Chocolate-Rasberry Burritos

Note, the above picture is of chocolate banana burritos but imagine the same thing with chocolate and raspberries for the below recipe. Remember, we ate ours before we thought to take a picture so use your imagination!

Because there were several requests for this, I am posting the dessert recipe Philip made for me on our camping/farm getaway. This recipe is from the Better Homes & Gardens Biggest Book of Grilling.

Chocolate-Raspberry Burritos

4 8-9" flour tortillas
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup fresh raspberries
2 T. butter, melted (it must be butter, not margarine)
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
4 T. sweetened cream cheese (just soften and add a little powdered sugar)

Stack the tortillas and wrap in a piece of heavy foil. For a charcoal grill (i.e., real man's grill), grill foil packet on the rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium-low coals about 5 minutes or until tortillas are warm and pliable, turning packet once. Or simply wrap tortillas in paper towels and microwave for 20-40 seconds (that's what we did).

Sprinkle 1/4 cup each of the chocolate chips and raspberries in the center of each tortilla; fold in sides and roll up. Brush burritos with half of the melted butter. Grill burritos over medium-low coals about 3 minutes or until the tortillas begin to show grill marks and the chocolate is melted. turning once. For a gas grill, preheat grill, Reduce heat to medium-low. Place foil packet, then burritos on grill rack over heat. Cover and grill as stated above.

Transfer burritos to a serving platter. Brush burritos with remaining melted butter. In a small bowl combine the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over the burritos. Serve immediately with sweetened cream cheese on side as a dip. (or just put a tablespoon of the cream cheese inside each burrito prior to grilling).

Our Romantic Night Away

Despite our meager family budget living on one income, Philip and I have recently tried to find ways to keep the romance alive. That is, we try to do something for just us, as husband and wife rather than as mommy and daddy. This is hard to do when you consider what a night out cost. By the time you add in $10/hour for a babysitter, a modest dinner and two movie tickets, the cost starts looking like most of our monthly grocery budget.

Last weekend we headed to West Tennessee with plans to leave our children with Mamie and Bop and "camp" at the nearby Moss Farm. Apparently, Noah finished his ark because the rain started and it did not stop. Thankfully, the Moss Farm has a delightful farm house that kept us warm and dry.

Despite deciding the day before to make this trip, Philip managed to make some delicious chicken and vegetable foil pouches to marinate on our drive up. After marinating for about six hours, our dinner was absolutely delicious, roasted over a campfire, I mean, wood burning fireplace. So after a glass or two of wine and a nice walk through the woods before the rain started, we hunkered down inside and ate our dinner. Philip also brought the fixings to make raspberry and chocolate enchiladas. They were incredible. So incredible that they ended up being digested before either of us could take a picture.

We did our best not to turn on the TV, especially since the TV picture really doesn't work but we turned it on long enough to be sure we were not under a tornado watch or warning. Then we chatted a bit and went to bed at 9:00 p.m. This by itself, made the trip completely worth it. We tried to sleep in the next day but our bodies are so used to waking up early with the children that we only made it to 7:30 a.m. We made coffee and laughed about how little conversation we had for each other that did not involve our children. At lunchtime and with the rains subsiding, Philip grilled delicious burgers and we ate them with the organic veggie chips we picked up at the Amish bulk food store coming into town (that sounded like a SNL skit involving Martha Stewart but really, that's what we did). After that we headed back into town to rejoin the living.

It may not be the posh get away most couples dream of visiting but it was a blissful time for the two of us to reconnect.

Boys Being Boys

Today Little Philip and Helen had some friends come over to play. The girls stayed inside to play while the boys went outside to be boys. This is what I found a few minutes later. Is there anything cuter than two boys playing in the mud?

Yes.

Overheard at the Moss House Tonight

Mommy: Daddy, did you change Helen just now?

Daddy: Yes.

Mommy: I guess that is why there is a big hunk of meatloaf on the changing table?

Daddy: It must have been stuck on her from dinner.

Pause

Daddy: Are we sure that's meatloaf?

Love Grows Best in Little Houses

At bedtime, Helen was still howling from her bedroom five minutes after putting her down. She's a great howler, making us think someone is in there attacking her sometimes with the way she can change her pitch, pause, and then begin shrieking all over again. Call us bad parents but we believe in sleep training our almost fourteen month old.

At this point, Little Philip was being a darling in his bed, having had his three books read to him by Daddy, prayers said, and his "quiet time" alone with his last book complete. Little Philip's room is right next to his sister's. the living room is right next to both bedrooms. I told Big Philip that he needed to go in to check on Helen because I would just make it worse. On the way, Little Philip came to his door, cracked it and told Daddy:

Daddy, I want some white noise.

Mommy and Daddy want it too.

Spring Park Fun

The weather is so very nice right now. Well, not this week, but the temperature has been blissfully warm in the last few weeks. Our friends found a delightful little park one day and we all went for a picnic to let the kiddos get their sillies out. I found Marley, Max, and Philip all inside a tube on the playground. The conversation was quite amusing to hear as they all battled for their particular roles in "playing house."

Overheard at Breakfast Today

Hey, Mommy! When I'm six I'm going to shave!