Thursday, August 28, 2014

'Snow' Close to Kindergarten

Okay, so 5 days until Kindergarten, and I left the options wide open, taking any requests for lunch. The request I got was a surprise, though. Snow! Yup, that's right. She said she missed the snow. Really? REALLY?! I'm not sure who's kid you are right now, but okay.. a 'snow' lunch you shall have.

Turkey & Colby jack cheese sandwiches, yellow beans with ranch dressing, yogurt raisins, and a marshmallow

It was an errand running sort of day, so we also had a snack packed for in the car while we were out and about, too. And, since we needed butterscotch chips for our zucchini bread baking extravaganza, I made some of our favorite snack mix, which is packed in this lunch. It is as simple as it gets, loaded with three favorites from Trader Joe's - raw almonds, lightly salted roasted cashews, and dried tart Montmorency cherries - and butterscotch chips. Yum! I 'packed' a snack for the new baby too, but if I showed you a picture of her snack, I might breach some Blogger rules ...yea, pretty sure.
Carrots, cheese stick, and trail mix (see ingredients above)

In these lunches...

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Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Recipe Review - Butterscotch Chip Zucchini Bread

Six days and counting until Kindergarten starts...

One of the things that the kiddo and I love to do on a free afternoon is cook together, and with summer days dwindling and the zucchini piling up on the counter, it was time for a bread baking day. What else do we like to do? Experiment! I had a great zucchini bread recipe with orange zest and chocolate, but we decided to have some fun. I'm so glad we did because this is my new favorite recipe. We baked off 8 loaves... shared a few, froze a couple, and ate a lot. I love that you can get away with eating zucchini bread as breakfast, a snack, and even dessert. It was delicious, so I'm sharing our new favorite with you.. maybe it will be your new favorite too!

Butterscotch Chip Zucchini Bread
Ingredients - 3 c flour, 2 c sugar, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 3 eggs, 1/2 c unsweetened applesauce (I ran out and used peach applesauce which was equally delicious), 1/2 c vegetable oil, 2 tsp vanilla, 2 c shredded zucchini, 1 c butterscotch chips*

In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (first 6). In another bowl, beat the eggs, oil, applesauce, and vanilla. Stir the dry mixture into the wet just until moistened. Gently blend in the shredded zucchini and butterscotch chips.

Divide the mixture into 2 well greased 8 or 9" loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean near the center. Let the loaves cool in the pan 10-15 minutes before removing. Cool completely before covering and storing. If eating, it is delicious warm with a pat of butter, though, so go for it! Enjoy.

*Of course, you can use chocolate or cinnamon chips instead of butterscotch chips if you prefer. You don't have to, but you may want to reduce the cinnamon to 3/4 - 1 tsp if using another type of chip.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

7 Days Until Kindergarten

Seven days.
Just one week.
That's all that's left before my baby, my big girl, my love .. goes off to school. Real school. All day long .. without mama. Rather, I should say all day long, I'll be without her. It's so strange.. and sad.. and exciting. I look at her now and think how much she has changed just in the last couple months. No longer that little girl. No longer my only girl. A big sister. A big girl. An amazing girl.

Ready.. even though mama is not.

What I am ready for .. or readying for is lunch, though. And, before I get too emotional, here's lunch for the kiddo and mom... eating together.. for seven more days...
Sassy croissant bento
Mini croissant with sandwich fixings - turkey, lettuce, Swiss cheese and mustard, and orange bell peppers.

Easylunchboxes croissant
Mini croissant sandwich with lettuce, turkey, Swiss cheese, and mustard, orange bell peppers, and a cranberry couscous salad.

In these lunches...

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