I bribe my children.  I admit it.  Sometimes, it’s something material.  Today, it was for pure fame and notoriety.

I wanted for them to get out of the house for a while today.  We took them to the grocery store first—granted, hardly the most fun trip for a kid—and then we went for a walk at Battelle Darby Creek.  I had them bring their cameras along and told them that whoever took the best picture would have it posted with my blog entry today.  Daniel won!  Those are his size-10 feet that you see there.  I hope his feet stop growing soon—or at least that he grows into them more.  As it is, he’s starting to look like he’s wearing clown shoes.  ☺

Sylvie was a little less than enthusiastic about the walk (and the picture-taking, as it turns out), and she was breathing so hard by the time we got to the top of the steps on the trail that she could barely talk.  I’m thinking that maybe daily trips out there and a few times up and down the stairs might toughen her up a bit.

Not too much new on the food front today.  I did make broiled tofu for the first time using this recipe.  Super easy, and pretty tasty, too.  I don’t think I used the full amount of oil, though.  I just used some that was leftover after Sean made sweet potato fries for the kids and added some Bragg’s aminos to it.  After I turned the slices a few times, I added different spices to each set of 4:  garlic pepper, Mrs. Dash onion and herb, and a spicy one.  I think the spicy came out the best.  I served them on sandwiches with hummus, spinach, and some green pepper strips.  Definitely a keeper!

Surprise of all surprises:  my children are coming to like veggie “hot dogs”.  Daniel had one for a quick snack yesterday and ate two more for dinner tonight.  And this was after he made fun of the tofu at the store earlier today.  Little does he know that he had it for dinner tonight!  *evil cackle*  I’m on a quest to make these children like healthy food if it’s the last thing I do!

I think tomorrow is going to be something with pinto beans.  Actually, I know it’s going to be something with pinto beans since there’s a pound of beans soaking in the fridge as we speak.  I had one recipe in mind, but I totally forgot to pick up fake beef bouillon at the store tonight, and I think I’m out of even the veggie stuff.  Hmm…  A different recipe may be in order.  I was planning to make bread tomorrow, but we’ll see how that goes.  I found a great whole wheat bread tonight at Whole Foods—it’s light and fluffy, sliced super-thin, fairly inexpensive, no artificial crap (I could actually read the entire label without having to consult a dictionary!), and from a local bakery.  With all of that going for it, it makes me wonder if I really want to continue on my bread-making quest…  I really would like to make my own, though.  It makes the house smell wonderful when it’s baking.