Happy 13th Birthday Tyler!

Happy 13th Birthday Tyler! Yesterday was the official day that we have a teenager in our house! I cannot believe it! Where has time gone?

Tyler had many requests for his day yesterday - he brought dougnuts to school for a snack and MJ Experience for a little Wii dance off. Last night we went to his favorite restaurant Sambol and then to the Women's Gopher BB game to watch his cousin Kiara play! Needless to say he was a very happy boy!

Saturday we are having his birthday party with just his cousins and our neighbor boy. Pizza and swimming it is!

A few things about Tyler:

1) He love spicy food
2) He has a great palette for a 13 year old and appreciates a good meal.
3) He loves sports and loves to watch the Gopher women's BB team since his cousin plays for them!
4) He loves to sing and dance but only in the comfort of his own home.
5) He speaks his mind.
6) He loves his sister but at the same time can't stand her.
7) His cousins Devante and Ian are his best buddies.
8) He loves video games and computers.
9) He is a gentle giant.
10) He loves to swim.
11) He loves music and is excited to see U2 play in concert this summer.
12) He loves spending time at the cabin.
13) He loves life!


Tyler we cannot believe that you are 13th! You have grown into such a young man. You make us laugh everyday and put a warm smile in our hearts! We love you so much!

Nutella saved breakfast.. for now

In the last few weeks my little lady has been very picky about her breakfast. She is bored with cereal, yogurt, fruit and toast! Seriously!!
I bought some nutella and bagels - she is in love! She has been eating a bagel with nutellea for breakfast and a snack after school.
Wait though - we ran out of bagels the other day. I put some nutella on toast - won't eat it!

I'm sure this is just one of her phases so if you have any suggestions for a quick breakfast please pass them onto me. I'm at a loss with this one.

Mira devouring her bagel with chocolate (so she thinks)

When it's this cold outside I want to be here...



With him...



Drinking this..



Stay warm out there folks!

Strep Throat, Stomach flu, ear infections - oh my!!

Let's just say if it's out there we have it! It started with Mira having Strep throat about 2 weeks ago, I got the stomach flu over the weekend and am still recovering. Now Tyler has a cold and outer ear infection on top of it! Fun times over here!

Spicy Green Beans

Tyler has been gone at his school trip up north since Wed and returned last night. I thought I would make him a nice meal to welcome him back. He loves anything spicy - so I happened to come across the Brown Eyed Baker's Chicken Cashew recipe and thought that Spicy Green Beans would be a nice side.
I looked at a few spicy green bean recipes and just sort of combined them together.
The meal was so good - I did not even take a pic!
Tyler enjoyed his meal!

Spicy Green Beans:
I eye balled all the liquid ingredients.

Fresh Green Beans
Soy Sauce
Chili Garlic Sauce

Steam the green beans let them cool for a minute. While they are seaming mix the soy sauce and garlic chili sauce in a bowl, set aside.
Heat a pan with olive oil, add the green beans, saute at a high heat. I cooked them until some of them were almost wilted. Add the sauce, cook another minute or so.

Very tasty! I have been eating a bunch of spinach and will have to add some of the spicy sauce to sauteed spinach.

Green Chili Chicken and Lime Soup

I made this for dinner on Friday! Loved it! Quick, easy, healthy and very, very tasty. I got the recipe from the blog Picky Palate.
I just used 4 cloves of garlic not the roasted. For the chicken I used a roasted chicken from the deli.

Green Chili Chicken and Lime Soup

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves fresh or roasted garlic, minced (I used a jar of roasted garlic, it was phenomenal!)
80 oz chicken broth, 2 1/2 cartons of the 32 oz
10 oz can rotel tomatoes, mild
7 oz can diced green chilies
4 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts; cooked, shredded and lightly seasoned with salt and pepper
2 1/2 Cups cooked rice of choice, I used basmati
1/4 Cup fresh lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
Pinches of Kosher salt, fresh cracked black pepper and Lawry’s Garlic Salt with Parsley to taste
1 bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped
Fresh diced avocados, drizzled with lime juice
1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese
Tortilla chips
1. Place oil into a large dutch oven over medium heat. Saute onion for 5 minutes then add in garlic; cook for 1 minute. Stir in chicken broth, tomtoes, green chilies, chicken breast, rice, lime juice and seasonings. Cook for 5 minutes; taste and season according to your liking. Right before serving add chopped cilantro.
2. Serve soup with fresh diced avocado, shredded cheese and crushed chips if desired. If you can handle the heat, squeeze some Siracha over top, yum!!
10-12 servings

