Explorer of the Week

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Pumpkin Patch

Last week, we hit our favorite pumpkin patch with Ashley, Anna and Sammy.

In the corn box. My job was to keep the corn out of Sammy's mouth!

Carter volunteered at the piglet races for the first time! He didn't get chosen, though. Maybe next year...

Pumpkin Carving!

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Carter's Chicago Trip

Carter spent some of his Chicago vacation with Mama Helen and Daddy Phil at our friends the Wojcik's house in Evanston. From the pictures my mom took, it looks like he had a blast.

Two funny things:

1. Carter insisted that we were in New York for the entire trip. Since we got home, he's been asking people: "Did you miss me when  I was in New York?"
2. When he was in the city, Carter also insisted that "his" town (Atlanta) is bigger than "this" town (Chicago, aka NYC).

A new favorite game

At the playground

At the Lincoln Park Zoo

Also at the Lincoln Park Zoo

Mandi's Wedding

We were in Chicago last week for Mandi and Ross' wedding. I seem to have stopped taking pictures after the wedding, so I don't have pictures of any non-wedding related activities or friends. But here are a few good shots of the festivities. Thanks to mom and dad for coming to Chicago to keep Carter entertained while we were involved with wedding festivities!

Mandi and Joo at the nail salon

Bren and Aarti at the rehearsal dinner

Mandi at the rehearsal dinner

Brunch on the big day!

The 'maids

The bride!

The cherry pie cutting

Recipes

A couple of you asked for more info on the frozen dinners I made recently. We had the first one tonight, and it was terrific!


Rosemary Mustard Chicken and Veggies

Here are the 3 recipes I used, all three originally from Real Simple, years ago (thanks to Rachel for 2 of them), though only one was originally intended to be a make-ahead meal. I don't follow these recipes exactly anymore, and I tend to use all chicken breasts, but this gives you a sense of the proportions. Basically, just combine everything and freeze. From frozen, bake at 400 for 25 minutes, stir and bake for 25 more minutes. That's it. Dinner on the table. 

Maple Roasted Chicken with Sweet Potatoes
1  3 1/2- to 4-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 yellow onion, cut into 1-inch wedges
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons maple syrup
6 sprigs fresh thyme


Roasted Chicken with Lemon-Garlic Green Beans
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 lemons, 1 thinly sliced, 1 juiced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¾ pound trimmed green beans
8 small red potatoes, quartered
4 chicken breasts (bones left in, with skin—about 3 ¼ pounds)

Rosemary Mustard Chicken
1 pound new potatoes
2 carrots
2 small zucchini
2 T whole grain mustard
2 T olive oil
1.5 t salt
.5 t pepper
1 T rosemary
4 6 ounce chicken breasts

First Morning in Chicago

Really enjoying the hotel breakfast...



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North Carolina Weekend

We're in the mountains with friends this weekend. I forgot to take photos most of today, but here's a couple of shots from this evening.







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$60 and 2 Hours

What can you do with $60 and 2 hours? Here's what I did on Saturday afternoon. I made 9 one-dish meals for my family.

That's just over 13 minutes per meal (take that Rachel Ray!) and less than $7 per meal (and it would have been less if I hadn't bought happy, organic chicken).

I did three different chicken dishes: maple-thyme with sweet potatoes and vidalia onion, lemon/garlic with green beans and potatoes, and Dijon-rosemary with zucchini, carrots and potatoes. They are all prepped and frozen, ready to go straight in the oven after work.

I've also been stocking away other things, like homemade bread, a batch of Aarti's Sloppy Bombay Joes, my pulled pork, a few smoked pork tenderloins that my parents gave us and a fair amount of Trader Joes frozen delights. I find it especially helpful to have the protein taken care of so I only have to worry about playing with our CSA veggies (or doing nothing at all!) on a school night. All part of my plan to get ahead of the game before I start my new job. I certainly won't stay ahead, but this should help some!

Arkansas Trip - Waffles!

I think that Carter's favorite things about visiting my parents house are:

1. There is a grown-up already awake when he gets up
2. That grown-up can be counted on to make REAL waffles, from scratch
3. He gets to help work the waffle making machinery

This is a vast improvement over fending for himself to get frozen waffles at our house (which he often EATS frozen -- by his choice/at his insistence).

Here are the waffle-makers at work!