Little Lunch boxes

My apologies for being MIA. I went back to work, big boo started Kindergarten, and little boo returned to preschool. We all needed some time to get ready, get started and get situated. Part of that whole process was letting the boys pick out their new lunch boxes. Sadly, big boo decided he was "too old" for cartoon characters on his lunch box. How is it possible that a 5 year old has already outgrown disney characters? Little boo followed suit and picked out a plain blue.

This is the first time big boo has eaten lunch away from home 5 days in a row, so although he's not new to lunch box lunch, all week is new to him. I used to serve cottage cheese, yogurt parfaits and chicken salad on his home lunch days and send PBJ with raw veggies and/or fruit for school, but I knew his lunch box needed a little variety. Even PBJ lovers tire of the same old same old.

I haven't gotten brave enough to send cottage cheese, yogurt parfaits to school, I'm concerned about it staying cold, and how messy it is. I've tried yogurt before, but then the lid doesn't get closed coming home on the plastic container and the lunch box gets gross.

I was happy to find individually portioned hummus at Costco, made by Tribe! Big boo is a new hummus enthusiast, so I figured this would be a protein rich sandwich substitute. Plus it gives me an opportunity to give him something chip like with a pita chips. I can condone chips on a routine basis if they aren't deep fried and are vehicles for protein. He did like it, but didn't finish quite all of it and since it doesn't have a resealable lid, it got the lunch box gross on the trip home. My less mess idea back fired on me. I think I'll ask him to toss what he doesn't finish to avoid making a mess.

What's in their lunch?

• Main item:Last week we did PBJ x 3, ham and cheese one day and hummus with pita chips the other. Big boo is eating a full sandwich now; little boo, still a half.
  
• Veggies go every day, either baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, celery, sugar snap peas, or green beans.
• I let him pick out his "treat." Treats include yogurt covered pretzels, trail mix with dried fruit and chocolate chips, applesauce, fruit leather or Sunsweet Ones (individually wrapped prunes).
• I also send an afternoon snack which is a piece of fruit (apple, banana, clementine).
• Drink? Water for lunch and snack.

I try to let them pick which item they want from each category (if they're around when I pack their lunch). I think this helps them learn what a healthy and balanced lunch is and it gets their buy in before they open his lunch box.

I'll probably branch out and start making some lunch pasta salads, and tortilla wraps. I may even invest in a thermos and send left overs. I'll just see how big boo does with the current lunch rotation and change it up when he gets bored with it.

I also expect that he'll come home and want to eat pizza and chicken nuggets like his friends get from the lunch line. If he asks, I'll probably let him pick one day a week where he buys his lunch at school. Although school lunch programs are getting better, they still suffer from too much low nutrient food. Did you know that ketchup counts as a "vegetable" serving according to the school lunch program???

I'm actually kind of surprised that he hasn't complained about what his friends have that he doesn't get in his lunch box (like fruit snacks, candy, chips, chocolate milk, etc.). I'm sure that's coming, but in general he actually likes PBJ with veggies for lunch. Ask him what his favorite food is and he still says carrots and tomatoes.

Here's another post I wrote last year about lunch box ideas. Enjoy.

Two questions for ya! How has the back to school transition been for you? What's in your kiddo's lunch box?

America's Favorite Vegetable is.... Cookbook winner announced

Summer Squash!!

Congratulations Jana G you won the Vegetables Get The Royal Treatment Cookbook giveaway!

Here are your random numbers:

95

Timestamp: 2009-08-18 01:04:16 UTC

This giveaway made me so hungry! I read the 215 comments and wanted to taste many of your favorite veggies fixed your favorite way. I was happy to see the variety of veggies favored. Spring's first asparagus with poached egg, steamed artichokes, fried okra, tomatoes still warm from the sun, sugar snap peas plucked from the vine, spinach wilted with onions, roasted cauliflower, swiss chard with butter, raisins and pine nuts, mashed butternut squash, I could go on and on and on. See the whole list if you're curious what 210 people's fave veggies are.

