Tag Archives: eating on a budget

What’s for Dinner Wednesday: Baked Zucchini Fries

12 Sep

I have had lots of requests for the Baked Zucchini Fries recipe ever since I posted this photo from the Washington DC Kids’ State Dinner.

I’ve had a lot of requests for this recipe for Baked Zucchini Fries, ever since I posted this photo on my blog and on Facebook recently. It being zucchini season, it’s a perfect recipe to make at the end of the summer, and really throughout the year.

We actually made this recipe at the end of the summer ourselves, using a garden zucchini. They were delicious and they were easy. We used the recipe in our new The Healthy Lunchtime Challenge cookbook that epicurious gave us at the White House dinner. The recipe comes from Sydney Brown, age 11, from North Carolina. She submitted it with her winning Homerun Meatloaf Burger recipe as the side dish to accompany the burgers.

There are so many recipes in this cookbook that I want to try out, and slowly but surely I’m trying them one at a time.

This was a perfect summer meal!

We had our fries with oven baked chicken, garden tomato salad, and green beans. Don added a dip on the side for the fries which consisted of a mix of mayo and cocktail sauce.

Here is Sydney’s recipe, just as she has it in the cookbook. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1 large egg white

1/3 cup milk

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs

salt and pepper

2 large green or yellow zucchini, peeled, trimmed, and cut into strips (2″ long 1/4″ thick)

Place your zucchini fries on a baking sheet and bake in the oven at 425 degrees.

DIRECTIONS

Combine the egg white and milk in a small bowl and combine the Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper in another small bowl.

Dip the zucchini slices first in the milk mixture and then in the cheese mixture. Shake off any excess, then move to the baking sheet and place in the oven.

Bake for 10-15 minutes at 425 degrees.

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Couponing Update: Happy National Couponing Month!

10 Sep

I had dozens of coupons booklets to go through this past week, coupons that had accumulated throughout the summer months.

I spent my summer not couponing, living off my coupon purchases that I’d stockpiled from January to June. I absolutely loved having everything here, not having to make any purchases of those stockpiled items all summer. There are some items I still don’t need to buy yet. But, it’s time to get back on the money-saving wagon.

In case you’re curious though, I had more than enough of the following items to get me through the summer:

Laundry detergent
Lysol Wipes
Toilet Paper
Sunscreen
Lipstick
Cover Girl Foundation
Zyrtec
Bug Spray
Shampoo
Conditioner
Shaving Cream
Toothpaste
Toothbrushes
Frozen Waffles (I still have waffles in the freezer, we use them once a week in the school year but not as often over the summer)
Frozen Toaster Strudels
Deodorant

I was thrilled with how my stockpiling plan worked out and I plan to do the same thing for next summer too. In the meantime, I will continue to live off of the things that are left before buying more of them. There were also things I ran out of, like body wash for example, that I’d be more conscious of buying more of next time.

Five new beach chairs this summer…purchased with a combination of coupons and CVS Extra Bucks!

I also wanted to pass along a few different couponing tips for you, it being National Couponing Month and all.

First, remember that coupons are not just for food and grocery items. For example, see my five new beach chairs in this photo? Here’s the story behind them: we desperately needed new beach chairs this summer. We hemmed and hawed about spending upwards of $10 per chair for five new chairs, and we had seen some on sale for $8.99 that we were considering buying.

However, one Wednesday morning I went to CVS to buy my newspaper and lo and behold, they had a box of beach chairs right by the register on sale for $5 each, which was great. They’d cost us $25. But, it doesn’t end there. I swiped my card at the machine and out popped a coupon for $5 off a $20 purchase. I couldn’t believe it. Even better, I had $3 in Extra Bucks to add to my deal. So in the end, I got five chairs for $17. Much better than the $45 (plus tax) I’d been prepared to spend.

See the skirt? Two coupons made it completely free this past August. Every time I wear it, I think to myself, “This skirt was completely free.” Every time.

