Mission: Mission

Friday Bun’s class had a field trip to Mission San Juan Bautista, and Cole and I went along to stalk the field trip. The whole time we were getting ready, Cole was pretty confused because to him, “mission” is a verb.   So, finally, I said our mission was to go to the mission and we had our very own Laurel and Hardy routine going for a while.

It was a perfect January day and the combination of distance and size of the mission made our adventure very doable. Plus, no loud bus ride!

We might just have to go back there some other time because the kids didn’t have as much time to explore as they’d have liked, and there are some cute places to eat in town to make a day of it. Maybe after a viewing of The Birds, just to make it fun.

For the record, these were the only notable birds we saw there, though.  :)

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama.

Simple Pleasures

Occasional treats = good.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama.

The Best of It

We blew it this weekend, in a way.  Saturday was the best day to go to the beach, but we made the mistake of thinking it’d be the same beautiful weather Sunday as it was Saturday… then Sunday’s forecast was not worth the bother.  However, we did have a good day of it, nevertheless.

We took the kids on a hike.  Sure, it was just the easiest to reach trailhead a 5 minute drive away, and we probably only hiked 2 miles.  But, we did it, and some days that’s enough to declare victory.

 

We have not had much rain yet this winter, but it looks like that be changing soon. (Fingers crossed.) 

 

There’s a playground right at the base of these trailheads, which makes it a great ‘carrot’ for the kids to do the hike and not complain too much, so they got to play some before the weather got too cold and windy… then we headed home to the hot tub for a couple of hours of soaking up ‘til dusk and a little beyond.  All in all, not such a bad Sunday.

Look Who’s 4!

Cole’s been excited and impatient about waiting for his birthday ever since Big Brother celebrated his birthday 2 and a half months ago… and it finally came a couple of days ago.  In our house, it’s the end cap to the holiday season—one more reason to celebrate.

Though it was the day before his real birthday, our family celebrated Sunday, because… well, life is busy and we’d rather be a day off and all together to enjoy it.  (Plus, then he gets consolation lunch of his choice.)

I was surprised by his choice of cake.  Until very recently, Cole was not a big fan of chocolate.  I mean, yes, he liked it fine, but usually he’d go for other flavors first.  However, he asked for chocolate-chocolate.  (I kind of suspect his brother, the world’s biggest chocolate fanatic had to have been persuading him, but whatever!)

Chocolate-chocolate… with extra white chocolate chips inside, for good measure.  Cole was so cute in the days before, asking to “gently hold” the candles and admire the special “4”.  Really, many times a day for 3 days he would carry that candle around with a grin on his face.

The birthday kid gets to choose dinner on their big day, and Cole chose to eat out.  This was awesome for Mama, too, really, since I only had to get a cake made and clean up dessert plates – way to go, Cole!  :)

Cole ate about half his piece, then declared it was present time.  He had just gotten a lot of practice 2 weeks prior, so he tore into those bad boys!  He loved all his presents.

The next day was his real birthday, so he was allowed to choose lunch wherever he wanted.  Cole said, “Pizza Place!”

I also ended up taking a pirate with me nearly everywhere that day, bringing smiles to onlookers.  He is my dress-up kid.

Then yesterday it was his birthday again, at preschool!  Leave it to Cole to get a 3-day celebration.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama.

Remember the McResolution?

A year ago I had a mini resolution to find or figure out a suitable homemade—and healthier—recipe for McNuggets.  Did you know there are about 40 ingredients in those suckers?

Anyway, a couple of months ago I finally hit upon a recipe that works really well.  The key, I think, is that you grind chicken with some seasonings, then portion it into little chicken meatballs that you flatten after lightly breading them.

They were delicious, and contained 7 ingredients the way I made them (no parsley flakes)!  The one comment from my taste testers was they are not as juicy as McD’s*.  A batch makes about 3 dozen nuggets, which were gobbled up, but they can be slightly undercooked and frozen/reheated in the oven if you’re planning ahead.  Freeze ‘em on a baking sheet in a single layer, then you can move them to a more space efficient bag or container, like how you’d freeze a bounty of fresh berries for later.

I tried one batch with a tempura-style batter instead of the breading to try to make them more exactly like McNuggets, but wouldn’t you know it, Carter preferred the other way!  :)  Everyone else, including a visiting playmate thought they were great with the tempura coating.  However, it was messier for me, and the oil I was frying them in seemed to get funky by the end of the batch, so I will stick with the light breading from now on.

So there you go.  Homemade McNuggets without the eyebrow-raising dubiousness.  Happy New Year!

*I solved the juiciness issue by adding one teaspoon canola oil to the meat mixture when grinding.