Banana, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Pudding Pie, Tzatziki Potato Salad, Branzini a la Elias, and May/June Catch up

On the plate:  Banana, peanut butter, and chocolate pudding pie, tzatziki potato salad, and Branzini a la Elias

Soundtrack to cook to:  Gretchen Wilson's Here for the Party...yes, I know...it's country and I'm so not country at all.  However, I DARE you to listen to the song Here for the Party and not break out into a spontaneous dance number.  It's the only country album I own and I love it.

Alexander riding in a big boy swing - this little guy
is embracing his new 2 year old status well and welcoming
new challenges each day!  He's soaked from head to toe
because he was playing in the fountains prior to riding in the swing.

Alexander LOVES playing in the fountain near our house.

There's a lovely little zoo by our house called the Franklin Park Zoo.  Thankfully it's only about 3 miles away and we have a membership so we go there at least once a month.  However, when the weather is nicer, we typically go twice a month since it's so nice outside and Alexander loves animals.

For this summer, the zoo has a new exhibit that has robotic dinosaurs that move and roar!  Alexander is in a new phase where he absolutely LOVES dinosaurs, so I thought that he would absolutely love this exhibit at the zoo - and he did!  Below are a few of the dinosaurs from the exhibit:

Alexander's favorite - T Rex!!

And now for the easiest and incredibly delicious dessert recipe...banana, peanut butter, and chocolate pudding pie!!!  I can't even remember where I found this recipe, but I found it years ago and loved the creamy, salty, and sweet combination.  What you'll need:

• 1 pre-made graham cracker crust
• Creamy peanut butter
• 2 medium-sized bananas
• 1 package of instant chocolate pudding
• Milk (in order to make the pudding)

Spread a thin layer of creamy peanut butter into the pre-made
graham cracker crust.

Slice the bananas into little coins and spread them evenly around
the peanut butter crust.

Mix the instant chocolate pudding according to directions.
Then pour the pudding mixture over the bananas in the peanut butter
pie shell.  Refrigerate for an hour or until the pudding is settled (I made this
during Alexander's nap and it was perfect 3 hours later.)

Slice it up and serve!!  It's a nice, creamy, and decadent little treat
to end your meal juuuuuuuust right!  I'm a huge fan of sweet and salt
in my desserts and this satisfied my craving most definitely.

Ever since Alexander turned 2, he's been singing

non-stop!  It's so much fun and pretty surprising to hear

ALL of the songs that he actually knows.  Here's our little

crooner singing with his mommy. :)

Here's Alexander "reading" Hush Little Baby.

Here's another video of Alexander "reading" another one

of his favorite books Happy Dog, Sad Dog.

Alexander "hanging around" during his P.E. class.

Alexander using his daddy's mouse as a phone to
make an important phone call. 

During the summer, I typically get a craving around this time, for a good potato salad.  I like to mix green beans in with mine.  Thus, when I found this recipe on one of my favorite food blogs, I got really excited to make it!  I loosely followed the recipe and the suggestions that the blogger made.  For this recipe, I used:

• 1 lb small red potatoes, cut into fourths
• 3 small, seedless cucumbers
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 cup fat free Greek yogurt
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Juice of one lime
• 1/2 lb green beans
• 1/2 cup marinated green olives with Mediterranean seasoning
• *After I made this recipe, I decided to follow the recipe link a little bit more closely and added about 1/2 cup of fat free sour cream.  It gave it the right amount of tanginess and creaminess that it needed.

Cut up the potatoes into fourths and boil until they are fork tender.

Grate the cucumbers over a strainer.  Make sure that all of the liquid
is gone from the cucumbers.  Otherwise, your tzatziki sauce will
be really runny.

Grate the one clove of garlic and mix it together with the cucumber.
DO NOT use any more than this, or else the sauce will be incredibly
spicy and you'll be tasting that garlic for the next day or so.

Mix the grated cucumber and garlic with the yogurt, salt, and pepper
and juice of 1 lime.

The end result of the tzatziki sauce!  Your grater may be of a
different thickness, which would result in a thicker cut of cucumber.

Boil the potatoes and green beans.  Allow them to cool completely.

Then mix the tzatziki sauce with the potatoes and green beans.
I decided that it needed a little bit more salt and texture, so I added
the green olives, per the blogger's suggestion.  Plus, about 1 tsp of
dried dill, and 1/2 cup fat free sour cream.  The result was a
delightful Greek-inspired potato salad that was relatively healthy and delish!

In order to make this a completely Greek-infused meal, I decided to
make one of Joseph's and now Alexander's favorite entrees - Branzini a la Elias.
(I say "a la Elias" because this is my father-in-law's recipe.)
Take each Branzini fish, coat it lightly with extra virgin olive oil,
salt, pepper, and garlic powder on both sides.  Turn your broiler
on high and cook one side for 12-15 minutes.  Then, turn the broiler
on low, flip the fish over, and finish cooking it for another 12-15 minutes.
Serve it with the juice of a lime or a lemon.  It's just like eating the delicious,
light, buttery, and delicate "lavraki" (as they call it in Greece) in Greece!  Enjoy!

Alexander posing next to Tigger (he insisted that he be in the shot)
on his big boy bed!!  We just removed the front gate to his crib and replaced
it with the open gate to turn it into a toddler bed.  He took the plunge
into the big boy world on June 11, 2012.

A successful first night!!  Each morning he says to me, 

"Have fun in big boy bed??!  Yes!!"  He's too sweet.

Alexander playing with his awesome bubble machine
that he got for his birthday.  This kid loooooves bubbles!
But really, who doesn't? :)

More fountain play!!

Little man, playing around with a bell that is near our

house and identifying letters on the sign.

This was a great few weeks, as so many things got better in our lives.  I FINALLY started to feel better, was no longer nauseous 24/7, and was able to get back into cooking again.  Alexander finished teething with his last four molars (thank goodness - he's quite a crabby little guy when he's teething), AND he graduated to his big boy bed.  So many milestones in such a small amount of time!  Until next time...

Love and kisses,
Nikki