Operation: Eat More Veggies!

I have a two year old... enough said?  He doesn't like his veggies....  or really even food sometimes.  So lately we have been hiding veggies and good calories everywhere we can!

Mini-crust-less-keish! I whipped 6 eggs really well, then added finely grated cheese, small pieces of ham, fresh basil, and onions.  These would be good with anything you might find in an omelet. Then we baked and ate!  So Good!


Home Made Spaghetti Sauce!

I might do a more in-depth post on this later, but this really is a family favorite!
First! Saute garlic, onions, oregano, basil in olive oil until soft/translucent (don't burn!!!)  Add fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes (I like the petite-diced, canned tomatoes) and pretty much just cook until you're ready to eat!  You could puree it down if you'd like, but we generally just leave it chunky!

In an effort to add more veggies to the meal I purred in some zucchini....

Kind of turned the sauce orange.... didn't work as well as I hoped.

However!  The next time I made the sauce I just diced the zucchini super-duper tiny (like 1/8th inch cubes) and added them in.  No one seemed to mind and they didn't change the color or taste of the sauce!  Score one for Mommy!

Finally I made this for my toddler's lunch one day.  Apples sliced cross-way (which he surprisingly didn't eat...)  PB&J roll-ups (smash the bread flat, spread the PB&J then roll, add tooth picks and cut into slices) and the cheese chunks.  I think his favorite part was eating with the tooth picks!  Whatever the reason he ate well this meal! Always a plus!  What are some of your favorite ways to get your kids to eat??

Fajitas!

Fajitas!  We are big fans of Mexican food at this house, and this recipe can't be beat for ease and deliciousness-factor!  I got the recipe from HERE but have my own twist (as I love to do!)

The most important part of this recipe is the seasoning, which is homemade, but seriously takes maybe a minute to make!

1 Tbsp chili powder

½ Tbsp paprika

½ tsp onion powder

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp cumin

⅛ tsp cayenne pepper

½ tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

½ Tbsp corn starch

I usually mix up a double or triple or even quadruple batch and store it in a baby food jar with my other spices.  SO DELICIOUS!

Then you just slice up your veggies and protein, toss them with a little olive oil in a pan (you can bake them, but I generally just do it wok-style in my frying pan), then when they are about half cooked sprinkle the seasoning on (to taste, you can always add more but you can't take away!) and finish them off!

I like chicken or beef (cut into strips) bell peppers and onions (also cut into strips) cooked all together and lettuce, tomato, and sour cream wrapped up together in a flour tortilla!

This recipe saves well, if there's any leftover!  Enjoy!

Personalized Picnic Table!

 Something that you will learn about me in a big hurry, is that I really like pintrest.  Some days I get stuck on it, but generally I just find really awesome ideas that I like to try!  Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.  And sometimes my ideas are tangents of a pintrest idea.  This is one of those.

I found this great table for just $5 at a garage sale....

 

Sort of forgot to take a completely 'before' picture....

And with some inspiration from here,

A can of spray paint (well two...)

 and some old white paint from our walls, a sponge brush, and one nap time ;)

(oh, and a clear-coat)

I give you our new picnic table in our back yard!  Tada!

(I measured and drew the squares with pencil before I painted)