Grilled Balsamic Vinaigrette Chicken Salad

I found a recipe for a grilled chicken Caesar salad and since I am not a huge fan of Caesar dressing, I decided to marinate the chicken in a balsamic vinaigrette. I grilled the chicken, croutons, red onion and even the romaine hearts on the BBQ and topped it with grated Parmesan cheese. Salads taste so good when grilled on the BBQ!

Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine
Grilled Chicken Caesar on a Skewer

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients
3/4 cup fat-free bottled Caesar dressing, divided
1 1/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 ounces country bread, crust trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
Cooking spray
1 red onion, cut into 1-inch-thick wedges
6 cups torn romaine lettuce
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shaved fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Cracked black pepper

Preparation
1. Combine 2 tablespoons dressing and chicken in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Marinate in refrigerator 45 minutes, turning bag occasionally.

2. Preheat grill.

3. Thread bread cubes onto 2 (12-inch) skewers; coat with cooking spray. Place skewers on a grill rack. Grill 1 minute on each side or until browned.

4. Remove chicken from bag; discard marinade. Thread chicken and onion alternately onto each of 6 (12-inch) skewers. Place on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 10 minutes or until chicken is done, turning occasionally. Remove from grill; drizzle each chicken skewer with 2 teaspoons dressing.

5. Combine remaining 6 tablespoons dressing and lettuce in a bowl; toss well to coat. Place about 1 cup lettuce mixture on each of 6 plates; divide bread cubes evenly among plates. Place 1 chicken skewer on each plate. Top each serving with about 1 tablespoon cheese; sprinkle with pepper.

Poor Thatch

Poor Thatcher ended up with an ear ache last week after battling a cold. This kid will not swallow anything but milk so far, so getting him to keep down a syringe of antibiotics twice a day has been really difficult. He is better now but we still have to finish out the medicine for a full 10 days.

This is the look we get when he sees us coming towards him with the medicine

We have to make him laugh and then sneak it in his mouth

and then we get this reaction.

Luckily for us, it doesn't seem like he holds a grudge very long:

Preschool Take Two

Yesterday was Samantha's first day at her new preschool. Samantha did a summer program at another preschool, and while we liked most aspects of the school, we found a better fit for her for fall.

No tears, no nerves and sadly for me, no hug and kiss goodbye. She was too busy checking out all the fun things her new school had to offer.

When I picked her up the first thing she said to me was, "Mom, I didn't cry".

All in all, a much better experience the second time around.

Samantha with her new teacher, Miss Katie.

5 1/2 Months

What's new with Thatcher?

We have tried feeding him bananas, peas, sweet potatoes, pears and avocados. He equally detests them all. I think until I offer him a hearty New York steak, he will continue to push away the baby food.

He has graduated to his big boy stroller

TWO bottom teeth now

AND, he is looking like he will be crawling very soon, sort of......

Visit from the Grandparents

Last week my parents and Todd's mom (we missed you Papa Ward) came up to see us and I somehow managed to leave my camera in my purse the whole time. Too much going on I guess. Everyone got to see Samantha's last "performance" at ballet camp which was really great.

My parents stayed the night and took Samantha up to Solvang for the day. They went blueberry picking, sightseeing and came home with the best caramel apples we have ever had. Later that day we all went to the driving range where we realized we may have a future golf pro on our hands, although Sam kept saying she was playing hockey the whole time.

We finished up the visit with dinner at Petrini's.

Toned

Nice Abs

Sun-Dried Tomato Burgers

These are a fun twist on the traditional burger. I love sun-dried tomatoes in sandwiches, pasta and on pizza, so why not in a burger?

I made these with ground turkey, topped them with arugula on a whole-wheat burger bun. Don't be afraid to add extra sun-dried tomatoes. Very flavorful!

Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 burger)

Ingredients
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil
1/4 cup minced shallots
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin
1 garlic clove, minced
Cooking spray
6 (2-ounce) Kaiser rolls, split
6 (1/8-inch-thick) red onion slices
6 romaine lettuce leaves

Preparation
Place tomatoes in a bowl; cover with boiling water. Let stand 30 minutes or until soft. Drain and finely chop.

Prepare grill.

Combine tomatoes, shallots, and next 7 ingredients (through garlic). Divide mixture into 6 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty.

Place patties on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 5 minutes on each side or until a thermometer registers 160°. Remove from grill; let stand 5 minutes.

