I had a lovely weekend filled with family, nice dinners, fun with my kids, a couple of good runs... On Friday night, my sisters and I (we missed you, Karen!) took my dad out to dinner at Canoe - it was a just because we love you dinner. We started off at my house with a glass of wine and then headed over to Canoe where we enjoyed three hours of good conversation, nice wine (& cocktails) and delicious food.
{feeling very stressed as Romney and Obama go at each other - heart is thumping}
On Saturday, we had a block party in our culdesac - it came together effortlessly as everyone brought a side dish, our resident chef on the culdesac prepared the meat, neighbors brought chairs and their own drinks - and we partied until 10:00. It was a great way to visit with our neighbors - and can I get an AMEN for the beautiful weather that God has blessed us with lately!!
{oh dear, I'm feeling very anxious watching both of these guys standing up and talking over each other}
On Sunday morning after church, we loaded up the car and headed to... I'm almost embarrassed to say... Six Flags. Yes, Six Flags. Again. And yes, after my last Six Flags adventure I did make a little promise to myself to show up next time wearing a helmet and ahemm... a diaper, but I did not {:)} - instead, we took Brooke. We had free tickets that were only good on Sunday so we piled in the car and westward we went.
{is anyone else uncomfortable when either the President or the Governor interrupts the moderator? oh geez - I am}
We had a great time - yet again at Six Flags. Matt and the boys enjoyed all the fun & scary rides while Brooke and I had fun in Toon Town and walking around the park with the stroller.
After Six Flags, we raced home, showered, and greeted my friend, Emily, who came over to watch the kids while Matt and I had a lovely dinner at Bone's! How nice is that!?! We were really longing for a couple of hours alone away from the kids and we soaked up every second of our adult time together. The wine was dynamite, the service impeccable and the food was out of this world. The filet, cooked medium rare, melted in my mouth. I LOVED their signature Bone's salad - soft lettuce, thinly sliced granny smith apple, pistachios, Stilton cheese all tossed in a light vinaigrette of some sort. I love good salads and get really excited when I'm served a great one.
So, what do I do when I stumble upon something I love? I try to recreate it - again and again and again. Last night, I made my balsamic vinaigrette dressing and tossed it together with oak leaf lettuce, pistachios (which Champ kindly shelled for me), thinly sliced granny smith apple (now is the time to enjoy the many different kinds of apples as they are gorgeous and IN season!) and sliced Parrano cheese. It was delicious, fancy and tasted like a special treat!
Yumm... if your salads are feeling a little boring, try making this simple salad - where the combination of flavors really comes together nicely on your palate.
{oh goodness - the talking over the moderator is killing me - it makes me very nervous}
And though I love reinventing the salad every few weeks at my house, my boys aren't big salad lovers. So, to make something special for them, I cooked French Toast on Monday morning. You could say I healthified a typically really unhealthy dish. I used a couple of pieces of whole wheat bread. I mixed together 2 eggs, a splash of heavy cream (I had some on hand), a small spoonful of sugar and a few dashes of cinnamon.
I dipped each slice of bread into my egg mixture - making sure to coat both sides.
Then I put each slice into my hot skillet and cooked it until it was toasted.
I plated it nice and hot and poured some maple syrup over the slices. Kiss your finger and thumb and in a French accent say, "Whalaa!"
My littlest patron loved it!
From breakfast to dinner.... Let me tell you about a good little chicken dish I made that consisted of 2 ingredients: chicken and lemon pepper. Five o'clock came a little too soon on Monday. Fortunately, I had taken a package of chicken breasts out of the freezer earlier in the day. Unfortunately, I had yet to do anything with them.
In a pinch, I sliced the chicken breasts in half so that each chicken breast turned into 2 thin pieces. I pounded them just a bit with my mallet, sprinkled each slice generously with lemon pepper and let them sit in a Ziploc for about an hour. I warmed some olive oil in a skillet and cooked the chicken on both sides until cooked through. Lean protein: check. I poured 1/3 bag of chopped kale onto a cookie sheet, sprinkled it with olive oil and a little sea salt and roasted it in a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes. Green vegetable: check. I made the salad I told you about above. Another green vegetable: check. I threw some whole wheat rolls in the oven (my kids like to drizzle some local honey on the hot rolls). Starch: check. It was a great meal! The lemon pepper chicken pleased my pickiest of eaters. That in and of itself made my day!
One more dinner idea and I'm pretty sure I have blogged about these already. I threw a pork tenderloin into the crock pot with about 1/2 a bottle of barbecue sauce. I cooked it on high for 2 hours, and then low for the rest of the afternoon. When it was done, I shredded it with two forks and using potato rolls
{oh dear - they are fighting for speaking time again - eek!}
Okay - and using potato rolls, I made little mini barbecue sandwiches and served them with steamed broccoli and sweet potato tots. What a healthy, delicious and kid friendly - EASY weeknight meal!
{wondering why these folks have their questions written on folded pieces of paper tucked deep within their jackets or pockets when they're on national television knowing they will be asked at any moment to read their question... hmmmmm...}
I hope this gives you some ideas for meals - sometimes it's just nice to find out what someone else is cooking - whether you cook the same thing or if it just gives you an idea of something else you'd like to cook and serve... I hope it helps!
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