Day Thirty-two--Dinner out!

Good news and bad news. The good news is that I got the menus done for next week. The bad news is that I couldn't figure out what to have tonight. But that turned into good news too. We decided to go out for dinner. We gave the boys three different options. La Tolteca for Mexican, Hops and Barley, or Theo's Metro. I go to Theo's once in a while with my friends and it has great Greek food. The boys have never been there so we gently nudged them in that direction. Theo's has a pretty cool history to it too. It used to be a popcorn factory long ago and it's now a historical building with lots of neat knick knacks and even a little mini golf place inside for the kids to play.

We started our dinner off with a couple of appetizers. Tim saw that they had Saganaki on the menu. Basically it's a Greek cheese that has a Parmesan egg batter on it. It's then sprinkled with some vodka and lit on fire at your table. The fire is put out with a squeeze of lemon. How cool is that?!

Saganaki

The kids were quite impressed and loved the melted cheese. I got one of my favorite appetizers. It's a Mediterranean Shrimp Strudel. It's phyllo dough filled with feta and boursin cheese and shrimp. It then has a lobster sauce over the top. It was enjoyed by all.


Mediterranean Shrimp Strudel

For the main course I had spinach pie. It came with some veggies and some amazing lemon potatoes. I don't know how they do their potatoes and I wish I could figure it out because they are so amazing. I could only eat half of my main course so I was able to bring a bunch home.


Spinach pie

So, all in all it was a great day. We got a lot of spring cleaning done and my menus are done for next week. We had a delicious dinner at a family run restaurant. Tomorrow I hit the store and stock up for the week. Until tomorrow, happy cooking!

Day Sixteen--Dinner out

Last night's dinner was supposed to be one thing, but life happened and we had to celebrate it. Connor tested for his next belt in karate and passed with flying colors. By the time class was over it was 6:30 and Tim and I decided to let Connor pick someplace special for dinner. He had earned it from not only his karate class, but he had also gotten up early and gone for his PSSA testing. He was funny because when we told him he could pick he was happy. He says, "I know it's not good for us, but the first thing that popped into my mind was Chuck E Cheese." Tim and I groaned. Connor chuckled and then said, "No, I don't really want it, it's just the first thing that popped into my mind." Chuck E Cheese would be happy to know that their advertising dollars are working well. It's strange too because the kids rarely watch TV anymore. When they do, it's through the tivo and we fast forward through the commercials. It must have been lodged in his brain a couple of years ago. He thought a bit more and then chose La Tolteca. A local Mexican restaurant. I was pleased because it meant I could have one of these:

A JUMBO margarita. It was so good and I really needed if after a couple of very busy weeks.

We were careful and limited the numbers of chips and salsa we consumed before our actual meal showed up. Last time, the kids pounded down so many chips and salsa they were ill by the end of the dinner. Then they were mad that we wouldn't let them get fried ice cream. Both Connor and Aidan were gunning for the fried ice cream this time so they were careful with the chip consumption.

For dinner I had an enchilada dish. The enchiladas were full of crab and shrimp and then covered with cheese. Served with rice. Honestly, my favorite part was the rice. It was really good. The enchiladas were ok. They didn't really have a lot of flavor and I only ate half of them. I should have ordered something with a little more pizazz. I was proud of myself though because I did try something new and didn't get what I usually get in Mexican restaurants.

The kids managed to get their ice creams too. We got two and split them between the four of us. It was a very nice dinner that everyone enjoyed and we all left with smiles on our faces. It was nice to have a night where I didn't have to prepare and clean up after dinner too. Tonight, I am back in the kitchen.

Congrats to my newly yellow belted son. Great job!

Until tonight, happy cooking!