Recipe--Zucchini Casserole

Aha! another recipe to use up your zucchini. This is from my sister-in-law Maragaret.

ZUCCHINI CASSEROLE--Margaret

Line 9 x 13 pan with 1 pkg crescent roll dough

Saute  for 10 mins

4 c. thin sliced zucchini

1 c. chopped onions

1/2 c butter

.

Mix and add to saute vegs.

2 Tbls. parsley flakes

1/4 tsp basil

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp garlic

2 c shredded mozzarella or munster pizza cheese

2 eggs beaten

Bake @ 375 for 18-20 mins.

Not All Beans are Green

Here are green beans, plus purple and yellow beans in the green bowl.  Peas in the yellow bowl.

Green beans. But not all beans are green. We enjoy growing the yellow and purple beans too. Purple? Yes! They are tender and tasty. When they are cooked, they turn green. The kids love to see this. Try them next year if you haven't already. 

Bean plants picked clean

This year we have not had the normal bean production. It may be due to the long, wet cool spring we experienced. But I'm happy we have a mess today. 

Easy Recipe: We cook up a pot of beans with bacon end pieces, onions, and potatoes (new potatoes if you have some). Sometimes we use ham or sausage instead of bacon. Mighty good summer eatin'. 

Recipe--Grilled Asparagus

Spring time is asparagus time in Michigan. We don't have asparagus in our garden mostly because we are in the middle of asparagus growing farms. Just had the first fresh asparagus from a local farm this weekend. And I must say, it was deeelicious. Here's the recipe the farmer suggested we try--

Grilled Asparagus


Roll asparagus spears in olive oil. Place on the heated grill. Salt and pepper. Turn after 3 minutes. Depending on thickness of spears, keep turning and check until cooked to your preference.

Another recipe from the farmer is to toss raw asparagus in Italian dressing or lemon juice/olive oil dressing on a medium hot barbecue grill for about 15 minutes. Closing the lid takes less cooking time. Roll the spears around like hot dogs.

Look for my FREE Garden of Eatin' Recipe Collection in an e-book coming soon!

Recipe: Freezing Sweet Corn

Hooray! It's finally that time of year when sweet corn grows abundantly. If you can't eat all your harvest right now, freeze sweet corn for a taste of the garden in the winter. This year has been a fantastic growing season for us. We grew Northern Extra Sweet and How Sweet It Is. Both varieties are filling out the cob well and I can't decide which one I like better.

My girlfriend gave me the following recipe to add to your bags of corn before you freeze them.

FREEZING SWEET CORN ADD-IN

9 c. Corn  (I blanch the corn for about 4-6 minutes, cool, and cut kernels off the cob.)

3 c. water

1/4 c. sugar

1 T. salt

Mix the water, sugar and salt together. Add a small amount to each bag, then freeze.

When cooking, dump the contents of the bag into a microwaveable bowl. Depending on your microwave and amount in the bowl, cook for about 3 minutes.

Deliciously sweet, sweet corn!

Recipe--Roasted Vegetable Sauce and Rigatoni

It's that time of year when the garden produces quicker than you can pick. If you are enjoying a bonanza of produce, use this recipe to help you use all those zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, and peppers in one large dish. This is easy especially if you can talk your DH into helping chop up the veggies. Enjoy!!

ROASTED VEGETABLE SAUCE WITH RIGATONI

3 c. zucchini, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 c. eggplant, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 med sweet onion, peeled, diced into 1-inch pieces

3 c. freshly sliced mushrooms

2 c. red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces (I used green and banana peppers as that is what is in our garden)

1/4 c. freshly chopped basil

1 T. fresh thyme leaves or 1 tsp dried

3 T. olive or walnut oil

2 T. balsamic vinegar

6 med red ripe tomatoes, washed, cored, and left whole

12 oz. rigatoni, cooked according to package directions

1/4 c. walnuts, toasted and chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

2 c. tomato sauce or favorite pasta sauce, optional

3/4 c. crumbled feta cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large shallow sheet pan or jelly roll pan with parchment paper or use non-stick pan. (I used a pan covered with foil, then sprayed with cooking oil.) In a VERY large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Sprinkle with the oil and vinegar and toss well to coat vegetables. Spread veggies on prepared pan. Place the tomatoes on a separate pan.

