Zucchini Bites for Kids

I have really been putting forth a lot of effort (ok that is an exaggeration but I have randomly been trying) to introduce some home made snacks into my kids' diet. I wanted to get some things in our fridge that could be pulled out and used for quick snacks and lunches instead of having peanut butter and jelly and gummy snacks every day. Now, don't get me wrong, pb&j is a great lunch.  However, we were eating it every.single.day. To that end, I've started trying out some new snacks for us.  We are now consistently eating the peanut butter bars and chocolate chip muffins. Today I decided to try something that could be used as a lunch so I went for the zucchini bites.

Before I start in on this, let me say:  I am amazed at how my children are already conditioned to like processed food better than home made food. I know it is my fault but it makes me upset to see them inhale a bag of fruit chewies and then I have to prompt them along when eating a peanut butter bar. What is that?  It just makes me even more determined to fix these things for them and to help them develop a taste for it. They do eat them and they don't complain (which I know is a blessing) but still - I want a home made peanut butter bar with chocolate chips to be just as enticing as a bag of Dora shaped gummies.  

That being said, prepare yourself for a lot of kid-friendly snacks and lunch options.  I'm trying out a ton and will share my successes with you.

Whole Wheat Muffins - Ready for Mix-ins! : Freezer Friendly

I've been doing a lot of reading online lately about food, our ability to get food, and the kind of foods we eat.  I have high cholesterol.  At 28.  Had I not had Little One I probably wouldn't have learned this little tidbit and it might not have mattered as much to me.  Honestly, my whole worldview has changed now that I'm a mom.  This little life depends on me to be healthy... to set a good, healthy lifestyle example in food and exercise.  Now, I don't love eating healthy all the time (cheese is my weakness!!) and working out on a regular basis (ugh.  it feels soooooooo repetitive.  I just don't enjoy "the hurt" from working out.  But.  My mind has got to change.  I'm really trying to become better at these - for myself and for Little One.  

Now back from that tangent - I am trying to reduce the amount of processed (pre-made) food that we consume and to increase our amount of daily vegetable and fruit intake.  DH and I decided yesterday that we will cut out most fast food, especially if we're eating it because we're being lazy.  I read something a while back that has really stuck with me as it pertains to children and what they eat.  It was something along these lines... children aren't born with the taste and cravings for salty, processed, empty food.  They learn to like these foods because we feed it to them.  I fail daily at this, but it serves as a reminder to me to stop and think about what I'm feeding Little One.  

So you're a busy mom?  Hectic schedule?  Too many things to do in one day?  How can I possibly cook for my family to cut out some of the processed foods?  Check out this site and this site.  Tried and true places to start.

1) Start with freezer friendly meals.  

2) Set apart an hour a week to meal plan (look up some recipes you want to try!).  

3) Prepare your grocery list based on sections of the store.  I'm kinda crazy, but every time I go I always follow the same path.  This allows me to set up my grocery list the same way every time.  This little time I take to categorize my list based on section of the grocery store or aisle saves me A TON of time in the store and I don't have to backtrack.  

4) One weekend day (or week day - it doesn't matter... just sometime when you have childcare or you know your child can be easily entertained while you cook for about 30 - 45 minutes...) prepare your meals.  

5) Start with 2 or 3.  That's 2 or 3 more than you had before you started!  I try to pick meals or foods that have similar ingredients to save time on prep work.  Start small and slowly work it in.  If you don't like something you've made, mark that off the "to-try" list for next time.  If you like it add it to your "regulars" list.  You can do it!!  

I've found this site - 100 Days of Real Food - she has A TON of good ideas and recipes.  These muffins are from her site.  Little One LOVED them.  They aren't sweet like regular muffins - and it's super fun to be able to add your own different "sweet" fruit mix-ins.  Banana was our favorite (but we're a banana muffin kind of family!)  Let me know what you decide to mix in - the options are endless!

 

Lasagna Roll Ups & Homemade Marinara Sauce

I made these roll ups on January 16th.  Today is January 28th and I'm just now blogging about it.  Can you tell I'm SO ready for February?  New month.  New start.  Do you want to know a secret?  FRIDAY is February 1st!!  This Friday.  Does it amaze you as much as me that this year is flying by already?!?  Let's all do a small celebratory dance... drum roll please... because I've sold THREE orders in my Etsy store.  Y'all.  That is just amazing.  Thank you to everyone who has backed my projects with your support!  As a sign of thanks - I'm doing a giveaway! Check out my Facebook page and comment before 8 pm tonight to be entered in the drawing :)  You just don't know how much I've needed your sweet faces this past month.  You are truly a gift from God!!

Now, let me tell you another secret.  

These beautiful things are in my freezer right now!  Topped with my homemade marinara.  Waiting on February 14th.  8 pm.  Dinner date at home with the DH after Little One is in bed.  I'm so excited!  We won't have to fight the crowds.  Won't have to worry that Little One will decide to be cranky on that one night we want to eat in peace.         I won't have to be flustered and running all around wondering what I'm going to fix.  These are 4 leftovers from my meal we had mid-January.  Frozen.  Ready to go.  All I have to do is add a salad and some garlic bread.  And boom.  Valentine's Dinner - ah-hem - a homemade Valentine's dinner is made!  

