Mommy Octopus

 Ever since I first tried an avocado egg roll, I’ve been hooked.  They can be really pricey at the restaurants so we try to only order them on special occasions.  The other day while we were in Aldi, they had some super ripe avocados for only $.39!  We decided to see if we could make our own avocado eggrolls.  I have a super husband that loves experimenting so he gave it a whirl.  He even created a sweet and tangy dipping sauce for the egg rolls! For starters, you’ll want to cut open your avocados and slice and scoop out the goodness.  If you haven’t worked with avocados before, there is a big seed in the middle.  You’ll want to score around the outside of the avocado and then open it.  Scoop out the seed and slice the avocado, not slicing through the skin.  Then scoop out the avocado with a spoon.

  You will want to do this to 4 of the avocados and then lightly salt.  The 5th, you will scoop out and mash into a bowl.  With the mashed avocado, you will add in some salt, lime juice, minced garlic, and cilantro.  Stir it all up to make the base for your avocado egg roll. To make the egg rolls, you will lay one egg roll wrapper flat on a plate and add a spoon of the mashed avocado mixture.  Add a couple slices of avocado on top.  Next take your finger and dip it in a bowl of water.  Run your finger along the outside edges of the egg roll.  This helps the egg roll stick together.  Then fold the sides in and roll up.  Gently place the wrapped egg roll in hot oil to fry.  Let cook 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oil and place on paper towels to cool.  Repeat until egg rolls are filled and fried. Next up, mix up your dipping sauce.  My husband had envisioned a sweet and tangy sauce.  I thought he was crazy at first with the ingredients he was mixing together, but it worked beautifully!  It’s a mixture of ketchup, cumin, orange marmalade, vinegar and a touch of salt.  Don’t knock it until you try it!

Cut the egg rolls in half and enjoy!  Even my kids loved these!

When Champions for Kids contacted me recently and their newest Simple Service project, I was really excited to help out. Champions for Kids makes it simple to give children in local communities the resources they need to thrive.  Helping others does not have to come in large doses. Champions for Kids seeks to ignite generational change by fostering a ‘habit of giving’ among youth and parents in America.

Did you know that 16 million American children live in poverty?  Many of these kids don’t have reliable access to the nutritious snacks that help them thrive and succeed both academically and socially.  Throughout the month of August, Champions for Kids is partnering with Dole to encourage community projects across the country benefiting children in need. Called SIMPLE Service Projects, the idea is to host or organize an event to collect snack foods that you would then donate to a local organization that serves children in need, such as a food pantry, after-school program or daycare center.

One local organization that is dear to us is called Food 2 Kids Athens with the Northeast Georgia Food Bank.  Food 2 Kids provides food for local children to take home Friday after school to last them through the weekend until they are back at school for breakfast Monday morning.  Each month through the year, they focus on collecting one specific food item so they can build up their supply for the children through the year.  August and September are peanut butter, October is ravioli (pop top cans), November is juice boxes, and December is granola bars. Everything has to be easily opened by a small child.

It’s easy to organize your own food drive!  Simply gather your friends and family together and ask that everyone brings a few snacks for the food bank.  You can host a family fun day!  When everyone pitches in, you can gather a bunch!  Figure out what organizations near you need help and what items they need.  Then donate the items you have gathered.  Lastly, share your project at championsforkids.org/share

We recently hosted an event and it was easy getting our guests to bring snacks to gather for the food bank!  They all thought it was a great idea and it was simple to do!  Now we just need to drop it off at the food bank next week!

If you’re looking for ideas of snacks to donate, Dole offers a number of terrific, portable and nutritious snacks perfect for game day, including Dole Fruit Bowls and Dole Fruit Squish’ems.

• Dole Fruit Squish’ems squeezable fruit pouches are a delicious and nutritious snack that is just a fun squeeze away. Fruit Squish’ems gives parents an easy way to get more fruit/healthy snacks into their kids’ diets. Each pouch contains 1 Full Serving of All Natural Fruit that has 60 calories and contains 20% daily value of vitamin C. Dole Fruit Squish’ems is made with Fresh Apples only from the USA and have no High Fructose Corn Syrup or any artificial flavors.
• Dole Fruit Bowls come in many varieties, including fruit in 100% juice, fruit packed in gel, or fruit with no sugar added. Dole offers lots of choices, such as pineapple, tropical fruit, pears, peaches, apples and more, so there is something for every taste.

Another way to participate is to visit your participating Walmart store between August 4 – August 18 and look for the purple product display and donation bin. Choose back-to-school snacks such as Dole Fruit Squish’ems and Fruit Bowls and donate them right inside the store to help children in your local community!

I participated in this program on behalf of Champions for Kids and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own.