Easiest Crock Pot Dinner....ever.

I actually made this dish last week, and just never got around to posting it. I am loving substituting vegetables for noodles and after the success of the sweet potato noodles, I made "spaghetti" and turkey meatballs with spaghetti squash. I got the idea to do it in the slow cooker from this recipe that I pinned on Pinterest. It was pretty quick to throw together, but I did do most of the prep the night before.

The spaghetti sauce I made using parsley, onion and lots of garlic; along with a can of crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, crushed red pepper, oregano and basil. I threw all the ingredients in a large ziplock bag and put that in the fridge overnight.

The meatballs I made from ground turkey, with one egg (I then threw in some panko, because the egg made the meat too wet...), and spices (oregano, basil, crushed red pepper, garlic). Once I shaped the meatballs I put them in a flat layer in a ziplock bag and also put that in the freezer overnight.

Originally I planned to cook the entire squash in the slow cooker....but either I had a mutant squash that was huge, or my slow cooker is smaller because the entire squash wouldn't fit. I attempted to cut the squash into fours, but it still wouldn't fit. So I opted to just cook one half in the slow cooker with the meatballs and tomato sauce - and cooked the other half in the microwave. Honestly, spaghetti squash is pretty quick and easy to make in the microwave...so the slow cooker is a bit unnecessary. In fact, if I were to make this again, I think I would just do the sauce and meatballs in the slow cooker and cook the squash in the microwave. There was not really any benefit to doing it in the slow cooker, and, it actually fell apart a little -- we each had one bite that had some of the tough squash skin.

Once everything was cooked, I scraped out all the "spaghetti" from the squash, and threw some of the sauce and meatballs on top. Super healthy. Super yummy. And ready to go as soon as I walk into the door after the gym - yay!!

Cobb Salad Pizza

Last week we had company and I decided to make this Cobb Salad Pizza, which I have made before. To me it almost feels like cheating...it's a pizza, but it's a salad! My hubby described it as a salad on a giant crouton. Either way, it is yummy!

As opposed to using a frozen pre-made pizza dough, I made my own. I used a very basic pizza dough recipe similar to this one. A good friend gave me the dough recipe and it always turns out well. It is also easy to add extra spices to the flour mixture and give the dough extra flavor.

While the dough was rising I whisked up the vinaigrette, a simple mixture of white wine vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard and fresh pepper.

Next up is browning some bacon in a pan. Mmmmmmm.....bacon.....

I cheated on this one, and bought some pre-cooked grilled chicken. But I still warmed it in the pan with the leftover bacon grease.

I crumbled the cooked bacon into the vinaigrette mix.

I threw the pizza dough into the oven on a pizza stone, and began chopping up the veggies. I used romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, red onion and avocados. Again...YUM! I mixed all this together in a large bowl with the dressing.

This alone looks delicious. But to make it even better, I pulled the pizza dough out of the oven and layered the salad on top.

This was a hit. And a really nice summer dish. The pizza dough gets toasty in the oven, but the salad is refreshing. Add in the savory flavor from the bacon and the tangy sweetness from the vinaigrette -- it is a great dish!

Baked Ziti and Summer Veggies

This week we received more summer squash in our Farmhouse box. Since I had recently made my favorite summer squash chowder, I branched out to make something different. I had recently received my July Cooking Light in the mail, and I saw a recipe for Baked Ziti and Summer Veggies. This sounded perfect, and what could be bad about pasta and melty cheese? (Mmmmm....melty cheese).

I chopped up my zucchini, summer squash, onions and garlic. The recipe called for two garlic cloves, so of course I used five or six.

As the pasta was cooking, I sautéed the squash, zucchini and onion in a large skillet.

The recipe called for two cups of diced tomatoes, I only had a couple of fresh tomatoes that I was saving for sandwiches at lunch so I used canned tomato. I drained the juice and it worked just fine.

After the tomatoes and garlic were added in, I tossed the pasta, fresh basil and oregano and shredded mozzarella cheese.

I layered it all into a glass baking dish, and added the last of the cheese and some panko crumbs for a bit of a crispy finish. This wasn't in the recipe, but I would recommend it -- it really does add a nice toasty crunch.

Simply bake in a 400 degree oven until the top is browned and the dish is ready!

This makes about four servings which was plenty for dinner and some lunch leftovers. I added extra crushed red pepper at the end, because hubby and I love some extra spice!

