Zucchini-Pineapple Muffins

Adapted from the Betty Crocker Cookbook, these muffins are always a crowd pleaser.  I recently discovered, if you only have one zucchini on hand, a can of crushed pineapple combines well with the recipe!  


Ingredients:

3 cups shredded zucchini (2-3 medium), or 1 cup zucchini plus one 15 oz. can crushed pineapple
1 2/3 cups sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla
4 large eggs
3 cups whole wheat flour (of course it works with all-purpose too, but the whole wheat makes this such a nutritious snack!)
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)


Directions:

1. Move oven rack to a lower position so tops of pans will be in center of oven.  Heat oven to 400 degrees and grease muffin pans.
2. Combine zucchini, sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs.  Then add remaining ingredients except raisins and nuts.  
3. Spoon batter into muffin pans evenly.  (I make one pan of regular sized muffins and two pans of mini-muffins with this recipe.)
4. Bake mini-muffins for 10 minutes or until a tester in muffin center comes out clean.  Bake regular muffins for 12-15 minutes until done in middle.  
5. Allow to cool for 5 minutes in pans. Then place muffins on platter to cool completely.
6. Don't expect them to last long! :)

Zucchini Chocolate Cake

Zucchinis abound in the summer! I have grown a few and purchased a bunch from the farmer's market...one day, I grated and pureed about 8 of them to use in recipes. So, in honor of these wonderful vegetables, Sarah and I are dedicating this week to zucchini recipes. Hope you enjoy them!

This zucchini cake recipe can be made dairy-free! It tastes best when completely cooled.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil



• 1 1/2 cups white sugar


• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract


• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour


• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour


• 1 Tablespoon ground flax seed


• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder


• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda


• 1 teaspoon salt


• 2 cups finely shredded zucchini (I used the food processor for a very fine grate)


• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (dairy free are available at specialty food stores)




• 
  


• Frosting:


• 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder


• 1/4 cup butter (or dairy-free margarine)


• 2 cups confectioners' sugar


• 1/4 cup milk (or soy milk)


• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.



• Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.


• In a large bowl, mix the oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla until well blended.


• In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, flax seed, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda and salt.


• Add the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture.


• Fold in the zucchini and chocolate chips.


• Spread evenly into the prepared pan.


• Bake for 23 - 27 minutes, or until cake springs back when gently touched.

To make the frosting, mix the melted butter (or margarine) and cocoa powder together; set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, blend together the confectioners' sugar, milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Add the cocoa mixture and stir until blended. Make sure the cake is completely cool before spreading the frosting over the cake.

Sunshine Biscuits

These little biscuits are requested quite often around here - they are just as fun to make as they are to eat! We call them "sunshine biscuits" because the kids like to make lines that radiate out of the center and we used to make them in the morning...now they are often times baked in the late afternoon as a post-nap activity.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour (I like to use 1/2 cup whole wheat flour with 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour)
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 to 3/4 tsp salt
• 5 TBSP cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup milk
• Filling: your favorite jam (cherry is awesome), or even a few chocolate chips per biscuit

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl OR food processor (but don't turn it on yet).
• Drop in the butter pieces an either use a pastry blender tool (which I don't have) or blend everything in a food processor, pulsing on the dough setting. Whatever works best for you, but it should end up looking like course breadcrumbs...do NOT allow the butter to melt or form a paste with the flour.
• Mix in the milk with a spoon or spatula until just most of the dry ingredients are moistened.
• Pour the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gather it together to form a ball. Roll out the dough gently until it is about 1/2-3/4 inch thick.
• Use a drinking glass that is about 2-3 inches in diameter and push it straight down into the dough. The kids love this! Place the biscuits onto a baking sheet.
• Give the kids a plastic knife or popsicle stick to make lines (to look like sunshine rays) and let them press a finger print in the middle.
• Plop a teaspoon of jam in the middle of each biscuit or even use a few chocolate chips instead.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool completely because the jam or chocolate will be hot!

Chores for Kids

We value teaching our kids to take care of our homes. We are so thankful to have a place to live and we want to encourage thankfulness in them. When I ask for help around the house, I often remind them that our home is a blessing and a gift and we all need to help keep it nice for everyone. This usually encourages their ownership of the cleaning tasks.

