Lemon-Glazed Zucchini Bread

I made this yummy bread today in another attempt to get some veggies into my children. I thought the bread was delicious, so I'll share the recipe in case you're interested in trying it. I am not sure where I got the recipe so I can't give credit.

Lemon Glazed Zucchini Bread

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup finely shredded zucchini

1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 Tbs. grated lemon rind

1 large egg

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cup and level with knife. Combine flour and the next six ingredients in a large bowl. Combine zucchini, milk, oil, rind, and egg in bowl; add to flour mixture. Stir just until moist.

Spoon batter into an 8 x 4 inch greased loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted, comes out clear. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

Combine powdered sugar and lemon juice; stir with a whisk. Drizzle over loaf.

(Note: I made 3 small loaves instead of one loaf and I cooked it for about 40 minutes. My oven cooks stuff fast so you might need a little more time than that)

Really wicked

We always try to engage our children in conversation during dinner time. It's about the only time of the day when we have their undivided attention. Last night there was a lull in conversation and I asked the children if they had thought about what they wanted to be for Halloween.

Apparently Harrison had been doing some thinking about it because he immediately blurted out that he wanted to be a "wicked witch". Not your standard everyday garden variety witch, no, he wanted to be a WICKED one.

I really try to encourage my children to always be unique. However, I was thinking to myself (and trying not to laugh) this is not going to happen because all the other kids would laugh at him. I envisioned him looking something like this on Halloween.

After I had a full night to think about it, I decided that if indeed he wanted to be a witch, then I would find out what a male witch looked like. I did what any mother would do and went straight to Google.

There was lots of information at my fingertips regarding the subject of male witches, more than I cared to know. But what really surprised me was the fact that I am apparently not the only one with this "boy witch" issue. In my Google search, I came up with a lot of links to others who had asked the same questions "How do I make a witch costume for my son?", "My son insists that he wants to be a witch for Halloween, what do I do?". So I know I don't walk alone.

Oddly enough I never did come across a costume for a "boy wicked witch" other than the Harry Potter type wizards which was not what Harrison had in mind. So I thought that perhaps the best thing to do was to ask Harrison exactly what he had in mind for his costume.

Mom: "Harrison, what exactly were you thinking you would wear as a wicked witch on Halloween?"

Harrison: "A black cape, a creepy, black pointy hat and a broom."

Mom: "Okay"

Harrison: "Oh and a green painted face."

Mom: (Thinking to herself this sounds eerily familiar)

Harrison: "Uh, mom?"

Mom: "Yes son?"

Harrison: "I changed my mind, I think I want to be Frankenstein."

Mom: (breathing a huge sigh of relief) "Frankenstein is good."

Another post for today

On August 16th, Stephanie and Christian Nielson were in a horrific plan crash in Eastern Arizona. There were three people on board, one who sadly did not survive.

I do not know this couple, but through the voice of Stephanie's sister, Courtney, have been following their recovery. Courtney's blog, c jane , is an amazingly eloquent and inspirational dedication to life. Her words have touched me and made me think about how precious every moment is.

Please visit this blog and join with me in offering your thoughts and prayers to this family. If you feel so compelled, there is a place to donate. Their medical bills are, as you can imagine, tremendous and any amount helps.

Kids Say the Funniest Things

Harrison had a birthday party on Saturday. It was at the movie theater and when we got there I asked Harrison if he saw the little boy. He said he no he didn't so we stood outside and waited. After a few minutes, Holden (who was tagging along) must have been getting a little anxious so he asked Harrison if he was sure he would remember what the little boy looked like. Harrison looked at Holden and said "Yes. He has black hair and blond skin like mine."

Not so New Testament

Holden wanted to take his Bible to church this morning so he was scrambling around his room at the last minute in search of one. The only one we could find was the New Testament version my father had given to Holden. On our way to church, Holden was flipping through the Bible and looked at the published date in the front and announced, "I don't know why they call this Bible new. It was printed in 1996."

The things kids think of.....

I love to encourage my kids to be creative. Well, as long as it doesn't get messy. The other day Holden found some pieces of wood in the garage and decided to make a cross. He nailed the two pieces of wood together and then came to me for some paint.

I had a small can of tester paint left over from when I briefly lost my mind and decided I might want to paint the dining room red again (if you have never tried painting a wall red, don't, you'll thank me for it). I let Holden use this to decorate his cross.

I came outside to find Holden lying in the driveway. I thought maybe he was resting or hurt or some combination of the two but in actuality he was painting the sides of the cross.

When I asked him what he planned to do with his cross he said he wasn't sure. Right now it is decorating our screened porch. But really, it wasn't the end product that mattered anyway, it was the whole creating process that was important. He saw some wood and decided it should be a cross. Who knows what project will be next. I am just glad he enjoys being creative.

Happy Birthday Holden

Yesterday was Holden's 9th birthday. Time has gone so fast. Just yesterday he was a chubby cheeked little baby and now he has grown into a handsome young man.

Holden requested Chicken Alfredo, his favorite meal, for his birthday dinner. Once again, grandma came through with an adorable and yummy cake. Since Holden loves to skateboard, she made him his very own skateboard cake.

Here is Holden with his great-grandmother.

Holden with his grandparents

And our family picture, which would have been decent had Harrison not made the silly gesture as he does in EVERY picture that we take. The other picture had him with his eyes bugged out and a silly grin on his face. There is one in every crowd.

Grandmother's birthday

My grandmother's birthday is tomorrow but we celebrated last weekend when we all got together at the River house for Labor Day. She will be 82 years young!

This is the gift I made her. If you are interested in details on how to make it, click here.

Here is a picture of my grandmother and my cousin, Hessley, who turned 20 on September 1. My mother made the beautiful cake for them.

Would I lie to you?

 

Now do you think that an adorable face like this could possibly lie to his mother? Well, the answer is yes he could.

Today as I was perusing the aisles of Wal-mart in search of some elusive size D batteries or even an el cheapo flashlight (we are under hurricane alert here), my phone rang. Not recognizing the number, I was a bit hesitant to answer, but I did only to hear Harrison's teacher on the other end. Of course her first statement was that Harrison was fine, which was a relief. But I knew she wasn't calling just to say hello.

She started explaining that Harrison and some other boys were at their table and she thought that Harrison probably had just gotten caught up in what the other boys were doing. As she was saying this, I started thinking, "Okay, he's just had an accident. No problem I sent a change of clothes in his bookbag for that very reason." But, that wasn't what she was saying at all. Turns out Harrison and the other boys at his table decided to stab their pencil boxes with pencils repeatedly until they cracked.

She said she was surprised because Harrison is usually so sweet and they hadn't seen that side of him. She thought he just got caught up in what the other boys were doing. As punishment, he missed 5 minutes of recess. She also asked for $.50 to replace the pencil box.

So when Harrison got off the bus today we talked about his day and I gave him a number of opportunities to confess. Finally when I pulled out his folder and showed him the yellow dot that indicates poor behavior, he confessed. When I asked him why he would do something like that, he just shrugged his shoulders and said "It was fun". So now he's being honest.

As punishment, Harrison is having to pay for the pencil box and write his teacher a note apologizing for his poor behavior.

Before school started we joked that we would get a call from the school that first week. Well, it wasn't the first week, it was the second. Maybe I should forewarn the teacher that Harrison has a streak of wild child a mile wide. But really, I think she might figure that out herself. And why label the child so early on.