I wish I had known about this photo challenge thing sooner, you would think with all the blogs I follow one of them would have explained it to me. Alas I came across the idea on Pinterest in February and told myself I would take that March challenge.  With only a few days before it begins I wanted to share with all of you and challenge you to do it with me. Here it is.

It’s simple. Each day, starting March 1st, you take a picture of what is listed next to the day, so on day 5 we will take a picture of a smile. It can be a baby’s smile, a dog’s smile, your own smile, you can interpret it however you like. Sounds fun right? It’s just one picture a day so it’s not time consuming.  Once you take a picture you can post wherever you want, your blog, Facebook, Twitter ect.

Ready, set…we start Thursday!

We spent a fun Saturday with friends for our latest “dinner” party. However this year with two babies we had it at noon. I made Empanadas that I didn’t like very much and Patatas Bravas that were good because of the Tomato aioli. We also enjoyed ham Croquettes that were very rich and delicious, a spread of spanish hams, cheese and olives. Roasted peppers with a mint goat cheese filling, arroz con leche and of course Sangria.

Kaili was a trooper since she was feeling like crud. Sunday she woke up with a cough that seemed to really hurt because she cried after every one. Her voice was hoarse and she was wheezing a little when she breathed. We gave her a warm bubble bath that she seemed to enjoy .

I was concerned enough that we took her to Urgent Care if for nothing else than piece of mind. It wasn’t anything to concerning, an upper respiratory infection and Croup, although not a bad case of it. She was given a steroid medication and we were sent home and told if she doesn’t seem better in a day or two to take her back to Dr. Hansen.

Today her cough seems looser and the wheezing is gone but she doesn’t feel any better from what I can tell. I don’t think the cough is hurting as much but she is coughing a lot more. Now let’s see if I can avoid catching it. Kaili has rubbed her snot on me countess times, ah the joys of motherhood.

{Thank you Chris for the pictures!}

I have had this recipe bookmarked for what seems for ever now. I guess I was waiting for the Lemongrass Fairy to deliver me some fresh Lemongrass.  Sure enough the Fairy, disguised as my mom, brought me some down on her last visit. {Thanks mom}

*This recipe is from Bon Appetit.

These are ridiculously good. I encourage you to make them once the Lemongrass Fairy visits your home.

Enjoy!

Somehow I turned another year older in what seems like no time at all. Last year I celebrated my birthday in the hospital on an IV drip of Magnesium hoping baby K would not make a surprise appearance. This year I spent my birthday at home hoping baby K’s cold wouldn’t get any worse. However this year I was able to drink champagne with my cupcakes and that is pretty much the makings of a happy { birthday}. Thank you to my girlfriend for bringing my these goodies, and thank you to my girlfriends who brought me goodies to the hospital last year. I still can’t believe it’s been a year!

Kaili seems to be feeling a little better today, she has had low-grade fevers and a cough. Although today she seems to be enjoying herself more and she also got to meet a ladybug for the first time.

I bought some boneless beef short ribs at our last run to Costco and was trying to decide whether to braise them with red wine or marinate them Korean style. I chose the latter and they were so very good. This recipe is combination of this recipe and this recipe. I also added some Hoisin sauce because everything is better with Hoisin sauce. Both recipes said to grill the ribs for 3 minutes a side but I found that it was more like 5 minutes for rare. Maybe my grill isn’t as hot as it should be, who knows.

Korean Style Beef Short ribs

1½ lbs Boneless Beef Short Ribs

3 Tbs. Dark Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Soy Sauce

1/4 cup Hoisin sauce

4 tsp Pure Toasted  Sesame Oil

3 cloves garlic, diced or pressed

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1 Tsp crushed red pepper

1/2 cup green onions, chopped

Directions

Sprinkle the beef ribs with the brown sugar and let sit at room temperature for 10 min.

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl, whisk to blend well. Pour into Ziploc plastic bag. Add ribs; seal bag. Let the meat marinate at least two hours, turning occasionally.

Prepare barbecue to medium high heat. Drain ribs; discard marinade. Working in batches, grill ribs until browned and cooked to medium-rare, about *3 minutes per side.

These paired nicely with sautéed baby bok Choy. Enjoy!

* 3 minutes may not be long enough.

Last year at this time I was just given the green light to be off bed rest. Shane took me to the Apple store and bought me the best Valentine’s Day gift, my MacBook Air. This year, he is working in Ventura and I am spending the most romantic day of the year at home with the babe. So to be festive I took some fun Valentine pictures of Kaili. [Inspiration came from Pinterest, where else?]

A friend from my Meetup group had us moms over to make Valentines crafts with the kiddos. I am so mad that I didn’t take any pictures of the craft making fun in action but I have the end results. She had paint, brushes, poster board and craft paper with the idea of making hand or foot print pictures for family. [I think she has Pinterest to thank for the inspiration too] I have to say I do miss all the creative activities I used to do everyday in the classroom, so this was fun! {for me.} Kaili had fun playing in the grass while mommy did her crafts.

This was one of the first recipes I “pinned” on Pinterest.  I make another version of Tandoori salmon and it one of my favorite fish dishes, so I didn’t have any doubt that this recipe would please. They are very similar recipes but I have to say Aida’s is better. Maybe it’s the sweetness of the honey and  juice of the orange or the perfect blend of spices, either way, it is a must try.

Her recipe calls for  a Ras el hanout spice blend, which translates to “top of the market”. However I couldn’t find it at my ethnic markets so I made this recipe.  If you don’t have most of these spices in your spice cabinet, you should. I find it to be cheaper if you can buy them in bulk and store then in an air tight container. This recipe made a lot so I have plenty extra saved away for next time.

I followed her recipe as instructed and it turned out great, the fish was cooked perfectly.

Enjoy!

Oh how I wish I had Pinterest when I was in the classroom. I could have documented all my lessons by monthly themes and pulled them out whenever I needed them. Since I left my job so abruptly I didn’t get a chance to pack my stuff up in a neat and orderly fashion so everything is packed into plastic tubs and in the garage. As time goes on I am forgetting  the songs I once knew and the millions of fine motor and tray tasking lessons I created. Now thanks to Pinterest I see a lot of these activities I used to do and it’s so exciting because I can file them away here and bring them out when I need them. Today was one of those days.

I came across an activity I used to do with my Pre-K kiddos. White paint in a ziplock bag on top of black paper. Then I would put out cards with sight words on them and the kids would use their fingers to write the words on the bag of paint like this:

I thought this would be a perfect way to let Kaili paint without the mess or the worry about her eating the paint. So I put some paint in a ziplock bag and taped it to the floor with a piece of white construction paper underneath it and let her at it.

So what do you think, do we have a mini Picasso in the making?

I  sure hope Kaili’s love of food stays the way it is right now. She is not a picky eater and will eat everything I offer her, well, all but avocados. { weird child } However she hasn’t had mama’s guacamole yet, so time will tell.

She tried her first Steamed Pork bun from the 99 Ranch Market. She happily ate as much as I gave her, I should have bought more.

While out to lunch she had some of my salad with citrus grilled chicken and gorgonzola cheese. I was impressed that she liked the cheese and after about 5 bites I wondered how her tummy was going to handle it but no need because she was just fine.

She enjoys quinoa, black beans, peas and carrots, egg yolks {hard-boiled and scrambled} mozzarella cheese, hummus, pasta with olive oil and garlic and she recently tried some with a tomato basil sauce and scarfed it down.

I need to challenge myself to start making more dinners during the week. It’s hard to get motivated to cook for one but since I have an eager little eater I guess I should pull out some recipes and get cooking.