Eat Your Alphabet

Finally got to try the Chobani! I had Cream of Wheat for breakfast with Mackenzie while we were getting ready this morning, but the minute I got to the office I made myself a cup of Bigelow Orange & Spice tea and sat down with my peach Chobani. Now I get it - this stuff is so thick, so creamy, and just plain delicious. I have to admit that I “cheated.” The package says to just dip your spoon to the bottom and drag the fruit up to the top - not to stir. Umm… the idea of not stirring my yogurt just seems weird. I had to stir it! With 14 grams of protein in a mere 6 ounce serving, this stuff packs a real punch. Plus, it has boatloads probiotics, not to mention 0 fat and 0 cholesterol. Moving on to lunch, I headed out of the office to enjoy the ten minutes of sunshine we were going to get for the day (perhaps the whole month of April? - it snowed, rained and hailed earlier in the day). I had already eaten most of my lunch prior to the actual “break” and I was really craving either a frappucino (what?! Haven’t wanted one of those since I started working at Starbucks and saw what the base looks like - back on ’06!) or a milkshake. Because I’m still leary of the frapp, I settled on a chocolate milkshake. I drove over to Legion Memorial Park with the intention of enjoying the view - instead I was greeted with a bay full of mud. Between the tidal ranges being all screwed up and the ridiculous amount of rain we’ve had in the past couple weeks the bay is full of blah. There’s sludge coming in from the river run off and the tide seems to be going out further and further - a sign of shifts in the world? Let’s skip over the whole workday nonsense and move straight into dinner! Mack and I made a super simple but very fun meal of Alphabet Pasta with Meatballs! We simply boiled some water and tossed in the letter noodles to “steep” for 15 min. We also used the rest of our sauce from last nights meal, but added in some frozen meatballs and placed over medium heat. While all of our food was busy getting cooked and heated up, we played several rounds of fetch with Muffin and Tucker. Tucker seems to have forgotten the idea behind “fetch” now that Muffin is here. He always just looks at me like “What? What am I supposed to do?” “Get it Tucker!” He’ll get all riled up and jump for the rope but when I actually throw it he just looks at my with sheer confusion: Muffin on the other hand doesn’t understand when the game is over. What you don’t get from this picture is the sound of her whining. She’s waiting so patiently for one of us to pick up the rope just one more time! But, alas, it was time to eat! As we were eating, Mack said, “I saw something in the fridge mom, something I like.” It was my coveted yogurt. Funny he should say he likes this since I’m positive he’s never had it before and I was even more surprised when I told him it was yogurt and he said “yeah I like yogrit, I want to have some of that.” I told him if he ate all of his dinner he could have yogurt as his treat afterwards. Our meal was silent from then on, Mack shoveling his letter pasta into his mouth as quick as possible (when has this ever happened?!). With his mouth still full he told me was ready for “yogrit.” I happily got him out a peach Chobani and let him have at it. You’d think I’d given him ice cream, he was so happy!

Our household is definitely going to be hooked on this stuff I can already tell. In fact, after Mack had been in bed about half hour, he came downstairs just to tell me that he wanted more “yogrit” in the morning for breakfast. Go for it little man, I’m not stopping ya! I’ll leave you with this: My gorgeous tulips from Saturday’s trip to Pike Place. Aren’t these just incredible? I want them to last forever, but sadly, I think they are on their last days.

Easy Dinner

I’m back on my mission to have a healthy and satisfying breakfast so that by the time I get into the office I’m not starving. This morning, I had a bowl of Cream of Wheat (remember that stuff?!) while Mack enjoyed a bowl of banana oatmeal. We had to hurry and finish our breakfasts in time for the Hot Dog Dance.

After dropping Mackenzie off at preschool, I stopped in at QFC to pick up some healthy snacks for the week, including the supplies to make my Monkey Bars oatmeal.

Small container of Quaker Oatmeal - $3.99
Bag of Mini Chocolate Chips - $2.89
Bag of Shredded Coconut - $2.99
Skippy Peanut Butter - $3.59
(I already had Coconut and PB at home, but I was interested in the overall price for making this treat)
Grand Total - $13.50

The best thing is that all of these items are relatively non-perishable. I’m guessing I have the goods to make this recipe about 20-25 times. That’s roughly 70 cents a serving! Thrifty!

