Ta-cchini

You guys! I’m so excited to tell you that the other weekend we actually took the kids to go do something fun!

Hate to spread the truth here, but a lot of Saturday mornings the entertainment for the boys is watching their dad vacuum. They legit love that though!

We drove over to Stillwater, a super charming old town on the St. Croix river.

First stop was Teddy Bear Park. OK whoever planned this totally knew what they were doing. This park is enclosed and there’s only one entrance. That means that as a parent you don’t necessaaaaaaarily have to keep an eagle eye on your kid ‘cause there’s not infinity ways for them to wander off. Both boys had a lot of fun and the only way to get them to leave was the promise of visiting the old timey candy store.

My intention was to let both boys pick out a Dum Dum from the giant barrel, but Mac is no idiot- he spotted the giant lollipops right away.

We walked down to the river to watch the boats for awhile, then headed back home. A perfect easy non-vacuum-related morning.

For the record, he got to lick the sucker on the way home, and then we took it away and he conveniently forgot about it.

*Sigh*

On a note so good note, I’ve realized I’m a pretty marginal gardener. Like, I have a large garden with a decent variety of veggies, but I’m allllllways late to the game with planting.

I’m very hit or miss with the watering.

And I’m definitely behind the curve with harvesting.

Case in point: this is the 3^rd zucchini of this size I’ve pulled from the garden. Bigger is not better when it comes to zucchini. They get super watery and their seeds are huge. Not great for eating.

I’ve already made four batches of overgrown-zucchini bread/muffins this summer, so I wanted to do something different with this guy. Enter taco stuffed zucchini!

It’s  a thing, guys. Google it.

Taco Stuffed Zucchini

-Either one monstrous zucchini, or three regular sized zucchini

-1 lb extra lean ground beef

-1 packet low sodium taco seasoning mix

-1 cup (~1/2 can) fat free refried beans

-1 small can diced tomatoes with chiles

-1 cup shredded cheese (I used cheddar but Monterey Jack would be awesome)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut zucchini in half length wise. Using a spoon, gently scrape out the middle. Leave ~1/2 in thickness to zucchini.

Saute ground beef over medium high heat. Once crumbled and no longer pink, reduce heat to low. Add ¼ cup water and taco seasoning packet. Pour meat into zucchini shells.

Top with little blobs of refried beans, then diced tomatoes, and lastly sprinkle the cheese on top.

Bake for 30 minutes if using behemoth zucchini- 20 min for normal size zucchini.

Makes six servings either way. Per serving: 300 calories, 7 grams carbs, 12 g fat, 31 g protein.

Not as exciting as a giant lollipop or anything, but still a great way to use up zucchini.