Place rolls, cut sides down, on grill rack; grill 1 minute or until toasted. Place 1 patty on bottom half of each roll; top each serving with 1 onion slice, 1 lettuce leaf, and top half of roll.

The Walk

The kids, dog and Todd go on an early evening walk around the block almost nightly before dinner so I can get somewhat of a break and hopefully Samantha can burn off a fraction of the energy she has. They have a pretty consistent routine down: Say hello to John and Paul (two older men who sit outside at the old folks home), point out the bougainvillea, hibiscus flowers, succulents and cacti, (which she learned all about from her botanist Dad), and stop by to say hello to our neighbor Sofia.

I am always amazed by the things she says when I do the walk with her because she is always pointing out something new and random. I am equally amazed by how long it takes to get around the block with her. What should take less than 10 minutes can take about an hour. I try to be as patient as I can with her but when we have to stop 30 seconds into the walk for her to sit down and have a snack (she usually packs a bag for the "hike"), I start to get a little antsy. Not to mention that she insists on stumbling through the walk wearing rain boots, pushing a large bear in her doll stroller, wearing a gigantic backpack, sunglasses and a beanie on her head.

Today I smartened up and I let her ride her tricycle on the walk. We made it around the block in under 10 minutes.

Fallon Boys

Toddler Yoga

Yesterday I took Samantha to a Toddler Yoga class at Yoga Soup in Santa Barbara.

The teacher demonstrating with Sam a children's version of yoga called "Climb Time" (aka weight lifting with your kid).

Sam's new friend and yoga partner, Malia.

5 Months Old

Thatcher is 5 months old today and we celebrated by giving him his first taste of solid food. We skipped over rice cereal and went straight for a mashed up banana.

Frankly, I think he thought it sucked (that is the nicest way I could put it).

P.S. He has his first tooth! His bottom tooth just poked through.

Fiesta 2010

We tend to lay low during the annual Santa Barbara tradition of Old Spanish Days. The downtown area where we live gets packed with locals and out-of-towners and our relatively quiet and small town of Santa Barbara becomes loud and crowded. Although, we did pick a couple of Fiesta activities to participate in and they did not disappoint.

Sofia, our neighbor and "Big Sister" to Samantha, toured all around town this week with her flamenco dancing group. We went and watched one of her performances and she was amazing!

We also checked out El Mercado Del Norte, the Fiesta carnival at Mackenzie Park. Last year when we went, Samantha had her first pony ride. This year Samantha was tall enough to ride some of the rides.



We bumped into Sam's friend Ava which was nice because they got to ride most of the rides together.

Thatcher was a good sport even though he didn't meet the minimum height requirement for any of the rides (any day now Thatch).

The slide we have at our house will no longer do after Samantha rode this one, five times....

Viva La Fiesta!!

Now go home everyone so we can find parking on our street again :)

Lemony Herb-Grilled Jumbo Shrimp

Our lemon tree is ALWAYS full of lemons all year long. The tree does not stop producing (there are hundreds!). We can't use or give them away quick enough. And the kicker is, we have never watered the tree (we don't have a sprinkler system in our backyard yet). The root system must be so established on the tree that all the neighboring properties are taking care of it. Thanks neighbors :)

Here is one of my favorite seafood recipes that uses lemons, and it just so happens that my friend Holley posted about preserving lemons, which will help me in my quest to not let any of our lemons go to waste. And please stop by and pick up a bag of lemons from me or I will happily deliver them to you :)

From Food and Wine Magazine

Serves 4

Ingredients

16 jumbo shrimp (1 1/2 pounds)
3 garlic cloves
One 3/4-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
1 tablespoon chopped oregano
1 tablespoon chopped sage
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 lemon, zest finely grated and lemon cut in half
Kosher salt
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Freshly ground pepper


Directions
1.Using kitchen scissors, cut down the back of each shrimp through the shell and halfway through the meat. Remove the dark veins and transfer the shrimp in their shells to a large bowl.

2.In a mortar or food processor, crush the garlic, ginger, oregano, sage, cilantro, crushed red pepper and lemon zest with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt until a coarse paste forms. Stir in the 1/2 cup of olive oil. Pour the mixture over the shrimp and toss to coat thoroughly. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.

3.Light a grill. Grill the shrimp over moderately high heat, turning once, until white throughout, about 4 minutes. Transfer the grilled shrimp to plates. Squeeze the lemon halves over the shrimp, drizzle with olive oil, season lightly with salt and pepper and serve at once.

Beautiful Beach Day