Thursday night dinner is...

...pasta and salad. Plain with olive oil, and parmesiano reggiano for the girlies; with meat sauce for us. Oh, and it is only different because a of recent both girls decided that they n longer like tomato sauce. Silly girls :)

Thursday night mystery dinner...

...guess what?!

Wednesday Dinner - al fresco...

...I will call it a pseudo cheaters dinner :) it was a wonderfully hot day here in Portland. Certainly not the day to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Therefore, I got a couple different marinated chicken skewers from New Seasons to put on the BBQ. Alena selected a couple of different salads to go along. One was a quinoa, corn, and pepper salad, and the other a chickpea salad with marinated lemon zest, and olives. Both were delicious and this mothership did not spend a Minute cooking and I therefore call dinner tonight he pseudo cheaters Dinner :)

Tuesday evening dessert...

Yes, dessert on a weeknight. The most amazing strawberries - Oregon Hood with home grown mint. So delicious and we all love them :)))

Taco Tuesday...

...need I say more?! It is refried beans, guacamole, onions, and Toffuti tacos for Alena. Beef, onions, and Toffuti tacos for Mia Rosie. So fun and perfect on a summer evening :)

Dinner on the 4th of July, 2011

We actually had dinner out today with good friends of ours at the Hedgehouse in Southeast Portland. Good food, nice outdoor area for the kids to play, and good adult beverages :). The girls eat the Avocado, Bacon, Tomato, and Lettuce Sandwich. Followed by a visit to Pix, where they all enjoyed ice cream. Two vegan options today, coconut-chocolate, and lemon. Now guess who chose which flavor?

P.S.: Alena wants me to tell everyone that each kid also got a tatoo :)))

Cow and milk conversation overheard in the car this morning..

Ron likes to run the Sauvie Isand Half Marathon every 4th of July, and this year was the first time we joined him to hang out. Sauvie Island is on the Columbia River and is about 45 minutes away from where we live in Portland. It is where we go berry picking, to the pumpkin patch, and for an occasional hike. Beautiful especially on a sunny day with blue skies. In any case, we left bright and it being an island there is only one road to take you to the start of the race. We sat in traffic, next to herds of cows roming on their pastures. So here is the conversation...

Alena "oh, I Love cows so much. They are beautiful"
Ron "Why do you love cows"
Alena "Because they give milk"
Mia Rose "but Alena we cannot eat cows milk"
Alena "I Know, but other people can and it is good for them..."

I was amazed and - I admit - proud...

Sunday dinner on July 3rd, 2011 was...

...Asparagus Risotto again, with - of course - baby mixed green salad. Can you tell that we like asparagus?! We are really taking advantage of it...both girls like the asparagus and risotto :)

This is a perfect meal even on a summer night. Quick, easy, and yummy. Great to way to end a fun day :) Today we took advantage of the summer weather by taking a hike at the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge - http://www.portlandonline.com/parks/finder/index.cfm?PropertyID=490&action=ViewPark - to the Oaks Park Amusement Park - http://oakspark.com/ - and back along the Springwater Corridor through the Refuge to the park. Both girls walked the entire way, and yes, there was some griping involved on the hike back to the car :) At the park, each girl got to go on three rides, and ate a hot dog. So yes, risotto is the perfect ending of this lovely day! Happy 4th to all of you. :)

Dear summer we heart you :)

Another beautiful sunny day in the great city of Portland. Perfect to work in the yard, play outside, ride the bike, and go to the playground. Also a perfect day to walk to a pizzeria for dinner, and play at the playground for half dessert. Just lovely - the girlies are like little monkies on the playground :) Monkey bars, twists, climbing they had so much fun and going home is not fun. But, we have dessert at home. Yummy, delicious "Rice Dream Bites". Chocolate on the outside and vanilla rice cream on the inside. Delicious - they are also available made out of Almond milk which I actually prefer :) - So fun and as you surely can see on the picture, both girls love them.

The All American Dinner on a sunny, dry Friday night..

...and yes, this is just a picture of the girlies and I hanging out on the couch while I ponder this post.

Summer seems to have finally arrived in Portland. Alena was in garden camp today and Mia Rose and I accompanied the group on a walking field trip to the nursery. We (Mia Rose and I) then met a couple of friends for lunch and then went for a playdate at our house. Afterwards we picked up Alena - now what more perfect dinner is there on a summer night than the all American hamburger :). Yes, that is right, we cooked out hamburgers on the grill. A fun time was had by all :)
N