Here’s another great couponing example: My skirt in the photo to the left. It’s my new favorite skirt, you know why? Because it was free. Completely free. I walked out of the store with one skirt and never even opened my wallet.

And no, I didn’t steal it.

Bob’s Store near us sends out a $10 coupon each year for your birthday if you’re in their rewards program, which I am. At the same time that I had my birthday coupon, they also sent out a 25% off coupon in their flier. I put the two together, headed for the clearance rack and saw this cute little skirt in my size for $12.

Or free.

I had so many emails for free restaurant items for my birthday–appetizers, desserts, ice cream, etc., that I couldn’t even use them all. But, if I had, they would’ve all been free.

I have one last couponing tip for you before I end this post.

My super-easy way of sorting my coupons quickly as I cut them.

Several people have asked about the organizational part of couponing. I thought I’d share what it looks like when I’m cutting my coupons because of course, I have a system. After I’d labeled the tabs in my coupon holders alphabetically with my categories, I took a stack of index cards and put those same categories on the cards and put them in the same alphabetical order. Each time I cut my coupons I take out the cards and lay them on the table in front of me.

As I cut each coupon, I place it on top of the card of the correct category. This way, as I’m cutting, I am also sorting at the same time. Previously, before I thought of this system, I’d just cut and make a big pile of coupons and then one coupon at a time, I’d place them into my coupon holders. It took forever and I dreaded doing it. It didn’t take me long to figure out this simple system and it works well for me. Everyone has their own way of organizing their coupons so it may not work as well for you, but I’m passing it along anyway, in case it helps you.

Now that school is in session, I’m able to start keeping an eye out for sales and coupons on those items I’ve run out of so that I can start shopping and stockpiling again. I can’t wait! If I get any other great deals throughout the year, I’ll continue to keep you updated.

This photo goes with the one at the top of the page. The one at the top was my Still To Cut photo (hence the scissors) and this one was the Already Cut pile on the floor next to me. I was about halfway through. That shows you how many coupons I’d piled up over the summer. It only took me two hours to do what I had not done all summer, and I could quickly scan for expiration dates and items I was out of.

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It’s that time of year again: After School Snack Time PB Oatmeal Balls

7 Sep

I’m always on the lookout for healthy after school snacks. Pinterest is my new best friend when it comes to searching for them!

So we’ve eased into the school year. Short week last week, short week this week.

Per usual, I’ve already got one kid home sick today as I type this post, so we’re really back to normal here.

Summer is for sure over.

The upside to the end of summer: After School Snacks!

I don’t know about you and your kids, but mine come home ravenous from school and I myself, need a pick me up before I start to cook dinner. I like to put out a set snack so that I monitor what’s being eaten and so that no one is just picking through the fridge, eating aimlessly.

Enter the After School Snack.

At my house, the After School Snack also counts as Dessert. I don’t usually make a dessert at night for after dinner because I don’t like my kids to go to bed on a full stomach and Caroline in particular has trouble with her stomach, so I try to end the day’s eating for them with their dinner, at least during the school week. Weekends are a bit different.

Therefore, I don’t mind making a sweeter after school snack for them since it’s their dessert usually too.

With our new school schedule for Caroline, she’s home an hour before the other two girls, so she’s been excited to help plan or make the snack for them. Last week she got a kick out of serving it to them when they got home. We took a recipe for Peanut Butter Oatmeal Butterscotch Balls (no bake, no eggs) from Pinterest and instead of Butterscotch Chips, which we didn’t have, we used mini chocolate chips, which I like better anyway. They were a hit. All five of us liked them and they were quick and easy.

The recipe is originally from a blog called Tasty Kitchen and you can see the original post here.

The recipe, which was quick and easy, can be tweaked however you like it. You can add in different types of chips the way I did or sub in raisins, which I thought would be good too. It’s got lots of potential to be more than one kind of after school snack.

