Yakiniku Dinner at Home

After returning from his business trip from Japan, LK decided he wanted to try having Yakiniku at home. He researched on yakiniku grills and finally purchased one and we're ready to try it! We did our homework, got all the recipes and food together and had a fun time grilling all the yummie food. 

Minions

I decided to make some minion cupcakes for Ethan's Birthday and of course went to You Tube to get some ideas. It turned out that it was very easy! They turned out super cute!

Homemade Granola Bars

I came across this homemade granola bars recipe and tried it. It is so easy that the kids can make it as well. I omitted the almonds, but will make a separate batch with nuts and other grains the next time. Tastes yummie!



Downtown Chandler's Farmers Market

I finally made it to the downtown Chandler Farmers Market which is on Thursdays from 3 to 7pm. It's not very big at all and I almost bought the whole place :) I got some tamales, relish, organic loose leaf teas, salsa, dessert, a couple of cute kids aprons with a chef hat and mitten and even lotion! The kids liked hanging out there and we will definitely stop by again.

 

Chocolate Zucchini Brownies

I'm always looking for more ideas to incorporate vegetables to the kids' diet. I found this recipe from Allrecipes.com called Grandma's Chocolate Zucchini Brownies and decided to try it. I had the kids help and was nervous about them seeing the zucchini, but the brownies were a big hit and tasted so yummie. This is a definitely a recipe to make again.

Kale Chips

I finally got around to making baked kale chips and was pleasantly surprised by how crispy they turned out. The kids were not too crazy about them, but still ate them.

Made with Love

Ethan only has 20 minutes for lunch at school, so I've been trying to be creative when making lunch. I like how this turned out. Other fixings include cheese puffs and grape tomato with cheese skewers and of course a juice box which is always a hit.

Yummie Bakery

I had a nice lunch with a co-worker today at Chompie's - yes matzo ball soup again and this time with a half rueben sandwich. On our way out I had to stop by the bakery to get some yummie dessert - got the rugelach and butter cookies.

Matzo Ball Soup

I tried my first Matzo Ball Soup today at Chompie's. Very tasty!

Slow Cooker Recipe - Beef Stroganoff

This is another recipe I like that is quick to prepare and the slow cooker does the rest of the work. I modified the recipe by adding a whole pack of baby bella mushrooms and using sour cream instead of cream cheese. Delicious!

Comfort Foods All Day!

I finally got a chance to use my Christmas present - Eggnog Waffles from Williams Sonoma. The whole house smelled so good while I was making them. I served it with some uncured apple gouda sausages and mixed fruit. Very tasty!

And for dinner, I made the modified "Shipwreck Dinner" with chicken sausage which is one of my favorite quick fix dinners.

Paletas Anyone?

I read about Paletas Betty in the Phoenix Magazine and have been wanting to try it. It is a cute little place in downtown Chandler. So, instead of our usual Friday night frozen yogurt, I decided to take the kiddos to try some paletas. We got the lemon drop and the mexican hot chocolate flavors. Well, Ethan prefers frozen yogurt (as you can get toppings) and Hayley ate almost the whole thing. I know I will be back....

Mexican Dinner

It's my day to try a new recipe and I found a Chilaquiles recipe at the back of the nacho/taco cheese package. It was very simple to make and actually tasted pretty good. Instead of serving with tortilla chips, I served it with taco shells along with Spanish rice, homemade guacamole, roasted asparagus and mushrooms. The chilaquiles was a little spicy for the kids, but they still ate some. Ethan actually liked the guacamole and Hayley just picked at everything. Then we ended dinner with sun butter puffs which everyone enjoyed. Finally I found a recipe that uses sun butter as a substitue for peanut butter, thanks to my friend, Christy.

Stuffed Mushrooms

I've always loved to eat stuffed mushrooms and thought that they were too complicated to make, but I found the easiest recipe and have been making them regularly. I might explore different variation of recipes as well.

Yummie Chili

I was looking for a good chili recipe and came across this from Paula Deen's son, Jamie. The recipe calls for ground beef and sausage, but I used ground turkey and sausage instead. I also put quite a bit of chili powder and had a little kick to it. It turned out very yummie. I especially like to eat it with tortilla chips. It tasted even better the next day. I will be making this again.

New Cookie Recipes

For Ethan's school's annual Christmas Celebration, we are to bring home made cookies and share the recipes. This year, I decided to try some new recipes. One is called Susan's Oaties which I found from The Little Book of Cookies. This recipe does not require any eggs and uses whole wheat flour and oatmeal. It is a crispy cookie recipe and if you like Famous Ames cookies, this one tastes like them. The other recipe is Crackle Top Molasses Cookies which I got from allrecipes.com and it is delicious. It makes the house smell so good.

Turkey Meatloaf and Zucchini Patties

I tried a couple of new recipes today hoping to get the kids to eat more vegetables - Turkey Veggie Meatloaf Cups and Zucchini Patties. I even had Ethan help me with measuring out a few ingredients when making the zucchini patties. They both turned out delicious except the meatloaf cups needed a little bit of salt. I served them along with some butternut squash soup and peaches/strawberries fruit salsa. Ethan liked the zucchini patties the best and only ate the meatloaf when I gave him some barbecue sauce and ketchup. Hayley didn't care for either the meatloaf nor the patties. She did however like the soup and ate her usual peas and carrots. Oh well, I tried. I would probably try these recipes again.