Fresh Picked Garden Tomatoes

The wonderful Henriikka, who I say is wonderful because she is like superwoman. She has a potty training toddler, a newborn, a job, a husband, two giant bear dogs, goes camping (with newborn!) and finds time to garden!

Henriikka is one of my lovely daycare moms, and she generously shared some of her beautiful garden tomatoes with us this morning! Don't they look just fabulous!!? 

Thank you, Henriikka!

Levi helped me choose just the right color bowl for the tomatoes ('Levi, should we use a blue bowl?' 'Nooo'. 'Should we use the red bowl?' 'NoOoo'. 'Should we use the GREEN bowl?' YEEEES!!'), and went to work unloading the bag of goodies he and his mom brought.

We go through tomatoes like candy at my house. I put them in JUST about every single thing I make. Except maybe oatmeal. Or ice cream. That would be wrong.

Being from the South, I should have been raised with fried green tomatoes. But sadly I was not. The deprivation of experiencing fried tomatoes was an oversight I corrected as an adult this past year when I discovered them for the first time. YUM! does not describe how wonderful these snacks are (are they meant to be a side dish...?). If you've never tried them you should, just to say you have. But if you like fried things (and I do) you might develop a taste for them. We don't do too much frying in my house anymore, but on special occasions I fry my little heart out. Either way, these juicy fruits will be greatly enjoyed!

Watermelon: The Wonder Fruit!

What is Summer without juicy, sweet, crunchy watermelon?? This is a staple in our house whenever it is in season. This is our desert, go-to snack and sometimes breakfast during the Summer. I don't know any fruit I love more than watermelon!

Watermelon has so many more health benefits than most people know about, which is why this is a food that I can feel good about Alex eating in unlimited quantities.

Here are some of the good things watermelon provides:

As a member of the Cucurbitaceae family, the watermelon is related to the cantaloupe, squash and pumpkin, and other plants that also grow on vines on the ground. These are all notorious cancer-fighting foods.

Watermelon has tons of Vitamins A and C in just 1 wedge of watermelon. Vitamin B6, pantothenic acid and thiamin are also provided in significant amounts. A powerful antioxidant, watermelon helps neutralize free radicals that cause inflammation, illness, stroke and heart attacks.

The red/pink color of watermelon comes from beta-carotene and Lycopene, both powerful cancer-fighting allies.

One of the main health benefits of watermelon is its status as a powerful antioxidant, which helps to neutralize free radicals than can lead to inflammation, general sickness and chronic illnesses such as stroke and heart attack.

Because of it's high water content, watermelon helps make your metabolism work more efficiently, which in turn can aid in weight loss and fluid retention. Plus, watermelon has so much fiber and protein, your body will still work harder simply processing watermelon, which equals fat burning, y'all!

Making Organic Fruit Leather

We just bought a bunch of blueberries to use in fruit cups for the 4th only to realize too late all of the daycare children were out all week for the holiday! So we had all these blueberries and decided we could make fruit leather instead!

I cooked the blueberries for about 10 minutes in a few tablespoons of water, then added applesauce and honey. Then I blended it all together in the blender and poured it out onto two cookie sheets lined with parchment (don't use wax paper!!).

The oven was set on the lowest temperature, and I propped it open with an oven mitt to get it cooler inside (you want to dehydrate the fruit, not cook it). If you have a food dehydrator you can use that instead.

It took about 8 hours but when they were done they were so pretty and perfect. Next time I'll do this overnight instead of during the day, though. 

I used scissors to cut them into strips. Unfortunately, my son ate them all before I had a chance to take any more pictures. :-)

Yum!