Stuffed Zucchini Boats - Gluten Free

Stuffed Zucchini Boats

4 medium zucchini, cut in half lengthwise
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground beef (or turkey)
fresh spinach (optional)
1 clove garlic, minced (at least!)
1 small onion, chopped
2 medium, ripe tomatoes - chopped
salt & pepper
½ C Parmesan, finely grated
½ C mozzarella, shaved or grated

Preheat oven to 400°.

Scoop out the flesh from the zucchini to make "boats." Place zucchini boats in a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Chop the zucchini flesh and set aside.

Brown your ground beef (or turkey) in the olive oil with garlic and onion. Add chopped zucchini flesh, tomatoes and some salt & pepper (plus optional spinach) - cook until softened (about 4 minutes).

In a medium bowl, mix Parmesan & mozzarella.

Fill boats to a mound with beef mixture. Sprinkle with cheese mixture. Bake at 400° until cheese is golden (20 minutes)

Optional: Top with tomato sauce and other favorite veggies, such as peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, etc.

If you enjoyed this recipe and would like to learn more about clean / healthy eating, please join my FREE 7 Day Healthy Eating group, starting on Sunday, July 24^th. Just click the image above to get to my Health & Fitness page.

Monster Smoothie

Welcome to the Festival of Food Carnival. This month, we celebrate foods with kid-appeal!  Hosted by Diary of a First Child and Hybrid Rasta Mama, you're welcome to join us next time, or if you have a previously published recipe you'd like to share, add it to the linky below.

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This is my variation on a recipe my mother originally found in the local paper. I think children can help with most recipes if we just let them. I often have a hard time with the patience for it, but it is so worth the effort! This one is easy because its just a matter of throwing ingredients into the bowl (or blender pitcher) and the amounts are really flexible.

2-3 Cups of spinach
I don't know about you, but I have no idea how much to cram spinach into a cup to measure it. So... I just use a LOT of spinach!

Wordless Wednesday: Exploring Food ~ Chicken Packets

"Grease" center of foil with margarine

marinade chicken ~ pierced

Sunday Surf: Full Load

Getting a little bit back to normal around here. I found lots of cool stuff this week!

• Don't Lasagna Cupcakes sound odd? I thought so too, until I read the recipe. It sounds awesome and looks so pretty!
  
  

• Photo Credit

  I guess it shouldn't surprise me when I come across a totally new-to-me idea on the internet, but I had never dreamed of healing cavities! Intrigued? Check out How I Healed My Child’s Cavity from The Healthy Home Economist!
  
  
• The Wall Street Journal reported this week on this November's San Francisco ballot.

  

  Specifically, the circumcision ban (on males under the age of 18) that will be on it. This is a majorly controversial topic! Some feel that the lack of a religious exemption will hurt the bill while others argue that religion is no excuse for maiming our children. I checked out the poll and so far 73% (nearly 3000 voters) are against the ban versus the 26% (nearly 1000 voters) support the ban. I wonder how many voters are actually in San Francisco. What do you think about the possible ban? I know it would sure simplify arguments!
  
  
• Ready to lighten the mood a bit? How about fast, easy tap shoes for your little ones? I saw this mentioned and actually hunted around on the best link to share. This one looks good, though I saw one with pennies, too... presumably glued onto the shoes. Check out How to make your own Tap Shoes on This Little Project.
  
  
• Do you feel like you've grown apart from your single, child-free friends? I know I went through a separation from my best friend and we continue to deal with it. Sometimes they just don't understand, either. Well here's a comic / article to help explain it. Enjoy TELL ME ABOUT IT ® from The Washington Post. As a mom, I guarantee you'll get a chuckle out of the comic, at least!
  
  
• Back to a little more serious topic again, induction. There are several different ways to induce labor. You could use pitocin, nipple tweaking, sweeping the membranes, just to name a few.

  

  It can be easy to be convinced when you just feel so DONE with being pregnant! Especially if you have a doctor trying to "warn" you about the dangers of carrying to full term. Well we should know better! (Though it would help if we were given the truth in the first place.) Please read 39 Week Induction - One Mother's Experience from Mama Birth. I feel bad about letting / having my doctor sweep my membranes (twice) last time around and hope I can maintain willpower until our baby decides its time, this time around.
  

I hope you enjoyed our full load of links this week! I know I enjoyed them, from the thought-provoking to the amusing to the mouth-watering! Know a link I should definitely read? Share it in my comments, please!