Friday Favorites

This week has been a week of trying to relax and recover.  It’s been a little over a week since my surgery.  The doctor told me to take a two-week recovery from work, heavy-lifting, etc.  While I thought I was starting to feel better, I felt bad about being so useless.  The other day I decided to organize and clean out my bedroom closet and my nightstand and I ended up in a lot of pain that night.  Guess I over did it!  This Memorial Day weekend should be a pretty quiet one.  Knowing I was having my surgery and would be in recovery period, we didn’t plan anything major.  We will be watching my nieces this weekend while my sister and brother-in-law go to a wedding.  I haven’t seen the girls in ages so I’m really looking forward to getting in some quality time with them!  Here are some of my favorites this week:

1.  My gardening boxes!  The past couple of years my dad has made these garden boxes up at my parent’s house in Rhode Island.  He gets amazing vegetable yields of tomatoes and peppers.  This year, I was determined for us to make some, since I have had minimal to no luck container gardening.  The Weekend Chef finally completed the boxes last weekend and they are out on the deck!  Look for an upcoming post on how he made these boxes!

2.   Universal Yums! Snack Subscription Box – The whole family is loving this box!  Each month, a new box is shipped filled with snacks from one country.  This was our first box and the snacks were from Israel.  Look for an upcoming review post on our snack box and how we are using the box as for additional cultural enrichment!

3.  Currently reading:  Since I’ve had a lot of rest and relaxation time I am in the midst of two books which I hope to finish this weekend.   Her by Harriet Lane was recommended on some site or list for those who enjoyed The Girl on The Train.   I can’t say this has the same suspense and draw as The Girl on The Train.  I’m feeling pretty “eh” about it but I’m more than half-way through so going to finish it.  I’m also reading All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.  This book has gotten tons of positive reviews and I am enjoying it.   It takes place during WWII and is a bit of a heavy topic, thus me reading two books simultaneously.   I’d love some recommendations for some other books to read!  So, if you’ve read anything lately that you’d recommend, please share!

4.  Favorite bookmarked recipe of the week:  These Buffalo Chicken & Blue Cheese Waffle Sliders from blog No Spoon Necessary.   Umm, what’s not to like about these…you have your traditional chicken and waffles kicked up with buffalo flavor and blue cheese?!!!! Thinking I may be able to adapt these to make some for the kids with regular chicken…….

5.  Netflix:  I recently saw a list on Netflix Life of what shows and movies were going to be leaving Netflix in June.  I highly recommend checking lists like these out, because I didn’t even realize some of the shows that were even on Netflix!  Well, we started watching Cirque Su Soleil Worlds Away and my kids are mesmerized!  We only got through half of it before we had to put them to bed, but this weekend we will definitely be finishing it up.  The Weekend Chef and I actually saw a Cirque Du Soleil show pre-kids and it was amazing!  I also saw that The Baby Sitters Club was leaving in June.  I watched the first two episodes with my nine year-old daughter.  As soon as it started she commented, “This is so old!”  Yes, it actually is…the show was originally aired in 1990.  I grew up reading and loving The Baby Sitters Club book series.  I’m not sure that I ever saw the show when it was on television.  However, all of the clothes and hairstyles from the show sure did bring back flashbacks of my youth!  I do have to note that compared to television shows today that are aired at girls between 9-13, this show is so much more “clean.” The girls in the show are actually really nice to one another and overall, it’s very positive.  And even though she thought the show was “old” and “the sound is cloudy!” my daughter got hooked.  I think she’ll be watching the rest of the first season……probably without me!  So, check out that list to see what shows and movies that you might want to watch ASAP before they leave Netflix in June!

Have a great weekend!

Linking up with Andrea @ Momfessionals, Amanda from Meet @ The Barre, Tif @ Bright on a Budget and Jennie from The Diary of a Real Housewife!

Happy Friday everyone!  If you’ve noticed, except for the daily food news, it’s been a little quiet here on the blog these past couple of days.  This week has been quite a stressful one for my family.  My father had open heart surgery on Tuesday to replace a valve and on Wednesday, I had laparoscopic surgery.  Both my surgery and my father’s surgery went well, though he will have several long weeks of recovery.  So, all ended well!  However, I am spending the next couple of days basically lying on the couch recuperating.  Kudos to my mother and the Weekend Chef who have stepped in and have been making everything run as smoothly as possible.

