Have you tried this?

Litehouse Bleu Cheese Vinaigrette Dressing.
My aunt introduced me to this salad dressing recently and it is definitely a new favorite. Unique and packed with flavor. And as a bonus, it's much more figure-friendly than traditional bleu cheese, with just 7 grams of fat per serving instead of the usual 15+ grams. You can find it in the refrigerator section of the produce department. We had it with Buffalo Chicken Salads, and even my dad enjoyed it. When my dad willingly eats a salad for dinner, you know it must be good.

A Day on the Farm

My friend Kandis lives on a farm and invited us out to visit last Friday. The kids loved playing in the snow and seeing the animals. Kandis is one of the busiest people I know, so it meant a lot that she took the morning off to be with us. 

Checking out the sheep. The weather was really nice considering it's the middle of January.

The two dogs were the biggest hit of the morning, hands down.

Ike and Maddie love Kandis. She is like an aunt to them.

Slugger must weigh 4 times as much as Maddie, but she wasn't nearly as scared of him as I was. She loved bossing him around and kept talking about him long after we left the farm. 

Ike and the beloved John Deere.

Checking out the Clydesdale horses.

What was I thinking not bringing the stroller? My arm was dangerously close to falling off by the end of the morning. Even so, we had a great time. Thanks, Kandis!

Southwestern Quinoa

Have you jumped on the Quinoa train yet?

I love this stuff! My sister introduced me to this grain (is it a grain?) when we moved to Utah and now I use it in place of rice whenever I can. You can find it in bulk at Costco for a reasonable price. I have also seen it at Winco and other grocery stores. Since Ryan's family has started a weight-loss challenge to kick off the new year, I thought I would share this healthy recipe:

Southwestern Quinoa

 2 cups water

1 cup quinoa grain

2 tsp Olive oil

½ tsp Cumin

1 clove minced garlic

½ tsp Garlic Salt

1 cup salsa

1 can black beans, rinsed

Chips or crackers of your choice

Bring water to boil, add quinoa. Simmer for about 20 min. While hot, toss with olive oil, cumin, 

minced garlic, & garlic salt. Gently stir in salsa & black beans. Serve with chips or crackers.

Christmas 2010

Our Christmas in pictures:

Dinner at PF Changs with my parents and siblings--it is the only time all year that we are together without children (we missed Brooke and Jeremy).

After we ate, my dad gave aprons to everyone--cute flirty ones to all the girls and manly ones with chef hats to all the boys. Here he is donning his chef's hat.

We started the tradition of going out to breakfast on Christmas Eve the first year that Ryan and I were married. Now the kids join us as well. Here is Ike at Einstein's Bagels. He is showing off his cinnamon-sugar-coated fingers.

Maddie insisted we take a picture of her fingers as well.

Christmas Eve with my parents always includes Mexican food and Henry Weinhart's rootbeer. Here Ike is downing his first cold one. 

My cousin Katy with D and Maddie. She is always so nice to our kids.

Brian was in charge of blended drinks this year. It's about time somebody put him in charge of something.

A Kodak moment when Maddie spontaneously embraced Harper instead of bossing her around.

Ike the shepherd before the first annual Christmas Eve nativity.

Ryan and Ike mowing down some Mexican food.

Ike and Fischer playing shepherds.

Davis and Harper sharing a smooch before the big production.

Maddie the angel.

Livy and Jake played Mary and Joesph.

Maddie loves Jake. The other day she told me that he was her best friend.

Believe it or not, Davis is the smallest (well, youngest) baby in the family and therefore won the role of baby Jesus.

The babe and I.

The production in action. This was taken right before D wriggled out of Livy's arm and landed on his head.

It didn't seem to faze him too much. When the shepherds started using their canes as swords, we wrapped things up pretty fast.

As expected, D's favorite Christmas gift was wrapping paper.

Ike and Fischer in their twin pjs on Christmas Eve.

Ike and his Monster Truck Lighting on Christmas morning.

D doing a little bit of baby yoga in between opening presents on Christmas morning.

All three kids on Christmas morning.

Unfortunately, I ran out of picture-taking steam by the time we got to Ryan's parents' home. I did get a couple of shots. Here is Maddie wearing her new kracker crown.

Ike with the race track from Grandma Mary-Ann and Grandpa Lynn. He was in heaven.

We had Ryan's parents out for dinner and FHE right after Christmas. Here are Maddie and Grandma playing puzzles together. 

D and Gramps playing with cars.



Bring on 2011!

Ike and Maddie Open Christmas Presents