Food Frenzy

Today I have been a wild woman in the kitchen.  I have cooked sweet potatoes, butter peas, roasted cauliflower and asparagus, cooked fresh green beans with red potatoes, and sauteed squash and zucchini.  I still need to boil some cabbage. I went to Sprouts Thursday night and came home with tons of stuff.  The squash and zucchini dish is my husband's current favorite veggie so I'm going to share that with you today.  We'll be eating good this week!

Sauteed Yellow Squash and Zucchini

3 yellow squash, sliced
3 zucchini, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
olive oil
Salt & Pepper, to taste 
a little water

Put oil in a pan over medium heat.  Add onions and garlic.  Cover and cook until onions are tender.  Add in zucchini and squash.  Sprinkle salt and pepper on top.  Add a little water to help steam veggies.  Cook until tender.

Muy Bueno!

I was a little nervous about how this recipe would turn out, but it was really good!!  It wasn't hard to make, but it took a little time because the spaghetti squash needed to cook for 45 minutes.  While it cooked, I got everything else cooked, chopped, drained, and ready to go.  I didn't put all the filling in the squash because it would have been way too much for one meal.  We have enough of the filling for another meal or you could put the mixture in individual baking bowls and feed 4 - 5 people.  Another good thing about this meal is that there is not a lot to clean up.  PLUS, it's less calories than tacos!  No tortilla in this meal!  These bonuses actually makes it MUCHO muy bueno!

*If you are doing food prep for the freezer, scrape out the spaghetti squash and mix all the ingredients together at the end.  You can put these in aluminum pans from Dollar Tree and store them in the freezer until you are ready to use them.  This makes for a quick, complete, and easy dinner!

Spaghetti Squash Taco Bowls

1 medium spaghetti squash, halved, seeds removed

Olive oil

Filling:

1 tbsp. olive oil

1medium onion, chopped

1 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 lb. ground beef

½ pkg. taco seasoning mix

Salt, to taste

Black pepper, to taste

1 (15-oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 diced tomatoes

1 can corn, drained

1/2 c. shredded Monterey Jack, plus more for the topping

Sour cream, optional

Shredded lettuce, optional

Preheat oven to 400°. Cut spaghetti squash in half, length wise.  Scrape out stringy stuff and seeds.  Pierce outside of squash with a fork or knife multiple times.  Drizzle cut sides of spaghetti squash with oil. Place cut side down on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Roast until tender, about 45 minutes. Let cool. Using a fork, shred squash into strands.

Filling: Cook ground beef and break into small pieces.  Set aside on paper towels to absorb fat from the meat.  In a skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Add onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for a minute more. Add ground beef and let simmer for a few minutes as you stir it all together.  Stir in taco seasoning, salt, and pepper. Stir in black beans, tomatoes, corn and cheese. Mix in shredded spaghetti squash.

Fill each spaghetti squash shell with the beef mixture.  Top with a little more cheese. Return to oven for 5 minutes to melt the cheese.   Add sour cream and shredded lettuce if desired.

Two Thumbs Up

A Face Book friend posted this recipe from Tried and True today.  I must admit, I tried it and it was truly good.  The hubby told me three times how good it was.  Then he asked me how hard it was to make.  I told him it would be a weekend meal during the school year unless I could do some prep work in advance.  Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if you had all the ingredients on hand, but I didn't so I had to go to the grocery store ... on a Saturday.  I had just bought groceries yesterday.  Now I must admit, I don't mind going to the grocery store during the day if it's during the week, but weekends, well, yuk!  The nice thing about this recipe is that it's a complete meal in one pan. I made a couple of changes to the recipe and the way I prepared it.  Nothing drastic, just making it more to my taste and easier clean up.

 I was also making 3 other items while I was working on this so it's really hard to say how much trouble it was.  It probably wouldn't be bad if you go ahead and clean and slice the chicken before hand and slice up the zucchini in advance.  I also made a crustless spinach quiche (which makes it gluten free), shrimp and avocado salad, and lima beans today too.  If I haven't already posted the quiche and salad, I will.

Anyways, I give this one a 2 thumbs up!

Parmesan Garlic Chicken with Zucchini

·       2 Chicken Breasts, sliced in half

·       8 tablespoons butter, divided

·       ½ cup Italian Bread Crumbs

·       ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

·       ¼ cup plain flour or gluten free flour

·       3 medium zucchini, sliced

·       2 tsp. minced garlic 

*    water, if needed 

1. In a large pan melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. To make the chicken: Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a shallow dish. In a plastic bag or ziploc bag mix together bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and flour. Dip the chicken in the butter, put them in the bread crumb mixture, shake to coat, and place in the skillet.  Add left over butter to skillet.
2. Cook on each side for about 3-4 minutes until the outside is crispy and the chicken is cooked throughout. You may need to add a little water if the coating becomes too dark.  Set aside on a  plate.
3. Put zucchini in the bag with remaining bread crumb mixture and shake.
4. Add 2 more tablespoons of butter to the skillet and saute the minced garlic for a minute. Add the zucchini to the skillet, cover, and saute until tender.  You can also add a little water to help steam the zucchini.  Add two tablespoons of Parmesan cheese. Return the chicken back to the skillet on top of the zucchini, cover, and heat for a couple more minutes.