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I am loving having zucchini in the garden, and I think this may be a garden staple I plant every year. It's so versatile: great as a side dish stir-fried or grilled, great in casseroles or hidden in spaghetti like last night, and used in baking, which of course, the kids prefer!!
We've spent the last 3 days at home with no plans, and it's been awesome! Lots of crafts, cooking, and baking! (I really want to take advantage of the next 2 weeks before official homeschooling begins!) Today was chocolate chip zucchini muffins.
My friend, Karen, gave me the brilliant idea to measure-out and freeze the extra zucchini for future baking. And, we will definitely be making these again. There's something about cinnamon and chocolate I can't resist!
The girls loved them, as well. "You can't even taste the zucchini," Allison noted. And, it's a good thing because that was the only vegetable they had all day. As I was stir-frying some garlic and romaine for dinner, the salt top came off and this is what happened...
Oops.
Anyway, here is the muffin recipe. (It may put you in "fall mode," as it has me!)
Ingredients
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 egg, lightly beaten
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 1/4 cup milk
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 cup shredded zucchini
* 1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
* 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Directions
1. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Combine the egg, oil, milk, lemon juice and vanilla; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in zucchini, chocolate chips and walnuts. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until muffins test done.
Here we are today. We decided to mop the garage floor for "Work on it Wednesday." We don't even mop our kitchen floor very often; what was I thinking? I'm not sure what motivated us, but it was actually a fun job for the girls. They got to wear their swimsuits, and play "Cinderella." Perhaps we'll try this on our kitchen floor next week!
...While I was at a baby shower yesterday, Daniel had several hours to entertain the girls. I came home to find these cute pictures of them having a tea party for lunch; with real milk tea! (I only let the girls use water!) They had croissants, salad, cantaloupe, and p,b, and honey sandwiches. Too cute!
...The other morning, I was exhausted! I tried to let my husband sleep-in, but he soon came out, and I went back to bed. I woke up to a quiet house; even the dog was gone, and dinner simmering in the crockpot. It was oxtail soup; SO yummy! Later, he and Allison turned it into a science lesson, complete with looking up pictures in textbooks, and recreating the oxtail!
...He's never too busy to play with his girls. Seriously! He took a HUGE exam today and has been studying the last few days, but whenever they came to play with him, he was ready! (And, he even took more pictures!)
...Some mornings he walks in the house with a brown box. I LOVE brown boxes! (Pink and white are good, too!) This week it was my absolute favorite; a sea-salt coffee from 85 degrees, and a box of sweet breads. Sometimes it's JJ Sweet, sometimes it's boba, sometimes it's flowers, and most times it's just his sweet smile, despite a tiring night and long drive home... I'm telling you, I am SPOILED! And, I love my husband!
Most summer evenings when Daniel is working, we spend a few hours out front playing in the Yehground, riding bikes, doing sidewalk chalk, making-up games, etc. I've especially enjoyed them this summer, as we've had cooler-than-normal temperatures, and the addition of our outdoor-loving baby, Sierra! It doesn't mater how tired she is, if we go outside Sierra is happy... (at least for a little while!)
I'll be ready for Fall when it comes! But for now, I'm enjoying our summer nights!
We had our share of "firsts," yesterday... First, the big girls went to see their very first movie in a movie theater. We have been waiting all summer to do this! The movie was, "Kit Kittredge, American Girl," rated "G." (I love that this theater does free movies on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings in the summer!) Unfortunately, I had to stay home with Sierra, but Daniel did a super job taking pictures for me to blog... 24 to be exact! He even captured the outside of the theater! What a guy!
The girls absolutely can't wait to see "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader." We are almost ready to start book 6 of the Narnia series!
I made sure they brought sweatshirts as I always am cold in theaters, and coloring to do before-hand. Apparently, it wasn't too crowded, so getting there 25 minutes early wasn't all that necessary!
The girls, and even Daniel loved the movie. I read the online review at Plugged-In from Focus on The Family first, and they had all positive things to say, as well. Natalie still had a little trouble sitting still, but we expected that. I think we found our next series of books to read!
We also had our first zucchini and green bean harvest. Once again, my husband took some great pictures!
Finally, Allison endorsed her first check, (a birthday present from Uncle Nate!) I'm just realizing that Daniel took these pictures, too. (He is really a blogger at heart, ya know!)
Do you ever just get so tired of whining you can't handle it anymore? Lately we've had some less-than-appropriate attitudes going on, and I begged God to give me a creative idea to help with it! I then listened to Dobson's "Raising Well-behaved Children 1"... and 2... and 3, 4, and 5! I also pulled out my copy of Lisa Welchel's "Creative Correction." (Can you tell I was at my whit's end?) Poor girls are truly just tired from being woken up by the poor teething baby, which has mom needing a little attitude adjustment, as well!
Anyway, what I came-up with was this: our new "friend" Mac! He's an acronym for My Attitude Can. And, I made him a craft project for the girls...
First, I had the girls show me what half looks like, and had them paint 10 craft sticks light blue on one side, and black on the other...
After painting, we made the can. Allison chose the paper, and Natalie chose the ribbon, and both learned a lesson on measuring.
Once the girls went to bed, I tied ribbons around the sticks, just to make them cuter. The next morning, (today), I introduced the girls to MAC. Each time the girls did something positive, I stuck a blue stick in the can. Conversely, each time they did something negative, I stuck a black stick in the can. Once all 10 of the sticks were in, I just flipped them from black to blue or blue to black as needed. By the end of today, (with a little grace), they had all blue sticks, so they got to put a special sticker on their calendar. If they have 20 stickers by the end of the month, they get to choose a Hello Kitty purse from a collection my friend just gave me.
There were SO many positives to today. Allison gave Natalie her favorite Kitty to sleep with tonight when Natalie was sad, even though originally she was crying for it, too... (this was after the sticks had been put to bed, so it was from the heart!)
Some negative... the girls did ask a few times if I would put a blue stick in. I don't want them to ask! We'll work on it...
And, some funny: Tonight Natalie came up to me and said, "Mom, thank you SO much for dinner. You worked so hard, and it was so yummy." "Thanks, Natalie," I replied. "Did you really mean that, or are you just looking for a blue stick?" Natalie, with a big smile and some giggles, "I just want a blue stick!" At least she's honest :)
I recently had to make 57 sugar cookies for a baby shower and came up with a few tips for you when attempting to do this with 3 little ones at home...
TIP # 1: Put the baby in the backpack so she is near you and feels connected, but can't get in the way. If you are lucky, she may even take a nap!
TIP # 2: Kids always want to help, and I usually let them, but sometimes you just need to get things done in a hurry and we all know how kids' "help" makes the job last twice as long. While you are rolling out your dough, let the kids roll out and cut play dough. They will be just as happy as long as you still bring them some of your dough to taste once in a while. And...
