October 2008

You are currently browsing the monthly archive for October 2008.

Amazing Zucchini Pie

October 8, 2008 in Food and Drink, Products/Services | No comments

I subscribe to this awesome recipe service, The Six O’Clock Scramble. They send me 5 recipes each week which I can customize. Each meal is fast and easy and includes side dishes, which helps me to remember the veggies. The best part is that I hit a button and I get an automatically generated shopping list with all the ingredients I need for the week.

This is such an easy way to cook healthy meals without spending a lot of time planning. It also prompts me to try new things and maintain a good variety of foods in my diet. If you struggle with cooking for your family, you really should try this service for a few months. Here is one of my favorite recipes from the service, reprinted here with permission:

Amazing Zucchini Pie

Many Scramble subscribers and friends of ours are crazy about this vegetable pie, originally suggested by Jackie Cohen. It is mild and simple enough to appeal to the palates of many kids, as well. Serve it with Garlic Cheese Bread and an Ambrosia Fruit Salad.

1 Tbsp. butter or olive oil
2 zucchini, or use yellow squash, thinly sliced (4 – 5 cups)
1/2 large yellow onion, diced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 prepared pie crust
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat and sauté the zucchini and onions until (about 10 minutes). Add the salt, pepper, garlic powder, basil and oregano.

Press the pie crust into a pie dish and spread the mustard evenly over the crust.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, cheese and zucchini mixture. Pour everything into the pie crust and spread it evenly.

Bake it for 30 minutes, until the top is lightly browned. (Meanwhile, prepare the Garlic Cheese Bread and the fruit salad, if you are serving them.) Allow it to cool for a few minutes and cut it into wedges to serve it (or refrigerate it for up to 24 hours or freeze it for up to 3 months.)

Scramble Flavor Booster: Use Swiss, Gruyere, or another type of sharp cheese, rather than the mozzarella.

SERVE WITH GARLIC CHEESE BREAD & AMBROSIA FRUIT SALADTo make Garlic Cheese Bread, preheat the broiler or set the toaster oven to broil. Split 4 whole wheat pita pockets or sub rolls in half lengthwise. Spread the tops (the uneven insides) with a light coating of butter or margarine, sprinkle them with garlic powder, and top them with a small handful of part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese. Put them under the broiler until the cheese melts and bread turns golden, about 3 minutes.To make an Ambrosia Fruit Salad combine 2 Tbsp. plain nonfat or low fat yogurt or sour cream, 1/8 lemon, juice only (about 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice), and 1 Tbsp. honey in a medium bowl. Add about 6 cups of cut fresh fruit, such as cantaloupe, blueberries, strawberries, bananas, and/or grapes, and stir gently.

Nutritional Information per serving (% based upon daily values)
Calories: 200; Total Fat: 12g, 18%; Saturated Fat: 5g, 23%; Cholesterol: 65mg, 22%; Sodium: 520mg, 22%; Total Carbohydrate: 11g, 4%; Dietary Fiber: 1g, 4%; Sugar: 1g; Protein: 11gNutritional Information per serving with sidedish (% based upon daily values) (with 1 slice garlic cheese bread (1/2 pita))
Calories: 449; Total Fat: 20g, 31%; Saturated Fat: 7g, 32%; Cholesterol: 73mg, 25%; Sodium: 776mg, 33%; Total Carbohydrate: 52g, 18%; Dietary Fiber: 5g, 19%; Sugar: 19g; Protein: 19g

Overdoing It

October 7, 2008 in Introspection, Products/Services | No comments

I’m still sick with this cold I’ve had for 5 days and counting, so blogging will probably continue to be light for a few days. Today I’ll just make a long overdue addition to my product recommendations.

OxiClean must be the best cleaning product ever. I mostly use it to spot clean the carpet. It takes out everything I’ve tried it on: wine, coffee, cat puke, blueberry. It’s great for laundry, too.

Somewhere in all the moves we made last year, I lost the squirt bottle I had always used for my OxiClean. (I buy the powder and mix it with water or throw a scoop in the laundry.) When we arrived at the house we’re renting now, I didn’t bother getting a new bottle and making any because I was just too overwhelmed to think about cleaning. The carpet here is already old and stained and I just figured, why bother?

Well, new stains were still happening and the living room carpet was beginning to disturb me. Yesterday I finally reached my limit and I made some OxiClean in a measuring cup. I must have spot cleaned 20 stains. It didn’t matter how old they were, every single one came out. And I didn’t have to scrub or rinse. All I did was put a bit of OxiClean on a paper towel, soak the stain, and then rub it a bit. The difference in the carpet is amazing, and it’s so easy.

I had also purchased a can of Resolve High Traffic cleaner. It’s one of those foams that you spray and then vacuum. Before I tried the OxiClean I had tried the Resolve and it didn’t take out a single stain. It might have made the carpet a bit cleaner overall, but not in any way that I could discern. Baking soda is cheaper and probably works just as well.

If you noticed, I did all this work while I was sick. I had been stuck at home doing nothing for 4 days and Sam was finally back at day care and I felt a bit better. I did what I always do when recovering from a cold: I overdid it. Not only did I clean the carpet in two ways (including vacuuming 3 times), I rearranged the furniture. I hauled a huge bamboo trunk up the stairs and carried a rocking chair down the stairs. It just felt so good to be able to accomplish something and I couldn’t stop myself. I didn’t feel too bad yesterday even after all the work, but today I am much worse.

I’m sure someday I’ll learn to remember that I need to take it easy after a cold, even if I feel better. I mean, I’m finally wise enough to stop getting a sunburn at the beginning of every single summer before I remember how bad it is and start using sunscreen. But I still do too many sit ups every time I start a new workout regime. And I’m writing a much longer post than I had intended, since I really should be resting. These seem like silly little things that many people do, but this is day-to-day long range thinking, and it’s something I’m working on.

In the meantime, I’m going to go rest, eat some soup, drink some OJ (I can finally feel good about that acronym again!), and watch Sesame Street.

The Sam Update – Twenty Five Months Old

October 4, 2008 in Parenting, The Sam Update | No comments

Sit N Spin

As always, Sam is both the same and different than she was last month.

She still likes Little Bear, but now she also likes Elmo.
She still likes sausage, but now she also likes ham.
She still gets ear infections, but now she also gets ringworm.
She still likes a lullaby at night, but now she also sings along with us.
She still likes french fries, but now she also likes a Filet O’ Fish.
She still says yellow, but now she also says blue, brown, purple, and green.
She still likes Cheerios, but now she also likes Rice Krispies.

We still love her, but now just a little bit more than we did last month.

What’s Your Favorite Letter?

October 3, 2008 in Entertainment, Humor, Parenting | 1 comment

Sam is sick again so we’re watching Sesame Street right now. She’s been very interested in the alphabet lately and has been pointing to and naming letters. Sesame Street was doing an alphabet skit and Sam was saying a lot of the letters when they came up on the screen. But after “H” she stopped and said, “Y.” I told her, “that’s K; that’s L,” but she just said “Y” a few more times and then waited for it to appear. After it came and went, she said, “Bye bye Y. Bye bye Y. Bye bye Y.”