick all week. I was sick all last week. Apparently pregnancy completely deprives me of the ability to fight off a simple cold bug. And I was doing so well too! I made it all the way through winter without a hitch, but as soon as spring rolled around....forget it, I was a goner. So looking back on the week, it's kind of surprising that I tried so many new recipes. I don't even remember getting out of bed.

Earlier in the week we had Southwestern Pasta & Cheese.

I really like this one as a different spin on macaroni and cheese. It had bacon, red bell pepper, chipotle pepper, and chili powder. The boys both complained that it was too spicy and in fact, Tyler wouldn't even eat it. I don't know what Rick's excuse was....he frequently orders spicy foods at restaurants. Okay, so maybe I put in too much chipotle, but I'm going to blame that on my foggy head.

Then we had Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa.

This was my favorite meal of the week! I couldn't get over how much flavor the chicken had with such a simple marinade of olive oil, lime juice, and cilantro. Wow! And the salsa on top was the perfect compliment. I served yellow saffron rice on the side, as the recipe suggested, and that was great as well.

For last night's dinner I made Brown Butter Gnocchi with Spinach and Pine Nuts.

After taking Tyler to the park yesterday after school and then to the store to buy a birthday present for his friend, whose party is tomorrow, I was glad to come home and make a quick pantry meal. I used frozen chopped spinach instead of fresh and walnuts instead of pine nuts, but otherwise followed the recipe. I thought it was great, but Tyler didn't agree, and Rick ended up with a roaring case of heartburn. Sadly, I don't think I'll be able to make this one again.

In the baking department, I made some Oatmeal Raisin Muffins.

These originally called for chocolate chips, but I was in the mood for raisins, so that's what I used. Mmmm, I've been enjoying them with breakfast all week long.

Then I put my new bag of blue cornmeal to use with my first ever batch of blue cornbread.

Yum! Just as I had hoped, these were as good as the yellow variety.

For dessert I made Nutella, Banana, and Coconut Puff Pastry Cups.

The whole point of making this recipe was to use up that last sheet of puff pastry I've had sitting in the freezer for who knows how long.....and boy, was it a good choice! The puff pastry stuck to the muffin tin a little more than I was expecting, but besides that, it was an awesome and quick dessert.

Finally, for breakfast this morning, I made a batch of Banana Cinnamon Waffles.

Tyler had requested some Eggo waffles, but I just couldn't do it, especially with the banana I had decomposing on the counter. So I made these waffles that I've had on my to-do list and they came out great. They have a mix of regular, whole wheat, and buckwheat flour, with a little ground flaxseed for good measure. Yum, I love a good multigrain waffle with a decent protein and fiber count.

Firehouse Red

After school I took Tyler over to Baskin Robbins so that he could finally cash in his coupon for his free birthday scoop. I got the coupon in my email about a week before his birthday, but I thought we'd end up using it some time during spring break, probably after his birthday, since we had to work it in around our trip to Seattle. Anyway, I ended up getting sick and remained so for the entire break, so I was never able to take him. Now the coupon has expired, but I thought we'd go give it a try anyway. Thankfully the lady behind the counter gave us a break.

Now on to picking the flavor.

I didn't mean to sway the poor child's opinion, but once I pointed out the flavor of the month, he was sold. Vanilla mixed with cinnamon swirl and red hots is not something he would normally go for, so I guess it was the pure intrigue of being a limited edition flavor.

About halfway through his cone, he started wishing he'd picked cookies and cream instead. Me too. I mean, look at his face. It looks like someone punched him smack in the mouth. I wasn't a fan of the red coloring everywhere. Believe me, we had enough of that with his Lego cake.

As for me, I went with Tax Crunch. It's a coffee flavored ice cream with chocolate chunks and crispy rice pieces. Yum!

Food Finds

If you know me, you know that I love food and when I travel, it's practically the only souvenir I ever bring home. From Hawaii I brought home coconut syrup and shortbread cookies. From Vancouver, Canada I brought home yummy maple cookies. And from Leavenworth I brought home coconut cashew brittle, fig jam, and caramel corn. So you know I didn't go to Seattle without finding some sort of food items to bring back with me.

This time I found some amazing things at Pike Place Market.