Try it out and see what you think! As usual, I worked with what I had on hand, so if I made changes, I’ve noted them below. I do the best I can with what I have.

INGREDIENTS

  • ¼ cups Whole Wheat Flour
  • 1-¼ cup Rolled Oats
  • 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoons Salt
  • ½ cups Creamy Peanut Butter
  • ¼ cups No-sugar-added Applesauce (I had cinnamon applesauce and therefore didn’t need to add cinnamon to the recipe as it called for)
  • ⅓ cups Light Maple Syrup (minewasn’t light)
  • 1 Tablespoon Honey
  • 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
  • ¼ cups Butterscotch Chips (I used mini semisweet chocolate chips)

Wet ingredients in one bowl, dry in the other, then combine and scoop into balls.

DIRECTIONS

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk the flour, oats, cinnamon and salt; set aside.

Cream the peanut butter, applesauce, maple syrup, honey and vanilla in a large bowl until well-combined.

Add the flour and oats mixture and stir until combined. Add butterscotch chips and stir well.

Scoop about two tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Repeat with the other dough. Recipe makes about 16 dough balls.

Refrigerate or freeze and enjoy!

After a few minutes in the freezer (about 15) the snack was ready and Caroline was ready to show off what we’d made them.

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What’s for Dinner Wednesday: Val’s Zucchini Fritters

5 Sep

These zucchini fritters were easy to make and according to Val you can make them using almost anything including Swiss chard, spinach, broccoli or carrots, or any combination of the above.

It’s zucchini season. If you are someone who grows zucchini in your garden, then right about now you have lots and lots of zucchini. We are often those people, but this year our zucchini didn’t take. So when we were at my cousin Val’s house a couple of weekends ago we were lucky enough that she gave us some of the zucchinis that she and her husband Bob grew in their garden this summer. And, she gave us the most fabulous new recipe for zucchini fritters. We had them that night and we have since made them ourselves (when I say we, I actually mean Don made them) this weekend for a big cookout that we attend each year on Labor Day Weekend.

This cookout that we attend is big and it’s been going for 40 years. You can even read about it here. The menu has evolved over the years and every so often a new menu item is added in. I can tell you now that Val’s Zucchini Fritters will be returning to the cookout next year. Additionally, all of my kids liked these, so it’s a recipe all five of us liked, which is rare.

From the printout Val gave me, I can see that the recipe she uses is originally from Simply Recipes. You can see the original recipe that she gave me, here. Valerie said the most important thing to remember is to squeeze the zucchini, or whatever vegetable you’re using, until there is as little moisture left as possible.

Here, from Simply Recipes is the recipe for Val’s Zucchini Fritters, great for an appetizer before dinner or to go along with dinner:

Zucchini Fritters
Ingredients

  • 1 lb of zucchini (about 2 medium sized), coarsely grated
  • Kosher salt
  • Ground black pepper
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 scallions, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup grape seed oil or olive oil
  • Sour cream or plain yoghurt

Directions

1 Salt the zucchini with about 1 teaspoon of salt. Try to remove the excess moisture from the zucchini by either squeezing the liquid out with a potato ricer, or by squeezing with paper towels. (The original recipe calls for putting the zucchini in a colander set in the sink to let it drain for 10 minutes after salting it. I think it works much better to use a potato ricer.)

2 Whisk egg in a large bowl; add the zucchini, flour, scallions, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Mix to combine well.

3 Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook fritters in two batches. Drop six mounds of batter (2 Tbsp each) into the skillet. Flatten slightly. Cook, turning once, until browned, 4-6 minutes on each side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Sprinkle with salt. Repeat with remaining batter.

Serve immediately, with sour cream or plain yoghurt on the side.

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Pineapple-Banana Cake

31 Aug

It’s rare that we like cake to begin with, but this one we all loved!

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but no one in our house really loves cake, as in a birthday cake type of cake, with the exception of Lemon Cake and Boston Cream Pie which we adults choose for our birthdays, but we recently had a cake that we loved so I thought I’d share it with you today.

