An Unheathly Kind of Week

This has been a pretty standard week. I posted last Thursday, and I am going to try to post weekly. Blake has "game night" with his best friend from college every Thursday, and it just seems like a good time to post a weeks worth of food and Lottie news.

This week, Lottie is really starting to walk around and talk talk talk. She is also getting into everything. For example, Blake made the most wonderful Negamaki (green onions wrapped in thin beef and grilled in a sweet soy glaze). He set them on the table and came to get me from packing in the bedroom. When we came back, Lottie had pulled the plate off the table and onto the floor and Emma was enjoying the last few licks when we were ready to sit down and enjoy! The other thing that Lottie is doing this week is "reading". She loves to look at books and turn the pages. It is so cute especially since the pages are always upside down.

On Friday, we had a little dinner party with Yas, Jenny and Kelly. We had a great time. We played a lot of games and ate a delicious 5 pound prime rib with a horseradish crust. Jenny made a wonderful chocolate pound cake and a tater tot casserole. Yes, you heard me correctly, a casserole made out of tater tots. Can you imagine anything better? I am so mad at myself for not taking pictures.

Saturday was funny. We planned to make an extravagant dinner with an appetizer of mussels two ways and the veal chop dinner that I have been trying to make for months now. Blake and I spent the day shopping and finding all of the ingredients at the best possible prices. One of the recipes we decided to do was Dark Beer steamed mussels with portabello mushrooms and eggplant from the Flying Pans cookbook. Since I HATE beer, Blake also played it safe by making his white wine, garlic, butter steamer sauce as well. So we had mussels two ways.

I was so glad he made the Italian version. I am sure that the beer ones would have been fabulous for someone, but not me. I would imagine that is because I don't like beer, especially not dark beer.

After we ate the appetizer, we were stuffed. We decided that since veal chops are pretty expensive, we would save it for Sunday. When Sunday rolled around, we were hungry and ready. We used the veal recipe from Flying Pans, and it was awesome! The little disk on top is a Parmesan puff pastry. Oh my my my..... It was served with broccolini and lobster ravioli. Overall, this dish was better than we expected.


I decided that I was going to start sharing our "normal family" meals as well even if they are not beautiful so here goes.

This week we also had a simple and easy open faced fried chicken, tomato with horseradish potato salad and a fried egg. The Foster Family loves eggs. I hear reports that an egg a day is great for the body and others say they are terrible. We are sure hoping that they are good because between Blake and I, we go through about 2 dozen a week.


Something else we had was Classic Chicken Francese. This is one of my favorites. I LOVE fried food, but I really love this dish because it is pan fried in a egg batter covered with a butter sauce. Yikes! Bring on the elastic.


Blake and I love to watch the Food Network. We have been watching the Worst Cooks in America show. We don't like it that much, and we are actually thrilled that it is over. The best thing we got from it was on the finale. The girl who won, we don't even know her name but she looks like she walked out of the year 1983, made a pork cutlet with a poached egg on top. We had to have it. Blake made it, and we threw together a tomato salad. Blake made the most wonderful, delicious, and unhealthy Parmesan potato gratin. The picture didn't do it justice so I decided to make a video so you could hear they butter and cream bubbling together.


I talked to Blake about putting the recipes for his food on the blog. The problem is he doesn't use recipes. I am going to try to start writing down the recipes as he cooks each day. This was, I can include them on the blog and you can enjoy this yumminess at home. Be sure to take pictures!

Until next week.... Happy Eating!

My daughter makes it okay for me to be a working mom

I guess I need to blog more. It just seems like life gets in the way. So much has happened since my last post. Lottie start walking. She says more than just "bah". She has new favorites. She notices when I leave, and though the communication is not verbal, I feel like she does "talk" to us. We have also cooked some amazing meals and started a grocery budget which is going to throw a huge curve ball on our creativity in the kitchen. We are up for the challenge.

Let me start with the walking part. She doesn't choose to walk over crawling yet, but she can walk across a room and is a champ if we hold her hand. I think in the next month, she will be running. :) It is so cute to see her walk because I think "diaper booty" is the cutest thing ever.As for her communication, it used to be that no matter what Lottie looked at, point at, played with or ate, it was a "bah". Sometimes it was a loud "bah" and other times it was a question "bah?" No matter how she said it, it was adorable. Now she is beginning to relate words with objects. For example, she will look at Blake, point and say "Dada". She requires more redirection with "mama", but the relation of word to person is there.