This week, I am sharing five videos that I’ve found via Facebook and YouTube that I thought were worth sharing!

1.
Castaways, “a documentary series chronicling the successful rehabilitation program of inmates training unwanted dogs for re-introduction or adoption, while highlighting the plight that both prisoners and dogs face and how an unlikely union brings out a change in character of both man and beast- Each trying to save and serve one another.”   So touching!

2. Not sure how I feel about this trailer for Jem and the Holograms.  I grew up watching the cartoon and now they’re bringing it to the big screen?!!

3. I LOVE Anna Kendrick and Ellen.  On a recent episode they played a game of “Oh Caption, My Caption.”

4.  Did I mention I love Anna Kendrick?!!  She’s been on  a lot of talk shows promoting Pitch Perfect 2, but she’s also a great sport, as seen in this clip of her playing Egg Russian Roulette with Jimmy Fallon.

5. I know this isn’t brand new, but the new Madonna song “Ghosttown” isn’t overplayed yet that I am still enjoying it!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  Just a lot of rest and recuperation on the schedule for me.

Linking up with Tif @ Bright on a Budget,  Amanda from Meet @ The Barre,  Andrea from Momfessionals and Jennie from The Diary of a Real Housewife.

Happy Friday everyone!  And welcome May!  School isn’t over until the end of June, but we have a super busy month with the kids’ activities.  Luckily, this weekend isn’t too jam-packed and we’ll hopefully have some relaxing, family time!

This week’s favorites include:

1.  Our daughter made it to the final round of the 3rd and 4th grade spelling bee at her school!  We are so proud of her!  She’s pretty shy, so for her to want to participate and then make it to the finals was a big deal!  We will see how she does next week as one of six participants.

2.  Girl Scout Cookies – They’ve been sorted and delivered and now we’ve been eating ours non-stop.  We have yet to try the new Rah-Rah Raisins, but Samoas are my fave.  I really liked the Thank You Berry Munch cookies but they discontinued making them a couple of years ago.    Do you have a favorite?!

3.  Carvel Free Cone Day!  – Yesterday we went straight from my daughter’s tennis lesson to Carvel to get our free cones.  It was crazy trying to get into the parking lot the place was so packed!  Unfortunately, by the time we got there they were already out of the new Nutella soft serve…..so, we’ll just have to make another trip there soon!  The kids saw some of their friends there and had a good time.  I won “Best Mom” title for giving them ice cream before dinner!

4. Favorite Bookmarked Recipe of the Week:  This Thin Mint Mocha Frappe recipe from blog The Mad Mommy.  Honestly, I bookmarked this back in February, when she posted it, but pulled it out now as a reminder that our Girl Scout cookies have arrived and need to make this before we eat all of our Thin Mints!

5.  House of Cards – I’m a little late in watching this show.  I had first tried watching this when I was binge watching Scandal.  In comparison to Scandal’s drama and fast-pace, I found this show too slow and couldn’t get into it.  Since I’m missing this season of Scandal and have to wait for it to come to Netflix, I just started getting into House of Cards.  I’ve only watched 5 episodes so far, but it’s now holding my interest.  I know lots of people who enjoy it so I’m going to try to stick with it!

Linking up with Andrea @ Momfessionals, Jennie @ The Diary of a Real Housewife, Tif @ Bright on a Budget and Amanda from Meet @ The Barre.  Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday everyone!   Hope it’s been a good week for everyone!  It’s flown by for me in a whirlwind of work and the kid’s activities.  This weekend is looking to be another busy one.  I’ll be out on the soccer field in the morning  with the kids while the Weekend Chef is at his Tae Kwon Do class.  Then later it’s off to a birthday party for one of our neighbor’s kids.  Finally, we are hosting our monthly supper club this month so we have to get the house ready and prepare our dishes.  This month’s theme is “round.”  I am planning on making fish cakes and the Weekend Chef is making some sort of stacked tortilla dish.  It will be a delicious meal, I’m sure!  On to this week’s favorites:

1.  The Annie movie remake.  We finally got to watch this movie this week and the kids LOVED it!  I watched it with them and was a big fan as well.  They did a really great job modernizing it!

