What's for Dinner? Day 115-121 (End of March)

We moved in April---the whole month of April.

That seems like a good idea, spreading it out, but I am not so sure.  I was worn out and grouchy!

Probably because I did a lot of it!!

Although I did have some great friends who came and helped move and clean the old house, which saved me a few days :)

Even in the middle of the move we did have some yummy meals and some fun activities.

In an attempt to catch myself up quickly, I will list the meal, stick in a picture and give you the link to the yummy recipe.

Our fun activites will follow in a different post :)

Day 115

Baked Creamy Taquitos

It was a Our Best Bites night.

We had the Taquitos, find them here, black beans and guacamole both from the cookbook but I can't find them online.  Oops! 

It was delicious though and a thumbs up all around.

Day 116

I don't even know what happened this night :)  Oh wait I do.  I had a cold, or more likely bronchitis and had been coughing so badly that I broke a rib.  OUCH!!  No dinner cooking for me, I can barely move.

Day 117

Italian Meatball Soup

The kids were "a thumb's to the side" on this one.  But Joe and I liked it a lot.  I was feeling much better today being on a dose of Prednisone :)  I used the leftover meatballs that I had frozen from our Spaghetti and Meatballs we had a while ago.

Find the soup in Our Best Bites cookbook.  It isn't listed on their website.  And my brain was a bit fogged, no picture :)

Day 118

Corn Cakes with Tomato, Avocado Relish

This was a hit, thumb's up all around.  Find the "yumminess" here.

Day 119

Santa Fe Chicken Salad

This is a family favorite--Basically make a green salad, we like to make sure that there are tomatoes, corn and black beans.  For the chicken I used the Spicy Shake and Bake.  For the dressing we use homeade Hidden Valley Ranch and add some Wingers (and wing restaurant in Utah and Idaho) sauce.

The kids loved the chicken!!

They always "pick" around the salad.

Day 120

Breakfast for Dinner

Breakfast is a great fall back meal isn't it?

Today we had scrambled eggs, homemade hash browns and bacon.  The kids love it.  They always make comment, "That it is the best meal ever".  Why do I cook anything else? :)

No recipe, but I do have to say homemade hashbrowns are the best!

 

Don't those look like happy kids?!

Day 121

Sounders Game--Qwest Field, Seattle

Joe got 4 tickets to the Sounder FC soccer game in the Suite from AT&T.  So the 4 of us went and had some free food (which Peyton thought was great!) and watched the game.  Souunders lost :(

A Year of Dates

We have been so bad at date nights.

It's just a hassle to get a babysitter and then more expensive because you have to pay a babysitter.

Anyway, there's always an excuse :)

This year for Valentine's Day I gave Joe. . .

. . .A Year of Dates

I found the idea here during one of my Pinterest rounds :)

I did it similar to her's in that I just put them each in a white envelope with the Month label at the top.  Then I wrapped them up in a bow and SURPRISE!  Most of them are already paid for.  Like I went and got a gift card or something and put it in the envelope.  Some of them are free :)

We schedule the date for the month on the 1st of each month.

FEBRUARY

--Spa Date at Home, think face masks :)

MARCH

--iPic movie and dinner--The Hunger Games

APRIL

--Temple and Thai

MAY

--Special at home, we'll just leave it at that ;)

JUNE

--Dinner at Mazatlan (just a restaurant not the actual location) and card games at the park

JULY

--Mini golf in Utah

AUGUST

--Movie and Blizzards from Dairy Queen

SEPTEMBER

--Picnic lunch and hike Mt. Si--Subway gift card-check

OCTOBER

--Seattle Art Museum and Fish and Chips at Pike Place Market
NOVEMBER

--A sleepover for 2--stay up, movie, popcorn and these quiz books I found
DECEMBER

--Mall Shopping Date and Cheescake Factory
JANUARY

--Wii and or Xbox game night

Today we had March date night.

We had pre-purchased tickets to the Hunger Games.

We went to the iPic theater in Redmond--check it out here.

I had an iPic gift card in the March envelope.

They serve food and you can take in into the theater to some cushy chairs.

We had pizza and sliders and little popcorn.

Dinner and a movie--CHECK :)

Margaret Mead Science Fair

Peyton really wanted to participate in the Science Fair at school this year. 

