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We’re going out of town later this week, so it’s an abbreviated week of meals and I’m attempting to use up the perishable food in my house.

Tuesday – Broccoli Beef Noodle Stir Fry from Steamy Kitchen (I’m really excited to get her new cookbook!)

Wednesday – I have some bacon and potatoes, so baked potatoes might be on the menu. However, if I get a chance to pick up a few extra ingredients, I’d love to try this Thick and Creamy Potato Bacon Soup.

Thursday – Taco salad and I’ll grill up any veggies I have left.

Baking - Our friend, Louise, made the most wonderful pumpkin bread for Kim and me last night. It was vegan and had some added healthy ingredients (flax seed, maybe). But the most amazing part is that my girls gobbled it up today AND they chose it over cookies for dessert! Kim and I are hoping to score the recipe for ourselves and to post here.

I thought it was about time that I post our Product Reviews and Amazon Store Policy, so here it is:

Building Blocks Show (BBS) is the project of two stay-at-home moms who love food and want to share their passion for food with you.  This is the spirit with which we approach all business decisions.  That being said, we don’t mind making money and getting free stuff and here’s our policy on that:

Book and product reviews:  We will accept books and products directly related to our cooking philosophy for review.  If we choose to review these items, it will be done on the BBS Blog and clearly stated that the product/book was a gift.  We will be honest in our evaluation.   We do not do pay-per-post.

Amazon Store:  BBS receives a portion of all sales from Amazon in our BBS Store.  Because we can choose any of Amazon’s millions of products, we only select items that we personally use and love or are totally lusting after ourselves.  Product links in the blog posts are part of the Amazon store. 

If you are interested in advertising on our website or have a book or cooking related product you would like to send us for review please email kim AT buildingblocksshow DOT com.

Blogging platforms should come with a warning:  Do not write reviews of tasty Vietnamese restaurants while under the influence of hunger!  My belly is telling me to get back in my car and drive to Monsoon East.  No, belly, no. 

Here’s the scene:  It’s lunchtime on one of the last sunny days for Western Washington.  After driving around the block four times looking for any parking spot, I find one right in front of the restaurant.  My baby, Rodger, and I stumble in and take a look around the swanky, contemporary restaurant.  No hostess, but smiling cooks behind the open-view kitchen. 

Finally the hostess appears from the back and seats us promptly with the menus and a high chair.  Ah, the menus.  Everything sounded so enticing, it took me forever to order.  Luckily I had a cheerful waitress who recommended the organic chicken in the vermicelli bowl.  Sounded good to me, but first a salad.   

The salad was Green Papaya with Grilled Prawns and Caramelized Pineapple.  It was tangy and bright with really well-balanced flavors, despite the sad looking pineapple.  Although, it couldn’t be too sad, because afterall, it was caramelized pineapple.  I think the prawns were good.  I’d love to be more descriptive, but Rodger only let me have one bite!

Then the vermicelli bowl came, filled to the brim with lemongrass chicken, crispy imperial roll, cucumber, mint, and a sauce that carried a real kick.  Wow, when the menu said “crispy” roll, I was expecting something along the lines of a deep-fried spring roll, but the Vietnamese apparently don’t use the word “crispy” lightly.  It had a serious crunch factor.  Delicious.  The only thing about the meal that left me wanting was the dry chicken.  Very unfortunate because if it weren’t for a little too long of a kiss on the grill this would be a gripe-less review. 

All of this came at a very reasonable price for such flavorful fare.  The vermicelli bowl was only 9.50 and if you don’t have a monkey stealing all your prawns and chicken, this would probably be more than enough for lunch, but I spent an extra 8.00 to get the salad too.  There were so many cool things on the menu I didn’t order, like Idaho catfish claypot, bo la lot beef and the raw bar.  I’m going to have to go back and try each of them!