Monthly Archives: January 2016

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January 4, 2016

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Cooking/Food

Resort Style Pesto Ravioli with Balsamic Glaze Reduction – $3.99

So, if you don’t already know me, there is something you will quickly learn about me on this blog.

I LOVE FOOD!

And, I love to cook it… probably more. My wife thinks I’m insane. Cooking absolutely stresses her out; but, for me, cooking is a freedom, an art, and an experience to create marvelous things to titillate the senses. This dish is something I hijacked from Disney’s California Adventure from the Disneyland Resort. We stumbled upon this little area in the far corner between the Grand Californian and Paradise Pier. It’s called, Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta. The food was so good that my wife went back for a 2nd serving! LOL… so, naturally, I wanted to figure out if I could replicate it at home.

This post is all about how to make this dish for less than $3.99 dollars in cost per serving!

Resort Style Pesto Ravioli with Balsamic Glaze Reduction – $3.99

What you’ll need:

  • Prepackaged, uncooked, refrigerated 4 or 5 Cheese Ravioli. I got mine from Trader Joe’s for $3 (12-13 pieces).
  • Pre-ground Parmesan Cheese. I also got mine at Trader Joe’s for $2.99 in one of those green shakers.
  • Balsamic Vinegar. Allllllso… from Trader Joe’s (hint where we like to shop). $2.79 if memory serves.
  • Some brown & white sugar from your pantry. We’ll call the cost something like $1 worth of sugar, if even.
  • Fresh made pesto. I got a big hunk of it from Costco for $7.99. For 6 pieces, I probably use $1-2 worth of pesto.
  • AND! If you want to get fancy, you can pick up some roasted pine nuts for near $20/lb. I usually leave this off unless I’m trying to spoil the wife… or, impress company.

So, when we spin this all down, I only use 6-7 pieces of ravioli which comes down to $1.50 in serving cost. The cheese, is negligible and we’ll call it $0.25 as is the balsamic vinegar which we’ll call a similar point of cost. When you add all this together, you’ll get just under $4 in material costs. So, with all that said, it’s time to cook!

The Recipe

  1. Begin by boiling water and putting your ravioli in. I know, I know… you’re supposed to wait for it to boil. Personally, I just do it this way because I’m lazy & because I’m a big rule break. Just get the pasta cooked 🙂
  2. Pour about 3-5 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar out onto a frying pan or sauce pan. Put the heat up to about medium or medium high.
  3. Add 2-3 tablespoons of 50/50 white/brown sugar into the balsamic… this will become your glaze.
  4. And… WHISK! Whisk like your life depended on it. DO. NOT. STOP.
  5. Okay… now you can slow it down.
  6. Once the glaze starts to boil, you’ll need to carefully manage the heat so that you don’t over reduce the glaze or just plain caramelize (aka burn) the poor thing into a molasses oblivion — PS. Keep whisking.
  7. To do this, put the heat down at low or medium-low and still whisking the sillies out of the glaze, moving it periodically onto and off of the heat. It should get to a consistency where by tipping the sauce pan, the glaze slowly moves from one side to the other much like a syrup would. That’s how you know you got it!
  8. Okay. By now, your ravioli is ready so strain those puppies out and make sure they are relatively dry on the outside.
  9. Mix in your pesto with the ravioli, gently… usually I use two spoons and gently toss them in a mixing bowl so I don’t break open any raviolis.
  10. Once this is done, start your plating. Dust the top of the raviolis with some Parmesan cheese (or grate it, if you like to be fancy).
  11. Then, pour the glaze over the top of the meal. I like to do a line down the middle and around the plate just for the visual effects. The extra glaze, I pool to the sides if possible.
  12. Finally, if you want to be extra fancy, sprinkle some roasted pine nuts on top as the finishing touch!

bon appetit!

pesto rav

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January 4, 2016

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Child Development, Just Saying...

Who Is Your Favorite?

MAMA!

