Ben trying to crawl

Ben's been up on his knees trying to crawl. This was his first attempts at it a few weeks ago. It was mostly a lot of legs flailing and using his head in what I like to call the inchworm.

Now he is much better at it and is fast. He keeps his head up and he will book it when he sees what he wants. Or maybe he is trying to get to it so he can enjoy it for a few seconds before Amelia or I take it away. He loves chewing on cords, especially ones plugged in. He has sharp little teeth so it's not a good combo.

He's had a cold for almost 2 weeks now, and is cutting some more teeth, so he has been so grumpy. Many days Amelia has insisted that we "put him back in his crib. Ben's grumpy and needs a nap". If only it were just that simple. He seems to be getting back to the happy smiling baby we love. He loves his fruits and non-green veggies. He is sitting up for a little bit by himself and he has just figured out how to eat some little cereal snacks. He has to be fast so Amelia doesn't sneak them all. She tells us she is feeding Ben, but really she is eating them. But who can blame her. Have you ever had the Gerber Graduates Peach Fruit Puffs??

Some yummy recipes

I have been trying some new recipes and haven't had much success, but there have been a few. I thought I would share them.

Turkey Teriyaki Meatballs (no pictures)
Sautee some diced onion and set aside
grate fresh ginger (about 2 T or as much as you like)
1-2 pounds ground turkey (or chicken)

Mix with your hands ginger, onions and turkey. Make into meatballs. Cook in a lightly oiled pan turning until cooked. (10 minutes or so). Sautee some fresh ginger snap peas for a few minutes. They should still be firm but bright green. Add peas to meatballs. Mix 1/2 c soy sauce and 2 T brown sugar. Pour over peas and meatballs and cook until sauce thickens and peas are finished cooking, another 3-5 minutes. Serve over rice. You can add shelled edamame also.

Coconut Almond Chicken
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I think Panko are best)
1/4 cup or so finely chopped almonds
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1 egg white
2-3 chicken breasts
Mix bread crumbs, almonds and coconut in a wide bowl or plate. Cut chicken breasts into thin strips. Dip strips in egg white first, then roll in bread crumb mixture. Place on a greased pan. (try and wipe off any nuts or coconut that fall onto pan, because it will burn while baking) Bake at 450 for 15 minutes. You can flip if you like, but not neccessary. Lower heat to 350 and bake until done. About another 15 minutes. You can skewer these with pinapple and drizzle with cream of mushroom soup over rice. Nice and crucnchy and a little sweet.

Almond Carmel Chocolate Cookies
This are a little time consuming, but yummy. I suppose you could just make them in a pan and cut the time in half, but that's not nearly as pretty.
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup white sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup ground almonds
Beat together. Roll into small balls and make a well in the center with your thumb. Make it deep and wide making sure sides are high enough to pour caramel into. Bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes or so. The longer you bake the crunchier, it's up to your preference. If baking in a pan, press in greased 8x8 and bake 20 minutes or so.
Make caramel. I prefer homemade caramel, but I think you can use wrapped caramels and melt down with evaporated milk, 1/3 cup with 14 oz caramels. OR I haven't tried this, but I think it will work, bake the cookies with an unwrapped Rolo candy in the middle and it should melt and save you the step of melting chocolate over it too.
When cookies have cooled, spoon caramel into "cups". Let stand until cooled and set. Melt MILK chocolate chips with a little butter and either cover, drizzle or dip cookies in it.
I also got lazy and didn't want to melt more chocolate, so I left some with just caramel and that was just as yummy. I made some for Amelia with black raspberry jam in it and that was also good. Just spoon jam in well and bake like thumbprint cookies.

I got this recipe from Real Simple and didn't make any changes. I will just put the link and you can check it out. So good. Glazed Lemon Cookies

I also made some flops, like rack of lamb. That is worth just paying a chef at a restaurant to deal with and I know there was something else, but I've already forgotten it that's how not impressive it was. I have made a yummy soup basically with broth, cannellini beans, a little couscous, seasonings and fresh spinach. That was a hit even with picky Amelia.
Happy cooking.