There were a few surprises.
Like Summer Squash. Zucchini and Yellow or "Crooked Neck" squash was the most favored veggie of this group, 16% of respondents choose zukes! Maybe it's my own bias against the summer squash which led to my surprise. I used to like summer squash, but in the past couple years I've not really enjoyed it, despite preparing it in many ways. I still enjoy it in veggie soup or shredded and cooked with onions in a egg scramble, but that's it. I still eat it, and tell the boys when I eat it, "Hmm, I must be on a summer squash break, because this is not my favorite right now." I do believe the results were skewed because about half the folks that chose summer squash preferred it in sweets like bars, breads and cakes, OR hidden in some kind of casserole or stuffing dish. So it wasn't necessarily favored because the taste was enjoyable, but rather "ignorable" in dishes with a large number of ingredients. The other skew could be that we're smack in the middle of summer squash season, it's on sale, or plentiful in the garden, so it's possible that it's just fresh on the mind. Lastly, I think herd mentality might have something to do with it. Voters may have been swayed by reading other people's votes and having the same voice. Or maybe I'm wrong, and zucchini really is America's favorite vegetable.

Potatoes were only chosen by less than 2%, and lettuce or salad less than 1 %. That surprised me because potatoes and lettuce are the top two selling produce items in our country. No doubt the restaurant industry factors in for the majority of the consumption in french fries, mashed potatoes and salads that come free with meals. But since those veggies are widely eaten in restaurants it would follow that they are the ones preferred by many in our homes. Exposure and opportunity has a lot to do with favorite foods. The more practice or "opportunity" you have with a certain food, the more likely you are to eat it or enjoy it.

Broccoli 13% and Asparagus 10% were the next two highest faves after Zukes. That was good news since both are in the super green category, which means they are nutrient dense, containing lots of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, antioxidants, etc. I was surprised Green Beans didn't have a higher showing, only 4 %. I would have thought they would be sitting in the first or second chair for most loved super green.

Carrots were another mystery. Like the green bean, only 4% chose carrots. I would have thought the widely available baby carrots in various snack sizes, large bags, organic, regular, on veggie trays, etc. would have made this crunchy sweet root vegetable snag more votes.

Hubby was perplexed the tomato, not quite 4% didn't top the list, as in his words "everything that tastes great has tomatoes in it. " I could have said the same thing about onions, which only made it tops for 2% of folks.

Celery only got one vote! Not that it's my favorite, but it's a regular on veggie trays, somebody's gotta be eating it....

The Not Surprising
Corn was is the top 4 with almost 9%.

Beets, swiss chard, kale, cabbage, beet greens and butter beans all failed to make even one half a percent.

Thanks to all of you who voted, and to the Veggie Queen for offering a helpful seasonal cooking resource for vegetables.

What did I do with my veggies tonight? I took the left overs from hubby's birthday meal at benihana and made fried rice. To the onions and rice I added some finely chopped ginger, carrots, green peas, three eggs and some additional rice to bulk it up a bit. Made very tasty "left overs" but then again I'm a sucker for fried rice.

Peaches N Oatmeal & My Oatmeal Pledge

Oatmeal. It's so versatile. It's a wholesome breakfast that can be fruited and flavored up a zillion ways. It's a quick supper after a busy weekend and too much convenience food. It's love in a bowl when school's out and there's time for a hot meal in the morning. It's often baby's first breakfast, lunch and dinner.

And this week I made it summer's favorite breakfast by serving it with peaches and syrup. Inspired by the peach clafoutis I made (involves butter, sugar and peach saute) and FishMama's Oatmeal and Apples (which I made weekly during apple/pear season last year), I thought I'd top our oatmeal with peaches. I enjoy oatmeal a lot. But I can honestly say this was the first time I wanted three more bowls of oatmeal after I gobbled up my firsts. Sadly, I served all I cooked, so I have to wait until next time I whip this up. Normally I prefer to eat stone fruit fresh, but I make exceptions when I buy a half bushel of fruit. I start putting fruit in everything. Parfaits, smoothies, cereal, cobblers, pies and yes on top of oatmeal.

Anyone who's seen a Cheerios or Quaker Oats box knows that oats can lower cholesterol, but it tops the "functional food" lists for other reasons per Dave Grotto in 101 Foods That Could Save Your Life:

• Contains Vitamin E, some B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, potassium, selenium, zinc, iron, and manganese.
• Oats are rich in beta-glucans (helps immune system recognize and devour abnormal cells)
  
• Oats have 2 kinds of fiber, soluble (soaks up cholesterol and removes it) and insoluble (aids in digestion).
• Oats can help with weight management, studies show that oat breakfasts had the highest satiety value, keeping people satisfied until snack or lunch.

