Welcoming the School Year

1st Day of Grade 3

The school year is here and its time to get creative with the lunchbox meals. This was a short 3-day week so meals have been kept simple with sandwiches 2 days and a pizza burger another. I am putting together next weeks ideas which include a Pizza Pasta Salad. Mmmm! Christian is getting very vocal as to which fruit he wants to pack or if he wants ham vs. turkey on his sandwich. That`s great though because he is picking the things that I know he will eat at school and I don`t have to worry about it being trashed. He is choosing water for his new drink thermos and, unlike last year, he is drinking it and bringing it home empty or near empty. I am working very hard to continue to balance his meals and to keep from throwing in those extra grains.

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Mango-Avocado Salsa with BBQ Chicken

One of my favorite foods in the whole wide world is avocado. It's a great thing to love because they have nearly 20 essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B-vitamins, and folic acid. The only thing that I need to be careful with is that they are loaded with calories as well. One whole medium sized avocado is a whooping 250 calories! I was recipe searching back in April and came upon a mango-avocado salsa that I just had to try. We've had mango salsa many times before, but adding avocado was a whole new ball game. It was quite simple... cubed avocado, mango (I used frozen), and tomato, plus some diced red onion. Mix it all up and there you go. I served it over BBQ grilled chicken. Usually we have our chicken smothered with BBQ sauce, but this time I only marinaded it in some Budwiser brand BBQ sauce. Millard put it on the grill and held off on the extra sauce. It was a good choice. Our sides were sauteed a mix of fresh and frozen peas and asparagus.

BBQ Chicken Rub

Yup, chicken again! Don't be surprised if we start clucking soon. We do tend to eat quite a lot of chicken anyway, but we recently hit a good sale on whole chicken legs so we took full advantage of it. What's bbq chicken without seasoning? Only thing is we are cutting our sodium intake these days. Most bought mixes are absolutely full of sodium... not heart healthy! So... I searched online and found a low sodium rub at www.LowSodiumCooking.com : Rub #2 - The Mild One A sweeter, less spicy rub for grilling and smoking. 1/2 c Paprika 2 T Black Pepper,Freshly Ground 1/3 c Brown Sugar 2 T Chili Powder 2 T Onion Powder 2 T Garlic Powder Mix well, store in a cool dark place. Yield: 22 Servings 'The Mild One' was rubbed on the chicken and grilled to perfection. Of course I took the fat off first! It was very tasty and crusted nicely on the outside, but was moist and tender on the inside. I served it with Corn on the Cob with just a little chili seasoning sprink...

Yummy Salad

Salad can get boring so today I got creative... romaine lettuce, a little ranch mixed in with the lettuce... then shredded cheddar, raspberries, grape halves, strawberry, and just a few almonds. A nice fresh salad for a warm day. Yum!

Healthy Family Hangout

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