This is no joke people

This is no joke people, I have a serious Wanker problem at my house.  Here's the latest in Wanker's escapades.

Apparently Wanker wanted to play a game on the ps3, wonder if it was MLB11?

Last night we had veggie burgers.  We have been having veggie burgers for about the last 2 years and everyone here loves them.  Last night while chowing down the little one stares at his burger and says, "Well that's weird, there's a carrot in my burger."  Why is that weird?  "Why would there be a carrot in my burger?"  The middle one without missing a beat or even turning around says, "It's a veggie burger smart one why wouldn't there be a carrot in there."  This started the kind of epic brawl that only a large family who shares a meal together can appreciate. ;)  Always starts off kind of comical and then ends in tears and with a hacked off mommy. Good times.  Good times.
I do recommend the veggie burger, carrots and all!  Everyone loves them and they are quick, easy and healthy.  I buy the Morningstar ones which oddly enough are in the frozen breakfast section at the grocery store....nobody wants carrot burgers for breakfast. ;)

You can throw any kind of  wine with a veggie burger, even some Boones Farm although I wouldn't recommend it if you're over the age of 16 and don't want a massive headache the next day. ;)  I nice heavy chardonnay is probably a better choice.  One of my favorites is the Cupcake, but I also like the Flying Piano which is a little fruity but good.  If you're going to have veggies in your burger, you might as well go ahead and have a little fruit in your wine.  See, being healthy's not so hard. ;)

Happy Wednesday!

Where's....what?

Have you ever seen the game Where's Waldo?  Waldo is a goofy looking sort of guy with a red and white stripe shirt and a goofy grin who hides in photos.  Waldo turns up in all sorts of crazy places; it's really very funny.  Turns out we have our own Where's Waldo here.  I'm trying to come up with a name for this new game we have at our house, I've thought of Where's Wanker?, See Supporter?, View Vessel?.  I haven't been able to settle on one just yet, but I'm sure the perfect one will come to me.

Yes, that is the back seat of my car. ;)

What's for dinner?  Chicken and one of the yummiest salads ever!  The chicken I am baking in the oven with some Newman's Own balsamic vinaigrette dressing on it.  I am also making some banana muffins.  These I make from a box mix, which I highly recommend because they are home made without being difficult. Pillsbury has several different bread mixes and they are all yummy, look for them on the baking aisle. (No, Pillsbury did not pay me to say that. ;)  The salad is a recipe I got from a friend many years ago and I have made it a million times and passed it on to many many others.

Apple Poppyseed Salad

1 head of lettuce (I use romaine, but you can you use green leaf, spinach or red leaf too.  I wouldn't recommend iceberg as it has very little nutritional value)

1 or 2 green apples chopped

1 little bag of slivered or sliced almonds toasted

Mozzarella cheese

Brianna's Poppyseed dressing (This is the best poppyseed dressing I have found on the shelf)

Mix the lettuce, apples and toasted almonds, then throw however much cheese you like in there and toss it all together with the dressing!  YUM!

Review:

Zero left of anything.  Holla! Woot! Woot!

The wine for today is Le Faux Frog chardonnay.  It was given to me by my mom, the frog lady.  The woman knows her faux frogs and she picked a great one with this wine! 

Happy Tuesday!

The best and the not so good

Every week I make one trip to the grocery store.  These trips are well thought out, with a menu plan and a list.  If not, I leave the store with a cart full of oreo cookies and we eat out a lot. ;)  Each time I make this pilgrimage to the food market some sort of comment is made about my cart.  I'm not sure why my grocery habits are so entertaining to people, but apparently I should be charing admission to the show.  Thank you, thank you very much...I'll be here all week or next week. ;)  Here are a few of my favorites:

"Guess we won't be seeing you again til next month."  Yeah right...

"Did you know you just dropped a loaf of bread back there?"  Oops..sure didn't

"Ohhh, Lord child, what you be doin over there, feedin an army...um mm mmm ummm, Lord." Hear Minny from "The Help" in your head when reading that comment.  I think I found my new BFF. ;)

After being run over by his wife with her cart, "It's kind of like going to war isn't it?"  Umm, yeah and your wife is the enemy...sheesh.

"How many kids you got?"  Apparently too many.

"Oh my...you must have boys."  You think?

And the most recent (like 3 days ago) and my new personal favorite:  The little old man that stands by the carts at the grocery store and makes sure everyone gets a nice clean one going in says to me on the way out, "Excuse me ma'm....you're going to need to stop, we need to keep some food in the store for our other customers." HAHAHAHAHA!!!  We shared a good heehaww laugh over that and then I trudged out to my car with my overflowing cart full of groceries.  See you next week, Grandpa! ;)

On tonight's menu is THE best fish you have ever eaten...I mean like seriously good.  Restaurant good.  When I make this I feel like I should be on a cooking show or a famous chef or something.  In my mind, I am totally famous, fish recipe or not. ;)

Favorite Tilapia (that's what I call it, because that's what it is.)  I make this sans recipe...cuz that's how I roll. ;)  But here's the gist...
Spray the bottom of a baking dish of any kind with some sort of non-stick cooking spray.  Lay the tilapia in the dish and drizzle olive oil over it.  Sprinkle the fish with basil, parsley flakes and minced onion.  Slice a beef steak tomato in thick slices and lay one over each fish.  Drizzle balsamic vinegar over it.  Don't you just love the word drizzle in cooking?  Makes me laugh...isn't that a weather term? Then sprinkle (another weather term, this is gettting creepy) oregano and pepper over tomatoes.  Bake at 400 for 20 to 25 minutes.  I would err on the side of long on this because undercooked fish unless you are at a sushi restaurant is just gross.  This fish is seriously one of the best things I have ever made.  The flavors are fantastic together!  With this I put some crescent rolls (easy enough) and the not so good portion of the evening....balsamic honey glazed carrots.  You bake the carrots for about 20 minutes at 400 then mix together 2 tbls honey, 2 tbls olive oil and 2 tbls balsamic vinegar, drizzle ;) over the carrots and bake about 5 more minutes.

Review:
The fish is all gone and I made a LOT of it. Enough said.
The carrots are almost all still here. ;)  They were too crunchy and just not that great.  The hubby and I liked them ok, the brace faced teenager couldn't chew them well, and the younger two were grossed out by the "brown carrots".  Definitely not a hit, and steamed carrots are always well received here so I am certain it wasn't the carrots.  Oh well, of course the crescents were a hit so between those and the fish everyone is all fat and happy for the night. ;)

The best wine for a light white fish like tilapia is a nice pinot grigio.  I like the Barefoot pinot grigio, but I do not like being barefoot and pinoted; which is what could happen if you drink too much pinot grigio of any kind so let's be careful out there!

Happy Thursday!