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Mmmmmm! This has got to be one of my favorite summer treats! Fried zucchini! Granny sent home a zucchini from their garden Sunday and we had these yummy guys for dinner last night. Well, I did. No one else ate them. And if I hadn't used all of my shortening to fry these, I would have had them for lunch again today.
Fried Zucchini
1 zucchini, thinly sliced
flour
corn meal
rice milk
shortening
Slice zucchini into desired thickness (I like mine potato chip thin) and place in a bowl of rice milk. Mix flour and corn meal together on a plate or a plastic bag. I don't measure amounts, it's just what you like. Dredge sliced zucchini in flour and corn meal. Heat shortening in a skillet over medium heat, or use a deep fryer. Fry zucchini slices until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel and salt immediately.
Enjoy these tasty things- I know I am!
Yes, I'm a huge Beatles fan, but no, I did not name this salad. It's my take on a salad from TGI Fridays. I remember seeing it on the menu, but did not order it, being that I'm not a big salad for a meal type person. But I did adapt it for a quick side and I love it! In fact, we had it tonight with dinner. No, I didn't take a picture because really, it didn't look too exciting, but it was yummy!
Strawberry Fields Salad
Torn Romaine lettuce
4-5 strawberries
2T balsalmic vinegar
Italian dressing
Slice strawberries in a bowl and toss with balsalmic vinegar. Let sit 15 minutes. Tear lettuce into a large bowl. Add desired amount of Italian dressing to suit, top with strawberries and toss.
Simple and delicious! The marinated berries sound a little weird at first, but they are SO good! You can use fresh or frozen berries. Fresh ones hold up better than frozen, which tend to be a little mushy after they thaw, but both are equally delicious! It's also fabulous with feta cheese, but since this for non-dairy purposes, we'll refrain from using cheese and pretend I didn't say that.
Enjoy!
It's happened again... I've long neglected this poor lowly blog. Truthfully, there's no explanation other than sheer laziness. I could say that I forget which recipes I've blogged about, but I just haven't felt up to it. Sorry!
If you follow my regular blog, you probably know that Kate had a set-back a few weeks ago. I guess I can't correctly call it a set-back, but in reality, she was eating dairy. That was just plain her fault. I can't say that I blame, her though, as she was just testing the waters to see if she really was allergic. I can't imagine how hard this is on her- to go ten years absolutely loving dairy products, and then, in an instant, have them taken away. Despite Preston's allergy, Kate has been allowed to eat dairy. Partly because that was pretty much the only thing she'd eat, and because it was part of a healthy diet. We were extremely cautious when she ate dairy, and mostly, we tried to keep her dairy consumption contained to school. But now that's all different. Now, she's also calling home from school when someone brings in birthday treats. Now, she's toting along her own cake to birthday parties and family gatherings. Now, she's taking her lunch to school everyday and watching her friends eat the foods that she once enjoyed. It's been really difficult for her. So yes, I can see why she wanted to see if she was really allergic. That now eleven year old brain thought that it was a good idea because really, she'd always eaten it before, so why not now?
It's been hard for me, too. In reality, not much is different on the home front because when I cook, nothing has dairy. Food at home really hasn't changed other than her morning cereal and milk. But with her pickiness, it gets difficult finding variety for her lunch box. That, coupled with the fact that she is now a bottomless pit and her hunger can not be satisfied, some days I worry if I'm packing enough (although I know I'm packing more than enough). The opening of the DQ has been hard, too. While PReston has always been content with his Mr. Misty, Kate is longing for her Oreo Blizzard. That means that I feel guilt if I consider getting myself a sundae because I'm eating the ice cream, and she isn't. The DQ will be suffering a bit from us not going so often as in years past- although I admit to leaving early to pick the kids up from school, swinging by the DQ and eating a quick cone before 3:00. I can't deny that this thought is really tempting today...
On a good note, school will be out in 2 weeks and I'll be in complete control of her food habits. No more sneaking food at school for this girl! Her health has improved since her diagnosis and stopping dairy, and it's wonderful. I just wish that she would recognize this and realize how badly she feels when she eats milk.
