What's For Dinner?

I am going for a "taste of summer" with this week's meals.

Sunday: I let someone else do the cooking on Mother's Day.

Monday: shrimp with artichokes and garlic, whole wheat pasta, green peas, fresh tomatoes

Tuesday: balsamic chicken with baby spinach over couscous, asparagus, corn on the cob

Wednesday: flank steak marinated in dark beer, black beans, guacamole, fresh salad greens & tomatoes

Thursday: left-overs

Friday: five minute salad of herbs, goat cheese, and white beans

Saturday: hamburgers, oven fries

Time willing, I will make a cherry crisp
for some summer sweetness.

As always, if you have questions
I will answer in the comments section.

Enjoy!

Fiesta Time

Today was our annual kindergarten program. This year's theme: "Fiesta, Fiesta, Fiesta!". Each class sang a song...in Spanish, of course. Dance moves were added for flair.

Teaching a group of five year old children to sing a song in a different language and a dance to match is quite a feat. Add to that costumes and general classroom management and well...let's just say it has been a long couple of weeks.


Our hard work paid off. The kids were very cute. They had fun performing for Mom and Dad. Mistakes that occurred made the show even cuter.


Not to be left out, my team decided to dress in Fiesta fashion. I wanted something I could wear again. So, I went with a Latin-Boho-Chic look. I found this green swim suit cover-up at Old Navy along with the orange scarf. It seemed to fit the bill well enough.


We all wore flowers in our hair. I continued the Boho look with a fabric flower. I know there are some tutorials out there but I decided to just "wing it". I was worried that instead of a flower it looked as if I had a coaster on the side of my head. I was assured by everyone that it did not look like a coaster...and my students were very impressed that I had made it myself.

In the end the kids had fun and the parents were beaming with pride. Overall, it was a good day to teach kindergarten.

Elements of Dinner

The elements of dinner...

Sort.

Chop.

Mash.

Grill.

Slice.

Wrap.

Thumb-sucking Quandary

The Girl has sucked her thumb since she was two weeks old. Self-soothing came very naturally for her. It still does.

I have told her that if she quits sucking her thumb we can paint her nails a sparkly pink. You know how she feels about pink sparkles. It hasn't worked.


What do you suggest? Let her be...she will outgrow it. Or should we take a more active approach? What's worked for you?

The New Face of Swine Flu

The CDC should use him as their newest pandemic mascot.

I know it is serious...and a little scary. I have two small kids and teach a classroom full of them. The smell of hand sanitizer has started to make me nauseous.

But sometimes amid the hysteria, you just gotta laugh.

Places To Put Things

It felt so nice to sit at the machine and sew this weekend. One of those "in the zone" sessions where everything else that needs to get done doesn't.

The first project on my list was a case for my fancy new phone.

Before...

and after.

I just modified my iPod case. It is a little bit narrower but taller. I made it a bit wider than needed. That oh-so-boring case that came with the phone is padded really well and the material inside cleans the smudges off of the touch screen. I decided that some extra padding and smudge cleaning are good things and I would just put it all in a more fashionable covering. And there you go...a case.


The next project on the list is The Clutch from Bend the Rules Sewing. I have made a few of these as gifts but never one for myself. My fabric has been sitting in its own little Ziploc bag just waiting to be put together. The lining is a fat quarter that I loved and was only able to find one, of course. The outer fabric is actually an arm cover for the couch I had in my single days. It was upholstery grade fabric so I did not put extra lining in the bag.

When I finished it looked quite plain. Boring really. So I jazzed it up with some buttons.


I am not sure when I will use this. I modified it to be a bit larger. But still...it is small. Maybe for a summer night out...for drinks perhaps. It has enough room for some lip gloss and ID.

Hmmm...that sounds nice. A reward for a job completed.

What's For Dinner?

Here's what will be on the Senske Table this week...

Sunday: slow cooker char siu pork roast, brown rice, stir-fried vegetables (rescheduled from last week)

Monday: spaghetti, green beans, whole wheat bread

Tuesday: slow cooker chicken posole, brown rice, zucchini

Wednesday: grilled flank steak with avocado relish, black beans, fresh tomatoes, whole wheat tortillas

Thursday: left overs

Friday: tuna salad sandwiches, fresh fruit

Saturday: hamburgers, oven fries

I thought I would bake a batch of Vanilla Bean Shortbread. This lite version only has 100 calories per square!

I made a point of using the slow cooker this week. I cook with it and the outdoor grill almost exclusively during the hot summer months to keep the house from becoming too hot. It's May and that means summer temperatures have arrived in Houston. Hello grilled and crock-pot dinners!