2. Favorite Bookmarked Recipe of the Week:  This Giant Strawberry Cinnamon Roll Cake from blog Crazy for Crust…..yum!  Hope to make this the next time strawberries go on sale!

3. This kitty!  What you see is pretty much a nightly ritual.  I sit on the couch and she curls up in my lap and sleeps.  LOVE! At least one of our cats is cuddly.

 

4.  Where She Went by Gayle Forman.  I am almost finished reading this sequel to If I Stay.  I recommend these YA books and the movie If I Stay if you haven’t read/watched it yet.

5.

Courtesy of the Weekend Chef…The latest Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser trailer. Still coming out on Christmas, several months away. Please be a good movie.

Linking up with Tif @ Bright on a Budget, Andrea @ Momfessionals, Amanda from Meet @ The Barre and Jennie from The Diary of a Real Housewife!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Happy Friday! Loving the warmer weather we have been having!  My daughter started tennis lessons yesterday and I’m hoping she loves the game as much as I do!  I started playing in high school so she’ll have many years on me!  The Weekend Chef is at a Tae Kwon Do tournament all day Saturday, so I am Mom Extraordinaire!  Soccer season starts up again tomorrow, so I’ll be bringing my son to his first practice.  He’s so excited since he missed the entire fall season because of a broken arm.  Then, it’s off to drop my daughter off with her Girl Scout Troop for overnight cabin camping.  The weather is supposed to be awesome Saturday and keeping my fingers crossed the forecast stays that way.  Her camping trips always seem to get rained on…..though they’ve always been troopers and camped on, rain and all!  Not sure what else the weekend has in store for us, but rest and relaxation are going to be fit in somewhere! Now on to some of this week’s favorites!

1. Family Viewing:  At first we were bummed that Man v. Food had suddenly disappeared from Netflix…..but then noticed that it came back with new episodes.  In the meantime, we started watching Cupcake Wars.  I love the flavor combinations that they come up with!  The only downfall is that watching makes me crave cupcakes!

2. Favorite bookmarked recipe of the week: This Monte Cristo Breakfast Casserole from blog The Suburban Soapbox.  My kids LOVE breakfast foods and most weeks I try to make at least one breakfast for dinner type meal.  I will definitely be trying this casserole out!

3. Birthday Celebrating…..and celebrating…..and celebrating!:   Our daughter turned 9 on Tuesday. We had the family birthday party on Easter.  If you follow me on Instagram, you know that on Saturday we went to The Melting Pot for her birthday dinner celebration.  The kids LOVE this restaurant (this is where she picked last year too!)!  We were all stuffed by the time we left and our super awesome waiter, knowing it was her birthday brought our daughter her own dessert plate for the chocolate fondue AND a box of chocolate covered strawberries to take home!  Dinner was of course AFTER we spent an hour and a half in Barnes & Noble (her request) while she browsed and chose some books.  Finally, on Tuesday, her actual birthday, I surprised her by having the local radio announce her birthday on air, which we got to hear while eating breakfast. We finished off the birthday celebrating with her final request of steak and mashed potatoes for dinner with ice cream cake for dessert.

4.  Yeah, that’s pretty much me and exercise…..with summer coming I know I should start exercising more.  Tennis once a week isn’t cutting it…..but motivation needed!

5.  What we are reading:

I am currently reading  this book.  I love reading about food, especially when mixed with travel.  Prior to becoming an American citizen, the author, a chef who I’ve seen on The Next Iron Chef, travels across the United States trying to find out what it means to be American through its food.  Although I haven’t had much reading time, I am enjoying it.

My daughter is currently reading this book.  (She actually is in the middle of too many books to count, but she did just buy this book on our recent Barnes & Noble trip) It’s the third in the Disney After Dark series that she’s really into.

My son just finished this book.  While he’s still really into the Geronimo Stilton series and the Thea Stilton book series I’m trying to get him to read some other books as well.  This was a new chapter book that I had picked up from the library. Since we were out of Stilton books for him to read and we HAD to complete his book log for school he ended up reading (and I might add enjoying!) this book in which a group of kids find homes for shelter pets.