The coolest thing (for me at least) that Lottie has done recently was in the morning. Each morning, Blake and I get up and make breakfast and pack my lunch together. Some mornings Lottie wakes up and other mornings she doesn't. This particular morning she was up, and I was holding her as I was getting my stuff ready to go. When the time came, I handed Lottie over to Blake as I do every morning. This morning was different. She went to him but immediately pulled away and reach for me. As I was walking out, she said "mamamamammama". It melted and broke my heart at the same time. Blake said after I walked out, she crawled over to the door, stood up against it and started crying.

Though this seems sad, it was a relief to me. It showed me that even though I am a working mom, my daughter loves me, wants to be with me and knows who I am. This was a big fear for me when the time came for me to go back to work. It was the most gratifying feeling in the world. Now each day when I come home, she smiles ear-to-ear and can't get to me fast enough. It makes the work day worth every minute.


ON TO FOOD:

Blake and I have been really experiementing with some new stuff thanks to Chef Bernard and Chef Ron's new cookbook. I worked for these men when I live in San Diego. They were the chefs at The Marine Room (http://www.marineroom.com/) which is one of the top restaurants in the nation, maybe the world. I knew I was working for some amazing chefs, but now that I am not there, I see just how good they actually are. Blake and I have our first baby-free vacation to visit there in April. We are so excited!

Anyway, the book that they created is a traveling cookbook. Both Ron and Bernard have experience and learned most of what they do in the kitchen from their world travels. I am so jealous. The recipes in their book are pretty detailed, and we definitely stray from exacts when we are working from it, but we are so impressed with what we can create from their direction.

We also started a budget this year which means we only have $450 to spend on groceries each month. That may seem like a lot to most people, but we only spend $50 in out to eat money. We cook almost every meal at home. It boils down to about $120 a week. We are so thankful for Super H, Costco and the Dekalb Farmer's Market for allowing us to explore our interests in cooking and stay within our budget.

Over the past few months, we have had the opportunity to cook a lot of the meals in this book. Allow me to share. (feel free to email me for any recipes or ideas. We love to share.)

The first one was a Monkfish dish. It is a French dish which are normally quite tasty but very detailed. Sadly, I had to email Chef Ron for information about Monkfish because I was unfamiliar with it. I found Monkfish for $6.99 a pound at Dekalb Farmer's Market and it was worth every penny. It was served on a bed of witled veggies that included fingerling potatoes, asparagus, carrots and leek. The sauce was probably the most labor-intensive part of the process. It was an apple cider reduction sauce, and it was a great compliment to the fish. The dish utilized a lot thyme which I LOVE. Also, it was garnished with bacon (my favorite ingredient in the world).

The next dish we did was Australian. It was not my favorite at all, but my mom and dad really loved it. For me, the problem was the size of my oysters. I like small oysters, and these were quite large. These were "Coffin Bay Deep Fried Oysters with Olive Oil Hollandaise and a Shiraz Reduction". I know that I didn't nail the reduction. It was runny and still tasted too much like wine. Honestly, my favorite part was the zucchini on which it was served.
Just the other night, Blake and I wanted something fun to do with our pork loin. We referred to the book. We decided to do a dish that was inspired by Japan (our favorite). It is a Kurobuta Barbeque Pork Tenderloin (we used a diff cut) with Baby Bok Choy, Diakon Radish and Mirin Sauce. We loved the sauce, but it was pretty potent. We didn't need as much as we made. The dish overall, was a success. It is not as pretty as Ron and Bernard's, but I wasn't going to spend the extra money on the flower that would have made the presentation. Other than that, we were pretty proud.

The final dish that we did was something that we did around Christmas time. We always cook Prime Rib roast. When I saw this dish, derived from England, I was excited to try it. It was a pork rib roast with Cheddar grits, butter steamed asparagus and a mustard peach glaze. Again, the glaze/sauce was the hardest part, but it is what tied the entire dish together. This dish was definitely a hit!

A few things that we feel are worth mentioning, but are not from the cookbook are:

Blake's Japanese Seafood Stew (probably the best soup I have ever had).
Again we went to the Dekalb Farmer's Market and stocked up on a variety of seafood. He threw that in with some yummy Thai flavors (lemongrass, ginger, coconut milk, shallots, garlic, etc) and whipped up the best soup ever!












By far my favorite new healthy cooking addiction is my Butternut Squash Soup. It is so simple. One onion, carrot, celery stalk, medium butternut squash, sweet potato. Chop, add to a pot, cover with chicken stock, boil until fork tender, blend, season. So easy, so healthy, so yummy. We add shrimp to ours when we serve it, but it is delightful on it's own!
Stone ground mustard, prosciutto-wrapped shrimp toast. I feel the the name says it all on this one.

