Zucchini "Crab" Cakes

Tonight, I made a triple batch of these (using one green zucchini and about 1/3 of a golden zucchini ~ yeah, they're that big).  We ended up with one dozen for tonight's dinner, and about 3 dozen to put in the freezer, for a future dinner.  For the record: I fried the ones we were eating tonight in hot oil in a cast iron skillet, but the ones I plan to freeze, I baked.  I figure, that way, once they are frozen, we can heat them in an oiled skillet when we are ready to serve, and they (hopefully) won't be completely drowning in oil.  I will give directions for both cooking methods.  I hear you can just bake instead of fry, to save on fat and calories, but, to be perfectly honest, I like my crab cakes fried.

Anyway, in case there is anyone reading who doesn't know this, I grew up in Maryland.  Maryland, in case you haven't heard, "is for crabs."  (A weird but true travel and tourism slogan I recall from my childhood.)  In short, we know crab cakes.  Now, I can't eat them.  I am allergic to shellfish (idoine, actually, I am now told), besides which, I am vegetarian, so I wouldn't eat them, anyway.  Crabs are not vegetables.  I know, because I have looked one in the eye.  Nevertheless, I do not want anyone reading this to let that fact make them think these "crab cakes" will be anything but delicious.  I am not the originator of this idea.

What readers may not know about Maryland, is that it was not only home to crabs, it was home to one of the best zucchini growers and cooks I have ever known.  I mean, this guy was famous for his zuchhini.  And if he wasn't, he should have been.  He was, I am very lucky to say, my godfather, my mom's twin, Jim Gambino.  I don't know how my zucchini crab cake recipe compares to Uncle Jim's, but I hope it's maybe half as good.  That would make it pretty awesome, I think.  I hear tell that people have been served zucchini "crab" cakes without knowing they contained no actual crab, and never been the wiser.  I do not know about that, but I know that, a few years ago, when I was home for a visit, I made some at a friend's crab feast, so the kids and I could have some "crab cakes," and they flew off the table.  No, they were not enchanted.  Harry Potter and his cohorts were nowhere nearby.  I just mean to say that people liked them.  People who were eating actual crab.  So, I think that's a good review.  I decided to post these today, in honour of Uncle Jim's (and my mom's) birthday.  Happy Birthday, Mom!  I hope you have a beautiful day.  And Happy Birthday, Uncle Jim.  We sure do miss you.  But...have you seen my zucchini?  They're HUGE!!!  I think you'd appreciate them.

Now, I posted a recipe from which I work in the comments in my previous post, but I decided they needed a post of their own.  I also decided I should probably try to post exactly what I do, instead of the recipe on which I based what I do.  So, here ya go:

2 1/2 c. grated zucchini (I do not peel it)

1 egg, beaten

1 tbsp. melted butter (I use Earth Balance)

1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning (or to taste ~ I add a little more)

1/2 tsp. prepared mustard

1 1/2 c. fine dry bread crumbs, seasoned with oregano, thyme, garlic powder, Old Bay seasoning, salt & pepper (sorry, I wish I knew how much of these to tell you to use.  You can use Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, if you prefer, but I cannot, unless I can find dairy-free ones)

1 sm. onion, chopped fine, or about 1 tsp. onion powder

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp. sweet red pepper, chopped very fine

1 tbsp. mayonnaise 

2 TBS chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Mix all ingredients well.  If mixture seems too wet, add a few more breadcrumbs, but it should be a loose mixture (not too dense).  

Place more breadcrumbs on a plate, and season as above.  If desired, add a little nutritional yeast.  Again, if you prefer, use Italian seasoned breadcrumbs.  

With damp hands, gather lumps of dough into roughly golf-ball-sized...well...balls.  Sorta.  Like I said, it's a loose mixture.  Gently dredge each ball in the breadcrumbs, then fry* in hot oil for a few minutes on each side, until golden brown and crispy on the outside. Drain on paper towels.  Serve as you would crabcakes ~ with tartar sauce or cocktail sauce.  You can make crabcake sandwiches with them (they're about the right size to fit on one of those little Hawaiian rolls, or a soft dinner roll).

