"Dinner" Steak

Cost: $5

Prep: 30 minutes

We broke out the barbeque for the first time today! Summer is approaching!

Charlie spent most of the prep time watching Dad out the back window and trying to climb onto the table. Yes, he can do that now. No, I do not like it.

I bought these very thin steaks, and Matt marinated them overnight in barbeque sauce before slapping them on the grill. The cut was not specified; it was simply labeled "dinner steak". Considering the price, it wasn't terrible, and a quick barbeque was a great choice.

I made the sides: baked potatoes and steamed broccoli, and when that was enough, I whipped up some more garlic toast (super easy: margarine, crushed garlic, oven, done).

Classic Chicken

Cost: $8

Prep: 30 minutes

Not much to say about this dinner either. It was Shake'n'bake chicken legs with leftover mashed potatoes, garlic toast, and green beans.

I ate a small simple meal, as I had yoga after, but Matt and Charlie filled their man and baby boots.

Charlie is working on learning how to eat off a plate. So far, it has been okay, but there have been many attempts for the entire meal to be eaten by the floor.

Pork/Mush/Mushrooms

Cost: $8

Prep: 30 minutes

I don't have much to say about this. I make this all the time it seems. I did use fresh mushrooms again, and I did make the mashed potatoes from scratch. To mix it up, we ate asparagus as the veg.

I wanted to draw your attention though to a little bit of dishonesty on my part. It has to do with creative staging of photos. Look at our dinner set up, not too bad right?

Wrong. That indeed is laundry piled on the back of all the chairs, and, in fact, there is laundry piled right up next to us on the table.

And look how fancy our gravy boat is! Although, for some reason there was about 10x the amount we needed.

Pizza!

Cost: $9

Prep: 20 minutes

We made pizza for dinner tonight. Well, Matt and I made pizza for dinner, and Charlie mostly stood starring at us while drinking watered down apple juice.

Matt and I had variations of the same pizza. Matt had barbeque sauce base with turkey pepperoni, onion, and peppers.

Mine had a tomato sauce base with turkey pepperoni, onion, peppers, and green olives.

One thing I like about this dinner is the leftovers. Charlie and my mom ate Matt's (oops!) leftovers the next day for lunch, and Matt ate mine the day after that (I am still buying a salad every day for lunch).

Lazy Salad Night

We are still very full from our big day out, so we just whipped up a salad. We call it a "strange Caesar" because it is essentially a Caesar base with grated carrot, cheddar cheese, and tomatoes.

Rob's Lighthouse Eatery

Today our family went on a little adventure. Matt wanted to go "see" a provincial rugby game where his team was playing, but it was across the Hat in Brentwood Bay. No problem. We timed it properly so there was very little whining, and then there was sleeping while Daddy went to warm up the team and Mommy read a magazine in the car.

After the game, it was time for lunch, although Charlie was satiated after having a large snack. We drove into Cowichan Bay, a very popular destination judging by the mass number of cars.

After browsing the eateries, we settled on what I call "boardwalk food"--fried everything (although they did have salads, wraps, etc) at Rob's Lighthouse Eatery. It was about 1PM, so we assumed we had just missed the lunch rush, but judging by the packed house when we were leaving, we just beat it.

We ordered the chowder, onion rings, and the 2 piece cod and chips. The total was $20.60. All the prices were reasonable, honestly.

The onion rings were the delicious frozen then fried kind you can get at ball parks and water-slides.

The chowder (clam and halibut) was not my favourite. It had very little halibut, if any in our bowl, and they hadn't taken the skin off the fish because there were huge chunks of fish skin. It was also WAY too salty.

The fish and chips were well worth it though. The fries were fries done well. The coleslaw was tasty, especially with the addition of dill--at least, the little I got of it seemed tasty before Charlie in a fit of rage flung it to the floor. The tartar sauce, although a small serving, was good too, and it was enough.

The fish was very crispy on the outside, and the batter wasn't AT ALL doughy on the inside. There was enough batter, not a ton.

Anyway, it was a good experience at lunch regarding the food, our tiny terror was another story. We followed lunch by taking him through the piers and to look at the Wooden Boat Associations display where Charlie hammered a nail for the first time.

Falafel

Cost: $8

Prep: quick, maybe 15 minutes

Matt made one of his specialties tonight, falafel. We thought it wasn't going to work out tonight, because we spent a lot of time playing with a cat down the street. But, as it turns out, falafel is very quick.








Matt fried up the falafel balls while I chopped the veggies (onion, tomato, cucumber).

We paired these with tatziki and these small mimi-pita pockets that are only 120 calories for 3.







This meal, the first time Charlie had tried it, was a big hit. But, in all honesty, it was very messy. Who knew how much of a mess one of the little balls makes when you spike it on the ground?

I, unlike C, did not make much of a mess, as I ate mine like a little burger, and Matt ate his like 6 little burgers.

Charlie was still hungry after eating though, and he decided to eat his feet, and I actually caught him putting a piece of toe-lint in his mouth.