Bake the vegetables and tomatoes for 30 to 40 minutes, turning vegetables every 10 minutes or so to promote even cooking. After 30 minutes cut through the tomatoes with a sharp knife and fork to chop them up and add them to the pan with the other vegetables. Meanwhile, drain the cooked pasta and transfer to a warm serving dish. Toss with the roasted veggies and walnuts.

Serve garnished with crumbled feta cheese. (I used mozzarella and parmesan cheese and let my guests add the cheese to their serving.) If you would like more sauce, add the 2 cups pasta sauce. Makes 6 generous servings. (to me it looked like enough for 12 people!! especially if used as a side dish.)

This recipe is found in Carole Sutphen's inventive cookbook, There Must Be 50 Ways to Fix Your Zucchini (with apologies to Paul Simon).

Carole put this recipe book together with all proceeds going to the Fremont United Methodist Women's mission projects.

Recipe--Chicken and Asparagus Stir-Fry

Asparagus season is here. We live near the Asparagus Capitol of the World, Shelby, Michigan. In fact if you are "green spear-ited", love to eat asparagus, and want asparagus recipes, attend the National Asparagus Festival 2010 on June 11-13 in Shelby, MI. It's a hometown celebration of everything asparagus--food, parades, kids activities and more. Check out my lens on West Michigan for more information on the area.

Asparagus is not only tasty, but it is so good for you. Enjoy this variation of a stir fry I found on cooks.com. If you have not tried making a stir fry, click on this video  then scroll down for some instruction.

Chicken and Asparagus Stir Fry

1 lb. boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
1 egg white, slightly beaten

1 lb. fresh asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
3 T. soy sauce
1 T. cornstarch
1/4 c. water
2 tsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 T. minced garlic
1 T. minced fresh ginger ( I must admit I had to use dry ground ginger)
1/4 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. chopped green onion, onion, scallions
1/2 c. almonds or cashews

3 c. cooked brown rice

Combine chicken pieces with beaten egg white. Set aside.

Combine soy sauce, cornstarch, water, EVOO, and stir well. (If you let this mixture set too long, mix again as the cornstarch gets solid.)

Using a wok or large skillet, heat 1 T. vegetable oil. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry 2 minutes. (If using ground ginger or garlic, skip this step and sprinkle on asparagus the last minute of stir frying.) Add asparagus and stir fry a couple of minutes or till crisp-tender. Remove asparagus and wipe pan.

Heat remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add chicken and stir-fry until opaque. Add asparagus, red pepper, onions and nuts. Stir sauce and add to pan. Cook until mixture thickens (which is quick).

Serve over rice. Makes four delicious servings.

Click here then scroll down for another recipe for stir fry.

Recipe--Home-made Granola Cereal

My neighbor gave me this easy-to-prepare granola cereal recipe this winter and now I am addicted to it! No, I don't grow any of the ingredients in our garden, but it is such an easy, good-for-you recipe. I thought you all would like to have it before you get into the canning, freezing craziness when your gardens produce all those great veggies and fruits.

Enjoy!

GRANOLA RECIPE--Thanks, Cathy!


8 c. old fashioned oats

½ c. + 1 T olive oil

1 T vanilla

½ c. + 1 T honey

1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

½ c. each almonds, walnuts, pecans

½ c. each raisins, cranberries, dried fruit



325 degree oven

Combine oats, oil, vanilla, honey, and cinnamon. Spread in single layer on baking sheet.

Bake 30 minutes turning and stirring every 10 minutes. Add nuts after first 10 minutes.

Remove from oven. Cool. Stir in dried fruits. Store in air tight container.

Yield 11 cups

Recipe--Cream of Broccoli Soup Will Warm You Up

This cream soup made of fresh broccoli from our Florida garden mixed with carrots and onions (from our Michigan garden), and celery gently simmered in a cream base certainly warms the tummies this crazy cold winter. If you have been reading this blog you know that even Florida is suffering this winter. How about snow in the panhandle this morning?? I know it doesn't compare to the bitter cold and snow and blizzards experienced in other parts of the country. Hang in there. Spring will soon be here and we will all be outside getting our hands in the dirt and toiling under bright sunshine.

