Here’s how you can try.

You’ll need:

• Large watermelon (make sure it has a flat bottom)
• Sharp serrated knife or pumpkin carving saws
• Plastic toothpick
• Flour
• Template or pattern (optional) and scotch tape
  Check www.watermelon.org for lots of carving ideas
• Melon baller

1. Tape your pattern to the watermelon, if you’re using one.



2. Use the toothpick to trace the pattern or draw out your own by poking small holes or scraping into the watermelon rind.



3. Remove the pattern.



4. Dust the holes with flour to make them stand out.



5. Ready, set, CARVE!  (I use a larger knife to cut out large chunks to start and then the small saws to do the details.)



6. Scoop out the watermelon in neat balls to be used in your fruit salad.



7. Fill watermelon with fresh fruit and enjoy the OOOOHs and AAAAHs.

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup  milk
1/4 cup butter or stick margarine
2 eggs (reserve one yolk for brushing)
3/4 cup raisins (we left these out)
2 tablespoons cold water
12 marshmallows (we had to use minis b/c I was out of large ones)
ICING:
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon grated orange peel
4 teaspoons orange juice

Directions
1.In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, yeast, cinnamon and salt. In a saucepan, heat milk and butter to 120 degrees F-130 degrees F. Add to dry ingredients; beat just until moistened. Add eggs (remember to reserve one yolk);beat until smooth. Stir in raisins and enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a bowl coated with nonstick cooking spray, turning once to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

2.Punch dough down; turn onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 12 pieces; shape each into a ball.

3. After reviewing the story of the crucifixion, give each child a ball of dough.  Have them pinch off about 1/4 of it and put aside.  Poke a hole into the larger dough ball to form a “tomb.”  Place Jesus (one marshmallow) inside.  Place reserved dough ball on top as the stone.

4. Place rolls in round deep dish pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.

5.Beat egg yolk and water; brush over buns. Bake at 375 degrees F for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.

6. As the rolls bake, the marshmallow will melt away.  Remove the buns from the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes or until cool enough to handle.  Let the kids roll away the “stones” to find that the “tombs” are empty!  If there is a little marshmallow residue, you can tell them it is the burial clothes that Jesus left behind

It’s 100% kid-tested kid-invented and mother family-approved  I can take absolutely no credit for this recipe.

One night back in October while I was away, Patrick gave PJ the option of ordering pizza for dinner or going grocery shopping and creating his own.  PJ chose the latter and Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Pasta was born.

Ingredients

• 1 Box of your favorite pasta (we love Barilla Plus)
• 1/2 pound of bacon, cooked and crumbled (or 1/2 cup of real bacon bits)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup of shredded cheese divided (PJ used swiss slices the first time and shredded cheddar the second.  Cheddar won.)
• Non-stick spray

1. Cook and drain pasta according to instructions on box.
2. Heat large skillet over medium heat.
3. Spray skillet with non-stick spray.
4. Scramble egg and 1/2 cup of cheese in skillet until not runny.
5. Add bacon and pasta.
6. Heat through.
7. Remove from heat and place in serving bowl.
8. Sprinkle remainder of cheese on top.
9. Enjoy!

Let us know how you like it!

Monday night’s dinner had a little gourmet-ish feel and didn’t take long at all. 

Miso Salmon

• salmon fillet
• package of Kikkoman Instant Shiro Miso (White) Soup (I found mine in the international section of a major grocery store but apparently you can buy it on Amazon, too.  P.S.  It’s Prime eligible).
• 1 TBSP dark sesame oil
• 1 clove of garlic pressed
• 1 TBSP soy sauce

1. Preheat Foreman grill.
2. Mix soup, oil, garlic, and soy sauce in small bowl to make paste.
3. Place salmon skin-side down on bottom half of grill.
4. Rub paste evenly on pink side of salmon.
5. Grill for about 5 minutes or until opaque all the way through.

 
Excuse the messiness. Plating apparently isn’t my strong point.