The other thing I was looking for at QFC was Chobani yogurt. This stuff has been popping up on blogs like crazy and lately it seems like the craze has reached Seattle. I’ve seen so many billboards and fliers in windows telling me where Chobani is “now available.”

I’ve had quite the set back in trying to get my hands on this yogurt. First we saw it at Costco on demo - but the lady had no spoons and while Nick and I were more than willing to slurp it out of the taster cup, the lady was having none of that. Because the yogurt is a little pricey and were in the land of “by the case only” there was no way I was buying anything without knowing if I even liked it. I had my mind set to grab some at QFC and try it first. Unfortunately, the entire three rows devoted to Chobani were sold out. Seriously?! What’s the deal with this stuff?! It must be freaking amazing. I know its got tons of protein but still…

I settled on a carton of “Greek Gods” Greek Yogurt in Fig flavor.
This yogurt was vile. It was “bad color” and a “bad texture” with an even worse taste. After eating it, I checked the nutrition facts to justify to myself that the health factor outweighed the ick factor. NOPE! This yogurt has just as much protein as regular Yoplait and let me tell you, Yoplait is a kazillion times better. “Greek Gods” and I will not be tangoing again in the future.

Luckily, I had to run to Costco for work today and I was able to grab a case of Chobani and I’m looking forward to trying it out in the morning!

Because I had Italian class tonight, I didn’t get home until a little before seven. Knowing that Mack needed something healthy but also something quick for dinner, I threw some frozen ravioli into a pot of hot water. Together, Mack and I made pasta sauce by combining two ounces of tomato sauce with 1 cup of diced tomatoes, 1 tsp of “Hot Italian Herbs” from Market Spice, and a pinch of Splenda to take off the acid of the tomatoes. While the ravioli was cooking, we also warmed up some green beans and corn (both Mack’s choice!).
Our dinner might look like something served at daycare, but it hit the spot! Mack and I both filled up on the yummy cheese filled pillows as well as a fair share of veggies.

Now, I plan on watching Celebrity Apprentice from Sunday. My mom got us into this show a couple weeks back and now Nick and I are hooked! I never thought I would like it, but the dynamic of the teams is just so entertaining! The show is two hours long though so I DVR it and watch it when I get a chance to catch up. Tonight is that night!

Monkey Bars

Back at the office! After being sick last week, it actually feels kind of nice to be back here and to have my projects to work on again. Although, I did come in early this morning only to be bombarded about a server crash that took place Friday afternoon and no one bothered to deal with until I got back.

Shortly after getting myself settled into the office I realized that I had left my lunch at home along with all of my snacky foods and my tummy was rumbling! I headed over to Firewheel Books and Beans thinking I’d just grab a bagel but they had these irresistible (both for the packaging and for the description) little oatmeal bowls. The one called “Monkey Bars” caught my eye because it had mini chocolate chips, coconut and peanut butter in the cup!

I’ve read on plenty of other blogs all the fun things people do with their oatmeal in the morning, but the most exciting thing I’ve ever done is a packet of Peach instant oatmeal - I know, I know - thrill seeker! The oatmeal was delicious! However, at the whopping price of $2.95, I don’t see myself being a repeat, let alone regular, purchaser. I do however, plan on buying some plain oatmeal and some mini chocolate chips (I have coconut and PB) so I can make this concoction on my own.

My day at the office was spent crunching numbers and running billing reports. Surprisingly, this is one of my favorite aspects of my job - it was my favorite thing about Starbucks to. I love to know the bottom line and how to improve it.

For dinner, Mack and I prepared Salmon with two sides: Mashed Potatoes and Beets. While we were preparing the beets, Mack kept telling me how much he liked them “I like the color, I like the smell…” Etc. When it came time to eat them however, he was less than thrilled. I did manage to have him eat a few bites and, as always, he had no problem about eating a ton of salmon.
For a post dinner treat, we each enjoyed an oversized tootsie-roll (does anyone else find it ridiculous how many different shapes and sizes tootsie rolls come in? mini, long and skinny, those fat short ones, the really thing square ones, the really thick and really long ones…. Why, tootsie company? Why?)

