Week 5: Crispy Green Bean Fries!

Finally!  A week where everyone was happy and healthy!!  Well, I'll say healthy at least.  And, in case that's not enough to celebrate, we had a SNOW DAY!!!  Our week started off strong with some wintery weather that gave us some exciting phone calls at 5:30am!  It's a good thing I was feeling confident this would happen the night before since I put together a delicious french toast casserole.  We all rolled out of bed around 8am, waited patiently for the casserole to be done baking (the one downside to a breakfast casserole), scarfed it down, and quickly got ready to go out and tackle the roads in order to go to Pump It Up in Wixom for a preschool open bounce.

Later that day, after nap, we had some time to spend getting out every toy possible in the toy room.  But, at least we had some quality family time.  That night I was feeling even more inspired to cook and made some yummy Greek Lemon Chicken Rice Soup from a recipe I found on the internet.  Sean is obsessed with this soup from Leo's Coney Island so I thought I would try to re-create it.  Needless to say, there was wayyyyy too much fresh lemon juice for his liking.  Great recipe, but next time I'd cut the amount of lemon juice in half.

I was really on a roll with cooking this week, but slacked when it came to taking pictures of my meals.  Tuesday, Scott had practice, so I whipped together some Buffalo Chicken Taquitos with the rest of my chicken I made Monday night for the soup.  They were pretty good, but next time I'd add some hot sauce to give it a little kick.  And this is coming from a girl who despises all things spicy.

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I took it easy on myself and made some familiar meals.  However, Thursday was Bailey's birthday, so we made sure to have some Peanut Butter frosted cupcakes, which Sean helped me make the night before out of Yellow Cake Mix.  Yum!  Happy 6th birthday, Bailey!

Saturday, Scott went off to coach in the morning so I spent a wonderful few hours with the boys alone.  We made some Valentine's Day crafts for the Grandparents, Great-Grandma, and Uncle/Aunt who live in Portland.  Pics to follow in a different blog when they're finished.  We did puzzles, we played with cloud dough, and everyone behaved and napped well for me.  After Sean's nap, my parents came over with my brother who was visiting for Portland.  We all went out to Buddy's Pizza for dinner and beers!  Surprisingly both boys did great out and it was such a nice break from cooking.  We came home to help put the boys to bed and then were lucky enough to get a few hours out to go to a bowling event through my school district for the staff.  Our team name was Minds in the Gutter and we kicked some butt!

And to end our fabulous week, it was Superbowl Sunday yesterday!  One of Scott's favorite days of the year.  He had picked out a few of his favorite game day appetizers that he wanted me to make and I decided to add one that I had my eye on in Pinterest for a while.  Crispy Green Bean Fries.  Just like PF Changs and TGIF's. 

Bean Recipe

Vegtable oil, for frying
1 cup beer
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt, plus more for seasoning
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
1 pound green beans

Directions
Preheat oil to 375 degrees F.
Dip green beans into batter to coat, letting excess drip off. Fry in the oil in batches, until they are golden and crisp. Remove from oil to a paper towel lined sheet tray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Delish!!!  Tasted just like the restaurant version!  Seriously.  And everyone got their vegetables.  With Scott's famous Superbowl dip, my mom's Smoked Sausage in the crock pot recipe, and these crispy green bean fries, everyone enjoyed their Superbowl Sunday meal.

Well, almost everyone.  Next year, buddy!