Dinner Last Night

Dinners are probably one of my more challenging tasks.  As a full-time working mother, with a full-time working husband, getting good, nutritionally complete meals on the table is difficult at best.

Last night I made this quick pasta dish that was both easy and delicious.  This dish is easily adaptable to a wide variety of tastes.  Add as many or as few vegetables as you wish.  We like bell peppers, olives, mushrooms, and artichoke hearts.

Chicken “Tender” Pasta

3 T. olive oil

4 chicken breasts cubed

½ c. bread crumbs

1/3 c parmesan cheese

2 T. flour

Salt/pepper to taste

Italian seasoning to taste

1 box pasta (penne, bowtie, macaroni) – prepared per package directions.

1 small onion or 2 shallots diced

2 cloves garlic

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce (or 1 cup chicken broth)

½ c. hard cheese (parmesan, asiago, romano)

In a small bowl mix together the bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper (you can also add onion and garlic powder and any other seasoning you wish).  Set aside 3 T. of the mixture.  Lightly coat the chicken pieces with the bread crumbs (you don’t want a thick coating so no need to use egg or milk to help the bread stick).  Heat the olive oil in large pan and cook the chicken pieces on both sides until no longer pink.  Remove and set aside.  Add the onion, shallots, garlic, and dice bell peppers to the pan and sauté until the onions are golden brown (about 5 min).  Add the tomato, tomato sauce (or chicken broth) and any additional vegetables to the pan and cook an additional 10 minutes.  If the sauce is too watery you can thicken with the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese mixture you set aside before coating the chicken. Add additional seasoning to taste.  Add the cooked pasta to the pan and toss to coat.  Add any mixture of parmesan, asiago, and/or romano  cheese to taste. Top with the chicken and serve immediately.

Things to do in Sacramento with Kids

I don’t know about anyone else, but when it comes to finding things to do in the Sacramento area, I’m not very creative.  Add my inexperience at entertaining kids to that, and well, “what should we do today?” is usually resolved with a trip to Target or Home Depot. 

And while there’s nothing wrong with either Target or Home Depot (I’ll vouch that both these places rock!), it’s not a good source of entertainment for a toddler.

The most comprehensive website I’ve found of Sacramento area activities is Uptake.  This website searches travel sites and generates lists of things to do, complete with reviews, some pictures, and general information.  The Family Activities tab alone has 115 pages of things to do and places to visit.  While there are some repeats and some of the information is lacking, it is a good place to start when planning out weekend activities.  There’s even a Budget Activities tab for those of us who require more economical entertainment.

Sacramento Weekend with Kids highlights six specific picks of places to take kids.  This site is especially good for those just visiting the Sacramento area.

I’ve been to a few of the places highlighted on the web page; the Sacramento City Zoo (one of my favorites), the Railroad Museum, and the State Capitol are among a few.  I’ll be talking about each of these in greater detail in future posts.  I’ll also be taking the family to visit some of the other attractions as the year progresses and reviewing each in detail.

In the meantime, browse Uptake and let me know your thoughts.  Enjoy!

What's This Blog About?

As an engineer and a project manager, I’m pretty anal retentive about…well, just about everything.  I like to know exactly what I’m getting into, what to expect, and how to make it better.  I’m a compulsive “Google-r.” 

It should come as no surprise, then, that when I became pregnant with my first (and so far only) child, that I read an endless amount of books, visited web sites, read online forums, and just about anything else I could get my hands on to learn about every little tiny symptom, non-symptom and question that I had.   The information out there is endless.  Some is great, and some is not-so-great, but the bottom line is, there’s a lot.  As far as the pregnancy went, I was pretty well armed with information and what to expect.  Questions to my doctor and the nurses that were taking care of me were pretty much just verifications of things I already knew. 

Then the unexpected happened.  Despite all that I had read about the signs of early delivery, I quite suddenly went into labor.  My daughter was born in September 2009 - five and a half weeks early.  All of a sudden, I was thrust into the world of mothering and caring for a real life baby…and I had not done my research.  For the first time ever, I was unprepared.  Of course, the doctors and nurses in the NICU gave me very good guidance.  When my daughter was released 10 days later, I knew how to keep her on schedule, change her diapers, and monitor her feedings.  I was given excellent information on her development, when to worry, and mostly when not to.   

What’s the problem then?  Well, after we strip away all the developmental milestones, the disciplining philosophies, and the craft projects (which I don’t do), I find that there really isn’t a lot of “go to” places to get information on what to DO with my child.  Now that she’s a walking, jumping, climbing, toddler, I have no idea where to take her so she can safely expend all her energy.  I don’t know what safe, economical, family activities are out there.   My friends either have grown children or don’t have children at all.  I don’t have the resources around me that say “here’s what we do.”  So, I turn to the only other place I can…the internet.  The information is out there, but it’s not easy to find.  So, I figured if I’m going to go through the trouble of researching, I would consolidate what I find into one blog in the hopes that I can make it easier for someone else.

My goal for this blog is to find out what’s out there.  I won’t talk about milestones, development, health issues, etc.  I’m no expert and there’s plenty of easy-to-find information on those subjects.  I will talk about what there is to do with children in Northern California, and especially in the Sacramento area.  I’ll endorse toys and activities that we try and give warnings were needed.

This blog is open to feedback.  As much as I want to help consolidate information here, I also want it given to me.  So, for all the moms and dads out there with good ideas of family fun, recipes, and activities, please send them in.  I would love to hear from you!