MPM 1-24-1-1-30

:) Sunday London Broil, carrots, onions, potatoes, Hiya's gravy, Yorkshire
Pudding, Blackberry pie and cool whip!
(My husband asked for Swedish pudding!!!!)
Monday Fajitas
Tuesday Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken
Wednesday Bruschetta Chicken
Thursday Pine Valley Eggs, Biscuits,
Friday Nana's Chicken Soup with Rivlies
Saturday FFYS

BBQ Pork Quesadillas

Dinner was great!

I cooked a pork roast (or 2) in the crockpot the other day. I put the leftovers in a covered dish with BBQ sauce. Today when we came home from work, I made Quesdaillas and stuffed them with the BBQ pork! It was delicious! (After Nicole cleaned her plate, she said she didn't like it.... Then she ate some more!)

Caldo Tortilla

In a frenzy to replace burrito and tacos, I created a magnificent tortilla soup! Perfect for a nice, chilly day.... And The Clone Wars! We enjoyed the warming soup while huddling together in the living room.

Here's my made up soup:

1. Cook rice.
2. Saute onions in EVOO, add pepper, drained canned chicken, 1/2C salsa, and 2T crushed tomatoes. 'Stir Fry' til warmed through.
3. In soup pot, add 1qt chicken broth and bring to a boil.
4. Stir salsa mix into chicken broth.
5. In bowl or mug, add 1/2C rice, ladle soup over top.
6. Garnish with choice of avocado, diced tomato, cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips.
7. Enjoy!!!!

When I grow up

I want a sail boat.






I cannot sail by myself, you know. I choose not to fully understand every element so that I cannot be responsible for anything.

Except for maybe the food.......


(Do you see Tink helping me with the Carne Asada?)

We obviously sailed at sunset.... Can you see the moon?

We sailed completely by moonlight and radar. And shadows. And sound.

Montreal

It was a QUICK trip, and a long trip. We were driving, driving, driving, and all of a sudden we were there... Okay, after 4 or so hours of driving, we checked into an adorable little bed and breakfast in Montreal! It was a B&B that was located in an old post office. It was actually the first Post Office in MOntreal, built a LONG time ago and had been abandoned (sold to) some nuns in the early 1900's. The previous owner worked for the current owner and told us stories of those nuns who would leave anonymous gifts at peoples' doorsteps and leave baskets of food and clothing on their front porch when they went to bed. Isn't that a delightful story? We had a nice suite with a view of the street. The terrace had a view of the city and the 'Mount' behind us. It was so cute and quaint with the views and the architecture, but quite weird to think that we were possibly staying in the sorting room and eating in the storage room!

We were so hungry after we arrived, we went to a little diner called 'Bercy's' I ordered an iced tea that the doc and his dad told me it looked like a beer. No other way to describe it! Then we walked all over the city, on the cobblestone streets, and Nicole told us over and over that she wanted 'to go back to the Post Office!' It was funny and cute!

We had a very French continental breakfast, oui, and left for the Botanical Gardens. They were beautiful! And seemingly endless! First there were gardens, then Japanese gardens called 'the garden of weedlessness', then zen gardens, etc.....











And finally we went to the Insectorium. I like that word. Insectorium.

It was beautiful! Well, as far as I could see, from the back seat!!!

Anyway, we went to the Olympic center
, a Mandarin buffet, toured downtown, went to the Basilica, Notre Dame and saw the light show! It was actually like a history lesson. They taught us all of the reasons the French came to Canada and started their own colonies and created the Notre Dame. It was actually an architectural masterpiece! And I have to say, it was beautiful!!!




We checked out early in the morning (er, early as can be for some night owls!) and had breakfast at a cute little cafe down the street. It was like a Starbucks, but with a French name. The language barrier was very frustrating, but I managed to escape with a cafe au lait and a REAL elephant ear! (I crave them all over again!) Nicolee had a croissant with mango juice instead of orange juice!

Back to the car, we drove through an old French-Canadian cemetery and the 'ritzy' communities while grandpa and Nicole played slap jack and war. Occasionally I would hear Nicole say, "Grandpa, you're disturbing me!" I'm not quite sure what that was all about! She gave up the card games and focused on finger weaving!

We stopped at the Upper Canada Village and saw a glimpse of colonial living in Canada! Very similar to farms and communities I've seen reenacted here in the states. But the doc got to milk a cow! That was a site!

We got back on the road, went through border patrol, and then we were back in the states. So, to end our little French-Canadian trip, we celebrated with some good ol' american cheeseburgers!

What a great trip!

(Now, if only I could get my house back in order!!!)

Menu for the Week... And more!

Sunday Chicken Tacos
Out to Ruby Tuesday's!

