Curry, Under the Weather Baby, Homemade Gak, and Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Muffies

On the plate:  Joseph's Curry and Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Muffies

Soundtrack to cook to:  Ray LaMontagne's "You are the Best Thing" on repeat...LOVE this song!

From teething to a low-grade fever this week, this poor baby has had a rough few weeks (and these parents for that matter).  We haven't ventured out that much, as poor Alexander has been under the weather.  I took him to see the doctor and all they told me was that it looked like he had a cold coming on...and to deal with it.  Needless to say, we've been existing on Tylenol, Ibuprofen, and lots of interrupted sleep.
Thankfully, Joseph was being the very helpful husband that he is, and decided to cook his delicious curry.  Unfortunately, I only took a picture of him doing the prep and spaced out on taking a picture of the finished product.  It's an incredibly simple dish to make and you can tailor it to your liking.

The hubby, chopping up a bunch of vegetables.

"Hey Joseph!  Smile for the camera!"

We've got an assortment here, plus some potatoes, chicken and shrimp as well.

Once the shrimp, chicken and vegetables are cooked, you just add the pre-made sauce mix to it (be cautious as this makes a lot!) and then serve it over a bed of brown rice.  It's absolutely delicious and even Alexander enjoyed it.  The brand of sauce that we like is the "Golden Curry" sauce mix.  They have various ranges of heat, but we like the hottest.

It was also my sister's birthday.  She came over and partook in her birthday cake that we got from one of our favorite places (or at least it's one of MY favorite places) Formaggio in Cambridge.  They have an INCREDIBLE variety of delicious cheeses.  I LOOOOVE cheese.  I always say that the stinkier it is, the better it is.  If I could eat cheese and bread for the rest of my life, I would.  Here's a shot of my sister Kristen and Alexander blowing out her birthday candle.

The rest of the week, as I said, was pretty humdrum, as we were restricted to the comfort of our home because of a sick little baby.  Here's a few shots of our little men throughout the week:

Oscar, hanging out in the kitchen, and sad because he has to wear his sweater.
He gets cold pretty easily because he has short hair.

Alexander checking out the Christmas tree.

Playing around the house.

I found a fun thing to do with toddlers at home from a really cool website.  They had a recipe to make your own "flubber."  However, when I was a kid, we called it "Gak."  Therefore, we made our own homemade Gak.  Here's the website and here's how it played out:

Alexander was helping by putting the entire glue
bottle into the bowl.  The recipe calls for 2 cups of Elmer's glue
mixed with water.  Then, in a separate bowl, mix 3 teaspoons of Borax
with water.  Combine the two with some food coloring and you've
made your own Gak!

When Alexander was helping with the glue, he managed
to get it all over his socks and pants.  That's why he's just in a shirt
and diaper.  He's checking out the glue and water mixture.
Alexander chose red food coloring, but it ended up being a
pink color.

Alexander, hesitant of touching the Gak.

He decided that it would be safe enough to put his foot in it.

He finally was brave enough to poke it with his fingers. :)

Alexander playing around with the Gak and Oscar
was resting in the background.

Alexander playing with our new Nook Tablet.  This thing

will definitely be handy on long road trips and airplane flights. :)

After getting a little more sleep one night, I managed to muster up enough energy to make some lemon blueberry muffies.  I found this recipe from my favorite food blog:  Smitten Kitchen.  However, instead of making a sauce with the lemon juice, I went ahead and put the juice of two lemons inside the muffie mix.  The result was absolutely fantastic!  The muffies are incredibly moist, tart from the lemons, and then there's a delightful, juicy pop of blueberry in each bite.  Delish and so easy to make!  

I prefer to make muffies because they're perfectly portioned and Joseph can just grab one in the morning with his coffee and shoot out the door.  Also, it takes 12 minutes to bake all of them rather than 1 hour for a loaf.  My delicious muffies come to me faster...perfection!

Lemon blueberry muffies....mmmmm!

Here's to hoping that the little monkmonk feels better soon.  Until next time...

Love and kisses,

Nikki