Carrot Fries

We have a new side-dish in the Hernandez household we're a little nuts for. John refers to them as carrot "fries"--really, they're just roasted carrots. They're the easiest thing to make and beyond yummy. To say we like them is an understatement--we've eaten them three nights in a row. Hey, what else do you do with a 10 lb. bag of organic carrots from Costco besides make baby food? That's right, you make carrot "fries" :)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2-3 lbs. of peeled carrots, cut into 1 1/2-2 in. chunks, then cut lengthwise.

Toss with EVOO, Kosher salt and pepper

Roast for 40 minutes.

ENJOY!

Waiting to go in the oven...

Every night, after Lola is done with her dinner, she plays in her play pen so nice while I get dinner going for John and I. Just another reason she's the best!

All roasted and ready for eating!

Tonight, I paired it with Thai Peanut Chicken.

Last night, with Salmon.

Night before that, Grilled Italian Chicken.

Enough carrots for this week, tomorrow night is Lou Malnati's!

Giving finger food a try...

A new skill

Look what Mom taught Lola how to do while we were on vacation...

Sweet dreams...

A new motto to live by...

While we were waiting for our plane to depart from O'Hare last week, I bought a copy of TIME magazine. The cover story: The New Frugality. It featured everyday Americans from all corners of our great country discussing how this economy has affected them and what they've had to change or do differently to embrace it. In addition to the glimpses into the lives of these citizens, the feature article gave a recap of where we stand as of today. It included a motto that those living through the Depression embraced and mentioned that we had all but forgotten it--until now. It's simple and to the point (which I love) and makes perfect sense. It's something we're trying to do in this household. Not because we have to, but because we should, regardless of the current economic conditions. So I thought I'd share:

USE IT UP,

WEAR IT OUT,

MAKE IT DO,

DO WITHOUT. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE MIKEY!

Cannon Beach & Ecola State Park

Bright and early this morning, we headed west towards the Pacific Ocean. Cannon Beach, our destination, was a very scenic hour and a half drive away from Portland. We arrived at 10 am and headed straight for the beach to see the famous Haystack Rock. While it was a record high 82 degrees back in Portland, it was a brisk and windy 50-ish degrees on the beach. Regardless, it was an incredibly enjoyable morning filled with sunshine and fresh ocean air.

Can you take a guess who Daddy can't stop thinking about?! Mommy neither :) But Daddy is REALLY missing his baby girl. So sweet...


We walked around the town, stopping into countless quaint shops and boutiques. I was able to get a white, porcelain Mary statue to add to my growing collection at a great antique shop. All that walking made us hungry, so we stopped into Cranky Sue's for a bite. Oh. My. Wow! Probably one of the best lunches we've ever had. Amazing Caesar salad followed by fried oysters for John and an insane crab cake for me. Mine came with a side of macaroni salad that was so yummy, John took one bite of mine, I saw the look on his face, and then promptly asked the waitress to bring him his own! 


We drove around for a bit after walking around all afternoon and I had to snap a few pics of the beautiful beach homes. 
We then headed to Ecola State Park, which is at the edge of Cannon Beach. We hiked up and down hills and along Indian Beach to experience the breath-taking sights for a couple hours. A nice little work out! I couldn't resist taking off my shoes and dipping my toes into the (freezing) Pacific blue waters.





Daddy keeps up with the creative name art....

We have arrived!

John & I are in Portland, Oregon! 

We came out here today for a week-long getaway. Lola is at home enjoying time with Grandma who came in from Florida to stay with her--lucky gal! 

Our flight left at 8 am this morning and arrived at 1o am Portland time. When we got off the plane, it seemed as if they dropped an airport right in the middle of a beautiful green forest. We walked outside and were greeted by the most refreshing scent--PINE! Never in my life have I ever seen so many beautiful green trees. We know it rains here often (which accounts for the beautiful greenery) but it is a stunning day today--75 degrees with not a cloud in the sky.

The hotel we're staying at is very neat. It's got an Old Hollywood theme to it. You can check it out here: HOTEL DELUXE The lobby smells of Lily's, the staff is very knowledgeable and helpful and the hotel's restaurant is called Gracie's (how sweet is that?!).

After we got settled into our room (which features subway tile in the bathroom, my fave!) we headed to the Pearl District. Very artsy, charming and hip. We had a great pub lunch at Rouge Ale Distillery and stopped into a few baby boutiques. We're having a blast but we're not going to lie--we miss Lola so much. Seeing all the sweet baby gear didn't help!

