Day Two hundred and ninety-five

Peanut butter and jelly muffins (whole grain, with pureed carrot; recipe: Sneaky Chef).

Breakfast: Peanut butter and jelly muffins, scrambled eggs, and fresh peaches.

Day Two hundred and ninety-two

Something I love to do in the summer- a cold lunch.  Hard-boiled eggs, fresh peaches, baby spinach, and whole grain crackers.

Pot-luck dinner.  My friend came over for dinner with her two kids, who eat only "kid" foods.  She brought chicken nuggets/fingers, garlic bread, fresh mozzarella with tomatoes, and I made whole wheat pasta and vegetables.  Then the kids had grapes.

Day Two hundred and eighty-eight

As I've mentioned, we've recently become gluten-free, and the learning curve is definitely noticeable.  I'll finish up these last few posts that occurred before we were gluten-free, and then I'll move on from there and explain what we're doing and how we've done it. Thanks for coming along on our journey.

Veggie baked ziti (whole grain pasta, baby spinach, zucchini, and fresh tomatoes).  My memory is failing me now, but I think I made two of these and froze one for future use (or perhaps this was the one I did freeze for future use- who knows).

Dinner: Veggie baked ziti and fresh peaches.

Dessert: Cream cheese swirl brownies (Pretty Life in the Suburbs).

Day Two hundred and eighty-one

Buttermilk blueberry breakfast cake (Alexandra's kitchen).  I made a few changes- half whole wheat pastry flour, half applesauce instead of all oil, and I made an oat-topping to sprinkle on the top before baking. This is an awesome recipe, and it makes so much that we eat it for two days. Mmm.

Breakfast: Blueberry breakfast cake and fresh peaches.

Basil and walnuts in the food processor, about to be...

Pesto!  I love, love, love that I picked the basil leaves right off the plant and within 20 minutes we were eating them as dinner.  This pasta salad was "wacky mac shapes" (I let my daughter pick it out at the store) with homemade pesto, chunks of fresh mozzarella, and a handful of grape tomatoes from the garden. This was YUM.

Dinner: Pesto pasta salad and fresh strawberries.  Btw, here's my recipe.  In a food processor, combine 2 c. well-packed basil leaves and 1/4 c. chopped nuts (pine nuts or walnuts). Pulse till shredded, then add 2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 c. olive oil, 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, and 1/4 tsp. ground pepper, and pulse again. Add 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese, and pulse until smooth, pushing down as needed. If you’d like to freeze this in a jar for later use, don’t add the cheese until it’s been thawed and you’re ready to serve it.