Family Fun Friday- Pirate Edition!

Ahoy Matey! Happy Friday! In our house, weekends are time for fun and family. To get the weekend off to a proper start, today is "Family Fun Friday." From the moment the kids got home from school we have been embracing our theme of the day- PIRATES!

I stopped by our amazing public library and stumbled upon a new children's book "Pirateria" by Calef Brown and added another from our own collection"How I became a Pirate" by Melinda Long. There is nothing like reading a few wonderful books to my children to get in the spirit of the afternoon! Along with our stories, we made our own pirate hats. We happen to already have several sheets of pirate stickers that I picked up at the dollar store, add to that a few crayon towers, markers, and a roll of brown painters paper and we had ourselves a wonderful time. By the way, painters paper is an awesome, and inexpensive thing to just keep around the house. We use it for many of our art projects.

I know, I know. This is a food blog. But, eating right can still be loads of fun! Why not make our meal a fun event for the kids? I now present to you our "Family Fun Friday Shipwreck Feast!"

                          "Pirate Meatballs on the Beach with Pirate Ships and Seaweed"

"Pirate Meatballs" or my daughter called them "Dead Pirates!"

1 pound Lean Ground Turkey
1 c. very finely chopped mix of green, yellow and red pepper
1/4 c. very finely chopped carrot
1 egg
pinch (Yes, a pinch. I don't actually measure it) of each, Thyme, Oregano, Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp each Salt and Black Pepper

Serve with organic spaghetti sauce and don't forget a few pirate swords (found by toothpicks)

This is easy. Throw everything into your stand mixer. If you don't have a stand mixer than throw it all in a bowl and mix everything together with your hands. Shape mixture into small balls. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the meatballs. I threw some simple marinara sauce in with the meat balls as they cooked. Cover and let cook about 5 minutes, then gently turn the meat balls over with a spoon and cook another 5 minutes.

Want to know a secret? You can do this all ahead of time! I actually prepared the meatballs while my youngest took his nap and then loaded them into my crock pot on low so they would be ready when we were ready for dinner. These also freeze well.

"Sand" (Cauliflower Rice)

Take a large head of fresh cauliflower and finely chop or whirl through your food processor until it resembles rice. Place in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 3 minutes. Stir and repeat for another 3 minutes or until the cauliflower is soft. Salt and pepper to taste.

"Seaweed"

Take a carrot peeler and "peel" zucchini and yellow squash into long strips. Sauté in a skillet with some Ghee (purified butter) and salt and pepper until cooked. Serve as seaweed.

                                                                    "Pirate Ships"

I used Apple Slices and Clementine slices, but this can be done with any fruit you have that can be boat shaped. Add a toothpick with a cleaver little flag and you have yourself a pirate ship. Easy. This was probably my kids' favorite part of the meal.

Have a Wonderful Weekend!