Goooood morning! TGIF!
Fun Fact: did you know that every single Friday I first spell TGIF – TFIG – and I have to erase and re-spell? Every single time. It’s so strange…
At any rate, we had my in-laws over last night for a fare-thee-well BBQ dinner! Ben’s parents are moving to Washington DC (today!) so we wanted to round up the troops and have dinner together one last time before they left.
I usually stress out when I’m cooking for more than just Ben and myself. What if I don’t have enough food? What if they don’t like what I made? What if, what if, what if? I decided to nix the stress, take some help from the store, and serve some simple items that I figured everyone would enjoy. I have a hard time with remembering that not everything has to be homemade!
Down the line…
Kettle Cooked BBQ Potato Chips.
I love how ALL the kettle cooked chips are usually flopped over and SO crunchy. Folded over chips are the best kind, imo. 
Carrot Chips & Dip.
Easy Pasta Salad.
This is a modified version of Grandpa’s Pasta Salad. I nixed the pepperoni and used Bisignano’s Italian Dressing instead of Kraft. I still dug it, a lot! Had too much of it, in fact!
Fresh, juicy strawberries. These were so sweet, I swear they were stuffed with sugar!
BBQ Chicken.
I marinated the chicken in Wild ‘n’ Mild Grilling & Marinade Sauce. It’s kiiind of sweet, kind of BBQ-y…it’s really good. I also put out some BBQ sauce to top the grilled chicken.
These babies took ~4 minutes a side, and they were ready to hit our plates!
I also made some Avocado Mango Salsa to put on top of the chicken.
I just love the cool, tropical burst of flavor with smoky, grilled chicken. It’s the best!
Dessert was some of my in-law’s FAVORITE cookies in the world…THESE!
Yes, these cookies! You know, the supermarket sugar cookies?
They’re like tender little clouds of sugar cookie perfection. I LOVE THEM!
After dinner we hung out, chatted and just enjoyed being together as a family one last time before the big move. We are going to miss them so much!!! It’s going to be so weird knowing they’re not right down the road anymore.
BUT, Ben and I are both very proud of his parents and are excited for what the future holds out in our nation’s capital. We love you guys!!!!
This morning I woke up, went on my morning Mom walk, then…weeded my garden. It’s true. I have the day off today (!!) and since it rained last night, the ground is still really soft = perfect weeding conditions.
What, you don’t weed your garden at 6:30am on your days off? 
I was hot and sweaty when I finally got in, so I made myself a half Green Monster for breakfast!
In the mix:
- 1/2 frozen banana
- 1/2 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
- 1 teaspoon chia seeds
- 1/2 cup skim milk (out of almond!)
- 1 Tablespoon peanut butter
- 1 handful baby spinach
Blended right up!
It was nice and THICK so I used a spoon to eat it.
j/k. GOSH I love green monsters!
As I said, I have the day off , but there’s still plenty to do! I foresee laundry, a trip to the library (finally getting a card!!), general housecleaning, a run and a visit to my Dad’s fifth grade classroom in my future. I’ll be back!
Have a great day!!
~~~~~
How near or far do you live from your family?
That salsa looks gorgeous
I live with my mum, my sister lives in London/everywhere, I don’t talk to my dad but he’s 45minutes away, and my grandparents and aunt are between 10 and25 mins away! So pretty close
Have a lovely day off!
My family lives all around me and I love it. I don’t ever want to move away!
I live in the same home as my family, haha
Can’t get much closer than that!
I wish them luck with the move to DC – it’s in the 90′s and humid here already! Summer is not the best time to be moving to the swamp.
We live far from both our families, who are in various parts of the Midwest. Lots of expensive traveling for holidays!
Those are the BEST cookies. ever.
My family is all about 2 hours north, the boyfriend’s family is about an hour north. We were in D.C. last month for a long weekend and were just talking last night about how we want to go back! It’s just a short hour (or so) ride to the last Metro stop on the line then a 40 minute ride into the city. I think we’ll check the weather forecast first!
I LOVE THOSE COOKIES!!!! ahhhhh they remind me of childhood! i love at my parents (ill be 23 in 2 weeks), but im saving money. plus, my parents and i are like best friends. i dont think my mom ever wants me to move out!! i know that when i eventually do, i wont go far
why are they moving to DC?? that’s so exciting! big change!
My family is 18 hours away and it’s sooo hard! I miss them so much. Thankfully, Ben’s parents are moving to a major city and you should be able to find cheap flights! If you get the chance to check out the Newseum- it is awesome! Love DC…such a fun trip
All of my family is pretty close, at least here in IA. What an exciting venture to move to DC!