I'm pledging to feed my family oatmeal at least 2 times a week this year. More if I can sneak it in. We used to eat it more than that, but sadly over the last year oatmeal didn't make it to the table more than once a week. Big boo was in school every day, making mornings almost too hectic for hot food, and it seemed in my efforts to use up co-op produce oatmeal wasn't a quick dinner very often. Additionally, Little boo went on an oatmeal strike. As an infant he'd gobble up three bowls for breakfast, but upon turning 2 he'd had quite enough and groaned every time oatmeal was on the table.

One thing that will help me is this short cut: get the oatmeal assembled in the pan and stick it in the fridge at night. That way all I need to do is cook and serve in the morning. I've read that steel cut oats get uber creamy when they soak in milk overnight, and I think once I taste it, I'll be hooked.

Big Boo really balked at peaches n' oatmeal. He has come to have a tight relationship with the house speciality (raisins, applesauce, bananas and flax seed) and immediately pronounced he hated peaches with oatmeal. Of course this was after he asked what smelled so good and before he tasted it. I got through almost my whole bowl with him refusing to try it. Then when he did taste it, he gobbled it all up.

Snag an extra peach (or nectarine) for every serving next time you're at the grocery, so you can try this! Peaches are still in season and on sale, although season's wrapping up quick. Cooking peaches is also a good thing to do with those unfortunate poor textured peaches that turn up at the grocery too often. If they are sweet but mushy or grainy, they'll taste OK cooked. It's better than tossing the mushy ones.

Peaches N' Oatmeal
1 cup of cooking liquid per serving (I use half milk, half water)
1/4 cup steel cut oats per serving (ground fine in coffee mill or whole)
1/4 cup ground flax seed (optional)
One peach per serving, washed, sliced (I left peel on, there are nutrients in there!)
1/2 tbs butter per serving (or coconut oil)
1 heaping serving spoon of brown sugar per 4 peaches (I don't use much sugar, if you like oatmeal really sweet or want a lot of syrup use more sugar)
1 tsp cinnamon

Boil water. Add steel cut oats, stir, reduce heat to low and cover. Cook whole oats for 45 minutes. Cook ground oats for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. Meanwhile, heat skillet on med low and melt butter.

Add peaches and cook until softened (about 5 mins). Don't over cook or they'll lose their shape. Add cinnamon and sugar. Cook one minute longer until a syrup forms. Enjoy the delicious smell of cinnamon fruit and begin salivating for how amazing your breakfast will taste. Portion out oatmeal in bowls. Sprinkle optional flax seed meal on oatmeal. Top with peaches. Add milk (or heavy cream if you really want a treat).

Kid Appeal Tip In case you want to do the oatmeal pledge with me, I've rounded up some other oatmeal recipes. There are as many ways to take oatmeal as there are ways to take an egg. If you don't think you're a fan of oatmeal or your kids don't think they are, go on an oatmeal recipe tasting mission. Let every family member choose an oatmeal recipe and get cooking. I'm sure you'll get a few oatmeal converts out of the journey. I used to hate oatmeal. Whenever I eat it now I make sure the boys hear me say "This is yummy. I can't believe when I was a kid like you I didn't like oatmeal. I missed out on all this yumminess." This technique does a couple things. It lets them know that people's tastes change, and even if they don't like something now, they may like it later. And it encourages them to try things they "think" they don't like. I set the example that I was brave, tried something I didn't like and not only survived, but now enjoy it.

Oatmeal Recipe Roundup
KidAppeal's Oatmeal-No Added Sugar (steel cut with bananas, applesauce and raisins)
LifeAsMom's Apples and Oatmeal (rolled with sauteed apples and cream)
The Veggie Queen's Pressure Cooker Steel Cut Oats-with apples, walnuts, cinnamon and flax.
Lynn's Kitchen Adventures-Baked Peanutbutter Oatmeal (quick cooking oats)
Mommy Cooks Raisin Pawful Oatmeal (quick cooking)
@wifenkids Oatmeal w/ fresh diced mango No Sugar Added (no link to recipe, but the gist is you cook oatmeal, then add fresh diced mango atop. Needs no sweetener.