Chicken Dinner

Cost: $15

Prep: 40 minutes

We had a guest come over for dinner, so I went all out. Well, as "all out" as we get over here.

I made a chicken covered in delicious herbs and spices. It was an excellent chicken, very juicy.

I also made from-scratch mashed potatoes. I used some of the Philadelphia Cooking Cream in Herb and Garlic as well as fat free sour cream in the mashed potatoes. It made them WAY too garlicy for my liking, but the boys all seemed to like them (unless our guest was just being polite).

I "made" a can of corn and steamed asparagus (which Charlie ate about 10 spears of). I also made Pillsbury Crescent Rolls--the low fat ones--because I made them the last time a friend was over and didn't want anyone to be jealous.

3 Awful Things Together on a Plate

Cost: $10

Prep: 10 minutes

Another sucky dinner. What is wrong with me?

It had to be quick, as I had yoga, but these 3 lame things together made a lame dinner.

We had lame bagged salad. Too lemony.

We had lame steaks. Too tough.

We had lame pasta. Too soggy.

Th pasta was the biggest problem. It was supposed to be spinach and cheese tortellini, but while it was cooking EVERY SINGLE pasta spilled its contents, filled itself up with water, and became awful.

See that plate? That is what I DIDN'T eat.

Tacos

Cost: $8

Prep: 20 minutes




It's tacos. Deal with it.

Soft ones to boot, yo.

Tudor House Pub

Date night! We had a Groupon to the Tudor House Pub in Esquimalt ($18 for an appy and 2 entrees).

And the most awesome thing happened: we got IDed! Can you believe it? I got the impression that they were cracking down, maybe because of a recent violation, and were IDing the majority of patrons. But it felt awesome, especially since I am largely pregnant and haggard.

This establishment has some checkmarks and some little single dashes.

Firstly, in the dash column, the decor is blech, but that is pub-style, and I wont hold it against them. We actually did find a nice place to sit under a window where it was brighter than other parts of the pub. Actually, it had a feel very similar, as well as similar clientele to he JBI pub.

It the checkmark column is the staff and the menu. Our waitress was friendly, speedy, and helpful. What more could you want there? As for the menu: it is interesting. Unfortunately, I felt like I was going to hurl, so not everything seemed appealing.

I really hate to say this, but I have to put the food in the negative column, or at least written across the centre line.

Our appy, calamari, was really good. It had a bit of an Asian twist. Lots of dangly legs, which our both of our favourites.

Our entrees though....

We were sharing, and so I ordered the beef brisket.  This is why my picture is so weird. No, they do no serve the brisket with a piece of fish.

The beef was excellent, the coleslaw was interesting, and the fries were good (although, please, just give us a damn bottle of ketchup instead of those dinky cups). It was the cornbread that was just awful. Who knows, maybe it was good, but the kitchen manager let it come out TOTALLY burnt, and all I could taste was fire.

We also ordered the 2 piece cod and chips. Again, checkmarks for fries and coleslaw. The fish get s HUGE thumbs down though. The batter was so thick that it didn't really cook through, and was a gooey, doughy mess. I tried to take a close-up picture, and if you can see, the tiny fish is in the middle and the batter is crazy. Also, once I took the batter off, the fish was very rubbery.

Anyway, it wasn't an awful experience. I would go back with friends if they invited me, but I am not going to choose to go here over other places or suggest this place to anyone.

Sorry, Tudor, I really tried to like you!

Can I add one thing, a little off topic. When I read Urbanspoon, which I often do, as food porn gets better with pregnancy, I really appreciate how the manager addressed peoples' concerns. To me, that shows they value their customers and the business they bring in.

Gross Salmon

Cost: ???

Prep: 15 minutes

This dinner was gross. Matt made it, but that wasn't why. I hated the salmon. It was maple-something, and just awful.

Everything else was good: rice and salad. The salad was especially good: cheese, bacon, red pepper, and carrots.

Charlie liked the rice. I am pretty sure he ate about a cup to himself, and then got another 1/2 cup on his lap.

Fruition

We have tried to go to this place literally 5 times before finally being able to use our Groupon from last Fall.

And it was worth the trips.

Keep in mind, this spring, the hours are very limited (3 days a week for only a few hours each day).

The treat were delicious. Matt had lime/coconut. I had raspberry lime. Charlie ate some of both (this is the boy who LOVES to eat limes) and his own toddler mango treat.

I really appreciate that they do toddler. He never would have been able to handle his own, and it would likely have ended up on the ground. I would much rather his $1 popsicle, rather than a $4 one, goes in the dirt. Matt and I also shared a lemon mousse small treat, and it was satisfying on its own.

I could never give this place a bad rating; look how happy it made our boy!

Charlie, Charlie, Charlie, Lame Dinner, Charlie, Charlie, Charlie

Cost: $4

Prep: 10 minutes

We played too long at the park, and therefore were very pressed for time again.

So, to distract you from the lame dinner, look at all the pictures of Charlie!