Ramped-Up Mac 'n Cheese

After golfing on Father's Day, we went out to an Italian restaurant afterward (see picture of Reese entertaining the group with her aDORable personality and heartbreakingly good looks). Knowing that any dinner choice I made there would be bad, I went for the pizza for Bodin and mac 'n cheese for Reese. Reese didn't have a single bite of hers, so we took it home. The next day, I doctored it up with some steamed broccoli and some baked chicken nuggets. Unfortunately, neither one really liked all three items together in one bowl.

But, remembering that it sometimes takes kids up to 10 times to try a food and like it, you bet I'm going to keep trying with this one!

The Green Smoothie

I'm starting to drink more and more green smoothies, made with fresh greens (spinach, beet greens, etc), frozen fruit, water, BoKU Superfood, rice protein powder and a little agave nectar. They are SO good for you, even though the taste takes a bit to get used to. Here's a picture of my morning's creation. 

My kids will drink these, too, especially if I doctor them up a bit, adding more fruit and less greens. We call it "Super Juice!" (yes, we always say it with an exclamation point) and tell them it makes them run fast. 

The Beach and the Farmers Market

My mom and I went to Oval Beach in Saugatuck today - it was SO hot the sand absolutely blistered our feet! But, it was a lot of fun. The concessions stand actually had homemade hummus and pita bread and carrots on the menu (for $7), so we all shared that. I fed the kids one of those horribly processed Smuckers crustless (what the crap is so bad about the crust!?) peanut butter and jelly sandwiches along with some pretzels. They had an organic juice box as well. 

Feeling bad about the sandwich, I've decided to make dinner from scratch. We stopped at a new farmers market in Saugatuck and I picked up some potatoes, a spring lettuce mix, some strawberries and some sugar peas. 

I'm making almond/parmesan/oat crusted chicken breast served along with some homemade pesto using basil from our garden. As a side, I'm roasting the potatoes with some rosemary and garlic salt. For dessert, we're having fresh strawberry "cake" - made by placing the cut strawberries in my new pot and covering it with some organic cake mix. With the lid on and the heat turned on low, dessert will be ready in 15 minutes, and will keep warm for at least an hour. It turns into this cobbler-like gooey yummy mush of a dessert and everyone loves it. 

I'm excited to be back to this blog! Look for pictures of my meals and my kids to come shortly!