Cream of Broccoli Soup Recipe

4 T. butter or margarine

1 1/2 c. chopped broccoli

1 1/2 c. chopped carrots

1 c. chopped celery--Add more if you like a lot of celery taste

1 medium diced onion

20 oz. chicken broth

1/3 c. flour

1 12 oz can evaporated milk

2 1/2 c. lowfat milk--you can replace evap milk with lowfat and use total 4 c. milk

salt and pepper to taste

Melt margarine in Dutch oven. Add vegetables and cook over medium heat about 10 minutes or till veggies are tender. Add chicken broth and allow to begin to boil. Stir in flour gradually, then slowly stir in milk. Salt and pepper to taste.

You can add more veggies to make a heartier soup and you may want to add ham and cheese too.

Enjoy this tummy warmer.

Recipe--Seven Layer Salad

Seven Layer Salad made with lettuce grown in our Florida garden

Seven Layer Salad is always a hit at potlucks and family gatherings. This Thanksgiving feast was no exception. We enjoyed a great picnic at Lake Tarpon Park near Tarpon Springs, FL, yes the city known for its Greek culture and sponge diving. The lake was beautiful and a bit windy, and the Florida sunshine was present in all its glory. We spent the day with our neighbor's family which numbered into 30 or so. Too many people for one house so they always have a picnic in the park for Thanksgiving. Lots of food and lots of fun including ladder golf and cornhole and a beautiful walk on the nature trail by the lake.

I am sharing this recipe for Seven Layer Salad, one of our family favorites. You may want to add or delete any of the layers. I like to add boiled eggs and radishes, so that may make it a nine layer salad. Use what you have from your garden to make this a tasty addition to your turkey or ham dinner or to your cookout with burgers and dogs.

Seven Layer Salad

Shred lettuce to fill a 9 x 13 pan.

1/2 c. chopped green pepper

1/2 c. celery

1 sweet onion, sliced thin

1 package frozen peas, not thawed

1 c. mayonnaise mixed with 2 T. sugar

Place veggies in pan in order listed above.

Sprinkle 4 ounces cheddar cheese on top of dressing.

Cook 6 strips of bacon. Break them up when cool and place on top of cheese.

Cover. Place in refrigerator for 24 hours.

Thanks Eichs for this great recipe!

Recipe--Pumpkin Dump Cake

I know the name of this dessert doesn't sound appetizing, but believe me, it is tasty and an easy delight to make. Maybe we could re-name it, so it will not scare off your friends and family from trying this delicious treat. It has a base like pumpkin pie and an easy-to-make topping. You can serve it with whipped cream if you choose to do so. Thanks, Helen, for sharing this recipe.

Pumpkin Dump Cake

1 29 oz. can pure pumpkin (or use your fresh canned pumpkin from the garden)
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp. cinnamon
1 box yellow cake mix
1 c. chopped pecans (or walnuts)
3/4 c. melted margarine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix first 6 ingredients until well blended. Pour batter into 9x13 greased pan.

Sprinkle cake mix on top, then cover with pecans. Pour melted margarine over top.

Bake 50 minutes.

Recipe--Green Pepper Heaven

Delicious recipes including green peppers are a must if your garden is like ours this time of year. The green peppers are really producing. It's almost as if they know that the first frost will be here soon, so they are going to dazzle us before they die.

Peppers are relatively easy to grow, so if you are a beginning gardener, try green peppers. California Wonder is a good old stand-by. Don't stick to just green peppers either. There are 100's of pepper varieties to choose from. We have planted yellow, chocolate (no, just the color, not the taste of chocolate..LOL) and purple, as well as some of the hot peppers.

If you leave the green peppers on the plant, they will begin to turn red. These are sweeter and have a different texture. Salads and salsa are so pretty with the green and red mixed peppers.

Recipe--Stuffed Green Peppers

We like the peppers stuffed with or without the meat using corn or peas or more veggies from the garden.

Place 6 peppers (either a full-sized pepper with the tops off and seeds cleaned out or a cleaned pepper cut in half) in a micro-waveable 8" x 8 " dish. (Yes,this is so much easier than boiling them for 5 minutes in boiling water, I think.) Salt the inside of the peppers. Cook the peppers in the microwave for 3-4 minutes depending on how thick the wall is. They need to be hot.

Prepare a cup of rice--instant, brown, whatever your family prefers.

Brown one pound of ground beef with onions in a large skillet. Drain. Return to the skillet.

Add rice and 3/4 can of diced tomatoes with onion and green peppers including juice. You may add salt and garlic to taste. Heat through.

