We still have ton’s of zucchini to use from our garden.  We are getting better about picking them when they are small so we aren’t trying to use one the size of a newborn baby.  We are starting to get really creative.  Liz sent me a recipe for chocolate zucchini cake and I wanted to try it. The kids thought it was great. The picture didn’t turn out so well. 

You can also shered your zucchini and add it to a standard chocolate cake mix.  Follow the directions for a regular cake, and add zucchini. I’ve also done this with a brownie mix.  Either one will work. 

The nutrient dense nature of zucchini means you can add it to meals or baked goods to increase the nutrients in them, without increasing the calories.  One regular size (not baseball bat size) zucchini averages 25 calories.  It’s a great source of Vitamin C, Vitamin A, folate, and potassium.

Right now I’m trying to dehydrate some sliced zucchini.  My mom claims they taste almost like chips.  I’ll post how they turn out as soon as they are done.

A recent article  related a study from the New England Journal of Medicine.  In it they learned a group of people taking vitamin supplements did not have a lower risk of cancer, whereas another group eating the foods that contained those vitamins DID have a lower incidence of cancer. When you eat fruits and vegetables there are so many nutrients contained in them that we may not even be aware of.  Each of these vitmains, minerals, antioxidants, phytochemicals all work together for MAXIMUM absorbtion.  If you instead take those vitamins in supplement form, you may miss out on some of the other vitamins that assist in your body utilizing those vitmains to the fullest.  While I am all for taking a good multi-vitamin, and HIGHLY encourage it, it should not be taking the place of a good healthy diet. 

So here is our vitamin cupboard:

Once home from the grocery store, I chop shred, dice, bag, whatever needs to be done so we can eat them easily for snacking, or I can have one less step to do when preparing vegetables for meals.  I like to both chop and grate carrots.  Chopping makes them easy for snacking, and grating makes them easy to add to dinner recipes.  Then I store on a shelf low enough for my kids to notice when they are looking for something to snack on.   Just like Gina: for snacking there are no rules when it comes to snacking on vegetables. You can have as much as you like, whenever youlike.

Dinner tonight had a success and a failure.  First the success:  Pea salad.  I combined thawed peas, romaine lettuce, and some shredded cheese.  All things I was able to make ahead of time.  Then just before serving, I added the dressing, which was: 1/4 cup light mayo, 1/4 cup plain yogurt, 1 TBLS apple cider vinegar, and 1 tsp dried mustard.  Once all mixed together, I stired it with the salad.  The flip-flopper was eating it faster than anything else on her plate. Huge shovel fulls into her mouth. I said, “Wow you must love the salad tonight.”  She said, “Actually, I hate it, I’m just trying to get it over with.”  Deep down, I know she liked it. She’s just at the stage where she doesn’t like me to be right or to be able to figure her out. EVERYONE ate the salad.  Possibly because they were trying to get out of the failing portion of the meal which was; Tabouli.

Tabouli: It’s not that it was bad, it’s just that we aren’t used to the taste.  I simply used a boxed version where all you had to add was boiling water and some chopped tomatoes.  This is what the husband thought of the tabouli: (he thinks he’s pretty funny)

Olive Kabob’s:

  My kids are starving when they get home from school. (or at least they think they are). Unless of course they want to go straight out to play, then they aren’t hungry until they bring their friends over and everyone is hungry.  We must have a sign on our front door that says, “Come on over if you are hungry kids!” 

My kids are pretty easy to please  when after school hunger strikes, and will eat whatever is easiest and obvious.  I thought of making these kabob’s and making a little center piece on the table out of them.  I used a piece of string cheese and chopped it, then olives alternating.  I also used a little colby-jack cheese for some variety.  Then I kept it in the fridge till school was over (thus the frostiness on my jar).  As soon as they walked in from school, they picked one up and ate it so quickly they were wondering why I didn’t have more.

Olive’s (technically a vegetable)  are a great source of Vitamin E. Their dark color means they are full of phytonutrients.  The good, healthy fat in olives helps to protect cells from damage and improve heart health.  You can’t go wrong.  And just eating a couple on a stick like this is probably the perfect amount for small stomachs. 
When flip-flopper was done, she came to find me to say, “Mom! Where are more of those corn dog thingy’s?”  I was confused for a minute when I realized she meant ‘kabob’s’.  So now we’ve named them, Olive Kabob’s

Our ‘go to’ breakfast has always been toast.  When we are out of food… Yogurt,  finished off on shopping day.  Fruit, looking brown.  The last of the eggs used for Zucchini bread, we always eat toast!  That’s what happened this morning. My kids can make it themselves.  Ketchup boy even takes his own crust off now. How can you lose. 