Part of that seems unclear, so let me walk you through it:
1. Pick up a lump of the mixture and kinda form it into a ball.
2. Dredge the ball in breadcrumbs; flatten slightly.
3. Place on a plate or tray.
4. When you have all of your little patties formed, fry them in batches in hot oil.
5. Drain on a plate or tray lined with paper towels.
6. Eat.

* If you prefer to bake them (for whatever reason), form your cakes as above, then place on a lightly oiled baking sheet.  Bake in a very hot (500 degrees fahrenheit) oven for 5-7 minutes on each side (until lightly browned).

Now, unfortunately, we gobbled up the fried ones before I managed to take a picture.  I say, "unfortunately," not because I regret eating them, but because I think they look more appetizing than the baked ones.  I took a picture of the baked ones, so I will post that.  

Zucchini "Crab"-Stuffed Zucchini

Yes, I realize the title of this recipe is quite awkward.  You can come up with a better name, if you prefer.  No matter what you decide to call this, you should eat it.  Super yummy, and a nice presentation, too.

As you may have heard, my garden is completely out of control this year.  I don't know what I did (just my usual organic vegetable food), but I cannot keep my zucchini plants from prolifically producing the largest zucchini I have ever seen.  We have eaten several, traded others for other yummy things (oranges, lemons, and I hear there are some apples coming our way), made one into brownies (yes, brownies), canned 7 quarts of zucchini & tomatoes...and they still just keep coming.

At this time, after using 1 1/2 large zucchini for tonight's dinner, I still have 4 sitting around waiting to be used, and more growing in the garden.  Sometimes, if I listen carefully, I think I hear a faint, "Feed me, Seymour!" from the general direction of the garden.

Because we are eating TONS of zucchini, I am looking for new and interesting ways to prepare it.  I know we like zucchini "crab cakes" (just replace the crab in your favourite recipe with shredded zucchini ~ yum!), and I plan to make and freeze a bunch of those, but I had one giant zucchini just begging to be stuffed.  Usually, I would do an Italian-inspired stuffed zucchini, but, tonight, I wanted to try something different.

After zipping around on the internet, I decided to combine what I knew from making zucchini crab cakes, inspiration from Crab Imperial recipes I had perused, and my previous zucchini-stuffing experience.  Here's what I did:

1 very large zucchini, halved lengthwise, seeds scooped out and discarded

Old Bay Seasoning

Smoked paprika

2 cups shredded zucchini, firmly packed

1/2 c. mayonnaise (or vegennaise) 

1 TBS lemon juice

1 tsp. Bragg's Liquid Aminos

1 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning

1/8 tsp. cayennne pepper

1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

1/2-1 tsp. wet mustard

1/2 c. panko (or other breadcrumbs)

1-2 TBS melted margarine

2 eggs, beaten (or equivalent egg-replacer)

Heat oven to 400℉.  Grease a 9x13" pan with olive oil.  Place halved zucchini, cut side up, in prepared pan.  Sprinkle lightly with Old Bay Seasoning and smoked paprika.  

In a bowl, mix all other ingredients, except eggs.  Taste, and adjust seasonings.  Gently fold in eggs.  

Spoon mixture into prepared zucchini "shells," cover pan with foil and bake for about 30-40 minutes, until shell is looking kind of cooked, and filling is set.  Remove foil and bake for 10 minutes more, or until lightly golden brown.

Let stand at least 5 minutes before serving.  

And here's how beautifully it turned out: 

For the record, it tastes even better than it looks.  Oh, my goodness.  So, so good.  I could eat this all night!

Made some homemade mac & cheese on the side for the cheese-eaters, and some broccoli slaw for the slaw-eaters.  

Holy cow.  I am still wallowing in zucchini-eating bliss.

Red Beet Eggs

I love beets.  I love pickled beets.  In fact, I love just about any pickled vegetable.  The one non-vegetable thing I can think of that I like, however, are Red Beet Eggs.

"What ARE red beet eggs?" you might be asking yourself right now.

I'll tell you.  They are delicious.

Oh, but that's not a very clear answer, is it.

Well, I believe they are a Pennsylvania Dutch recipe (My dad's from McSherrystown, PA, which is near Hanover, PA); and, basically, they are hardboiled eggs that have been soaked in a jar of pickled beets for a few days.  Somebody can correct me if I am wrong about their origin.  I know my mom's family called the "Pickled Eggs," and my dad's called them "Red Beet Eggs."