My older two children (currently 6 and almost 4 years old) are the only two that I expect help from. My 2-year-old likes to get a rag and wipe things off for a few minutes. When we first started chores for the kids, we decorated a yogurt container (the large one with a lid) and inscribed "Chore Jar" on the front. I made slips of paper with chores written and drawn on them as well as printed ideas from Hannah Keeley's website: www.hannahkeeley.com. Simple things like: dusting, washing the walls, sweeping the floor, putting away laundry, wiping the windows, cleaning door handles, setting the table, etc. The chore tupper has evolved into a drawer so the kids know where to pick out their cleaning assignments.

We also have a small collection of cleaning tools that are stored away but within the kids' reach. For example, we have a spray bottle that is half water, half vinegar, and old socks that have become cleaning rags, a small hand-held broom and dust pan (Target dollar section!), sponges, duster. All of this is kept on a shelf in our linen closet. We also made our own labels for the kids' clothes...little drawings and words that are color-coded and then attached to each drawer with velcro.

The most important factor is involving our kids and encouraging ownership of our many cleaning jobs. If they leave a bit of dust or grime or put away a t-shirt in their sock drawer--it makes no difference. We are not about perfection. Just about responsibility in this big cleaning process!

Please feel free to share any ways you have your kids help with chores at your house!

Meatless Monday: Quinoa Vegetable Pilaf

I adapted this recipe from the bag of Costco organic quinoa, and the kids ate it!  I won't say they love it yet because quinoa is new to them, but they did eat it.  And I recently discovered (thanks, Lindsey!) that quinoa is a complete protein!  What a deal!  Plus it cooks so quickly.  So hopefully next time around, I'll get some, "Oh yeah! It's quinoa for dinner tonight!"  

Ingredients:
2 Tbs. canola oil
4 green onions, sliced (or 1/4 c. diced chives)
4 carrots, chopped
2 cups quinoa
4 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup chopped basil
1/4 cup shredded parmesan
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional--I just let the adults sprinkle them on top)


Directions:

1. Heat oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. 
2. Stir-fry carrots and chives for 3 minutes.
3. After rinsing quinoa in strainer, add quinoa and vegetable broth.  Bring to a boil.
4. Reduce to simmer.  Then cover and cook 15-20 minutes or until quinoa is tender and fluffy.
5. Stir in basil, parmesan, and walnuts. Be sure to save some quinoa without nuts for the kids who won't eat them!
6. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Luscious Lemon Glaze Cake

We celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday every year now with this robust treat.  It's her recipe, and we found out it's her favorite.  Conveniently...the kids love it too! It makes a lovely summer cake...

Ingredients:

Cake:

1/2 lb. (2 sticks) butter, softened or cut in chunks

2 cups granulated sugar

3 eggs

3 cups white flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk left out with 1 Tbs. vinegar for 2 minutes)

2 tightly packed Tbs. grated lemon zest

2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

Glaze:

1 lb. powdered sugar (2-2 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

3 tightly packed Tbs. grated lemon zest

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease and flour either a 10'' tube or bundt pan.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  
3. Beat in eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition.
4. Sift or combine flour, baking soda, and salt.  Add slowly to wet ingredients along with buttermilk.  
5. Add lemon zest and juice.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan.  Set on middle rack of oven and bake one hour, or until cake pulls away from sides of pan and tester inserted in center comes out clean.
7. Allow cake to cool in pan for 10 minutes.  
8. Make glaze by creaming sugar and butter.  Then mix in lemon zest and juice.
9. Then for allowing the most amount of glaze to sink in, here is the trick my mother-in-law taught me: turn cake over onto cooling rack and place rack over jelly roll pan.  Pour glaze evenly over cake and let sit a couple minutes.  Transfer cake (still on cooling rack) onto different jelly roll pan and pour remaining glaze from first jelly roll pan over cake again.  Repeat process until glaze is all sunken into cake--usually 5-6 times.  Then transfer cake carefully using 2 big spatulas onto cake plate.
10. (In a bind, you could turn cake over directly onto cake plate and  just pour half of glaze over cake, wait a few minutes, and pour the rest.)
11. Serve cooled by itself or with vanilla ice cream!

