Hot August day.....Carnival Day

A very small town near us about 30 mins drive was having a fiesta day (carnival) so we went.

Loved the games...and he wanted to try each one

some prizes I won

The ride I just couldnt ride.  

But we had a nice summer day anyway..........

What to do with a two year old

Summer and he is running around here all day long.....so what do you do?  Well, we have painted, we have collected dinosaur teeth (rocks) we have played in some water (little pool), eaten lots and lots and lots of popops (popcles) we have made drums (cans painted) and we have made our name.....and glued the dino teeth to it.
SEE:

chillin with some juice

or in a chair

a little to much sugar (brownie day)

 a day at the pool

painting some dinosaur teeth I found

my name painted with dino teeth

drums I made with some cans

eating popops....yummy

hope everyone else is having a great summer too..

Day 7 of zucchini challenge

Zucchini Noodles

So cut up your zucchini like noodles and put them into some boiling water for about a min or two but thats it.

Now use them like noodles....pretty simple.

I made a sause useing a can of tomatoes, onion, garlic, seasonings and tossed them all together.

But you can do what ever, spagetti sause, alfredo sause, pesto sause...use your imagination.

Looks yummy doesn't it.

I have used zucchini as the noodles in lasagna just cut them length wise, and you will need quite a few.  (bigger ones work best).  don't need to cook them before, just layer them like the noodles.  So next time you want lasagna try using zucchini instead of the noodle and see how it is.....

Day off of Zucchini

So after 6 days I needed a little break and instead of having so many zucchinis I now have a ton of cucumbers.......so since I am not a canner, or bottler I wanted to do something with these that was easy.   Again I do have a two year old and so my time is limited......
I found a recipe for refrigerator pickles......and here they are

7 cups of cucumbers peeled (I left them on) cut up any way you want to

1 teaspoon salt

1 - 2 cups of sugar ( add 1 cup then taste it and you can add more if not sweet enough)

1 cup of chopped up onion

1 cup of red peppers (optional)

1 cup cider vinegar

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 teaspoon of caraway seeds/ dill seeds (optional, this is what I did)

Mix the cucumbers in the salt and let sit for an hour.

Then mix teh sugar onions, red peppers, vinegar, seasonings together (here taste you might want more sugar).

Pour on top of cucumbers, add lid and put into the refrigerator and in 3 hours you can eat them.  They do taste better when they have sat longer.....You can keep them up to 3 weeks, we add more cucumbers as we go.....so easy and very tastey.

Whew Zucchini challenge still going on

Day 5 Zucchini Cookies Yeah.............................

1/2 cup butter softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup grated zucchini

2 cups of flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup chocolate chips (I added these)

Mix together and let the batter chill at least an hour or overnight.

Cook at 375 for 8-10 mins on a greese pan, and dont overcook them.

We gave these a 9, so try them they are full of fiber and taste pretty good for those that dont care for zucchini.

Day 6 of Zucchini Challege.......Zucchini curry soup

This one is so easy

2 tablespoons oil

1 onion

some garlic

1 tablespoon of curry powder

4 small zucchini cut up into cubes

1 quart of chicken stock.

Fry up the onion and garlic, add the curry and zucchini cook for about 10 mins then add the stock and cover and bring to a boil.   Cook for about 20 mins on med heat.

I put a little sour cream on top.

This is easy easy and very yummy if you are a curry fan.

Zucchini challenge

We are eating zucchini everyday right now, and my family isn't complaining to badly.  Z isn't that interested in it yet.....but you just wait.

Day three: Zucchini Brownies
1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
pinch of salt (I don't add salt most of the time "high blood presure" but when baking you need to)
2 cups zucchini I added a bit more
1/2 cups walnuts or any nut
Mix it all together, you can cream the sugar and oil first then add the zucchini and flour and the rest.
Yes, there is no egg and you don't need it.

Pour into a brownie pan or square or round anything that you have on hand.
Cook for 30 mins at 350

I

 added sprinkles for the little guy.....he is into sprinkles right now.     And since he doesn't get ice cream unless its lactose free or sherbert, or rice milk......I give them to him when I can.

These are moist and awesome, we gave the zucchini brownies a 10 and so did Zane.

Day 4 Stuffed Zucchini

This recipe works well with those big ones you get, cause you didn't go out to the garden for a day.

