Giant Zucchini recipe

So the zucchini's are ready to be harvested from the garden and a few of them have grown pretty big to say the least.

(Zucchini courtesy of my parents garden)

Even I can get sick of dicing them up for casseroles, stews and bread.... So here is a new recipe.

Does this not look heavenly??!?!?!?!! Well, I was in heaven last night and I actually am again while eating my left overs for lunch.

Baked Zucchini

• Start by cutting the zucchini in half and then the wider side cut it again length wise.
• In the larger 2 pieces now, scoop out all the seeds & pulp (get out as mush as you can w/out damaging the skin.)
• Once they are cleaned out stick them in a pot of water to steam on the stove top.
• Now work on your other half of the zucchini.
• dice it up and give it a steam ( i used my microwave)
• I added some corn from the cob to be steamed as well.
• while that's going saute a medium onion in 1/2 a stick of butter.
• Once the onion is soft add a package of ck stuffing mix.
• 2 oz pimentos
• Then add your zucchini & corn.
• once all mixed together take your large zucchini out of the steamer and stuff the mixture inside.
• Then sprinkle with Monterey Jack cheese.
• Back for 25-30 min @ 350' and enjoy!

The mistake I made was not scooping enough of the zucchini out of my "dish" before steaming them.

Enjoy!

(& may I add that this is what I had for dinner last night.

Scott & Katelyn had hotdogs.

They are not veggie lovers like myself)

Dinner Disaster

Tonight I tried to experiment with a new ingredient. Eggplant!

Well, so here is what I did.

Grilled the eggplant using my trusty old George Foreman (I swear I use this about every other night & seriously eggplant smells so gross as it's cooking). Then cooked my pasta, my ground beef, my sauce and warmed them all together.

I layered my eggplant in my dish and filled it with my pasta & added lots of mozzarella cheese.

Then folded over the eggplant and covered the top. I baked for about 20 minutes (just to heat the whole thing through).

Once it was done, I flipped it onto a plate, sprinkled on some parmesan and sliced.

My 1st bite wasn't that bad, but as I ate more of the eggplant it became more & more chewy. Then I took a bite that had a bunch of seeds in it & I'm surprised I kept it down.

This is what it was suppose to look like (I used bow ties, cause that's all I had on hand, and I didn't have any peas either. But i swear it would have tasted just as disgusting otherwise)

Well, That's what I made. Lesson learned, I do not like eggplant and I will never make this again.

But I give props to myself for trying something new:)

A Yummy Dinner

Sweet Pork

1 (3-5 Ib.) pork roast – (boneless pork tenderloin recommended)

1 cup salsa – use pace or one similar, not fresh salsa

1 cup brown sugar, packed

Place ingredients in a greased 3 ½-4 ½ qt. slow cooker.

Cover and cook on LOW heat for 8 – 10 hrs.

Shred pork with a fork before serving.

Keep lid off after shredding for about 15 mins.

So juice will thicken.

This was DELICIOUS!

We did some soft taco's

Starting on bottom: tortilla, beans, brown rice, pork.

Then all the yummy toppings.

Enjoy!

(This is my Aunt's recipe. I improvised a little because I used what i already had.

1 1/2 lb tenderloin

3/4 cup diced tomatoes

1 T green chilies

1/2 cup brown sugar

cooked on low for 7 hours, then shredded and placed cooked rice & canned beans and placed them in the crock pot to warm for 30 minutes (keeping everything generally separated).

The rice and the beans soak up the pork juice and it's simply divine!

And it was Yummo!)

Blood, Sweat, & Tears.....

Oh, goodness! By the end of this little project, I honestly didn't care how it looked cause I was so done with it. Pregnancy hormones and cooking to not go hand in hand.

I don't even have it in me to explain the process, so I'll just let the pictures do the talking.

(It did however start off on a good note, I was able to munch on the scraps.)

You can see where I gave up on the wrapping the bottom in fondant and mimicking the engraved parts.

Whoa-la! The finished project- Whatever, don't judge.

Seriously, props to all you amateur cake decorators out there.
But I guess for my 1st, it's not too bed, right?

Now it's time to make some pizza for dinner.

I am meeting Scott at the storage unit on his way home from class so we can get the rest of the baby items there.
Then we will come home & eat some yummy Pizza & Hopefully he doesn't laugh at my cake :)
I hope he has a great pre-Birthday dinner:)

Fondant attempt

Scott's Birthday is tomorrow & I am attempting to bake him a giant cupcake with lots of fun decor.

My Grandma bought me the Wilton cup cake pan and I have been dieing to use it.
So lucky Scott gets to experience my 1st attempt.

I didn't want to mess with making a cake from scratch this time around so i just used a boxed cake and baked it. The only little issue I had was that the top finished cooking a little sooner than the bottom half. Hopefully the top stays moist. (pics later)

I wanted to focus on the decor of the cupcake, so i decided to make some fondant.
Oh, let the adventure begin. Seriously, have you ever tried making fondant? Messyiest thing I have ever made, hands down!

Recipe Found Here

Take off your rings for sure!
(This was a painful process for me since my fingers are so swollen)

Because this was such a messy project I only got a few pics. Here is the melted marshmallows,

Then I poured on the powdered sugar and placed it on my cutting board. (Were we are staying, the counters are not smooth and the tile grout is very deep, so I had to try and keep everything on a tiny cutting board).Seriously messiest stuff ever!Finished work space
The kneaded and finished product. I kneaded it for 8 minutes, rubbed it down with Crisco, wrapped it in plastic wrap and am going to let it set for a couple hours.
Again, did I say is was messy?!

To Be Continued......

Happy 1st Day Of School......

Scott headed off to class this morning. He has been getting up @ 5:00am to start studying to kick off the new semester on the right foot. He is such a hard worker & I'm so proud of him!

