Getting Festive for the 4th of July

Nothing says summer like the 4th of July. This holiday is a big deal around here. Every year, my mother and father-in-law have a party complete with the best firework show in town (I may be biased but its true). My two cuties are all ready to celebrate. We begin our celebration the day before in case you were wondering why I have them dressed a day in advance. Don't you just love Will's expression? I have to act like a complete fool to get both of my kids to look at the camera and smile. Well, it works for Audrey and Will gives me a look like "Who are you and what did you do with my mom?"Can we talk about their shirts, please? Cute, huh? I wish I could take credit for them but I can not. A good friend snatched this idea from Pinterest and let my kids join in the fun the last time we were at their house. It's so simple! Just use fabric paint to do your child's handprint and paint some stripes (don't count my stripes b/c I wasn't keeping track). So festive!

 

And, it wouldn't be a 4th of July party with out some amazing summer dishes. I decided this year that I wanted to try some new things so I scoured my recipe pin board and this is what I came up with. I linked the recipe for each one if you want to give it a try.

 

Lemonade Cake

 

This looks and smells amazing. I haven't actually tried it, yet, other than to sample the batter so I can't speak to the tastiness. I'll have to let you know...

 

Recipe can be found at http://www.bhg.com/recipe/lemonade-cake/



Tortellini Pasta Salad

I usually always make a pasta salad but I thought this would be a nice change of pace for me. I used fresh mozzarella for the the cheese. I did test this one and it is very good. My usual dressing calls for sugar so I'm missing the sweetness but it's nice to have something different (plus, it's probably healthier).



Recipe can be found at http://www.peasandcrayons.com/2013/03/tortellini-pasta-salad.html

 

Strawberry Kabobs

 

This is by far my favorite and it was the simplest. I opted to use popsicle sticks rather than skewers to make these a little more kid-friendly and to make smaller portions. Audrey lended a hand with these bad boys. We drizzled them with melted white chocolate and used blue sprinkles to make them patriotic. They are amazing!

 

 

Recipe can be found at http://onederlandorbust.net/2013/05/13/strawberry-shortcake-kabobs/



I hope that you all have a safe and wonderful holiday! Pin It

What's for Dinner?

This is a question that I seem to be asking myself all of the time. Preparing dinner really isn't my thing. I can bake desserts all day long but when it comes to cooking a meal, I often find myself feeling a little uninspired. With that said, there are those recipes that I always rely on when I need a quick and nutritious meal for my family. Today I am going to share one such recipe. This is a delicious chicken and zucchini soup. I got this recipe from my mother-in-law several years ago and it never disappoints. Instead of keeping this little gem to myself, I thought I would share it in case you, too, are asking yourself "What's for dinner, tonight?"

To begin I cut up about 3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I saute the chicken with red onions and garlic in olive oil on medium heat until the chicken is cooked thoroughly. I also add a little pepper for taste.

 

While that is cooking, I chop up three medium zucchinis and add them to the mix.

 

 

Once the zucchini is mostly tender, I add four cans of Italian tomatoes.

 

 

It's a little chunky at this point, so I take a slotted spoon to mash the tomatoes a bit and stir it all together. Doing this gives it a consistency that we're happy with but you could also add a little water if you'd like. Simmer on medium-low heat for about 15 minutes.

 

 

And, that's it! It is so easy, so quick, and delicious. It is also packed full of healthy goodness and leaves you feeling full and satisfied. I love to serve it up with some fresh multigrain french bread. Yum!

 

 

Do you have any go-to dinner recipes that you love. I'm always on the lookout for new ideas.

 

Happy cooking!

 

 

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Homemade Applesauce

I've discovered this truly simple and delicious way of making applesauce that I have to pass along to you. It tastes more like baked apples than the applesauce I'm used to (the jar variety). My students made this last week in honor of Johnny Appleseed's birthday. They began by observing an apple and recording their thinking in a composition notebook a.k.a "Thinking Notebooks". Next, it was time to peel and slice our apples. Thank goodness I borrowed this nifty contraption from my mother-in-law. If haven't used one of these things, you have to get one. It peels, cores, and slices the apples all at once.  Check it out! So fun!

 

 

 

Once every child had a chance to slice their apples, we added them to an electric skillet with the following ingredients:

 

1 1/2 cups of water

1 cup of sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon

 

We let it simmer for about 20 minutes until the apples were soft enough to mash.

 

 

Here is our yummy treat cooling on the counter. My students really enjoyed the process of making something from scratch. We all learned or tried something new that day.

 

 

Personally, I couldn't get enough of this stuff so that evening Audrey and I whipped together our own batch at home. We enjoyed ours with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Delicious, simple, and the perfect treat for fall! 

 

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Sunday Dinners

I wish that the title of this post meant that I was enjoying a nice relaxing dinner with family. Unfortunately, just the opposite is true. Now that school is officially in session, my Sundays for the next 9 months will be dedicated to going to Church and preparing for the week ahead. I am determined to organize my life a little more to make being a Kindergarten teacher and mom of two a little easier. I have noticed while browsing Pinterest lately several pins about weekly meal planning. I've wanted to do this for awhile and decided now was the perfect time to grab the bull by the horns and give it a try. Cooking is not really a strength of mine. Mainly, I am bad at planning ahead so all too often we fall prey to the take-out or drive-thru trap. Not only bad for our health but our wallets, too. So, I used great ideas from this blog and my own recipes to create six different crockpot freezer meals.

All bagged up and ready to throw into the crockpot. I made jambalaya, beef tips, teriayki chicken, pepper steak, chicken tortilla soup, and divine chicken. I made double portions of two of these meals so really I have eight meals ready to cook.

I wrote cooking instructions on the bags. Here is the Jambalaya that we had for dinner Monday night. I put it in the fridge to thaw overnight, put it in the crockpot in the morning, and came home from my first day of school to a finished meal. Delicious!

The best thing about these meals is that I didn't have to cook anything beforehand. All I did was chop some veggies, add meat, and seasoning and I was done. If I hadn't been interrupted, this probably would have taken under two hours to complete. I also love that I was able to use all fresh ingredients. My bags are full of colorful veggies, so definitely healthy choices for our family. The portions are plenty for us to have dinner and lunch the next day. It's been so wonderful not having to think about what to cook each night.

My next goal was to tackle breakfast and snacks. I was hoping to add some healthier choices for Audrey and make something healthy that we can grab and go when there is no time in the morning.

I made homemade waffles for breakfast on Sunday. I was about to throw away the leftovers when I realized, duh, I could freeze them. Now, we have our own version of the toaster waffle at our fingertips and better for us than the processed store bought version.

These look like muffins but really it is baked oatmeal. There is no flour or sugar in the mixture. I followed this recipe to make them. I made four different kinds: chocolate chip, walnut, brown sugar, and strawberry (not pictured). They are best warm but that's an easy 20 seconds in the microwave before heading out the door.

Last but not least, I made this trail mix for some healthy snacking. This was my own creation that i just threw together. I used multigrain Cheerios, pretzels, peanuts, sliced almonds, granola, dried fruit, and chocolate chips. Super yummy and definitely a more nutritious snack for Audrey than cheese crackers or fruit snacks.

I made sure we had plenty of fresh fruit on hand, as well, and there you have it! In one Sunday evening I prepared eight dinners/lunches, two breakfast options, and snacks. Such a brilliant idea and one that I plan to make an official part of my weekly routine. Bon appetit!

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