Oh Zucchini!

My 7-month-old daughter LOVES zucchini! Especially when it's cooked with Lipton Chicken Noodle Soup (dry soup) packets and onions.

This is a VERY SIMPLE recipe.

Chop zucchini - 4 small, 3 medium, whatever you want.

Chop an onion or two (depends on how much zucchini you have)

Saute these two ingredient in butter or olive oil, with salt and pepper, until mostly or all the way cooked.

Add the dry soup mix (I use about 4-4 zucchini, a couple onions, and then 2 soup mixes) and a little bit of water - just enough to all the noodles to cook, but not so much that you have soup. I added about 1-1/2 -- 2 cups.

Cook the noodles thoroughly, bringing it all to a boil for a few minutes. Let any extra water you don't want evaporate using this method. Then allow it to simmer until it comes to the consistency you want - I like mine kind of thick.

You can leave it on low heat or turn it off with a lid on it to keep it warm until serving time.

Don't forget to stir while you're making this so that everything gets evenly cooked.

Then enjoy!!! :)

***And this is a great way to get kids to eat zucchini because the chicken noodle flavor really takes over - in a good way, of course - and makes kids want more and more and more. :)

Number Nine Ensalada

My husband made this salad for the family dinner on Sunday.  (We were in charge of salad and took two different kinds instead of the typical lettuce salad to spice things up!)  I got this recipe from the cookbook "Worldwide Ward Cookbook".  There was a story attached to the recipe, so I'll share that with you.

"My husband, Chuck, and I are serving in the South America South Area office as humanitarian service missionaries.  I discovered this wonderful salad at one of our favorite restaurants near the area office where we serve.  I call this salad "Number Nine Ensalada" because it is number nine on the menu!  I now make it often as a main dish and serve it with bread of crackers for a light dinner.  It is delicious and can be adjusted to any individualized combination of ingredients."

It really is delicious and quite healthy!  Enjoy!

NUMBER NINE ENSALADA

2 avocados, diced*

1/4 c lemon juice to taste

1-1/2 c mozzarella cheese, cubed (we actually used pepper jack and cheddar)

1/3 c oil to taste

2 tomatoes, chopped

1/2 c black olives, sliced

1 16-oz can corn, drained

2 green onions, chopped (you can use the white and green of it)

salt and pepper to taste

Toss the diced avocado in a bowl with the lemon juice to keep the avocado from turning dark.  Toss the cubed cheese in a bowl with the oil to keep the cubes separated.  Combine remaining ingredients and enjoy.

*How to dice an avocado: see this video.

To remove the pit, gently poke it with your knife and twist - again, gently.  It should pop right out!

Definition:

dice: to cut into small cubes

"to taste": this means you get to choose how much really goes in - as little or as much as you'd like!