6 Years Today...

I just wanted to sneak this post in today because we were married 6 years ago today. This is one of the first time's we did something really great to celebrate in years. Last night, we went out to dinner without kids at a great restaurant in Hollywood called the Geisha House. It was a fun and classy place, yet hip, with EXCELLENT food. It is Japanese American style, so we had things like sushi rolls with cream cheese and jalapenos, lobster and steak, or lamb chops with a teriyaki type glaze. It was so yummy and really fun. My friend Claire watched the kids, so I didn't have to worry about Amelia the whole time. Philip told me the reservation was at 6:45 and of course we were running late and I was rushing and panicking. Then after we dropped the kids off and got back in the car, he told me that the reservation was really for 7, but he knew I would be running late. It worked. We walked in at the desk at 7 and were at our table at 7:02. Nice move, Bagley. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and we stuffed ourselves to the brim.
Now here is a quick recap of our story for those who don't know, or like hearing these kinds of things. Met Philip August 2000 because my close friend in college was Tyler, who also was Philip's close friend from high school. First time I met him he seemed so awkward and I wasn;t too interested, but my roomies thought he was hot. I died his hair red the next time I saw him. The 3 of us spent a TON of time together until sometime in the fall of 2001, I started to like him as more than a friend and kept dropping hints to see if it was mutual. On January 15th, 2002 we kissed and I knew deep down he was the one I wanted to marry, but kept it to myself so he wouldn't freak out. Then in August of 2002, I moved to Minnesota to do an internship. He was afraid I wouldn't come back unless I was spoken for, so he proposed to me with a wire ring at his parents cabin just a few hours before I left. We drove to the nearest town and bought a ring and then I moved. We were supposed to get married in May, but a month or so after I was gone, Philip told me he wanted to move the date up. I resisted, mainly because I wanted a spring wedding, but after he met all my ridiculous demands I thought he never would meet, I realized how serious he was, so I agreed and we were married on January 25 2003.
Here is a montage of pics of us from when we first met in 2000 to a few months ago. Love that my hair is basically the same, just my weight fluctuates!!! And I love Philip's crazy fluffy mountain man hair when he grows it out.

California does not recognize the "California Roll"

This is the video from the ticket I got for running a stop sign. Here's kind of what the conversation was like when Phil opened a $100 ticket.
P: What!! I got a ticket?? (looking at a form with pics of our car and plates)
V: For what? Running a red light, speeding....?
P:Running a stop sign where we hiked on Thanksgiving.
V: (looking at pictures on ticket) How is that proof? It's just a picture of you past a stop sign. They could have taken that right after you stopped.
P: There's a video online (we watch the following video)


V: Oh.... Welp, I guess that's proof.
P: Seriously, do you see ANY brake lights.

The funny thing is, I would have suspected a ticket for going 15 in a 10 mile zone, not a stop sign because this is what I was thinking as I was driving over some speed bumps, "this is a private road, so they can't really do anything. These are all just suggestions"
Guess I was wrong.

Flu Cravings

Amelia just got over the flu and she keeps requesting funny things to eat. She saw this picture and is insistent that I have cookies somewhere in this house that I am keeping from her. Suprisingly, I don't, but this picture does make me want to have some cookies, truffles and Nog (dairy free and egg free "egg nog" for our little dairy/egg girl). Some of her other requests, meat sticks, salsa, hummus, and sushi (she's never eaten it but sees us eating it) I guess she needs some flavor in her diet now she's feeling better.

Our New Year

We were still recovering from our drive, so New Year's eve Philip got a couple movies from the library and a bag of "junk food" (organic chips, rice paper sushi, a mini pizza and eggnog ice cream) We watched one movie and went to bed at 9:30 or so. The next day we went to the beach nice and early. It was a little cool, but fun. Amelia loved chasing the frisbee and Ben stayed all wrapped up in his seat. We enjoyed a nice burger from the Habit (mmmm) and lots of napping.

Christmas

We made it to Phil's parent's house just in time for Santa to drop down the chimney and see the kids. (I'll try and post a pic when I find one) Amelia wasn't scared at all, much to my surprise. She had a good time opening every present and eating candy. We got to spend some time with some of our old friends. I got to go shopping with Annie and no kids. The kids and I walked around temple square with Jared. Philip saw Body Worlds, without throwing up!! (It's an art/science? exhibit where they use real bodies to show how we are made) We got to see a lot of family and we headed home. We stopped in St George to see my 2 best friends from high school. The kids made it all 12 hours in the car with no real melt downs or vomiting incidents and thanks to the Prius, we made this whole trip on about the cost of 1 one-way plane ticket from LA to SLC. Here is the picture collage highlight. (click on it for close ups)