Trying New Things

Tonight we tried to get Mungee to eat some tilapia.  We told her it was fish - she refused it and remained tight-lipped.  We told her it was chicken - she refused it and remained tight-lipped.

We told her it was cat food.  She opened her mouth.

Opa!

Saturday, I decided to throw the afternoon nap schedule to the wind, and Mungee, DH, FIL and I headed to the St. Augustine Greek Festival.

Mungee enjoyed her first taste of Greek food, including lamb shank and stuffed grape leaves.  She passed on the spanakopita.

 

First pony ride.  I am pretty sure she loved it.

Loukoumades (aka Greek donut holes, aka Heaven in Your Mouth)

It was still pretty warm out, the sun was bright overhead and I didn't pack any sunblock, but we had a great time.  Eventually I'll be better prepared for these semi-impromptu outings.

***What did you do this weekend?  Hope it was a great one!***

New York City! - Part 1

Sunday - 6.27.10

This time a week ago, I was on a direct flight to New York City (rather I was when I started writing this post at 9 am on Sunday).  It was the first time I've traveled by plane since my honeymoon in March 2008.  It was also the first time I was away from Mungee for more than a few hours.

My best friend is a category manager for a major grocery store chain, and therefore attends several food-related trade shows a year.  She's invited me to go along on this trip previously, however, there's always been something preventing me from going.  Last year I was 34 weeks pregnant.  The year before that, I think the trip fell during DH's birthday weekend.  A few months back she emailed me and said, "You're going with me this year.  Mungee will be almost 11 months old, so you'll probably have her weaned by then, or her Pa can give her some formula".  I nervously excitedly booked a ticket.

We arrived at the airport and immediately made our way to the taxi line.  Neither of us checked luggage so we avoided the baggage claim area altogether (definitely a smart move).  We got to the hotel and our room wasn't ready yet, so I changed outfits in the bathroom (I'm resourceful like that).  We made our way to a kosher restaurant (oh, did I mention that my best friend keeps strict kosher, so NYC is like a smorgasbord for her - we have ZERO kosher restaurants where we live).  Aforementioned kosher restaurant was not where it was supposed to be and we didn't have the map of other nearby kosher restaurants with us, so we wound up a little behind schedule and had less time available to spend way too much money in browse around F.A.O. Schwartz.  That was probably a good thing.

 

We had to leave the toy store to make our way to see these guys:

Have you seen them?  It was a great show, but the theater was small - as in, your knees were in the neck of the person in front of you. I'd recommend seeing it in a bigger venue.

After the show ended, we cabbed it (I'm SO New York) back to the hotel and changed for dinner with my friend's colleague's vendor.  We ate at Solo, which is located in the atrium of the Sony Building.  Solo is a swanky, upscale kosher restaurant.  It was absolutely delicious.  As I usually do, when other people are paying I ate way too much.  Normally I take a picture of my meals at fancy restaurants but I didn't want to seem like a dork unprofessional since this was a business dinner.

After dinner we walked around Times Square and visited Hershey's, the m&m's store and Toys 'R Us.  Did you know there is a full-size Ferris Wheel there?

Here we are in Times Square.  

(One of the rare occasions I wear my hair down)

 

P.S.  I am actually taller than my friend in real life.  Yes, it was necessary to mention that.

 

  

Image Source

By this time, it was after 11 pm.  We headed back to our hotel, where we met up with my friend's colleague and a couple of the people we had dined with earlier.  They were having a drink and shooting the breeze, but we were too tired to hang for very long.  We went up to the room to turn in for the night.

New York City! - Part Two - Coming Soon

Mungee's Lunchtime Adventure or Maybe I should wear a bib

I was giving Mungee her lunch and holding the bowl beneath her highchair tray so she wouldn't see it and keep grabbing at it.  She kicked her leg, I lost my grip on the bowl, and this is the result:

It got even better when the cat decided to join the party.

That chicken's not gonna cook itself

If I wasn't married, and with a kid, I'd be perfectly content to eat like I did in college: Totino's pizza rolls, Pasta-Roni parmesan noodles (I could eat a whole box in one sitting), "grilled cheese" and sodium-laden sliced turkey sandwiches prepared in the Snackster.  Sometimes, I got gourmet - let me tell you about my version of chicken parm: a frozen breaded Tyson chicken breast, "cooked" in the microwave, served atop a bed of Ramen noodles, but without the seasoning packet - I used marinara sauce instead.  Sprinkle on some mozzarella cheese and voila!

Unfortunately for me, Mungee's Pa has a more sophisticated palate.  When he was growing up, his dad had a restaurant.  His mom made macrobiotic meals.  He challenged his neighbors to stuffed grape leaf cook-offs.  Sushi to him was like hamburgers to me.  I didn't know I liked Mexican food until after I graduated from college.  (Taco Bell is apparently not Mexican food).

These days, I don't cook all that often, but when I do, I have a few go-to dishes: chili, meatloaf, lasagne, beef & broccoli, or pulled pork in the crockpot.  Don't ask me to coordinate sides - I start them too early, or usually wait entirely too long and then don't want to get them started because I'm ready to eat the main meal.  Most of the time though, I just stand in front of the refrigerator with the door open for way too long, trying to wish a meal into existence. 

I keep whining suggesting to Mungee's Pa that we start meal planning, but I get overwhelmed at the thought of it and don't know where to begin.  Do you plan your meals?  Grocery shop specifically for your menu?  Does your menu coordinate with what's on sale?  How did you get into the rhythm of cooking regularly for your family?  I appreciate any and all suggestions as to how to get started!

I Can Haz Peekle?