Foodie Friday: Tomato & Avocado Summer Salad

This post is dedicated to my new favorite ingredient: Ken's Steakhouse Italian dressing.  Oh...my...wow.  So understated, but scrumptious.  I've been searching for a decade (this is not hyperbole!) for an Italian dressing that is thin and unassuming. I wanted one that was the perfect mix of oil and vinegar with just the slightest hint of herbs.  And none of that 'zesty' stuff! Who thought that would be good?!?  This, my friends, is my answer. Ken's, I love you....

I got this recipe from Pinterest and modified it slightly.  The original (click here) looks amazing, too, but I wanted to add some noodles to make it a main course and some cucumbers that I already had on hand.

 Tomato, Avocado, and Onion Salad

2 tomatoes

1/2 red onion

1 medium avocado

1/3 large cucumber

2 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp fresh tarragon

1 tsp dried tarragon

1/3 box Barilla Protein Plus Pasta

Ken's Steakhouse Italian

Using a mandolin (the kitchen utensil, not the instrument), thinly slice your tomatoes, onion, and cucumbers.  For sure you want you onion to be as thin as possible so that it doesn't overpower your dish, but the tomatoes and cucumbers hold up better if sliced slightly thicker. Finely chop up your garlic. Boil your pasta.  Put all these prepared ingredients, along with your tarragon in plastic bowl (not metal because of the tomatoes), and pour in the amount of dressing you want.  We don't use a ton, but some people like to add a lot.  Let it marinate for at least 20 min, but we left ours for half a day.  When you're ready to eat, plate the salad, then slice your avocado on top.  Pour a little of the dressing that is left in the bowl over your avocado. Enjoy!!! Pair this a good Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc.

Best Hairdo Ever!

Summer in Texas is HOT.  Not as hot as summer back in Saudi, but hot by anyone's definition. It was a Sunday, so we were getting into our Sunday-best, and Corgan looked flippin' adorable!!! For the first time since she could reach her own head, she let me put something in her hair. The dress was perfect, her hair was girlie, and it wasn't going in all directions like it usually does.

Then we went outside. The following hairdo was the result of an after-church walk to the mailbox at the other end of our street. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking:

Time Out Stool - A Tutorial

I got a great idea on Pinterest to make a time out chair for Corgan. It was super cute and detailed, but I know my limitations.  I can paint color blocks, but details? Fat chance. I had an extra stool that Stuart's mom brought down from his Grandmother's house, and it needed some love, so I decided to convert it.

I started with a plain stool, sanded down the services, then spray painted it with some white primer.  I forgot to get a picture of this step, but I'm pretty sure you can figure it out.  I only did one coat, and we were ready to go.

Once the spray paint was dry, I took some basic tempra poster paint and painted each piece of wood a different color.  Her loft playroom is a rainbow theme, so basic primary colors and green were all I needed.  I had to do a few coats to get the coverage I wanted, but it still has a slightly 'brushed' look, which I like.

Next, I took some scrapbook letters and spelled out the words I wanted.  I don't have a Cricut (oh, one day....) so I had to use the pre-scored letters.  They turned out really cute though.  I used some home-made mod podge (which I also got from Pinterest) and stuck the letters onto the top of the stool.

If you're like me, and you can't make a straight line, tilt your letters in a funky pattern.  It will ensure that you don't go insane trying to make everything line up :)

About a week after I got this project finished, we were unfortunate enough to have to use it.  Corgan decided that the word 'no' was funny, and that grabbing all the cat's skin and pulling her off the window seat would be fun.  A couple of warnings, a bunch of maniacal giggles, and an unhappy cat later....enter the time out stool.  This was the first 'time out' at home, although they use time outs at day care, so we started with one minute.  At first she thought is was funny that I wouldn't let her up.  Then she got MAAAADDD!!! 60 seconds must be an eternity to a 17 month old. 

It's amazing how fast she learned though.  We've had to correct some behavior the past couple of days, and Stuart and I have both threatened a 'time out' and she instantly says 'no' and changes her behavior.  I'm sure we'll end up using it again, but for now it worked like a charm!

First Trip to the Library

Last week Corgan and I took a trip to the library for the first time together.  As you might've guessed, I have a love of books, and Corgan is gaining the same love.  I had this amazing image of her being in awe of the amount of book surrounding her.  I imagined her squealing her as she ran to the bookshelves.  I hoped to see a giant pile of book that she kept fervently flipping through.  What did I get? A lackluster game of musical chairs. 

