January 31st, 2010

Trent’s grandma, Nammie, was one talented woman and cooking was definitely one of her strong suits.  There’s several picky eaters in Trent’s family (Trent being one of them) and Nammie’s cooking was loved by all.  Michelle and Sally collected all her recipes and put them into a cookbook for Christmas 2003.

Her recipes are classic cooking at its best.  Simple ingredients done well.  I made her butter baked rice last night and it’s just that.  Many of the Bond family get togethers include Nammie’s Butter Baked Rice and leftovers are scarce.

I make it with brown rice, so it adds about 20 minutes of cooking time in the oven.  I also roasted tilapia and asparagus.

Sunday night dinner with Nammie’s recipes are a nice combination!  Might have to attempt ones I haven’t tried yet.

January 30th, 2010

The girls are doing an overnight at my parent’s house, so only one thing to do, Saturday Date Night!  Trent and I went to our favorite restaurant in St. Louis, courtesy of a coveted gift certificate.

 

We split 2 appetizers, Lobster Turnovers and a Tagliatelle pasta with Luganiga.  We split the Filet Au Poivre as our entree.  So, so good!

After dinner we met Markham, Dennis, Scott, Erin, and Casey at a going away party for Quinn and Frank at McGurk's. 

 

Lots of fun and lots of cocktails, but leaving on the early side of the night procured a hangover free Sunday, yay!

January 29th, 2010

This is Sydney before the popsicle                         Sydney after

I was really excited about dinner tonight because it was a really busy week and I was ready to have all of us home and around the dinner table at one time.  I made Rachel Ray’s Shrimp Scampi Pizza and a salad.  There was Edy’s popsicles for dessert, but I think the photos gave that away.

Recipe for Pizza

So lovin’ Windows Live Writer, I can be fancy!

January 27th, 2010

Involtini di Melanzane
eggplant rolled with ricotta and pecorino, pine nuts, golden raisins and fresh herbs with a grilled
vegetable marinara

Pollo Arrosto con Erbe
herb-roasted chicken breast with a smoked bacon pumpkin and parsnip hash drizzled with sherry
reduction

It was restaurant week in Clayton and I met Erin and Bethanie at Mazara’s.  Above was my picks (you get to pick an appetizer, entree, and dessert for the fixed price of $25).  It was quite yummy and I would go back again and do the regular menu thing.

Also, this is my first time playing with Windows Live Writer, I think I’m in L-U-V!  But I haven’t posted yet, so here’s hoping!

Oh – and for dessert I had carrot cake, one of my favorites!

January 26th, 2010

This is 5:15 pm

This is 6:15 pm

This is what was for dinner at 8:15 pm

(toasted wheat bagel with dijon cream cheese, turkey pastrami, and spinach)

Dijon cream cheese is just Dijon mustard mixed together with softened cream cheese. ;)

January 22nd, 2010

Bye Bye old microwave, hood range, and dishwasher!!

Kirk and Sally arrived in the afternoon for a weekend of projects and fun. Kirk and Trent put in a new dishwasher, microwave hood range above our stove, and new light fixture/dimmer in the kitchen. I am very excited about all the updates, especially the dimmer and freeing up the space where our old microwave lived. I wasn't sure if Kirk was going to start on anything in the afternoon, so I set up the crockpot to make herbed pork roast with cannelini bean and carrots so I wouldn't have to be in the kitchen. I also made garlic bread and salad. The dessert part was interesting. I was talking on the phone to Julie while I attempted to try a new brownie recipe. Apparently I can't talk and bake at the same time because I completely forgot to put flour in the brownies. They turned out quite gooey. Are brownies without flour considered low carb?

January 22nd, 2010

Dress up is huge in our house. It is common after nap time for the girls to scour the dress up bin for their favorite pick of the day. Sometimes there's purses, gloves, and tiaras too, just depends on the day. Normally when I'm making dinner this is what is going on and when Trent comes home there's little ladies in lace and satin to greet him, but not me, I'm normally in my fleece pajamas.

Oh - and we ordered pizza last night. Papa Johns to be exact.

January 20th, 2010

I took 6 pictures of the kids eating popcorn watching

Peter Pan, this was the best outta the lot.

You know those times when you try to get together with people during the holidays and everyone is so busy you end up scheduling it in January? Well last night was one of those times and highly anticipated. We invited the Halls and Bischoffs over for dinner to "celebrate the holidays." I guess by now we were celebrating that we survived the holidays, which is just as exciting. I made braciole, baked pasta, salad, bread, and chocolate cake. Definitely a heavy holiday meal during the official diet month, oops. But rescheduled pretend holiday dinners celebrated in late January calories don't count right?

January 19th, 2010

Lauren has swim lessons on Tuesdays. Trent and I take both girls to the Y, he works out, and I watch Lauren's swim lesson. Then I give the girls a shower at the Y, we come home and bedtime for the kiddos. It's a nice evening and I love watching Lauren swim, more importantly, she likes to swim. Trent and I eat after the kids go to bed in front of the TV (beloved guilty pleasure). I made tortellini with pesto and we watched American Idol (another beloved guilty pleasure).

January 17th, 2010

Julie and I went over to my parents house for a night of arranging picture collages, eating sushi, and playing bridge. It had been a long time since I've played bridge and I forgot how much I enjoy it! One highlight from the evening was getting an education on a "Wolf Cricket" (apparently my parents have these huge mutant crickets in their basement...I've never seen one). I think I was punked because I tried to google them and found nothing. The low was me ordering sushi from one place and then sending my mom to a completely different place to pick it up. Thankfully she was a good sport and the food was still hot when shes came back with it. It was a great evening and part 2 was watching the Golden Globes....I'm on team Sandra in case you're wondering.