My sexy man

plans for the weekend

waste it away. I can't wait.

my phone conversation with tc this morning

First he made me laugh really hard telling me something about my dad (if you are reading this Dad I’ll fill you in if you ask)

 

Then…

Me: someone was really insensitive this morning and didn’t get out of bed to give me hug good bye

tc: I gave you all of the sensitivity you get last night (I was having a bad day and he had to do lots of hugging to make me feel better)

Me: Oh yeah, that is all I get for the rest of the week?

tc: Yep, I’ve met my quota

Me: I need to go, you’re being a jerk

tc: whatever, I’m pretty good to you

me: oh you are?  I am so glad you know that

tc: I don’t believe in false modesty babe

 

I don’t know if that was a you had to be there sort of thing but he had me in tears this morning.  Oh, and I don’t think he believes in modesty at all.

 

Lakehouse in the Morning

This is what makes the drive worth it

Stuffed Avocados

This recipe is so special to me now. First, this is my favorite thing to order at my favorite restaurant. The problem is you can only get it on Tuesdays and it just is not convienent for me to go down there on Tuesday. Also the last time I was able to make my way down there, the meal was a disappointment. The avocado has some bitterness to it and the chicken was dry and flavorless. After tooling around on the internets for a while I realized I could make this myself pretty easily, and I had some extra chicken in the fridge that I wasn't sure what I was going to do with so this would be perfect. As it turns out one of the avocados I picked out had the same bitter taste to it so maybe this recipe is best left for summer. Or if you a pro at picking out avocados then just pick up the ripest ones you can find that are still pretty firm. Other than the bitter avocado I think my recipe (avocado v avocado) tasted much better. Another reason why it is so special is I completely came up with the seasoning myself, and it my so humble opinion the seasoning is what make my version better than the restaurant. The thing it is missing is a nice hatch chili pepper sauce, so I'll have to work on that for next time.

What you'll need:

2 avocados

2 eggs

2C panko bread crumbs

2 chicken thighs

4 oz shredded jack cheese

Cumin- approx 2 tsp

Garlic- approx 1 tsp

S&P

Prep Your Dredge

2 eggs- beat

2C Panko- pour into bowl and season with 1 tsp salt

Prep Your 'Cados

Cut the avocados in half, remove the seed, and using a large spoon remove the flesh from the skin. Scrape out any flesh remaining in the skin and set aside. If desired carefully use a small spoon to increase the size of the crater (more room for cheese!) Add the flesh you removed to the extra avocado.

Prep Your Chix

If using rotisserie chicken, pull the chicken off the bone and discard the skin. Tear or cut into small pieces

Make Your Stuffing

Shred the cheese into the chicken. Add cumin, garlic, salt and pepper. Taste the mixture and add seasoning. You want it to taste very flavorful so the seasonings will come through with all that avocado you'll be eating.

Put It All Together

Take enough of the chix mix to fill the avocado crater and press it together to form an egg like shape (try and match it to the shape of the hole you are stuffing) Hold the cado in your hand and gently press the mixture in. With one hand, carefully dip the cado in the egg, remove and let the excess drip off. Using the same hand set the cado into the panko crumbs and turn over. Make sure it is fully covered. Put on a plate and repeat with the remaining avocado halves. Let rest for about 5 minutes.

To make avocado balls: take your extra avocado and left over chix mix and combine. Form into balls and dredge the same way you did the avocado halves.

I used two cooking methods to try and see if I could do it the real way and the semi healthier way.

Real way:

Before you start the prep, fill a cast iron skillet (or any deep skillet) with two inches of oil. If using shortening melt the shortening on low and when you are ready to fry, increase the temperature to med-high. You want the oil hot but not smoking. Smoking is very very bad. Get your spatter screen out and use a slotted spoon to place the halves and balls into the oil. Cover with splatter screen and cook 2-3 minutes until the coating is dark brown. Turn over and cook another 2-3 minutes until GBD. I finished these in the oven to make sure the cheese was nice and melty.

Semi healthier way:

Before you start the prep, heat the oven to 450. Put ½ tsp oil into a small baking dish or pie pan if that is all you have handy. Cook the avocados and avocado balls until they are gbd (about 15 minutes) I actually cooked mine 15 minutes and then an additional 5 minutes on broil to get them really dark brown. If you decide to do this do not take your eyes off of them. They will turn from perfect to burnt in an instant.

Fiber at the Fair

This sign says Food, fiber, fun and more. Who goes to the fair to get
their daily dose of fiber?

Everyday Minerals- Free Sample Make Up Kit

I am a big advocate of mineral make up. I have always had oily acne prone skin and I think that mineral make up stays on longer, keeps me matte for longer, and keeps me from breaking out as bad as standard liquid foundation. As of right now I am completely brand loyal to Bare Escentuals but I am always up for trying something new. Especially when it is not hard on my wallet.

I came to find out about this deal from Google Reader. For those of you that are not on Google Reader yet seriously, look into it. Anyway the deal is Everyday Minerals want you to try their make up. To get you to try it they are giving Free Sample Make Up Kits. You get to pick 3 foundations, 1 blush or all over face color, and 1 concealer. The good thing so far about their foundations is they have a ton of different colors and each one comes in four formulations, original glo, semi matte, matte, or intensive which provides extra coverage. All you have to do is pay for shipping which was $3.13 for me. I also added on a sample of their Start to Finish Rice Powder in Fair because I am about to be out of my mineral veil and I thought it would be good to try something new. For only $2.50 I figured it was worth a shot

I'll let all of you blog readers out there know what I think when it comes in in 3-5 business days.

Boston Trip

We had such a great time on our trip to Boston. This was my third time there, and tc’s second so this trip we spent most of our time just visiting with my brother, his wife and his three amazing kids. They are adorable and fun all in one. We did have lots of fun stuff going on though. The weather was perfect for spending lots of time outside. We walked the kids to school every morning, and picked them up every chance we could get.

One of the first things we did was watch Helen play soccer and Andrew coach the team.

We also got to watch Brendan play soccer

he even got a turn at keeper

gave enough hugs to make up for lost time

played a lot of wii together

this is when the kids invented photo jumping. they thought it was hilarious to jump in the middle of someone else's photo

We got to read to Helen and Peter's classes. tc read How I Became a Pirate and did great pirate voices

we went apple picking which was really fun, and free! it was military appreciation day so we got to try apple crisp, listen to some good music, the kids got to do some fun stuff and of course we picked apples. the best part is you get to pick the apples right off the tree and taste them. those were some good apples!

because of the beautiful scenery I wanted to try and take some family pics of my brother's family. i think it looks like they are in a painted scene.

here are some of the other shots that I got

my favorite subject

our last day there we went to visit harvard yard. we walked around the school, visited all of the shops and eat a local pub. tc wanted to play the chess master that sits outside of the school. $2 to the winner. guess who had to pay up?

Ema's First Birthday Party

Ema’s first birthday party was, well, a one year old’s birthday. What more can I say. Luckily she is as cute as ever.

There were three wardrobe changes. This is outfit #1

Look at all of those presents! That isn't even all of them. She opened them all at the party too. Oh and outfit #2

She mostly liked the tissue paper though

and the cake...

I can't remember what outfit #3 was now? I think it was some overalls for after the cake