Happy Belated Easter

We had a really nice Easter. We didn't do a lot, but we did have our usual Easter egg hunt in the house on Easter morning. By the time we got through all the Easter stuff though, it was time to go to church and I didn't get a good picture of the kids before we left. So when we were all ready for church today - one week after Easter - I snapped the picture above. After all, this is really what Easter is all about; Christ died and was resurrected so that we can live again, hopefully with the ones that we love the most.

The pictures below are from Easter morning. I made the kids get ready for church while Dalen hid the eggs for the hunt downstairs. Then the kids got to go down and check out what was in their Easter baskets. After unloading their gifts, they ran around finding all eggs. They did a very thorough job of it too. In years past, I have found eggs in various places for the following week. It was always a fun treat to open a drawer for a spatula and find a Cadbury Egg there. But no such luck this year! So far I haven't found ANY missed goodies since Easter morning. (Do you think I could still find Cadbury Eggs on clearance somewhere? I wonder...)

More About Food

Macaroni Grill's Grilled Salmon

I am really not obsessed about food. But Jen commented on my last post and let me know that Macaroni Grill still has the teriyaki salmon. Could it be?? Wahoo! 10+ years ago they told me they had taken it off their menu and I haven't tried ordering it since. Of course, I probably haven't been there more than a handful of times since then either. Back in the day when I was working (for dollars as opposed to now when I work for hugs and kisses) I used to go there for lunch all the time and I always got the salmon. Now I am going to have to make a trip over there to try it out again and see how it compares with the Island Teriyaki.

While I am on the topic of yummy entrees that restaurants have taken off their menus, Olive Garden had a dish called "chicken castellina" that I loved. In hopes that I was mistaken and it was really still on their menu, I went to their website to take a look. Unfortunately it does not appear to be on the menu. However, they have a recipe section and it is posted there! I was pretty excited until I took a look at the long list of ingredients and thought "fat chance I'll ever make that"! But who knows, maybe someday I'll get really inspired. Anyway, if YOU are feeling really inspired, you can make it .... and be sure to invite me over. Click here to check it out.

Olive Garden's Chicken Castellina

We're having fish tonight!

A long, long time ago, Macaroni Grill had on their menu a Honey Teriyaki Salmon. Oh, my! It was YUM! So, ever since my Dad has been bringing me Salmon that he catches in Alaska, I have been looking for a good Teriyaki sauce that measures up to my fond memories of Macaroni Grill. And, by George, I think I've found it! Soy Vay Island Teriyaki. It is SO good! I thicken it with a little cornstarch on the stove and then brush it on the Salmon on the grill. This is my kind of cooking - three ingredients (meat, teriyaki, cornstarch). It is also great on chicken. I like it with grilled chicken the best, but I tried it on baked chicken last week and it was good too. The next day I cut up the chicken leftovers and the leftover carrots and broccoli, dumped them in with a bunch of rice and a little more of the thickened teriyaki sauce and sent it in the kids' lunch boxes. They came home and said I could send that with them any time. So put this one on your grocery list and have yourself some fish tonight.

Stubby Little Flippers

I have been dealing with a foot problem since the end of last summer. It has been a real pain - literally. The doctor diagnosed it as plantar fasciitis, gave me a bunch of pain pills, and sent me to a physical therapist. After months of working with the PT, he finally said I was good to go and sent me to a pedorthist to get some custom orthotics made for my running shoes. The pedorthist took a mold of my feet and told me to come back in a week. When I returned, she said something to the effect of "I've got to see this again" and had me take off my shoes. She then informed me that my feet were like "stubby little flippers". And then she laughed and laughed. The good news is that I laugh too. The bad new is that she's right. My feet are short and wide and the arches are ridiculously high. I guess shoe modeling is not going to be in my future. But in the end, who cares! My foot is feeling SO much better! I have started running again and I don't even regret it in the morning. So I guess I'll take my stubby little flippers, try to buy some cute sandles that make them look skinnier than they really are, and be grateful the I have them at all.