This Weeks Eats 6.16.13

I hope everyone had a lovely Father's Day weekend.  Just as with Mother's Day, it wasn't too different from any other around here.  We did get a nice bottle of wine to go with our favorite at-home steak dinner on Saturday night after a hike earlier in the day with the kids, and we had a nice lazy pancake breakfast Sunday morning.  So, yeah, pretty much the usual - aren't weekends always meant for celebrating?  

The Ginger Sesame Chicken Salad recipe we tried last week was a hit and we'll definitely be making it again!

I added cherry tomatoes, a teaspoon of sugar to the dressing (as it was a tad salty) and I think we'll throw on some chow mein noodles next time.  Yum.

• Monday - Pizza
• Tuesday - Chicken with Artichokes, Tomatoes and Mozzarella
• Wednesday - Beef and Vegetable Kebabs
• Thursday - Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry with Trader Joes Red Curry Sauce
• Friday - Penne with Vodka Sauce, and some Turkey Sausage and Peas
• Saturday - Date Night!
• Sunday - Burrito Bowls with Cilantro Lime Chicken (trying this crockpot chicken recipe to put in our faux Chipotle bowls)

I'm linking up with Mommy Run Fast and Jill Conyers, as well as Rachel at In No Simple Language - be sure to check out all the great weekly menus!

Friday Things

First things first: if you haven't tried Oiselle's Roga shorts (or my go-to, the Long Rogas - I first talked about them here) NOW IS THE TIME.

I was so glad to have an excuse to finally pull the trigger on the Diamond Long Rogas!

OK, can we talk tv for a minute here?  I'm finally getting around to watching Girls (I'd been meaning to after all the Golden Globe wins, plus I'm a fan of Judd Apatow) and...whoa.  I'm simultaneously disturbed and captivated.  It sure does make me glad to be middle aged and out of my 'single in the big city' days, something I NEVER thought I'd say.  Because, c'mon, literally partying like it's 1999 was pretty awesome.

New Year's Eve: 12/31/99 one of my favorite pics everrr - just hanging with Chicago's finest while we wait for another keg to be delivered to our 3rd floor apartment.  Living next to a liquor store was also pretty awesome.

I guess being thankful for my years is a good thing, because everywhere I turn this week I've come across a tidbit on the internet that, albeit funny, is gettin' totally down on middle age.  Case in point, this '32' parody of Taylor Swift's '22':

And also, this recent Huffington Post blog post: 40 Effed Up Things About Being 40.  I'm not quite there yet, but I can relate to a few of these things - #27 cracked me up.

Ok, back to tv for just a sec - how awesome are these AT&T commercials??

I put two songs by Avicii on to the playlist last year and I'm finally adding one to this year's: I Could be the One by Avicii featuring  Nicky Romero.

This is turning out to be Funny Video Friday, because it's the funniest and most awesome music video, except for the very end - but I suspect that she'll be alright...

2013 Playlist
Pair of Dice by Tiesto
Ain't No Stoppin' by Ferry Corsten (featuring Ben Hague)

Come and Get It by Selena Gomez
Apollo by Hardwell featuring Amba Shepherd

This Head I Hold by Electric Guest

Castles in the Sky by Ian Van Dahl

Feel this Moment by Pitbull, featuring Christina Aguilera

Into Your Arms by the Lemonheads

Just Give me a Reason by Pink

I Love It by Icona Pop

Little Secrets Passion Pit

Sovereign Light Cafe by Keane, remixed by Afrojack

Clarity by Zedd

Years by Alesso

Something Good Can Work by Two Door Cinema Club
She Wolf by David Guetta, featuring Sia
Alive by Krewella
Illmerica by Wolfgang Garnter
Drowning by Armin van Buren
Give Me Your Hand by The Ready Set
Language by Porter Robinson
Cry for You by September
You Are My Diamond by Tiesto - featuring Kianna
Arguru - Deadmau5
We Are by Jus Jack & Oza, featuring Aeone

Juicy Strawberry Jigglers (A Favorite Recipe for the Kids)

Many moons ago, when my son was in toddler group, a friend brought in these irresistible fruit snacks.  I've been passing on the jiggler tradition while my baby girl has been participating in toddler group and I get so many requests for the recipe, and hopefully this tradition will continue.  If you are (or ever have been) the mom of a preschooler, you know that providing snacks can be a tricky business with the prevalence of allergies and dietary restrictions.  For kids of most any age, jigglers are a big hit with only juice, fruit and gelatin on the ingredient list.  

yep, this is all you need

I haven't shared a recipe in awhile and, since I've been cranking these out almost weekly (once I make them for snack, we get on a jiggler kick), they seemed like a great one to pass on.

