Flounder and Marinated Veggies

If you know me, you know I love nearly every kind of green vegetable. Going to the produce section is so much fun!  I really want to try something I have never eaten and look up a recipe online and make it. I am going to do this when I pick the CSA I want to support because I know they provide all in-season produce. I’m excited!! I regress. Let me get back to this blog post.

I recently watched a cooking video I found on Twitter on marinated zucchini for stuffed pitas (I'd share the link but the site is down at the time of posting). Matter of fact anything dealing with zucchini, I’m taking notes!  I had on hand zucchini, yellow squash and roma tomatoes and I marinated the veggies [with EVOO, minced garlic, sea salt, lemon juice, sea salt and basil] for 4 hours before roasting them at 350 degrees for half an hour.  I prepared “ItalianStyle” flounder and brown rice to serve with the veggies. 

Please excuse quality of image. It was taken with my cell phone because when I NEED my camera it's nowhere to be found!

Fun, easy, and even relaxing! Crafts

What do crafts have to do with wellness? Some people find them therapeutic like me.

At the after school program, the girls love to participate in craft day so finding new ones is fun for me. I find most of the ideas from Pinterest. The following ideas were pulled from there and we made it our own.

I found the puzzle craft relaxing. It was a great way to sit quietly while waiting for the program to start.

The painted flowers were fun but MESSY! I’ll be sure to bring in more newspaper to line the tables, chairs and the KIDS with next time! 

Puzzle hearts: We hand painted each puzzle piece then glued shaping them into a heart. We added magnetic backings. The girls want to make more so they can sell them on the property for Mother's Day. The money they earn will benefit their after school program purchasing additional craft supplies. 

Painted Flowers: Using shaving cream, a plate, acrylic paints and a squeegee we were able to make some pretty creations. 

Oh this reminds me. We even attempted to make bracelets from popsicle sticks but it didn’t quite work out well for us. So we scrapped the idea. We boiled 25 for 20 minutes. Then we soaked the other batch for 24 hours. Neither way allowed us the ability to bend the sticks. Perhaps our popsicle sticks were too thick? Maybe we’ll try it again another time. 

PB&J Roll-ups

While on Twitter, I stumbled upon an awesome snack idea posted by EasyLunchBoxes.  I knew I had to make it for the children at the after school program I run.

One afternoon for snack, we made the PB&J roll-ups or what the children liked to call PB&J burritos. I guess it was the flour tortilla that sold them.

I had some white flour tortillas (I prefer whole wheat but I had the white flour on hand), creamy peanut butter, strawberry jam and bananas! Yes, I said bananas. This is the hidden delectable yumminess on the inside.

Seven children were in attendance that day and all of them at first thought – bananas and peanut butter with jelly? They enjoyed it though. Not a crumb left and nearly every child asked for seconds!

Tonight we arrived home late. It was one of those nights for a quick bite to eat before getting the little one ready for bed.

In my pantry, I had whole wheat flour tortillas, crunchy peanut butter and in the fridge - strawberry preserves. The bananas are on their last day so it was a great way to use some of them up. (Though I am saving 3-4 of them for creamy banana bread tomorrow!) ---> I posted a banana bread recipe on my blog last June but since then I've found an even better one. I'll post this one soon. 

I cut up the remaining banana as a side dish… you know, just in case.

I definitely prefer the crunchy peanut butter over the creamy kind – not at all one note-ish. The crunchy gave it an extra level of texture desperately needed in our PB&J burrito!

I hope you try this snack one day! Buon Appetito!

Not pictured is the crunchy peanut butter. =[

Life can bring ME lemons - I L-L-Love them!

Every couple weeks or so, we visit with our friend Vlada Vladic of Cooking and Kids. She lives in Temecula’s Wine Country where lemon and orange trees are everywhere!  On a Friday in February, my son had the opportunity to pick some lemons from her “orchard” to take home.

We drink a lot of water in our home so having sliced lemons on hand is ideal. There’s nothing like fresh picked lemons!!

The benefits of lemons are endless. You can find many resources online that address this but to share a few of my favorites: 1) For starters, the taste alone is enough to add to water daily. Feel free to drink to your delight. This is not one of those “in-moderation” foods. 2) It serves as a diuretic. 3) High levels of Vitamin C. 4) Low in fat and cholesterol. Great as a seasoning on seafood and salads. 5) Finally, it helps prevent and perhaps even ‘cures’ many ailments such as sore throat, constipation, the common cold, nausea, heartburn; it boosts functionality of your liver and aids in the lowering of blood pressure.  Drink up!  Eat Well, Live Well.

I should mention that Vlada shared with me that her two children (ages 8, 6) pick bags of lemons and take them in a wagon to sell to the neighbors. A bag holds about 10 large lemons. The kids sell each bag of lemons for $1.50. For her, the most important part of her children selling the lemons is so that they learn how hard it is to earn money, so that they can contribute to the family (even in the smallest way) and they put aside some money for their summer trip. In addition, a small portion of what they earn is donated to whomever they wish to help. As you can imagine they don’t earn much, however, they do learn a lot while doing this.  

Stuffed flounder and rice

Using: fish and prepared veggies of your choice

Ingredients

EVOO

Garlic

Onions

Carrots

Zucchini

Mushrooms

Almonds

Panko bread crumbs

Salt, pepper and parsley

Brown rice

Flounder

Butter

Lemon

Sauté onions and garlic in EVOO ‘til translucent, add carrots then zucchini. Add mushrooms; slivered almonds. While all is cooking, prepare your rice separately. Add bread crumbs to veggie mix and season to your taste. Remove ‘stuffing’ from pan. Season flounder with salt, pepper and lemon and gently roll the stuffing inside the fish (have toothpicks ready) and brown. If any stuffing remains, toss with rice adding a splash of lemon juice. After fish is cooked through, remove and keep warm while preparing a sauce in the hot pan with evoo or butter and seasoning of your choice. You can use white wine and lemon juice as well. Get creative – it’s fun and rewarding! Bon appetite!!