Errands with all the kids in tow

The kids and I had a busy day today. We decided to get all of our errands done today while the sun was shining so that tomorrow, when it's raining, we can hang out at home.

First up was Shiloh's vet appointment. A couple of days ago I was begging Andy for a puppy. I spotted a sweet little shih tzu on petfinder and I fell in love! After my eyes popped out my head when I saw Shiloh's $310.00 vet bill I decided that maybe one dog WAS enough. Yep...were gonna be a single dog family for awhile. Unless of course we decide to give up, oh I don't know, say EATING or basic UTILITIES!! Shiloh did very well at the vet though. She is all caught up on her vaccines and shots. Her heartworm test came back negative so that was good. We also left with our year's supply of heartworm/flea prevention meds and a months supply of prednisone. Now I've got a kid and a dog on prednisone!! Shiloh will be taking it as a maintenance med for her allergies. If she continues taking cortisone shots every 6 weeks it could damage her liver. We opted to try the prednisone...hopefully it works for her.

Then we all went grocery shopping. It's been a long time since I've taken all the kids to the store together...by myself!! They actually did very good. Isaac was a tremendous help and in the end we had lots of fun. The kids actually fought over who was gonna get to help me bring in and put away groceries. Here's our menu...because I know you care:)

Brats with sauteed red peppers and onions and chips (i know I know)
Sweet and sour meatballs with Asian noodles and some sort of veggie
Pasta with green beans and goat cheese. I'll probably make some sort of homemade bread too
Meatball lasagna with a green salad and homemade garlic bread
chicken and yellow rice with sausage and a veggie of course
Parmesean crusted tilapia with creamy cheddar and grits and lemon broccoli
Hamburger barley soup with homemade rolls
Grilled cheese sandwiches and from scratch tomato soup
Whole grain scratch pancakes with fresh blackberries and REAL maple syrup

Now see? Aren't you glad you know all that? We also bought the ingredients to make, this is the piece de resistance: homemade banana cake! Now that I have my Dad's attention here is the story:

Sara Lee used to make a frozen banana cake that my Dad loves. He has been missing it of late. I set out on a search determined that some banana cake from Ms. Lee would be a perfect birthday gift for him. I searched high and low to no avail. Apparently the only places in America that are lucky enough to partake in frozen banana goodness are Wisconsin and some small town in Illinois. There are whole message boards devoted to the banana cakes demise. There are hoards of very unhappy people looking to get their fix! In fact, if I lived in one the 2 places where they actually still sold this cake in the U.S.....I'd be selling them on E-Bay. So I am now trying to re-create the banana cake. There are recipes floating around the internet that promise to taste "just like" Ms. Lee's original. I'm not exactly sure how you can recreate all those chemicals found in the original but I'm gonna try. My first attempt is in the fridge as we speak. If that one doesn't work I'll try again and again. Andy's co-workers won't mind...I'll be sending them my creations so they can tell me what they think. Of course the only way we could do a side by side comparison is if we lived in Australia. Apparently that's the only place Sara Lee widely distributes the cake anymore. There are people who live there that would be happy to ship you a case of cakes...but it'll cost you a pretty penny. Have you checked out shipping rates lately from Australia to the U.S.? I think I'll just stick to trying to re-create the yummy goodness in my own kitchen.

By the way...have I mentioned lately how fantastic B-Complex vitamins are?