Got an oatmeal recipe you'd like to add to the list? Send me the URL via twitter, email or leave it in the comments section. I'd really like to see one for peanut butter or chocolate.

Watermelon Mint Juice-watermelon IS healthy!

Summer means abundant produce. Herbs like mint grow wild and it's hard to consume it all. Seeded watermelons taste superior to the smaller seedless ones, but unless you're feeding a crowd or your family is crowd sized, it's hard to store all that hacked up watermelon in the fridge. So here's what I did with my watermelon and mint excess.

Watermelon Mint Juice
Cut watermelon
Washed fresh mint

Put cut watermelon pieces in a food processor. Add washed mint leaves. Pulse until watermelon is mostly juice and mint leaves are shredded. I used my hand blender. You'll have to figure your own ratios out. If you're not sure you love the taste of fresh mint, use a little. If you know you love it, use a bunch up. Whiz up as much watermelon juice as you think your family will consume.

Pour into ginormous shot glasses for a refreshing treat. I wished I'd made more, or thought to make this in the evening instead of snack time, because I surely think a little vodka would have turned this into a special summer spirit.

If you don't like the watermelon juice with mint plain, freeze it in ice cube trays and use them in lemonade, juice spritzers and other fancy libations. We are big fans of frozen fruit cubes. Sometimes we just bash the cubes up and eat with a spoon. Simple pleasures of summer.

At a recent playdate a friend confessed she wished watermelon was healthier, since it was one of the few fruits her kids really liked. This was not the only time this summer I'd heard someone bemoan the uselessness of this beloved summer treat. I'm surprised to learn how many people think watermelon's aren't healthy! I must nix this myth.

Sure they have a lot of water content (~92% to be exact), but they also have some special health properties you should know about. These juicy tidbits are all from Dave Grotto's 101 Foods That Could Save Your Life.

• The lycopene content is comparable to that of a raw tomato! (remember a couple years ago when all the major multi-vitamin brands started touting lycopene as part of the mix?)
• Watermelon rind contains an amino acid that improves blood flow through arteries
• Watermelons are a good source of beta-carotene
• A human study in Korea showed that men who consumed more watermelon and other fruit had a lower risk of colorectal cancer
• watermelon tea has been used as a diuretic
• all parts of the watermelon, including skins and seeds are edible, some countries consider watermelon seeds a delicacy.

And according to whfoods.org, George Mateljan tells us

• watermelon is a good source of vitamin C and beta-carotene. High intakes of vitamin C and beta-carotene have been shown in a number of scientific studies to reduce the risk of heart disease, reduce the airway spasm that occurs in asthma, reduce the risk of colon cancer, and alleviate some of the symptoms of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. A cup of watermelon provides 24.3% of the daily value for vitamin C, and, through its beta-carotene, 11.1% of the DV for vitamin A.
• Because watermelon has a higher water content and lower calorie content than many other fruits (a whole cup of watermelon contains only 48 calories), it delivers more nutrients per calorie-an outstanding health benefit!
• Data reported in a study published in the Archives of Ophthalmology indicates that eating 3 or more servings of fruit per day may lower your risk of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), the primary cause of vision loss in older adults, by 36%, compared to persons who consume less than 1.5 servings of fruit daily.

Mint is also super-good-for-ya. I won't bore you with those details, but think loads of concentrated antioxidants for cancer prevention, heart health and improved digestion function.

Freezer Peaches, Whole ones

So my half bushel of peaches is gone! Well not gone, but the ones we haven't eaten yet are spoken for. Four are hiding in the back of my fridge waiting for Saturday morning peaches n' oatmeal. And they are in hiding. Have been for 2 days. I haven't had a fresh peach in 2 days and I'm really fiending. If I could see the peaches in the fridge I might not be able to resist their fresh juicy peachiness and I might just gobble them right up in a parfait.

The bulk of the peaches are hiding out in the freezer (the TOMATOES label on the box is sneaky). I spent Monday night googling peach freezing options and finally decided on whole, pit in, peel on and sliced sugar pack in ziplock bags. The sweetened ones will be for holiday crisps. I can already see their bubbly peachy syrup sneaking up onto the spiced oatmeal crumb topping. The whole, pit in, peel on ones will be for smoothies and parfaits. I left them whole and unpeeled so I didn't have to deal with potential discoloration or adding sweeteners. I'm hoping their texture will hold up better to uncooked applications like smoothies and parfaits. Although I'm somewhat concerned about the PIT factor. How to get the pit out of frozen fruit? I know the peel, should I need to remove it, will come off by running the frozen peach under hot water and wiping. I won't be removing it unless it becomes inedible due to the freeze. And if I were cooking the peaches it would be fine to let them defrost unpeeled before slicing, but that might affect texture?? I may be freezing them halved, pit out, face down on a cookie sheet, the moved to a ziplock next time.

