New Summer Series!

Apologies to those expecting my weekly Wholesome Wednesdays post. I'm taking a break, just this week, in order to announce a new feature for my blog: a week long series of Summer/Kid-Friendly Recipes. I promise that WW will return next week: with green beans! Their lovely, slender forms are just appearing around my garden - and being snipped off and popped into my mouth before ever making their way into the kitchen.

This is my niece, Raina. Isn't she just the cutest thing?

She may be adorable, but she's got one picky palette, and i for one would like to see her eating more than just sliced ham. In honor of the approach of Summer and all the kid free-time and the heat that entails: I will be using this next week to post a series of Summer/Kid Friendly Recipes.  Disclaimer: I do not myself have kiddos (though we might be getting a puppy soon!), and i live far enough from my dear sister that the screams of 'no way will i eat this, mom!' will be unheard by me. But i will do my very best to work around Raina's limited palette, with maybe some alternatives that suit the likes/dislikes of some other kiddos and parents i know. The main goal for me will be to write some recipes that focus on:

1. Seasonal produce
2. Responsibly raised meat products
3. Easily/quickly put together
4. Avoid using the stove or oven
5. Won't break the budget, and may easily accompany short Summer vacation trips

I've asked my sister to give me a list of Raina's likes and dislikes, and this is what i got (and it's not promising):

Likes:

• Black olives
• pepperoni
• cheese
• ham
• bacon
• chicken
• some spice - mexican or italian style
• tortillas (sort of)
• pasta
• not many veggies, but she can pick them out.
• apples
• grapes
• cantaloupe

Dislikes:

• mayonnaise
• miracle whip (nasty sh*t)
• veggies
• things mixed together (yes, i know it's ridiculous)
• and most other things are not under the Likes list. :) 

So how will i put together recipes that don't involve 'mixing things together' you may ask? I'm asking the same thing!   But check back in next week and see what i come up with, it should be interesting! Good thing i already have experience in "Maguivering" food together: my husband (then best friend) would call me on the phone with a plea of 'i haven't a thing to eat' whereupon i would calmly ask for a list of what he actually DID have on hand, and then put those (sometimes very odd) ingredients together to form something delicious. But we'll see - i'm not promising anything, sister! Let's hope at least one of the recipes that show up next week are something enjoyable to the little lady, or at least for the rest of my readers!