Robert LOVED this one...

Sliced Chicken w/ apples, pears & Boursin mashed potatoes.
*the recipe is actually for camembert potatoes, but I couldn't find it, turns out I could have just bought a brie, and I had the Boursin for another recipe but was missing a major ingrident, so I just switched it and it was fine.

When I say Robert loved this, I mean LOVED...he ate 3 of the 4 servings! 2 at lunch when I made it, and then after his nap before work he finished it off!

My baby boy is 5!

Then...10 lbs 10 oz, 21 inches

My sweet baby is now 5 years old! I can't believe it! Soon he will be starting school, which is both sad and exciting at the same time. He is very into the movie How to Train Your Dragon right now so he requested a cake based on the movie. It is a very cute movie if you haven't seen it.




One of Christopher's presents (from Grandma) was to go bowling, which he has been asking to do for awhile now. We all had a great time, Robert was actually able to go with us, as was my Dad and sister :) Even Hailey bowled and loved it!

Christopher's first roll




Hailey's turn




None, 5 yrs old and so grown up!

New recipes!

So, as I said before, I got RR's new cookbook and I LOVE it! I have already made several recipes out of it and they have all been very good. So far only one Robert didn't really care for. I took pics of several of the recipes, but not all, here is what we have tried so far:

Spinach & Artichoke mac'n'cheeseThis is the one thing I have made that Robert wasn't fond of, but he doesn't like artichokes. I thought it was good, but I didn't chop the artichokes because I was in a rush and I think that would have made a difference. I just did a simple panko coated chicken breast to go with the mac'n'cheese, which was supper yummy :)


Sirloin burgers w/ garlic-black pepper-Parmesan sauce & roasted tomatoes w/ basil & balsamic glaze served with seasoned fries.
This one was SOOOO EXCELLENT!! It will definitely be made again and again and as you can see literally came out picture perfect :) And on a side note, my Dad got me a meat grinder attachment for my Kitchen Aide, so I actually ground the sirloin to make these burgers :) Which made them more affordable, because I found the steaks marked down.


Lemon Risotto and Orange balsamic glazed chicken. These are actually 2 different recipes in the book that I did together and they were perfect for each other. We both really enjoyed it and it was 2 first for us, we had never had risotto or arugula.


Pancetta-wrapped shrimp all'amatriciana. This one again was very yummy, we had fresh baked french bread with it. The only thing about this one was that it was a little salty for me. I am not big on salt most of the time, and pancetta is VERY salty I discovered. I think I may try regular bacon next time, but it is on the make again list.


Chinese Orange-barbecue cashew chicken served over yellow rice. This one was excellent as well! My mom was here the night I made this one and we all loved it, it came out perfect.


Here are a few more that I have made, but didn't get pictures of:

Steakhouse chili pot. We really enjoyed this one. I usually make chili using beans, and this is bean free, so it was a nice change from what we usually have.

Bocconcini stuffed meatballs w/ tomato-pesto sauce. So,I didn't exactly follow the recipe on this one, for lack of ingredients, but they still came out really good. Instead of a combo of beef, pork, and veal, I just used beef and turkey. And for whatever reason I didn't buy pesto or the basil to make pesto so I just made the tomato sauce which was fine with us.

Well, I think that is all for now, stay tuned I have several more recipes on the next 2 weeks menu that come from this book as well:)

Christmas snow!

Just a few pics of the snow, I didn't believe we were going to get so I was NOT prepared for, luckily it was pretty but went away quickly and we didn't actually run out of anything :)

Lots of catching up to do...

First off, I can't believe I have been sooo ridiculously slack with my postings! We had a wonderful Christmas, possibly the best one to date. My mom got us a beautiful new kitchen table that we love and can now actually have people over for dinner and not have to sit in the living room for lack of table space. I was able to "stash" enough cash to get Robert 2 of the 3 things he asked for, an ipod touch and TomTom, neither are something I would have even considered getting him, had he not asked but he was very happy Christmas morning :) The kids got way too much stuff as always, but they were thrilled! Here's just a couple pics from Christmas morning...

The calm before the storm...


Opening her stocking


Opening his stocking


As for me, it was a RR Christmas! :) Which has got me back into the swing of actually cooking "real" food again!

My sis got me a set of her Lazy Spoons, and I love them! They are great, super heavy and they stay tightly on the side of the pots. My mom got me a set of her spatulas, her lasagna pan (which is huge!) and her new "Look and Cook" cookbook, which is were the inspiration to cook is really coming from. I will follow this posting with several recipes that I have made so far :)
Christopher is becoming quit the gamer, between the Nintendo DS my cousin gave him while we were in FL and several new Wii games he got for Christmas he is constantly playing something.
Hailey has decided to start "paying me back" for my mom. The one thing I did as a child, I truly was a very good and easy child, was change my clothes 4-6 times a day according to my mom. Well, Hailey is learning to dress herself...she doesn't actually take her clothes off yet, but she empties her drawers and puts on layers of random articles of clothing! It is annoying, but very comical at the same time, I will have to get a pic next time she does it.

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