 

LOL! Was there any doubt? We used to do this thing with Nathan:

  • Who is your favorite? — MAMA!
  • Who do you love? — MAMA!
  • What does the pig say? — OINK!
  • What does the sheep say? — BAAH!
  • What does R2D2 Say? — BEEP BOOP BOOP!
  • Who do you love? — MAMA!
  • Who ELSE do you love? — …….. MAMA!

Great………..

Yep. Mom’s the fave. And, hey?! She’s my favorite too! Haha, it’s just so funny what little kids need and when it comes to comfort. It’s all about the mom’s. However, when it is play time, daddy is the fun one.

Yes, that’s right! There is no one else that can get my boy to giggle, squeal, and laugh the way daddy does. It’s actually really cool… comforting really. No matter the case, mom will always be there to comfort, snug, and give our boy the love. And, when kiddo needs fun play time, to tussle, jump, run, laugh, and get into all sorts of trouble. That’s what daddy is for!

This all started back when Nathan was just beginning to talk. We were doing all sorts of crazy things to try and get him to speak up more so we started this little game. As the game developed, we realized that it wasn’t just that he was saying things for the correct response, rhyme, and reason, he was saying it because he knew what emotional content these words meant. We tell Nathan we love him ALL the time. He knows what emotions comes with the word “love.” He may not completely understand what love is, how deep it goes, or that it can hurt. But, he knows that when we say “love” to him, it is a very positive, warm, and welcome emotional idea.

He also knows that when he feels awful, needs comfort, and needs that love, that mom is the best place to go. Sure, he’ll go to daddy in times of need, but if mommy is readily available — mom’s the favorite.

But, the flip side of the coin is this: If I’m not around, he doesn’t really laugh as silly, crazy, out of control.

So as far as it may periodically sting that mom is the favorite, it must sting all the same that I can get the smiles, the giggles, and the laughter of pure joy with that much more ease than mommy can. It’s not a bad thing. It’s not a good thing. It’s not, fair — and — it isn’t, not fair. It just is.

Parenthood is all about roles… specifically, making sure that roles are constructive, complimentary, and compassionate. It is easy in a tired moment to be all, “No… it’s YOUR turn to…*dot dot dot.*” Yet, the reality is this, everything is and should be all for the benefit of that wonderful bundle of love that is our kiddo. Therefore, it isn’t about who the favorite is or who gets the best kisses, hugs, laughs, or smiles.

It is all about us giving it all up in the dearest love and benefit for our son’s well being.

Who is the favorite? Nathan is!

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January 4, 2016

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Child Development

Creepy, Crawling, Crazy!

As a Physical Therapist, I am regularly asked about concerns of physical health. Pertaining to kiddos, it’s always about child development — primarily in how they move and how their little muscles are growing. This story is all about a funny crawling pattern I was asked about.

Creepy, Crawling, Crazy!

This story is about a little boy we’ll call “MAC.” MAC is in that creepy crawly stage. He’s a starkingly heavy set kid who is in the 99% in terms of weight. And… normal for everything else. He is a HUGE baby. He is also ridiculously adorable and pretty much happy all around minus when his body tells him he needs something. The thing of it was that when MAC started to pull himself forward, he never quite transitioned to a creeping on all fours with belly off the ground. In fact, as it seemed he would, his crawling pattern changed to more of him pulling himself across the ground using left arm to pull and his right leg to kick himself forward.

This was leading to him favoring that cross pattern and somewhat ignoring the use of his right arm and left leg in mobility. Mommy, of course, saw this right away and was worried that MAC was going to become susceptible to some type of developmental concern.

This is where I came in. She asked for a clinical eye.

I was more than happy to check MAC out — just to see if there was anything of concern. His hips felt fine and the rest of his joints moved perfectly fine. He was plenty strong and squirmed away as I was poking at him — all excellent signs. I used a toy to test out if he could indeed move in a reciprocal manner. He did! It wasn’t that he couldn’t move with both sides. He just plain did not want to. In fact, he threw a fit when he realized I was tricking him to crawl reciprocally.

You should’ve seen the fit when I made him creep.