Braised Beef

We don't eat a lot of beef in our house, we try to stay more with chicken and turkey. I wanted to try something different. I love this site Simply Recipes. I have made several of her recipes.
I found this recipe and tried it last week. It a a little time consuming, tasted good but the beef was a bit fatty and the taste was a little too rich. Everyone liked it but felt the same as I with the richness and fattiness. If i make this again, I would cut some of the fat off the beef so it would not be as fatty.

Here is the recipe:

Braised Beef Short Ribs Recipe
INGREDIENTS
12 beef short ribs, bone-in
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup grapeseed oil or olive oil
1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 750-ml bottle good dry red wine (we used a zinfandel)
6 cups veal stock (can substitute beef stock)
METHOD
1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Season ribs to taste with the salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large, heavy bottomed ovenproof pan over high heat. Add ribs and brown on all sides. Work in batches if you need to so that the ribs don't get crowded (this will help with browning).
2 Transfer ribs to a plate. Pour off excess fat. Add the onions, celery, and carrots to the pan and sauté, stirring often, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the pan, set aside. Then add the wine to the pan, deglazing the pan, scraping off any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce the wine by three-quarters until thick and slightly syrupy, about 15 minutes.
3 Return the ribs to the pan, add the veal stock and enough water to cover the ribs. Bring to a boil, cover with foil, and place in the oven. Braise, cooking in the oven, until the meat is fork-tender, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. During the last 1/2 hour of cooking, add back in the vegetables. Allow the ribs to cool in the liquid, then cover and refrigerate overnight.
4 The next day, remove the excess fat that has solidified at the top from the overnight chilling. Place the pan with the ribs and cooking liquid over medium heat, uncovered. Cook until the liquid has reduced by three-quarters, about 1 hour. Continue to cook, spooning the sauce over the ribs, until the sauce is thick and ribs are glazed. Take care not to burn the glaze; move the ribs around in the pan to keep them from burning.
Serve over mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or rice. Serves 6.

My collection

This is what I collect when my friends, family or we go on vacation. So if you are going any where this year - grab me a magnet! I guess the madness needs to stop at some point.
(Oh, just a little over haul on my fridge, we no longer store our cereal up there anymore! We did some cleaning of our cabinets and now have cereal and snacks put away). That is what happens when you don't have enough cabinet space.

Dinner with the Ladies

Our annual christmas dinner with our ladies was a little earlier in Dec this year. We met at Westend in St.Louis Park and went to an amazing Mexican restaurant. Of course, like always the food is good but the conversation is so much better. We are always the loudest ones in the restaurant just laughing away. Stacy and I always have such fun with them and are very blessed to have them in our lives!

January Project

I have decided that my closets need a major overhaul - you will understand why. This month I am going to take my Mondays which is my day off to clean and organize the closets!!! FUN, FUN!

I started today I cannot believe that I filled 2 bags with half burned candles, empty candle jars,old bday party hats, junk, junk. I do have a bag to go to the Goodwill with placemats and a few glass jars that I don't use anymore.
I feel much better now that I have shown all of you my messy closet!

BEFORE:



AFTER:

BEST OF 2010

Here are some highlights of our year - it's not in order I just started jotting things down as i remembered.

1) Tyler turned 12
2) Another fabulous Valentines dinner at WA FROST
3) Going to Ixtapa with Ron ( it had been 5 years since the 2 of us went on vacation together)
4) Being able to stay home with my kids 2 days a week this summer
5) Working out at the Y
6) Taking our kids on a road trip this summer to South Dakota/Black Hills with our whole family
7) Visiting Jo in Seattle for a long weekend
8) Giving our basement bathroom a little face lift
9) My friends - they are the best
10) Mira jumping off the diving board at the Y
11) Going to the Black Eyed Peas and James Taylor concerts
12) The State Fair - We LOVE The fair
13) Celebrating our 15 year anniversary
14) Tyler working out with me at the Y
15) Mira reading
16) Spending a week at the cabin
17) Tyler went to the the TCF stadium with Ron for a baseball game

There were so many more I could go on and on...