Recipe Free Apple Pie

Fried risotto poppers with ricotta cheese. Blake made these a few times and every time they were a hit. I even brought them to the girls at school. We definitely gobbled them up!
Traditional Chicken Parmesan. Sometimes you just have to go back to the basics.
The Foster Pizza War All On One Pie. I went with proscuitto, spinach and gourmet mushrooms. Blake played it safe with ham, bacon, jalapenos and pineapple. Wake me up when he is done eating his boring side.
I hope to update on a more frequent basis since we cook every night, but I can't make any promises.

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

Wow! It has been since July that I updated the blog. I would say that working on 12 hours of grad school, a very challenging year at work, being a mom and a wife and selling real estate, my blogging time has been limited. That does not mean that we don't have tons to share. We still cook every night, so I will share some photos of our meals at the end.

Since July, we have moved back to our house in Peachtree Corners and WE LOVE IT! We have so much space, and Blake has the Man Basement. There is so much that I want to do to it over time, but we are just happy to be back. We love having our Ingels, Trader Joes, Super H and Whole Paycheck within a few miles of our house.




As for Lottie, she is so much fun these days. She has started crawling, and my guess is that she will be walking with a few weeks. She loves to swing and eat. She eats all of the time, but we are sticking to only healthy foods. She eats every fruit and veggie and she loves spinach and egg white omelets. She is in the 50th percentile for weight, 90% for height and 90% for head. She is one big-headed string bean.

Lottie's first real word with contextual meaning was "ball", and now she says it all the time. She loves to play with balls. We bought her a bunch of that kind that are in the play areas, and she throws them everywhere. She has one inflatable green one that she likes and she likes the soft volleyball at Choo-Choo and Big Daddy's house.

She loves to rock out to one song, and only one. It is the Black-Eyed Peas song, "I gotta feeling". She bops her head and flails her arm. It is too cute. She even rocks out the head motion when I sing to her while changing her diaper. It is very funny. Watch the video below. Notice the head.



The older she gets, the more fun she becomes. I am so thankful on this day for my family, my dog, and my friends. Lottie is so blessed to have wonderful grandparents who love her more than anything. Today Boppy and Pops introduced her to their chickens and their rabbits. We also had our first experience in the hot tub. Oh man! She loved that. Splash, splash, spalsh. She also got to spend some quality time with her great grandpa, Bud and great grandma, Margie. I think this was such a neat thing for all of them. They were so cute. Grandpa loves to crawl with Lottie and dance with her too!



As a mother, I feel incredibly blessed to have a nurturing and caring husband. I am blessed to have parents who will do anything for me and my family. I am blessed to have two amazing sets of inlaws that have taken me in like their own. I am bless to have a best friend who loves me unconditionally. Overall, I am so blessed and thankful on this Thanksgiving.

This was a "Chopped" night. Blake made giant shrimp, ricotta and spinach ravilois with an asaragus puree AND and amazing proschuitto stuffed chicken breast with a balsamic mushroom glaze. YUM.

We will always throw out Thai food in there. This was a fall twist on curry. Spicy Pumpkin Chicken Curry.

We have started using Quail eggs in our cooking and we really love them.



Grilled Duck breask with seared scallops and quail eggs. I made this one!

Blake's Negamaki. Yum~ This is my favorite appetizer that he makes.



We got a fabulous cookbook greated by the two greatest chefs I have ever worked for. Chef Ron and Chef Bernard. This was a Curry Clam Hot Pot, and it was amazing!

Meredith Cooked...Mark it down in history!

Yes, yes, yes... The heading is true. I cooked tonight. When we come to Florida, we ALWAYS eat well. Between Blake, Phil and Jeannie we have plenty of amazing cooks in the kitchen. I started feeling the pressure last night and volunteered to cook. Blake chose for me to make my Panko Crusted Chilean Sea Bass with a Key Lime Buerre Blanc and fresh tropical fruits on Japenese Sticky Rice. Man, pouring on the pressure. I was thinking towards lasagna, but we went for the Seabass. We went to a great little seafood market here in Florida and got some amazing Seabass for next to nothing (as far as Seabass goes). Blake picked up some gator tail meat since he has been craving the for some time. I went ahead and whipped up the meal. The buerre blanc was more liquidy than I like, but over all I am happy with the dish. The fish was cooked near perfect.














Chilean Seabass in a Key Lime Buerre Blanc with fresh tropical fruit.





























Blake's Gator Tail bites with fried jalapenos with a trilogy of sauces.

Last night (after the amazing prime rib night), Jeannie made a one pot meal. Ginger, curry chicken with potatoes and carrots. It was awesome! In addition, she whipped up one of her famous salad that are to die for. See below.















Jeannie's Famous Salad!














One pot Ginger, Curry Chicken with potatoes, mushrooms and carrots.