It was great to spend time with Little One, and it will definitely be repeated many times in her life, but it was not at all what I expected.

We had just entered the children's area when she looked up at me this awesome look. "Mama? What am I supposed to do?"

She found a few books and started reading, but didn't spend more than two seconds on each book.

 

Then she found the kid-sized rocking chair.  She enjoyed that for a little bit.

Then she realized there were two kid-sized tables with a bunch of kid-sized chairs.  Enter the game of musical chairs. Over and over and over again.

I was able to get this fun picture.  I find it so cute to see her on tip toes picking out a book.  Love this kiddo!

Name That Body Part

This is a simple post.  I'm sharing a cute video of Corgan that I've been trying to capture for the longest time.  She's been pointing to her body parts as we name them for a while, but whenever we turn the camera on she stops.  She's just been too interested in the camera.  Well, here it is. (Don't worry, the car is parked during filming.)

Foodie Friday: Jalapeno Poppers

The culinary jewel of our Bankey/Piedfort/Luz Birthday Bash were the jalapeno poppers. So good!  We made almost 50 poppers, and by the time everyone was done devouring them there was only left, and I'm pretty sure that's because it fell on the floor.

Jalapeno Poppers

lots o' jalapenos

 1 tub Philadelphia cream cheese

prosciutto

First and foremost, if you are doing a large patch of these, wear latex gloves!!!  Slice all the jalapenos in half and use a spoon to scrape out the seeds (thanks, Mom!).  If you want to ensure they are spicy leave in some of the white membranes.  If you want them milder, make sure all the white is removed.  This is where most of the heat is stored.  Once done, spoon in cream cheese to fill the cavity.  Then wrap in prosciutto.  You can see in the picture above that the prosciutto is pretty wide, so I sliced each piece into thirds. We used prosciutto instead of bacon because we didn't want to risk under cooking the meat while burning the jalapeno.  It worked perfectly!  Stuart grilled them as an appetizer, but you could easily do these the oven.  Since we used ingredients that were safe at any temperature, we only needed to heat them through.  Great way to save a little anxiety at a party.

Color Party Decor: A Tutorial

We had a ton of fun at the annual Bankey/Piedfort/Lux Birthday Bash, and me being the big nerd that I am, I had a lot of fun setting it up. I'm obsessed with Pinterest (duh), and love looking at cool party themes for kids.  I pulled a bunch of ideas straight from Pinterest, and put them together using stuff I already had in my house along with some paint chips from Home Depot.  The cost for all the decorations was $0. :) 

The paint chips were free, I already had the string, and I already had orange and blue cups, neon pink utensils, and green napkins from previous get-togethers. Look through the pictures below to see the area labels, the 'come on in' sign for the front door, and (my favorite) the utensil holders.

 Area Labels

No matter what party I host, I have to have stations.  There is a food area, drink area, and usually a gaming area.  Therefore, the nerd in me must label them.  I saw these on Pinterest and copied.  Take paint chips from your local hardware store (go someplace you shop regularly so you don't feel guilty), then use a die cutter to cut out the letters.  Make sure the you keep all the paint chips in the same orientation so you don't have alternating color patterns.

Lay down your letters upside down and backwards so you can tape string across the back of each letter.  I used color coordinated string from my sewing kit, but you could pick string that matches your wall color so that its hidden and the letters seem to float.

You can see that I made a sign for the driveway (Birthday Bash), the drinks area, the outdoor games area, and food line (noms).  For those of you who don't know, 'noms' means food.  It's an internet thing.  Look it up. :)

Utensil Holders

I flipped out when I saw these on Pinterest!  The idea is soooo cute!  You take two of the same paint chips, put them back-to-back, and stick them together.  The Pinterest one was actually sewn on three sides, but I didn't feel like sewing 20 holders.  I went old school and stapled them. I think it worked just fine, but didn't look nearly as snazzy.  Then I put a napkin, fork, knife, and spoon in each one.  The guests thought they were so cute.

