Mad dashes and coconuts

This mothering gig is HARD! This past week (and upcoming week also) was a difficult one, work-wise. Lots of travel. Next week, I'm on the road every day, traveling at least an hour one way. Makes for long days. Last night, after making dinner for the kids (reheated homemade pizza), I completely forgot about making their lunches and it was a mad scramble in the morning to pull something together. Betcha can't guess what they got for lunch today! Yep, PIZZA!

Along with that, they each got a baggie of black, seedless grapes and a banana.

Prior to dinner last night, I decided to introduce the kids to an actual coconut. I got out a Phillip's head screwdriver and the hammer and took the kids outside in the grass. Bodin helped me pound three holes into the top of it, and I poured the milk into two cups. Bodin tried it and didn't like it. Reese tried hers and liked it. I gave her a refill and she dumped it all over my lap. Coconut milk is sticky!!

Here's a picture of our coconut.

The First Tomato

Finally! My evergreen tomatos are finally starting to come over to the "red" side. My first red tomato has finally ripened on the vine. I was starting to get worried that I would have to scour the Internet for "Fried Green Tomato" recipes.

I was so excited that I had to take a picture of it

Mini Taco Bowls

This is a dinner that I threw together when I couldn't come up with anything interesting for the kids.

I cooked up 1lb of ground turkey meat with a taco seasoning packet.

Then, I filled up about a dozen Baked Tostitos chips with the taco meat, cheese, little bit of romaine lettuce and a touch of salsa.

Big hit, simple meal!

The 'Whatever' Smoothie

Bodin now requests smoothies, which makes me SO happy. Here's one that I've made him and Reese in the past.

1c water
1/2c red grapes
1 scoop rice powder
1c fruit, regular or frozen (strawberries, bananas are our faves)
1c fresh spinach
1 scoop of 'greens' (health food store)
1T agave nectar (health food store, and (surprisingly) Meijer, in the spice aisle)
1-2T coconut oil (health food store). Add this after everything else is blended, and then pulse for 10 seconds or so. It hardens under a certain temp (in the 70s), which makes it hard to blend.
2T cacao nibs (health food store). Add these after the coconut oil, and pulse *maybe* one or two times. Chunks are good.

Blend!

I have a BlendTec blender, with a 2hp motor, so my blender can "juice" this entire blend with no problem. You may need to blend at earlier parts in the recipe to get everything mixed together.

Also, these amounts are my best estimate. Add more or less depending on taste. Rice milk can be subbed for the water...obviously you can use whatever fruits you prefer. Kale can be subbed for spinach. This is truly a Whatever Smoothie, and you can make it what you want. The more you make them, the more you learn what works and what doesn't. Just remember to drink your mistakes, there's still a LOT of nutrition in them.

Combo post

Justin and I are going to the Neil Diamond concert tonight at Van Andel. I'm somewhat ashamed to say that this will be my SECOND time seeing Neil in concert. First time I won tickets off the radio, this time we're forking over our own money to watch him. Either way, it'll be a good time. Kids are doing a double overnight with the grandparents. I think they're pretty excited (both the kids AND the grandparents).

So, since I've missed I-don't-know-how-many days, I'll post items from their last two lunches:

*Ricotta and sun dried tomato stuffed chicken breast.

This was from Fresh Market and it was really good. They had it for dinner last night and it went into their lunches today.

*Fruit salad: apples, grapes, blueberries

I strongly recommend getting Rubbermaid's produce saver; the green-topped ones. It works amazingly well.

*YoKids yogurt "tubes"

*Cashew butter and strawberry preserves sandwich on whole grain bread

*HonestKids juice pouch