1 or 2 large Zucchini

1 Onion

Some garlic

1 cup of rice (cooked so if you have leftovers)

1 cup of chicken (again cooked or any meat or don't use meat at all)

1 can of tomatoes

 1 teaspoon italian seasonings

1 teaspoon salt and pepper

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 1/2 cups of cheese again of your choice

1 tablespoon of olive oil

Take your zucchini's and scoop out the middle, being careful not to go through the whole zucchini.  Keep it and cut it up.

Sprinkle with oil and put in the oven at 350 for about 10 mins.

Now in a large skillet, saute the onions, garlic for about 5 mins, add the rice and chicken and seasonings.  Now cut up the middles of the zucchini or at least the thick parts of it.  And add to the skillet cook the zucchini for about 50 mins and add the tomotes.

Take out the zucchini after the 10 mins and stuff them.   Just scope it all on top, then top with cheese and bake again for about 20 mins.

(little hint:  the filling slides off sometimes after its cooked, so when I made this a second time I put some cheese on the bottom before I filled them and again on top.  It worked to keep the filling in better.

Now this could be done anyway you would like to, so experiment with it.  Change it up, I have made this a few times and even did it once with a can of cream of mushroom soup instead of tomatoes.....yummy.

What to do with Zucchini

So, my garden is doing well and everyday I am picking like up to 5 zucchini's a day.....what do you do with all those zucchini's.

I gave myself a zucchini challenge, for 7 days I am creating or trying new zucchini recipes.   And well, I am sharing my results with all of you.
Day one:

 See 5 day

Zucchini Green chili Au Graten

This one is my own creation and it turned out great.

My family gave it a 9 out of 10, 10 being so very awesome......and 1 being yuk.

So about 4 cups zucchini cut up or sliced

1 Onion

4-5 Garlic cloves

1 tablespoon flour

1 cup of cheese of your choice and

Some butter......yeah I cook with Butter and sometimes lots of it

1/4 cup of cream, or milk will work too

Saute the onions, garlic in some butter until translucent.

Add your Zucchini, and cook over med heat for about 10 mins.

Next add the flour and make a rue (which is a pastey mess if it looks like that you did it right)

Now add the cream, stir in the cheese slowly, cover and let cook on low for a min or two

Enjoy

Ok so day two I tried Parmesan Crisps

Cut up zucchini as many as you would like to make.

1/2 cup of bread crumbs

1/2 cups shredded parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Easy Peasy.......add the oil to the zucchini toss making sure they are totally covered in the oil.

Next mix the crumbs, cheese and seasoning together in a bowl.

Next take out a pan, add a little oil or spray or butter on the pan.   Cover each piece of zucchini with the mixture both sides and place on pan.

Cook for 20 mins at 375 until crisp on top.  I also turned them half way through.

We gave this one an 7, we thought they needed more seasoning....so have fun.

at this point you could add any seasoning you would like to try.

Garden alert, garden alert

I havn't posted anything about our garden in a long while, so there is an update......It's grown yeah I know just like everybody's elses.  But, I never thought it would have grown as much as it has in the dessert.

  A little peek a boo in the corn field, yes I call it a corn field even though its only 8 corn stalks....lol

And our Pumpkin patch and Zucchini are doing AWESOME...we even had to build a scarecrow to get rid of the birds

and chili........

So the garden is doing great, best garden I have ever had.

Now what do I do with all the zucchini's?

Yes, I have just one

Why is it that people always think your not a REAL mother if you only have one child?

I was at the store doing some grocery shopping with my little man (who by the way refuses to be in the cart, or have his backpack leash on.....) and he was helping me push the cart, and this nice lady says "ohh he is so cute, are the others in school today"  I  was ahhhhhh " what others"....then she smiled " your other children".  Ohhhhh now I get, " no, I just have the one".  She looked at me and slightly smiled, "ohhhh", and turned to go down another aile.  What just happened?.....why did she do that?.....

My family knows that I am going to be 45 this year, and that I know Z is our miracle.  Not, that I wouldn't love to have another (my body would probably be against it), It would just be another very, very , very surpiseing miracle if it happened.  

Yes, I have gone through those hormones that tell me and my body that having another one is what we are supposed to do.....and yes I have sat and talked to myself about the whole situation....(yes I said talk to myself, I do only have a two year old to talk to during the day).......But, options aside I have learned that I am happy with just one.  

So there world.........I am a mom, and I only have one kid.      So there........................and he is just awesome.