I have this thing about buying store-bought noodles- I don't do it. I make my own. It's easy, it's cheap, and I know exactly what's going into them! Christopher's Grandma Lou makes THE best beef and noodles. Seriously, nothing compares! A few years ago, she gave Jessica and I a noodle making lesson when we went there for Easter lunch. Ever since, I've been a noodle maker!
Homemade Noodles
3 egg yolks and one whole egg
3 T. cold water
1 T. salt
2 c. flour
In a large bowl, mix eggs and water and beat until fluffy. Add salt and flour. Mix well. * You will need to do this with your hands!
Divide dough in half and roll very thinly on a floured surface. The trick is to get them VERY thin because they puff up a lot! Fold the dough into a tube shape and slice thinly. Once cut, toss noodles to make sure that all are unstuck.
This recipe makes a lot of noodles. My beef and noodles recipe only needs half- the other half go into the freezer once they have dried.
Beef and Noodles
Homemade noodles (half of batch)
2 quarts beef broth
pre-cooked roast beef
*See here for details.
Boil the broth and slowly add noodles at full boil. Turn down heat and simmer 45 minutes. If broth gets too low, add a little water. Add roast after 45 minutes and cook another 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste!
I can not take any credit for this tasty meal! I found it over on Randi's recipe blog. It was so easy to make the sauce and I loved the taste! This is anything but mild, and it really packed a punch! I knew Christopher would like it as he's in a hot sauce phase right now and puts it on everything! I did leave it off of the kids' chicken, as I knew it would be too spicy for them, but overall, I'm glad I tried this one! It's a keeper!
Preston loves jello. Loves it! I often make up a batch and pour it into single-serving size containers and pack it in his lunch box. It never fails to be a favorite. So when the school served blue jello at snack time, it was too much to resist. Preston is usually extremely careful about what he eats if it's not given to him by us, or if it's new. I rarely worry about him at school because of how careful he is, and his teacher is cautious as well. Then one day they had blue jello at snack time. Instead of eating his snack, he decided that the blue jello was something that he simply had to have. Well, the blue jello was not the Jell-O brand that is safe. No, it was the Wal-Mart brand that contains traces of milk and peanuts. I pick him up from school and see that his mouth is blue- slightly alarming because I knew that I'd sent nothing blue that day, not because I thought he was oxygen deprived. I asked what he'd eaten, and he told me. I get him home, clean him up, and find that his eczema was flared up in a terrible way. We'd just gotten it under control in the past few days, now it was horribly inflamed again.
WE had to have a little chat after that incident. He already knew that not all jello is OK, but that blue jello was oh, so, tempting to a six year old. I can't blame him, I love jello, too! But I think (at least I hope so) he learned a lesson from it- he hates his eczema flares, especially the ones on his face.
Oh, and beware of lipstick as well! While at Granny and Pa's 2 weeks ago, Preston went upstairs with Granny and decided he wanted to try on her lipstick. Not sure where that one came from... Anyway, his eczema flared up horribly all around his mouth and took over a week to get back under control. Cosmetics companies don't list ingredients, and often times they contain peanut oil and other strange and not-so friendly ingredients. Just be careful!
I love canned tomatoes! I buy and use more canned tomatoes than almost any other canned good- second only to chicken broth. It's SO much easier than cutting fresh tomatoes, and I think the flavor is much more intense (probably from the salt). Tonight I fixed Tomatoes, Chicken and Rice, a recipe aptly named with tomatoes listed first, as there's many more tomatoes than anything else! But it was delicious!
Tomatoes, Chicken and Rice
1/4 c. Italian dressing
4 boneless chicken breasts, sliced
2 cloves minced garlic
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 c. water
2 c. instant brown rice
1. Heat dressing in large skillet over med. heat. Add chicken and garlic and cook until no longer pink.
2. Add tomatoes, water and rice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes or until most of the water is absorbed.
Mmmmmm! This has got to be one of my favorite summer treats! Fried zucchini! Granny sent home a zucchini from their garden Sunday and we had these yummy guys for dinner last night. Well, I did. No one else ate them. And if I hadn't used all of my shortening to fry these, I would have had them for lunch again today.
