Arrrrr, I'm A Pirate

Tyler has been waiting all month long to make some Talk Like a Pirate Bars. He found the recipe in one of his cookbooks and since it says that Talk Like a Pirate Day is on September 19th, he's been waiting for that exact day to try the yummy looking bars.

However, since the 19th is this weekend, and we already have plans to dress up and look fancy on that day, we decided to go ahead and make the bars early.

First you make the oatmeal cookie base. It's a simple mixture of flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and melted butter.

Then you take half of the cookie mixture and flatten it in an 8x8 baking dish. You bake it for 8 minutes and then add the filling, which is simply melted caramels, chocolate chips, and walnuts. Then you top it with the remaining cookie mixture and bake it for about 12 more minutes.

They come out looking a little something like this.

I think I need an eye patch.....Arrrrr!

Good News Bad News

After that debacle last month when I brought Tyler to the dentist office on the flimsy assumption that he had an appointment, we were back this morning for his actual scheduled appointment. This time I chose to get it done first thing in the morning rather than taking him out of school in the middle of the day.

He did a great job with the cleaning and xrays.

It was his first time taking xrays and even the dentist was impressed that they came out so clear and not blurry. I guess some kids have a hard time sitting still.

And after the dentist finished poking around in his mouth, came the good news.....he has no cavities. Yay! That's a good thing because I overheard the dentist telling the kid in the next room that he had 3 cavities. Yikes.

So after school I decided to take Tyler out for a treat. Partly because he did such a great job with the dentist and partly because he's been doing so well in school, but mostly because Aunt Susan sent him a McDonald's gift card in the mail.

Five whole dollars burning a hole in his pocket.

He didn't even bother reading the menu board....he just marched right up to the register and ordered himself a smoothie. Yummy.

So here's the bad news of the day. I got my 'thanks, but the position has already been filled' letter from the school district. Darn. One more rejection letter to add to the pile. It seems to be the name of the game for me lately. So to make me feel a little better about it Tyler told me, "Don't worry mama.....when I grow up, I'll give you a job". Yep, I think I could eat that boy up with a spoon.

Recipe Review

The dinner recipes I tried this week came from a variety of sources, from the cover of the latest Food Network magazine to an old Taste of Home Annual. But as usual, I still threw a few Rachael Ray recipes in the mix.

First, we tried Pepper-Jack Chicken with Succotash.

This is the one from the Food Network magazine. It looked so good on the cover I had to give it a try. I didn't follow the recipe to the letter, as far as the chicken went, I just used it more of a method. I butterflied the chicken instead of cutting a pocket for the filling, which was probably a bad idea since a lot of the cheese melted out while it was on the grill. Oh well, it was still good and so was the succotash.

Next we tried Tuna Melt Pie from the September issue of Rachael Ray's magazine.

The recipe called for 4 cans of tuna, which I thought was a ton, so I cut that in half and it seemed plenty enough for me. It came from the 'budget' section of the magazine and that's exactly what it is....a cheap, simple meal. Everyone ate it without complaint, so that's a plus. I do have to say that it is best on the first day, as the leftovers get kind of soggy.

From Taste of Home, we tried Enchilada Meatballs.

I actually found this recipe in the appetizer section of the cookbook, but I made it a main dish by serving it with a few typical Mexican-style side dishes. I didn't follow the recipe exactly either. I browned the meatballs in a skillet and then coated them with enchilada sauce and finished baking them in the oven. It was a nice change and a good way to use up the leftover enchilada sauce I had in the fridge.

Lastly, we had Artichoke, Tomato, and Spinach Pizza.

It was certainly different than any pizza recipe I've ever tried and I thought it came out pretty good. I used the same old pizza crust recipe I always use, which is super simple and uses half whole wheat flour and half regular white flour. Besides that, I cut way down on the oil in the recipe which turned out fine. I think all the moisture in the veggies helped the pizza from getting too dry. But since the boys in the house are major meat lovers, I think our next pizza will be a traditional pepperoni (turkey pepperoni, that is).

Finding A Dress

We have a wedding to go to next weekend and since I still hadn't found a dress, we decided to try shopping in Kennewick. It's kind of a long drive, but they have way more stores, and I was running out of options.

