Dinner for March 28

Our plans for dinner flew out the window when one of the kids flew the coop and went to stay overnight at a friend's house. Why make a nice big dinner when not all of us would be present to enjoy it?

Off we went to Applebee's! While we were waiting for our food to arrive, my husband and I took turns playing Tic-Tac-Toe with our youngest. He is only seven and usually orders off the kids' menu. The kids' menu has games on it that require the use of a writing utensil, and it does come with three crayons. So Tic-Tac-Toe was the topic of conversation. Usually, when the family goes out to eat, we play a word game or other type of game to make it more fun, especially while waiting for the food to arrive.

While we were eating there really was no major discussion topic, so I can't really tell you what we talked about. The bad service did come up, however, as we waited forever for silverware. You can't exactly eat coleslaw with your fingers!

Oh, I do recall one thing that we talked about - finger exercises. My husband plays guitar and is going to teach our youngest how to play as well. The finger exercises were basically for the left hand and to train the brain to tell certain fingers to bend while others stayed straight. I tried the exercises as well, and got quite frustrated along with my son. Kinda made me glad I stuck with piano!

Tonight, if the power does not go out (we are in for a storm throughout the day), the steak that has been marinating will be cooked and eaten. Even if the power goes out, we have a barbecue out on the deck and it can be used tonight.

Dinner for March 27

We didn't have strawberry shortcake for dessert. We didn't have steak. Instead, we had the frozen green beans that my husband steamed. He added chopped red onion and sliced almonds to the beans. The boys weren't thrilled with the onions and let us know about it. Along with the beans, we had the artisan bread which had been sliced and toasted. After the bread was toasted, it had bruschetta spread on top and a layer of grated Fontina cheese sprinkled on top and then the toasts were put in the oven for a little bit.

The bread was a big hit but the beans, well, they didn't receive as much praise. And that's where the conversation laid. We talked about the beans. The boys don't care for onions of any sort, but my husband told them that there were onions in the bruschetta spread. The boys said they couldn't taste them. I said there were more beans and almonds than onions. The kids just did not care and did not want to eat the beans. They were told there would be no dessert if they didn't eat their beans.

The main question that was very hard to answer (for the adults) was: Which do you like better - the bread or the beans? It was a tie - they were both so good! Hubby and I decided on the beans because there was far more flavor. The boys voted for the bread. It figures!

Dinner for March 26

Last night it was just three of us as one of the kids spent the night at a friend's house. We did have the baked chicken that I mentioned yesterday as well as a bag of frozen beans. Not the summertime beans, but a store-bought bag of frozen beans that we steamed. There was no need for the artisan bread as we were all pretty stuffed from the chicken and beans.

Table talk turned to the subject of movie ratings and which types of movies the youngest member of the household was allowed to watch. Seeing as how last night was Friday night, we decided to have 'movie night.' Since it's all guys (except me) in the house, 'movie night' usually consists of something like 'The Matrix' or similar types of movies. Sheesh... can't a girl watch "Terms of Endearment" or something? No. Not unless she's by herself.

Anyway, I brought up the subject of movies that have bang-bang-shoot-'em-up storylines as well as when-people-die-they-don't-come-back-to-life type things. I explained to our youngest son, who is 7, that I'd rather he not watch things like that because he would get desensitized to violence. He should be watching "Hannah Montana" and "Camp Rock" and things rated G. There is no reason he should be watching any type of violence at his young age. Our 13-year-old son can watch things like that, but I'd rather supervise. I explained that PG meant 'parental guidance' and that he (the 7-year-old) can watch PG movies if one of us (me or his dad) is present. I don't think my child knows what he's in for since he has probably gotten used to watching movies that I don't allow, but that his dad saw (until I brought it up at dinner) no harm in. Now hubby and I are on the same page.

Tonight's dinner - not sure. I know it'll probably be something barbecued as the weather is in our favor - sunny and in the 60s. There is a box of strawberries in the fridge and I have a hankering for strawberry shortcake.

Dinner for March 25

Last night we talked about something that came up in church the other night. The question to be answered by all at the table was this:

"If you were to pray for each member of the family at 8 a.m., 12 noon, 5 p.m. and 10 p.m., what would you pray for at each of those times?"

The only person to answer was my husband who answered, for each of the times, that he would pray for me about my work day. It's crazy, but he was so eloquent and now I can't even remember his exact words! The kids didn't have a chance to answer the question, and neither did I, because we got off-topic entirely and started talking about other things. It never fails, what with four people all having their own thoughts and ideas.

Tonight we will be having baked chicken (two whole birds [cut up] in one giant glass dish) along with green beans that we picked last summer. The beans have been in the freezer and you would never know it once they've been steamed. They taste like freshly-picked summertime beans. So delish! There are two loaves of artisan bread on the counter, so I'm assuming we'll be having one of those as well.