Zucchini, Zucchini, Zucchini

Every year I plant one hill of zucchini. I don’t want to be overwhelmed by a prolific harvest, you know.

And every year I am overwhelmed.

After shredding and freezing as much as I need for the winter I am left with far more than my family can consume in the few days it takes for the next batch to be ready for picking. So, like any good gardener, I give it away to whomever will take it. (Usually by the end of the summer even those people are sick of zucchini!) We still eat a fair amount of zucchini which my daughter and I enjoy immensely, the men of the family offer no comment, they just eat it. In this post I will share with you some of my favorite ways to eat zucchini. Maybe you’ll find something new to try.

Summer Squash Saute (THM FP)

1 small zucchini, sliced

1 small yellow summer squash, sliced

1 small onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients together in a large pan. Cook over medium heat until veggies are tender. Serve immediately. Sometimes I get creative with the herbs in my spice cupboard. Onion powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, basil, and oregano are a few things I’ve tossed in. Shredded cheese sprinkled on top the last minute or two of cooking makes for a great way to vary this dish.

Pizza-Stuffed Zucchini (THM S)

1 large zucchini cut in half lengthwise

1 lb ground beef, turkey, or venison

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 pint diced tomatoes

8 ounces tomato sauce

Mozzarella cheese, Pepperoni, Any other favorite toppings, Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9×13 casserole. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds creating a hollow down the center of each half. Place zucchini in the casserole.

Brown meat with chopped onion till cooked through. Drain and return to fry-pan. Add diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Cook 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes more. Fill hollowed out zucchini halves. If the meat mixture doesn’t completely fill the zucchini’s allow it to spill over the sides into the bottom of the casserole. Bake till zucchini is fork tender (time varies based on the size of the zucchini). Once the zucchini is fork-tender top with mozzarella cheese, pepperoni and any other toppings of your choice. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the rest. Return to oven and bake long enough for cheese to melt. Serve with a fresh tossed salad.

Fried Summer Squash 

1 small yellow summer squash, sliced

1 small zucchini, sliced

Milk or egg beaten lightly

Yellow cornmeal

Garlic powder

Italian seasoning

Salt and Pepper

Olive oil for cooking

Combine 1\4-1\2 cup cornmeal with seasonings, to taste.

Beat egg in a small bowl, or if using milk pour 1\4 cup milk into small bowl. Coat the bottom of a fry- pan with olive oil, warm over medium heat. Dip squash slices into milk and then coat evenly on both sides with the cornmeal mixture. Place a layer of squash into warm oil and heat till browned on both sides and squash is tender. Remove to an oven-proof dish and place in the oven to keep warm.Repeat till all squash slices are cooked. Serve with your favorite summertime menu or eat alone for a yummy meal.

 

Zucchini Spaghetti (THM S)

1 medium zucchini

Sugar-free spaghetti Sauce

1 lb ground beef, turkey or venison

1 small onion, chopped

Garlic powder, to taste

Oregano, to taste

2 Tbsp melted butter or olive oil

Parmesan cheese

Brown meat with onion. Drain and add to favorite sugar-free spaghetti sauce. Warm over low heat. While meat is cooking, using a Julienne peeler, slice zucchini into thin strips, rotating around the zucchini as you go. Discard the seedy center and place “noodles” into a bowl.  Toss noodles with melted butter or oil and season with garlic powder and oregano. Serve just as you would traditional spaghetti.

If you have a favorite zucchini recipe please share in the comments. I’m always looking for something new.

Quite Simply, Baby Wipes

Our first child was born when my husband was 1/2 through nursing school.

We had NO money.

We were blessed with many wonderful gifts that enabled us to diaper our son quite cheaply. But all too soon the wipes we’d been given were used up. Having limited resources I set out find a cheap and easy alternative to purchasing baby wipes. Googling away I found a homemade baby wipes recipe that I fell in love with.

Ingredients:
1 select-a-size roll of BOUNTY paper towels (Bounty is the only brand that holds up nicely for baby wipes. Trust me, you’ll still save a boatload of money.)
2 1/2 cups hot tap water
2-3 Tbsp. baby oil or olive oil
2-3 Tbsp baby wash (baby shampoo works just as well)
1 air-tight container

Cut paper towel roll in half (this is where my husband gets involved. 🙂 ) Place cut-side down in your air-tight container. Store remaining half in packaging to use with your next batch.

Measure the water in a liquid measuring cup large enough to add the oil and wash to. Mix in the baby oil and baby wash. Pour this over the paper towel being sure to get all of the roll wet.

Snap on the lid and turn upside down for five minutes.

After five minutes remove the cardboard center and start your wipes from the middle.

When I first began making these wipes I calculated that it cost approximately $1.50 for a batch of approximately 150 wipes. Compare that to $1.00 for 80 wipes (cheapest option at Wal-Mart) you’re coming out ahead with minimal time and effort. Until the recent addition of our daughter in our home, one batch of wipes lasted us a month. That’s not so hard on the monthly budget!

You don’t have to be poor and in school to find this useful. My husband now has a nursing job and we could more easily afford to buy wipes. But I don’t want to. I love finding ways to reduce the cost of living. And when your husband tells you he likes your homemade wipes better than the store-bought ones you kinda get this warm-fuzzy feeling that ensures you’ll keep on making your own baby wipes till there aren’t any more baby’s bottoms to wipe. 😉

My Favorite New Recipe

   I love granola bars. So does my hardworking carpenter of a husband who likes to pack them everyday in his lunch. Since that gets expensive… especially since we buy the more healthy granola bars like NATURE VALLEY (pictured above) or (our very favorite) Cascadian Farms (organic!), I am very excited to introduce you to this recipe (which I ‘stole’ from my generous friend, April).

HOMEMADE GRANOLA BARS

3 cups oatmeal

1/2 cup oat bran (or oatmeal ground really fine)

1 cup cocout

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup warmed honey

1 cup ground peanuts (optional)

1 cup peanut butter

1 tsp. salt.

Mix all together and form into balls or press into pan to make bars.

*I prefer to cut them into granola bars and I usually chill them for a bit first. When I cut them I wrap them individually in plastic wrap and store them in a storage container in my pantry for easy access.

Zucchini’s Best Kept Secret Recipe…in Five Minutes

  How fast can you boil water? That’s about how fast it takes to make this delicious zucchini side dish from my favorite, most-used recipe book, The South Beach Diet.

We had zucchini dill ribbons with our juicy, seasoned steaks for supper last night. This dish would go with just about any meat entrée, though. Or, if you are looking for something quick, easy, and light to make for lunch, use up some of that fresh zucchini from your garden!

Here it is… the recipe for my favorite zucchini dish:
Zucchini Ribbons with Dill

4 medium zucchini, sliced lengthwise into ribbons

2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)

Bring pot of water to boil. Add the zucchini to the boiling water and cook for 30-60 seconds, or until tender-crisp. Drain.

Transfer the zucchini to a serving bowl. Add the parmesan cheese, dill, oil, and red-pepper flakes. Gently toss until zucchini is evenly coated.

Serves 4.

Nutrition at a Glance: Per Serving: 68 calories 3 gram protein, 5 gram carbohydrates, 5 gram fat, 1 gram saturated fat, 52 mg sodium, 2 mg cholesterol, 2 gram fiber