Scalloped Zucchini recipe

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If you like scalloped potatoes, you'll probably enjoy this scalloped zucchini recipe I came up with. It's very easy and uses up a lot of extra zucchini. Bonus: the kids liked it! It's not an exact recipe so I hope it's not confusing.


Scalloped Zucchini Recipe
Zucchini
Flour
Milk
Cheese
Salt & Pepper


Wash the zucchini and slice into 1/4" thick slices. I used grandma's old mandolin. I believe I used about 7 small & medium sized zucchini.



My mom stopped by and I put her to work slicing.




Next, place the sliced zucchini into a large pan in a single layer. Sprinkle with a dusting of flour. Enough so the entire layer is covered in a light dusting. Then sprinkle with a bit of salt & pepper and a bit of cheese (I used Colby). Repeat layer one more time.



Then pour on the milk. Enough so the milk just barely covers all the zucchini.


Bake at 350 degrees until zucchini is soft and sauce is thick (about 45 minutes).




Enjoy!









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Stuffed Zucchini recipe

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I spent some time cooking with zucchini (again) the other day and I came up with a good recipe for stuffed zucchini. You can stuff zucchini with just about anything!


Corn & Cheese Stuffed Zucchini Recipe
6 medium-sized zucchini (about 7-9 inches long)
1 onion
2 cups sweet corn
1 package cream cheese
salt & pepper


I used the light green zucchini as the "stuffers".

Just lightly rinse them off, slice lengthwise down the middle, and scoop out the seed cavity with a spoon.


Next, I used two golden zucchini for part of the stuffing. I thought it would be interesting to use two different colored zucchini. I would have used more colors, but I need to pick more of the black & white out at the farm (another drawback of having your house 13 minutes from your garden plot).


Chop them up.


Saute the onion & yellow zucchini in canola or olive oil until soft.


Next, add 2 cups sweet corn to the pan. I used some of my frozen sweet corn from last summer, but if fresh is available you could always cut it off the cob and toss it in. I also added 1 package of cream cheese (you may use low-fat if you prefer, or you could substitute with something like salsa if you prefer to skip the cheese). Cook & stir until everything is melted together. Season to taste with salt & pepper.



Next, spoon the mixture into the hollowed-out zucchini and top with a sprinkling of cheddar or colby cheese, if desired.


Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.



Enjoy!








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Penny's favorite rice summer salad (recipe)

This is my all-time favorite summer salad.

It's so easy and you can vary it with whatever fresh, seasonal vegetables are available from the garden.

Here's the recipe.

Penny's favorite rice summer salad
-4 cups cold rice (use my easy baked rice recipe!)
-4 cups vegetables of your choice (whatever you have on hand. Great in this salad are:
fresh peas, broccoli, onion, greens, zucchini, cucumber, mushrooms, etc.) Pictured above is fresh raw snap peas, sweet onion, swiss chard, beet greens.
Dressing:
-1/2 cup oil (canola works well here)
-1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
-2 tablespoons soy sauce
-2 tablespoons sugar
seasonings of choice (salt, pepper, garlic powder if desired)

Combine all and mix well. Refrigerated leftovers will keep for at least a few days.




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Pro at Cooking

My husband can cook.

When we first married, he was limited to Ramen noodles.

Now, though, he can whip up omelets, pita pizzas, lasagna w/ homemade noodles, and anything on the grill comes out better than a good restaurant.

All the indoor cooking was taught by me. The grilling, though, was his own trial and error learning over the years.

He's a gamer. Meaning video games. He came across this site last winter, which is put together by another gamer. He loves it. It's called "Pro at Cooking" and it's a comedy-based Internet show featuring a guy named Dave who is the cooking pro. He demonstrates how to cook the featured dish while pretending to be a jerk to the bimbo "assisting" him. The bimbo changes for each episode, I believe.

Want your husband to get more involved in the kitchen? Perhaps he'll also enjoy the Pro at Cooking: http://www.proatcooking.com/ .