I'll be the first to say these do take a little prep time - or maybe it's just me. Those blasted lasagna noodles gave me a little trouble because I didn't have a pot big enough to really cook them.  Maybe you are better at this than I!  Now I know why I usually stick to the Crockpot Lasagna ;)  Buuuut.  This is worth the effort.  Especially to dote on your special ones with.  What else says love like good, homemade food.  Only you and I have to know you pre-made it, froze it, and it only took 35 minutes to reheat on a weeknight! 

Healthy Mama BBQ Chicken: Crockpot & Freezer Friendly

Earlier this year I bought my very first ecookbook.  It takes up no space and is available wherever my computer or smart phone go --- which is, one or the other, always with me.  I think I may be in love.  It's this one from Mama and Baby Love and the cookbook is well worth your money.  It's chocked full of healthy freezer friendly meals!

This happens to be the first recipe I made of hers and it was delicious!  Can I tell you that I stretched two chicken breasts into four HUGE meals (1 dinner, 2 people + 1 lunch, 2 people) for my family.  You should try this one too!  And can I say... I'm stoked that the recipe made 2 big bags for my freezer... because one is waiting on me when I want to do nothing after this busy holiday season ahead!!

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

These tasty treats are good for the Little One and with the addition of some of this ooey gooey chocolate peanut butter dip they become a sweet treat for Mom and Dad!  You can't even taste that they're loaded with zucchini!!  You can use these as breakfast muffins - they'd be delicious with a hot cup of coffee AND you can top them with some icing to fulfill your sweet tooth that {at least for me} rears its head after dinner!   Enjoy these universal muffins!!

Zucchini Turkey Burgers Revisted

Hello.  I've missed you.  It's been a CRAZY - I repeat - CRAZY couple of weeks.  We traveled back to our home home for a weekend of wedding preparations and engagement partyin'. On our ride back I had shingles appear and was subsequently banished to my home for a week praying so hard that Little One wouldn't catch the chicken pox from me!  We traveled back home home to happily help celebrate DH's sister's wedding.  {insert deep breath here} And we had to leave early so we could travel back to our home and prepare for Hurricane Sandy.  Whew.  Just writing all that makes me tired.  I've never wanted to get back into a schedule and routine as I do now.  I wasn't lying when I said I was stocking my freezer for a busy October!  The good news is we are okay and we had no property damage from the storm.  We did, however, lose power and some of my freezer meals.  So sad!  I will post one of the recipes I was waiting on to cook - and I'll remake it - and let you know how it turned out.

I'm so glad I had these handy zucchini turkey burgers in the freezer. I was able to cook them up before we lost power so we could have some good protein to eat after the storm.  I unfortunately didn't have the ability to let them thaw all the way so they were still quite frozen when the time had come to cook them.  The winds were picking up and I just couldn't wait any longer.  But let me tell you - even though they were a little tough because I had to cook cook cook them - their flavor was delicious!  I was afraid the zucchini would make these fall apart when they were cooked, but they held together really well.  Know that I will make these again and prepare them in a way that they will maintain their juiciness :)  

See?  Easy way to get hidden veggies into your kids!  They look {and taste} just like real burgers, but they're loaded with zucchini!  They had a great flavor.  As you can tell, I cooked them on the stovetop.  I would highly highly suggest that you allow these burgers to thaw completely before cooking them.  

Even if our burgers were tough, we are so thankful that was one of the biggest problems of the week!  SO many people lost SO much.  

Together we are prayerful for all those affected by Sandy's wrath.

Say a prayer today with me,

Zucchini Turkey Burgers: Freezer Friendly

These burgers are in the freezer and waiting on me!  I'm excited to try them since I added zucchini to them for the first time.  If they're great - it would be an awesome way to add some more vegetables into our diet... something I'm always looking to do.  Check back and I'll let you know how they turn out!! - big juicy burger picture goes here -

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder: Pinterest Love ♥

I have been on a freezer cooking frenzy lately.  I've been inspired, thanks to Pinterest.  And I can't advocate enough - one afternoon (or two... with a little one ;)) of cooking has given me enough food to fill my refrigerator's freezer.  We now have meals on the ready - and this month is a crazy one for us!  Follow along - I'll be posting the recipes that are in my freezer.  I hope you can find them useful for the upcoming holiday seasons!

This recipe isn't a freezer meal, but one I found while browsing.  And it was perfect for our first rainy, didn't get out of the 60's kind of day!  I've also read that you can easily adapt this to a crockpot version.  I will be keeping a close eye on this one in the coming months!

Mini Whole Wheat Zucchini Muffins

I've been on a search for ways to incorporate more veggies into Little One's diet. He is a very independent eater (prefers finger foods that he can have complete control over) but this also means that he's not too big on eating in the veggie department.  We've fallen into a peanut butter on pita sandwich for lunch every day the past 2 weeks.  I know he's tired of eating it because I'm tired of making it!!  I finally just bought some zucchini when I was at the grocery store last week.  I knew I could find some recipes for some zucchini muffins... and this one didn't disappoint!

Yum!

Grab a hot cup of tea or a tall glass of milk - you'll want to have something on hand when you enjoy these tasty treats!