Birthday Celebration

Jake turned 17 on Tuesday. It was a school day and so we woke up a little early so that we had time for a special breakfast and time to open presents. His big gift was a new iPhone.

I made his requested breakfast of Eggs Benedict. {I used Pioneer Woman's recipe for the first time and it was so much easier than my old recipe!! Will definitely use this one again!}

Perfection!

Our family tradition is that the birthday boy or girl gets to choose the meals for the day. For dinner Jake didn't want to go out to a restaurant but wanted to stay home and for me to make crab legs.

So that is what I made! :)

Jake thoroughly enjoyed dinner! (OK, we all did!)

Make a wish!

Jake's favorite cake {Jello Poke cake recipe HERE}

All of that great food made for a very full Jakey! :)

The birthday festivities continued and last night Jake had a bunch of friends over for a sleepover. The only picture I took was of all the empty pizza boxes. :)

Happy Birthday Jake!!

Happy Birthday Jake

Happy Birthday

to you,

Happy Birthday

to you,

Happy Birthday

Dear Jakey

Happy Birthday to You!!!

Happy 17th Birthday Jake!! We love you so much!!

school stories

There have been a couple of funny school stories that Jake has shared with me the past few days.

One of his classes at school this year is AP Chemistry which is an extremely tough class. He came home from school and announced to me with great excitement that he received a 100% on a recent test. He was happily explaining that no one gets 100% on these tests. His teacher doesn't let the corrected tests out of the classroom and so he told her; "We can do one of two things; we can get a frame and hang this test up in the classroom or I can buy a fridge for the classroom so we can hang it up on that.." His teacher thought this was pretty funny! :)

The other story was about an AP US History quiz bowl that he was invited to. This class was one that he had taken last year and his teacher from that class invites past students that did really well in the class to come and compete in a quiz bowl with her current students. Jake was excited to be asked and arranged a "study group" at our house one evening for the 'past students' to go over old notes, etc. Jake told the teacher that they were having a study group and she laughed-- since they were not doing it for a grade, points or anything. Just to compete.  :)

Funny boy! And I love how dedicated he is to doing his very best at school (and everything he does!)

Memory Lane::Boys and their Wheels

All of this talk of Pete getting his "new" car has gotten me thinking about how boys have always loved their wheels.

It started for Pete as just a little guy.

{Pete is the little guy on the trike. :) 1970?}

And continued on through his cars in high school onto his lime green Honda in college.

{me and Pete 1987}

Yep, boys have always liked wheels. Those wheels could be on trains

{Pete and Tyler 1992}

or strapped on feet.

{Tyler 1994}

Those wheels could belong to beds.

{Jake, Pete, and Tyler 1997}

{Drew 2001}

Or cute little bikes with training wheels.

{Jake 1998}

Those wheels could be on a Pinewood Derby car

{Jake 2003}

or a treasured Dune Buggy.

{Tyler, Jake and Drew 1999}

Or even a mini John Deere tractor.

{Pete and Drew 2001}

And maybe the best is finally getting a drivers license

{Tyler 2007}

to drive a real set of wheels.

{Jake 2011}

Yes, boys love their wheels. :)

Quinoa Mexican Salad

It seems like wherever you look now you are seeing recipes popping up using the ingredient Quinoa {pronounced keen-wa} which is a tiny, bead like seed that is a great source of protein and other essential nutrients. It has a rich, nutty flavor.

Recently I have been reducing gluten from my diet and so I have been interested in experimenting with some recipes containing quinoa which is a gluten-free food.

Here is a salad recipe that I have made now twice in the last week because it just so good! Even if you are not eating gluten-free this is worth trying!

Salad:
1 cup dry quinoa
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1 cup frozen corn, thawed {I love Trader Joe's frozen Roasted Corn}
Dressing:
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Tablespoons lime juice
2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar

Prepare the quinoa according to the package directions.
In bowl, mix cooled quinoa, tomatoes, cilantro, and corn.
Mix the dressing ingredients together and toss with salad.

Fresh lime juice squeezed on top is amazing.

{I have also added pulled chicken to this salad and makes for a great protein addition.}

So simple and so delicious!!

Chicken Fried Steak dinner

The boys have been asking me to make Pioneer Woman's Chicken Fried Steak for a while now--
 and since it has been a year since the last time I made it, I figured it was time.

I started with PW's Creamy Mashed Potatoes. {You can find the recipe HERE.}

These are definitely not low fat, but oh my they are so good!

Next up was the Chicken Fried Steak. {Recipe is HERE.}

Making a big mess. Breading the meat.

Now for the frying. Again, not low-fat at all, but so good.

A sign of a good fried meal is all the grease splatters on the cookbook page. :)

Now for the gravy.

And finally dinner is served

to some very happy boys.

And maybe the best part? Leftovers for Monday night's dinner! :)