The "pro" at cooking, Dave.

Cooking... what vegetables??

As many young children, some of mine have an aversion to certain vegetables.

Here's how I get 'em to eat those veggies anyway.

Here we have a potato soup. Potatoes, carrots, onion, celery, garlic. Kids would probably approve of the potatoes only.



Here is my secret weapon. It's called an immersion blender.



See it work. It's fast!



What vegetables??!?!

Little cook

I'm a big believer in letting the kids into the kitchen.
Letting them help if they want.
Of course, most of the time it's difficult. They want to fight over stools to "see" the stove, who gets to hold the spoon to stir, who gets to lick the beater.
But I push through.
I'm determined to raise boys who can cook.
It's important to me that they will be able to prepare themselves a healthy meal as well as cook for their future wives!!!
So far, so good!

Fritatta

A frittata is so easy to make, good for you, and economical (make use of those leftovers!).

First, decide what's going into your frittata. This is a great way to get rid of the week's leftovers. You can use anything. Just make sure to adjust your seasonings depending upon what you're using. If it's Mexican food leftovers you're using, use spices for the frittata like chili powder and cumin that match the flavors.

If you make your own bread and have some stale or day-old sitting around, use that too!

Add some extra-virgin olive oil to the pan and heat it up.

First, I like to saute some onion and garlic.

If using bread, you can cube it and add it next or do as the Tuscans do. They soak their day-old bread in a bit of water then squeeze out the water and add it.

After your onions, bread, or leftovers are cooked through add the eggs (first you'll need to stir them in a bowl with a bit of milk). Use the best eggs you can find. Support a local farmer! Buy free-range local eggs. You'll be amazed at how much better they taste and they're also better for you (this link is to a study of free-range eggs). Plus you're supporting a local family farm.


As I like to take a shortcut whenever I can, I next put a lid on it and turn the heat down as low as it will go. (Traditionally a frittata is cooked partially on the stove then moved under the broiler to cook the rest of the way).



When the eggs are setting up, sprinkle some cheese on it.

It's ready to eat when the eggs are completely set. Just cut it in the pan and dish it out.

This one has onion, garlic, bread, and asparagus.

How we do brats around here

Well the weather hit the 50s last weekend so we busted out the grill for a meatfest.
We love brats around here. I've recently discovered that brats are a mainly upper midwest tradition. I had always thought everyone ate them! :-)
Must be from the Europeans who settled around here... Germans love sausage.
Being so close to Wisconsin, we of course have to make them beer brats. They're just not worth eating otherwise.
Here's how we do it in these parts:
First, you'll need a bunch of beer. The cheap beer is for cooking the brats (cheapest you can get - we use Milwaukee Red). The good beer is for drinking while you're making the brats.

Add the beer to a stockpot. Then add chopped onion and chopped garlic. If the brats are only for adults add some diced jalapenos and jalapeno juice to kick it up a notch. If the kids will be eating them definitely leave out the peppers.

Toss in the fresh brats (if you can find a butcher shop or meat market that makes them fresh they'll be even better!). Bring all to a boil and let simmer for 20-30 minutes or so.

They'll be cooked all the way through so they won't require long on the grill. Just toss on the grill and let cook until beautifully browned.
Now put on a bun (preferable whole wheat and if you have time make them yourself from this recipe (substitute whole wheat flour and use the oval lid of a butter dish to cut out correct shape) - you'll never want a store-bought bun again). Here's the best part. Get a slotted spoon and scoop out the onions, garlic, and jalapenos and put them on top of your brat. Delicious! Now add some mustard. The best mustard is from Baumgartner's in Monroe, WI!
Don't even THINK about putting ketchup on that brat.
Sauerkraut is awesome as well!
I almost forgot! Don't toss out that beer stock! Put it in freezer containers or a large freezer bag and save it to use as stock for your beer chili in the winter!