What a delicious dinner you had last night! So refreshing & light
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My mom lives very close to me. The rest of my family lives 1000 miles away, all the way in Sunny Florida! Gives me a great place to visit!
OHH DC, does that mean you’ll be visiting this area someday sooner rather than later?! =)
My parents are about 40 minutes east and my in-laws are about 25 minutes west. I’m really thankful that everyone is so close.
DC is a great place to live (and visit!)-tons of stuff to do. It has been hot this week and will just get hotter in July/August. It also has a totally different feel than the midwest-not nearly as laid back. Everyone is going all the time!
Best of luck to them!
As of right now i am about a 3 hour flight from my parents but am moving back home to go to law school
! i think my mom and i will have to do daily “mom walks” as well! if you dont mind answering, what is it that you do for work? just a general idea would be great if you dont feel like sharing. just interested! also, one time my cousin and i ate an entire Costco package of those cookies (u can imagine how many there were) in one weekend….delicious, but i dont think those things are so healthy for you ha!
What are his parents doing in DC? I live in Baltimore and love the DC area.
I live 1000 miles from my family!
I always have every other friday off, and it is wonderful!!!
Enjoy your extended weekend!
Oh I love those cookies! I find that they are soo rich and sugary though that I have to stop at one or I’ll go into a sugar coma, haha.
Days off when you would usually be at work are the best! I always feel more productive when I get them
My family lives about two hours from me, so it’s a perfect weekend trip! Sometimes, I’ll even go for the night!
All of my close family lives within 20 minutes, so that’s pretty great. I love them and I don’t know what I would do without them!
Those cookies are the BEST! And the folded over chips? Yes mam!
AWww, that’s sad that they are moving, but what a great reason for you to visit them. DC is such a fun city to visit!
Enjoy your day off dear.
That is sad Ben’s parents are moving, but I wish them the best. How exciting!! In 2006, my husband and I moved back to our hometown and lived there until last year. It was awesome being near family, but a job opportunity came up in Des Moines, and I couldn’t turn it down. We still visit often as it is only 2.5 hours north. I miss the small town though and just being able to drop by my mom and dad’s or sister’s place.
I hope you have a nap scheduled for your day off to make up for that 6 am gardening
I’m really happy for them! I’m actually from DC and I miss it SOO much! It’s an amazing city. You have to go and visit! Make sure they go to Eastern Market in Capitol Hill- best Farmers Market on the planet
I have never lived in the same city as my family (after HS). I live in ATL, Mom lives in Tampa, Sis in in DC, and my Dad recently passed away. Just the 3 of us- all in different states!
I live about 6 hours from any of my family but my father in law, brother and sister in law and their kiddos are in the Twin Cities area.
Oh, I hate this question because it forces me to remember I live thousands of miles away from mine! My parents live in spain and my siblings live in England…and I live in Minneapolis!! Luckily I have my in laws who happen to be super awesome and live in Minneapolis and Texas…not so bad!
And can I just say that I freak out about cooking for a lot of people too – I love the idea of it but often I get too ambitious and then it’s just not fun! It’s good to remember that not everything needs to be homemade or gourmet!
The pictures of your chicken made my mouth water!! I am a sucker for grilled chicken, and that avacado mango salsa looks great! My mom lives maybe 20 mins from me, but the rest of my family are spread all over. I am in Dallas, TX and my dad and his family live in south texas. My moms side of the family are all along the west coast in southern California and Nevada. I really wish we all lived closer to each other. It sucks we only get to visit about once a year.
Those cookies are SO good. I used to get them all the time and could eat the entire box. I had NO self control when it came to them.
Those store bought cookies are surprisingly delicious. I have to admit, I was a tad snobby about grocery store baked goods, but when I tried one of those iced delights, I changed my tune! So good, and such a treat when they have samples!
I totally agree that folded over chips are the BEST! Cape Cod potato chips always have a lot of folded over ones too – they are my fav!
Now that Ben’s parents are in DC you guys REALLY need to come out and visit!!!!
I am about 5 hours away from my family which is still close enough for weekend road trips. I do wish they lived closer though!
Oh, those sugar cookies. I work in an elementary school and have had one too many of those cookies from student birthdays!
I moved from Des Moines to the DC area about a year ago– both my family and my husband’s family live in WDM, but luckily we get plenty of visitors out here and are able to go back to Iowa every once in awhile
Enjoy your day off!!
My parents live about an hour away so I get to see them pretty often. My mom works in WDM so we try to grab lunch once in a while. It’d be nice to be right down the street from them, but they aren’t city people at all!
