Salad People

Want a fun and easy way to get the kiddos to eat fruits and vegetables? Make salad people. We found a great book called Salad People by Mollie Katzen. It has lots of simple and tasty recipes that your kids can make and it's vegetarian. Here is one of our salad people:

We used an apple for the body, yogurt for the head, carrots for the ears and arms and hair, parsley for the hands, grapes for the legs, halved bing cherry for the mouth and cranberries for the eyes and nose. We got a little creative and made a border out of pumpkin seeds. Maleah ate every bit of it and it was a lot of fun making it. You can use any variation of fruit and vegetables you want. Just have fun with it!

Patty Pan Squash

Thanks to my CSA, I learned about a new squash, Patty Pans. Let me tell you, they are delicious. I wasn't sure how to cook them so I jumped on youtube and found a recipe. I have made this recipe three times in the last week. It is so good. Here is the recipe:

You slice off each end of the patty pan (top and bottom, just slightly) and then cut the squash in half so that it forms two uniform disc shapes. Spray the bottom of a pan with olive oil spray (or use regular olive oil to coat) and then place the squash in pan face up. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Then you carve out a shallow well in the middle of the squash. I use a melon baller. Fill the well with crumbled goat cheese. On top of the cheese put either bruschetta, which is what I used, or you can use salsa or some type of sweet pepper relish. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top of that and then lightly drizzle everything with olive oil. Place in oven (I used my toaster oven) on 400 degrees and bake until tender but not mushy, around 15 minutes or so. That's it. Easy peasy.

Oh so tasty and good for you too. And remember, buy organic and local when you can!

Sunday morning breakfast

I normally don't eat a big breakfast but we have been getting in the habit of going out for breakfast after church on Sunday mornings. Today we decided to sleep in and not go to church. When I woke up I was craving a big breakfast. So I made one. I have been loving getting my CSA every week. I have been getting some pretty exotic (well, exotic to me) vegetables that I haven't seen before. One of them was purple potatoes. I didn't know they even existed. So, I was eager to use them. The good thing about joining a CSA is that it makes you eat healthier because you are getting lots of vegetables that you don't want to go to waste. I decided to make a skillet. You know, the like the ones you get in a restaurant. I fried up my purple potatoes, and then put scrambles eggs on top of them. I then sprinkled fresh basil (from my garen) on top along with cut up homegrown tomatoes (from my CSA) and some feta. It was delish!