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March 15, 2011

#19. Cook something with my husband

We can cross something off my 31 comes before 32 list!

#19. Cook something with my husband.

You might remember that Casey gifted me a “couples” cooking class this Valentine’s Day. On Friday we went to the Date Night: Parisian Bistro class at our local Sur La Table. It was great!!!  Casey learned a few major cooking basics and I got to learn how to make awesome french fries and perfect profiteroles (BTW those two items are on my 31 comes before 32 list). Watch out– I hope to bust those out soon!

The Parisian Bistro Menu Included:

  • Mussels Meuniere
  • Seared Hanger Steak with Red Wine Reduction and Watercress
  • Frites (from scratch!!)
  • Profiteroles Vanilla Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce

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March 14, 2011

New Favorite Snack ALERT!

afternoon snacking

Apple Slices + Peanut Butter + Raisins + Granola = YUM

That is all. Carry on.

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March 11, 2011

365- Week 10

A food related photo every day til 2012. Here’s week 10:

69/365 I earned a CAKE POP today. It was my first.

today i EARNED a cake pop
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March 10, 2011

Fully Loaded Granola Bars

MINE

SNACKS!  It’s about the only thing I have time for this week. My schedule has been SUPER hectic and I’ve been running around like a CRAZY woman! With all this chaos, I can still hear my kitchen screaming, “STOP NEGLECTING ME, TRACY! Get in here and make something! You’ll feel better!”  You know what? My kitchen is right. I don’t have lots of time, but I need to make something that will take my mind off my TO-DO lists. Armed with a cup of coffee, I whipped up these FULLY LOADED granola bars this morning while Cooper ate his breakfast. I’d have to say that it was time well spent because they are AWESOME. I love the crunch of the oats & almonds and am digging the tang of the dried apricots! A few of them got a little crumbly, but I don’t mind. They’ll be making their way into a bowl of yogurt for my afternoon snack today.

fully loaded granola bars

If you don’t have a lot of time and you want to get your butt in the kitchen, make these! You’ll have 12 little bars to snack on throughout the week –or day if you’re a pig like me! A runny nose will be wiped, a granola bar will be eaten, an email will be sent, and another load of laundry will be going into the washer the second I finish this paragraph. But it’s all good because I have a nice big plate of chewy/crunchy granola bars to fuel me today.

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March 10, 2011

Casey’s Birthday Dinner at Flea St. Cafe

A friend asked me what I made for Casey’s birthday on Sunday and besides fulfilling his breakfast request of bacon, eggs & toast, I made dinner plans! After having Cooper, we don’t have the luxury of going out to fancy dinners like we used to, so I jump at any excuse to make a dinner reservation! Parents of littles, you know what I’m talkin’ about!

We went to a cozy little restaurant called Flea St. Cafe in Menlo Park. We had such a wonderful time on our first visit last summer that I couldn’t wait to see what they would come up with on their Early Spring menu. The restaurant serves nothing but local, flavorful and sustainable foods and the ambiance is charming & quaint! It’s almost as if you’ve been invited to a friend’s home for dinner- I love that. On a rainy Sunday evening, it was the perfect place to celebrate another year for Casey.

Here’s what we had!
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March 7, 2011

Strawberry Banana Spinach Smoothie

that's right

Hey Folks! Cooper here. I know it’s been a long time since you’ve heard from me so here I am! Today I want to tell you about one of my favorite things— SMOOTHIES! Every morning I beg my mom to make me one. Some days she jumps right to it and other days she tells me to go drink my milk. Yesterday was the best because we got to make smoothies at breakfast together. She pulled up a chair for me to stand on at the kitchen counter and let me put a few things in the blender. I’m totally not allowed to touch the power cord or the button that starts the machine but that doesn’t stop me from pretending to! I like to see how she reacts and it makes me laugh. This morning she almost forgot to put the green leaves in that blender thing. Can you believe that? My monster smoothie isn’t very monster-like if there’s no green in it! I pointed that out to her and she was thankful. I’m very helpful, you know.

My mom wants me to tell you that this smoothie has a healthy dose of greens, fruits, protein and fiber…whatever that means. All I know is that it’s sweet & tasty and I have to be really careful when I drink it. Since it’s kinda thick, I can’t drink it in my sippy cup. You know what that means?? I get to drink out of big boy cup with a cool straw!! When my mom’s not looking I put my hand in the cup and then toss a few things in there…like raisins…bits of toast…bananas. When I’m not looking, my mom sneaks a few sips for herself. That’s right mom, I’m onto you.

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March 5, 2011

Fantastic Mayo-Free Egg Salad Sandwiches

arugula

OK so I made it clear that I don’t like mayo. You know what’s weird? I kind of like egg salad. Totally bizarre since mayo makes up the base of a traditional egg salad, right? When I was a kid, my mom made really good egg salad sandwiches on toasted wheat bread (the only kind of bread we were ALLOWED to eat). There was definitely mayo in her rendition, but the trick was to eat a sandwich fast enough so I didn’t have a chance to think about the mayo part. It totally worked.

assemble

I wanted to make egg salad last weekend but there’s no way I am going to buy a jar of mayo. Hell to the no! I don’t EVER EVER EVER want to see a grocery receipt of mine with the word mayonnaise on it. So here we have an mayo-free egg salad with the help of creamy ricotta and Greek yogurt. I added some chopped red peppers to add color & texture and it turned out pretty good! Next time I might add a little bit of chopped onion… a squeeze of lemon or a few minced jalapenos to the mix because it needs a little kick. Other than that, I’m pretty stoked to find a recipe for a mayo-free egg salad.

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