At first I was having no luck. Nothing was fitting me right. It was starting to get annoying...I mean, how skinny do you have to be to look good in a nice dress?

But finally I started to find some things.

This one was kind of cute, but it was soooo itchy.

Rick had me try on this one and I'm really glad he did. It ended up being my favorite dress. I thought it looked elegant (just pretend you don't notice those exposed undergarment straps). I didn't buy it though....it wasn't on sale...at all.

It's hard to tell with the camera phone, but this dress is actually blue. It fit well, but the beading around the waist was starting to fall off in the back. It just didn't seem worth the money.

After awhile I lost count of how many dresses I tried on, but I finally settled on one that I think will work. It wasn't my absolute favorite, but I'm running out of time and pickiness isn't an option.

One Gallon Club

I'm so glad it's Friday. What a week.....I'm so exhausted!

I finished the first week of the STS Mesocycle 2 this morning. It's not easy. Well, the workout itself really isn't that bad, it's the soreness that kills. I guess that's what muscle hypertrophy is all about. I just wish it didn't hurt so bad to get up out of a chair, or to walk up the stairs. I feel like such a grandma.

Then this afternoon I had an appointment with the Red Cross.

Time to give blood again. I was a little worried about how my iron level would be since I've had so much trouble with it in the past. But I really focused on eating iron rich foods for the last several weeks as well as taking my vitamins and liquid iron supplement. It paid off too, because my levels were great.

And before I left, one of the volunteers presented my with a token of accomplishment.

Apparently, I'm a new member of the gallon donor club. Really!? I never really considered how it added up. I can't believe I've given a whole gallon to those vampires.

In other news this week, I applied for a job with the school district. I'm trying not to be nervous and antsy about it, but I am. I can't help it. I turned the paperwork in on Tuesday and I still haven't heard anything. The application required that I have two previous supervisors fill out character reference forms and mail them directly to Human Resources. So maybe that's why I haven't heard anything....they're still waiting on the forms? Maybe I shouldn't think about it so much.

After School Baking

By the time I picked Tyler up from school yesterday, it had started to rain. It kind of ruined my plan to go to the park, so we stayed home and baked some cookies instead.

I gave him the choice of making biscotti (my favorite), or chocolate chip cookies (the universal favorite of all males on the face of the planet). Guess which one he chose?

My poor biscotti didn't even stand a chance. Especially when going up against the secret ingredient.

Mini m&m's.

After Tyler finished making the dough, I set it to chill in the refrigerator for a few hours. We were going to wait until after dinner to bake them. But once he realized that the DVR was recording Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, it was all over. He zonked out into the biggest zombie I have ever seen. He loved the book. He loved the movie with Gene Wilder and now he couldn't take his eyes off Johnny Depp and his crazy interpretation of Willy Wonka.

"Hellooooo......"

"Tyler......."

"Aren't you going to finish making the cookies......"

And there I was.....the little red hen. How did that happen? I should have made the biscotti.

Over The Weekend

After our big hike on Saturday, we spent the second half of the weekend hanging out around the house, playing U-Build Mousetrap and that sort of thing. By the way, of all the new U-Build games we've tried, Monopoly, Connect 4, and Mousetrap.....Mousetrap is the worst. But Tyler claims to love it, so we continue to play.

In the mail, came two packages for Tyler. One was his new Klean Kanteen thermos for his lunchbox and the other was his new pair of slippers. Slippers are required at his school and it was time for some new ones.

It was hard finding anything cuter than his old moose slippers, which he did not want to replace, but I think we did it. He was so in love with his new pair that he wore them all weekend long.

They're glow in the dark crocodiles. Tyler kept hiding in dark closets and the kitchen pantry just so he could watch the eyes glow. But now they're at school....I hope they don't scare all the other kids away.

On Labor Day we had a BBQ.

We had hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and pasta salad. Nothing fancy. Just how the boys like it.

Cooking is fun. Did you know that?

And for dessert, it was the battle of the blueberries.

In Tyler's corner..... blueberry pudding, his own crazy creation. He wrote the recipe, that's it sitting in front of him. Sandra Lee would be so proud!

And in my corner, with the last of our blueberries.....Blueberry Cheesecake ice cream. Yum! I'm pretty sure I won the showdown. Or maybe it was a tie.