Day Two hundred and fifty-six

Dinner: Turkey sloppy joes (with diced apple and pureed butternut squash) on whole-grain rolls, steamed veggies, fresh strawberries.  I'd made sloppy joes a while back, tripled the recipe, and froze the extras.  This morning when I realized we were going to be out till dinner time, I was thrilled to defrost it, and have it waiting when we got home.  I could just kiss myself.  ;)  Here's the recipe.

Day Two hundred and fifty-five

Dinner: Diced turkey with chunks of apples, light ranch dressing, and baby spinach on whole grain bread, and grapes.  I  had a more interesting meal planned, but we had a late lunch and the kids have been under the weather, so I opted for a quick, no-cook dinner.  Afterwards, I was so thankful I'd done so.

Day Two hundred and fifty-four: Veggie garden

Tonight's dinner was nothing more than day two of leftovers from this weekend's BBQ.  However, I spent some time marveling at the early stages of our veggie garden.  Technically, everything in the garden will be cooked and/or eaten in the kitchen, so it's fair game here.  ;)

Grape tomatoes... starting to ripen.

Red peppers... still babies, but promising.

Squash flowers.  I know some people like to fry and eat these, but they smell wretched when you get them on your hands, so I'm going to pass.

A baby yellow squash... growing fast.

An eggplant flower.  This is my first time growing eggplant, and I was tickled to see its beautiful purple flowers.  I had no idea!

An eeny weeny short zucchini... there are a bunch of baby ones, I'm so excited.

Green beans, getting tall.  Many thanks to Karen for her donation of extra plants!

Rosemary.  This weekend I used it for the first time of the season, to grill potatoes- so good.

Basil- my favorite thing in the garden.  I have two plants, and by the end of the season, all extra becomes pesto.  Straight into the freezer to enjoy all winter long.

A cucumber plant. Nothing put flowers yet, but the plant is getting huge, so something should be happening soon!

And finally, broccoli, in progress.

Not to be left out-- we also have parsley, butternut squash, and a watermelon (thanks again to Karen), but those guys were little so I let them be.

Day Two hundred and fifty-three

Dinner: Yesterday's BBQ has left us with two nights of leftovers. Woo hoo!

Day Two hundred and fifty-two

Family BBQ: BBQ chicken, pulled pork (crockpot, recipe: Make it Fast, Cook it Slow) with rolls, corn on the cob, rosemary potatoes, sauteed onions, and a veggie platter.

Fresh fruit platter

Day Two hundred and fifty-one

End-of-the-school-year-dinner: Kahlua chicken (recipe: Food.com) over whole wheat couscous, spinach brownies (recipe: Allrecipe.com), and cantaloupe.

End-of-the-school-year dessert: Brownie pizza

Day Two hundred and fifty

Breakfast: Whole wheat banana chocolate chip muffins.  One batch for the homefront, and one batch for my daughter to bring to her teachers at school, as an end-of-the-year thank you.

Day Two hundred and forty-nine

Dinner: Coconut chicken (crockpot; recipe: Coconut Beef- Make it Fast, Cook it Slow) over brown rice pilaf (with pureed cauliflower; recipe: Double Delicious), steamed broccoli, and watermelon.

Day Two hundred and forty-eight

Dinner: Whole grain spaghetti with mozzarella (my daughter's request), grilled chicken, salad, and watermelon.

Day Two hundred and forty-seven

Breakfast: Whole grain zucchini blueberry muffins (recipe: Parents magazine) with fresh watermelon.

Father's Day dessert: Sour cream pound cake (recipe: Cooking Light). This recipe is more time consuming than a regular cake, but SO worth it.

Father's Day fruit platter: Made by my mom.  There was a whole other meal, including chicken, steak, pasta salad, salad, etc., but it was made by my parents, so I didn't photograph it.

Day Two hundred and forty-six

Dinner: Whole grain mac and cheese (crockpot; recipe: Make it Fast, Cook it Slow) with pureed cauliflower (ala Sneaky Chef); salad; turkey hot dogs; fresh blueberries, raspberries, and watermelon.

Day Two hundred and forty-five

Dinner: Big Salad.  Steamed carrots and broccoli, fresh zucchini and red peppers, sliced hard-boiled eggs, baby spinach and romaine lettuce, homemade croutons (from ciabatta rolls), and fresh berries.

Day Two hundred and forty-four

Dinner: Chicken tacos (with pureed butternut squash, shredded zucchini, black beans, and diced tomatoes) with baby spinach, sour cream, shredded cheddar, and strawberries.

Day Two hundred and forty-three

Dinner: Scrambled cheddar spinach eggs on a ciabatta roll, and fruit salad.  I had planned to try a new recipe which looked a bit more time consuming, but the afternoon got busy, so we opted for breakfast for dinner.

Day Two hundred and forty-two

Breakfast: Pineapple banana smoothies

Cauliflower puree, for the freezer.  Once these are frozen, I pop them out of the muffin tins and put them all into a gallon-sized freezer bag. These end up in mashed potatoes, soups, pasta salads, and mac and cheese.  You can never taste it!

Pastina pasta salad (with fresh zucchini, red pepper, and cauliflower puree).

Day Two hundred and forty-one

Orzo salad (fresh zucchini, grilled grape tomatoes, garden basil, and red peppers)

Dinner: Orzo salad, grilled chicken, and honeydew.

Day Two hundred and forty

Dinner: Chicken-spinach pie with mashed potato crust (recipe: Parenting magazine).  This is basically like a chicken pot pie, with a mashed potato crust on top.  I mixed pureed cauliflower into the potatoes, which is a Sneaky Chef technique.  Everyone loves this one, and we had it w/fresh strawberries.

Day Two hundred and thirty-nine

I credit my husband with this dinner:  Sauteed chicken, mac and cheese, steamed veggies, and peaches.

Day Two hundred and thirty-eight

Dinner:  Turkey chili with shredded cheddar and sour cream.  This chili is the last of a batch from the freezer, and was served alongside watermelon.

Day Two hundred and thirty-seven

Dinner: Spinach eggplant rollatini, Italian bread (compliments of my grandpa), and fruit salad. I made two 9x13 pans of the eggplant, and froze one for future use. It'll come in handy on a night when I don't have time to cook.

Day Two hundred and thirty-six

Breakfast: PB banana flax seed smoothies (recipe: Cooking Light).

Lunch: Grilled cheese and apples on whole wheat, steamed broccoli, and fresh blueberries.

Dinner: Turkey meatballs (with green puree ala Sneaky Chef), brown rice pilaf (with cauliflower puree, ala Double Delicious), steamed veggies, and fresh fruit. I had two bags of these meatballs in the freezer that I'd made as extras while back, and frozen. When my afternoon went awry due to a sick child, I was more than thrilled to be able to pull these out of the freezer and put together a quick dinner.

Day Two hundred and thirty-five

Man dinner: Steak, sauteed onions, baked potato, steamed broccoli, watermelon.

Day Two hundred and thirty-four

Memorial day fresh fruit platter (berries compliments of my parents).