My parents had come for dinner and my mom had volunteered to bring dessert, saying she had a new recipe for a Pineapple-Banana Cake she thought we’d like. The recipe is not her own, she credits Roberta Grundy for passing it along to her. (Thanks Roberta!)

Well we gave it a try, and we all loved it! It wasn’t too sweet and the flavors of the pineapple mixed with banana was delicious and perfect for the upcoming fall season. I encourage you to give it a try!

PINEAPPLE-BANANA CAKE
BY ROBERTA GRUNDY
INGREDIENTS

*Grease and flour two layer cake pans
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 package Duncan Hines Yellow Cake Mix
1 eight ounce can of crushed pineapple NOT drained
2 medium bananas, mashed (approximately one cup)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup canola oil or vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

Combine ingredients and mix together on low for one minute.
Scrape sides of the bowl and continue to mix for two more minutes on medium until well blended.
Pour into greased and floured pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30-33 minutes until cake springs back.

See that little layer of frosting in the middle….yummy!

FROSTING

Roberta uses Betty Crocker frosting mix, beaten by hand and adding in 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and 1 ts. vanilla, but you can also choose to make your own vanilla frosting, adding in the cinnamon and vanilla as well.

Optional: sprinkle with nuts

Serves 10-12 approximately

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What’s for Dinner Wednesday: Macaroni Casserole by Grace

29 Aug

Last week I was so thrown off by our whirlwind trip that I actually typed my What’s for Dinner Wednesday post on Thursday.

And I thought it was Wednesday for most of the day.

I guess that’s what happens when you travel Sunday/Monday rather than Saturday/Sunday. It’s like having a Monday holiday and then you’re all thrown off for the rest of the week.

This week, I think I know what day it is and I’m pretty sure that it’s really Wednesday this time, so I’m going to try again.

Today’s recipe is from the cookbook that epicurious compiled with all of the winning healthy lunchtime recipes in it. You can download your own copy of that cookbook with just one click, here.

We have tons of cookbooks but it seems like we always love getting a new one. Of course this one was extra, extra special and we’ve been pouring through it, already trying out new recipes.

The first full day we were back, the girls had already made a mental list of all the things they wanted to make from this cookbook, which was almost everything in it. However, it wasn’t a grocery shopping week and we didn’t have everything for the ingredients for most of the recipes. We did find a couple though, and today’s is the first one we made, that first Tuesday we were back. I was still so tired from the trip that I could hardly focus on anything that day, so I was glad to have a healthy recipe that also involved all three kids in the kitchen. They each had a job making this recipe, so that was a tremendous help to me. We had to make some minor adjustments to incorporate what we did or didn’t have on hand, but overall we had enough of everything to make it work.

Everyone gave this recipe a thumbs up and I’d definitely make it again.

MACARONI CASSEROLE
By: Grace Ratchford, Wyoming
Age 12

Everyone actually liked everything in this recipe. That’s a rarity when you’re cooking for a family of five.

INGREDIENTS

8 ounces whole wheat elbow macaroni (we didn’t have wheat this time)
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup of 1% milk (we had skim)
2 and 1/2 cups of shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (I didn’t have kosher, I used regular)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 organic turkey hot dogs, boiled and cut into bite sized pieces (I didn’t have organic, but they were turkey)
1 small bunch broccoli, steamed and cut into bite sized pieces (I used a bag of frozen broccoli florets)
1/2 cup crushed cornflakes
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

Everyone had a hand in making this recipe, which I think is what made it extra delicious!

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.

2. In a large saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the macaroni according to the package directions. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water until cool.

3. In the same saucepan over moderate heat, melt the butter. Add the flour and stir for one minute. Gradually add the milk and cook, whisking until hot and thick. Add the Cheddar cheese, salt and pepper and whisk to combine. Remove the sauce from the heat and add the noodles, stirring well to combine. Stir in the hot dogs and broccoli.