Let's Go Fly a Kite

Sunday was a lazy bum kind of day and it felt like FOREVER. Not in the same sense that a workday can feel like FOREVER, but this Sunday seemed to have a particular lingering quality that was absolutely welcomed. For starters, we slept in (Saturday we were up and at it by 6:30). We spent the better part of the morning cleaning the house. I’m loving that Mackenzie is at an age where household chores are a joyous occasion. When I got out the vacuum, he was ecstatic and wanted to vacuum everything himself. Have at it my friend! While I did a fairly good job of keeping the house clutter-free while Nick was gone, I do always LOVE when the floor is swept and the carpets are vacuumed - something about that just puts my soul at a whole other level of calm. I think that is the OCD part of me that is buried by the full-time working mother of a toddler that overpowers any OCD that may be lurking deep down. Once the kitchen was all the way clean it was time to….. mess it up! Easter Eggs! Mack is at the perfect age for things like this - there’s this sense of wonder, shock, amazement that surrounds putting a tablet (or, as Mack called it, a vitamin) into water and having it turn into a color - then putting a white egg into that color and having the egg become yellow! Or green! Or pink! The world is so much more exciting if you stop for a second and just notice it. (Side note: I’ve decided that this is what is meant in the Biblical parables when we are told to be childlike - just think how much better life would be if we all actually took the time to let the little details bring excitement still) Anyway, back to egg decorating! Mack ended up eating two hard boiled eggs after this. Hint: protein for kids = colored eggs! Who knew! After nap time, Mack ran out into the yard and made me this: Then we went up to the beach house for a little kite flying action.

My mom bought Mackenzie a great little kite while she was in California last week.

And in case you were wondering, MegaMind was fabulous! So fabulous, that we actually brought the movie with us and watched it again with Nick’s parents who also loved it. I laughed the entire time.

I also made a second Ukranian egg while we were there. My mom eventually stopped by and she got to try her hand at making the eggs too. We have all decided that the quiet concentration necessary to do this little project is very therapeutic. I’ll be sure to post pics when I get my completed eggs back (they still need to be blown out, polished and then varnished.

And just like that, the weekend comes to a close. Nick and I are going to watch a couple episodes of our show while he unpacks/packs for the next trip.

Ci vediamo!

Market Woes

Nick’s home! While my greeting of Nick was less than stellar (he arrived home after midnight and I was coughing up my lungs and in complete night sweat mode = sexy!), by the time morning arrived the world was looking a little brighter. Mackenzie came running into our room bright and early. As soon as he saw daddy he went running for the other side of the bed. Even if it’s way earlier than Nick may have wanted, it has to be nice to know he was so greatly missed. After lounging around in bed, having waffles (of course!) and taking our time to get ready for the day, we decided to head out to Pike Place Market. Nick and I both figured that it would be fun since Mack had such a great time last weekend and because my mom was at our house and we’d all get to go and have a good time. Mack was super excited about going to the market until we actually got there. As we parked the truck Mack told me he didn’t want to see the robot man from when we were down at the market with my dad. I had to guarantee him that the robot man was off duty today. Then, he was a grump about every little detail. If I said something smelled good, he’d let me know otherwise. If I said I was hungry, he’d tell me he wasn’t. If he wanted something and I went to buy it, he then didn’t want it. Tough to put up with that. I thought perhaps changing things up a bit might get him out of his funk. We headed down the steep steps to the waterfront in hopes of riding the carousel.

The robot man is a lamp! Seriously, the guy we saw dressed as a robot looked exactly like this. In all my times being at the market, I've never seen that robot guy, nor have I noticed that there are several lamps with his likeness holding up light bulbs.

The carousel managed to get a few smiles out of him. But even that was short lived. We did sneak in a quick trip to Egypt though! Ha! In spite of Mackenzie, us grown ups did enjoy our time - Nick got his favorite sandwich (Sierra Chicken) from Michou and I got a gyro from Sabra’s. I also managed to grab some gorgeous tulips before Mack had a complete breakdown and it was time to head home.

