A Healthy Salad...

I don't know about you, but over here it's about high time to lay off the sugar and get the family back on the right track after all the Christmas snacking and unhealthy eating that comes with the season. New Year is coming and with it the resolutions - plans to lose those extra pounds we put on... So if you need a recipe that is both healthy and loved by children try this one:

You need only a few items:

• carrots
• apples
• raisins
• chopped nuts or almonds
• lemon juice
• honey
• apple cider vinegar
• vegetable oil
• pepper and salt

I am not giving any measurements here. Our kids love this salad which is commonly known as a "Rohkostsalat" = in translation raw foods salad - in Germany. They make it on their own by just throwing the above ingredients together as they please...

Of course, the apples and carrots need to be washed, peeled, and grated. But once that is done, it's just up to the chef to add other things. Throw in a couple of handfuls of chopped nuts. If you love raisins, like we do, put in a few tablespoons of those. Add a bit of lemon juice to keep the apples from turning brown and some honey for sweetening.

This salad makes a lovely snack or refreshing side dish for any occasion! Best of all: you can tell the kids to make it on their own! That is, if they are old enough to use a peeler and grating tool!

Employees Only!

It's been three weeks since I fell down the stairs in our house and hurt my bottoms. It still hurts a lot. Strangely enough sitting is not a problem these days. So I have been sewing up a storm trying to catch up on my custom orders. It's mostly when I am trying to sleep that I am being reminded of the my strange predicament. I don't understand this at all.

The children felt really bad for causing the fall by leaving the blanket on the stairs. They understand that I am really grumpy these days for lack of sleep. So they made me cookies a few times already. Today I found this strange sign on the door to our kitchen. What the heck? At first I thought it was a comment about us parents...

I walked closer and had a good laugh. Must have been a sign my daughter saw at the restaurant...How cute is that?

The Bounty of Summer

We have had an unusually long growing season in Colorado this year. It's middle of September, mind you, and I still go out every day and pick fresh tomatoes off the vine. No rain or moisture in sight anywhere. Colorado usually has an early snowfall around this time of year. We get at least one brutal beating in the form of a big snow or frost that kills our tender garden plants. But not this year!

I suppose there are certain advantages to the global warming process, at least when you live in Colorado and love tomatoes. Of course, when you grow tomatoes you must grow basil, since the two go together like bread and butter. There is no easier way of cooking dinner than rubbing a bowl with garlic cloves, chopping up a handful of fresh ripe tomatoes and tossing them with cooked pasta and some olive oil. It's so easy a child can do it. Voila! You got dinner in about 20 minutes.

But while the fresh tomato taste shall be missed sorely, for it must snow or get cold sooner or later, the basil flavor can be preserved. During the hot summer months I often make pesto - this most magic Italian sauce.

To make pesto all you need is:

1. fresh basil leaves


2. fresh parsley


3. extra virgin olive oil


4. garlic


5. Parmesan cheese


6. pine nuts


7. salt and pepper

I really don't use measurements any more. I am a firm believer in intuitive cooking. I just toss the lots of fresh green leaves (mostly basil and a few leaves of parsley) and olive oil in the food processor and blend them until I get a smooth paste. You don't want it too runny or too stiff. I just keep adding olive oil to the leaves until it is a nice consistency that can be tossed with my pasta. Once you have the pesto sauce you add 1-2 cloves of garlic and the other items on the list. Let your taste buds decide what combination they like best. Often I leave out the pine nuts completely because they are expensive, or I can only find the questionable kind imported from China (stay away from them!).

It is very easy to preserve the pesto for the winter! Just do the first step of my recipe! Make a pure paste from olive oil and fresh herbs and freeze this mixture in ice cube trays. Once they are frozen solid I put the pesto cubes in Ziploc bags.

Don't add any of the other ingredients for they will make your pesto funky when you thaw it out!

Now when winter rolls around, and you get a hankering for fresh basil, you just take out a couple of your pesto cubes, thaw them out, add some olive oil, and the usual ingredients. The kids can make dinner again! Voila! You have the bounty of summer at your fingertips from October through April...

Eat your Vegetables! Zucchinis can Be Yummy!

For the longest time, we had trouble convincing the children that zucchinis are an edible food. No matter how the hardworking parents served it, there was always lots of whining and complaining. That is, until the day I encountered a recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Muffins, when I was browsing the Internet for desserts. Since we like playing in the kitchen and experimenting with ingredients, we slightly alter the basic recipe every time we make it. But find the basic ingredients needed below:

All you need is a couple of eager assistants plus:

• 3 eggs
• 2 cups of sugar (in the recipe it said white, but I also tried with a light brown sugar and it worked fine!)
• 1 cup of vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 3 cups all-purpose flour (part of it can be replaces with whole-wheat flower)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C) Lightly grease two 9x9 inch Pyrex glass dishes. You can also bake this batter in two muffin pans. I made them as a party treat for my son ...
2. In a rather large bowl mix together beaten eggs, sugar, oil. Add the vanilla, cocoa powder, and grated zucchini and mix them well together.
3. Mix the dry ingredients: Flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg. Add them to the liquid ingredients. The batter needs to be moist. We did not drain any liquid from the grated zucchinis as some recipes suggested.
4. Pour batter into greased Pyrex dishes or muffin pans. Decorate the top with chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes. Insert toothpick to make sure it's baked all the way through.

It's so chocolaty and yummy I promise the children will fight over who gets to eat more of the vegetable dessert.