Zucchini: cooking for a big family on a budget

 Feeding growing boys and keeping a clean house with lots of kids are both endless tasks.
A friend gave me a couple zucchinis. I decided to see how many different ways I could cook zucchini.

This was our #2 favorite. Zucchini personal pizzas. I brushed the zucchini with oil and grilled one side. After I flipped them I added garlic salt, cheese, pepperoni sausages and pizza sauce! I grilled them for almost 15 minutes! They were so yummy!

I buy shredded mozzarella in bulk, 10 lb bags at a time. I take each bag and divy it out into small freezer bags!
I make my own pizza sauce from local tomatoes.
The sausages were from a foster parent food program. One of those weird foods that require great creativity to use up!
I have also made large batches of gluten free zucchini bread (not cheap, even when you buy in bulk).
I have made zucchini with butter, garlic salt and cheese. I have made zucchini with butter and garlic salt. Sauted, grilled and baked....

I also made zucchini patties with eggs and cheese... Zucchini pizza crust was another hit with the kids.


I currently have 6 zucchini's needing attention. Elizabeth is going to shred 4 of the larger ones and freeze the zucchini in large baggies. The 2 largest ones will be more pizza!

VBS

I am extremely paranoid about where I leave my kids. I am extremely picky with sitters and even people I know who are left alone with my kids. They have had to many bad things happen already and I will do my absolute best to protect them. Bad things happen everywhere. Pedophiles can pass background checks. Our children are vulnerable.  I could tell you stories that would stop you from ever letting your kids go anywhere without you.

However, I can not expect my children to live in a protective bubble all their lives. They need to practice using the skills I have taught them. I need to trust as they get older that they will be able to protect themselves and that God will give them wisdom when I am not around.

So yea, things like camp and VBS are hard for me. I want them to participate, I want them to enjoy these things. Yet I can't just drop my kids anywhere.

The other problem is that it is a royal pain for me to load and unload the littles alone, 5 nights a week for traditional VBS. For the record, there are atleast one vbs every week in this general area in the summer time.

MY kids are all into the spy thing and investigating things.  So when I saw the ad in the local paper, international spy academy and it was 1.5 hrs on Friday, 5 hrs on Saturday and 2.5 hrs on Sunday. Now this was my kinda VBS.

I signed the kids up and got permission for me to stay for the Friday evening event. I generally trust my gut when meeting people. My mother instincts are rarely wrong, so spending the evening Friday would be a good indication of what to expect or if I could trust my kids all day on Saturday.

When we arrived Friday evening, we were pleasantly surprised to see our friends from church were also there! They knew most everyone at this church. That really set my mind at ease.

We were pleasantly welcomed and the kids were thrilled to be there. I sat in for the first introduction part. I had the two littles with me. Nesiah was happily welcomed. Many people took time to stop and say hi to both her and I. (this is unusual in many churches) They welcomed me to help Nesiah participate.

The weekend was a great success and the kids made many wonderful memories and new friends!

Babysitting...

It has been a crazy week, just coming back from vacation. I had agreed to babysit for my friend. She has twin 7 yr olds and a 3 yr old.  The kids were looking forward to swimming and hanging out with their friends.

But first we had some work to do... Food for the crew!

David made yummy fiber balls. Each child has one thing that is sorta their "speciality" and fiber balls is his.

Lots of honey and peanut butter, mixed with oatmeal and chocolate chips. 

Mix it all together and form into balls before placing in freezer.  This is one of our favorite treats. Gluten free and honey as the sweetener! 

Lee helped David finishing making the balls after making his own pumpkin custard.

Pumpkin Custard is Lee's speciality and he makes THE BEST!! Once again, a low sugar and gluten free treat! (this was the only picture I got) 

We had a ton of extra milk so Elizabeth made a double patch of gluten free pancakes for the freezer! Her little friend helped mix them. They had fun and we had 2 meals for the freezer!! 

                                         

After finishing up the 3 food projects, we had lunch and then the real fun began!! 

There was swimming and horse back riding, grooming and more swimming...

This is classic of our summer days work projects in the morning, swimming or reading in the afternoon.  It is amazing the amount of work my 4 oldest can get done in a short amount of time.