4. Transfer the noodle mixture to the greased pan and sprinkle with cornflakes and parsley. Bake until bubbly, about 20 minutes, and serve.

This is a great recipe for lunch or for dinner! Thanks Grace!

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Farewell to Summer and Hello Chocolate Chip Muffins

27 Aug

Goodbye Summer! See you next year!

Summer has come to an end.

For us, school begins tomorrow, so even though officially it’s still summer on the calendar, it’s all over. In my mind, summer really ends when Don starts back to work full time, the second week of August. So it’s been over for a while, really.

I can’t complain. He has lots of days off in the summer, I have lots of days off in the summer, we do lots of fun things in the summer, we had an AMAZING opportunity this summer that really changed our lives, with the Kids’ State Dinner trip.

So I can’t complain, but I’m still sad to see it go. I still kinda want to cry as I think of the school year beginning again. I’m not ready to let it all go.

I *really* love summer.

Caroline is starting middle school, Elizabeth’s going into fourth grade and Alexandra into second. It’s going to be a busy year, a different year with them in two different schools on two different schedules. I’m sure it’ll take some getting used to.

And so, though it’s Monday and I usually post my “What We’re Doing for Fun This Summer” posts on Mondays, I can’t today, because I’m sad that summer is ending.

What I can do though, is share a new recipe with you.

Each year on the first day of school I make muffins for breakfast the night before. It’s a busy morning on the first day, hectic, and we also have a special tradition where my parents come up to see the kids go to school, just as my grandparents did  each first day of school when I was younger.

This year I’ve made several new muffin recipes and I’m not sure which two kinds I’ll be making for tomorrow’s first day, but I tried a new recipe for chocolate chip muffins last week. It might be in the running. I could use a chocolate chip or two about now, I think.

I found this recipe last week on Allrecipes.com when Alexandra asked for Chocolate Chip Muffins for breakfast. It said, “Easy, quick and good,” and I was sold. It was indeed all of those things and I’d make them again for sure.

Maybe for tomorrow morning.

The first day of not-summer.

CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

I got to use my mini chocolate chips which were part of my birthday gift from my mother-in-law, Mary Lou, the ones she got me from Hershey Park, in this recipe.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 3 tablespoons white sugar
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Grease bottoms only of 12 muffin cups or line with baking cups.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, chocolate chips, and salt; mix well. In a small bowl, combine milk, oil and egg; blend well. Add dry ingredients all at once; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened (batter will be lumpy.)
  3. Fill cups 2/3 full. Sprinkle tops of muffins before baking with a combination of 3 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoon brown sugar.
  4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 1 minute before removing from pan. Serve warm.

    I loved the sugar/brown sugar topping on the tops of these muffins. It was light but still sweet and crunchy.

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My Last Post Before The Trip: Blueberry Crumble

17 Aug

Caroline makes a killer Crumble!

On Sunday Caroline and are are getting up in the very wee hours of the morning and boarding a plane for our whirlwind trip to Washington DC.

This will be my last post until after we return from that trip.

Given the upcoming trip, I thought I’d feature Caroline in the kitchen for today’s post. When she was being interviewed earlier this week, the reporter asked her what else she likes to make in the kitchen. She talked about making scrambled eggs for her sisters, and then she said, “I make Crumble.”

I started a list in the inside of this book called “So Far So Good” since the cookbook has so many recipes and I wanted to keep track of the ones I’ve tried out that were “keepers.”

And she does. She makes a really good Crumble topping which we’ve used to make both Blueberry Crumble and Peach Crumble this summer. The Crumble topping requires patience and attention to detail and I work too quickly to make mine come out as well as hers does.

The recipe for Blueberry Crumble came out of The Maine Wild Blueberry Cookbook, and so far in that cookbook everything I have tried has been delicious, but we’ve found the recipe for Blueberry Crumble to be fast, easy, delicious and adaptable to more than just blueberries.