Juicy Strawberry Jigglers

(Makes 24 jiggler squares)

Ingredients

11/2 cups juice (divided) (I used Tropicana Farmstand Strawberry Banana, but you can use any juice – Trader Joes Strawberry Kiwi juice is really good with this, too)

1 cup frozen Strawberries

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

1Tablespoon sugar (optional – I use about a teaspoon if I'm using strawberries)

In Blender-blend together 1-cup juice and frozen strawberries until smooth. Pour into a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Stir occasionally to break up the frothy bubbles

Meanwhile, place the remaining ½ cup juice in a large bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over the juice (let it stand for 1 minute).  Add hot juice until gelatin completely dissolved (about 5 minutes)

Pour into 8 x8 and refrigerate until firm (3 hours)

Jiggler Fiend

This Weeks Eats 6.9.13

I'm sad to see this week come to a close; we've had such lovely weather and I had such a lovely weekend.  We even pushed back one of our meals because it was just to nice out to stay inside and eat soup, so we grilled up some hot dogs and picked up some yummy salads from Whole Foods.  Speaking of last week, of the two new recipes we tried, there was one big thumbs up: the mac and cheese with fire roasted tomatoes, spinach and feta.

We used large macaroni instead of orzo, and it turned out great.

I also got another 'me' day on Saturday, since my kids were determined to go to the Children's Museum and my husband offered to take them if I wanted to go out for a run.  Um, twist my arm.

Mmmm, seared salmon...  I love kaiten sushi when I get out on my own.

• Monday - Pizza
• Tuesday - Gnocchi Soup with Sausage, Spinach and Roasted Red Pepper (the meal moved back from last week)
• Wednesday - Farfalle with Zucchini (a tried and true Pioneer Woman recipe)
• Thursday - Turkey Burgers and Alexia Fries
• Friday - Chicken Fajitas with Frontera Grill Sauce and Fixins
• Saturday - Top Sirloin Steaks with Blue Cheese Wedge Salads and Twice Baked Potatoes
• Sunday - Grilled Ginger Sesame Chicken Salad (trying this recipe I found via Pinterest)

I'm linking up with Mommy Run Fast and Jill Conyers, as well as Rachel at In No Simple Language - be sure to check out all the great weekly menus!

Friday Things

This blog post from Jen Hatmaker about limping across the finish line for the last days of school has been making the rounds and it cracks me up.  It seems like only yesterday I was bemoaning the endless amount of paperwork and beginning of school craziness.  Now it's end of year craziness!

Last day of Toddler Group - she wasn't into posing with her certificate this year...

Yep, there are so many signups, paperwork, teacher gifts, etc. etc.  But, oh, we got to experience our first elementary school concert last night.  

I was having trouble uploading to Youtube, so I took this screenshot - just imagine the dulcet tones of forty or so Kindergartners singing 'do, re, me, fa, so, la, ti, do'

Watching all the kindergartners file onto the stage with the big lights shining on them and singing their scales to warm up just about killed me dead.

Trying to do homework in this weather is about to kill me dead, too...

Seattle summers are incomparable.  Could be why it was just named the most popular city in America (link from Huffington Post).  The HuffPo article is also linked in this, 37 Things You Should Know Before Moving to Seattle.  I have yet to dig up a geoduck, but man, the library system here IS the bees knees.  I should get one of those librarian action figures...  

source

Speaking of books, here are 25 Signs You're Addicted to Books from Buzzfeed.  I think one of the reasons I love Seattle is that I totally agree with #7.

For the playlist, I'm going with another favorite DJ from my youth, who's still relevant today.  

Pair of Dice by Tiesto (released last year)

Happy weekend!

