Picking Up Good Habits

Don't you just love it when your kids picks up one of your good habits for a change? I do. As you might have figured out from my previous posts that I have been trying to make my diet, which I thought was already pretty healthy, even healthier. We've been experimenting in the kitchen with new recipe ideas and even trying a few new vegetables. It's been great and lucky me I've even lost a little bit of weight. What I wasn't trying to do is convince Quirky that she needed to do this to, so I was a little surprised the other day when I noticed her making herself an early lunch. She had pulled out my giant tub of spinach, which made me stop to see where this was going. She ended up making what she called a Turkey, Spinach, and Cheese Tortilla Pizza. Now Quirky will eat spinach, if I put it on her plate, but normally voluntarily. I was a little surprised and proud. She really is a great kid.

Sixth Grade Math Notebook

As I was cleaning out our school room the other day I ran across Quirky's math notes from Sixth Grade. I had completely forgotten that we still had them.  I talk about it here only because of the unusual way that she took her math notes. It was just creative enough to keep her interest piqued for the school year.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I know that I have said before, but I'm going to say it again. Sometimes simple recipes are the best. This "recipe" is the perfect example. It's so simple that instruction really aren't needed but here is what we did anyway:

Getting Ready For The New School Year

The new school year is just around the corner and I have been busy...busy...busy trying to get everything ready for the first day. I finally got around to cleaning out our school room/ sun room, which I have been saying I was going to do since the last day of th school year last year. I may have procrastinated just a bit.

Sweet and Garlicky Greenbeans

I mentioned previously, in my post about a quick and easy corn on the cob recipe, that sometimes the simplest recipes are the best. You don't always need fifteen ingredients and every spice known to man to make something delicious. Besides, when you are making a quick lunch, who has time for long and complicated recipes. Not moi. Nor does Quirky always have the patience or the attention span for such recipes. So when lunch time rolled around, I decided that I would show Quirky a quick, simple, and delicious way to dress up fresh or frozen Greenbeans. Here is what we did:

Zucchini and Cheddar Frittata Topped With Spinach Salad

I decided on a whim today to make a frittata for lunch, mainly because I didn't want to stand over a hot stove to make an omelette. It was fairly quick, packed with veggies, and delicious. It was so good that I think I will be revisiting this recipe the next time Dork and Quirky request quiche for dinner. I think it will make a great low-carb alternative. This is what I did:

Baked Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Our family is probably typical in that pasta makes up at least one of our meals per week. Sometimes it's simple spaghetti or sometimes it's a little more complicated like Chicken Marsala. Either way, for me it's pasta, and right now that just does not fit in my dietary restrictions at the moment. Do I plan on giving up pasta forever? Probably not, but for right now I am seeking out alternatives that I can enjoy without having to cook two completely different meals. Last week, since Dork and Quirky were having spaghetti, I decided to give spaghetti squash a try as a substitute. This is something that I had never tried before. I was pleased to find it easy to cook and delicious to eat. This is what I did:

Tex-Mex Stuffed Zucchini

Tex-Mex Zucchini 

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been trying to watch both my carbs and my cholesterol in an attempt to get healthier. So for dinner the other night, when I had quesadillas on the menu, I decided to make mine a little more carb friendly without cooking a completely seperate meal. Lucky me I had fresh zucchini in the fridge and decided to make Tex-Mex Stuffed Zucchini. It turned out delicious. It was very simple and took hardly no time to adapt what I had already made for Quirky and Dork's quesadillas into something diet friendly for myself. This is what I did: