Baked Butternut Squash Fries

  Do you know about the girl food code? It's a thing most girls go through when in high school or college, but it always stays in the back of your mind.  It usually goes like this,"I can eat this is I do this many more crunches" or "If I eat this food with this food, they will counteract each other so it's okay"..like ordering a salad with a side of fries. Well, now you can have your salad with a side of these slightly healthier baked squash fries!

This is the conversation between my dad and I while eating the fries...

My dad: These sweet potato fries taste just as good as white potato fries with ketchup.

Me: They aren't sweet potato fries, they are butternut squash fries.

Dad: SQUASH fries! You fed me squash fries!?

Me: Uh no, you can't go back!  You already said you liked them and you can't take it back because I told you  they were squash. 

Dad: Fine, they are good.We did the same thing when we were traveling in Morocco; we didn't want them to tell us what we were eating and if we liked it, we left it at that.

Roasted Tomatoes

  I've made this recipe a few times, but never wrote it down because I also changed it up some depending on what we had in the kitchen. Roasting helps bring out the flavors of whatever it is that you are cooking which is helpful if you have ever bought a few too many baskets of tomatoes at the farmer's markets and you really don't want to throw them away (or in our case, we feed them to our pig, Nola). Just this past weekend my mom & I purchased a 25lb box of tomatoes from a local co-op and we made a big batch of homemade tomato sauce for spaghetti. I'll talk more about the organization that runs the co-op, all the fresh food that they provide for a very low sum, & to see if you have one near you in my next post.

My Weekend & Cornbread Muffins

This past weekend was a busy...

• I finally set up my Keurig single cup coffee maker, which I has been sitting in its box for over a year and I have had 4 cups of coffee and 1 cup of tea. Tigger thinks it's a monster since it makes weird noises.
• Tigger played with some goldfish (the food snack, not the fish, of course) when I discovered that they don't appeal to me anymore. I've noticed that a lot of packaged foods that I use to like now just taste too much like the chemicals in them. We also got a big mouse toy/scratch post/ cat nip holder thing for Tigger and he LOVES it. 
• I found a few new blogs that peak my interest; some involve food while others are of quotes and photography.
•  I'm really into vegan recipes right now (I don't know if I will try gluten-free baking, though). And I want to try to bake using grams since I have a lot of recipes bookmarked that are from other countries and cultures.
• Moonshine, our chicken died :( We were down to 2 chickens from our original 5 when Red started acting sick and we got her back to health and she started to lay eggs again, but then suddenly Moonshine just died. My dad said that Red was pecking her to get up, but when he noticed she wasn't moving and went to check he discovered that she had passed away and buried her.
• My mom and I went to World Market :) and I finally got a jar of Biscoff spread to try since I see a lot of recipes for it and people raving of how good it is.
• I changed my blog header. That is tiny fluff ball with ears is Cowboy when he was a tiny bunny in a itty-bitty saddle at the feed store at which we purchased him. 

• Also I decided that I would post a recipe that I made last week. I actually have a good amount of recipes that I want to test out in the next few weeks like Overnight Oatmeal, No Bake Energy Bites, a Baked Mushroom Risotto, Apple Bran Muffins (vegan), a Honey cake (french) and a few other things. I also will be having either a dinner or dessert recipe for next week since this weekend the family is coming out for dinner.

Zucchini Tots: Updated

Zucchini Tots, a photo by raylynntexas on Flickr.

  The original name for these was Zucchini Bites, which was okay. But when these were baking, they smelled just like tater tots. I changed up the recipe a little (by using seasoned bread crumbs,parm. cheese, & I drained the zucchini) so I decided to change the name too and called them "Zucchini Tots instead.And "tots" does mean small and these are small (baked in a mini muffin pan) so the name fits.

Zucchini Bites

Recipe adapted: The Naptime Chef

yields: 12 mini muffins

1 cups zucchini, grated
1 egg (1 large egg equals 3-4 tbsp when whisked together)
1/4 yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup cheese (cheddar or Parmesan work the best)
1/4 cup bread crumbs - I used Italian style
Salt and Pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a mini-muffin tin with non-stick spray, set aside.
2. Grate the zucchini and then place in a dish towel to squeeze out the excess water- like when using frozen spinach; if you skip this part, the middle of the zucchini tots will be really soggy while the outside gets crispy and no one wants that.
3. In a bowl combine, the egg, onion, cheese, bread crumbs, zucchini, salt and pepper.
4. Using a spoon or a cookie scoop, fill the muffin cups to the top. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the top is browned and set.

Some Tips  from others:
>Egg Allergy? Try an egg-replacement product or a mixture of 3 tbsp water to 1 tbsp ground chia or flax seed (it will look gelatinous) and let it sit for 10 minutes before adding into the recipe.   
> Gluten Free? Try almond flour, coconut flour, cooked cauliflower, potato flakes, Corn Chex cereals (g.f), or cooked Quinoa. 
>Flavors: Like I do with any recipe I make, I adjust the ingredients to what I have on hand and what I prefer. You can add fresh herbs, use a different (or even dairy free) cheese, keep the skins on or peel the zucchini, add a bit of heat with red pepper flakes ,or even mix in bacon which on reader did. 
>No mini muffin tin? Some have just placed the mixture onto a baking sheet which has worked okay, but you can use a regular muffin tin. If using a regular muffin tin, fill the mixture to 1/2 full or a little less and press down using your fingers or a tbsp measure. Bake for 18-22 minutes and broil to get the tops crispy.
>Salt: Salt helps draw out the moisture in foods which can help in this recipe. After grating your zucchini and placing it in a towel, sprinkle with salt, and let it sit for 10 minutes or so to draw the excess moisture out. Squeeze the towel really good to get as much of the moisture as you can out of the zucchini. 
>Freezing: I have not tried freezing these so I can't say how they will exactly turn out, but here it goes. Sometimes with zucchini that has been cooked, frozen, and reheated it can tend to be squishy so you have have to turn the broiler on for a few minutes.  
**RaeAnne said: "Made these and then froze them and it worked great. I think it is important to let them cool and then flash freeze them on a cookie sheet before putting them in freezer bag. We even reheated them in the microwave for about a minute on high or in the oven to make them crispier. It is important not to let them thaw before you cook them or it is a big gooey mess. "

Roasted Potatoes & Green Beans: Updated

  This is one of my favorite pictures with my new camera- and of Tigger in general.