Last night for dinner I made this.....

Seriously, can you say YUMMO!

We were all in heaven. I picked up these ribs a couple weeks ago from Albertson's.

defrosted just by leaving them on the counter for a couple hours, then grilled on the BBQ just for the grill marks and some added smokey flavor. Then I wrapped in foil and poured "Sweet Baby Ray's" BBQ sauce all over it (best BBQ sauce ever!).

Then baked @ 400' for 40 minutes.

Paired with some potatoes and summer squash- It was delicious!

Even this little girl was licking her fingers clean.

I wish i could have gotten pictures of Scott & I, we were a mess and both had stuff all over our faces, but my hands were too messy to touch the camera:)

It's Finally Friday

This morning I woke up at 1:15, well Katelyn woke me up for a refill of milk. I got back into bed and laid there waiting to fall asleep...... I waited & waited. I finally got up and it was 3:30. Seriously 2 hours had passed! I went to the computer to do some blogging and facebook for an hour. Then decided to watch a movie, "Fiddler On The Roof". At 6:00 I got back into bed and even then it took me a while to fall asleep. What a night! I blame it on my mind going crazy about housing plans and a bunch of other stuff running through my mind.

One of those things on my mind was bugging me. Seriously people! Why would you ever tell a pregnant lady that she looks huge, big, she's about to pop, just look at that belly.... the list goes on. & Please don't guess when they are due, just let them tell you because you always guess a whole lot sooner than it really is. I 1st have to give a shout out to my Bunco girls who made

me feel beautiful last night at bunco. Thanks Ladies!

What I'm getting at is...... if you Men (not Scott, he is wonderful, My Dad is wonderful too), Women who have not born children ever, or it's been years, please be aware of us prego Women & our sensitive emotions having to do w/ our weight. We are creating something beautiful that really takes a toll on our bodies. All you need to say is the we look beautiful. (Even if we are swollen & larger than normal). Ok, I feel a little better now.

Back to bunco, thanks to Taryn who hosted last night, the food was yummy & it was so fun to meet the 3 new girls in our group. (p.s. Kari & Lisa can you invite me to your blogs?) N-E-Ways, I brought a shirt as my gift & I secretly wanted it for myself, luckily I won it back. Apparently you girls don't know fashion when it hits you in the face- ok, totally kidding. I think I like it so much cause it was only $5.....And I haven't bought anything clothing for myself in a LONG time.

Surprisingly it fits me even w/ my growing belly, so I am going to wear it on a date tonight w/ Scott, that I hope we can pull off.

I promise, I will look sexier tonight Scott.

What pj pants, left over hair & makeup from the night before & only 4 hours of sleep isn't sexy?

Last night for dinner, yes I had two dinners last night. One @ home & the other @ Bunco- Hey, I'm eating for 2- Ha! right.

Well I created this chip dip, that is to die for. I saw it on Food network, but didn't finish the show, so I had to remember & make up what I could.

2 cups Monterey jack & cheddar blend cheese

1 large tomato diced

1/2 can chopped artichokes

1/4 cup cooked spinach

Then I added half a package of spinach artichoke seasoning I had on hand.

You slowly melt it all together on the stove top and serve hot.

I also made some chips using corn tortilla's cut in triangles, then laid out onto a cookie sheet, sprinkled w/ salt and baked @ 400' for approx 8 minutes. Yummo!

And then you eat it for lunch the next day:)

Doughnut Recipe

You guys are going to laugh when I tell you what the recipe is.

All I do is use Grands Biscuits (I use the generic brand)

Flatten each individual biscuit and cut out the center (you can use a water bottle lid)

Heat veggie oil and I use the doughnut holes to test the oil temp.

Too hot and the center will not cook thoroughly and too cool and the doughnut will soak up too much oil- yuck.

Then you can top with whatever you like. Sugar, cinnamon & sugar, glaze....

Happy Eating!

{Jamba Ocean Sunrise Smoothie}

Today I went to my 1st activity day with my 10 year olds. We went swimming, I taught a little summer hair care, and we made smoothies. Delicious!

Here is the recipe:

Ocean Sunrise Recipe

 

10-12 ounces of raspberry juice

1/3 of a frozen banana

5-6 frozen strawberries

2-3 large scoops orange sherbet

5-6 ice cubes

 

{French Toast & Buttermilk Syrup}

I just have to share these recipes with you!

French Toast 

(Aunt Liz's recipe)

4 large eggs

1/4 c sugar

1 T Cinnamon

1/2 c Heavy Whipping Cream

1 tsp Vanilla

1/2 rind of orange (squeeze in a little juice too)

Of course it's best when made with Thick Texas Toast.

This will make about 10-12 french toast.

Buttermilk Syrup

(Grandma Nicoll's recipe)

3/4 c Buttermilk

1/2 c Butter

1 1/2 c Sugar

2 tlbs corn syrup

1/2 tsp soda (the soda really makes the mixture foam up – use a rather large pan so there is plenty of room)

 Bring to slow boil and simmer for 5 – 10 minutes – the longer it cooks the thicker it will be. 

 After the mixture has cooked – add 

2 tsp Vanilla

Enjoy!

~A Yummy Breakfast~

Step #1 Spray 9x13 pan w/ cooking spray and line w/ Grands refrigerated bisquits

Step #2 Saute ground pork, then set aside and saute red & green bell pepper & onions. Then combine

Step #3 In mixing bowl beat 10 eggs and 1 cups cheddar cheese, then add pork mixture to eggs and pour on top on the biscuits.

Step #4 Bake @ 375' for 25-30 minutes

It's pretty much a breakfast burrito w/ a twist & it's so yummy!

Even Katelyn will eat it, it must be good:)