They don't want sandwiches.   Have these children no mercy?  It's 6:30 a.m.  The first cup of coffee is barely coursing through my system.  We're playing breakfast bingo.  It goes like this:

What do you want?

What do we have?

The usual:  Cereal, eggs, waffles, leftovers...

I don't want any of that; can I have pancakes? 

No, you have to be out of bed on time to for pancakes.

Fine, I'll have cereal.  And sausage.  And orange juice.

What do you want for lunch?

Not a sandwich.

Peanut butter and pretzels or celery?  Cheese and crackers?  Do want to buy your lunch?

No...I'll have a sandwich.

Ham?  Salami?  Peanut butter and jelly?

Do you have anything else?

Cream cheese and jelly?  Tomatoes and mayonnaise?

Gross.  I guess peanut butter.  But don't put on too much jelly so that it plops out. 

Do you want me to cut off the crusts?  Halved in rectangles or triangles?

I'm not 6...what I am is tired of sandwiches.

It's the first day of school!

So?

This scenario repeats with child #2 who gets out of bed an hour later.

I'm ready for tomorrow.  Tomorrow they're getting Chicken Caesar Lettuce Wraps.  You can all bow to my pro-activity.  Then you can laugh when I tell you that it's simply leftover chicken chopped up, sprinkled with parmesan cheese and some croutons and wrapped in a romaine lettuce leaf.  Salad dressing gets squeezed in a little cup and it's a wrap.  Literally.  Toss in a beverage and a treat, and I can maybe finish that coffee...

I love zucchini.  It's not exactly a nutritional powerhouse - 1 cup of chopped zucchini has 20 calories, 4 grams of carb, 1 gram of fiber, and 2 grams of protein.  But, whatever,  it's healthy enough, I like it, and my husband grows it.  It hasn't been that great of a year for it in our garden, so I've been making all my favorites first.

Last night, using the very last two zucchini from the garden a few of the eggplants (they didn't have a great year, either), and just putting a dent in the bumper crop of tomatoes, I made Tomato Zucchini Casserole.  The addition of the eggplant gave this an incredible silky consistency.  It was served with a very tasty Quinoa Risotto (I do not know why it is named risotto because there is no rice, but, again, whatever).

The day before, I had made Banana Walnut Muffins - which, IMHO, needed a found half of zucchini grated into it.  They were quite pretty.  I baked them in a mini muffin panso they cooked and cooled quickly and were nice on a fruit tray for lunch (we had company - I'm not that nice to my family!)

My hands down favorite is Briam Florinis, which is a greek dish.  I always have to make it in my biggest stoneware, and it has yet to last 48 hours.  It's messy to make, but oh so worth it.  Make this for your favorite vegetarian.

Anyone who lives in Ann Arbor please feel free to leave your excess zucchini on my porch!

Watermelon is one of those things that just doesn't keep well.  Even though it's relatively inexpensive, I feel guilty pitching what we don't eat.  But I will never do that again.  Last week my sister-in-law made a drink that I just have to share with you.

She pureed chunks of watermelon (messy, yes, but I can handle mess), removing seeds as the melon went into the blender.  Some of the puree was put into bowls to make big ice cubes.  The rest of the watermelon puree went into the fridge to chill.  At serving time, the puree was poured into a punch bowl with about the same volume of Squirt (but I'm guessing any similar soda would do) and the frozen watermelon were added.  Cool and delicious.  The texture was slushy like.  And after a few glasses with the addition of watermelon vodka, so was I...

Next time you buy a healthy watermelon save some for the freezer!