The Full Plate Blog

Have a full plate? Need a full plate? Come visit my new site! The Full Plate Blog

Full Plate is up and running...

The new blog site is not very witty yet. It's definitely still a work in progress. But, now's as good a time as any to flip over to the new blog: Full Plate. From here on out, I will be posting to Full Plate...including the announcement of the winning voter, so please go ahead and bookmark the new page if you want to keep up on the recipes and ideas for staying healthy, happy and grounded as a mom. I didn't get around to writing down all the voters' names and having my kids pull one lucky voter out of the hat since the sun was shining just enough for us to go outside and play. Promise to get to that by the weekend!

See you over at Full Plate.

And the winner is.....

And the winner is….. Full Plate! Thank you to Cobie, from New Canaan, who came up with this clever multi-tasking name. Not only did she brainstorm the name, but she’s got a fabulous tag line to go along with it that I’ll unveil with the new site. I am very excited to run with her idea. Stay tuned for a pic of her winning what will be nothing short of a Publisher’s Clearinghouse-style house call…only more exciting because it will involve food.

I’ve got to get busy switching things around, but I’ll make it as seamless as I can for all of you. Not sure when I’ll find the “free time” to do this, so we’ll stay mom-a-licious until the babysitting fairy falls from the sky and grants me a couple hours a day without a kid on my lap as I type.

For those curious about the breakdown of the votes, here’s how things panned out:
Full Plate – 27 votes
Grateful Platefull – 17 votes
Fairfield County Momalicious – 7 votes
Momalicious Fairfield County – 7 votes
Mom-a-licious Fairfield County – 7 votes
Fairfield County Mom-a-licious – 4 votes
GastroMom – 0 votes

And, I did not forget about the drawing for a prize for all of you who voted. Since it’s looking like a rainy afternoon, writing all the names down and drawing a lucky winner is going to be our afternoon project around here!

Thank you again, Cobie, for your creative and spot on new business name!

What's in a name?

I've got a favorite but I'd love to hear what you think of the final choices for a new business and blog name. Please click here to pick your favorite. Votes being tallied until midnight, June 30.

The winning namer and a randomly chosen voter will both be given an in-home cooking lesson!

Drum Roll Please...The Finalists!

Thank you to all of my friends (and friends of friends, and friends of those friends, and those friends' friends...) who suggested names for this blog and my accompanying cooking lesson business. I am excited to share the finalists with you, and have you pick your favorite. You may click here to see the list of possible blog/business names and cast your vote.

Votes will be tallied until midnight, June 30th (that's Tuesday). On Wednesday (or Thursday if Wednesday ends up being completely nutty) I will announce the new name for the blog and the two winners: the generous and creative person who came up with the winning name, and the the winning voter (chosen by random drawing).

The fine print for the contest is the same as the original post.

Stuffed Zucchini/Squash (aka "Zucchini Rockets")

Simple veggie side for summer dinners. I made the mistake of cutting it up before serving it to my kids last night and roasted, chopped zucchini isn’t nearly as appealing to little ones as a “zucchini rocket”. Today I’ll put a room temp “rocket” on their plate and let them eat it with their hands.

"Zucchini Rockets" (aka Stuffed Zucchini/Squash)

Zucchini and/or squash, washed and cut into 2-4” hunks
Melon baller or metal measuring spoon (to hollow out the squash/zucchini hunk)
1 jar Trader Joe’s Tomato Bruschetta
Shredded Parmesan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the zucchini or squash into 2 to 4 inch hunks. (They can be different heights.) Then, using a melon baller or metal measuring spoon (the idea is to have a sharp, small diameter) scoop out most of the inside of the squash/zucchini, leaving a base of about 1” in the bottom. Place them in a baking dish, hollow hole up. You’ll stuff the hole in a minute.

Roughly chop the squash or zucchini you just scooped out into smaller pieces, and toss in a mixing bowl with a handful of shredded parmesan and 1 jar of TJ’s prepared bruschetta. (At our TJ’s the bruschetta is found in the pasta aisle next to the olives.) Now you simply re-stuff the zucchini/squash chunks with this mixture (you’ll have extra filling which you can bake in a separate dish and use in omelets, frittatas, etc.).

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the zucchini/squash is tender, but not mushy. Serve warm or room temp.

Anticipating Farm Camp

I am not sure who is more excited for Farm Camp? Me, my lucky child who gets to go, or my little one who is going to be exploring the phenomenal acreage with me each day that his brother is mucking around with the pigs, learning about composting, building a fence for the sheep, and harvesting garlic?