Getting Famous

Sam is getting famous! Read the first paragraph on the home page of K*Bot World. He's off to a great start at the World Championships.

Menu Plan Monday

Short week this week. Our international karate tournament starts on Thursday so we're only eating at home on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

The kids have not been eating well lately (owing to sickness) so they each had to plan a meal.

• Chicken tacos (Sam) Says he doesn't like ground meat in tacos so will dice chicken for him instead. Still sounds good.
• Chicken Dijon, Parmesan couscous, broccoli (Ana) A little more knowledgeable with regard to nutrition and balanced meals.
• Turkey burgers, potato salad (Karen) This may end up in the freezer since after I went grocery shopping, Mike did his shopping for tonight's dinner and came home with turkey burgers to go with my potato salad. We have a lot of frozen things. Maybe I'll whip up a miracle.

Brought to you by I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Friday Food Update

OMG!! I actually made everything on my menu plan this week. Most of it got eaten, too.

Ana had a status migraine for 3 weeks so she didn't eat much at all for the last week or so.

Finally took her to the ER and knocked the darn thing out of her. She is much happier now and eating again.

I guess I'll give in and do Pizza Friday to stick with the plan. Maybe Dominoes. I haven't eaten theere since I was in college. Or Pizza Hut! So I can say, "I just feasted for five dollars."

Menu Plan Monday

brought to you by I'm an Organizing Junkie

In no particular order

• Teriyaki Beef with Noodles (We have leftover Teriyaki Tri-tip from the weekend. I'll create something with it!)
• Crockpot Brown Sugar Chicken (I can't remember where I first saw this recipe or I would give credit but it was probably here.)
• Pork Medallions with Olive-Caper Sauce, Vermicelli with garlic and herbs (Cooking Light)
• Gnocchi with Asparagus and Pancetta (Cooking Light, April 2008)
• Friday, Friday, Friday...I've grown weary of Pizza Friday.

Updates as needed.

The Food Reviews

Potato Leek soup with Chicken Andouille Sausage: Delicious, as always. It's hard to go wrong with this soup and the slightly spicy sausage complimented it quite nicely. I served it with Garlic Naan that I picked up at Trader Joe's.

Mexican Lasagna: Not bad. It's good that the kids did not see it being assembled as I'm sure they would have turned their collective noses up at cottage cheese. As it was I got "What kind of cheese is that?" Also, my family has a preference for corn tortillas rather than flour. And lastly, as usual, it made entirely too much food for my light-eating family of four. I served this with a black bean and roasted corn salad so there was a lot of corn and lots of black beans on the table.

Cheesy Penne with Chicken & Broccoli: This is pasta, chicken and broccoli with cheese sauce. What could be better? Nothing! Don't be afraid of making cheese sauce. It's incredibly easy.

Menu Plan Monday

brought to you by I'm an Organizing Junkie.





Another semi-plan for the week. I'm only responsible for three meals this week.

• Mexican Lasagna, Roasted corn and black bean salad
• Cheesy Penne with Chicken & Broccoli (except that I'm using Mike's leftover grilled chicken from this weekend. It was spectacular AND it's not breaded!)
• Potato Leek soup with Chicken Andouille sausage (I had a hankering for sausage, so I'm putting it the soup.)
• Thursday is Las Vegas 51's baseball. We eat in the air-conditioned restaurant before heading out in hundred (plus) degree heat for the game.
• Friday is a holiday for Mike, so he will cook.

Trying some new recipes from a new website, Meal Makeover Moms. They bill themselves as Healthy Meals with Kid Appeal. I can't seem to get the boy child to eat meat and even he thinks the lack of protein is making him tired. They also have a cookbook. I have a 30% off coupon. Maybe I'll go buy it.

Menu Plan Monday

Brought to you by I'm an Organizing Junkie.

I sort of have a plan, so here it is.

• Asian Grilled Salmon, broccoli salad
• The Marlboro Man Sandwich, broccoli salad
• Tacos
• Slow-Cooker Turkey Meatballs, spaghetti, broccoli salad
• Pizza Friday (Last week I talked them into KFC!)

Mike made (a lot of) broccoli salad so we'll be eating it all week.