Re: Typing TGIF the wrong way… it’s a psychological thing! You’ve probably done it wrong so many times that you’ve trained your brain to do it the wrong way. Try typing it the right way a bunch of times in a row, even if you have to do it slowly.
LOVE folded chips. I always steal them out of the bag first!!!
Both my fiance and I live very far from our families… First of all, I went to Iowa State for school – so I got away fairly early on, since they’re in CB/Omaha. I graduated when I was 21, and moved to Chicago (for no good reason). It’s there that I met my fiance (his parents are in northern Illinois), then we moved to Tallahassee for his grad school… then out here to LA for Hollywood.
Ah, I miss being near my family! It’s been 9 years!
Wow, that’s so cool they’re moving to DC! I absolutely love DC. Hope their move goes smoothly.
My parents are in Ankeny, which is about 4-4.5 hours from St. Paul depending on traffic and construction. I wish they were a little closer sometimes, but 4 hours is a very doable weekend trip.
My husband’s folks are only 2 hours away in southern MN, so we see them pretty frequently.
It’s our siblings we wish we lived closer to, though. Carl’s sister used to live in St. Paul, but she moved to Madison, WI for a PhD program this past fall. Conveniently, my sister also moved to Madison (though she’s looking at moving to DC, Portland, or Seattle) at about the same time and they live about 5 minutes from each other. Makes visiting Madison easy and fun. Carl’s brother just graduated college and will either end up in Madison or Pella, IA (random, right?). So really, we get to see immediate family fairly frequently. It’s pretty nice!
Yummm…your dinner from last night looks fab and easy! Love the avocado/mango mix. Now all I need is summer weather so we can grill in OR. It’s been raining for far too long!
I’m spending more and more time on this site when I really should be concentrating on work. keep it up. and remember “If life gives you weeds….make herbal tea. =) Keep on Gardening
DC! Gosh…thats a far cry from Des Moines, IA! I’m gonna be nosey & ask, WHY?!? And no, I do no work at all that early in the am! Ha! I’m not a morning person although I wish I was. I have a sister about 25 minutes away, and another sister & her family & my mom about 3 hours away. No close family here in Des Moines…so my best friends family has kind of adopted me! I’m included in all of their family activities. Folded chips are the best! AND…I LOVE those cookies! To me they taste like wedding cake. I have to ask what store did you get the BIG fork & spoon at? I think I remember it was in New Orleans? I’m remodeling my kitchen & adding lots of silver/stainless steel, and they would go great with my new decor! I’d like to try to buy a set.
Almost all of my family lives in Atlanta, which is really nice…In fact my grandma (mom’s mom) lives .8 miles away, pretty convenient!
Ah, I’m an 8-hour drive from any of my family–My older sister lives outside Madison, WI, while the rest of my family is either in Cincinnati, or Columbus, OH.
My dad was just here last week for a visit, and I’ve been battling some slight homesickness since he left!
I am anxious about cooking for more than my husband and me, too! Everything you made looks great, I like floppy chips that stick to each other, too! They’re the BEST one.
My mom lives with us, doesn’t get much closer than that, lol. My husband’s family lives in Ohio.
Jenn
Have a great day off! Weeding at 6:30am? I am impressed!! I live near my family now but may be moving in a year or so. It will be tough as I have always lived near them.
welcome to the east coast! i live in richmond, va so right down teh street. boy is that d.c. traffic going to be a shock to your in-laws coming from iowa, phew!
i live 5 minutes or so from my parents, wouldnt have it any other way
I have attempted the green monster twice this week and neither time were they so green (http://nursejesstheblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/foodstuff.html)! How do you get them so green and fun looking!?
Those cookies are the best!
My dad is in Tampa, too far from me in Dayton. But I am fortunate to have my brother and my in-laws nearby.
Now that is is getting HOT in Dayton…I’ve been making smoothies like a crazy person!! Love em
I just moved from Iowa to DC as well – I see there are a lot of DC people in the posts above! My family is all in Iowa and South Dakota and my fiance’s family is in Germany. We’re a little lonely here.
I live 5 hours from my family, and even further from extended family. Some days it’s tough, and other days I like it. Wherever I am, I make sure to assemble a family of friends–it helps!
happy tfig
How fun that you can come visit DC now! As a former Iowa (college) girl (go hawks!) – there are great things about both parts of the country. My entirrrrrrrre family is in Chicago and I truly feel that I have lived in 3 of the best places in the US. You need to plan a trip and have a meet up out in DC! Have a great wknd.
Currently living 2.5ish hours from home; will be moving to the East Coast for less than a year for some training — and then to DSM (less than 1 hr from family!)