The menu this week evolved from green tomatoes (the growing season is slowing), cabbage, potatoes and corn that are ready to eat....

Exciting News! Skoogie took an egg challenge and passed. Sometimes when kids immune systems are not fully developed they react to eggs but often out grow them by age 4 or 5. So this week we get to try one of her old favorites… Spanakopita. I liken it to Greek lasagna with lots of spinach, cheese, and eggs. It is a little labor intensive, but well worth it and can be made ahead. We’ll see if she still likes it as much as when she was one!

Most of this week we need easy or make ahead meals. This is what I’ve come up with....

In Tuesday's post, I mentioned how we are taking "Little Bites" to navigate through Skoogie's current narrow food focus. I pulled out my copy of The Family Dinner for some great dinner games and a Taco Tuesday recipe. Maybe she'll sit long enough to try a few more little bites.

This week we'll relish lots of fresh local ingredients during harvest time: zucchini, corn, kale, swiss chard, tomatoes and lots of herbs. We're also enjoying lamb chops that we bought from Jurgen Peters in Waseca, MN

Wednesday is Skoogie's pick because we are in a bit of a Lola, I will never, not ever eat a tomato phase. Her naps seem to be disappearing so it seems more that she is just too tired to try new things by the time dinner comes...although she still likes tomatoes so we'll add those on the side. She also ate our first sample of lamb...once she sat down and "let" herself try it. She even asked for more just after Pete and I had shared the last piece. Luckily we were able to shave a few slices off the bone.

I was impressed that my rightie colored this entire page using his left hand.

If you are packing lunches again, you may be like me, and searching for ideas. The menu focus this week is a few more lunch items that can also easily be served for dinner. Many of the "lunches" are really leftovers but may not show up in the lunch box for a day or so to maintain appeal.

Red Tomatoes FINALLY!!! Several of our meals this week feature this beautiful fruit…...and a few Asian recipes in between.

As I mentioned in a post last week, when school starts (the count down is on...14 more days), O wants to have lunches from each of the countries we’ve visited. This week, rather than post a dinner menu, I’m including lunch ideas from 4 countries: Korea, China, Africa & India. The meals can easily be made for dinner (now or when school starts) and then packed up for lunch the next day.

We are still in vacation mode, so we’re re-visiting some menus from last year’s Eat Local time period. Enjoy!

August is prime time for summer in Duluth and we’re taking full advantage of it and having FUN in the SUN! We leave you with some of our favorite dishes. Enjoy!