Color-By-Number Printable Preschool Worksheets

My cousin recently introduced me to education.com.  I now get emails with the newest worksheets to download.  My oldest son has gotten so excited about the color-by-number ones.


 For a not-so-fine-motor-oriented little boy who is just understanding the concept of coloring in the lines, this mama is proud.

He hung up his work on his clothespin art hangers himself.  He keeps saying, "Mommy, let's print another one!"  Here is where you can download these free printables too:  http://www.education.com/worksheets/preschool/color-by-number/ .  For my younger ones, I color for them each number and color name with the corresponding color.  Even if they don't totally follow the rules, they can have fun!  Happy coloring!

Coconut-Lime Chicken

This is an oldie but goodie in our family.  I pulled it out last night and brought down the house!   I adapted it from the What's Cooking Chicken? cookbook that I got as a wedding present many years ago.  I buy the coconut milk or cream in the global market section of Cub.  If you can't find the cream, just get the coconut milk and skim the cream off the top of the can after you open it.  I usually use coconut milk for a slightly lighter sauce, but the cream makes for an extremely rich flavor.  You decide! :) 

Ingredients:
2 cups hot chicken stock
1 cup coconut cream (or coconut milk)
3/4 cup smooth or crunchy peanut butter (We use smooth.)
finely grated rind and juice of 3 limes
3 Tbs. corn starch
6 green onions,  sliced (or 1/2 cup sliced chives)
1 red bell pepper, sliced

2-3 Tbs. canola oil

6-8 boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks

hot pepper flakes (for the adults)


Directions:

1. Prepare sauce by combining hot chicken stock, coconut cream or milk, peanut butter, lime rind and lime juice. 
2. Heat oil in a wok or large heavy skillet on high.  Stir-fry chicken until golden brown.
3. Add sliced red bell peppers and green onions or chives and cook gently for a few minutes, stirring constantly.  
4. Add sauce and simmer uncovered, stirring for about 5 minutes.  
5. Add cornstarch by sifting it carefully and evenly through a strainer over skillet.  Stir sauce until thickened.
6. Serve immediately over brown rice.  Spice it up with hot pepper flakes for the adults!

Notes:  Lemons can be substituted for limes, but according to to this cookbook, lime flavor is more authentically Thai.  :)

Read-Aloud Chapter Books for Older Preschool Age

This summer we have discovered read-aloud chapter books with my 5 1/2 and 4-year-olds.
Here are a few of our recent favorites:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.  Such colorful and wild descriptions of a little boy named Charlie who wins a gold ticket to Willie Wonka's chocolate factory.  A real attention-holder for my biggest kids.  I did skip some mild language and some violent parts.  Dahl's story is so good, he deserves a little help from parents to help his story become a little more kid-friendly. :)

The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. Although I am not a huge fan of Beverly Cleary's writing style, this storyline of a mouse who rides a miniature magical motorcycle and helps a young boy is fascinating to my boys.  And just to note, there is one "stupid" which I edit out, in case you are a mom like me. :)

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren.  This is the story of a whimsical and hilarious orphaned girl who lives by herself and answers to no one.  I hesitate to totally promote this one, because there parts where she is disrespectful to others.  I have completely skipped over some chapters.  But a lot of Pippi's adventures are very humorous and engaging.  Especially when she rolls out cookies on the floor and cracks eggs on her head!

The Bark of the Bog Owl by Jonathan Rogers.  This one has by far been our favorite.  It is written in the genre of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, but much more accessible to younger children.   An allegory of the David and Goliath story, the young hero, Aidan wrestles an alligator and presents it before the king for his moat.  The characters' spoken language is very American as opposed to eloquent British.  There is even some southern hill-billy twang in places.  My husband and I traded off reading this one aloud and could not read a new chapter until we had caught up with what the other had last read.  It is that captivating.  It's the first in The Wilderking Trilogy.  So we hope to continue in this series.


Reading aloud covers so many bases for parents--we get our quality time, our cuddle time, and we are reinforcing all kinds of language and literacy development in our kids!  And I freely edit out whatever content I feel is confusing, or derogatory--I even cross out and write in my own words sometimes!  Never underestimate the value of reading aloud, and don't be afraid to try something a little more advanced than they might normally be used to hearing!  Our kids are taking in so much more than we may think, so let's keep giving them plenty of opportunities!