Do they sound delicious?  Doesn't matter.  They are.  They are also beautiful, and quite a conversation piece when brought to gatherings not frequented by those who grew up eating them.  But, mostly, they are delicious.

Did I mention how delicious they are?

They are also super-easy to make.

Now, if you want, you can cook your own beets, but I am a busy L.A. mom, so I usually don't.  Here's what I do.

Empty 2 cans of beets into a large, clean jar.

Add:
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
about 8 whole cloves
3-4 thick slices of onion (or some onion powder)
a good sprinkle of allspice
1-2 bay leaves
salt & pepper, if desired

Mix it up until the sugar dissolves.

Add:
1 dozen hardboiled eggs (peeled and cooled)

Gently mix it, using your spoon to make sure all of the eggs are dunked down in to the liquid.

Cover your jar tightly and put it in the fridge.  Leave for at least 48 hours.  During that time, you can take out the jar and make sure the eggs are still down under the liquid, so they are getting nice and pickled.

I am not sure how long these keep in the fridge, because Hallie and I tend to eat them up pretty quickly.
I found my latest batch was PERFECT on day 4.

There you have it!  Red beet eggs.

Yum!

Way Better Pumpkin Muffins

How are they way better?  Um...they have more good-for-you stuff in them.  That means they have less bad-for-you stuff in them.  Oh, yeah, and they taste WAY.  BETTER.

I decided today to venture into the realm of one-armed baking.  Kaia has not been eating much, so I wanted to make pumpkin muffins (one of her favourites), so she would, you know, eat.  I also wanted to pack in as much nutritional value as possible, since she isn't eating as much as she should.

So, I pulled out my old standby pumpkin muffin recipe, and looked over adjustments I had made in the past.  I decided I could do even better.  Use organic flours, sub almond meal for more of the flour than I had before, further reduce the sugar, use almond milk instead of water, use organic, unrefined coconut oil and organic applesauce in place of the whopping 1 cup of vegetable oil called for in the original recipe...

Here's what I came up with.  (Oh, and BTW, I just took the first batch out of the oven and ate one.  They are so tender, sweet, moist and delicious that I had to post this right away.)

INGREDIENTS

    * 1 (15 ounce) can organic pumpkin puree

    * 4 eggs

    * 1/2 cup organic, unrefined coconut oil

    * 1/2 cup organic, unsweetened applesauce

    * 2/3 cup plain almond milk

    * 2 cups organic sugar

    * 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

    * 1 1/4 cups organic whole wheat flour

    * 1 cup organic all-purpose flour

    * 1 cup almond meal

    * 2 teaspoons baking soda

    * 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

    * 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

    * 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

    * 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

    * 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

DIRECTIONS

   1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line muffin tin with paper liners, or grease and flour them.

   2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, applesauce, almond milk, vanilla and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, almond meal, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.

   3. Bake for about 30 minutes in the preheated oven. 

Now, eat them.  Give them to your loved ones and let them eat them.  Just do it.  Trust me.  (And I don't even usually like muffins.)

BTW:  This makes 24 muffins.  Just for the heck of it, I went and calculated the nutritional information, just FYI.

Nutrition Facts User Entered Recipe   24 Servings Amount Per Serving   Calories 192.3   Total Fat 8.1 g       Saturated Fat 4.5 g       Polyunsaturated Fat 0.9 g       Monounsaturated Fat 2.1 g   Cholesterol 31.0 mg   Sodium 220.5 mg   Potassium 102.6 mg   Total Carbohydrate 28.4 g       Dietary Fiber 2.2 g       Sugars 18.0 g   Protein 3.7 g   Vitamin A 56.5 %   Vitamin B-12 1.3 %   Vitamin B-6 1.6 %   Vitamin C 1.5 %   Vitamin D 2.4 %   Vitamin E 9.0 %   Calcium 3.2 %   Copper 3.9 %   Folate 2.0 %   Iron 4.7 %   Magnesium 4.7 %   Manganese 11.1 %   Niacin 2.7 %   Pantothenic Acid     0.9 %   Phosphorus     4.8 %   Riboflavin 5.7 %   Selenium 0.5 %   Thiamin 2.8 %   Zinc 2.1 % *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Muffins

Apparently, I think everything should taste like chocolate chip cookies.  I mean, the world would be a better place, wouldn't it, if more things tasted like chocolate chip cookies?

