What's for Dinner?

I absolutely love my Marlboro cookbook. Don't get me wrong, I abhore smoking and do not condone it even in the slightest. However, I DO appreciate a good meal on the barbeque and this cookbook is FULL of good ideas. My favorite is the Steel-Toed Sirloin. You take some top sirloin and put it in a plastic bag. Add to the bag a mixture of OJ, soy sauce, garlic & ginger. Marinade and let it get happy overnight (or at least an hour) then grill about 8 minutes, serve with mashed potatoes and corn and OOh La La!

What's for Dinner?

Tonight we're doing a little asian inspired salmon dish for dinner. I'll be using about a pound of salmon and glazing it with a mixture of hoisin, soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger and red pepper flakes. I'll roast it at 450 for about 10 minutes or so, toss some scallions on top and roast for about 5 more minutes. It's only 300 calories a serving and if I serve it with broccoli and some brown rice it's a totally health conscious meal that's still yummy.

My little hams

My baby girl's newest obsession is taking pictures with the digital camera. She is relatively careful with it so I condone the activity. For the most part I get pictures of the dog's tail or the bottom half of my desk. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to get the back of her brother's head. As a result of the activity though she has also become excited about me taking her picture. I get frequent requests and am happy to oblige. This morning was different and I got quite the adorable shot out of it.

Mom's Night Out

Last night I got to have a moms' night out with some friends at a sushi place down the hill. We all had way too much to all-you-can-eat and it was very good food and lots of fun. Hubby watched with kids with another mom's husband and kids so we were happy to see minimal disaster when we got back. All moms need a night like this every once in a while.

Camping

We got home last night at 11:30 PM so now, 14 hours later I've finally finished unloading the car and cleaning up the disaster that was my house. I still have 4 loads of laundry to do (sigh).
It was totally worth it though because we had a great time. It was an 6 hour drive up there so luckily they both slept most of the way. My little girl caught her first fish (3 casts, 3 fish!) and her brother slept in his first tent. She didn't want to actually have to touch the fish though once it was reeled in and he woke up about 8 times per night but I'll take what I can get. Both kids got to have roasted marshmallows, get spoiled by everyone, get DIRTY DIRTY DIRTY, which are all part of the camping fun.
We were joined by two grandparents, two great-grandparents, an aunt, an uncle, a great-uncle, and three other families of friends. The best part about that (other than all the fun of course) was there were lots of people willing to play with the kids. That left some time for Mommy & Daddy to go hiking alone together. We did a 11-12 mile hike through Yosemite, which was beautiful.
And now it's back to the comfort of our routine and naps and playtimes and yes....laundry :)

Grandparents

Happy Grandparents' Day! The kids send their love to all four of their grandparents and all of their great-grandparents too!!

Make a Smilebox postcard