Crave Wednesday: Grilled Stuffed Jalapenos

I hope you all had a great Halloween, I know we did.  But really, we've been celebrating all month.  I think we got more use out of our costumes this year than any year prior.

We started out with our annual trip to Legoland for Brick or Treat.  This year Thatbaby wanted to be a kitty cat.  So I got him a cat costume. Then he wanted to be superman, then ironman, then a host of other things.  I finally convinced him to wear his car costume if I dressed up like a cat too.

 

Thatkid was easier this year.  He wanted to be a vampire for a while, and didn't change his mind.

And Thatboy was very eager to join him in the costume theme.

We also met up with the Ks who joined us in the costume contest!

The next weekend we tried  a new experience - The Haunted Aquarium!

It wasn't really haunted.  Just filled with fun Halloween activities.

Like the slime lab, where Thatkid made his own slime while Thatbaby felt all the slimey things.

There were Halloween decorations galore.

Even in the tanks!

There were also stations throughout to learn about various ocean animals and phenomena, like squid or bioflouresence.

For Thatbaby the highlight was the band. He spent a lot of the evening singing and boogie-ing down.

And interviewing his family members about their costumes.

It was another great Halloween adventure.  We have been less adventurous with food lately.  Maybe it's like that saying "lucky in life, unlucky in cards," if you're getting your adventures in outside the kitchen, you won't be getting them in the kitchen?  These adventures have us eating out more than we usually do.  Which usually involves foods I don't make at home often, or ever.  But that doesn't have to be the case.  Like the night we grabbed dinner and ended up making a meal of  jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese and bacon, drizzled with a bourbon maple reduction. I never make stuffed jalapenos at home.  But I was inspired. These grilled jalapenos aren't as unhealthy as the fried variety, and possibly more flavorful.  In addition to the cream cheese and bacon, these also have cheddar, making then extra cheesy.  Meal worthy.  An adventure.

Grilled Stuffed Jalapenos (from Cooking Light)

2 center cut bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

1/2 cup cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup fat free cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 cup minced green onions

juice of 1/2 lime

1 garlic clove, minced

14 jalapeno peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded

2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

2 Tbsp chopped tomatoes

1. Preheat grill. Combine bacon, cheese, green onions, lime juice, garlic, and salt to taste.
2. Divide cheese mixture among pepper halves.  Place peppers on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Cover and grill 8 minutes or until bottoms of peppers are charred and cheese mixture is lightly browned.
3. Place on a serving tray and sprinkle with cilantro and tomato.

Sunday Runday: Fit Foodie 5k 2017

There were a lot of differences in this year's Fit Foodie 5k. New date, new location, new running partner...

We got there early, having missed registration the day before, and there were loads of people already there.  Both runners and vendors.

I got a bunch of friends to run the race this year, so before it started we took the time to take some commerorative pictures.

And then we started running.  This was a new race course for me.  I had run a race at NTC Park back in 2011 when I was pregnant with Thatkid, but it was just running around the park itself.  This one had lovely views of the bay.

They've also done a lot to the area in the past 7 years.  Like I do not remember the bridges! The race promised bites at each mile, so I was curious as to what was going to be meeting us at mile 1.  It was a prune.

Shortly after mile 1 we turned around, and the rest of the course was downhill or flat.

At mile 2 there was no promised "bite," but we did meet up with my friend and her daughter, which turned into a mad dash to the finish for the last mile as the two of them competed to cross first.

He barely stopped at mile 3 for a sip of protein drink which he passed off to me so he could get that last .1 mile done.

We caught up with him after the race, where we learned those pineapple medals? Not really pineapple.

And then Thatkid and I went around collecting goodies.  We ate, drank, got sunglasses, chapsticks, and a ton of other stuff.  Thatkid wasn't thrilled with standing in line, but he loved all the stuff he got.

The haul: (my bag, Thatkid had his very own bag)

All my new runners had a great time at the race this year, including this guy.  I really do love sharing these moments with him, in fact, we're doing another race together today!