The Weekend Chef is reading this book which a colleague of his recommended.  It’s historical and informational…..but according to him, not very enjoyable.

Hope you have a great weekend!  Linking up with Tif @ Bright on a Budget, Amanda from Meet @ The Barre, Andrea @ Momfessionals and Jennie from The Diary of a Real Housewife.

Last weekend was a busy weekend.  Between Passover and Easter, we hard-boiled so many eggs!  We had a great Passover Seder with the Weekend Chef’s family.  Our son will be reading the Four Questions indefinitely, as he’s the youngest!  We celebrated Easter and our daughter’s soon-to-be 9th birthday with both sides of the family on Sunday.  The Weekend Chef did an amazing job of planning the menu and cooking most of the dinner on his own.  The ham was delicious and he got so many compliments.  Recipes will be coming soon!  This weekend is crazy as well, with my son attending two birthday parties,  our family having dinner at The Melting Pot to celebrate my daughter’s birthday and the Father-Daughter Girl Scout Dance!

Here are some of this week’s favorites:

1. This: 

2.  Favorite bookmarked recipe of the week:  This Mango Margarita Chicken from blog I Wash You Dry.  This screams “summer!” to me.  With warmer weather arriving soon, I can’t wait to make this!

3.  Kids’ Favorite:  Inspector Gadget on Netflix.  The Weekend Chef and I watched this show as kids!  It’s interesting to see how they’ve revamped the show.  The kids are LOVING it!

4.  Winner! Winner!:  I found out yesterday that I was the winner of a Saratoga Olive Oil Gift Basket from a giveaway run on the blog Jodie Fitz!  It’s always nice to win something, since it happens so rarely and I’m looking forward to cooking with them!

5.   We found the new, seasonal Angry Orchard cider, Summer Honey!  It came in the 12 pack variety box that we bought.  It was good….but in our opinion didn’t taste distinctively different than the original cider.  Honestly, we love ’em all!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Linking up with Tif @ Bright on a Budget, Amanda at Meet @ the Barre, Jennie @ The Diary of a Real Housewife and Andrea @ Momfessionals.

Happy Friday!  The Weekend Chef took some days off from work this week and the kids had a couple of days off from school so we got to enjoy some family time before our busy weekend!  Tonight we are celebrating the first night of Passover with my husband’s side of the family.  Tomorrow is our 11th wedding anniversary, which we celebrated Thursday night.  On Sunday we will then be having an early 9th birthday celebration for our daughter with our families and celebrating Easter on Sunday at our house.  Here are a few of this week’s faves.

1.   Anniversary Dinner  – Saturday is our 11th wedding anniversary.  If you follow me on Instagram, then you know that last night we celebrated a few days early at Blue Hill at Stone Barns.  This is chef Dan Barber’s restaurant located in Pocantico Hills, New York.  I can’t even describe how AMAZING this dinner was.  We have been to several different famous chef restaurants, but this one definitely ranks as one of my favorite.  For one of our courses we were escorted into the kitchen and ate while watching the chefs cook!  This was definitely a memorable meal!

2.   Currently Reading: Confess by Colleen Hoover.  I have just started this book but am sucked in.  I became a huge Colleen Hoover fan after reading Slammed and Point of Retreat.  Just wish I had a little more time to read!

3.  Favorite Recipe Bookmarked this Week:  Although this is an older recipe, I just found these Teriyaki Salmon and Pineapple Quesadillas from blog Closet Cooking.  This recipe is filled with ingredients the kids will love!

4.  Favorite New Food – We are big fans of Greek-style yogurt in our house. Although sometimes simpler is better, Chobani recently introduced some new flavors of yogurt with ingredients that we haven’t seen before: steel-cut oats, quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth and chia. Some flavors from the new line, such as the Apple Cinnamon have only oats, while the other flavors have all the previously mentioned “Ancient Grains”.  The texture isn’t for everyone, but the Weekend Chef tried a few different varieties and has enjoyed them all.

5.  Enjoying the Nice Weather – Yesterday it was sunny and 60+ degrees out.  We took the kids to a local park to go bike riding.  We got our daughter a new bike as an early birthday present (we took advantage of the Toys R’Us bike trade-in promotion).  It’s bigger than the one that she was used to and she’s not quite comfortable riding it so she wants to practice.  Our son, almost seven, didn’t know how to ride a two-wheeler without training wheels….until yesterday!  After some practice with the Weekend Chef holding the bike and running beside him, our son rode solo for the first time with no training wheels!