Stuff peppers with meat mixture. Top with remaining tomatoes and juice. Return to microwave and cook covered 10-12 minutes or bake in 350 degree oven, covered, for 45 minutes. Remove foil from oven baked peppers, and cook 10-15 minutes longer.

Remove from heat and sprinkle tops with cheese. No need to return the peppers to the heat as the cheese will melt.

I let the dish of peppers set for five minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Video--Vegetable Stir Fry

This is a good video to help you make an easy stir fry. Substitute your garden veggies.

Recipe--Green Beans with Bacon

Our green beans are producing now! I promised I would try some new-recipes-to me and share them with you. Here is the one I made the other night with fresh green beans. The recipe suggests canned or frozen, but not during the height of the green bean harvest! I just boiled the fresh beans till tender, then substituted them for the canned or frozen. (If you freeze beans, I bet this would be a great recipe to try.)

Green Beans with Bacon from About.com Southern Food, Diana Rattray

2 cans (16 oz each) cut green beans, drained, or 16- 20 oz. frozen green beans, cooked and drained
5 slices bacon
1/4 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. cold water
1 T. vinegar
1 T. cornstarch
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
dash of pepper

In a large skillet, cook bacon til crisp. Drain bacon on paper towels, leave 1 T. drippings in the skillet. In remaining drippings, cook onion till just tender. In a measuring cup, combine water and vinegar, stir in cornstarch. Add sugar, salt, and pepper, then pour liquid in skillet. Cook, stirring, till thick and bubbly. Add drained beans, stir to coat beans with sauce. Heat through. Transfer green beans to serving dish. Top beans with crumbled bacon. Serves 4 to 6.

Cauliflower Salad Recipe Re-discovered

Alright, I admit that I really need to go through my recipe box and re-organize. I happily discovered this Cauliflower Salad recipe when rummaging for a different salad recipe in one of the index card file boxes which house my recipes. Yes, filed in S for salad, not C for cauliflower. (My daughters laugh at my filing method....)

This is a special recipe because it is written out in my mother's distinct Zaner-Bloser handwriting which she taught as a second grade teacher. Beautiful writing on a yellowed blue lined sheet of paper. She passed away in 1993, so finding this brought back great memories of sharing recipes.

I made up the salad, and, after the first bite, my husband said, "This is good." I haven't made it for awhile as you can tell from this story. It was a refreshing way to use up the cauliflower and lettuce we are in the final stages of harvesting. The dressing would be good for any veggie salad I think, easily prepared and kept in the refrigerator if you can't use all of it at one time. Enjoy...

Cauliflower Salad

1 head lettuce

1 lb. bacon, fried and crumbled

1 medium onion, chopped

1 head of cauliflower, broken up

1/2 c. parmesan cheese (I used colby shredded cause that's what I had)

Layer above ingredients in order.

Mix:

1 c. sour cream (light would be okay to use if you like the flavor)

1 c. mayo (I used light Miracle Whip dressing)

1/2 c. sugar

Pour over salad. Toss before serving. It would be fun to experiment adding other veggies and ingredients such as raisins, nuts, sunflower seeds.....

Thanks, Mom.

Green Bean Harvest Time

Here they come!! The beans are on the bushes and picking has begun. Hooray! Green beans are the second most popular plant for gardeners after tomatoes. We picked our first crop this week and cooked them up in a big pot of boiling water along with potatoes, onions, and bacon. Add seasoning, and let it simmer for 45-60 minutes or till tender. The first batch of beans are always the best, and this pot was deeeee-licious.

My husband staggers the plantings so that they all don't mature at the same time. In this way we will just be finished picking the first planting when the next planting will be ready...ideally that is the way it should go...He usually plants another batch every three weeks. Just be aware of how many days till you can harvest the variet of bean you chose. Check the information on the back of the seed packet. Don't plant them too late in the gardening season or they won't be ready before the first frost. Bean plants do not like frost.

The first pickings should be worth your while, getting lots of crisp, tender beans from healthy bushes. Picking the beans encourages the plant to grow more beans. I don't like them when the pods have mature beans in them because the beans are tough. Everybody has a different take on their favorite flavor and texture, so if this is your first attempt at growing green beans ( also known as snap beans or string beans in different parts of the country), you can experiment with the maturity of the beans.

