Stand Up

 I am straying WAY away from my "food/craft blog" for this post. So bear with me and I will be back to regularly scheduled programing shortly.

Did you know, that when you are at a parade or some event in which a color guard walks past you, you are supposed to stand as our flag passes? I hope you do know, and if you don't, now you do and please teach it to your children.

My grandpa served in the Korean War.

 

That's him. Second from the left. Isn't he handsome. :) He never said much about it and honestly I was pretty old before I knew he was a military man. I do know that my grandma waited at home for him in a tiny un-airconditioned apartment with a baby and one on the way.

This past weekend we went to a city celebration. They had the usual, a parade, carnival, car show and all the nasty carnival food you can eat. I took my kids to the parade first thing in the morning. I prepared them as we waited. "OK, when you see the guys coming carrying the flags, you do what?" "Stand until they pass." :) Yep. And they did. What was disappointing was, there was only a handful of us standing. One being a very old man, in a wheel chair, who could barely lift himself up, but he sure did stand, took off his hat, and remained standing until the flag past. It made me tear up. All these able bodies just sitting there and it took everything he had, but he did it. Maybe they don't know they are supposed to? Maybe they do know, but they don't care. I'm not sure which is worse. Regardless of how you feel about our government, that man carrying that flag was a veteran. He went to war. He was in an unfamiliar place, missing his family, missing his friends, missing all the little things we do everyday that we take for granted. Please, stand up and show respect for him and all of the other men and women who fight so that we can watch a parade on a Saturday morning with our kids. 

The Best Chocolate Zucchini Muffins EVER

I say that they are the best because anything that makes me eat that slimy, gross squash HAS to be the best. I'm sure the chocolate has NOTHING to do with it. Right? We briefly had an over abundance of zucchini in our garden but we lost the plant due to heat and some weird looking bug. Grrrrrrr. I made a batch (24) of these muffins and they were gone the next day. This coming from myself who hates zucchini and also a few kids who thought the idea of chocolate and zucchini was literally the worst possible thing you could do. I mean, how could you insult chocolate that way!? We were all pleasantly surprised. :)



Chocolate Zucchini Muffins (24)

 preheat oven 350 degrees

1 1/4 c. sugar
1 c. unsweetened applesauce (can use oil)
3 eggs
3 t. vanilla
2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. baking powder
2-3 c. shredded zucchini
1 c. chocolate (this is optional but really, why wouldn't you?)


~ Beat sugar, applesauce, eggs and vanilla until smooth.
~ Combine flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder.
~ Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth.
~ Stir in zucchini
~ Fold in chocolate chips.
~ Bake 20(ish) minuets until center is done.

NOM NOM NOM 

You could make these a bit healthier by swapping half whole wheat flour half white and maybe adding some flax seed and reducing the sugar and using dark chocolate chips. YUM!

Nailed it! (No really, for realz.)

I'm not a crafty person. I like to think I am, and I start projects and then I remember, I'm not crafty. I have many things pinned on Pinterest that I would love to do. I have done a few of them and they have turned out ok, but they didn't really require much thought. Basically glue this to this and then you are done. YAY!  But then I saw this...




Cute right? I just love it. So so cute. So I thought, that shouldn't be too hard. You just melt crayons right? So I asked my dear friend Beth, who is in fact way crafty and I am uber jealous of her and her oh so pretty house with all the pretty things that she has made with her own two hands and.............
 Anyhoo..... I asked if she could get me the silhouettes for me, and of course she could and did. I bought some 11x14 canvasses and found that Crayola has packs of crayons that are all in the same color family!! SCORE!!!

I sat down at nap time with crayons taped to my canvas and my hair dryer. I need to mention here that I have ZERO patience..... which may be why I feel like I can't be crafty. I want it done. NOW. The blow dryer just wasn't working. I mean, I'm sure it would have eventually but again, no patience. What to do, what to do. Oh yes...Fire! I grabbed Hubby's grill lighter and went to town. It worked swimmingly, and after a blister and a burned fingernail, I was left with art, that I created for my little girl's room. I love it. I love it even more than the original picture. They just turned out so pretty. 

Easy Stuffed Peppers

This is one of those recipes you think, Eww! There is no way that is good! Well you would be wrong. I got this one from my father in law. He uses it for stuffed jalapenos, but they were just too hot for me. I decided to use fresh green bell peppers from our garden and TA DA! So yummy!


Stuffed Peppers

1 package breakfast sausage
1 box  Zatarain's Dirty Rice
1 can Cheese Whiz (yeah, I know, just trust me)
6 green bell pepper (could use any color bell or just about any pepper you like)

~ Cook sausage, drain
~ Cook rice as directed
~ Mix sausage, rice and cheese whiz together

~ Cut peppers in half longways, take our seeds.
~ Fill peppers and place on foil lined baking sheet.
~ Bake 400 degrees for around 20 mins.

Thai Cucumber Salad

My hubby and kids got me a cilantro pot for Mother's Day. Cilantro is basically the best thing every grown on this earth. I LOVE IT! The plant has taken off quite well, so we have lots. We also have cucumbers growing in our garden. Hubby was surfing recipes to find something we could make for a 4th of July cookout. He found one and it is delish!



Thai Cucumber Salad

3 large cucumbers, peeled and seeded
1 T. salt
1/2 c.. white sugar
1/2 c. rice wine vinegar
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
1/4 c. cilantro (or more!)
1/2 c. chopped peanuts


So yum!

In a Rut

I am in a severe food rut. I have been putting as little effort as possible into making dinner and it needs to stop. Partly this comes from us having something going on about every evening. If I was organized, I would plan a head so I wouldn't feel so rushed in between dance class and baseball practice on the same night. The crock pot would be an excellent option for these crazy nights. Hopefully some new recipes to come very soon! :)

In a Pinch (Cheater Chicken Parm)

We spent the majority of the day at church today. We got home close to dinner time with 2 extra kids in tow, bringing my total up to 5 kids to feed. Did I mention I haven't done a very good job of grocery shopping lately? Tired and lazy with no desire to run to the store. What do I feed all these yahoos? I had noodles and sauce. Perfect. Spaghetti it is. Then I realized I have no burger. I always have hamburger in the freezer, except when I really need it apparently. I would be fine with meatless spaghetti but the Hubby would not. Then I saw a bag of dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets. Chicken Parmesan it is! The kids came to the kitchen and said "Spaghetti AND CHICKEN NUGGETS?!?!?!? AWWWEEESSOOMMMEE!!!" I think it works. :) 

I am not good at impromptu meals, but this one worked out really well.