After the Pearl, we headed down to the waterfront park. This beautiful day seemed to bring out all of Portland. (I'm sure alot of people we're calling in sick today because of this awesome weather.) 

We're relaxing a bit before we head out to dinner and tomorrow--we're headed out to the coast to visit Cannon Beach. Looks like it's going to be another beautiful day of 70s & sun! (I'll try to post some pics tomorrow--didn't take any today!)

Parker turns ONE!

We went into the city today for a very special occasion--PARKER'S FIRST BIRTHDAY! We were so excited to celebrate Chris & Tracy's little guy (and Lola's future husband!). As far as 1st birthday's go, Parker had one of the best ever! They held it at the Lincoln Park Gymboree. All the kiddies and grown-ups had a blast signing songs, playing around and enjoying some really yummy cupcakes. I had my first taste of red velvet and it was divine. 

John took a ton of pics this afternoon and you can see them all here:

PARKER'S FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY

Here are just a few...

The birthday boy himself, Parker Lee Stine

Lola & Riley checking out the ball

Parker having a blast with all his guests

Lola showing Grandma how she climbs

Bouncing on the air tube

BUBBLES!

Having a blast on the parachute

Singing songs

A sweet treat to end the party--Parker & his cupcake

First word?

She may not realize that she's actually saying it yet, but Lola has been saying "Da-da" for the last few days. Of course, we think it's the sweetest thing our ears have ever heard. She carries on conversations with herself and "Da-da" is usually the topic she wishes to discuss. 

It's funny, she'll say "Da-da" and, jokingly, I'll say "Ma-ma" back to her. To which she responds...."DA-DA!". What a lil stinker!

Home-cookings

So, I consider myself a pretty decent cook. I make our little family "home-cooked" meals every night. They're not terribly extravagant, but I can whip up some dishes every now and then that John says "wow" to. 

But then there's my mother-in-law, whom I consider to be THE BEST at-home cook in the world. She learned from the master, Grandma Gracie herself. Like she tells me, she was raised in the kitchen. 

She's been here for two nights so far. And do you know what we've eaten since she's arrived? Last night: A delicious salad with balsamic dressing and shrimp scampi with pasta--very light and fresh. Tonight's dinner: seared rack of lamb with sauteed baby portabellas and roasted sweet potatoes. 

We're about to have skillet apple pie for dessert that she made from scratch with french vanilla ice cream (which John picked up from Sam n Jake's). How much you want to guess that too is going to be insanely delicious!?

You folks in Florida reading this....WE'RE KEEPING HER HERE AND NOT SENDING HER BACK! :)

Fun at the Park with Grandma & Daddy!

We were blessed with STUNNING weather yesterday, so after we were done running our errands to Costco and the like, we headed down to the park so Lola could swing! Thankfully, John was able to get home pretty early from work so he got to enjoy some of the awesome weather as well. A perfect Friday afternoon.

Lola LOVES the swing. She giggles and smiles and kicks her legs with excitement as she glides through the air. Lucky for us the park is just a short little walk down the street!

Today is the BEST day!

Grandma is here from Florida! YEA!

John and I are headed to the Pacific Northwest for a little get-a-way next week, so Grandma has come to stay with Lola and we couldn't be more excited. We miss her so much, but I'm pretty sure no one misses Lola more than she does. They're going to have a great week just the two of them. This bonding time is long overdue!

So I'm reporting Mom has arrived safely! After a few quick errands this morning (with a stop at Rubino's, or course!), these two have already started having a blast together. She's in the best of hands while we're gone, for sure!

Lola's First Easter

We hope your Easter Sunday was as beautiful as ours was! Lola's first Easter was a great day from start to finish. And of course, as is traditional in my family--it was a LONG day (hey, there's alot of love!) but she was a perfect angel the whole day through.

We started the day with Mass and before we went to Mom's for Brunch, we stopped to take some pictures in the beautiful sun along Oak Park Ave. After Mom's delicious Brunch, we stopped at home to put some comfy clothes on--the weather was so nice, we decided to get a walk in before heading over to Auntie Karen & Uncle Dave's. Once we got there, Lola continued to entertain, showing off her crawling and pulling up skills, and treating everyone to the funny new sounds she makes. 

I think I wore the batteries out in my flash I took so many pictures--so instead of posting them all, you can check out a slideshow of the day here:

LOLA'S FIRST EASTER

Here are just a few...

HAPPY EASTER