I ate my salmon with a baby green salad with homemade Balsamic vinaigrette* and leftover roasted asparagus.  The kids ate it with chicken-flavored rice (the Knorr envelope kind) and sliced cucumbers.

*Mix 1 part extra virgin olive oil with 3 parts Balsamic vinegar.  Add salt, pepper, and honey to taste.  Shake well.

Ingredients
1/2 pound medium shrimp (that was about 4 per person for a family of 5)
1 cup chopped cooked chicken (optional, I had leftovers from a roasted chicken dinner earlier this week)
Box of pasta (I used whole wheat penne)
2 TBS of fat (I save chicken fat but butter would work)
2 TBS of flour
2 1/2 cups of milk
1 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese plus some for finishing (I use the pre-shredded bagged variety)
1 TBS of Old Bay (or to taste)
1 tsp of red pepper flakes (optional if you like spicy)

1. Peel and/or detail shrimp if necessary.
2. Steam shrimp (if not cooked).
3. Cook pasta.
4. In a medium saucepan, melt fat and whisk in flour.  Cook on medium heat for about 2 minutes.
5. Gradually whisk in milk.  Bring to just a boil and then simmer until sauce thickens.
6. Add Old Bay, Parmesan, and pepper flakes.
7. Toss meat, pasta, and sauce.  Sprinkle with Parmesan.
8. Serve with a veggie or salad.

Cost breakdown

Shrimp…$4

Pasta…$1.50

Parmesan cheese…$2.50

(Everything else I used was negligible or from my pantry stock)

Total…$8.

This year, PJ opted for homemade paper hearts again.  We purchased this kit on a whim last year right before Valentine’s Day.  After slaving over 15 homemade paper hearts, I let PJ scribble some red on each one and slap a computer-printed label that read “Happy Valentine’s Day…Love, PJ.”  When he wanted to re-live the project this year, I cringed until I realized we would have plenty of time with 2 feet of snow coming. 

Live and learn. Things we did differently this year:

1. Ditched the hand blender for the kitchen blender.  This made for a much smoother pulp and, therefore, a smoother finished product.
2. Ditched the time-consuming, not-so-effective screws on the press.  Instead, we just used the too hard surfaces and our weight to press the paper.
3. Tried to add red color.  We used gel food coloring.  While it stained the counter, the water, and our clothes, the gray newspaper remained…well, gray.

 Mia opted to take my recommendation for edible valentines.  We have an awesome sugar cookie recipe that we use to make cookies for every known event and/or holiday that has a cookie cutter.  I thought it would be cute to make large heart cookies and deliver them in CD sleeves (the paper kind with the cellophane window).

I’ll be honest.  We haven’t done this particular cookie-making yet, but I wanted to share in time for you to use it with your family.  The pictures are from recent cookie making extravaganzas.

Here’s the recipe…

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened  (I repeat…unsalted.)
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 TBS light corn syrup
1 TBS vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, mix the flour and salt.  In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar.  Stir in the egg, then the corn syrup and vanilla extract.  One third at a time, add the four mixture until thoroughly mixed.  Pat the dough into a ball.  

I am usually able to roll out this dough without refrigerating it.  It’s actually too hard if you refrigerate it for too long.  We roll it between two sheets of parchment paper to prevent it from sticking to the pin and to avoid having to add extra flour which toughens the dough.

Use a large heart-shaped cutter to shape dough and decorate as desired.  Bake at 375 until golden brown (about 12 minutes).

So as I come up with meal creations that I think are win-wins (inexpensive and healthy), I’ll share them with you.  Because who can’t use a healthy, inexpensive, easy meal suggestion?

Here’s the breakdown for our fish meal.  Why fish?  It’s high in protein and omega-3 fatty acids.

Fish
cost: 1 pound @6.99
We used tilapia.  Any mild, white fish will work though.  Catfish tends to be comparable in price.
Season it with lemon pepper or your favorite seasoning that you have on hand.  Cajun works well with catfish.
Grill on Foreman-type grill or broil for 4 or 5 minutes or until opaque all the way through.
Fresh fish will not taste “fishy.”