I am giddy when I open the freezer door and I see my stash of peaches. In theory they are supposed to be for the dead of winter when I'm longing for a fresh peach. I suspect I know myself well enough that 95% of them will be gone by October (fine. i won't lie. september), then I'll save the last one FOREVER, delaying my grief over eating all the peaches and find it in the bottom of the freezer when big boo graduates from college.

So you'll have to stay tuned to find out whether or not it's hard to get the pit out of the frozen peach and whether or not their texture will be ok uncooked in a parfait.

Quick Summer Market Meal, Green beans, tomatoes and eggs

This is by no means a food network worthy meal (as I like to think some of my concoctions are), but this is how I like to "cook" on market day in the summer. When I have a lot of fresh garden produce. I don't like to muck with it too much. We eat it raw, or slightly cooked so it can retain a lot of it's garden goodness, color and fresh taste. We often have a few veggie side dishes or salads and I'll do something with eggs. The other benefit is it's quick and doesn't require a lot of stove/oven time which keeps the house cool. For other quick fix meals, hop over to lifeasmom's ultimate recipe swap and see what's cooking there.

Giveaway Reminder
For those of you visiting from the LifeAsMom URS, welcome! Don't forget to leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite veggie for a chance to win a veggie cookbook.

Best Green Beans Ever
Get a pot of water boiling. Trim the stem end of young tender fresh green beans off, and leave the "tail." Leave them long, better for finger snacking. Rinse them in a colander and toss them in the water when it comes to a boil. Set timer for 2 minutes. Return beans to colander, and rinse with cold water shaking until they've lost all heat, or submerge in an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Admire your crunchy, cold, amazingly green green beans and try not to eat them all before serving to your family!

Serve with a poached egg on top, or drizzle with oil and vinegar (any kind) and a sprinkle of salt. Or with your family's favorite salad dressing, for big boo that's ranch. I have to leave some beans off the table or we'll eat them all gone. Then hubby doesn't get any when he gets home. Green beans prepared this way make an excellent addition to a veggie tray as well. If you really want to impress your guests, serve green beans on your next veggie tray.

To make it fun, I serve the beans standing up in a stemless wine glass. The boys LOVE green beans this way!

If you're feeling Rachel Rayish, you could heat a skillet with a little oil, sliced/diced onions and garlic, then cook on medium-low until soft. Return the green beans to the pan, and toss to reheat. I skip this step in the hot summer, but the garlic/onion add another layer of flavor to fresh tender green beans. They taste just like fancy restaurant green beans. If you're feeling really fancy, add some slivered almonds.

Heirloom Tomato Salad
While I love tomatoes just about any way, a garden fresh locally grown tomato doesn't need much fuss to taste amazing. Just slice or quarter and sprinkle some salt. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil for another layer of flavor. Splash on some balsamic vinegar. Got fresh basil, add that in. Any feta crumbles or fresh mozzarella?
Hard boiled eggs
We go meatless a few times a week at dinner, so at least one night eggs are on the menu. I do them many ways, poached over greens, hard boiled in chef's salad, and hard boiled with salt pepper and butter. I spent my young years in Norway where eggs served in little silver egg cups were the norm for breakfast. My FIL and MIL a.k.a Papaw and Mamaw spent a few years in Stavanger recently and gave us these amazing little egg cups that I break out for Quick Summer Meal night. I serve the hard or soft boiled eggs warm, shell on, in the cup. Then you whack it in half with a knife. Add a pat of butter, salt, pepper and close the lid to melt the butter. Eat the egg with a spoon. Just look at all that oozy butter dripping down the sides. Yums!Little boo a.k.a "butter fiend," enjoying his egg cup.

Bread or Fruit
If I have fresh bakery bread I slice it and serve with dinner. If not, I toast some bread, cut in triangles or serve pita bread. If there's no fresh bread or I have an abundance of fruit, I serve fruit. Hack up a melon, some stone fruit, berries, whatever was available at the market.

