Honey Mustard Pork Chops with Cheesy Garlic Butter Shells and Nerd Alert!
I think that nerds, if you want to call them that, have only gotten more hip and assimilated into the culture.
Al Yankovic
I know I have gushed repeatedly about how much I adore HBear's teacher but it deserves repeating. I LOVE Mrs. B! Perhaps it is because last year she was stuck with a dud. Or perhaps because her last 2 teachers where on their last year before retirement and we're no longer giving it 100%. Whatever the case, she has been amazing! They do so many fun things and she is constantly coming up with creative ways to teach them. She does extra field trips, reward days and spirit days! Last week HBear came home super excited for Friday's spirit day… Nerd Day.
When she told me it took me aback. Didn't we just have anti-bullying day? I thought maybe I was overreacting so I didn't say anything. Until HBear asked us, "what is a Nerd?"
Ummmm...
Ninja and I tries to explain what a typical Nerd was. Someone who is smart, typically wears glasses and wears conservative clothing like uniforms.
This got her very concerned. She was like, "I am smart, I wear glasses, I like to wear that style of clothing… Am I a Nerd?"
Ummmm...
Dammit! The tears started to well up.
"Well Dear, yes. Daddy and Mommy are also Nerds! A long long time ago it wasn't as cool to be smart as it is today. Today, Nerds rule the world! People that code and our tech savvy used to be considered Nerds now they are the richest people in the world. Although it used to be an insult now being a Nerd or a Geek is totally chic!"
She liked that answer.
We used her craft tape to put tape in the middle of her glasses 🤓.
I realized that the majority of her closet could pass for Nerd day but I didn't want her regular clothes to be used so I went to Value Village and bought her a new plaid skirt, a tie, and then Ninja lent her some socks a.k.a. kneehighs. She also had a white collared shirt in her closet so we just had to add pigtails and she was set!
When she told me it took me aback. Didn't we just have anti-bullying day? I thought maybe I was overreacting so I didn't say anything. Until HBear asked us, "what is a Nerd?"
Ummmm...
Ninja and I tries to explain what a typical Nerd was. Someone who is smart, typically wears glasses and wears conservative clothing like uniforms.
This got her very concerned. She was like, "I am smart, I wear glasses, I like to wear that style of clothing… Am I a Nerd?"
Ummmm...
Dammit! The tears started to well up.
"Well Dear, yes. Daddy and Mommy are also Nerds! A long long time ago it wasn't as cool to be smart as it is today. Today, Nerds rule the world! People that code and our tech savvy used to be considered Nerds now they are the richest people in the world. Although it used to be an insult now being a Nerd or a Geek is totally chic!"
She liked that answer.
We used her craft tape to put tape in the middle of her glasses 🤓.
I realized that the majority of her closet could pass for Nerd day but I didn't want her regular clothes to be used so I went to Value Village and bought her a new plaid skirt, a tie, and then Ninja lent her some socks a.k.a. kneehighs. She also had a white collared shirt in her closet so we just had to add pigtails and she was set!
When she came out of her bedroom all dressed up Ninja looked at her and then turned to me and said, "I am so not OK with this!" And it wasn't because of the connotation of the word nerd 😜. I went the Britney Spears schoolgirl look route instead of the Steve Urkel look and I think he had some flashbacks of an outfit I used to wear to drive him crazy 😳. Just so wrong 😂.
I just don't know what the point of Nerd day was? Explaining to HBear that it is a derogatory term for smart people does not make me happy. I talked about it with other Moms and perhaps it is just our old-school way of thinking? We feel that term is derogatory, kids nowadays don't really bug smart kids because like I said, they pretty much rule the world minus Donald Trump of course LOL. It just really got me thinking, are we over sensitive?
I was not the only one thinking this way as I spoke with many parents who also thought it was an odd choice for spirit day.
What do you think?
All in all HBear loved Nerd day!