Here’s the recipe for you. Enjoy it, and be thinking of us this weekend as we take our trip of a lifetime!

BLUEBERRY CRUMBLE

Anything with this crumble topping is so delicious!

INGREDIENTS

1/3 cup sugar

some extra sugar for sprinkling

5 Tablespoons Butter

Juice of one lemon (I sprinkled lemon juice from a bottle)

2/3 cup of flour

2 pints of blueberries

DIRECTIONS

Put washed berries in small shallow baking dish.

Sprinkle with lemon juice and sugar

In a separate bowl blend in butter, flour and 1/3 cup sugar

Sprinkle topping over berries.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream or both!

Hot out of the oven!

Yum!

An alternative use for the crumble topping: Peach crumble. I had less peaches so I used a smaller dish but the same amount of topping.

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What’s for Dinner Wednesday: Caroline’s Broccoli & Cheese Egg White Omelet

15 Aug

Tonight Caroline and I were both interviewed for our local news, then she cooked and ate her winning recipe for the camera.

Well today has been quite the whirlwind day and as I finally sat down tonight to figure out what recipe to post for my What’s for Dinner Wednesday post, I could only think of one: Caroline’s winning recipe for her Egg White Omelet.

The reason I could only think of this one recipe is because our whirlwind day has consisted of press releases, phone calls from Senators and news stations, emails from food columnists and radio hosts.

It’s really been quite the day.

And you should have seen how fast we cleaned our house when we learned that TV cameras were coming in three hours or less.

Jennifer Mobilia of Channel 12 and Channel 11 News was in our house this evening!

Yup, tonight one of our local news stations stopped by our house to interview Caroline and I for the 10 pm and 11 pm news broadcasts. It was such a fun experience and we’re sitting now as I type this, waiting for it to air in less than a half an hour.

Another exciting thing happening here this week was the arrival of our official invitation from Michelle Obama, inviting us to the White House for the Kids’ State Dinner this coming Monday. Our hands were shaking as we opened the envelope!

The arrival of the invitation from Mrs. Obama really made everything seem real!

So, with all of that being said, I thought it only appropriate to share with you Caroline’s official recipe for today’s post. Enjoy!

Broccoli & Cheese Egg White Omelet
By Caroline Cowart

We came up with this lunch recipe because Caroline prefers egg whites instead of regular eggs, and she likes broccoli quite a bit. This meal is healthy as well as tasty.

When choosing our ingredients we tried to use healthier alternatives: Mozzarella Cheese has less fat than American Cheese, wheat toast is better for you than white toast, and we added a side of mixed fruits and orange juice in order to tie in all of the food groups.

INGREDIENTS

3 large egg whites, separated (You can save your yolks for use in a future recipe but you will not need them for this one.)

1/4 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese

3/4 cup broccoli, cooked and chopped (You may use either fresh steamed or frozen broccoli florets.)

A healthy recipe for any meal of the day and good enough for the First Lady to eat!

DIRECTIONS

1) Separate eggs, place your whites into a small bowl.

2) Preheat non-stick frying pan, lightly coated with cooking spray, over medium heat.

3) Pour egg whites into frying pan.

4) When whites are semi-solid, place cooked, chopped broccoli onto one half of the pan of whites, leaving the other side of the omelet empty.

5) Sprinkle shredded Mozzarella Cheese over broccoli.

6) Place entire frying pan under the broiler for about five minutes or until cheese is melted and egg whites are solid. Edges of the omelet will be lightly browned.

7) Remove pan from broiler and place the omelet on a serving plate, folding the omelet in half so that the empty side now covers the side with broccoli and cheese.

8) Serve with a side of wheat toast, mixed fruit and orange juice.

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A Chocolate Lover’s Dream Day

13 Aug

We hadn’t even parked the car yet and I was already salivating.

