Garlic & Parmesan Roasted Broccolini (Toddler Approved)

I don't know why it's taken me so long to jump on the broccolini train. Oddly enough, Caroline loves broccoli (aka "trees") and it just recently dawned on me that I really should capitalize on her love for this veggie before she changes her mind. 

So without further ado, I present the yummiest (and super quick) roasted trees recipe for your next side dish...

Garlic & Parmesan Oven Roasted Broccolini

Ingredients

2 bunches broccolini, trimmed
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Jane's Krazy Mixed Up Salt
Pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven broiler.

2. On a foil lined baking sheet (or roasting pan), spread the broccolini in an even layer. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with garlic, salt, pepper and cheese.

3. Place under the broiler and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until lightly browned and the stalks are fork tender.

4. Serve immediately.

2016 Father's Day

We had a super fun Father's Day weekend.

We kicked off the weekend with a fun surprise for the kids - a house! For 6 months I have been patiently waiting to score one of these in a local mommy resale group. These play houses go SO fast in our group and I am usually 15-20th in line for them by the time I see them listed. Anyway, there was a strict pickup deadline on this particular house which none of 15 mamas in front of me could meet but thankfully Matt has a truck and a flexible schedule! Home sweet home...

We picked up the house during lunch Friday but didn't actually surprise the kids with it until Sunday because it took Matt two days to de-bug and bleach it to his comfort level. I'm sure that surprises no one. However, it was perfect we revealed the surprise Sunday because I'm not sure how many more plastic slices of cheese pizza I could possibly eat in one weekend.

And because our family is notorious for being the worst at waiting until the actual occasion to present gifts we surprised daddy with the yummiest Father's Day cookie cake from the kiddos. Is this cake not parfect?! By Saturday night it was already demolished.

The kids really stepped up their card making skills for the occasion too.

 

Both kiddies also made their daddy the sweetest little gifts at school -- tie art from Thomas and a tie dye shirt from Caroline.

Side note: it is nearly impossible to get pictures of my kids without one of Matt's hands or a hairy foot in them. He is literally always within 10 inches of them. Ha.

On Saturday we packed our bags for a fun morning of splash pad fun. The puddle jumper was a huge success for Caroline. She was obsessed with lazily floating around the pool and now has absolutely no interest in learning to swim.

I successfully convinced Matt to stand outside the frame of this picture.

As for the goggles update - huge fail. Thomas is pretty tolerant when it comes to us harassing him with eye stuff (contacts, eye drops, patching, etc.) but he drew the line at goggles. We're going to attempt each time we arrive to the pool but in the meantime we literally crawl around the splash pad (imagine how ridiculous we look) to stay at eye level with him to ensure he doesn't get a DROP of chlorinated water in his contacts. 

We rudely interrupted Caroline's cheese cracker break for this family picture.

Wrangling two non-swimming toddlers solo -- super daddy.

Verdict is still out on whether or not his patch is Harry Potter themed.

We incorrectly assumed our busy morning at the pool would ensure solid naps but both minis refused to go down so off to an early bird dinner we went! We met our friends at a new dive restaurant close to our house. The restaurant was completely empty so we let the kids dance around to the jukebox next to our table. It was all fun and games until a corner of our table intercepted Caroline running to her daddy. She has a pretty solid gash in her forehead but thanks to the restaurant staff we quickly doctored her up and let her back loose to run around. After dinner our kids still had way too much energy so we took the party to the park and let them exhaust themselves before hustling home for bedtime.

After the kids went to bed I gave Matt his Father's Day gift which was burning a whole through the envelope. I can't believe I was able to wait as long as I did but was too excited to keep the surprise until the next morning. Not to toot my own horn but (toot toot) I knocked Matt's gift out of the park. I had a custom watercolor painted of his new office location. He LOVED it. Like, really loved it.

 

On Sunday I made a big breakfast and then we ran every dad's dream errand - Ikea! Ha! It actually wasn't too bad and we were in and out in record timing. We picked up a second hi-chair so the kids don't have to fight over our current one, some frames, the perfect little toddler pillow and a few other toys for the kids that they definitely did not need.

When we got home we surprised the kiddos with their play house which they played in the rest of the day (see: earlier pictures).

Once the kiddos were down for bed I made Matt the best steak ever and roasted broccolini for dinner.

And that was a wrap on Father's Day! I am so very lucky to have an amazing daddy to my minis a great father-in-law and a super dad of my own! We are so fortunate to be surrounded by so many wonderful men!

Five on Friday!

Lots to cover today, folks. Let's get down to it...

one. For lunches this week I've been making Avocado Chicken Salad and am SO hooked. My sister has been nagging me to try this and I finally did and regretted not making it sooner!