At MarketSpice, I picked up a box of their famous cinnamon orange tea and a huckleberry scented candle. I can't rave enough about their candles...they smell soooo good! They had about 5 or 6 different scents sitting near the register and they were all fantastic. I kind of wish I had grabbed the cinnamon orange one as well. The tea is really good too. It reminds me of the Good Earth brand, which is uniquely sweet without having any sugar added. The olive oil came from Sotto Voce and it's basil flavored. It tastes like pesto. I could seriously drink it straight from the bottle. I added some to our pizza crust last night, but my senses are so impaired with this cold I'm fighting, that I couldn't really taste it.

The hotel we stayed at was in Bellevue and I just about died when we pulled into the parking lot and I spotted a Whole Foods Market right across the street!

To people who live in big cities, Whole Foods is probably no big deal, but for me it means access to all those things I can never find in the stores here in Yakima.

I think I really wanted to just stuff the whole store in my purse and bring it home with me, but I left with just a few items.....blue corn meal and coconut manna. I can't wait to make cornbread with the blue corn meal. Hopefully it's just as tasty as the yellow stuff, but with a much higher fiber content. And the coconut manna is basically like a coconut butter. It's nothing but crushed, creamed coconut flesh. I can't wait to spread it over some muffins or add it into recipes here and there. Yum!

Birthday Dinner

For the most part, we celebrated Tyler's birthday on Saturday, but he did have to wait until Tuesday for his birthday dinner, and as usual he chose a Mexican restaurant.

This year we went to Xochimilco, a family favorite. Tyler ordered a taco with rice and beans.

I can't say why I'm hunched over like I'm freezing....it was warm in there!

More silly poses. Is it Kung Fu this time?

After we were done eating dinner, the workers came out with a plate of churros, gave Tyler a sombrero and sang Happy Birthday to him. He thought that was pretty cool!

Then it was back to the house to open the last few of his presents.

Happy birthday panchito, happy birthday to you!

Weekend in Seattle

Over the weekend we had Richard and Melody stop by for a short visit, in part to pick up Rick's Nova that they were towing back to California, and also to celebrate Tyler's birthday. Instead of hanging out around the house, we thought it would be fun to head over to Seattle and show them some of our favorite sights.

Our first stop in town was one of our favorite places in Seattle....the Pike Place Market. We signed up Richard and Melody for the same food tour we took last fall, so while they were doing that, we made a few food stops of our own.

We went to Pike Place Chowder for lunch. Tyler and I had the standard chowder, but Rick was adventurous and had the salmon variety.

Afterwards the boys stopped at Cinnamon Works and grabbed a few cookies for dessert, while I had some cheesecake from The Confectional. Delicious!

On a side note, this was Tyler's first outing with his new Lego shoes that he got for his birthday and he was all about showing them off. In fact, he even caught the attention of another Lego fanatic who stopped and showed us the Lego brick cover he had for his iPhone.

Later in the afternoon we went over to Bullwinkles for a round of miniature golf.

I think we got in maybe 14 holes before it started to pour down rain and we had to run inside for cover, but I guess that's Seattle for you.

Tyler suddenly thinks it's cool to pose like a gangsta in every photo. Hmmm, I hope this silly phase passes quickly.

The next day we stopped at the Space Needle. Richard and Melody went up to the top, but since we've already done that, we went next door to the Children's Museum instead.

Then we spent the rest of the afternoon at the Museum of Flight before it was time to head back home.

Party Time

Here we were this morning with no RSVPs, expecting to have another small family celebration, when at the last minute we got a call from Tyler's best friend. Yay! Somebody was coming....and he was bringing his younger brother. Phew, that was close! Disaster averted.

 Time to Party!

First we started out with the games.  The boys each picked a race car and put them together.

Then we went out to the garage and raced them down a track that Rick built.

They also played 'pin the helmet on the racecar driver'.

And took turns dropping straws into the center of a lego tower. (It's not as easy as it looks!)

Then it was time for cake. Lego brick cake, of course.

Don't mind me in the corner over there eating all the ice cream.

Then it was time for presents. I got Tyler a Phineas and Ferb t-shirt and some Bad Kitty books. He also got a new pair of Lego shoes, Lego building kits, and some accessories for the Wii.

It's A Boy!

No surprise here. I saw this one coming a mile away!