Leftover Lunch

We have an awesome new produce stand within walking distance to our house and we couldn't be happier.  Joe has a great variety of products and his prices are incredible.  I purchased a 3 pound bag of green grapes, 3 cucumbers, 4 large multi-colored peppers, a 2 pound bag of onions, 6 peaches, 4 large prune plums and a large eggplant, all for $12.  He even threw in a different type of red pepper so that we could try it.  We have been enjoying this new place for the past several weeks and we are very thankful that we can walk down the street, 7 days a week, and get fresh fruits and vegetables at a very reasonable cost.

After saying good-bye to Joe, I ran to Sam's Club to get the rest of the week's shopping finished.  When I arrived home, I started cleaning my fruits and vegetables, chopped them up and then put them in containers in the refrigerator.  This will make it so much easier when preparing meals or when the kids want a snack.  It made making dinner this evening much easier.  Which brings us to Molly's lunch...leftovers.

Our main entree is Curry Chicken Salad.  I put the recipe below in case anyone wants to try it.  (The photo doesn't do it justice) This is a very flavorful and nutritious alternative to a regular chicken salad.  It is loaded with fruit, protein and dairy so it keeps you full much longer than you might expect.  We are serving this with round butter crackers.  We offered Molly some smaller multi-grain crackers that she normally loves, but she chose these instead.

Our vegetable is a pickling cucumber sliced into spears.  This was the last one of these left because our refrigerator got a little too cold and froze two others.  We were still very happy to have this one though.  They are so crunchy and the flavor is very mild.  The skin is even less firm than a regular cucumber so it is easier for a child to bite through.

Our fruit, well, is in our chicken salad.  It's loaded with green grapes and honey gold apples.  It gives a great sweet but not too sweet taste, nice texture and fills the salad so that it feels like you are eating a lot.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Chobani Greek yogurt.  We found these Chobani Champions in our run to Sam's Club today.  They are tailored to kids so they are a little smaller and they are premixed so that the kids can just dig right in.  This was our dessert with dinner tonight and all three kids really enjoyed them.  The flavors available to us were Very Berry and Honey-Nana.  Molly chose the Honey-Nana tonight and wanted the Very Berry for her lunch.

Curry Chicken Salad

4 c. shredded chicken (we used a rotisserie chicken and chunked it up but we've also used chicken breasts)
1 c. chopped apples
1 c. grapes (halved)
1/4 c. chopped celery
1/4 c. slivered almonds

Mix together in a large bowl.

In a small bowl, combine...
1 c. plain greek yogurt (we used Chobani)
1/4 c. light mayonnaise
2 TBSP curry powder
salt and pepper to taste

Mix chicken salad with dressing and serve on a bed of lettuce, with crackers or on flatbread.  Tasted great the next day if you have any leftovers.

Spring is Here!

Spring is finally here!  At least it finally feels like spring in Western PA since the winter lasted for what felt like an eternity.  It has been warm for the past few days, the flowers are in full bloom and we have been cooking on the grill just about every night.  The other things that spring promises are fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms and back yard gardens.  We were lucky enough to find some great fresh produce recently and enjoy the taste of spring via strawberries and peppers.  YUM!

Our main entrée is a pimento cheese sandwich "quesadilla".  We used Trader Joe's Middle Eastern Flat Bread and spread Trader Joe's pimento cheese spread on it.  Then we folded it and sliced it.  This is Molly's favorite sandwich.

Our vegetable side is a romaine lettuce salad with yellow and red peppers.  We added a small container of light Italian dressing at Molly's request.

Our fruit side is strawberries and blueberries.  The blueberries are a little bit tart and the strawberries are very sweet.  A great combination.

Finally, our dessert is vanilla wafers.  Molly requested these too.  I think we'll be seeing our favorite yogurt soon though.

New and Interesting Foods

Yesterday, I lamented about how we didn't have very much in the fresh fruit or vegetable category in our house.  Well, we remedied that today.  Sam's Club has an incredible selection of fresh produce and we took full advantage of it.  I find it important to introduce new or different things to my kids.  Even if they don't like it at first or have not liked it in the past, we always try it again.  We have a two bite rule at our house.  If after two bites, they still don't like it, then they don't have to eat anymore of it.  This works pretty well for us, usually.  We'll see how the star fruit goes over in tomorrow's lunch.

Our main entrée is Castle Wood Honey Ham and Kraft 2% Cheddar Cheese.  We rolled up the ham and sliced it in half for a fun new twist.  Molly's Daddy was nice enough to chunk up the cheese and he did an excellent job!

Our veggie side is a baby spinach salad.  This will be a nice contrast the the salty and creamy flavors of the main entrée.

Our fruit side is a combination of kiwi, raspberries and star fruit.  The kiwi is sweet and tart at the same time.  The raspberries are incredibly flavorful.  And the star fruit, if you never tasted it, could be described as a cross between a green grape and a lime.  This combination is absolutely delicious!

Finally, the dessert is Mini Honey Teddy Grahams.  Molly really likes these.  They aren't too sweet and have a nice crunch.