Last week, you may remember that in my post about Boston Cream Pie, I mentioned that Saturday was my birthday. This year for my birthday, I got an extra-special treat: we spent the day before my birthday in Hershey, PA.

That’s right. I was in the Chocolate Capital of the World this past Friday.

I know, I’m a lucky, lucky girl.

I must give all the credit for this amazing treat to my mother-in-law, Marylou, who treated both my family and my sister-in-law’s family to a long weekend vacation in Pennsylvania with all the activities and everything that went with them, this past weekend. It was such a fun weekend and I loved being able to spend my birthday with this side of my family, something I don’t always get to do. We hated to see it end.

All of my favorite things, all in one delicious place!

I had been to Hershey a long time ago, back when we lived in New Jersey, but it was so long ago that I had almost no memory of the trip. It was like being there for the first time, all over again.

The streets smell of chocolate as you drive through the town. It’s heavenly.

The street lamps are shaped like Hershey Kisses.

It was truly a dream-come-true for a chocolate lover.

There are several parts to the Hershey experience, and I can share a little bit with you about the parts that we got to see on Friday. There’s so many family-friendly things to do there, you definitely have to pick and choose what you’d like to do on your visit. We were lucky too, it was a rainy day and at first I thought we would not be able to go. However, there were tons of indoor activities so we were able to keep to our plan for the day.

On our first ride we learned all about how chocolate is made, how all our favorite candies come to be.

We first chose to take a moving ride tour through the chocolate-making experience. It was about 10-15 minutes long and you learn all about how chocolate is made and it was a fun ride while being very informative at the same time. It was during this tour that I realized just how many different kinds of chocolate candies are actually made by Hershey’s.

After that, since it was lunchtime, we ate in the food court, which I thought seemed very affordable. There were ten of us total: five kids and five adults, so eating out is not an easy thing to do, especially when you’re trying to stick to a budget.

Caroline got a great shot of the trolley after we finished our ride.

Following the food court, we took an hour-long trolley ride which led us all through the town of Hershey. Here we not only saw the entire area, but also heard an animated history of the town and of Mr. Hershey himself. There was lots of laughing and singing (yes, we sang) on this ride and it was just as fun to watch our kids reacting to the antics of the tour guides while they were learning about the town and seeing all the local landmarks.

The kids got such a kick out of the antics on the trolley and we got such a kick out of watching the kids.

After the trolley ride ended, we went on to what was the most highly anticipated event of the day: The Gift Shop. The kids had all saved their money for the entire summer to take on this trip and they were anxiously awaiting the first time to spend some of it. I was proud though, both couples are on tight budgets and it’s rubbed off on our kids in what I think is a good way. They all took great care in buying their items and they really seemed to weigh the pros and cons of what to get and why. No one over-spent, as we still had other places with gift shops that we’d be visiting. All of my kids came home with extra money ultimately, and I believe my nieces did as well.

Ready to leave the hotel, wearing our Hershey’s t-shirts, purchased here in RI especially for this trip.

One tip I will pass along: this summer I found brown Hershey’s t-shirts at our local Walmart store. Total cost for three shirts: $22.50. I called my sister-in-law and she went to her store and found two for her daughters. Our five girls wore their matching Hershey’s shirts to Hershey Park on Friday and they looked so awesome. None of them had to spend their money on a $21.50 Hershey shirt from the gift shop. I thought that was a great treat for them and a great lesson as well.

There were some things that we didn’t do at Hershey Park that you might enjoy if you visit as well. They included a 3D show, a tour of the production facilities and an outdoor water park. If we took another trip there, those are things we might consider doing.

Overall, this was a fabulous way to spend the day before my birthday, or any day, and I’m so thankful I got the chance to visit Hershey Park again.  Here are a few last photos from the 200 or so that the girls and I took that day.

Enjoy!

The kids got a kick out of the singing cows.

Lamp posts on the streets of Hershey.

Trolley ride antics

So Much Candy

The biggest and for $29.95 it could be yours.

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