Rice
cost: 1.00
We used a box of Reduced Sodium Rice-A-Roni Chicken flavored rice.  They were on sale 10/$10.

Corn
cost: 0.39
Wegmans’ brand of canned veggies are always 0.39.  It’s a great deal.  We buy the corn with no added salt.  If you don’t have a Wegmans, you can usually buy a generic brand for under 1.00.

Cucumbers
cost: 0.79
Cucumbers are one of 2 raw veggies all 3 kids will eat so they get about 4 slices at every dinner.  The going rate around here is 0.79 per cucumber.  One lasts us for about 2 days.

Because the rice needs to simmer for about 20 minutes, I usually get that going first.  While that’s cooking, I heat the corn, slice the cucumbers, and preheat the grill for the fish.  Just before the rice is finished, I cook the fish so it’s all hot when I serve it.

TOTAL COST (for us): 9.17

ENJOY!

We also have a lot of fresh pureed pumpkin leftover from pumpkin carving and from the little pumpkins that once adorned our front porch.  Actually they adorned our kitchen counter because I never got them to the porch.

While we will make a lot of the traditional pumpkin recipes, one of our favorites has become putting it in pancakes.

Pumpkin Pancakes*
2 cups pancake mix (complete) OR 2 cups Bisquick and 1 egg
1 cup pureed pumpkin (about 1/2 can if using canned pumpkin)
2 TBS almond butter, softened
1/4 cup flax meal
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
1 1/2 cups of milk
2 TBS pumpkin pie spice
chocolate chips and pecans, optional

*all measurements are approximate and subject to taste and availability.

Whisk all ingredients together.  Pour onto greased, preheated skillet.  Sprinkle with pecans and/or chocolate chips.  I usually make my chocolate chips smile

Chicken Roll-Ups

1 batch makes 4
I usually make a double or triple recipe

This is single recipe -

• 3 oz. cream cheese
• 2 Tbl melted margaring or butter
• 1/4 tsp. salt and pepper
• 2 Tbl. milk
• 1Tbl. each of the following (I use whatever I have around)

celery
onion
parsley flakes
chopped pimento
chopped chives

• 1 package cresent rolls
• 2 cups chopped chicken
• for the health nuts out there, I add 1/2 cup of peeled, steamed, pureed zucchini

Combine cheese and margarine til smooth with beater. Add salt pepper and
milk and blend again. Add celery, onion, etc. and mix well. Add chicken
and mix again (by hand at this point). Divide rolls into 4 sections. Push
seams together. Spoon 1/4 of mixture into center. Pull 4 corners together
and seal. Bake 350 for 20-30 minutes.

Optional assembly method:  You can also use the chicken filling in a Pampered Chef-style ring or braid

Here’s a family favorite adapted from 30 Day Gourmet with some Sneaky Chef principles…

Cheeseburger Quiche

• 1/2 c. low fat mayo
• 1/2 c. low fat milk
• 4 eggs or equivalent egg substitute
• 1 T. cornstarch
• 1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
• 3/4 c. pureed sweet potato (or 1 jar of the baby food variety)
• Diced onion (or pureed with the sweet potato if your family is like mine)
• 1 pound cooked ground meat (I prefer turkey or turkey sweet italian sausage)
• 1 unbaked pie shell (I use the refrigerated kind)

In a medium bowl, blend the mayo, milk, eggs, cornstarch, and puree.  Fold in the cheese, onion (if not pureed), and cooked meat.  Pour filling into pie crust and bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.

Note:  You can freeze a baked quiche and reheat at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.  You can also freeze the uncooked filling in a freezer bag.  I’ve been known to make double or triple batches of filling, freezing the extras for later.  Then just thaw overnight and bake in shell as directed.

Let me know how you like it and check out the other hoppers’ recipes.