This didn't take too long to put together -- maybe 30 minutes from start to finish.  I was worried it would feel heavy for a hot summer night, but the summer squash and zucchini work well. It would be easy to sub in different veggies, this dish has some pretty basic flavors: pasta, cheese, basil, tomato and oregano. Why fix what isn't broken!

Summer squash and corn chowder

This summer squash and corn chowder recipe is one of my favorites. Although it is a soup, the ingredients remind me of summer so when I received corn in our Farmhouse box my mind immediately jumped to this recipe (I used a mixture of fresh and frozen corn for this recipe). I also now own an immesion blender: bonus!

I sliced up the celery, summer squash and green onions while I was frying up the bacon (which will eventually be a topper for the soup).

Next I sautéed the squash, celery and onions in the leftover bacon grease/bits.

Once the squash was tender, I added the corn and milk and used my immersion blender to blend the soup. I added in the remaining milk and spices and blended further. I then added the remaining corn and stirred the soup regularly until heated through.

I topped it with shredded cheddar, crumbled bacon and diced green onion.

I really do find this chowder to be easy and delicious. Corn was always my favorite "vegetable" when I was younger, so maybe it is simply nostalgia. Or maybe it is the feeling that fresh corn means the start of the summer, although now that I am out of school that simply means a different crop of veggies to cook with and 100 degree days. Or maybe it is just that this soup is darn easy to make and just flat-out delicious. I will leave you with a final picture while I continue to ponder...



Grilled eggplant pita sandwiches

We received some really yummy looking eggplant in our Farmhouse box last week.

I was thinking of all the magical things I could do with this beauty, and then I remembered this simple recipe. Just highlighting the eggplant with some basic yogurt spread sounded delicious.

I sliced open the eggplant, placed the slices in the colander, sprinkled them with salt and let them drain.

After rinsing the eggplant slices I grilled the eggplant on a grill pan sprayed with non-stick olive oil spray.

 I also grilled some red onion along with the eggplant.

The yogurt-garlic spread was really easy to make and delicious. (I took it to work the next day with the leftovers for lunch, and the yogurt-garlic spread was devoured with various vegetables and chips...anything my co-workers could find to dip in it).

I put it all together in a pita with the arugula (just as the recipe calls for).

This was pretty easy to whip together, was low-cal, healthy and good enough that I had the leftovers the next day! I think this recipe gets an A.



A quick snack

I stole the idea for this recipe from one of my favorite wine bars in Austin - Simplicity. They serve a bruchetta that is Bacon, Round Rock Honey and Pickled Garden Hot Peppers.  This was super-easy to put together. I brushed some baguette slices with olive oil and toasted them in the oven.

While the bread was toasting I cooked up two pieces of bacon and chopped pepperocinis and roasted red bell peppers (which I bought in a jar). I crumbled the cooked bacon and mixed it in with the peppers. I loaded it ontop of the toasted baguettes and drizzled honey over the top.

This was really easy to pull together and a nice switch-up on traditional bruchetta. A yummy, quick snack for a warm weekend day!

My favorite thing.

My most favorite thing to make is stir-fry. It is healthy, delicious and a great way to use up random veggies that are in the fridge.

I started out this stir-fry with some diced sweet potato -- sautéed in a touch of extra virgin olive oil and seasoned with some cayenne, garlic powder and curry.

Next I chopped up all the veggies I had in the fridge including zucchini, green beans, carrots, onions, garlic, red peppers and some broccoli.

I throw it all into the pan with the sweet potatoes and mix it all together. I toss in some Sirracha and low-sodium soy sauce and put the lid on the pan to steam.

In the meantime I boil up some quinoa to serve the stir-fry with.

And that is that! I serve the veggies over the quinoa. Save a serving or two for lunches and have dinner!

Pattypan Squash

This past week we received this adorable little guys in our Farmhouse box:

To be honest, as cute as they are, I wasn't too sure what to do with them. After some research I found they are called "pattypan squash." I assumed you could cook them as you would cook any other squash, but I found a recipe to follow this first time making them. So the other night I made "Stuffed Pattypan Squash." Of course I altered the recipe slightly.

First I set the sqaush into a pan of about 1-inch of boiling water. I let the squash cook for about 10 minutes, then cut off the top and scraped out the insides. I chopped the squash and set it aside.