As the bean plants get bigger and thicker, you may have a problem with mold/fungus if there is too much moisture. Moist soil keeps the beans growing, but avoid over watering. I know Mother Nature may interfere with this plan by dumping rain on the garden, so work with her as your partner in gardening. Keep your eye on weather forecasts to judge how you care for your garden.

In the next few weeks I am going to experiment with a few green bean dishes and give you a report on the recipe. If you have a great bean dish you like to prepare for your family, please send it so I can try it too. Thank you.

Add the Herb, Basil, to Your Fresh Veggies Stir Fry

Fresh veggies from the Garden in an easy stir fry.

All of these vegetables, peas, brocolli, Swiss chard (the pinkish color), onion, zucchini, green pepper were grown in our garden. The yellow squash was given to us by our neighbor. Growing the veggies and harvesting them may be the hardest part of the preparation for a stir fry, but chopping them up is very time consuming. My DH chopped all of these for me.

After that, stir fries are so easy once you get the extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) into the pan. No, I don't use a wok. just a large skillet. Experiment a bit on the length of time to cook them. Some individuals like the vegetables warm, but crispy. We like ours cooked more than that, so I add a little tiny bit of water to the pan to steam them after the frying. So I guess I should call the dish a stir-fry-steam. I added fresh basil to this concoction giving it lots of flavor. When using fresh herbs, add them at the end of the cooking time to get the most flavor and you can mix in quite a bit more than when using dried herbs. I also cheat if I want to make it Asian flavored by just shaking on the soy sauce and stirring it into the veggies. It is a lot easier than making up a special sauce using cornstarch, etc. Thanks to Pat for that tip.

We like the stir fry with walnuts or sunflower kernels sprinkled on top. I also love it with brown rice or mixed in with pasta.

Our peas are really producing now. We have been lucky this year with this crop. Do you have any suggestions on how to prepare them? Our grandkids love going in the garden and just biting into the peas right off the vine. They are so sweet and snappy.

Camping with Cabbage

The photo on the left shows the cabbage heads forming. (Everytime I look at cabbages I think of Peter Rabbit in Mr McGregor's garden in the children's story. It must have been an image I saw when I was a kid.) The photo on the right is a freighter passing through the Muskegon Channel that connects Lake Michigan to Muskegon Lake.

We cut our first cabbage to take with us on our camping trip last week. Mmm...roasted hot dogs over the campfire and fresh cole slaw. I shredded the cabbage at home, not in the camper. We had a fantastic time at Muskegon State Park parked in the channel cammpground. Fun to watch sailboats, yachts, the Lake Express ferry, and a huge freighter go in and out of the channel connecting big Lake Michigan to Muskegon Lake. Weather was fantastic!

We have found the easiest way to shred cabbage to make slaw is to use the blender. Chop the cabbage into wedges, add water so the swirl will help to distribute the wedges for chopping. Drain in a colander. Try different settings on your blender till you find the right "shredding" you like. Throw in some carrots too to chop in for color. I like to cut up green pepper to make the slaw even more colorful.

For dressing, I toss some sugar on top of the chopped cabbage in the bowl. Let it sit a minute, then just spoon on Light, yes light, Miracle Whip and mix it in. Add celery seed for a flavor boost.

My friend fries cabbage and onions in butter. Then she adds cooked wide noodles. It is so delicious when she makes it. What are your favorite recipes that call for cabbage? We are going to have a lot of cabbage to consume in the next weeks to come. My DH plants them so that they all don't come on at the same time, but are spaced out over the harvest time.

Favorite Strawberry Pie Recipe

My friend, Trude, gave me this recipe for Strawberry Pie. It is so easy and so tasty. This is the season for the best-tasting strawberries. We also enjoy strawberries in February in Florida, so I make quite a few pies then too. If you make it, let me know how you liked Trude's Strawberry Pie.

Trude's Strawberry Pie
Recipe for a 9" pie

Place about 1 pint of strawberries whole, not cut up, in a 9" pie shell.

Stir together in a pan--1 3 oz box jello, 1 cup sugar, and 3 T. cornstarch.

Add 1 1/2 cups water to the mixture and cook till thickened--It will start to boil and get clear. Stir constantly. This takes awhile, so be patient.

Pour mixture over strawberries. Refrigerate after one hour.

Serve with whipped cream or ice cream or both!!