I just don't know what the point of Nerd day was? Explaining to HBear that it is a derogatory term for smart people does not make me happy. I talked about it with other Moms and perhaps it is just our old-school way of thinking? We feel that term is derogatory, kids nowadays don't really bug smart kids because like I said, they pretty much rule the world minus Donald Trump of course LOL. It just really got me thinking, are we over sensitive?
I was not the only one thinking this way as I spoke with many parents who also thought it was an odd choice for spirit day.
What do you think?
All in all HBear loved Nerd day!
The costumes were pretty darn cute LOL plus I got to show HBear clips of Steve Urkel and she thought he was freaking hilarious! In fact, she believes that Nerd is synonymous with comedian 😂. It is now Monday and I have still been unable to get the tape off her glasses because she insists it's super cool.
On Thursday morning Ninja informed me that he was going to Vancouver this weekend for our friend's bachelor party 😳. We had briefly spoke about it before but because this weekend was jampacked we didn't really take it seriously. However, on further reflection and discussion with the Groom, Ninja felt that he needed to go and to be honest he doesn't have many "boys weekends" unless they are with one or both of our Fathers 😂. So, on Friday after work he headed off to Vancouver! They stayed at the Groom's brothers house which happened to be just down the street from Jimi Hendrix's grandparents house! Super cool! Saturday was like his dream day LOL go cart racing, Breweries, a round of golf at an underground golf simulator bar, and then drinks while watching the Edmonton Oilers win their series! W00t w00t!
On Thursday morning Ninja informed me that he was going to Vancouver this weekend for our friend's bachelor party 😳. We had briefly spoke about it before but because this weekend was jampacked we didn't really take it seriously. However, on further reflection and discussion with the Groom, Ninja felt that he needed to go and to be honest he doesn't have many "boys weekends" unless they are with one or both of our Fathers 😂. So, on Friday after work he headed off to Vancouver! They stayed at the Groom's brothers house which happened to be just down the street from Jimi Hendrix's grandparents house! Super cool! Saturday was like his dream day LOL go cart racing, Breweries, a round of golf at an underground golf simulator bar, and then drinks while watching the Edmonton Oilers win their series! W00t w00t!
We bought a pig! Not a pet pig LOL but like a pig for dinners. Our pig is delicious! I am not one that usually likes pork, unless it is bacon of course 😜 but the chops we get from our Farm fresh pig are unbeatable! Tonight I would like to share a super easy but absolutely delicious dinner! These porkchops can be done on the stove, oven or on the barbeque and the noodle side dish is 110% better than any instant pasta sidekick you have ever tasted and much more healthy… But don't tell the kids 😉.
Honey Mustard Grilled Pork Chops
Adapted from Chew Out Loud
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
½ teaspoon cornstarch
½ cup pure honey
3 tablespoons coarse ground Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ cup brown sugar, packed
4 pork chops, ¾ inch to 1 inch thickness
In a saucepan, whisk together the vinegar and cornstarch until fully dissolved and no white lumps of cornstarch remain. Add honey, mustard, onion powder, cayenne, and brown sugar. Whisk to combine, simmer over medium heat and continue whisking until glaze is reduced a bit, 5 minutes. Divide and reserve half of the glaze for serving. Keep other half of glaze for basting.
Pat chops dry with paper towels. In a small bowl, combine ½ tsp kosher salt with ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper. Sprinkle chops evenly with salt/pepper combination.
Grease grill and preheat on medium-high. Grill chops about 3-4 min per side, or just until center is cooked. Don't over cook. Brush chops with glaze that was reserved for basting and grill another minute per side.
Serve with reserved glaze drizzled over cooked chops.
Cheesy Garlic Butter Shells2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
½ teaspoon cornstarch
½ cup pure honey
3 tablespoons coarse ground Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ cup brown sugar, packed
4 pork chops, ¾ inch to 1 inch thickness
In a saucepan, whisk together the vinegar and cornstarch until fully dissolved and no white lumps of cornstarch remain. Add honey, mustard, onion powder, cayenne, and brown sugar. Whisk to combine, simmer over medium heat and continue whisking until glaze is reduced a bit, 5 minutes. Divide and reserve half of the glaze for serving. Keep other half of glaze for basting.