I cooked two slices of bacon and set those aside. Next I sautéed chopped onion and garlic in the bacon drippings until tender. I added the chopped squash and about a cup of breadcrumbs. Finally I crumbled the bacon and mixed it together and added in some parmesean cheese. I scooped the mixture into the pattypan squash "shells" and topped the mixture with some panko breadcrums, parmesean cheese and mozzarella cheese.

I baked the squash in an oven, preheated to 350, for about 15 minutes. I served one squash with a small side salad.



It was delicious! The bacon and breadcrumbs were savory, with a touch of sweet from the squash. The garlic added the perfect amount of flavor and spice. The hubby isn't a fan of squash, but I even caught him getting an extra bite on his fork in the kitchen!

Spaghetti Squash

I LOVE spaghetti squash! It is healthy pasta (sorta), easy to make, low calorie, and tasty. I purchased a couple spaghetti squashes in the store and made one for myself for dinner while the hubby was out of town.

It is extremely easy to make. You can make spaghetti squash in the microwave, but this time around I baked it in the oven to give me some time to do other chores while it was baking. I simply cut the squash in half length-wise, scooped out the seeds in the middle and baked it in a shallow pan on 350.

Once the squash is cooked  (it is easily pierced with a fork) you can scrape out the yummy insides with a fork. It comes out with long strands that look like, you guessed it, spaghetti!

I sautéed some zucchini, garlic and carrots (from our Farmhouse box) in some extra virgin olive oil.

I threw the veggies and olive oil together with some steamed broccoli and tossed it all with the spaghetti squash. I then sprinkled on some creamy peppercorn Penzey's spices to finish it off.

I served it with some crusty bread. It made for a great, healthy dinner -- and I had leftovers for two lunches during the week!

Sauerkraut: my second love.

I was remiss in taking pictures last night, honestly I didn't think I would write about my dinner last night.  I do have new recipes (with pictures) to write about, but this is one of my staple dinners when I don't feel like cooking. So I decided to share.

Last night was Turkey Reuben night! I discovered - a couple years back - a deep-seated love of sauerkraut (strange, I am not German and I doubt the Finnish eat much sauerkraut). Some nights I make sandwiches (or sausages, or hot dogs) simply to quench my sauerkraut desires. Last night, I just didn't feel like chopping and cooking. So I took two pieces of bread, sprayed one side with cooking spray and slapped on some turkey. About 10 minutes in a pan and it was nice and toasty. (When I make these for me and hubby I also add on cheese, but usually skip it if it is just me). I then spread on some deli mustard, and the pièce de résistance: a heap of sauerkraut. I threw some veggie chips, pickled okra and carrots onto the plate. Dinner!

mmm....Sauerkraut...

I don't believe there are many real health benefits to sauerkraut, but it is very low calorie and really spices up your boring old sandwich. This morning I went to Boot Camp U. Now I am drinking my Anderson's Coffee - and wishing I had brought a sandwich with sauerkraut for lunch today. Sigh. The hubby and I are discussing a trip to Spain next year, maybe I should throw Germany in the mix so I can wade through piles of sauerkraut!

Veggies!!!!

I have always wanted to join one of those CSA (community supported agriculture) groups. But I have always been wary, especially since hubby isn't too fond of veggies, that things would go to waste.

But - we recently joined Farmhouse Delivery. They deliver fresh, locally grown fruits and veggies straight to your door. You can also order eggs, dairy, meats and other items. We just received our first delivery late last week, and for our first delivery I stuck to just the fruits and veggies. Part of what attracted me to this service is that you could receive delivery every-other week. This alleviated some of my concerns of too much waste.

So far it has been going well. We have had some delicious tangerines, local spinach (which is almost gone), butter lettuce and napa cabbage. All of this we have already munched on in salads and dishes. We also received avocados (no concern - we will eat those up!), butternut squash, fennel and beets. The beets are the only thing I am a little unsure about. I have never really used beets. But I plan to do a little salad over the weekend with some goat cheese, and then perhaps bake them into beet chips for a weekend snack. This seems like a safe way to introduce hubby and me to beets!

All in all, we are already eating more vegetables and we are quickly using up our items. So my concern about waste seems a little unfounded.

This is only week one with the box...so we will see how it goes. But it is definitely bringing us towards healthier living!

Next week I will take pictures of our delivery!