The thing is, as a mom, I feel sort of obligated to try to make sure that the things my children eat have some nutritional value.  So, I can't just feed them chocolate chip cookies all the time.  (It's true.  I think it's in my contract.  What?  You didn't get a contract?   hmmm....)

Anyway...

Kaia loves to take muffins in her lunchbox.  Since Kaia doesn't love to take many things in her lunchbox, I try to vary the muffins, and to make them somewhat nutritious.  I like to use whole grain flours and include things like pumpkin, banana, zucchini... Of course, they still have to taste good.  I've found I have to be careful not to go so far over the nutritious line that she won't eat it.  Because food can't be nutritious if they don't eat it.

Well, I have been sick for weeks.  I don't want to waste a lot of time talking about that, but I mention it because it relates directly to my decision to bake muffins today.  I've been sick.  The kids have been getting a lot of their own meals, because the sight of food has kind of pushed me over the edge most days.  Shane has been helping, and they have gotten by all right, on things like veggie burgers and jarred sauce that I prepared when I was well, and an occasional carry-out meal.  Everybody has been pitching in to help with the housework, and they have managed to keep the mess somewhat at bay...somewhat.  I happened to notice last night that there was a fine layer of dust over most of the furniture, and, while the floors were all swept, they could use a good, thorough mopping.  The refrigerator needs to be cleaned.  We're almost out of laundry detergent.  It's time for Mama to try to reemerge from her sickly cocoon.

Now, I won't say I am feeling better yet.  Just...hmmm...well, to be honest, I think I just got tired of sitting around watching the household fall apart around me.  So, last night, I prepared some eggs with potatoes, cheese, crumbled veggie bacon and kale in a muffin tin, so Hallie and Justice can heat them and pop them inside English muffins on busy school mornings for a quick breakfast.  Then, this morning, I got up, had Shane help me rearrange a little furniture to open up the room, swept, dusted, wiped up and cleared away as much of the mess as I could manage, and started a pot of bean soup, because I think I might be able to keep down a spoonful or two.

Since I made the eggs, I had been thinking that I really ought to make something quick and easy for Kaia to grab, too.  She has been doing well getting her own breakfast (usually oatmeal or dry cereal ~ sometimes with a banana, yogurt or milk), so I decided to make some muffins.  They'd make a nice afterschool snack today, and then the kids could put them in their lunches, if they wanted.

We had already designated the one can of organic pumpkin we have to be used in the making of tiny pies, and the bananas aren't quite ripe enough, so I decided to try something new.  I had been thinking for some time that "Chocolate Chip Cookie" would be a great muffin variety.  I looked around on the internet a bit, but none fo the recipes were exactly what I was going for.

I thought, if I just started with a basic muffin recipe, used some brown sugar instead of all regular sugar, replaced some of the flour with almond meal (both for nutrition and for taste), and added chocolate chips, it should taste a lot like chocolate chip cookies.

I decided to fall back on my favourite "Basic Muffins with Milk or Cream" recipe from the Joy of Cooking, and make adjustments.  I knew I wanted to sue whole grain flour, in addition to the other adjustments I was making.  Then, when I was reading over the recipe (which is a wonderful basic muffin recipe, BTW), I noticed that if offers a variation in which yogurt can be substituted for the milk or cream called for in the original recipe.  I wondered if I might be able to use fat free Greek yogurt, thus amping up the nutrition even more than I anticipated.

The muffins mixed up and baked beautifully.  The younger girls just got home from school and gave them an enthusiastic thumbs up, and I anxiously await Justice's review.  I have to admit, due to the dairy, I have not tried them, but I trust my girls.If anyone wants to figure out how to make these dairy free, that would be awesome.  In the meantime, I will make them for the kids.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Muffins

Preheat oven to 400℉ and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners (or grease them)

In a large bowl, whisk together:
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup almond meal
1 TBS baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels

In a separate bowl, whisk together:
2 large eggs
1 cup fat-free Greek yogurt
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
4-8 TBS melted butter or vegetable oil
2 tsps. vanilla extract

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients with a few quick strokes.  Do not overmix.  Batter should not be smooth (and it won't be, with all those chocolate chips, but you know what I mean).  Divide batter between muffin cups and bake for 12-15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in 1 or 2 of the muffins comes out clean.  Let cool for 2-3 minutes in the pan before removing muffins to a wire rack.  Muffins are best right away, but they keep for a few days, and can even be frozen.

