Stuffed Greek-Style Zucchini

1 cup instant brown rice
3 large zucchini, ends cut off and halved lengthwise
1 Tbs olive oil
10oz white mushrooms, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried dill
2 Tbs chopped fresh mint
salt and pepper
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup crumbled feta

1) Cook rice according to package directions.  Set aside.
2) Preheat oven to 375F.  Scoop out centers of zucchini (the seeds and fleshy white part), leaving the non-seed containing part intact.  Ensure that the ends are not scooped, essentially making the zucchini halves into bowls.  Discard the centers.
3) Warm oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the mushrooms and garlic; saute for 4 minutes.  Stir in cooked rice, dill and mint; cook for 1 minute.  Season with salt and pepper, and remove from heat.
4) Spread tomatoes in a 9x13 inch baking dish.  Fill zucchini with rice mixture and place in baking dish.  Top with feta.  Bake until zucchini is tender, about 40 minutes.

Review:  My garden has received a TREMENDOUS amount of rain.  Despite my frequent harvests, I still managed to have two gigantic zucchinis:

These aren't good for your average dish, as the seeds get too big and the squash can be too hard.  Many people grind these up for use in zucchini bread.  However, I have a difficult time baking goodies when we're trying so hard to eat healthy.  Therefore, I remembered a past co-worker talking about stuffing them and I looked through my recipe collection for inspiration.  I tweaked the one I found and this was the end result.  My two zucchinis were too big to fit all four halves into one pan, so I made a pan for the last piece out of aluminum foil.  That should have been an indicator that they there were actually too big to eat.  :(  The skin was too tough and was quite squeaky when chewing.  The filling was absolutely delicious, so we ate that and ditched the zucchini.  The taste with the zucchini was pretty tasty, so it will be made again using zucchini that's smaller than these monsters!

White Wine Sangria

1 green apple
1 pear
1 orange
1 cup pineapple
1 plum
1 cup watermelon
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
2 Tbs agave nectar
1 bottle sauvignon blanc

1) Dice fruit.
2) Add all ingredients to wine in a pitcher or punch bowl.
3) Fill wine glasses with ice and pour.
4) Garnish with orange slices.

Review:  This was a recipe I've had on hand for several years.  Notably, the recipe gave instructions on where to find agave nectar, which is now widely available in every store!!  I did tweak this recipe by slicing the oranges and placing it into the pitcher, instead of using it as garnish.  I served it at my housewarming party and it was a HUGE hit.

Housewarming Pasta

I made a very basic pasta salad for my housewarming party tonight.  I had to share a pic of just the pasta, as it was my first experience in cooking shaped pasta.  It was soooo cute, with it's little houses and hearts.  :)

Tostadas

olive oil
2 corn tortillas
1 green bell pepper, diced
4 cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 cup baby spinach
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 tsp cumin
1 roma tomato, diced
Mexican sour cream

1) Obtain two frying pans.  In one pan, pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil into the pan and heat over medium-high heat.  Add 2 corn tortillas, side by side.  Cook for 2 to 5 minutes, flipping occasionally, until the tortillas are crisp and browned.
2) Meanwhile, in the other frying pan, pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add the bell peppers and saute until bell peppers begin to soften.  Add the mushrooms and continue to saute until the mushrooms have released their liquid.  Add the beans, corn, spinach and cumin.  Saute until the spinach has wilted.
3) Serve by placing 1 tortilla on each plate, topping with half of the sauteed mixture.  Top with tomato and sour cream.

Review:  I am slightly off of hiatus!  I have a home in Connecticut (so good to be back to this state!!) and a fairly nice kitchen.  I have an electric, smooth top, stove instead of a gas stove, and I'm no longer at a high altitude.  I truly learned to cook over the past 3 years in Idaho, but will now have to learn to cook at a pace where it doesn't take half an hour for water to boil!  I'm currently working on developing quick, easy meals, as most of my kitchen stuff is still in boxes and buried beneath some others.  This is a recipe I developed last week at my in-laws, as I raided their fridge.  It's so easy, adaptable and quick to pull together.  This may be my new lazy meal, instead of posole.  So watch for new recipes to come!

Hiatus

I am in the process of moving.  Though the movers won't arrive for almost two weeks, I'm starting my hiatus now.  It's growing increasingly hard to pack and cook every night.  And, many of my kitchen goodies are making it into boxes and not usable for fun kitchen activities. 

So, I'm going to focus on moving back to the East Coast, finding work and moving into a new home.  We're hoping to find a place with a bigger kitchen.  There will be more exciting recipes once I settle in and take the blog off of hiatus.  I'm looking forward to having more food options.  Idaho just doesn't offer enough produce.  I'm especially looking forward to making recipes using escarole and broccoli rabe.  Also, my husband will now be employed and not a full-time student.  We're hoping the extra income can afford us the opportunity to get new kitchen gadgets and fancy things like champagne vinegar.

Check back in a month or two!  I may blog along the way to assure all that I'm surviving the move.  :)

Kindergarten Ice Cream

2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy or whipping cream
1 cup milk
1/8 cup chocolate chips
4 large chocolate peanut butter malted balls, chopped
1/2 cup animal crackers, chopped

1) Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.  Whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended, about 1 minute more.  Pour in the cream and milk, and whisk to blend.
2) Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze, following the manufacturer's instructions.
3) Add the chocolate chips, malted balls and animal crackers to the ice cream machine, when the freeze cycle has two minutes left.  

Review:  After last week's peanut brittle goodness, I decided to make my own concoction.  My intent was to buy a slice of cake and add that to the ice cream base.  However, the only slice the store was selling today was a lemon pudding cake.  Hmm, I didn't think that would blend well.  I then meandered about the store considering my options.  I headed to the bulk section and found animal crackers.  It then spread to adding the chocolate chips and these huge chocolate malted balls that have peanut butter between the layer of chocolate and the malted ball.  Yum.  The cashier and my husband reminisced about kindergarten (eating paste, the smell of Play-doh, etc) as we bought our groceries and my concoction earned it's name.  This was way tastier than paste, by the way, which I never ate.  The animal crackers were an amazing addition to the ice cream and the chocolate and peanut butter just completed the whole thing.  This was pretty tasty!!  And, it will be my last batch of homemade ice cream, as the machine is now getting packed and ready to be moved cross country.  Alas, my blog will also be on hiatus in just a few short weeks, as we move.  :( 

This Week's Planned Menu

Sunday:
sushi (celebrating our first date 5 years ago!)

Monday:
spaghetti & prepared pesto 

Tuesday:
Giant Black Bean Salad

Wednesday:
leftovers

Thursday:
spaghetti & jarred alfredo sauce

Friday:
Spaghetti With Zucchini, Walnuts & Raisins

Saturday:
Sicilian Style Cauliflower With Pasta