This is the perfect kind of meal to follow up with stove-top popcorn. We have family TV night once a week in the summer, and snacks like popcorn are usually on the menu after dinner.

Kid Appeal Tip If your kids are really averse to veggies, try this type of farmer's market meal. Go to the market on a weekend, and let them help you pick out a few items. Then serve a "Market Meal." Offer mostly fruits and vegetables in mini courses like an appetizer meal. Make sure they're hungry, a recent snack might make them opt out of any of the new cuisine. When they can't choose a familiar meat dish, starchy side, etc. they may just venture out and taste some of the harvest from the market.

Peach Yogurt Parfait-Best ever!

I ran out of frozen blueberries which is our m.o. for yogurt parfaits around here and ended up using a peach instead. As run outs tend to come in waves, I was also out of Kashi puffs and used Grape Nuts Flakes instead. The cereal and fruit substitutions turned out to be better than the original, I was shocked!! Little boo is a convert too, but hubby and big boo still prefer blueberries and puffs. I'm on a Grape-Nuts Flakes kick. They are so airy and crunchy and add a lot of texture to a parfait. Hubby loves them for breakfast. They have a little more sugar than I'd like (the Kashi puffs have no added sugar), but 4g a serving isn't too bad. The Kashi puffs have no added sugar. And thankfully Post uses sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. Thank's Post!

It will be a sad day indeed when peaches are out of season, and I have to return to frozen blueberries parfaits.

Peach Yogurt Parfait
Spoon unsweetened whole milk organic yogurt into a bowl.
Top with half or whole fresh diced peach (sure you could sub canned peaches in juice, but that's only acceptable when peaches are out of season).
Top with 1/2 cup of Grape Nuts Flakes
Top with raw honey to taste.

Kid Appeal Tip My kids go crazy for the kid marketed yogurt products in the dairy section, they ask for it every time they see it. While we get them on occasion, they are a sometimes food for us. I routinely buy a large container of plain yogurt and dress it up with fresh/dried fruit, granola/cereal and honey. Just because it's made for kids doesn't mean that it's good for kids routinely. You'd be surprised what they'll eat once they're home and not bombarded with all the cartoon characters. If your kids shop with you let them pick out one "wholesome" snack each shopping trip. This cuts down on the begging and nagging during the shopping trip, gives them some discretion to choose a treat, and should result in less resistance to the plethora of choices you make that they don't prefer.

Defining wholesome snack is up to you, but give your child some ideas of what things they can choose from. Things that make our list are dairy/grain/fruit items that have more added sugar and food coloring than I'm comfortable condoning on a routine basis. Things like sweetened whole grain cereals (more than 6g per serving), flavored yogurts, yogurt covered nuts or fruit, fruit leather, graham crackers, etc.

NasoPure Winners Announced and Peaches Galore!

I got to do something fun today! Draw winners for the NasoPure giveaway. Big boo helped with the honors and pushed the "Get Numbers" button at random.org for me. Seemed like a good time to introduce the interger concept to him.

Thanks to everyone who entered, and congratulations to the 4 winners, One Acre Homestead, Greta, ceis8009 and Shannon C!!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

5
3
38
7

Timestamp: 2009-08-10 13:36:31 UTC

Thanks again to Dr. Hana for offering such a great product to Kid Appeal readers and a special thank you to Heather at Freebies4Mom who shared this giveaway with her readers. If you didn't win, but you or kiddo need nasal congestion relief I hope you'll give nasal irrigation a shot.

In other news, my Aunt took me to Ham's orchard near Dallas, TX and I couldn't resist buying a half bushel of peaches (or 4 tomatoes, one cantaloupe, 2 bags of purple hulled peas, and a bunch of blueberries). So guess what I'll be doing this week? Eating as many fresh peaches as I can and putting up the rest. Ham's is awesome. They had a constant flow of folks in there on a Saturday afternoon getting soft ice strawberry and peach ice cream as well as stocking up on fresh produce, frozen cobblers and preserves.

I sense peach shortcake, cobbler, and smoothies in my week. And winter. Nothing beats a bowl of cheerios and fresh peaches to start the day. Except maybe a peach yogurt parfait. Or maybe peach clafoutis? Or oatmeal and peaches? It's a peach breakfast, lunch and dessert festival chez moi this week.

