Squash Browns

A bumper crop of Summer Squash necessitated some creative cooking. I can only eat grilled squash so many times a month....So I whipped up this recipe on the fly.

Ingredients:
4 medium sized Summer squash
1 yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp fresh parsley
2-3 tsp fresh basil
1 tsp fresh oregano
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
3 eggs
2 tsp sour cream
2 tsp sea salt


Shred squash and onions in food processor. Let sit on a paper towel in a colander for 15 minutes. Squeeze out squash to remove as much moisture as possible.
Chop garlic and fresh herbs in food processor combine with squash onion mixture in a large bowl.
Add cheese, eggs sour cream and salt.
Mix well.

Heat skillet with olive oil.
Form the squash mixture into small patties. When oil is hot, carefully drop the patties into the oil. Flatten with spatula. Brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels.

**I made these in advance then arranged them in a single layer on a greased cookie sheet and warmed them up in the oven at 200 degrees for about 15 minutes**

Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

Raw Gazpacho

This is the most yummy raw soup ever! Whenever I need comfort food, this does it!

Recipe taken from Natalia Rose's book The Raw Food Detox Diet

Ingredients:

• 6 tomatoes


• 1/2 to 1 cup fresh basil or fresh cilantro


• 1/4 c. apple cider vinegar


• 2 T. olive oil


• 1 t. soy sauce


• 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped


• 1 to 2 cobs corn, kernals cut off (during winter, I use frozen)


• 1 apple, chopped

In a blender, combine tomatoes, basil or cilantro, apple cider vinegar, olive oil and soy sauce. Process until desired consistency is reached. Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl. Pour soup base from blender into bowl and mix well. Serve chilled. Tastes even better the next day.

Fettucine Alfredo with Asparagus and Mushrooms

Ingredients:
1/3 +/- cup of margerine (I use a big scoop of spreadable margarine and it looks like 1/3 cup LOL)
bunch of fresh asparagus, the green kind, break off the woody bottoms and then snap into bite size pieces
4 ounces or so of fresh mushrooms, washed and sliced
3/4 c. SHREDDED parmesan cheese, not that fakey stuff
8 ounces of evaporated milk (I use fat free)
italian seasonings to taste
16 oz. fettucine noodles, but anything you have on hand will work.


Directions:

Note- I made this recipe up (based on another recipe, but i changed it all up) and I don't measure ingredients often. So please note that you are free to fiddle with amounts and stuff.

Note again - The sauce appears very thin... let it stand for a minute and it will thicken or just toss noodles with thin sauce.. it is suprisingly tasty and light!


Cook noodles. While noodles are cooking, melt margarine or butter in sauce pan. Add mushrooms and asparagus. Saute for a few minutes until they look yummy. Add shredded parmesan cheese and evaporated milk (If you buy a 12 oz can just eyeball it and pour in 2/3 of the can). Stir until cheese is melted.

Drain cooked noodles. Toss noodles and sauce. YUM!

Corn Casserole

This is less like a casserole and more like a super moist corn bread, which is just right for me!
Cut into squares, this is great with chili!

1 (15 oz) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (14 oz) can creamed corn
1 (8 oz) package corn muffin mix like Jiffy
1 cup sour cream
1 stick butter, melted
1.5 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350
In a large bowl, stir together both cans of corn, muffin mix, sour cream and melted butter. Pour into buttered casserole dish. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and top with cheddar cheese, bake an additional 5 to 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let rest for 5 minutes then serve!

Sausage Vegetable Soup

Another family favorite, we just serve it to the kids with almost no broth, and cut the sausage slices into quarters. The turkey sausage looks like kielbasa, but it's turkey!

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients
1 14 1/2-ounce can beef broth
1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes with Italian herbs
1 1/2 cups water
2 cups frozen loose-pack diced hash brown potatoes
1 10-ounce package frozen mixed vegetables
1/2 pound smoked turkey sausage, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2 inch thick pieces
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
1. In a large saucepan combine beef broth, undrained tomatoes and water. Bring to boiling. Stir in hash brown potatoes, mixed vegetables, sausage and pepper. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

2. Ladle into soup bowls. If desired, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Makes 4 servings. (6 weight watchers points)

Greek Pasta Skillet

Now that I'm a stay at home to my two crazy kids, any dinner I make has to be quick (less than half an hour), healthy (or healthy-ish) and be kid friendly. This is one of our family favorites!

Only 8 points if you're doing weight watchers.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients
3/4 pound ground lamb or ground beef (we use ground turkey)
1 medium onion chopped (1/2 cup)
1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 5 1/2-ounce can tomato juice
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon instant beef bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup packaged dried medium shell or elbow macaroni
1 cup frozen loose-pack cut green beans
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (2 ounces)

Directions
1. In a large skillet cook ground lamb or beef and onion until meat is no longer pink. Drain off fat. Stir in undrained tomatoes, tomato juice, water, bouillon granules, cinnamon, and garlic powder. Bring to boiling.

2. Stir uncooked macaroni and green beans into meat mixture. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 15 minutes or until macaroni and green beans are tender. Sprinkle with feta cheese. Makes four servings.

Harvest Vegetable and Rice Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 cans vegetable broth
  
• 1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
  
• 3 med. carrots, chopped
  
• 3 small zucchini, chopped
  
• 1 med. yellow bell pepper, chopped
  
• 8 med. green onions, sliced
  
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  
• 2 c. shredded cabbage
  
• 2 t dried marjoram leaves
  
• 1 t salt
  
• 1/4 t pepper
  
• 1 c. uncooked instant rice
  
• 1/4 c chopped fresh basil leaves

Preparation:
Mix all ingredients except rice and basil in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat setting for 6 to 8 hours or vegetables are tender. Stir in rice. Cover and cook on low heat setting about 15 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir in basil.

Serves 7

Susie's Zucchini Bread

Fantastic bread.. kids eat it till it is gone! They don't even realize there is *shudder* squash *shudder* in it!

Ingredients:

• 3 c. flour
  
• 1 t salt
  
• 1 t bakin soda
  
• 1 t baking powder
  
• 3 t cinnamon
  
• 3 eggs
  
• 1 c. applesauce
  
• 2 1/4 c. white sugar
  
• 3 t vanilla extract
  
• 2 c. grated zucchini
  
• optional: 1 c. walnuts, 1 c. chocolate chips

Preparation:
Grease and flour 2 8x4 inch pans. Preaheat oven to 325 degrees F. Stir together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Beat eggs, applesauce, vanilla and sugar together in a large bowl. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat well. Stir in zucchini and any optional ingredients until will combined. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 40 to 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan and completely cool before cutting.

Egg Casserole

We make this for breakfast OR for dinner, depending on the ingredients.

Basic Ingredients:


* 1 dozen eggs

* 1 cup milk

* 1 cup cheese (colby jack works well, but you can use just about ANY choice - we have used Swiss, cheddar, and many others)

Optional ingredients: chopped onion, chopped green pepper, chopped spinach, cubed ham, hash brown potatoes, crumbled bacon, sausage crumbles.

Preheat oven to 350. Whisk together eggs and milk, and then stir in additional ingredients. Pour entire mixture into a 9 x 13 sprayed pan and bake. Casserole is ready when it puffs in the center and is golden brown. You can top with a bit of cheese when you take it out of the oven - the cheese will melt on top of the casserole. Don't be alarmed if the casserole falls a bit as it cools, this is normal.
My kids LOVE this casserole. I change it up almost every time I make it, using different meat - or cheese, or a different veggie. Serve with muffins and a fruit salad.