Blake's mom buys unique cookbooks on Amazon. Best Idea Ever. Well, she got a Moroccan cook book for Blake and we were off to the grocery store. He made a traditional meal, which was fantastic. It was lamb and beef meatballs with a yummy sauce and over easy eggs on top. YUM! Rock on Morocco!



We need ideas... Bring them on!!!

The Grass is Always Greener Until you Become Adults

Every time I sit down to think about blogging, I think about my cousin Katie. Katie is the most poetic and eloquent writer I have ever known. When I read what she writes, I feel like I fall into the deepest part of her soul. I feel like I can feel what she is feeling. She and I were born on the same day, in the same hospital, with the same doctor. This was quite an amazing experience for two little girls who would soon become best friends. Katie and I spent holidays together at grandmas house when we were children. I think Katie always envied me and I always envied Katie. Katie was the star soccer player, and I always wanted to be. I was the star basketball player, and Katie always wanted to be. Katie could (and still can) bring a room of strangers to tears with her piano and singing skills, and I can’t carry a tune in a bucket but I have always wanted to be musically talented. Right as Katie began to get the attention of the room, I would make someone laugh and steal that attention away. Katie always wanted to be the funny one, and I always wanted to be the talented one. As we grew older, we became better friends but we always thought we wanted what each other had. I guess life works that way. Katie was my idol, and I was hers.

As we became teenagers, we spent some time at each other’s houses in Cary and Atlanta. When we were not together, we were writing each other hand written letters or talking on the phone. Once we got into high school/college, we drifted apart, not with intention, but just naturally as friends sometime do. Katie and I became grown ups, and I think that is when we both remembered how influential and important we were to each other. We picked up right where we left off at 15 years old. I love Katie more than words can express. I envy her, but not in a jealous way. I envy her with pride. I am so proud of the woman she has become. I am proud of her talents and her strengths. I am proud of her determination and patience. I think she is a model for what a woman should. Katie is a picture of GRACE.

I think that Katie and I will both agree that we have been blessed with amazing and perfect lives. Katie is married to a wonderful man named Steve, and I married Blake who I loved way back when. Katie and Steve live in Ohio, and they made the decision to go on a journey to adopt from Russia. Their story has moved me. I would do anything in the world for Katie and Steve to be able to meet their little precious one they have desired and dreamt about for so long. I can’t wait until that day. Feel free to follow their journey with them at http://steveandkate.wordpress.com/. You will be able to see why I have so much pride in my cousin Katie. Now that we are grown and both blessed in so many ways, I see that I don’t want to be Katie and Katie doesn’t want to be me. We are just so happy to have each other just the way we are. The grass is always greener until you become adults, then you just become to the fertilizer that makes each other’s yard beautiful.

Blake's Yummy Yumminess

Blake has done some amazing cooking, even in the cottage where he had a 4x4 all in one range, oven, sink, fridge, and the oven didn't work. He cooked every night all summer except for 2. I didn't get pictures of everything, but he made big steam pots, pasta dishes, Asian cuisine and much more. Below are some of the meals that we have had since we last posted.

The man behind all of the master plans.


















Grilled Kielbasa
Sausage hash on a bed of
asparagus puree











Cornish Hen with a sweet plum sauce, braised red cabbage and asparagus fried rice.












Chilled Mediterranean Shrimp Salad Martinis













Mussels steamed in a white wine herbaceous butter sauce.


















Braised Cabbage and Shrimp Fried Eggrolls with sweet Tomkat sauce












Southwestern Grilled Flank Steak on Truffle Whipped Potatoes and a dash of Sriracha













Blackened Swordfish on fried rice with fresh steamed broccoli

















Sweet Mongolian Chicken with Broccoli and Sesame Seeds











Tamago omelet with mini hand rolls and Miso Soup












Jeannie (Boppy's) Amazing Prime Rib which we will learn to make. Flavored with Rosemary, Garlic, Onion, Salt and Pepper and Cayenne. YUM!!! Served with Merlot Au Jus, fresh beets and Yorkshire Pudding.









Good Ole' Mongolian Beef













Jeannie and Blake's Home made Cinnamon Rolls













Sweet and Spicy Ginger Sesame Chicken













Chicken and Asparagus Fried Rice with a perfectly fried egg












Meredith's 28th Birthday Meal. Steak. Lobster. Asparagus. She is such a sleeper!












We love this label. Tonkatsu Sauce "How to use is tasty" Makes no sense.












Blackened Cornish Hen with Mushroom/Spinach Ravioli and southern green beans.












Italian Shrimp and Tomato Pasta













Cheesy Escargot Toast Bites