Easy & Healthy Avocado Chicken Salad

Ingredients
1 large chicken breast
1 ripe avocado
1 apple
1/2 cup celery
1/4 cup red onion
2 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro 
2 teaspoons lime juice 
salt and pepper
olive oil

Directions 

1. Butterfly your chicken by laying the cutlet flat and slicing it parallel with a knife. Season with salt and pepper. Place the chicken breastsinto a lightly oiled skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until brown and opaque throughout, 2-4 minutes each side. Remove from heat and set aside for a few minutes. Finely dice the chicken breast and toss into a large bowl. 

2. Dice your veggies. Wash, dry, peel and finely dice your red onion, apple, celery and avocado. Toss into bowl with chicken. Gently mash the avocado until all of the ingredients are mixed well.

3. Sprinkle in cilantro. Add in lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. 

4. Serve as a sandwich or on a bed of greens with a little drizzle of olive oil!

Feel free to get creative too. I threw halved grapes into my salad one day and it was super tasty!

*For lunch, I seal my salad in a Tupperware container and eat the next day for lunch.  

Print recipe for Easy & Healthy Avocado Chicken Salad. 

two: Mario Badescu Facial Spray. I started working out at the gym last week during my lunch break. I've only gone twice so far but that is two more times than I've gone in the past year soooooo we're off to a good start. To cool down after a workout I've been using a really, really amazing Mario Badescu Facial Spray with aloe, herbs and rose water! I also keep one in my pool bag to refresh my face after being in the sun! Oh, and one in my makeup drawer to use a setting spray! The facial spray is only $7 so  I immediately primed a bottle (and then several more) to my house at Lindsey's recommendation and am loving it!

three. As you may have noticed from our first pool day with two minis post we were clearly unprepared for the splash pad last weekend. We arrived at the worst time, forgot towels for me and Matt, lost a contact, didn't have a puddle jumper for Caroline and more. In fact, we lathered them in sunscreen, forced a hat and a onesie on Thomas and packed some snacks. We thought we had covered the essentials but once we realized our pool bag was about to get a bit heavier...

Anyway, so now we've been prepping all week by stocking up on essentials recommended by my mama friends for this weekend's pool trip re-do. Here's what I've packed in the kiddo bag so far but I could REALLY use some help from the mamas who have tricks, snacks or products for summertime at the pool! HELP!

The Staples: Hooded towels x2, Blue Lizard Sunscreen, Sun Hat, Sippy Cup, Stainless Steel Water Bottle, extra swim diapers, change of clothes and snacks.

Puddle Jumper: I didn't anticipate leaving the splash pad but sure enough the second Caroline saw the kiddie pool she wanted in. That night I primed a Puddle Jumper to ease Matt's kiddie pool anxiety.

Water Shoes & Swim Shirt: Caroline wore her Natives and we just let Thomas crawl around barefoot in a onesie. Well, once we got home we realized the tops of poor Thomas' feet were scraped up from crawling around the splash pad. One of my girlfriends recommended these swim shoes which I purchased in lime green for our little man along with two cute swim shirts!

Babiator Swim Goggles! So I almost just wrote my entire #3 on these goggles but then got carried away with the rest of our pool items. Anyway, I asked the mamas in my infant cataract facebook group how in the world they protect contacts at the pool. These goggles were recommended by several aphakic kid mamas. But I had to share them for anyone with little ones too because 1. they are ridiculously BABIATOR GOGGLES 2. the reviews are incredible and 3. the company promises to replace up to one LOST pair within the first year!!!!! Is that not amazing? They were definitely more expensive than I had anticipated and Thomas definitely is not a fan of anything additional over his eyes but he looks like a stud in them and they will absolutely provide him with the protection he needs!

four. We released our butterflies last weekend!!!! Over the past few weeks we've been having so much fun watching our caterpillars morph into butterflies. On Sunday we let all five butterflies fly away after feeding them their last meal! And yes, Caroline wanted to name every one "two" and was very excited yet sad letting them go.

five. We are going on 6+ months of HelloFresh and are still loving it! No meal has taken me more than 30 minutes to make and I love that Matt and I sit down together to enjoy these dinners. On the nights we don't cook HelloFresh we're usually grabbing take-out, heating up a lean cuisine or leftovers, or eating a bowl of cereal - ha! Not even kidding, HelloFresh has made us sit down to eat together more than ever! Below are the highlights of our favorite meals the past month. 

Want to try HelloFresh? Use promo code MG8GKD for $40 off your first box! That means you can try out HelloFresh for $29 and then cancel after your box arrives or keep on going.

Also, I received another promo code to give my friends a FREE box of HelloFresh meals! I'd be happy to send the first FOUR people to leave their email address in the comments a free week of HelloFresh to try!

 

Happy weekend friends!

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Wanna join April, Natasha and I on the Friday fun? You can link-up on any of our four blogs every Friday! All you have to do is...

1.) Write your post about five things you're lovin' this week (or any five things you want to share!).

2.) Share the logo on your blog and link back. 

3.) Link-up at the bottom of the post so some new readers can check out your five things and say hello!