Mostly Southern Mom

Mixed Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon-Sugar Chips On these sweltering summer days, no one in my family feels up to a heavy, hearty mid-day meal. Most days, I have to force the kids inside long enough to eat, or hubby is dropping by with very few minutes to spare from work, and a large meal just isn't realistic. So, how do I continue to feed my family real food  that is good for them, that isn't highly processed, and doesn't take all day to prepare and eat? We do lots of variations of fruits and vegetables...cheeses, crackers, and small sandwiches...but today we tried a new meal, and everyone loved it! (Even our toddler, who likes practically nothing!) Mixed fruit salsa with cinnamon sugar chips. For the fruit salsa, I combined various fresh fruits that we had on hand in our kitchen. I used strawberries, kiwi, blueberries, raspberries, plums, and peaches. I diced the larger fruits, and combined them all in a large bowl. I then tossed them with a bit of apricot preserv...

"Eat your vegetables!". A phrase we have all heard too many times to count from well-meaning mothers and grandmothers. Growing up, I ate vegetables when they were served to me, and as a parent myself, I try to get them onto my children's plates (and into their mouths, rather than being dropped down to the family dog). But.... they're vegetables. Boring, bland, vegetables. AmIright? However, several months ago, I adopted a vegetarian diet, and vegetables took on an entirely new meaning for our family. I began searching for new ways to prepare vegetables, and purchasing vegetables I had never tried before. I am always looking for ways to swap vegetables for meats in our family meals, and it has led to a whole new appreciation for vegetables in our house! We have found cauliflower, mushrooms, and beans to be wonderful staples for our meals, but I have been hoping for a while to try zucchini noodles. We recently moved, and while packing I stumbled across a spiral ...