Happy Monday!

This is the last night my mom is in town so this will be short & sweet. She's been here since the 21st so we've had a great visit. We didn't "do" much but she got to hang out lots with Evan. One thing that she got to see was Evan's new favorite thing....dunking cookies with Daddy. Here's a couple of pics. More blogging later!

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What's Cooking Wednesday - Brownies

I've always baked brownies from a box. I never really tried to bake them from scratch b/c the ones from a box tasted great & were easy. Well, we had a party to go to & I didn't have a box of brownie mix so I decided to give making them from scratch a try. I'm not sure I will EVER buy a box again. These are THAT good!

Brownies
Adapted from www.allrecipes.com

1/2 cup white sugar
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp water
1 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease an 8X8 inch square pan.

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, butter and water. Cook over medium heat until boiling. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips until melted and smooth. Mix in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt and stir in to the chocolate mixture. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies are set up. Do not overbake! Cool in pan and cut into squares.

See what else is cooking this Wednesday over at Shan's!

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Snow!

Well, we got about a foot of snow last night & today. It fell really fast & heavy. The positive is that it's only -2°C so it's not that cold. We headed outside to play & build a snowman. Evan loves playing in the snow & even ate some. Here are some pics of playtime!

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Now I remember why.....

I don't go out that much anymore. I went to the bar to celebrate my friend Marlow's upcoming nuptials. We had a blast but while I was there about 6 inches of snow fell....and was still falling when I had to wait outside....for 10 minutes....to hail a cab....almost took a girl out when she tried to steal it....then had to ride home while slipping, sliding, avoiding 2 different accidents & hoping that I would just make it home alive. This, boys and girls, is why I don't go out in Calgary!

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What's Cooking Wednesday - Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Evan loves cookies and crackers.  Like most toddlers he loves the carbs!  I don't mind it really, as they should have lots of high quality, whole grains in their diet.  The problem comes when I try to buy things for him at the store.  Almost all cookies & crackers have an ingredient list as long as your arm and are made with white flour.  I have tried (and mostly succeeded) to replace all the white flour I was using with whole wheat.   I've also started baking cookies & muffins for Evan.  They may not be 100% healthy but at least I know what is going into them!  This is my favorite banana muffin recipe & Evan loves, loves, loves them (and so do I, hence the 3 mini muffins I ate last night).  He would eat them all day, every day if you would let him. 

 

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Adapted from Banana Muffins II from allrecipes.com

 

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 large very ripe bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup - 1 cup chocolate chips (I just eyeball it)

Preheat oven to 350°.  Coat muffin pans with non-stick spray or use paper liners.  Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips.  Set aside.

 

Combine bananas, sugar, egg, melted butter & vanilla in a large bowl.  Fold in flour mixture (all at once) and stir until just mixed.  Don't over mix!  Scoop into regular or mini muffin pans.

 

Bake in preheated oven.  Mini muffins will take 10 - 15 minutes while large muffins take 25 - 30 minutes.  Muffins will spring back when lightly tapped. 

 

Makes ~55 mini muffins or 24 minis + 9 regular muffins (I would assume 12-15 regular muffins though I can't say b/c I've always made some mini muffins).

 

Recipe Notes:  Everyone loves these so they are a great "go to" muffin to use up those extra bananas.

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Pics from the Weekend

Another weekend come & gone. Will & Nicole had a pretty good time this weekend (I think). It was Nicole's last ringette game (Yay!). It's amazing how much of a time commitment sports are! I'm glad ringette isn't in the summer b/c it would be hard to choose between that & camping. Evan loves it when Will & Nicole visit. Unfortunately, he took advantage of the chaos & decided to go mining for treasure in the kitty litter box. All I can say is EWWWWW!!!!! Hopefully he was persuaded not to do that again (I will admit to smacking his hand for this. I don't do that very often but I think playing with kitty poop makes it warranted!).

Here are some pictures from this weekend & a few from before. I've also included a very funny video of Evan laughing...enjoy!

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Meeting Lauren Paige

Yesterday Evan and I went over to Andrea's house to meet their latest addition, Lauren Paige. She was born on March 5th & is a real cutie! I don't get to see Andrea nearly as much as I would like to because she lives on the other side of town & with work there never seems to be enough hours in the day! Thankfully we have lots & lots of camping planned this summer so we can catch up!

We arrived after big sister Kate had gone down for her nap so Evan had to entertain himself for awhile. Thankfully (for us not so much for Andrea), Kate took a short nap so pretty soon she was up & playing with Evan. Kate & Lauren seem to be getting along famously as well.

Here are some pictures from our visit!

Evan giving Kate a kiss.

Kate checking out the muffins I brought.

Me & Little Lauren

Kate thought Evan needed a barrette in his hair

The visit left Evan verrrryyyyy sleeeeppppy!

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Vegas Pictures 2009

We're back. I can say that I'm glad to be home b/c I missed Evan terribly. I can't say that I'm glad to be back in Calgary because it's FREAKIN COLD & someone rear ended me this morning. Joy oh joy! Gotta love winter which has lasted roughly 18 years this year. I am definitely ready for a warm up!

