Day Three hundred and forty-three

Stocking the freezer today...

Shredded zucchini.  Goes into the freezer in 2 c. bags.  During the long winter, this will go into breads, chili, meatloaf, etc.

Hunks of yellow squash, in the steamer, which will be...

Pureed in the food processor, put into 1/4 c., and put in the freezer.  Until they're frozen, then they're...

Popped out of muffin tins, and stored in freezer-safe bags in the freezer.

Oh yeah, and since I was busy processing veggies all day, my husband handled dinner, albeit a very simple one.  Dinner: Breaded chicken pieces, gluten-free mac and cheese, strawberries, and green beans.

Day Three hundred and seveteen

Our most recent yummy breakfast discovery: POPOVERS!!!  These are so easy to make-- just a few ingredients to combine, then they bake for 30 mins, giving you time to neaten the kitchen and get the fam dressed for the day.

Breakfast: Gluten-free popovers (recipe: Gluten-free on a shoestring), scrambled eggs, and fresh strawberries.

Day Three hundred and sixteen

Lunch: Leftover brown rice, mixed with diced tomatoes, red beans, garnished with sour cream and cheddar cheese.

Dinner: Lazy chicken over brown rice fusilli (crockpot; Make it Fast Cook it Slow), steamed broccoli, fresh strawberries.

Day Three hundred and fifteen

Pizza dough, rising (recipe: Gluten-free on a shoestring).  This was our second attempt at gluten-free pizza, and we did like the crust a little better. The consistency of the dough was more similar to regular dough than the almond flour.

Pizza (sauce with butternut squash puree).

Dinner: Gluten-free pizza, salad, and fresh strawberries.

Gluten-free sandwich bread (recipe: Gluten-free on a shoestring).

Day Two hundred and ninety-one

Dinner: Grilled cheese with cheddar and turkey bacon, on whole wheat, steamed carrots, and strawberries.  Eaten outside on the deck.  Nuff said.

Day Two hundred and eighty-seven

Butternut squash puree: Frozen in muffin tins, and stored in a ziploc bag in the freezer. This will go into chili, burgers, pasta, etc.

Zucchini bread: No summer is complete without it.

Dinner: Spinach cheddar omelets, turkey bacon, zucchini bread, and fresh strawberries.

Day Two hundred and eighty-five

Breakfast: Challah french toast, and fresh strawberries. This was a meal made by my husband, and it was very nice to wake up to.  :)

I found a juicy zucchini hiding in the garden, and decided to bread and bake it.  Mmmm.

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.

Day Two hundred and eighty

Breakfast: Cream of wheat with cinnamon and fresh strawberries.

Dinner: Baked salmon in a basil-olive oil marinade, "spinach brownies" (allrecipes.com; forever thanks to Julie!), and fruit salad.

Day Two hundred and seventy-five

Dinner: Bunless turkey burgers, zucchini fritters (recipe: Alexandra's Kitchen), and fresh strawberries.

Pina colada pops (recipe: A Pretty Life in the Suburbs).

Day Two hundred and sixty-seven

Whole wheat zucchini pineapple bread (recipe from my new friend Melissa ;)

Breakfast: Whole wheat zucchini pineapple bread and strawberries

Picnic dinner by the pool: Turkey and cheese sandwiches on rolls, carrot sticks, and cut-up apple

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 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-one

Dinner: Whole wheat penne, grilled chicken, and blanched spinach in an alfredo sauce; fresh strawberries.

Day Two hundred and twenty-six

Dinner: Macaroni and cheese (crockpot; recipe: Make it Fast, Cook it Slow) with pureed cauliflower (ala Sneaky Chef), steamed broccoli, and fresh strawberries. Usually M&C wouldn't be enough protein to suffice as dinner, but this recipe has an egg, 4 c. of milk, and 4. c of cheese, so I let it slide. Also, my husband wasn't home for dinner, so I didn't have to see his sad face when he saw no meat on his plate. ;)

Day Two hundred and four

Dinner: Crunchy chicken with rice and green beans (recipe: Rachel Ray) and strawberries. This recipe used a ciabatta role (made into crumbs in the food processor) as the coating for this tasty chicken. Yum.

Day Two hundred and three

Breakfast: Crepes (whole grain) with nutella and fresh strawberries (recipe: Sneaky Chef).

Dinner: Three bean turkey chili (recipe: Simplyrecipes.com, and made by my husband).

Dinner: Cornbread (whole grain, with pureed cauliflower; Recipe: Sneaky Chef).

Day One hundred and seventy-nine

Lunch: Pizza (fresh water mozzarella, spinach, and marinara on a whole wheat sandwich thin), baby carrots, cut-up apples and grapes.

Dinner: Orient express (chicken and veggie stir-fry; recipe: Annabel Karmel), and fresh strawberries.

Day One hundred and seventy-two

Dinner: Pizza (fresh from Sam's club), steamed veggies, strawberries.

Day One hundred and sixty-seven

Dinner: Chicken parmesan (made by my awesome friend Jill, who sent this over since my husband is home with a back-injury), whole grain spaghetti with broccoli rabe, and fresh strawberries.