A brief glimpse into the daily happenings of a 6-year-old, his new baby brother and his family.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Thank God it's Butter

Tonight's dinner went something like this:

B: Not THAT placemat. I want the one with the "flyers"

H: Huh? We don't have a placemat with flyers.
B: Not "flyers".. "FLY--ERS" (wiggles his fingers)
H: Oh, spiders?
B: Uh, yeah. (sarcastic, 13-year-old-girl-eye-rolling-tone)

With the Halloween placemat in his spot, Ben is ready for dinner.
B: Let us pray. (really? It's nice, but not something we normally do.)
H: Sure.
B: (folds hands, watches to make sure we do the same.) Dear God... "fank-you" for food. Dear Mommy, "fank you" for food. Now we can eat.

That was nice. Last time he led us in a dinner blessing, he folded his hands, bowed his head and said, "Dear Ben..."

Halfway through dinner and after licking all the butter off his biscuit and leaving it on his plate...
B: Now let's do a new prayer.
H: Ok...
B: (singing: the ABC song) A-B-C-D-E-F-G- Thank you for the food we eat.
H: That was really cute, Ben. I like that one.
B: Thanks. Now I need more butter.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Computer Geek

While it may come as a surprise, I have not been very eager to teach Ben to use the computer. Something about his "take it apart and see if I can put it back together" makes me panic when I think about the entire website housed in files on my hard drive. Anyway, they have computer time at school, so Ben has discovered that computers aren't just for "watching a blog about me" (is it any surprise he wants to see his blog all the time?) or for watching the Japanese Potty Video on YouTube. Last Friday, he was more interested in playing the Pablo game on NickJr. than eating. Woah.


Sunday, September 9, 2007

What's for dinner: Rosemary Roasted Chicken and Potatoes


I decided to do a nice Sunday dinner tonight, so I tried a recipe from the seasonal Kraft Food and Family Magazine . It was really good. We all enjoyed it... ok, Don and I really liked it... see video below for Ben's reaction. But what does he know? He eats fake fruit and Jesus crackers.

Rosemary Roasted Chicken & Potatoes

6 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 tsp. dried rosemary leaves (I used fresh rosemary and used about 1 ½ tsp.)
1 tsp. black pepper, divided
1 whole roasting chicken (3 ½ lbs)
6 tbsp. zesty Italian salad dressing
2 lb. red potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
6 slices of bacon, crisply cooked, drained and crumbled
2 green onions, sliced

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix cream cheese, ¾ tsp. rosemary (if fresh otherwise 1 tsp. if dried) and ½ tsp. pepper. Starting at the neck of the chicken, use handle of a wooden spoon or fingers to carefully separate skin from meat of the breast, thighs and legs of chicken (think of it as chicken-liposuction), trying not to tear the skin. Spoon cream cheese mixture under skin; use fingers to push and spread some of the mixture out to the thighs and legs. Place chicken in shallow baking pan. Brush with 2 Tbsp. of the dressing. (I used my stoneware roasting pan—it worked great).

Toss potatoes with remaining 4 Tbsp. dressing, remaining ¾ tsp. rosemary (if fresh, otherwise 1 tsp if dried) and remaining ½ tsp. pepper in separate 13X9 (again, I used stoneware which made the potatoes really crispy and good) baking pan. Bake chicken and potatoes 1 hour 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (165 degrees), stirring potatoes every 30 minutes. Transfer chicken to large serving dish, reserving juices in the pan. Let chicken stand 10 minutes before serving. Meanwhile, add bacon and onions to the potatoes; mix lightly. Spoon potatoes around chicken on dish. Spoon off and discard fat from reserved chicken juices in pan. Serve chicken and potato mixture with reserved juices.

Serves 6

Heather notes: If you don't already receive Food and Family (it's free!), use the link above to sign up. It always has lots of great (EASY) recipes for each season. I’m going to try this method again, mixing garlic and roasted red peppers with the cream cheese for an Italian-type chicken. YUM!

Food Critic

Everyone's a critic...

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Shopping List

The next time you're at the grocery store, Ben would sure appreciate it if you could add the following to your list:

1) Fruit by the Toe
We have no idea why he calls it "Fruit by the Toe" instead of "Fruit by the Foot." Maybe he thinks it's less disgusting to eat toes than a whole foot. This item is best purchased at Costco so that you can buy 1,000,000 rolls of smushed fake fruit at a time.



2) Dr. Amanda Juice




Ben first tasted this juice at a baby shower for Jeremy and Amanda. When we went to the store later that day, he requested "Dr. Amanda Juice." Ever since, that's what we've called it. No word yet on whether Baby Linus will call it "Dr. Mommy Juice".


And, most importantly, please don't forget your....
3) Jesus




Yep. You read that right. My child thinks that fake-cheese crackers are his Lord and Savior. I think it's a standard case of hearing the word differently than it is said, but there is nothing funnier than hearing a request for a big bowl of "Jesus."

Monday, September 3, 2007

Now he's "Free" (Three)


Ben's 3rd Birthday Party
View slideshow