Do-Gooder

My son the philanthropist. I mean, this kid does his part. Just ask his teachers. Today, while playing with a "continents of the world" puzzle, Ben let everyone know what a good person he is...

B: Hey, this is Africa.
Teacher: Yes, you're right.
B: We help the kids in Africa.
T: You do?
B: Yeah. We buy shirts at the Gap to help kids in Africa.


Funny as it sounds, he's right. I'm a huge fan of the (RED) campaign that sells everything from cell phones and ipods to t-shirts. Money from the sale of (RED) items is used to buy anti-retroviral drugs for people with AIDS in Africa. We have several t-shirts and I have a (RED) cell phone. Using their online calculator, the items we've purchased so far have covered 170 single-dose treatments for a mother and baby, to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child. Pretty cool, huh?

The Gap recently started making (RED) items for kids and they are super cute. When we were looking at the t-shirts the other day, I explained the idea of (RED) to Ben. Ben has a hoodie and a t-shirt and he clearly listens to me more than I give him credit for.

Soccer Monster

One of Ben's favorite Backyardigans songs goes like this, "I am a soccer monster, I love the soccer ball. I would rather play soccer than do anything at all." So, maybe he doesn't love soccer quite that much, but he has enjoyed the Saturday soccer clinic we've been doing for the month of October.

Imagine 15-20 three-year-olds and the parents (each child with their own soccer ball) doing soccer drills and playing soccer games for 45 minutes. Yep, it's crazy. In fact, unless you've been there, you can't truly appreciate how nuts it is. But, it's also pretty fun and it seems to make Ben at least a little tired.

Check out that balance-- esp. considering the ball is almost as big as he is!

"Go.......

Hounds!"

(Just in case you thought they only looked alike from the front)

A picture is worth...well, you know.

Thursday was "Chief's Day" at preschool. In class, they made Chief's pennants using the letters "K" and "C". Clearly Ben is still not impressed by this season's performance. I don't think I could have said it more eloquently myself and his father is extremely proud of his son's sports commentary.

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.

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.

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

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