Kudos to us! Well...sorta.

Today, Kaia mentioned that she hadn't had a Kudos bar in a long time.  It's true.  I think they are kinda junky, and besides, we like to make our own treats.  So, I thought maybe I could make something similar. ish.  hey really aren;t very similar at all, but they are yummy.  See, I didn't bother to actually look at the ingredients in a Kudos bar, and I haven't eaten many, so I just thought...hmmm...I think they have rice crispies, and chocolate...So, mine have rice crispies and chocolate.  I started with my Peanut Butter Crispie Treat recipe, and thought I would just add chocolate.  I decided to skip the agar agar, since I figured the melted chocolate would bind them well enough (it did), and then I discovered I was out of agave, so I used honey.  It all worked out just fine, and these are ready and waiting to be an afterschool snack for the girls tomorrow.

Here's what is actually in a Kudo's bar:  Milk Chocolate (, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Chocolate, Milk Skim, Lactose, Milk Fat, Soy Lecithin,Flavor(s) Artificial ), Granola (, Rice Crisp, Oat(s), Wheat Flakes, Malt, Salt ), Corn Syrup,Chocolate Chips Semisweet (Sugar, Chocolate, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin, Vanilla) ,Soybean(s) Oil Partially Hydrogenated, Calcium Carbonate, Glycerine, Sugar Brown (Salt) ,Soy Lecithin, TBHQ, Peanut(s), Almond(s)

Here's how they stack up nutritionally:

• Serving Size: 1 bar
• Servings Per Container: 4

• Amount Per Serving
• Calories 130Calories from Fat 45
• Total Calories 520Total Calories from Fat 180

•  % Daily Value* (DV)Recommended DV
• Total Fat 5 g8%65 g
  • Saturated Fat 2.5 g13%20 g
  • Trans Fat 0 g
• Cholesterol 0 mg0%300 mg
• Sodium 85 mg4%2,400 mg
• Potassium mg0%3,500 mg
• Total Carbohydrate 20 g7%300 g
  • Dietary Fiber 1 g4%25 g
  • Sugars 13 g 
• Protein 1 g 

• Calcium20%
• Iron2%
• Magnesium2%

And here's what I did:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Crispie Bars

1/2 c. peanut butter

1/2 c. honey

2 TBS ground flaxseeds

3 cups crispy brown rice cereal

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Grease a 9x13" pan (I prefer to use glass for this type of recipe).  Place cereal in a large mixing bowl.  In a small sauce pot, over low heat, heat peanut butter and honey, stirring constantly, until hot, evenly mixed and thick.  Really stir this constantly. Do not walk away or it will burn.  When it starts to bubble, stir vigorously and cook 1-2 minutes until it is very thick.  Stir in flaxseeds.  Immediately pour the hot mixture over the cereal and stir well to coat all of the crispies.  Gently but thoroughly stir in chocolate chips, until they are melted and evenly mixed in.  Press mixture firmly into your greased pan.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, until set.  Cut into thin bars (I got 21).  

Some time ago, I found this website, where you can enter a recipe and it have it calculate nutrition information.  If I did this right, I think these look okay, as compared to commercially prepared snack bars.  (I deleted most of the "0%"s, because I felt they were just taking up space on the page.  I think I would like to try adding some oats and almond meal along with the cereal, and I might try subbing agave for the honey, but these sure are tasty just as they are.   

21 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		96.9
Total Fat		3.9 g
	Saturated Fat	5.1 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.0 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	0.0 g
Cholesterol		0.0 mg
Sodium		32.2 mg
Potassium		4.2 mg
Total Carbohydrate		14.7 g
	Dietary Fiber	0.8 g
	Sugars	8.9 g
Protein		2.0 g

Vitamin B-6	0.1 %
Vitamin C	0.1 %
Calcium	0.1 %
Copper	0.1 %
Iron	1.3 %
Manganese	0.3 %
Pantothenic Acid	0.1 %
Riboflavin	0.2 %
Selenium	0.1 %
Zinc	0.1 %

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

You'll notice that mine have more saturated fat and less calcium than the original, but they also have fewer calories, less sugar, carbs and sodium, and more protein and potassium.  I am pretty happy with them, and feel good about giving them to my kids, maybe with a glass of almond milk.  

