Giants Game

In September Dave and I took the kids to the city on BART. We went to a Giants game and had a great family day. Becca's birthday was close so Alaina bought her a huge cotton candy. I don't know if they even knew we were at a baseball game, but they sure had fun on the slide, watching all of the crazy fans, and eating lunch and cotton candy.

Ryan's Favorites

I can't believe my baby is 9!! He is the best snuggler when no one is looking, otherwise, I don't exist...already.

Sometimes Ryan can be a little "half-empty" so I guess this was one of those days.

Favorite Song: I hate music

Favorite Food: Pizza

Morning or Night: Night

Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner: Lunch

Favorite Sport: Football

Read or Sleep: Read

Favorite thing to do: I don't have a favorite thing because I don't like much.

He later said his favorite thing to do is play football.

French Breakfast Muffins

I snapped Becca holding this muffin before she gobbled it up.

I found this recipe in Family Fun magazine and have been making it for nearly 3 years. It is one the things all of my kids love for breakfast (well, Ryan only likes the bottom but that's okay because I love the top the best, so we just split them in half and share.) I brought 4 dozen of these to Seminary for breakfast last week and they were just as beloved there as at my house, so per the request of dear friends, here is the recipe:

French Breakfast Muffins
2 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 large egg
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp milk
6 Tbsp melted and slightly cooled butter
1 tsp vanilla

Topping
Mix 1/2 cup sugar with 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp melted and slightly cooled butter

Heat oven to 375F. Grease 12 cup muffin pan, do not use liners. Mix dry ingredients in large bowl with a whisk. In separate bowl, whisk egg until frothy, then add milk, melted butter, and vanilla. Make a hole in dry ingredients and stir wet mixture in with a wooden spoon until batter is smooth. Using large ice cream scoop, fill muffin cups abour two-thirds full.
Bake at 375 F for 15 minutes, making sure a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Transfer muffins to wire rack and dip in melted butter. Dip again in cinnamon sugar mixture and set to cool on wire rack. They taste a little like a snickerdoodle muffin. Makes 12 muffins. These are really yummy warm, but also taste good cold, if you have any that last that long. Next time I make them, I'll add a picture.

Nothing to Wear, Huh?

My boys, specifically Ryan, frequently tell me they have nothing to wear. This morning I went into their bathroom to turn off the light and this is what I found on the floor...I am just saying I think they have plenty of clothes.

Walk (Bike) to School Day

Ryan's friends down the street decided to liberally interpret walk to school to include bike to school and we tagged along. There were 8 of us in all and we went the back way down a bit of the Iron Horse Trail, through Heather Farm, behind John Muir Hospital and across a fire road by the water tower, right into the school parking lot. What a beautiful way to start the day!

Blogger's Dinner Club

(this is why I am not a food stylist)

Okay, I know I missed last week, but I was really busy cleaning out the secret closet -- up till 3am 2 nights in a row -- and you can't tell. So I give up. But, here is last Mondays recipe:

Favorite Things Chicken

Cut up two chicken breasts. Season with sea salt and garlic.
Spray pan with Pam and brown chicken in 1 tsp oil,
then remove from pan.

Heat:
3 Tbsp half-n-half
1/2 cup artichoke hearts in water, drained and quartered
2 Tbsp julienne sun-dried tomatoes
2 Tbsp pesto
Stir over low heat until combined. Add cooked chicken and heat until warmed through.
Great over rice.

However, the point of the Monday Dinner Post is for recipes that my kids actually like, because I can promise you if that if they like something, your kids will love it. And, they didn't actually like this with the sauce (the best part!). But they did love the plain chicken and begged for more. How sad. Plain chicken. Oh well. I keep trying to expand their palettes. Wish me luck!

Pricey

A few weeks ago I took Becca to the doctor to get her staples out. He was really nice and suggested that next time we just come to his office and he could do the staples there for the cost of a regular office visit. He even let her keep the staple remover tool. Free. He also suggested that we could have just tied two sections of hair tightly over the gaping hole in her head and it would have probably healed fine. Apparently that is what you are supposed to do if you are camping or are too far from medical care. Instead, it looks like I chose to spend $56.71 per minute or $400 per staple in the ER. Hmmm. That about wiped out my 3 1/2 weeks of work! Thank goodness for insurance...for now.