Summer Harvest

Ah, yes. The garden is really coming along. We have been blessed with an abundance of summer squash, cucumbers, and finally, tomatoes. There's been some green beans, hot and mild peppers, bell peppers, okra, and a few strawberries as well. There's abundant fresh basil, mint and oregano, and a bit of rosemary, thyme, and catnip! We have three cantaloupes and three watermelons, but not sure they will ever be edible. They are softball to football sized now, so not quite ready to sample.

Over the warm weather holidays, Chuck really loves to grill. He'll load up on ribs, chicken, and pork tenderloin and become "Grill Master Moe", as his brother Mike called him. So on the fourth of July we had some neighbors over to share the feast, and we've (mostly he!) enjoyed the leftovers the rest of this week.

Unfortunately the chicken came out very dry. He normally grills it with the skin on, but this time bought chicken breasts with the skin already off. I hate to waste, so came up with this simple recipe last night and it was pretty good! It looked pretty too, but I forgot to take a pic! Thought I'd share.

Leftover Chicken Italian Style

2 boneless chicken breasts (if pre-cooked, slice thin)
1 medium summer squash, halved and sliced thin
1/4 cup sweet onion
1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup sliced green and red bell pepper
1 jar Ragu (or your favorite Italian sauce)
Fresh Italian style cheese mix, shredded
Chopped fresh basil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Saute the thin sliced chicken in a bit of olive oil to moisten, along with the onions. Add in the squash and bell pepper until lightly cooked, about 5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Add in sauce and simmer. Add cherry tomatoes and fresh basil, and then top with cheese. Turn off heat and allow flavors to steam together and cheese to melt.

I served this over multi-grain angel hair pasta and topped with Parmesan cheese with a side of garlic bread.

Quick and easy, even if you're cooking with fresh chicken. Enjoy!

Kel

Squash It

This year’s garden so far has produced an overabundance of summer squash. With the freezer full, I went searching for another idea.

I love zucchini bread so I thought, why not use squash? I wanted something with a little less oil and sugar than some of the recipes on Pinterest, so here’s what I did:

Lemon Squash Bread

½ cup canola oil

6 oz unsweetened applesauce

6 oz lemon Greek yogurt

1 tbsp lemon juice

3 eggs

3 tsp lemon zest

1 cup Stevia (or your favorite sugar substitute)

1 cup sugar

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 ½ cups grated yellow squash (about three mid sized squash)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

Topping

2 tbsp lemon zest

Instructions:

1.       Preheat oven to 350 and coat two loaf pans with Crisco or baking spray. (I use Crisco.)

2.       In a large bowl cream together oil, applesauce, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, stevia and sugar. Once combined, add in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add in lemon zest.

3.       In a separate bowl sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

4.       Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until combined.

5.       Add in squash and vanilla extract, stir.

6.       Divide batter evenly between loaf pans.

7.       Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

8.       Allow to cool 10-20 minutes in pan and then place on a cooling rack.

Mix lemon juice and powdered sugar together until combined. Pour glaze over the bread while on cooling rack. Sprinkle zest over the top of the glaze.

I was pleasantly surprised how good this came out. The sweetness and lemon flavor is just right, and the squash and applesauce give the bread the perfect amount of moistness. I could eat the whole loaf! ENJOY!

Recipes for a winter day

Well, this is day three of being 'snowed in'.  Well, more like iced in, actually.  I work from home so other than work being extremely slow (I transcribe for a big hospital - did all the patients go home?) the weather hasn't affected my routine too much.  But, of all weeks, this was the week I did have a massage scheduled (for my aching neck) as well as an appointment to get my roots done (already a week late and looking really bad now - glad I'm stuck inside).  Hopefully we will thaw by tomorrow and I can go and get some things done. 

In the meantime, I thought I would share some wonderful recipes.  I made a fantastic Chicken Tortilla Soup yesterday that is oh so good in this freezing cold weather:

Two large boneless chicken breasts (sauteed in olive oil and cut up or shredded)
1 cup chopped onion, sauteed in olive oil
1 cup chicken broth
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 can red kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can black beans
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 bag frozen corn, or canned
1 cup water
To taste:
chili pepper
cilantro
salt

Simmer for several hours if possible.  Add tortilla chips, salsa, cheese and serve with cornbread.

Also, here is the prize winning recipe I mentioned the other day...Four-Layer Caramel Pumpkin cake:

1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin spice, divided
1 pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tub Cool Whip
1/4 cup caramel topping
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and flour two 9 in. cake pans.  Beat cake mix, 1 cup of pumpkin, milk, oil, eggs, and 1 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice in mixer on medium speed until well blended and pour evenly into pans.

Bake approx. 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool on wire racks.  Then beat cream cheese in a small bowl with mixer until creamy.  Add powdered sugar, remaining pumpkin, and remaining 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, mix well.  Stir in whipped topping.

Cut cake layers horizontally in half with a serrated knife.  Stack the layers on a serving plate, spreading the cream cheese mixture between the layers.  Do not frost the top layer.  Drizzle with caramel sauce and pecans.  Store in fridge.

If you like pumpkin (but not overwhelmingly so, which makes it so good), this cake is fabulous!

Enjoy!  Wishing everyone a blessed day!