Monday Grilled Caesar Chicken Salad and Texas Toast

Tuesday Tamale Pie


Wednesday PDub’s steak and either salad or Caprese Salad

Thursday Hot Dogs and Hamburgers


Friday ????

Saturday ????
(Visit http://orgjunkie.com/ for more inspiration!!!)

Today is just Sunday. This is always the time I stay up waaay too late trying to finish all of the plans I had for the weekend!

And I slacked on the snacks of the week, but in retrospect, we had fresh fruit every single day this week! I LOVED it!!!

Friday night the doc and I enjoyed a (little bit) late anniversary dinner. GOOOOD Italian food!
The first wine I have loved, down to the last drop (gotta love those Italians), Fettuccine Alfredo, and a lemon tart.
All to celebrate 8 years of wedded bliss! Then we decided to go to the drive in! A double feature! GI Joe and Transformers 2! It was fun... And I stayed up waaaay past my 'bedtime!'

Saturday Nicole and I wanted to have a tea party. Instead it turned out to be a breakfast run for the whole gang at PAnera! (I brought it home) After brunch/lunch, we went to the park. A birthday party, swimming, the driving range, an art fair, birthday cake, and live bagpipe music. All within 3 hours! WHEW!

Now it's Sunday. It's almost over, but it was a well-used day. Church, lunch, grocery shopping, clothes shopping, movie, out to dinner, scenic drive, ice cream at home, laundry, and baking.

Er, yes, baking! I can't bake, remember? Except for the open-and-insert-in-oven kind of baking! I turned 1 gallon of blueberries into pie filling, baked a pie crust and it turned out like this: That's one whole pie and a LOT of filling! I invited the 'rents to make pancakes, waffles, tarts, crepes, whatever they can to use up this stuff! OH, and to EAT the pie, too!

Ooh, and I got to chat with one of my bestest friends! What a sweet way to end the day! So. Let the week begin, I will be well fueled with blueberries and humor.

I am a LITTLE bit behind!!!

My mama flew in to town and took us to NYC for a Broadway show (and to celebrate Nicole's bday!)! We saw Phantom and it was AWESOME! I feel an entirely new draw to the city, a new craving that needs to be satisfied!
....Not that I ever wanna give up this new endeavor! We enjoyed a classy Starbuck's breakfast right before we headed to the theatre.


We also went to Alice's Tea Cup. Last time we went to the city with Myra, she took us here and I LOVED it! It seems Nana enjoyed it, too! We had tea, peach for me, I don't remember what Nana had, sandwiches (BLT with Bleu cheese!!! To DIE for! Nana had something curried.), scones, and dessert cookies! It was delicious. Nicole had her own ginger tea, sandwiches, and scones, too. The doc had something great, but mine was better ;)


Our hotel was awesome! We stayed at the W. It was beautiful, pristine, modern, and classy. Their decor theme was 'water' or something like that!!! Down the elevators and into the street, it was awesome!

There was a street fair right in front of us. My favorite sight at that point was the smoothie bar! I just wanted to eat all of the produce!

The day we were leaving the city, we walked through central park and it started pouring! The city was under flood watch! We made it halfway through and found a 'shelter.' Once we finally made it through the park, we decided to take a carriage ride all the way through the park again! We were a little soggy by then ;)
But memories are memories!!!

We also visited the library. It's the scene of one of my favorite movies! But I loved the detailed marble-work and the endless books and the HISTORY inside!

I could have spent all day in the library! (But we were headed out of town!)

P.S. I finally met up with my sweet friend Ange! I haven't seen her since 1993! It was fun, introducing her to family, catching up, discussing dreams and future plans.... And reminiscing about old friends! I think that hanging out with her was the best part

Snack of the Day

I made my first batch of granola today! And the 2nd... And the 3rd... And the 4th... And the 5th!!! It was delicious! I decided to throw in a handful of raisins in the last batch and it was really yummy!


The theme of this week is Kitchen Chemistry. Our first art project this week was an experiment to find out which ingredient was in the paint! Red paint had flour, Orange paint had salt, yellow paint had sand (mmmm, NOT an ingredient!), and pink paint had dish soap in it (ALSO not an ingredient, but definitely used in the kitchen!) The kids had fun painting with various substances!

We also went to the fair this weekend. Military days! With our Military ID, we got into the fair for FREE, plus a discount on the ride-armbands! We had a blast! Nicole had her face painted and my kiddos had a great time!

We were going to go out to dinner with a friend tonight, but she forgot, so we saved some money and had dinner at home! A DELICIOUS dinner! I thought I'd make grilled chicken Caesar salad, but I had no Caesar dressing. I coated the chicken with a poppy seed dressing, put it over lettuce, and topped it with bleu cheese, shaved parmesan, and grape tomatoes! Plus a side of fresh baguette! It was delicious!!! My palette is ever bored!