Pat chops dry with paper towels. In a small bowl, combine ½ tsp kosher salt with ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper. Sprinkle chops evenly with salt/pepper combination.
Grease grill and preheat on medium-high. Grill chops about 3-4 min per side, or just until center is cooked. Don't over cook. Brush chops with glaze that was reserved for basting and grill another minute per side.
Serve with reserved glaze drizzled over cooked chops.
Adapted from Julie's Eats & Treats
2 1/4 cups shell pasta
2/3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Cook noodles according to package directions; drain.
Add remaining ingredients and mix until cheese is melted.
This week was a blur 😂 HBear and her grade 3 class had their second swimming lesson this week.
It was super fun though! Although, the leaders had to be there early to set up the tents? Isn't that what the girls are supposed to do? As I did not help organize the campout I have no right to complain so I didn't say anything, I just did what I was told 😊.
The head leaders had tons of things planned! We made origami traders, friendship pins, TicTacToe traders, played singing games, played blow the pom-pom across the room with a straw, had snack, sang songs around the "campfire", had a bedtime story and then the girls hit the hay.
Of course every single leader's child got up at least once throughout the evening. The leaders sat in the hallway, in the dark, whispering for the next 2 hours 😂. I tried super hard to keep stepping but alas I came up short and came in second place this week in my challenge. I only had 1 day where I hit all my goals. This week I will do better!
My bed was positioned beside the door leading to the bathroom 😳. It was like Chinese torture as each child throughout the night repeatedly tapped on my forehead telling me they had to go potty LOL. By 7:30am they were all up for breakfast. Of course that was about the same time I discovered that 1 of the toilets had overflown 😳. We did clean up and the girls played British bulldog outside until their parents came to collect them.
We had a lot of running around to do so the girls helped me do that and then it was off to PSBesty's birthday party! MBesty rented a theme hotel room at the Super 8 it was super awesome! The theme was Coca-Cola and the room had a kitchen and 3 bunkbeds!
All 11 kids had so much fun in the pool! SBean was invited for a swim too 😊.
We left early to allow big Sis to spend some time with her friends. SBean and I went to pennies. It was so funny because when we pulled up SBean looked up at the sign and said, "hey! Why does Pennies start with a duh duh d?" I said, "because like we have told you repeatedly it is actually call Denny's not Pennies." She sneered at me and just stuck out her chin and said, "well it IS Pennies." 😂
We had a wonderful date night! She got birthday cake pancakes with whip cream and sprinkles! She sat right beside me and repeatedly kissed my arm and my ears squeezing me hard saying, "I love you Mommy." After dinner we came home and watched old school Smurfs and ate popcorn. I don't get a lot of date nights with SBean so it was pretty darn special 💕.
We had a wonderful date night! She got birthday cake pancakes with whip cream and sprinkles! She sat right beside me and repeatedly kissed my arm and my ears squeezing me hard saying, "I love you Mommy." After dinner we came home and watched old school Smurfs and ate popcorn. I don't get a lot of date nights with SBean so it was pretty darn special 💕.
I was completely exhausted but I managed to stay awake to watch the Oilers win game 6 and move onto the second round of the NHL playoffs!
Like I said, it was all a blur but a happy blur with memories to last me a lifetime.
It was a gooder 💗.
We did a new Podcast last night but it won't be out for a few days. You can check out Episode 12 of How Was Your Week Honey? HERE or you can listen to us guest on the FABULOUS podcast The Listening Party Podcast HERE.
We did a new Podcast last night but it won't be out for a few days. You can check out Episode 12 of How Was Your Week Honey? HERE or you can listen to us guest on the FABULOUS podcast The Listening Party Podcast HERE.
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