Reed's Birthday Week

We started the week off with Sunday dinner at Heather's house, in honor of Reed's birthday. We always love visiting her in Palo Alto. Look who was hoping for a piece of London broil:

Reed and I have been trying to go on walks in the evenings.  He has even been waking up and going into work earlier so that he can be home for dinner at a good hour, with plenty of time for a family walk afterwards. I really appreciate how seriously he takes his role as a husband and father. He is always willing to do whatever it takes to be there for all three of us, and it makes a huge difference to our family.

On this particular night, we wore the boys completely out!

Tuesday, I took the kids to our weekly park day. I send an email out weekly to all the young moms in our congregation, and we meet up and let the kids play while we talk with other adults. Cal has been practicing his pedal bike, and is getting really confident. The one thing he has yet to master is starting on his own; I ended up chasing him all over the park so I could launch him on his way every time he stopped. His friend E.J. (3-years-old) was really excited that Cal had a Lightning McQueen bike, and in his excitement, kept accidentally riding straight into Cal's trajectory. He'd yell, "Lightning McQueeeeeeeeen" and zoom right into Cal, who was, by then, also screaming. Nonstop comedy.

Even with the dive bombs, Cal was very good to his little friend, who followed him around the entire morning on his own red bike.

Tuesday night, Reed and I continued our semiannual "fancy feast" tradition at the Plumed Horse. We'd been once before, a few years ago, on Valentine's Day, and didn't have the best experience. We decided to give it another try, and we're so glad we did. This time, the food (and our experience) was fantastic. I tried abalone and antelope, and we both enjoyed copious offerings of amuse bouche from the chef (he was apparently in a very good mood that night). They even brought Reed his own supernova dessert with a candle for his birthday.

It was a great evening. I'm so glad this wonderful man was born.

We continue to enjoy our stay-at-home summer. Wednesday, we had an ice-cream social at our friend's house in the afternoon. The look on Cal's face can probably tell you how he felt about it:

Cal and his buddies enjoying their ice cream:

Cal picked out Reed's birthday present this year, and when it arrived, he begged to play it all day. Reed, good dad that he is, got Robot Rally all set up, and played through it with Cal.

Friday was miniature golfing with friends. This little golf course has been very good to us this year!

We partied nonstop this weekend. It was the first time we've left Elliot with a babysitter, and it went really well. We went out on a date (to see Guardians of the Galaxy--loved it!) Friday night, and then went to a Clue-themed housewarming party on Saturday night. I went as the maid, and Reed was Mr. Green. It was a hoot and a half. We laughed ourselves silly!

The baby did great with sitters both nights. Looks like a lot of date nights are in our near future!

Valentine's Day Dinner

It's always a toss up come Valentine's Day: do you brave the crowds and go out on Valentine's Night? Do you throw your hands up in defeat and give it up all together? We've opted for a different answer every year so far. A few days before V-day, I "surprised" Reed with a dinner at Alexander's Steakhouse (I'm placing quotation marks around "surprised" because Reed guessed what we were going to do, ushering in the annual Valentine's day quarrel).

So for Valentine's Day proper, we elected to stay home. Cal helped me set the table and light candles (one of his favorite things to do, unfortunately).

I found a delicious, simple and pretend-fancy dinner, pesto pancetta chicken:

Valentine's Day Dinners are even more sweet with a third place setting:

We made chocolate lava cakes for dessert (thank you for the recipe, Grandma Linebarger!):

One last shot of my little Valentine nugget:

Happy Valentine's Day!

What are YOU Making for Dinner? :)

One of my favorite recipes is my mom's Orange Chicken, and I thought it needed to be shared. It is so easy, especially if you think ahead. Set things up like this:

From left to right: boneless/skinless chicken breast, egg (beaten), breadcrumbs, a frying pan of olive oil, a casserole dish sprayed with pam and filled with about half of the sauce.

Sauce:

2 Cups Orange Juice

3/4 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup White Vinegar

2 T BBQ Sauce (It's actually just for color)

One by one, dip the chicken breasts in the egg, then the bread crumbs, and then brown for about two minutes on one side...
And then the other:
As you take them off the frying pan, place them gently in the casserole dish. Then, pour the rest of the sauce so that the chicken breasts are almost covered. (But don't let the sauce get too close to the top of the casserole dish. It can spill easily as you put it in and take it out of the oven.):
Cover with foil, and bake at 350° F for about 40 minutes. Thicken the sauce with a little cornstarch, and serve over rice.

The quest to make dinner continues. Hopefully this can help you all add one more easy recipe to your arsenal!

Know What You're Making for Dinner Tonight?

Please allow me and Cal to make a suggestion. In keeping with our goal to make dinner together, I've been trying to come up with some easy, basic recipes to throw together. I got the idea for BBQ chicken pizza from Reed's colleague, who had us over for a BYU football game and served delicious homemade pizza.

But first, we started with a pumpkin pie. I just used the recipe on the side of the Libby's can. Didn't even make my own crust. Like I said, BASIC. But with expectations as low as mine, things usually turn out just fine! :)

Here's cal stirring the pumpkin pie mix:

And here's where I tried to take the whisk away from him:

"Don't try that again, Mommy."

The recipe for the pizza is just as easy. First, start with a pizza dough recipe. I have one I like, but I'm not married to it. Find one that you like.

Four ingredients: 1. Cooked, shredded chicken, 2. BBQ sauce, 3. Mozzarella cheese, 4. Red onion.

Bake at whatever temp & time the pizza dough itself calls for. All the toppings are, of course, pre-cooked.

Doesn't it look yummy?

Cal's pumpkin pie wasn't too shabby, either:

I am definitely not a gourmet cook, but I love consistently making a yummy meal, even if it is simple. This one was a winner, and the process of making it brought Cal and me a little closer together. And in a world of egg-smashing Tuesday mornings, we need those happy moments!