 Our toast toppings: 

• We love honey on our toast! Buying local honey may help your kids with environmental allergies.  Look at farmers markets for honey, or even a small family run grocery store. 
• All-natural peanut butter on toast.  There are also other nutty butters such as almond butter, cashew butter.  Our local health food store has a machine with nuts, and you can make your own nut butter with as much or as little as you want to buy.
• Fruit butters:  This is made with equal parts sugar and water over a stove (such as 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar), then add 2 cups fruit.  Cook until smooth and let cool. 
• Light cream cheese with sliced fruit.
• I had a friend in high school that ate mustard toast every morning!!! I don’t think we’d like that.
• Cinnamon Sugar of course.

Making the change:  If you haven’t switched to whole wheat bread, do not delay.  Kids need fiber! Their age plus 5.  So my 5 year old needs 10 grams of fiber per day. My 8 year old needs 13 grams of fiber.   Not only that, but whole wheat stabalizes blood sugar better than white flours, leaving your kids even appetite satisfied longer.

Very active for a Saturday.  We started with a kids triathlon.  It was one length of a pool, 1/2 mile bike, and 1/4 mile run.  Cereal boy has done it twice and loves it.

Followed by 2 soccer games.  And then a date with the husband.  A 7 mile hike to the top of Mt. Timpanogas, putting us at the top right at sunset.  And then another 7 coming back!  We are really, really tired!

OK, actually, only Natalie wanted to know 6 unspectacular things about myself:

1. I only knew my husband 3 months before we got engaged.  Then we were engaged for 3 months before we were married.  Total of 6 months altogether.  I truly did not know him at all!  Needless to say, I got super lucky! He’s the best husband in the whole entire world!
2. I have three favorite TV shows; The Office, The King of Queens, and Law and Order.  I do not like reruns.  I won’t even watch a movie more than once (Except Grease 2).  I also love true crime magazine shows, or any Lifetime movie about a normal housewife going crazy and committing murder. I also secretly like Hannah Montanna. I’ve never admitted that out loud.
3. It took me 8 years to get a bachelors degree.  I took a year off to go to beauty school and I’m officially the worst hair dresser to ever graduate from hair school.  I also took off a year and a half to serve a mission for my church.
4. My husband buys all my clothes. I have no style and do not enjoy shopping.  Clear up till 1997 when we got married I was still pegging my pants.  He convinced me it was time to stop.  He also buys the kids clothes, and irons them.  I have never picked up an iron in my life.
5. I love to clean.  I’m not saying my house is clean, or it’s usually clean. I just like to clean.  Somedays I don’t have time for it though.
6. I love junk mail.. not junk E-Mail, just actual junk mail. I obsessively check my mail box until the mail lady comes, and then I am completely content if all there is is ad’s and catalogs.

Beat the heat, have blueberries for a treat!  We are not an ice cream family! In fact after 11 years of marriage, we bought our first ice cream scooper this year (you know, for when guests come of course).   However, in my college years I sure liked frozen yogurt. The I started reading in the comments how everyone loves blueberries these days, I decided to get some vanilla frozen yogurt to put on top of some blueberries.  I read there was a surplus of blueberries this year in the northwest, but blueberry prices sure haven’t gotten better in Utah.  So we are still buying them frozen.  Some frozen varieties are better than others, sweeter you know.

Blueberries make a great dessert! Their rich dark color means they are full of antioxidants.  They have tons of vitamin C, and have been known to improve heart health. 

I’ve always counseled people to be cautious of ice cream portions.  1 serving of ice cream is only 1/2 cup.   And 1/2 cup on the container of ice cream I was reading the label for said it was 300 calories and 20 grams of fat.  For all the people that pile their bowl full of ice cream…I can literally see the arteries clogging by the minute.  The frozen yogurt on the other hand had 200 calories for 1/2 cup and 4.5 grams of fat.  Not only that, but I prefer using a melon baller and having the “ice cream” as a compliment to the dish, rather than it being the “main course”

Tonights winner is Kathy who wrote: 

I send baby carrots and yogurt covered raisins which are 2 of my daughters favorites!

Thanks everyone for playing!

A snack for our house must be under $.20 per serving for me to consider buying or making it.  That gives me plenty of room to purchase string cheese on sale, granola bars on sale etc. When not on sale, granola bars may range between $.33 to .60 per bar!  However, baking granola bars puts them under $0.20 every time, depending on what I decide to add to them.  This way, I sometimes let the neighbor kids enjoy our snacks without cringing inside every time my kids ask their friends if they are hungry.  I will share any baked goods we have, and neighbor friends are always welcome to our pretzels!

These granola bars are perfect. They are chewy, which is how my kids like them.  They are a good base to add anything you feel like putting in.  Dried fruit, nuts, seeds, chocolate chips, etc.  I pack them in my kids lunches, I have a container of them for snacks, and we always eat them pretty quick, so I can’t tell you the shelf life on them.

I promise next week I’ll post food ideas that do not have a recipe!!  I know you don’t want to spend your lives in the kitchen.  Tomorow’s dessert post requires no baking or cooking. 

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