'Come On In' Sign

We have three yappy, annoying dachshunds.  We love them, but they looooove to bark, so every gathering we host we have to let people know to come on in. No knocking. No door bell.  Just come on in. I put this together from scrapbook sheets and used a colorful marker to write 'come on in'.  Then I started doodling.  Biiiiiig mistake.  I can't draw, and it looked awful.  Then I let Corgan go at it with a bunch of crayons, and that made it cute.  Stuck it on the door with rolled painters tape so that I didn't risk the new paint job.  Worked like a charm.

Since this was a party for adults I left the decor at this.  It would be easy to 'upgrade' this to a kids party by adding a bunch of crepe paper streamers and balloons! They would have so much fun with all the color!

Bankey/Piedfort/Lux Birthday Bash!

Last weekend we celebrated our annual Bankey/Piedfort/Lux Birthday Bash.  My dad's birthday is on June 22, and mine is on June 26.  For as long as I can remember, my family has always had a big dinner celebration for the both of us to celebrate.  (I got the princess parties to myself later on :) ).  In college, I started dating my future husband and found out that his birthday is on June 22 as well.  Icing on the cake? The man who introduced the two of us (a.k.a. Stuart's best friend) was also born on June 22! Did you follow all of that?  My dad, my husband, and our best friend are all born on the 22nd, and I'm born on the 26th.  Therefore, we have all celebrated together with a big family cook out each June.  I even tried to get pregnant with Corgan at a time when she would be born in June, but she had other ideas :)

Corgan helped me set up for the party by assembling the Ladderball game.  She is quite the genius child.  The connectors gave her a little trouble, but the piping system went together like a breeze! We didn't end up playing the game, but it was fun spending time with her.

The Grandmas (and Gigi) spent most of their time loving on the Little One.  She's been slightly under the weather, and she tends to get shy around big groups, so she did a lot of quiet sitting.

My child will never want for attention.  Yes, this is my dad, mom, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and family friend all staring at my child. Keep in mind, Corgan was still in the 'sitting there' phase of the day, so it was riveting.

 We busted into the cake, and Corgan perked up a little after that.  What won't wake you up like a sugar rush mixed with Tylenol :)

Corgan's Uncle Dude (my brother), got a small celebration as well.  My parents just got back from a trip to Yosemite, and they couldn't pass up the 'Endangered Feces' shirt that pictures different types of scat.

All in all, we had a great time.  We all ate waaaaaay too much, and we laughed a lot as well.  Poor Philip even crashed out on the loft with one of Corgan's fluffy monkey pillows.  I have officially thrown a party where someone passes out! Yeah!

Sick Kiddo

Last week on Wednesday I got the call from daycare that no mom ever wants to get, "Corgan has a fever. Can you come pick her up?"  However, we're pretty lucky, because Corgan never really acts sick.  She had a fever of 101.4 and looked terrible when I picked her up, and she even threw up for the first time on the way home (but I'll save you the details).  I gave her Tylenol as soon as I got home, and within 20 minutes, she was happy as a clam.

My Little One and me watching Blue's Clues while we were waiting for the meds to kick in.

The next morning was a joy. She had a tiny bit of a fever when she woke up, but more Tylenol nipped that in the bud.  Then we spent the morning outside (me weeding, her playing), and cleaning up the house.  It was all wonderful until 11:15.  That's right. I remember it to the minute.  We were in her bathroom, and she was picking things out of one of her drawers.  She found a bottle of rubbing alcohol, which I promptly took away from her.  That started a 75 minute scream fest!  She became hysterical, and no matter what, she wouldn't calm down! I almost feel bad sharing this video, because it makes me feel awful that I couldn't calm her down. I realize now that it wasn't me, and that she was just tired. But it wasn't fun at the time (except for right around the minute mark of this video):

After 60 minutes of this, without me being able to calm her down, I put her in her crib.  I remember my mom telling me, that if all else fails, put her down.  Let her cry it out.  She'll be fine.  It took 15 more minutes of screaming for her to cam down enough that she wasn't making the lights on the monitor go haywire.  She was just sitting up, staring into space, trying not to fall asleep. I caught this next video of awesomeness while she was trying not to go to sleep.  Watch closely and you'll see her continuously nodding off bit by bit. It's so cool:

She slept for 4 hours!!! She woke up starving, and in much better spirits. We finished the day off well, and she went down an hour later than normal without a peep. A few more days home with Tylenol and mommy-love made her all better.  She is back at daycare as of today, and all is well.

