Monthly Random Acts of Kindness - July

Wow!  This year is just flying by!  I thought I would share my monthly Random Acts of Kindness for July.

As I said in my January post, it's pretty easy to reach a goal of one random act of kindness a month.  Especially if you look at all of the little things that you do.  This is a summary of some of the kind things that I have done this month.

Watched child for an overwhelmed mom
Helped girls get practice going for softball (coach was running late)
Helped some customers find gifts for grandkids
Picked up litter on the trails while walking
Helped carry bags to customer's car
Cleaned up garbage at the Forest Preserve
Greeting people on the paths during my walks

How did your list for Random Acts of Kindness look this month?  Have you been doing RAOK's along with me?  How are you RAOK's looking so far this year?

Looking for ideas for Random Acts of Kindness?  Check out this post here.

Vegetarian Diaries - Spinach Manicotti

It's been awhile since my last Vegetarian Diaries post.

Yes.  I'm still a vegetarian.

I don't know when/if I will eat meat again

I feel pretty healthy with what I eat.  Limiting my processed foods has made a huge difference.  Exercise also helps out, too.

I like meals that I can make that I will eat and that my kids love.  This is one of them.

Not sure where I got this recipe.  It's been around for awhile (I think this was my mom's recipe?).

Spinach Manicotti

Ingredients:
1lb ricotta cheese
1 10oz pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/2 cup minced onion
1 egg
2 tsp fresh parsley, minced
1/2 tsp pepper
1 clove garlic, minced (feel free to add more...to your taste)
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 jars of spaghetti sauce*
1 8oz pkg manicotti shells

Directions:

Oven 350

In a large bowl, mix ricotta cheese, spinach, onion and egg.  Add parsley, pepper and garlic.  Mix 1 cup of mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.

In a greased 9x13 baking dish, start with one cup of sauce on the bottom.  Stuff uncooked manicotti shells with the spinach/ricotta mixture and arrange in a single layer in the baking dish.  Cover with the remaining sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan Cheese.

Bake for 45-55 minutes or until noodles are soft.


*I make my own spaghetti sauce to use on this dish

If you make the recipe, let me know what you think!

Enjoy!

New Sweatpants

RT came home with a brand new pair of sweatpants.  He was all excited because they fit him and they were on sale.  It’s hard for him to find clothes long enough for him (he’s kinda tall) plus being on sale was a score!

The only thing my kids could say?

“Don’t cut them into shorts!”

RT seems to think that he can wear these around town as pants.  I told him No.

*see “The Shorts” for more of a back story.

Rude

I work in a toy store.  It's a fun job.  I get to see and sometimes play with some cool toys and games.

I had an interesting day today at work.  There were 4 kids that were running around the store like wild animals.  They got a hold of some ride on toys and were having races around the store.  (the store isn't that big)  It was getting out of hand (they were running into customers and other employees).  I decided to break up the fun.  I told a couple of the kids that I had to put the toys away.  They were OK with it.  I think they realized they were being a little too wild.  Next thing I know, the mom is yelling at me, saying that I told her kids that they couldn't play with the toys in the toy store.  By the way, the mom was NO WHERE to be found when the kids were running wild.  (We realized later that she was in the back of the store on the phone, ignoring the wildness of her kids.  I think she might have left the store for a while, too (with out her kids))

Anyway...

The owner stepped in (during her yelling at me)  and said for the safety of the customers, employees and especially the children, we put the cars back.  That's when this woman yelled even louder, "What customers?"  The manager explained, "The other customers in the store and the safety of the employees that work here."  This arguing went on for quite awhile.  At one point the customer called me rude.  I held my breath and didn't say anything.  I think the poor woman was having a break down of some sort.  She said how her husband travels 5 days a week and that she's a single parent during that time.  I don't think she could handle the stress of the kids and her husband's travel.  << But that's no excuse to take it out on others.

It's also good that I kept my mouth shut.  I don't think I would have won an argument with her.  She was dead set on blaming me for the chaos in her life.

She did end up buying a couple of things and finally leaving the store.  We all had a deep sigh of relief until....she barged back into the store yelling at the manager.  I had to help another customer at that point (luckily).  After not winning another round with the owner, she finally left the store.

Glad my "rudeness" could be of help to her.

Can I count that as a Random Act of Kindness?

Farewell, Newton

Thank you for your love.

Thank you for playing fetch with us.

Thank you for joining us in our little swimming pool.

Thank you for taking us on long walks (and teaching us to be more creative so we don't say the word "walk" or "go").

Thank you for all of the hair.  Especially when we were wearing black clothes.

Thank you for your love of chocolate (eating part of Nick's cake and the chocolate candy they got for Christmas).

Thank you for your love of cookies.

Thank you for taking turns sleeping in the boy's rooms.

Thank you for cleaning the floor.

Thank you for letting me polish your nails. (even though you didn't want me to)

Thanks for being the best dog ever.

And.........

Thank you for choosing me.

*for more on Newton, click here

Pick up after yourself

I did my part this morning.  On my daily walk, I picked up some litter that was left on the trail.  Not sure why people have to drop their garbage on the trail when there are garbage cans conveniently placed along the trails.

If you see some litter, pick it up.  If you have garbage to throw out, find a trash can.

Just trying to do my part.

Lemon Zucchini Bread

I'm growing zucchini in the garden.

Last year's zucchini didn't do as well.  In fact, the plant was huge and did not produce any zucchini.  I think RT ended up pulling it out of the ground.  < He quite enjoys that.

This year the zucchini plant is taking off quite nicely.  I've used zucchini in soups, stir fry's, cakes and breads.

I found this Lemon Zucchini Bread recipe on Lil Luna and thought I would share it.  It looked delicious and seemed like a tasty way to use some of my zucchini.

Here's the recipe:

Lemon Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:
2 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil (I used sunflower oil)
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 TBS lemon juice
1/2 cup buttermilk
zest of 1 lemon
1 cup grated zucchini

Glaze Ingredients:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 TBS lemon juice
1 TBS milk

Mix flour, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat eggs.  Add oil and sugar until well blended.  Add lemon juice, buttermilk and lemon zest to this mixture and blend together.
Add in zucchini until it is mixed well.
Add the dry mixture and blend all together until it is well combined.
Pour the batter into greased 9x5 loaf pan.
Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.
While still warm, make glaze and spoon over the bread.  Let the glaze set up before cutting and serving.

*Yes, I did cut down the sugar to a little over a 1/2 cup.  I still thought it was good with less sugar.

I have to say that this is the best tasting zucchini bread.  I love the lemony flavor!  I'm looking forward to making this one again!

Enjoy!