Stick With Love

Today is the official LAST day of winter break.

I told the kids last night that they were going to be fed, bathed, teeth brushed, books read, excuses for more milk done and IN bed tonight at 7:45.

Watch me.

I am NOT looking forward to tomorrow morning…

With that negativity out of the way, I must say that we had a nice, family weekend to say goodbye to the past three and a half carefree weeks.

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While my car was being serviced in Lawndale on Saturday morning, we all piled into Jay’s Jeep Wrangler and headed due west to the Manhattan/Hermosa Beach area and searched for a breakfast joint. We settled on Brother’s Burritos and were pleased with the casualness and local vibe at this little place. The kids shared Hawaiian Bread French Toast squares…

I was bad and had the egg, avocado, bacon and jalapeño burrito with spicy salsa. We ended up not eating lunch so I didn’t feel so bad.

After breakfast we let the kids play on the beach for a bit to kill time. Jay shot some great pics ~ it was overcast and a bit cloudy ~ perfect picture taking conditions.

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The fam also took a last minute trip into Hollywood for an appointment yesterday afternoon and then ended up at a new {to us} sushi restaurant right in our own backyard here in Valencia ~ Sushi One. Yelp gave it great reviews so we gave it a try. Jay and I shared a Sapporo and some rolls and the kids devoured the bulgogi {Korean beef} and steamed rice! Here they are with their after dinner lollipops…

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The kids played dress up and came up with this concoction:

Reminded Jay and me of LMFAO ~ the hair. Love it!

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Trying to be better at meal planning…cuts down on a lot of problems like not knowing what’s for dinner at 5:00pm, unnecessary trips to the market and going over budget on groceries.

I decided to keep it easy with familiar/already tried recipes this week since it will no doubt be hectic trying to get back into the swing of things routine-wise.

Here’s what will be on our table this week…

Monday : Half of a grilled beer can chicken {Jay’s off today so he can grill}, zucchini fries and TJ’s Harvest Grains blend {Israeli couscous, orzo, baby garbanzo beans & red quinoa}

Tuesday : Chopped taco salad with spicy sour cream ranch

Wednesday : Moo shu pork burgers w/ fruit salad

Thursday : other half of the grilled chicken in soft taco form with roasted butternut squash

Friday : Leftover moo shu pork burgers & tbd side dish

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I hope you had a splendid 3-day weekend {dreaming} of equality and kindness.

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” ~ the brilliant Martin Luther King, Jr.