In Memory

Friday was a sad day for our household, and for many of our friends.  One of Stuart's good friends, who he has worked with for the past few years at Rackspace, lost his 2 year old daughter. It was completely unexpected.

I am writing this with tears streaming down my face as I watch Corgan play on the loft.  The gift she is in my life in immeasurable, and I can't imagine what it would be like to lose her. I am not one to ask for prayers, but when I do, I ask them from the bottom of my heart.  Please pray for Violet's family; pray for healing; pray for remembrance; pray for understanding.  We can never know why things like this happen, but we can be comforted in the arms of our loved ones and in the arms of God. 

I also ask that if you are able, please give some money to the family: click here.  Friends and family are helping to cover the cost of the funeral and medical expenses in order to ease a small part of the pain.  I know you may not know Violet's family, but think of your own children.  My heart tears open each time I imagine them saying goodbye to their tiny little girl.  Thank you for your prayers. I'm off to go hug my own child, and I suggest you go hug yours.

Foodie Friday: Lemon Shrimp Pasta

I told you I love getting in my food magazines.  It always tends to inspire me to cook something wonderful.  This week it backfired.  The recipe I'm sharing is the one we should've done.  Ours turned out pretty bland and we did ours in the oven, when we totally should've used the grill.

Lemon Shrimp Pasta

1 lb shrimp

1/2 stick butter

3 cloves garlic

1/2 pkg spaghetti noodles

1 pkg baby spinach

toasted pine nuts

lemon juice

salt and pepper

Bring the butter to room temperature and add the chopped garlic, some lemon juice, salt, and pepper.  Stir in the shrimp and let it marinate for a few hours in the fridge.  This will help with the flavor and blandness that we experienced.  We then steamed ours in foil pouches in the oven, but what you should do is put them on skewers and grill them! It would be luscious!  Boil the spaghetti, and two minutes until they are done add the spinach.  While the pasta is cooking, toast the pine nuts.  Toss everything together when the shrimp comes off the grill and season with salt and pepper. 

Accident Prone Corgan

Anyone who knows me understands that I am a walking bruise.  I move way too fast, and am way to clumsy, to exist any other way.  I am constantly walking into things, tripping, knocking my elbow on stuff, tripping, bumping, bonking... you get the point.  My offspring is the same way.

You may remember her first bad boo boo when she hit her head/eye on the corner of the book shelf.

Well, it's been a steady stream of boo boos and ouches since then.  She runs everywhere (and usually on tip toe, which doesn't help her balance), and is normally not looking in the direction she is going. My favorite is when she is running on tip toe, has her head back while drinking from a sippy cup, and is looking behind her.  Not a great combo. You can see the mark the corner of our wall left across her eye after this experiment in physics.

 However, you can tell that she's not too phased by it... What a trooper!

A Day at the Pool

Wow.  My 'Blog Interactive' idea totally backfired! I got one comment, and it said 'write everything.' I guess I have to burst through my writer's block/un-inspiration on my own :(  It's all good.  I'm feeling slightly eloquent today (not!).  I figure that I'll just go down my brainstorm list from my blog on Monday and see how far I get.  Today? A day at the pool...

One of the reasons we bought our house was because it is two blocks from our community pool.  We live on a quiet cul-de-sac, but we're sooo close to all the action. The other day we got all ready, covered Baby Girl in sun screen, and headed over to the pool.  We hadn't been since last summer, so we really didn't know how Corgan was going to react.

She was a little tentative at first (thanks for the swim suit Nana), but eventually we dragged her in.  She loooooves the bath, so we figured she would love the pool, but I don't think she enjoyed the water too much.

The little bit that she was in the water she was giggling and smiling.

But she really wanted to be out on deck wandering around.  This of course made me way more nervous that it should, but I know my kid. She is a dare devil and gets hurt all the time. Her favorite activity at the pool was trying to climb up and down the uber-slippery stairs to the bathroom. Not a whole bunch of fun for the parents, but she enjoyed it.

It didn't take too long before she was ready to go home (after stopping for a 'nack of graham crackers).  We had her in swim diapers, so it was really weird to see her in a normal diaper. I'm so used to seeing the cloth diapers that it was an odd relief.

All in all it was a fun afternoon.  It will be a definite repeat the next time Stuart and I can make it down together.  With his final semester of grad school in full swing it might be awhile.  Maybe the Grandmas can help out........