Kids Mexican Dance Party

September 15th marks the day the Mexicans declared independence from Spain.  Since we love to celebrate any holiday, we had to plan our very own kids Mexican Dance Party.  

The Menu:

• Taco's
• Mexican Jello
• Chips and Salsa (from the garden)
• Mexican Fruit (grapes)
• Mexican Veggies (tomatoes, cauliflower, carrots from the garden)
• Mexican Lemonade (from scratch, honey for the sweetener)
• Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here's the 3 Amigo's posing with their Mexican meal
Most everything is being served on my Grandma's dishes

 

Simple menu, yes.  But, in my experience the more simple the meal, the more the kids will eat.

THE DANCE PARTY:

As for the dance party, the kids and I had a ton of fun decorating the night before.  Here's a picture of our basement before the dance:

Before the Dance Party

The Dance In 6 Pictures:

After - 30 balloons and 3 rolls of crepe paper - the pic doesn't do it justice

Headstands

Bust a Move

We had to have some old fashioned '80's head banging!
Be careful girls, I once got whip lash that way (true story).

The night ended with Gus' friend performing his made-up serious song about the ridiculousness of girls. 
It was so adorable :)

During the dance party, I served a tray of grapes and a veggie tray and the kids munched on them all night and I never heard, "I'm hungry" which is quite common for second graders. 

PICKLED JALAPENO

It only seemed appropriate on the Mexican Independence Day that I pickle my 50 jalapeno peppers  picked from the garden this week.  Last year, I dried all my peppers but this year I decided to try the pickling method which worked GREAT!

Ingredients
50 Jalapenos
3 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon pickling spice

Boil vinegar, sugar and spice for 1 minute or until sugar is dissolved.  Add pickling spice. Pour over jalapenos and store in a jar for up to 2 months.

Pickled Jalapenos

Happy Grito de Dolores!!   What's your favorite Mexican dish?  I'd have to say the glutenous chocoflan, but I didn't think the kids would appreciate it.

Thanks for reading,

Kristin

My Zucchini Favorites

As I indicated in my last post (Zen and Zucchini), I love zucchini because of the mild taste extreme versatility.  If you are interested, here's 35 ways to cook up zucchini:  35 Zucchini Recipes

Here's my favorite zucchini recipes.  First off, I love this zucchini boat recipe:  Zucchini Boats

Zucchini Boats on my Grandma's Platter

Last year, I entered a baking contest with my zucchini chocolate chip cookies - these are super moist and super delicious!  Yum!!

ZUCCHINI CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1 egg, beaten

½ cup butter

softened

½ cup brown sugar

1/3 cup honey

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Combine in large bowl.

1 cup white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

Combine in a separate, small bowl and blend into liquid mixture

1 cup finely shredded zucchini

12 oz chocolate chips

Stir these into other ingredients, mix well. Drop by spoonful onto greased baking sheet, and flatten with the back of a spoon. Bake at 350°, 10 to 15 minutes.

I also love Zucchini Fritters!

Ingredients:

2 small zucchinis, salt, pepper, onions or scallions, parsley and dill, 1 egg, 3/4 cup Parmesan and 1/4 cup flour

Directions

Grate 2 small zucchini into a colander in the sink; toss with 2 teaspoons salt and let sit 10 minutes. Squeeze out the liquid. Mix with 4 minced scallions, 1/4 cup each chopped parsley and dill, 1 beaten egg, 3/4 cup grated Parmesan and 1/4 cup flour. Pan-fry spoonfuls of the mixture in olive oil, flattening with a spatula, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels and season with salt.

Zucchini Fritters on my Grandma's Platter

We have been slow on our bucket list because Graham went on a school trip to NYC and Gus and Greta were in the play Oklahoma (cutest.thing.ever).

Greta in the middle with her friend Sophie on the right

And now that the play is done and Graham is back from his trip, we are trying to finish off the last of our Summer Bucket List.    Here we are last night at the Sawyer County Fair (part of the bucket list):

A chilly but fun night at the Sawyer County Fair

I'm fairly certain I'm done blogging about zucchini!!  Thanks for reading!
What do you have left on your summer bucket list?  Time to wrap it up - the fall weather is already here!

Kristin

The Prize Recipe

After numerous requests for the prize-winning Zucchini Chocolate Chip cookie recipe, I felt compelled to share it again!  So, here it is:

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies

ZUCCHINI CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1 egg
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup honey or agave nector
1 T vanilla
COMBINE
1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat four
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 T flax seed
COMBINE

MIX BOTH TOGETHER ALONG WITH:
12 ounces of chocolate chips
1 cup finely grated zucchini

Bake at 350 for 12 minutes!  Yum!!

The basic recipe came from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - the book that literally changed my life. 

Thanks for reading,

Kristin :)   

Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner

Thanks to a little inspiration, I decided to put myself out on a limb and enter a bake-off today and I won with this zucchini chocolate chip cookie recipe!   Thanks to my cousin Erinn for reminding me of this fabulous recipe from the book that literally changed my life, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. 

Zucchini Cookies

Awesome Zucchini Cookies!!


I LOVE pumpkin bread, and I always use the pulp from pie pumpkins.  More on that in a later blog, but today I made a great, moist, pumpkin bread. 

Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Bread

Last but not least, I learned that I am NO cake decorator.  Graham had to bring a 3D plant cell diagram so I thought it would be great to make a "plant cell cake."  Or not.

He did get an A minus, and Graham said his friends LOVED it, so I guess that's what counts!

Here's a look at the competition at the Fall Bake-Off.  No one was looking so I HAD to take some pics.

The competition

Wowser!  I wish I could claim that as my own!

Up next, CABBAGE!  I just had a great sweet and sour cabbage dish that I can't wait to share.

Red Cabbage

Here's a picture of a red cabbage right out of my garden today!!!  I have 3 more cabbages still in my garden, so I welcome any ideas.

Tomorrow I'm running my first trail 1/2 marathon.  Eeeek, I'm nervous!!  

Happy Cooking,

Kristin