Kitchen Facials

It took me a few years to figure out that if I was feeling stressed out, I needed to do something about it - taking care of kids is so special and yet, so tiring. Carving out time to relax is essential to one's health and well being. I decided to plan a gathering with friends and try out these "kitchen facials" I have heard of and it was a blast! What is a "kitchen facial"? Well, I found several different recipes online for face masks, exfoliators, and other treatments using only items from your pantry and fridge! Give it a try - you will be pleasantly surprised by how well they work! If you have other ideas, please share them by adding a "comment" at the end.

Here are my favorites so far:

Eye Make-up Remover:

• Olive oil - put a dab of olive oil on a cotton ball and be amazed at how well it removes mascara! Be careful to not use too much because it will feel strange if it gets on your eyeball.

Facial Scrub:

• 1 TBSP cornmeal
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• Combine in a small bowl and then scrub all over your face to exfoliate. Follow with a cool rinse and pat dry.

Nourishing Face Mask:

• 1 Avocado
• 1 TBSP water or olive oil
• Blend the avocado with the water or olive oil until smooth (or just mash with a fork) and spread evenly over your face. Let it sit for 5 minutes and then rinse clean. AMAZINGLY SMOOTH!

Facial Tightening Mask:

• 1 egg white
• 1/2 tsp olive oil
• 1 TBSP yogurt
• Mix up all ingredients in a small bowl and spread all over face. Let it sit for 15 minutes (or until it feels tight) and then rinse clean.

Facial Toner:

• Apple Cider Vinegar - put a dab of vinegar on a cotton ball and spread all over face. Follow with a cool rinse and pat dry.

Skin Softener:

• Milk - pat some milk on your face. Once it is dry, rinse off completely.

BEST Hand and Foot Exfoliator:

• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1/4 cup Honey (or olive oil but we loved honey)
• Mix in a small bowl (add more sugar if it's too runny) and then take a scoop and scrub your hands or feet for several minutes. Rinse completely and enjoy the amazing smoothness!
• Or check out Sugar Mama Hand Scrub

Mamacita's 7-Layer Dip

My mom has made this stuff as early as I can remember.  It's always a great appetizer or side to bring to a party.  The truth is, we sometimes have it for dinner with chips at our house.  This time I made it without olives...for my husband who cannot handle them.  Then Gramma introduced them to my kids a couple weeks ago.  My oldest son went so far as to say olives are now his favorite food. I will never again omit the 7th layer!  Husband will have to pick them off for himself. :)

Ingredients:
1 16 oz can refried beans or mashed pinto or black beans...(I used black beans for this recipe.)
1 cup sour cream
1 packet (2 Tbs.) taco seasoning
2-3 chunky mashed avocados
(see Real Mexican Guacamole for mashing avocados Mexican style)
1 cup chunky salsa...your favorite kind.  (I like Archer Farms Corn and Black Bean Salsa.)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2-3 green onions, sliced
1 6 oz. can sliced olives, drained


Directions:
This one is pretty simple: spread the layers.
1. beans
2. sour cream (mixed with taco seasoning)
3. avocados
4. salsa
5. cheese
6. green onions
7. olives


Serve with tortilla chips.  Enjoy!

Basil Balsamic Fish Marinade

In an ideal world, I would like to serve fish at least once a week. Well, that doesn't always happen. My kids like the fish sticks from Trader Joe's for lunch, and they enjoy salmon when we have that. But this is a great, EASY recipe that we recently discovered for any fish you choose. We often times buy the frozen packages of mahi mahi from Trader Joe's. The first time we made it, all three big kids kept saying, "Yummy chicken, I mean fish!" while they ate it :) It's also a great recipe if you grow basil in your garden!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped

Sea salt and pepper

Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl. Pour over the fish in a baking dish, sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Let it marinade for about 1 hour in the fridge. Either bake the fish at 400 degrees (according to specific fish directions) or grill on a beautiful summer night!

Mid-Summer Break

We are taking a week off from posting new material - check back next Monday, August 8th!

Kick up those feet and enjoy the summer heat!