We picked a project from our science project book weeks before the fair, maybe even months :)  But of course we didn't finish until just before we left to go to the fair.  In all fairness I got sick in the middle of it all and it wiped me out for a few days, maybe even a week :)

Peyton decided he wanted to make a small machine--he made a Merry Go round.

We had a lot of fun at the science fair.  There were lots of different science booths there.  Addison loved the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery--she was intrigued by the fish being gutted.  Peyton loved the machine building room--robotics.





Small machines make our world "go round"

Peyton built a "Merry Go Round" out of a battery, wire, a small machine, thread spools and birds made of felt.

The birds spun very slow :)  But they did spin!

Peyton found out that many things that we use each day use small machines and simple motors.

He wrote his whole poster himself and did a lot of the merry go round him self, with some help form Mom to make it work properly :)

He got a ribbon and certificate!

There were a lot of vendors that had "science" things on display for the kids to try.

Issaquah Salmon Hatchery--this was Addison's favorite

Abacus Math

Museum of Flight Robot Garage--this was Peyton's favorite

A telescope

What's for Dinner? Day 112

We have the Science Fair tonight.

Peyton decided he wanted to participate which was great, but it was a little more difficult to get him to do the project over the month that we had to do it :(

Needless to say we were rushing to finish it today.  Me being sick the last week did not help this any.

Pictures to follow :)

For dinner we had a yummy Weight Watchers salad. 

The kids had the chicken and oranges.

Chicken and Orange Salad

Weight Watchers--Points Plus 7

Serves 2--I doubled it

1 medium orange, peeled, cut into bite-size pieces

5 oz cooked skinless, boneless chicken thigh (s), cut into bite sized pieces--I used a Costco Rotisserie chicken cut into bit sized pieces

2 cups romaine lettuce, coarsely chopped or torn

2 small uncooked shallots, minced

1 rib, uncooked celery, chopped

1 Tbsp sliced almonds

Dressing

1 1/2 Tbsp frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

1 Tbsp white wine vinegar

1 1/2 tsp water

1 tsp canola oil

1 tsp honey

1/4 tsp table salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/8 crushed red pepper flakes

1.  In a large bowl, combine orange, chicken, lettuce, shallot, celery and almonds.

2.  To make dressing, combine remaining ingredients in a cup; stir well to blend in honey.  Pour dressing over salad just before serving; toss gently but well.

What's for Dinner? Day 111

We did the walk through on our new house today!

Hurray we get the keys the 1st of April.

We had super sloppy joes for dinner. . .which evidently the kids did not think were so super!

Super Sloppy Joes

2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/4 cup green pepper, chopped
1 2/3 cup canned tomatoes, pureed
1/4 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp steak sauce--I used Heinz 57 because that's what I had, but I prefer A1
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp ground mustard
1/4 tsp paprika

In a large pan over medium heat, cook ground beef, onion, celery, and green pepper until the meat is not longer pink and the vegetables are tender; drain.  Add the next 9 ingredients; mix well.  Simmer, uncovered, for 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Serve on hamburger buns with cheese and pickles.

I love mine with cheese and dill pickles.

We had corn on the cob and blackberries with our sloppy joes.

What's for Dinner? Day 110

We had a yummy Mushroom Pasta tonight!

It was the first day I did not need to nap in 4 days!

Hallelujah!

Well Joe and I liked it.

The kids tolerated it.

I got it from Pinterest :)

But it originally came from Sweet Paul

Mushroom Pasta Sauce

Start by cutting up 1/2 LBS mushrooms and finely chop 1 onion and 2 garlic cloves.

Heat up a pan and saute mushrooms, onion and garlic in 2 tablespoons olive oil until the mushroom starts to golden and the onion is soft.
 
 

Add 1/2 cup chicken stock, 1 1/2 cup cream and 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill.

Let it simmer for 5 minutes and season with salt and pepper.  I also added some parmesan cheese to the sauce--The longer you cook the thicker is will become.  But watch so that it doesn't burn.  Stir frequently.

Cook up enough pasta for 4 people, remember to add salt to the water.Boil until al dente.


Strain and place in a bowl. Add the sauce, mix and serve with shaved parmesan on top.