Grow Me. Grow You.

More fruits and veggies please.

Since last week's challenge was to eat a fruit and/or veggie with each meal, I looked through some cooking magazines, through a kid's cookbook (from the library), and my family's cookbook. Here are some old and new recipes and ideas that all have a fruit and/or veggie in them that we made this week.


Butternut Squash Casserole (homemade mac & cheese) -thanks Suzana. So so good.
Ingredients
1/2 butternut squash peeled & cut into 1/2" cubes (2 cups)
2 tsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 lb. whole wheat elbows
2 tbs. butter
2 tbs. butter
2 tbs. flour
1 1/2 cup reduced fat milk
1 3/4 cup low fat white cheddar cheese, shredded & divided

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375. Toss squash with oil & salt on a foil lined tray. Bake for 20 min. or until tender. Set aside.
2. Cook pasta for 2 min less than package directions call for; drain & place in bowl with squash. Meanwhile, melt butter over low heat. Whisk in flour; cook for 2 min.
3. Slowly whisk in milk. Bring mixture to boil, then simmer. Cook 3 min., stirring occasionally. Add 1 1/2 cups cheese; stir until melted. Stir cheese sauce into pasta & squash.
4. Put everything in a casserole dish and add salt to taste.




The kids and I tried some recipes from My First Cookbook. I got a couple cute kid cookbooks from the library.


Ambrosia Salad (from Paula Deen's).


Ingredients
15 oz. can mandarin oranges
1 cup mini marshmallows
8 oz. can crushed pineapple
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup pineapple

Directions
1. Drain the liquid from the oranges into the sink and put the oranges into the bowl.
2. Drain the liquid from the pineapple and put the pineapple into the bowl.
3. Add the marshmallows, coconut, and sour cream.
4. Mix gently with the spatula and serve.
Makes eight 1/2-cup servings.




Fruit Kebabs (from Paula Deen's).
pineapple cut into chunks
strawberries
red grapes
green grapes
(save left over fruit for shakes or freeze the red grapes-so good)

Apollo had fun putting the fruit on the skewer. Usually wooden skewers are used, but we used are big barbecuing ones. A fun presentation for any fruit.






Yogurt Pops (from Paula Deen's).
Ingredients
1/2 cup orange juice
8 oz. carton yogurt, any flavor
1 Tbs honey
six 3 oz. paper cups with wooden pop sticks (we just used a plastic Popsicle mold I bought from the dollar store instead and froze the extra in a paper cup that can be ripped open)


Directions
1. Into the bowl, stir together the yogurt, orange juice, and honey. Pour the mixture into 3 oz. paper cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Put these in the cake pan to keep them steady. Put the pan in the freezer. Check the yogurt cups in a about an hour. When they have begun to freeze, stick a pop stick in the center of each one. When they are ready to eat, just peel the cup away (or use the plastic Popsicle molds to totally skip this step. I love mine. You can turn any drink or healthy shake into a yummy dessert).
2. You also can just freeze the yogurt in the cup with no stick and eat it with a spoon, like an Italian ice. Let it sit at room temperature for about 10 min. before you start eating so it's not hard.




Spinach & Sausage Egg Bake (from Simple & Delicious magazine).

Prep time: 20 min. Bake: 30 min.

Ingredients
1 lb. bulk pork sausage (we just used the Jimmy Dean)
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (we used fresh raw spinach)
6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
1/4 cup finely chopped onions
1/4 cup finely chopped sweet red pepper
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese
10 eggs
3/4 cup 2% milk
2 tsp. snipped fresh dill or 1/2 tsp. dill weed
1-1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. salt

Directions
In a large skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Spoon into a greased 13 x 9 in. baking dish. Layer with spinach, bacon, onion, red pepper and cheese.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, milk and seasonings; pour over top. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 min. or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 min. before cutting.






Chicken salad sandwiches. Super easy. We used the left over red grapes from the fruit kebabs-just cut them in half. Plain yogurt. Nuts (pecans are great-we used sunflower seeds). Canned chicken. Mix and serve. Add any seasonings that you like.





Summer Zucchini Casserole (family cookbook)

Ingredients
2 lbs zucchini (6 cups) (I leave the skin on for more fiber and it's easier)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 can creme chicken soup
1 can dairy sour cream
1 cup shredded carrot
8 oz. Pepperidge Farms herb stuffing mix
1/2 cup melted butter (I use half of it)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Cook squash and onion in salt water for 5 min., drain. combine soup and sour creme, stir in carrots. Fold in squash and onion. Combine stuffing mix and butter. Spread 1/2 the stuffing mix on bottom of a 9 x 13" pan. Spoon vegetable mixture on top. Sprinkle remaining stuffing over veggies. Bake for 25-30 min.



Fruit Smoothies. We make these all the time. Carleton made a delicious one last night with lots of raw spinach, our left over strawberries, Jello instant fat-free sugar free powder, yogurt, and milk. Shakes are great because we can use up all our fruit before it goes bad for the week and even throw in veggies and they are better than Jamba Juice's. Let me know if you want any ideas for shakes-I just sent an email out to a friend that asked about making shakes and I can forward it to you too.


With our leftover fruit/veggie smoothies, we poured them into a muffin tin and threw them in the freezer. I'll run some hot water over the bottom and we'll have a frozen dessert this week.



If you have any fruit or veggie recipe, I would love some more so please send them my way.