Monday Hike and Nick Grills

I have got to get back on track exercising and eating clean. I've been derailed for over a year now with little spurts and starts but never anything significant. Of course I always exercise, but after my hip hurt and Kershaw refused to run, I started walking most of the time instead of running and that doesn't get my heart pumping too hard. I always do weights with Michelle once a week, but have fallen behind on getting a second weight workout in.

Today I hiked to the first river on Mt. Olympus. In the Spring, it's actually running which is good for Kershaw so he can get a drink. I made it in one hour with a little bit of snow on a short part of the trail. Usually I make it in 45 minutes. But I'm documenting in a calendar because I'm looking forward to the good feeling of having something be hard, and seeing that it took longer, but getting easier as you go more often and watching your time improve. (Saturday I rode my bike for the first time this season. It was a fight up the hill at 3000 East so I'm looking forward to seeing improvement there as well.)

Kershaw is so much like a toddler. Half the hike home he was going crazy running back and forth at full speed on the trail. The second half he carried a large stick but was walking right behind me beating my legs with the stick the whole time. I kept trying to get him to go in front of me, but he kept coming back to his spot where the stick hit me in the legs. Crazy dog.

See that big stick?!

Nick and Chris are going to trade off making dinner one night a week to earn $20. We did this with Marty and he made some great meals. When I talked to Chris about it, Nick overheard me and said he wanted to do it too. Nick's first meal was tonight. Sunday night he went through the cookbook and found a meal he wanted to make -- grilled shrimp and steak shish kabobs. He made me a grocery list so I could buy them on Monday.

He followed the recipe to make a marinade for the steak right when we got home from saxophone lessons. Then he hung out with friends. It was a warm day, perfect for grilling and being outside. Felt like signs of spring/summer. And with daylight savings begun, there was still plenty of light when he started cooking at 6:15.

I taught him how to cut up the veggies (zucchini, peppers and onion) while the grill was heating up. Fortunately Dad got home in time to help him learn how to grill (setting the correct temperature and setting and setting an alarm to know when to turn the shishkabobs over). Nick's already helped Dan grill steaks and salmon, so he knew how to turn it on and clean it before he began.

He put together the shishkabobs on his own and made a Caesar's salad. We warmed up some rice and enjoyed a delicious feast! He did a great job and it was a treat to have someone else make a home-cooked meal!

I love the Better Homes and Garden cookbook. It has every recipe you could want and they're easy-to-follow and turn out delicious. Now of course I have other cookbooks that have been recommended, but often it seems some of my favorite recipes from other places are found in the Better Homes and Garden one. In fact, I make a creamy potato cauliflower soup that I've been making for years from a xerox copied sheet my friend gave me from a different cookbook. Just a few weeks ago, Courtney found the recipe in the Better Homes and Garden cookbook with fresh vegetables (which is what I use, but the recipe I follow uses frozen, so I just improvise). It's actually closer to the actual recipe I make.

I also search on Pinterest or Allrecipes often because I can search for "clean" or "Paleo" or search for specific ingredients. So I use those sources more often now. But for just starting out, I think Better Homes & Garden cookbook is the best resource.

However, after a youth speaker talk in church, it made me wonder if cookbooks will still be in use when Nick is on his own. You know how often people start their talks with "I was asked to speak on Charity. In the dictionary, Charity is defined as..." Well, yesterday, the youth speaker said, "I was asked to speak on Charity. So I asked Alexa what Charity meant." !!! It was hilarious! And I'm sure she didn't even know she was being funny. Alexa will be the new encyclopedia/dictionary/cookbook/weather channel of the future!