Soundtrack to cook to: Hopelessly stuck on my 80's Megamix...it's hard to break myself of this habit.
We've been doing a lot of playing around the house in the afternoons, since Alexander has been taking pretty decent naps. Thus, there hasn't been a lot of time to go somewhere and do something before it's time to prepare dinner. So here's a few pictures of Alexander playing around:
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| He's so GQ, isn't he? I can't believe how grown up he is already. |
Alexander jumping around in his P.E. class.
To break up the monotony of going from museum to museum, I thought I'd make a little detour and take Alexander to the New England Aquarium in Boston. We hadn't been there since the summer and he's actually been really immersed in a documentary of the journey of a loggerhead turtle. (He's been watching that this week while I've been making dinner rather than Thomas the Tank Engine...thank GOODNESS!) I welcomed the change and he loves animals.
Alexander LOVED looking at the seals swimming around.
Noisy little penguins!
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| Alexander checking out the dolphin statue. |
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| Alexander looking on and wondering what's next. |
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| "Titi!!" Alexander has two penguin stuffed animals that he sleeps with each night. He was very excited to see the penguins in the entrance. |
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| Alexander petting the baby penguin. As we walked towards the entrance, he said, "Bye bye Titi!" He's too cute! |
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| The aquarium has a shark and stingray touch tank. I took Alexander to see if he wanted to touch them, but he said, "NO!" empathically. Instead, he settled for looking and pointing at them. |
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| This is Alexander's "thinking" look. :) |
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| Alexander checking out a turtle. |
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| Alexander loved looking at the penguins as they were walking around and swimming in the water. |
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| Alexander observing one of the many tanks of fish. |
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| Whoa! That's a big one! |
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| "SHAH!!" Alexander loves sharks. |
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| The loggerhead turtle! Just like the one in the documentary! It was only after the fact that the turtle passed that Alexander finally said, "Turtle!" |
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| These penguins make me think of the movie Happy Feet. |
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| I find fish to be very beautiful, but I do NOT like swimming in the ocean with them....it totally freaks me out. |
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| Alexander looking at the seals in another exhibit. |
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| It was absolutely refreshing and breath taking to finally see a blue sky! Ever since we got back from our holiday visit, the clouds have been gray and it's been very depressing to walk around outside. It was the perfect day with the perfect weather and a gorgeous blue sky. I just had to take a picture! |
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| You never realize how big of a deal a blue sky is until you no longer have it. It's such an uplifting sight. |
After our visit to the aquarium, Alexander and I had lunch at Legal Seafood's - a fantastic seafood restaurant. I absolutely LOVE their tuna burger and I ordered Alexander some fish sticks...much better than the hot dog that I ordered him last time. He's pretty good (for the most part) about trying new foods and giving new things a chance.
My lunch date with Alexander. We go to lunch
after the aquarium at Legal Seafood's - our little tradition.
Here's a couple of random pictures of Alexander playing in the living room - yet again. We've been having impromptu dance parties in the afternoons during his snack time.
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| Dancing in the living room while having a snack. |
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| I love his dimples! :) He seems to smile with his entire face. I love it! |
And now for dinner! This dish is one of my "go to" dishes that I've been making for a few years now. The ingredients are very simple and it follows my love of "chop and drop" recipes where you chop up the ingredients and drop them in the pot that you're cooking. It's as simple as that and it has a nice comfort food feel to it. The recipe calls for ground chicken, but I'm a huge fan of ground turkey, so I use ground turkey.
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| 1 red pepper, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 onion, and 1 package of mushrooms. I chop these up while the ground turkey is browning so that by the time the ground turkey is browned, you're done chopping the veggies and are ready to throw them in the pot. |
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| While the veggies are cooking, it's time to take a break and play with Alexander! He was showing off his Henry train and his cute smile! His 4 canines have all completely broken through his gums and are starting to show. |
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| Smiley guy |
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| After the veggies have cooked for about 8-10 minutes, add in 1 can of tomato sauce, chicken stock, salt and pepper, and paprika. Let it simmmmah |
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| After I throw in the veggies and wait for them to cook, I have a pot of frozen gnocchi in boiling water simultaneously. After the little gnocchis have floated to the top of the water for a little bit, they're done and ready to be drained. |
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| After the chicken stock has reduced, throw in the gnocchi and take the pan off the burner. Incorporate the sour cream (I know it sounds weird but it's soooooo good) and top the dish with some parsley. It tastes like a slow cooked meal that is cooked and ready to serve in 30-40 minutes. It's the perfect meal for a cold autumn or winter day. |
It's been a great week, other than feeling a little under the weather myself, at least everyone else in the house has remained healthy. Until next time...
Love and kisses,
Nikki
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