2013 Playlist
Ain't No Stoppin' by Ferry Corsten (featuring Ben Hague)

Come and Get It by Selena Gomez
Apollo by Hardwell featuring Amba Shepherd

This Head I Hold by Electric Guest

Castles in the Sky by Ian Van Dahl

Feel this Moment by Pitbull, featuring Christina Aguilera

Into Your Arms by the Lemonheads

Just Give me a Reason by Pink

I Love It by Icona Pop

Little Secrets Passion Pit

Sovereign Light Cafe by Keane, remixed by Afrojack

Clarity by Zedd

Years by Alesso

Something Good Can Work by Two Door Cinema Club
She Wolf by David Guetta, featuring Sia
Alive by Krewella
Illmerica by Wolfgang Garnter
Drowning by Armin van Buren
Give Me Your Hand by The Ready Set
Language by Porter Robinson
Cry for You by September
You Are My Diamond by Tiesto - featuring Kianna
Arguru - Deadmau5
We Are by Jus Jack & Oza, featuring Aeone

May 2013 In Pictures

1. She finally fits into my favorite hand-me-downs from her brother
2. Dining alfresco
3. Candle blowing, age 3
4. Little hikers
5. Sharks, sharks, sharks - can't get enough

6. Garbage salad
7. Shark books
8. Mommy books
9. Nope, he didn't choose Red Robin for his birthday dinner this year
10. Walrus viewing

11. Dueling lawn mowers
12. Pug fun
13. Rhodys blooming in the yard
14. Mother's Day card
15. Cook in the kitchen

16. First ball pit experience
17. Robin's egg
18. My little monkey
19. Back deck traffic
20. Muddy Adrenalines from my first trail run 

21. The budding naturalist
22. Their new favorite way of giving hugs
23. Brushing practice at the dentist
24. Typical weekday evening of Lego-ing
25. Under the weather

Books I Read In May

This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

Ah, this was one of those heartbreaking, yet hilarious novels. It was like the movie Home for the Holidays - but, in this case the characters are part of a Jewish family that come home to sit Shiva after their father dies; which was a really interesting premise. There seemed to be a little 'Running With Scissors' vibe thrown in with the shock value and the insanity of Judd's family/friends. His crazy, funny, morose, heartbreaking journey of self-realization is compulsively readable.  And I just learned that Timothy Olyphant, one of my all time favorite actors (ever since I fell in lust with him back in '99 in Go! and Justified is one of the best shows on tv right now) will play Horry, the next door neighbor, and I think Jason Bateman will play Judd in the movie.  




Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple

One of the best books I've read in a long time. This is a scathingly hilarious satire of a woman dealing with overzealous PTA mothers, a husband gone AWOL working at Microsoft, the quirks of living in a city like Seattle (as a transplant to the Emerald city, I can relate), plus other things that come to light as the plot evolves and she has to face what is ultimately depression. It's semi-epistolary, told from her loyal teenage daughter's point of view while using letters, emails, texts, etc. to convey the story. It moves along a such a fast clip and there were some fantastic plot twists - definitely my favorite book of the year, so far.



The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

I think I need to read more middle grade fiction, because there's so much fantastic story telling to be found. This one was told so beautifully and simply from the viewpoint of Ivan the gorilla.  It was heartbreaking and, ultimately, heartwarming. I can't wait to share it with my kids when they get a bit older and are learning themselves about the central theme of this story: principles. "...a belief that helps you know what's right or wrong." p. 194



Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

I'm a sucker for historical fiction (as well as YA fiction) and I have visited a number of the cities in this novel set in what was Brittany in 1485, now Northwest France. The premise is awesome: basically, nuns that are assassins and the plot moves along swiftly. But there was too much predictability and I wasn't really blown away by it - a good, but not great read.




Shine, Shine, Shine by Lydia Netzer

When I first started reading this book, I was overwhelmed by it's over the top odd-ness (for lack of a better word). But then reading this love story about these two very strange, yet relatable, characters became almost hypnotic. I can't say it was a page turner, but it made me think and was written in a very original voice. I even found myself marking passages, especially the many regarding motherhood - a very central theme in this book: 

"She rose up from that bed a mother, and ready to fight for the rest of her days... when the woman becomes a mother, she can no longer participate in the slow rot. Because no one's going to rot the child. And anyone who tries will suffer the mother's consequences." p. 15-16 

"I am Mom, twenty-four/seven. It doesn't end because I am not physically with you and your child. I am always Mom. It's right here with me, inside me, this makes me Mom.... I just want a little break to try and be someone else, but I can't have it. It's impossible." p.241

It'd be a great book for a really serious book club that likes to explore themes and symbolism.