Back to School, Back to Lunch

Tomorrow marks the start of the 2012-13 schoolyear.  We will send off one 4th grader, one 7th grader and one 10th grader.  That blows my mind.  Seems like yesterday we were shopping around for our very first preschool.  All those people who've said it are right ~ time flies when you're having fun.  we have a lot of fun around here.

This year, we are focussing on getting and staying organized, keeping the house uncluttered and peaceful, and trying to keep stress to a minimum.  Sure, they might get stressed about school (as will we, about work...and maybe about school, too, sometimes), but I feel like, if we can keep from stressing out about things like not being able to find things, not having enough food int he house to pack a lunch, forgetting to sign permission slips, etc., we can at least reduce the level of stress here at home (and probably at school, too).  To that end, we sat down and did some planning.  We reorganized our home, got rid of tons of clutter, and created a quiet area for reading/creating/relaxing.   We also put the kids in charge of what they will eat and wear on school days.

All of the girls have been doing their own laundry for some time, and they have always offered to fix their own lunches, but that has never worked out very well.  We have a tiny little kitchen, and it has just been too busy in the mornings to have three kids in there making lunches.  So, we have decided to have them prepare as much as possible the night before, pack their lunchboxes, and stash them in the fridge.  They have all chosen and laid out all of their outfits for the week, too, and their bookbags are packed and ready to go.  We are hoping all of these changes will take the stress out of our morning routine, and maybe even buy us all a little more sleep time (wouldn't that be dreamy?).  We also made sure to have lots of quick breakfast options available.  For instance, we prepared eggs in muffin cups ~ adding veggies, cheese, soy sausage, rice, etc. to suit different palates ~ to be heated up and tucked inside whole wheat English muffins.  I will keep hardboiled eggs in the fridge for Kaia, who only eats eggs hardboiled, and there is always cereal, oatmeal, yogurt and fruit available.

In oder to make sure that there will always be plenty of choices available to them when they pack their lunches, we created the lists that appeared in my last post.  Also, as has become our tradition, we let the girls choose whatever they wanted for their first-day-of-school lunches.  I feel it gets the year off to a good start, if they get to enjoy a favourite lunch on the first day.  Sort of helps them settle into the school routine, I think.  So, I made sure everything they needed was available (I made pesto and pumpkin muffins, since those were on their lists), and set them to work this evening.  Having each girl pack her own bag worked like a charm.  Below, I have posted pics of the results.  I am so proud of them all.  As you can see, three very different girls pack three very different lunches, but they all made healthy, reasonable choices, with an eye to keeping it nutritionally balanced, which I appreciate.

Look what a great job they did:

This is the way Kaia's lunch looks when it's all packed up and ready to go in to her new lunch bag.  Pumpkin muffin, Super V juice pouch, and a homemade "lunchable."

And here's what's inside that box ~ soy turkey slices, Coastal cheddar (her favourite cheese) and 12-grain crackers.

Here's Hallie's meal, neatly packed in the great new containers I found at Target the other day (Lunch Blox - check 'em out!).  See how the pieces all snap together?  Cool, huh?

Here's what's inside: Two slices of Italian bread, pesto, tomato slices and fresh spinach leaves (she'll assemble these ingredients to make a sandwich at lunch time, but packing them this way keeps them from getting soggy) and a trail mix she threw together with almonds, dried cherries, raisins, pretzels and just a few chocolate chips.

Above is Justice's fare.  She chose coconut water for her beverage, and packed it all up in those neat little containers.

A peek inside reveals gnocchi w/ pesto, ingredients for one of her favourite snacks, ants on a log, and almonds, just in case she needs an extra snack.

While we are on the subject of packing lunches, how stinkin' cute are the new lunch bags?  We love them.  They came in a 3-pack for $9.99 (at Target).  Can't beat that price, and we love things that come in 3-packs.  It's like they saw us coming. (Wow! They're cheaper online!)

Now, the girls are all nestled in their beds, trying to rest, despite the excitement (and jitters) that go along with the first day of school.  Shane and I gave each a bamboo plant in a tiny pot (one blue, one orange & one green), for luck.  Here's to a great year!