Hope you have a great weekend and a Happy Passover/Happy Easter!

Linking up with Tif @ Bright on a Budget,  Michael @ Rattlebridge Farm,  Amanda @ Meet @ the Barre, Andrea @ Momfessionals and Jenni @ The Diary of a Real Housewife!

Happy Friday!!  I have been battling a cold here which has not made for a fun week.  Besides a birthday party that my daughter is going to and the town Easter Egg hunt, that will hopefully not get postponed due to rain (and even possible snow flurries?!!!) we have a free weekend!  I LOVE free weekends since they happen so rarely!  Our son has requested sushi, so we will be getting some of that.  But otherwise, I plan to catch up on some reading and relaxing!  Here are some favorites this week:

1. How do I forget to add almond milk to the weekly shopping list?!!!  Well, it happened this week.  The Weekend Chef did the weekly grocery shopping Sunday morning and didn’t come home with almond milk…..because I hadn’t put it on the list!  We cannot live without milk in the house!  So, I ran to the grocery store the next morning and while getting the almond milk I also picked up this cream cheese (Because who can walk in and out of the grocery store with just one item?!!!).  This is not new to us.  We’ve had it before and I forgot how much we enjoyed it! Roasted pecan and sweet honey cream cheese on a bagel has been my breakfast and lunch for the kids this week!

2.  Favorite bookmarked recipe of the week: This Chicken Strawberry Salad with Goat Cheese and Roasted Strawberry Vinaigrette from blog Sumptuous Spoonfuls.  With the warmer weather hopefully arriving soon, I have had salads on my mind!  I cannot wait for grilling and salads!  This salad sounds divine!  Though I’d use cooked or grilled chicken, rather than chicken nuggets or tenders.

3.  Kids Favorite:  We are definitely late on the Minecraft bandwagon.  If you have kids anywhere from probably 5+ they have heard of this….even if you haven’t!  As part of the kids Valentine’s Day presents we FINALLY got them Minecraft for their I-pods.  They are obsessed!  We limit video/I-pod time to 30 minutes each day.  They would play ALL day if we let them!

4. Watching on Netflix:  “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”  This is a Netflix Original series produced by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock.  The show stars Kimmy, (Ellie Kemper from Bridesmaids) who is rescued from an underground (literally!) cult and who decides to live in New York City.  She gets a job as a nanny for the wealthy Voorhes family (mom is Jane Krakowsi) and rooms with Titus (Tituss Burgess), an unemployed, Broadway actor hopeful.  She’s stuck in the 90’s and is trying to find her way.  The series premiered March 6.  I’m only through the first 3 episodes, but am enjoying this show a lot and highly recommend if you are looking for a quirky comedy!

5.   Wonder by R. J. Palacio.  We read this book as a family read-aloud last year and loved it!  Lisa from blog expandng hosts Page Turners, a monthly online book club.  Wonder was this month’s book pick.  I will be stopping by to chat about the book with her and the other readers.  If you’ve read this book feel free to stop by and leave some comments/thoughts/reviews.  If you haven’t read it, I definitely recommend.  This a middle school, realistic fiction chapter book.  It stars Auggie, a ten-year-old boy who has a facial deformity.  It’s told through alternating chapters and perspectives of several different characters, including Auggie, as he starts public school for the first time.

Hope you all have a GREAT weekend!

Linking up with Amanda from Meet @ the Barre, Andrea from Momfessionals, Tif from Bright on a Budget, Jenni from The Diary of A Real Housewife.

Happy first day of spring!!!!   We are expecting 3-6 inches of snow today.  Mother Nature is so cruel!  If you don’t have snow and can get out to your local Rita’s, they are giving away free Italian ice today to celebrate the first day of spring!  Work has been super busy this week and I am so glad the week is over! Here are some favorites of the week!