What's your favorite way to eat a peach? I've got a half a bushel to use up, any and all ideas are welcome.

Bummed you didn't win this giveaway? No worries, you still have time to enter the giveaway for a great veggie cookbook. All you have to do is comment on this post telling me what your favorite veggie and way to eat it is.

Vegetables Get the Royal Treatment-Cookbook Review and Give away!

I've seen more food blogs with Meatless Meal posts, and recipe swaps recently than I can shake a stick at. While most carnivores aren't willing to give up meat completely, they are for budget or health reasons willing to give up a little meat, at least for one main meal, once a week. If you're already on that bandwagon or are flirting with the idea, then you may suddenly become out of ideas for meatless meals and need some inspiration. I've got something for ya!

A chance to win Jill Nussinow a.k.a The Veggie Queen's cookbook, Vegetables Get The Royal Treatment.

In a meat eating family, you'll get lots of groans at the dinner table if you just sub tofu to your normal meaty meal. It helps when you offer new things they've never had, and use a recipe with lot of great flavor to help win your carnivores over to meatless meals. Jill's recipes let vegetables shine, they are put front and center in the dish. While many of her recipes do involve a significant list of ingredients, even a busy cook (well, lazy really) like me doesn't mind prepping a longer list of ingredients to end up with a remarkable veggie dish. Think of all that time you didn't spend marinating, trimming, cooking meat, and throw it all into a veggie or three.

There are plenty of veggie/grain recipes and veggie/meat substitute recipes and many other veggie side dish recipes that adapt easily to the addition of meat substitute to turn it into a main meal. This is not just a book for vegetarians! Most carnivores would do their health a favor by increasing the amount of vegetables consumed on a regular basis.

Jill's book will inspire you to bring flavors together with vegetables you may have never thought of. Any gardener, CSA member, or produce sale shopper will know that in summer squash is a plenty, and using up the bounty in a palatable way can be a challenge. Jill's Grilled Asian Squash is a perfect way to use up plenty of abundant squash in a tasty way.

The squash I scored from the one farmer who still brings produce to Sandy's Market in West Houston on Wednesdays.



They grilled up nice with ginger, tamari (soy sauce), sesame seed oil and herb marinade and are kicked up a notch with some of the best tasting onions I've ever had.

I think my favorite part of the book, (outside of the recipes) is Jill's reminder to support local farmers and go to the trouble of finding fresh produce by visiting a farmer's market or stopping at a roadside stand to pick up some fresh produce. Some of the most amazing fruit and vege I've tasted has come from back country road produce stands. I always make sure I have cash in my wallet on the way down to the farm or out to Austin for family visits so I can stop and buy something grown at a Texas farm. Even if your busy life can only get to a Farmer's market once a quarter, or shop at a produce stand on the annual trek to grandmas; make time for it. Not only is it a great family activity, and one of the best ways to introduce various types of produce to your family, but it's also an opportunity to get some really tasty food.

Anyone trying to use up home garden or CSA share produce will surely find something new to delight the family with just as one more greens, or squash or eggplant dish is the last thing they want to see on the table. The recipes are organized by season combining produce that harvests around the same time.

This book would make a great gift to anyone you know who is trying to make vegetables a bigger part of their diet. When steamed veggies on the side (or worse, a can of peas and carrots dumped into tuna mac) is all the veggie you know, it's no wonder veggies don't hold a place of esteem in the weekly menu.

Jill reminds us to revere the fruits and veggies grown nearby and offers a plethora of recipes that make can make vegetables queen of the table.

Last week I blogged about two of Jill's recipes, and I've made a handful of others. All delicious. My favorite was the Mediterranean Bean and Herb salad. Tomatillo and Veggie rice salad was hubby's favorite. I don't know why but he's morally opposed to white beans. Give him a black one, red one, brown one, no problem. Ask him to eat a white bean and it's like I committed a heinous dinner crime. Mystery it is.

How to win a copy of Jill's book:

1) enter a comment on this post telling me what your favorite vegetable is and your favorite way(s) to eat said vegetable.

2)Leave your email address in the following format jenna AT foodwithkidappeal DOT com.

3) The contest will end at midnight CST August 16th. Winner will be selected using random.org and contacted via email.