Back at home, the little guy got some much needed rest while mom and dad did a little lounging around ourselves. When Mack woke up he was back to his fun self and we headed off to Lowe’s for some gardening supplies and QFC for some Easter egg supplies. We also nabbed MegaMind from the RedBox. In our seed starter, we planted Heirloom Tomatoes, Grape Tomatoes, Assorted Bell Peppers, Autumn Sunflowers, Parsley and [something I’m forgetting - oops!]. This is the third year now that Mack has grown tomatoes. The first year, he did it was Grandma Criss and we had tomatoes galore. Last year, Mack and I did it together and being the green thumb that I am, we ended up with maybe 8 tomatoes about five months later. I’m hoping that we have a better turn out this year! I’ve been reading up on how to grow them and I think the biggest problem last year was the lack of bees. I actually ended up going around rubbing pollen on my fingers and spreading it from plant to plant, then we got a few blooms which became tomatoes. The good news is that we’re not farmers and our planting project is merely a source of fun rather than a necessary food source.

Movie time!

SuperNanny

After sleeping most of the day Thursday (Gary picked up Mackenzie from school!), I was feeling like such a bum and just wanted to be “better” and get out of the house. Since Thursday is my prenatal yoga class, I was thinking “no big deal, I’ll just go to class and it’ll probably even make me feel better.”

As I was leaving, Mack and Gary were getting back from preschool. When he walked in, Mack told me our house smelt funny. Hey soup! I had turned my soup from Wednesday night back on in the crock pot and it had been simmering all day long. Apparently an entire head of cauliflower and two heads of broccoli makes a bad smell. Ha!

Once I drove down to the class and parked my car, I realized just how much my body did NOT want to be there. I also realized that exposing a room full of pregnant women to whatever unknown illness I had was probably not the most thoughtful choice I could make. Back to the house I went.

When I got home, Mack was super tired/lethargic. His show was just finishing up and I held him while we danced the “hot dog dance.” I could tell he just wasn’t up for much and I asked if he wanted to go to bed. When a three year old tells you yes, he does want to go to bed and it’s only 6:30 - something is up. I took his temperature - 102 degrees! And mine - 94.7 degrees! We both got our fair dosage of Tylenol and it was off to bed for the both of us.

Poor guy was up several times during the night, not really awake but sort of crying/upset in his sleep. Between him waking up and myself waking up with night sweats and the whole blow your nose, try to breath routine, I got very little sleep.

By the time the alarm rang Friday morning, I just dismissed it - sent an email to my boss (thank god for smart phones and not having to so much as get out of bed to send an email!) and wrote off the rest of the day. Luckily, little kids are pretty resilient. Mack woke up feeling chipper and back to his usual self.

He is so sweet. Crawled into bed with me and we watched a couple cartoons - once again, he brought me cereal in bed - and we hung out together until he was pretty much over the whole idea. I eventually called Gary and asked him to come get Mack so that A) Mack wasn’t bored out of his mind / being babysat by the TV and B) I could go back to sleep. I did manage to take a shower but that’s the most energy I could muster up.

Back to bed and I watched a marathon of SuperNanny episodes. Boy, am I thankful for Nick and for our support web of family! Some of the husbands on that show are just plain useless when it comes to being dads. And, there was a grandma that didn’t like her grandkids coming over because “they got their sticky hands on everything and were always going through her things” - um, she had NO toys for the kids at her house, so I wonder why they’d go through all of her things.

Just goes to show, I’ve got lots to be thankful for. Each and every one of Mack’s grandparents and great-grandparents has been nothing but supportive, loving and embracing of Mackenzie - even when he’s broken things and been less than cute (which never happens ;) ) Beyond that, have you seen how great of a dad Nick is?! Kids at the park flock to that man, everywhere we go he’s making new little kid friends - I’m positive that all those boys wish that Nick was their dad. Speaking of Nick: he gets in late, late tonight and I’m hoping to feel well enough to not bore him to death this weekend!

A Little Princess

So much for that soup getting me through the day. After being at work for a little short of an hour, I was beyond my capacity for the day. I headed home and popped in this movie: One of my favorite movies when I was little, this is always a great sick day treat. I also enjoyed several bowls of Kashi Strawberry Fields. When we were at the grocery store last night, Mack spied this box on the end cap of one of the aisles. Since this is my favorite cereal I was willing to fork over the extra cash for it. The little voice beside me saying, “I love this cereal mom, you love this cereal too!” didn’t hurt either :) I'm hoping I get some sleep!