1.  While I’m still watching One Tree Hill, my other favorite Netflix series is Private Practice.  I had started watching this when it first debuted but then stopped for whatever reason.  It’s a little bit like Grey’s Anatomy except at a medical practice.  I’m enjoying it but of course I decide to pick shows that have 100+ episodes each!  I have so little time to watch television as it is that I’ll be watching these shows for awhile!

2.  Favorite bookmarked recipe of the week:  These S’mores Blondies from blog Crazy for Crust. I love all things S’mores.   Growing up camping with my family and being a girl scout….I was raised on s’mores!  If you’re a regular blog reader, you’ve noticed that I haven’t been posting any dessert type recipes.  That’s basically because I haven’t been cooking any!  The kids gave up all sweets and treats for Lent.  They’ve been impressively good with sticking with this and I am NOT going to tempt them.  (I think next year they’re going to stick to one specific thing, like ice cream or candy….not EVERYTHING!!).  So hopefully, after Easter, I will be trying these S’mores Blondies out!

3.  My Panera salad.  If you follow me on Instagram, you saw that I had the Chicken Cobb Avocado salad for lunch yesterday!  Before I started working from home, I’d alternate between this salad and Chipotle for lunch on Fridays.  Since I started working from home, we usually have leftovers that I can eat and it’s so much easier to just eat at home, rather than drive somewhere.  But yesterday, I was craving this salad and succumbed to the craving…..YUM!

4.  My brother was watching the kids last weekend and introduced my daughter to this YouTube channel “Kids React.”  She has been binge-watching these videos.  I saw this one with her about kids trying escargot.  They have tons of videos with kids reacting to different topics from VCRs and typewriters to caviar and SPAM.

5.  Booking our vacation!   You will probably be hearing A LOT about our trip from now until August, when we finally go.  But this week we booked our vacation to Disney!  We decided to drive this time to save on airfare.  We’re going to spend 6 nights and 7 days at the actual hotel!  It’s been four years since our last trip and we’re sure the kids are going to have a blast!

photo credit:  The Disney Moms

Have a great weekend!

Linking up with Amanda from Meet @ the Barre, Andrea @ Momfessionals, Jenni from The Diary of a Real Housewife, Tif from Bright on a Budget and Michael from Rattlebridge Farm.

Happy Friday!  I am LOVING the warm weather we had this week!  It gives me hope that spring is on its way.  Weekdays are pretty uneventful around here with the kids in school and the Weekend Chef and I both working during the day.  This week I leave you with one recipe and four randoms!

1.  Favorite recipe bookmarked this week:  This is a recipe I can’t make for the kids because I know they won’t eat it.   So, I’ll file it in the, “Kids Are Visiting the Grandparents, What Shall We Cook For Dinner” folder.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it….Crispy Buffalo Wing Shrimp with Blue Cheese Grits?!!!!  Yes, please!!!  Get this recipe from food blog How Sweet It Is here.

2.  Family Vacation Plans:  Disney or a Cruise??!!  The last time we went to Disney was when the kids were 3 and 5.  They are now 6 and almost 9.  We went on a cruise this past September (the kids first!) and we all loved it.  Relaxing and fun!  Disney will be like new to my son, who was so young he doesn’t remember much and couldn’t go on a lot of the rides.  However, relaxing it is not…..after the last trip I felt like I needed a vacation from the Disney vacation!  Any thoughts or suggestions??!!!!

3.  Kohl’s Cash:  If you follow me on Instagram, you saw this photo yesterday.  I’ve been really good about not shopping…anywhere. But I received a 30% off coupon, plus with the free $5 off coupon they gave me, and the Kohl’s Cash….they were basically making me go shopping!

4.  We tried these this week.  Not calling them a favorite because they weren’t.  They satisfied my salty/crunchy craving but weren’t anything special.  Not Lay’s most interesting or different flavor, but since it was new, had to try it!

5. And also tried these last night.  I saw these for the first time grocery shopping this past week and of course had to pick them up.  It says on the package that they’re made with pale ale.  I was a bit disappointed and was expecting a much more battered fry.  I thought I could smell the ale while they were cooking, but a “beer batter” taste was barely perceptible.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Linking up again this week with Amanda at Meet @ the Barre,  Andrea @ Momfessionals,  Jennie @ The Diary of a Real Housewife,  Katie @ Cup of Tea and Michael @ Rattlebridge Farm.