Crave Wednesday: Grilled Corn on the Cob with Roasted Jalapeno Butter

One of the great things about fall is that there are fall festivals just about every weekend.  And they're all so different.

The first one we went to was at Thatkid's school.  Basically we hardly saw home all night as he ran off with his friends.  Which is a little nerve-wracking when you're talking about a 6 year old and hundreds of children.

There were lots of games and crafts for the kids to do and the adults kind of hung out together as our children wreaked havoc.

The following weekend was the town street festival. Lots of vendors and spin-the-wheel type things for the kids.  The bonus of this one was we got to see a bunch of new restaurants that have opened on our main drag.  And we've tried all of them since that time!

Last weekend was our last fall festival that I know of.  A friend posted about it on Facebook and it seemed like something that would be a lot of fun, so we decided to bring our kids.  It was great - all the things that you love about fairs offered for free!

There was face painting with one of the most talented face painters I have ever encountered.

A caricature artist.  Thatbaby was all in from the start.  Thatkid didn't initially want to do it, but then came up with the idea of doing it with his friend.

They also had great photo spots set up for all your social media needs.

One of the initial draws was the train ride, which turned out to be a pretty big train!

The kids snacked on apple juice and cookies and then posed for a couple silly pictures, which were taken by a photographer who emailed them to us.

The only thing that would have made these festivals better is if we had gotten fall weather to go with them.  It was almost 100 degrees during the daytime festivals.

Upshot is there is a perfect food to bridge the gap between summer weather and fall activities - corn!  Corn is one of those foods that transitions seamlessly from summer salads to fall mazes.  It straddles the seasons.  Grilled corn is sweet, topped with jalapeno butter makes it less so.  Just like this weird mix of seasons, the mix of sweet and spicy straddles two taste sensations.

Grilled Corn with Roasted Jalapeno Butter (from Cooking Light)

1 jalapeno pepper

7 tsp unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp grated lime rind

2 tsp honey

1/4 tsp salt

6 ears shucked corn

1. preheat grill to medium high heat. Place jalapeno on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Cover and grill 10 minutes until blackened and charred, turning occasionally. Place in small paper bag and fold to close tightly. Let stand 5 minutes.  Peel and discard skins, cut jalapeno in half lengthwise. Discard stem, seeds, and membranes. Finely chop jalapenos.
2.  Combine jalapenos, butter, lime rinds, honey, and salt in a small bowl. Stir well.
3.  Place corn on grill rack.  Cover and grill 10 minutes or until lightly charred, turning occasionally.
4. Place corn on serving plate and brush with jalapeno butter.

Mommy Mondays: Guardians of Six

I honestly thought we were heading to a great birthday party this year. All summer Thatkid talked about a sports party in the park. I was excited.  And then, about a month before his birthday, he decided he wanted a Guardians of the Galaxy party at Chuck E Cheese.

As you may recall, last yer he had a Ninjago birthday party at Chuck E Cheese,  despite having never seen or expressed any interest in Ninjago.  Well, looks like that's become the new theme, because I've never heard him mention Guardians of the Galaxy before this declaration.

But it's his birthday, so he gets to pick.  So Guardians of the Galaxy at Chuck E Cheese it was.

He also requested a homemade cake - strawberry cake with chocolate ice cream.   I had a hard time figuring out how I was going to Guardians that thing up, and finally came up with a pretty good solution.

The kids spent the time playing arcade games and dancing with the mouse himself.

During the birthday show, he got called up to lead everyone in singing to him.  

And then that cake got candled, cut, and eaten.

One of the highlights is always the ticket blaster.  Last year he couldn't really figure out what to do. This year, he had it down.

As much as I hate these Chuck E Cheese birthdays, Thatkid really loves them.  And I love seeing him so happy.  Even still, let's cross our fingers that next year he decides he's over it, or interested in something cooler.