Lessons learned at the MO TKD Invitational

That’s my boy in the red, kicking with all he’s got at the 2011 Missouri Taekwondo Invitational!  Jacob competed in sparring and Caitlyn competed in forms.  Before I get to how they did, can I just confess something? Watching my kids compete can bring out the “mean Mama” in me when their opponent isn’t competing fairly.  Let me explain.  Jacob had two sparring matches.  In the first match, he sparred someone from Champion, our martial arts school.  Unfortunately, Jacob lost that match, but the other boy competed fairly and was friendly; trademarks of our students.  However, Jacob’s second match was against a boy from another school who repeatedly pushed Jacob.  Now, I don’t know a whole lot about the rules of sparring, but pushing while moving forward isn’t allowed.  And that’s exactly what that other boy was doing.  The referee did warn the other boy once, but that was after he already had a 9 point lead!  And, he continued to push Jacob!  Now, here’s the “mean Mama” part.  Caitlyn and I were sitting right next to the other boy’s parents and I just couldn’t seem to stop myself from making very loud remarks like, “that boy really needs to stop pushing Jacob!  Why doesn’t the referee disqualify him!”  Yeah, you know I wanted those parents to hear me and how upset I was about how their boy was behaving.  That other boy wasn’t displaying very good sportsmanship…but neither was I. 

And there’s my girl with her silver medal in forms!! She had to compete against two different girls.  The first time, she was flawless.  The second time, she forgot her form about a quarter of the way into it!!  I could see the panic set in on her face when she asked the referee what to do.  He told her to start over, and she got it the second time.  She was so surprised to receive second place!
I’d say we all learned some lessons from this event.  Jacob, who a month prior had won a medal for undefeated at our school’s sparring games, entered the competition confident of winning.  But it was not to be.  He still demonstrated an indomitable spirit and got a taste of humility.  Caitlyn, who has never won an individual medal, tasted victory for the first time and demonstrated perseverance when it seemed all was lost. I learned that I can’t always fight my kids’ battles, as much as I want to, and that I should still demonstrate integrity when faced with injustice.
I’m proud of my champs!

Making Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

Every time we have brown bananas, Jacob wants to make banana bread.  Well, today he finally got his wish.  He did a great job mashing up the bananas and mixing in the ingredients.

Do you see that look of uncertainty, as in, “Mom’s really going to let me pour this in all by myself!?”  Yes, I’m a bit anal when it comes to messes in the kitchen, but I’m trying to get over that for the sake of my kiddos’ culinary education.

Who knew mixing could be this much fun?!

Delicious!!

Zucchini Muffins with Dark Chocolate Chips

I had a couple of zucchinis left over after making my zucchini quiche, so this morning I whipped up some zucchini muffins with dark chocolate chips.  Zucchini because it’s healthy, dark chocolate chips because then I’ll eat them and muffins because, like quiche, they’re a great way to hide veggies.

Here’s the basic recipe I use from my Betty Crocker Cookbook.  I use this for most all of my muffin recipes.  Sometimes I use blueberries, other times, I use bananas or cranberries or zucchini.  Sometimes I follow it exactly, other times (like this morning) I use healthier alternatives.  Here’s my recipe for (healthier) Zucchini Muffins with Dark Chocolate Chips:

Ingredients:

1 cup skim milk

1/4 cup applesauce

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 Tbsp whole ground flax seed meal mixed with 3 Tbsp water

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar (you could use brown rice syrup or Agave nectar for a healthier alternative.  I didn’t have any this morning)

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 small zucchini, grated

3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease bottoms of muffin tins or use paper baking cups.

Beat milk, applesauce, vanilla and flax seed mix.  Stir in flour, sugar, baking powder and salt all at once just until flour is moistened.  I’ve learned this is important.  Over-stirring muffin batter will result in dense, chewy muffins.  The less you stir, the lighter and fluffier your muffins will be.

Fold in zucchini and dark chocolate chips.

Divide batter evenly among muffin tins.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.  Allow to cool 5 – 10 minutes before serving.

It’s up to you if you want to tell your kiddos that these have zucchini in them.  I tell them so they’ll think, “Hey, zucchini isn’t too bad!”  Then the next time I fix something with zucchini in it and they scrunch up their faces, I can say, “Remember how much you liked those zucchini muffins I made?”  Clever, huh?

Zucchini Quiche

I love quiche!  Once you know a basic quiche recipe, you can add whatever ingredients you want.  It’s really the perfect meal for a gal who doesn’t like to eat her veggies.  My basic quiche recipe calls for a refrigerated or frozen 9 inch deep dish pie crust, 4 eggs, 1 cup milk or half and half and 8 to 10 oz of whatever cheese you like.  Here’s how I make my Zucchini quiche.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

2 – 3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 to 1 small onion, chopped

2 small zucchinis, peeled or grated

2 – 3 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

1 (9 inch) deep dish pie crust

4 eggs, beaten

1 cup milk

8 oz Italian blend shredded cheese

2 – 3 Roma tomatoes, sliced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat.  Saute garlic and onion in butter until lightly browned.  Stir in zucchini.  Season with basil, salt and pepper.  Spoon mixture into pie crust.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and milk.  Stir in cheese. Pour into the pastry shell, allowing egg mixture to thoroughly combine with zucchini mixture.

Place sliced tomatoes on top of quiche.

Bake in a preheated oven for 45 – 50 minutes, until set in center.  Allow to stand 10 minutes before serving.

Dark Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Whenever I want to make pancakes, I turn to my hubby’s 30 year-old Betty Crocker Cook Book.  I love this recipe so thought I’d share with you!

Ingredients for nine 4-inch pancakes:

1 egg

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup milk (I add another 2 Tbsp because I like my batter a little thinner).

1 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

3 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp saltIn a large bowl, beat egg until fluffy.  Stir in remaining ingredients, just until smooth.  Heat griddle to 350.  Grease griddle with butter.  (I like to use a lot of butter.)  Pour batter onto griddle. There’s one more, important, ingredient that I added…Dark chocolate chips!Now THAT’S getting the day off to a good start!