I stopped updating the blog while we were away because the Bellagio is one of those lovely hotels that charges $20+ per day for internet access & blocks wireless internet within their walls. The Venetian had free wireless so I was able to check Facebook & Twitter from my iTouch without breaking the bank but I had to draw the line at updating the blog & posting pictures. That little keyboard is not THAT user friendly.

Here are some pics from our trip. We had a great time. I didn't take too many pics b/c most things were indoors & the light always looked weird.

Paris hotel & Casino which is across the street from Bellagio

Our hotel room....nice (the first pic on this post is the view from our window)

Dewey with Poker star Greg Raymer

Dewey & I in New York New York casino. I wanted to try the pizza.

Me @ the M&Ms store. I had to buy white M&Ms for my sisters wedding.

The conservatory at the Bellagio...isn't it pretty?

Me with one of the ushers from Love the Cirque de Soleil Beatles show.

One of the atriums at the Bellagio

Me & Dewey at brunch at Cafe Bouchon in the Venetian.

Dewey LOVES it when I take pictures when he's trying to eat....Not! This was at Cafe Heidelberg - great German food!

Me & Emery at Cafe Heidelberg. He's playing the zither (which I had never heard of). He kept us very entertained!

Dewey when we were watching the National Heads Up Poker Championship at Caesar's Palace.

The shoppes at the Venetian. This gondola lady was singing opera!

Accordian player at the Venetian. Side note on the Venetian: It is a beautiful hotel & Dewey really likes the poker room their but the whole place reeks of flowers. They pump this fake rose smell throughout the ENTIRE hotel & it is very strong. It was insta-headache for me so I couldn't stay there very long. We considered staying there but read about the smell on tripadvisor. So, so glad we didn't stay there!!!!

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Greetings from Vegas!

We arrived in Vegas bright and early yesterday morning at 8:30am. Our flight left at 6:30 so I was TIRED! We went to our hotel (the Bellagio) and they didn't have any rooms ready. We left our bags with the bellman & headed out to find breakfast. I had done a bit of recon work on www.chowhound.com so I knew where I wanted to go. We headed over to Bouchon at The Venetian. It's a great little French bistro with the most amazing chocolate croissants EVER. I ate entirely too much but it was worth it! After that we headed back to the Bellagio to check things out. Our room was ready so we headed up. We got a room with a view of the mountains. Our room was much bigger/nicer than I had expected. Score! Dewey wanted to play some poker & I played a few slots. Dewey is much more of a "gambler" than I am. I like things that have 100% payout....like the spa & shopping!

After a pretty uneventful day (which was exactly what I needed), we headed off the strip to dinner. Another rec from chowhound was Lotus of Siam. Hands down the BEST Thai food I have ever put in my mouth. Definitely worth a visit if you are ever in Vegas. We had the Sea Bass on drunken noodles and the beef shortribs in red curry sauce. I can't get across how good this was!!!!! Yummy squared! After dinner I was DONE since I got up at 3:30 that morning. After a quick visit to Planet Hollywood & a bit of shopping I went to bed. Dewey stayed up a bit after me. One of the perks of Vegas, everyone can do things together & do their own thing.

Blogger is not letting me upload pics at this point so I'll try to upload some later.

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We're Going to Vegas!

I have HAD IT with winter! Dewey can sense that mutiny is at hand so he suggested we take a trip somewhere, anywhere warmer. We looked around, threw out different ideas (Palm Springs, Mexico, etc) but decided on Vegas b/c we only have a few days & we wanted to keep it CHEAP. There are some screaming deals on in Vegas right now so off we go. Yea! We're leaving on Thursday!

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Knowing Me, Knowing You - March Edition

It's Knowing Me, Knowing You time again over at Shan's. I am asking myself again..."What would I do without Shan to get me out of my blogging funk?". Here's hoping I get back into the groove of blogging most days!

#1 What is your dream life?

I have a pretty great life now but I have to admit that I would love to live somewhere warm....preferably with a beach & no hurricanes (It's a dream life, right?). I would do something fun & exciting for part time work & spend lots of time home with Evan and with friends (who all live in the warm beachy place instead of Calgary/Austin/Alabama).

#2 Do you play games online?

Not very often. I liked playing Scrabble on Facebook for awhile. I don't tend to get enough time on the computer to check Facebook/blog/etc as it is so I don't have time for games.

#3 Seen anything good lately?

Not really. I haven't seen a movie at the theatre in a LOOOONGGG time. We watched Igor last night & I thought it was just okay (at best).

#4 What is your favourite pizza combination?

If we are ordering in, I like veggie. If we are out at a place with schmancy pizza, I order just about anything with goat cheese!

#5 How are you with houseplants?

Terrible! They die quickly if they enter my house. I would love to have nice plants but between having a toddler, cats & my brown thumb...it's never going to happen!

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