The Weather

Las Vegas just finished it's hottest May on record with 27 days over 90 degrees.

How is it then, that last night I went to pick Ana up from soccer camp at 8:30pm, had to sit outside for 30 minutes because I was early, and - Dare I say it? - I was a little cold!!

It was 85 degrees out and the wind was blowing. Either my thyroid medicine isn't working or I've become a desert dweller with all rights and privileges thereunto appertaining!

I think I'd freeze to death if I still lived in Oregon.

Menu Plan Monday

brought to you by Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

This week we're eating whatever is available in the house. There's plenty of food so it shouldn't be a problem.

So far;

• Baked oatmeal (I'm trying something new.)
• leftover chicken (Mike smoked it on the charcoal grill. I'll turn it into something.)
• leftover tri-tip (Same thing. Mike grilled this weekend.)
• ground turkey in one form or another (It's in the freezer.)
• Pizza Friday (I don't have one, but it's pay day!)

I'll add fresh produce and we'll probably need milk at some point.

The menus are about to change. It will be over 100 degrees this week which means the oven will not be in use again until sometime around late September or early October.

Second Time

I hit it red again. (Click "red" for the original post.)


I think the emergency vehicles rolling code put the signals out of sequence.
There was a structure fire a few blocks away and fire trucks en route.

Why My Work Isn't Getting Done

Because today, I discovered these two web sites.

Be forewarned. You will waste countless hours.


Fail Blog

Engrish Funny

Have a fun day.

Menu Plan Monday

brought to you by Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Dinner this week will be determined largely by how much walking I can do at grocery stores. The MRI on my knee is Monday, May 4th at 0730.

So far, the plan is:

• Tater Tot Casserole*, corn
• Bourbon Chicken, broccoli, brown rice
• chili (I don't use a recipe. I'll just make it up.), cornbread
• fish (whatever I can find), a vegetable, a side dish**
• pizza Friday

I'm keeping it simple and using mostly what I have on hand.

*Am I the only person on the planet who does not cook with Cream of Mushroom, Chicken, Celery or any other food Soup? Mike hates it and I refuse to cook with it!

**Who says meal planning is hard?

Chun Kuk Do Tournament

Today was the 5th Annual Region 2 Tournament in Chun Kuk Do (our karate style) and United Fighting Arts Federation (UFAF, our organization). Our students did very well in the competition.

From left to right: Savannah, Tirza, Angelo, Devin and Maria

Ana and Kobie also competed and did well.

We raised around $900 which will be donated to charity. It's a really fun event with lots of families involved. It's great practice for our International tournament in July.

Great job everyone.

Medicinal Purposes

I'm not sure if an apple fritter is a curative for aching legs, but I'm trying it instead of ibuprofen.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

That's all.

An Omen

I had high hopes that it was not a bad omen.

As I sat in the chair in my dentist's office today for minor work (seating of permanent crown) on the radio, R.E.M. was singing their hearts out with Everybody Hurts.

After that was Stuck in the Middle With You by Stealers Wheel. You know, clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right. I was between the dentist and his assistant at the time.

I really don't think the nitrous oxide had anything at all to do with it. Why do you ask?

Menu Plan Monday

brought to you by Laura at I'm on Organizing Junkie.

In no particular order:

• Steak with Sun Dried Tomatoes, broccoli, corn-on-the-cob

• Sesame Fish, salad, brown rice
• Pizza (for Sam)
• Pasta Carbonara, peas
• Tacos, refried beans (Sam again)

Sam gets much of what he wants because he states a preference.

Prom

Ana went to her first prom last night with Michael.
They looked so young and beautiful.

Spotted on the Dam

We spotted this box directly under the tall construction cranes on the Hoover Dam.

A stretcher? It looks more like a coffin.

The Photo Shoot

On Sunday, Ana had her first photo shoot.

It's part of the modeling and acting classes that she is taking.

Prior to the shoot. Waiting for the photographer.

Posing with the photographer.

Trying to be discreet and taking pictures from behind.
She did great!

The camera loves this girl.

Dump Truck

I'm easily amused.

I liked it enough to take a picture AND do a blog post.