ROAD TRIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am on furlough this upcoming week and I decided it was time for the family to get on the road. No way was I going to sit at home with nothing to do, not go to work, and listen to my kids scream for a week.

My Papa has not been doing well lately so we are going to Tampa, FL to let him see the kids and then we will drive down to a family beach house in Long Boat Key. But.....about halfway to Florida we will be staying here in Hilton Head, SC for 2 days because I'm not driving 15 hours straight.

My trip couldn't be any worse than the Griswold's.


Also, I want to thank Christy from What We Eat for a good Burger War. I was seriously concerned when I saw her pictures and recipe. Good game Christy. Maybe she will want to go head to head again sometime soon- of her choosing?. A rematch in the making?

A girl? What? She can't grill!

So, Christy of What We Eat and I are now official nerds.

She has a blog about cooking, etc. as well. Recently, we were talking about who could make the best burger and we have differing opinions. So, its up to you my friends. Whose burger looks the best!

No pressure.... since girls really aren't supposed to be allowed to touch the grill! Ok ok ok-who cares, let the pictures tell the thousand words. Good luck to Christy.

Check out both of our sites to see the burgers and then vote for the one you like best over at her site.

My burgers were made with finely diced raw onion, Mexican hot chili powder, cumin, and S&P. I roasted some jalapenos and a pasilla pepper (of which for some reason I just have a pic of but no video). I also added some fresh chunky salsa from Trader Joe's, pepper jack cheese and red lettuce.

BUT FOR HONESTY IN COMPETITION.... I forgot the freaking avacodooooo!!!!!!!!!!

But who cares....

Pulled Pork Sandwiches!!!!!!

My wife, The Friday Chef, used the crock pot again and made pulled pork sandwiches, with home made cole slaw. We can freeze a few portions of this and eat them later. So, our freezer is getting stocked lately. Also, I found a good article on food shopping on washingtonpost.com . Some good thoughts there.

Basically I put a 6 lb pork butt (Boston Butt) into the crock pot with some cut up onions, S&P, a shot of bourbon, and some hot sauce for about 6 hours on low. While I was at work I had Kate drain the liquid from the pork, chop it and put it back into the crock pot with a bottle of BBQ sauce on low. I can tell you that the house smelled awesome when I got home from work.

Kate quote :"It looks like the meat is talking to you". Funny.

The pork was good. I made the cole slaw when I got home and we toasted some buns and had pulled pork sandwiches for dinner. Im having one for lunch today as well....At least I brought my fish oil pills and am going to swim before I eat lunch.... cuz you know.... I'm on a health kick....?

All American Summer Day

On Friday I got my hands on the best baseball tickets I have ever had. So I invited my next door neighbor and two friends from the office (you invite one then you have to invite the other as they are a couple). We got to sit right on top of the Nats dugout on the 1st base line. I literally was able to put my beer and chili dog on top of the dugout---until I got yelled at to remove them.

I was torn as to who to cheer for. It was the Nationals vs. Diamondbacks. So I just enjoyed the game for what it was. One of my teams was going to lose. The Diamondbacks STINK. If you get soundly beaten by the Nationals then you have a bad club. Poor Dbacks. Also, I now have a new favorite player. Nyjer Morgan. I saw him steal a base after slapping a ball to left field for a single. Nyjer is one of the fastest players I have EVER seen and is currently 4th in steals in the Major Leagues.

The new Nationals stadium is awesome. Its beautiful and its actually GREEN, meaning as environmentally safe as a stadium can be. But I have to tell you that the food places there are top notch. They even have a Ben's Chili Bowl. If Obama can eat Bens then I certainly can too. Hail to the Chief! And hail to the Nationals for their 8 game winning streak!

Chicken Soup with Rice

When my fist kid was born I started to do the Freezer Cooking thing. I remember it being quite simple. Lasagnas, pasta sauces, chicken soup, tortilla soup, beef stew, and Brunswick stew. I love all of these recipes and will start cooking them all again. Although I need to buy a lot more Tupperware soon. The first thing I am going to make is Chicken Soup with rice- and I have no recipe so I taste it constantly. My kids love the book and my wife sings that song to them every night before bed.

Enough water to make a decent amount of soup

Enough chicken bouillon cubes to make the broth

About 2 handfuls of rice (be careful since rice expands and suck up water and too much will make your soup mushy)

Bay Leaf

Thyme

Bone on chicken (skinless)

Curry powder

Carrots (diced)

Celery (diced)

Pepper

Dried parsley

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Put chicken, bay leaf and water in pot and boil it for a while

Go have a drink and watch tv, play with the kids, read the paper

When the chicken looks completely cooked remove it from the water

Remove meat from bones and toss bones back in water

Chop the vegetables

Shred the meat or chop it-whatever

Throw in the chicken bouillon (use the directions each cube is usually for 2 cups of water)

Put the meat and veges in the pot

Put the spices and herbs in

Put the rice in and simmer until the rice is done

Taste and re-spice if needed

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As far as the bruise goes........ I fell down the basement steps when I was playing paddle ball with my dad in the backyard. You never would have guessed that huh!?

Meals for the week?

So, my wife is now a stay at home mom. We live off of my meagre paycheck. I need to figure out how to make meals stretch a little longer. I made lasagna the other night. I put half in the fridge and the other half wrapped up in portion sizes in the freezer.


Have you heard of something called Freezer Cooking? Basically you cook for one or two nights and can freeze what you arent eating immeditely. Then you can pull out dinner from the freezer for the rest of the week. Smart idea. Count me in. It cant be all that hard. Making lasagna with my daughter was fun (she will only become faster and more competent with time) and we can eat that for a few days. I read a good article recently about how to cook on a budget. Also, here are some freezer cooking websites & here & here. Let me know if you have anything that you like to make in bulk and freeze.

Vacation Was Great

I had a great time on vacation. Can you guess how I did this to myself? You get points for style and creativity.