It’s all part of the process in pediatric clinical assessments. Now, mind you, I’m not specialized in pediatric physical therapy or health. It’s just something I’ve been trained in and feel comfortable enough to discern when a specialist is needed versus when everything is perfectly okay. In MAC’s case, he was great. I told mommy that MAC is just favoring this side. It’s a choice, not an impairment. My bet was that MAC would choose to move bilaterally, efficiently, and “normally” when he decided that moving all slow by pulling himself and sliding the rest of the body across the floor got boring. Sure enough, in a few weeks, he started to creep normally and he even seemed to want to skip all that into stance.

Part of this came from the fact that MAC is a pretty heavy set kid for his frame. It was probably just a bit frustrating to try to move “normally.” As a result, he created a compensatory movement pattern until his muscles were strong enough and until his brain developed enough motor control to catch up with “the curve.”

I, personally, was never worried about MAC. I figured it would be only a matter of time before he got bored of moving slowly. After all — babies want what they want, and they want it NOW.

The lesson here: Everyone is different.

The secondary lesson here: It’s always good to get a clinical eye on the situation.

The final lesson here: Crawling isn’t the goal. WALKING is the goal. Unless your kiddo’s crawling strategy has transferred over to strange and concerning walking pattern, there is absolutely nothing to worry about… particularly since you already sought a clinical eye on the situation, right? 😉

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January 4, 2016

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It's A Phase...

Sneaky Baby

So, my kiddo is a total sneak. He can ninja step all super quiet when he’s trying to get into areas he’s not supposed to. And, he can Jedi Mind Trick people into doing things he KNOWS is against the rules.

Example: One time, my parents came over for a visit and he decided that he wanted to divide and conquer. He separated out one of the grandparents from the group and led them into his room. In his room, a line of flags are hung up in the middle of the ceiling space which were the same flags from his 2nd birthday party. And, I’m sure you’ve guessed it, he likes to hit and slap the flags… until the line breaks and the flags fall.

He knows this is NOT acceptable. However, he’s always able to get someone into that room, have them pick him up, hoist him upwards, and give him the range he needs to smack those flags.

flags

He is a total sneak!

And, it’s incredible because it doesn’t stop there. Many times, he’ll get his hands on remote controllers and/or our cell phones. He also knows he isn’t supposed to play with such things. When we catch him, he suddenly extends out the “toy” to us — as if he’s giving it to us.

“Look! Look what I found for you, mom & dad. I was just giving it to you in immediate and present time!” — Sneaky Baby.

It is a total crack up. And, the thing is, he is 100% cognizant of what he is doing and why. It is hilarious when we call him out, too! He shakes he head, says “No.” all matter of fact, then runs away. LOL! Of course, then there is when he is so guilty and he knows it, he throws whatever object it is that he hijacked… dashing it across the floor.

*Sighs*

Once, these were our smartphones… 🙁

Then we got replacements & he did the same Thor-like-smashing-thing. Fortunately, this time, I had a GREAT case on it… Hint-Hint: Product Review to come: Galaxy S5 Case, Spigen Tough Armor Case for Galaxy S5 – Copper Gold (SGP10764)

Any way! There are other ways he’s a total sneak. Primarily, when he’s quiet. You know that phrase: “Silence is golden, unless you have a toddler — in which case, silence is SUSPICIOUS.” None could be more true than in the case of my boy. When he’s quiet, he is inordinately getting into some kind of trouble. Whether this means he’s making a mess of our blinds, trying to break into the entertainment center, figuring out the exact frequency of pulling on the door to unlock our very painstakingly installed childproofed kitchen drawers.

The most entertaining part in all this is how he runs away when he knows he was caught RED HANDED. It’s this silly giggle and dash for freedom, knowing that we are coming after him! After all, he is still a kiddo. He’s not even 3, we’re not making full conversations with him, and even if we were, there’s no guarantee that just because he is able to reciprocate verbally — that he also has a full adult understanding of what he’s even talking about. Kids are smart. They know how to respond favorably. But, being able to respond and knowing the depth of what that response means are two very different things.

As long as he’s a kid, we’re always going to treat him that way. Toddlers may seem like little drunk adults; which means, we should be treating them that way. They are out for fun, for laughs, and for love — we can’t expect them to be mature… only to be what they are: Toddlers.