  With my old camera, this picture would have been a blur, but with my new camera I got to capture Tigger being extra cute.
  It's a shame that he is scared of other people (besides my parents & I) because I think he would be a great kitty model- he's got cheek bones that women pay big bucks for!
                                                    Here are some more pictures of Tigger.

  Now back to the food.
  I got this recipe from a random food magazine that I picked up at the store. Some people buy shoes, jewelry, or just random things even though they may have more than enough of that item already at home. Well, that is me with food magazines and cook books. And they all have plenty of sticky notes that mark enough recipes to try for many years to come without repeating.

   I made this dish this past Sunday dinner that we ate along with a roasted chicken. When they were almost finished cooking, I add some of the juice from the chicken which gave it more flavor, except the potatoes didn't get as crispy. My mom took the leftovers to work with her. While I was making a marinate for some steaks for yesterday's dinner my mom called and asked if I could make the potatoes & green bean dish again. 
  This time I didn't add any more liquid to the potatoes so the potatoes had a chance to get golden brown and crispy.

Creamy Lemon & Thyme Orzo

     Orzo is pasta that looks like rice but has the texture and flavor of pasta.
      This dish is so versatile and can be used as a side dish next to so many main course items- steak, chicken, fish, or even with a vegetarian dinner.I found a recipe for rosemary lemon orzo a while back and made a note to buy some orzo next time we went to the store.
     Well, I got the orzo, but I couldn't find the same recipe that I was going to make- I didn't bookmark it. So I tried to find a similar recipe and ended up using a recipe from Eat Yourself Skinny which I changed slighly. I ended up using chicken stock as the main liquid, added some some thyme, and then stirred in some cheese at the end to make it extra creamy. Peas would also be good in this too if your into that kind of thing.If not, then its okay, this is perfectly good without them.
    This recipe turned out to be similar to a risotto in its texture (and creaminess) minus the frequent stirring and the ladleing of hot liquid until absorbed and it only takes about 20 minutes from start to finish.

Creamy Lemon & Thyme Orzo

slighly adapted from: Eat Yourself Skinny

serve: 4

1 1/2 tsp thyme, chopped
1 tsp rosemary, chopped (I just add 1 whole rosemary sprig)
1 1/2 cp orzo
1 tbsp butter
2 cp chicken stock
1/2 cp water
juice of 1/2 a lemon
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp salt
pepper
1/4 cp parmesan cheese (optional)

Saute the orzo in a saucepan in butter over medium high heat. Stir until lightly browned and add in the remaining ingredients, except the cheese.
Bring to a boil and cover. Reduce the heat to low and cook for about 15 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed, stir every so often.
Remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in the cheese, season to taste, and serve.

Sweet Potato Casserole for Thanksgiving

Sweet Potatoes are good.

I like them mashed, roasted, fried, or just baked and topped with cinnamon and butter.

Sweet potato casserole is one of my favorite things during the holidays.

I got this recipe from Saveur

I loved the fact that this recipe has both a streusel topping and marshmallows.That way the people who like mashmallows on their sweet potato casserole get what they want and the people who prefer nuts can also be happy. My grandma couldn't stop raving about these and of course I gave  her the recipe.

Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms

How does this...

Turn into this...?

This was actually something that I made over the  labor day weekend. The mushroom is very "meaty"so you wont be missing the real meat. This could be served as is or you could chop it up and toss with some buttered pasta.

If you only can get the smaller mushrooms; you could stuff them and use them as appetizers at a party.

Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms

serves: 2

• 2 large portobello mushrooms
• 1 garlic clove
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 2 oz. mozzerella cheese, shredded
• 2 wedges of Laughing Cow Swiss Cheese (or cream cheese OR another soft, spreadable cheese) about 2 big tablespoons.
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1. Using a damp cloth, wipe off the mushrooms (DO NOT put them under running water). Remove the stem and scrap out the gills using a spoon.
2. Drizzle a small amount of oil on the back of the mushroom.
3. Thaw out the spinach and place it in a cloth and squeeze out the excess liquid. (Spinach contains a lot of water)
4. Grate or finely chop the garlic and place it in a bowl. Add in the swiss cheese, spinach, salt, and pepper and combine.
5. Stuff the mushrooms with the spinach/cheese filling and sprinkle the mozzerella cheese on top.
6. Turn your grill on medium-high heat and cook the mushrooms for 15-20 minutes (with the grill cover closed), or until the mushrooms are tender and the filling is hot.
7. Remove from the grill and enjoy.

>> If you don't have a grill; you could turn your oven to 400 degrees F and cook for about 15-20 minutes.

Broccoli & Cauliflower Mash

Since my dad is termanally ill; his appetite has changed.
Well, sorta.
He likes southern food,biscuits& gravy, pork chops, sweets, dessert,chocolate, potatoes and fried fish.
Did I mention sweets?
One down side of this disease is that his sweet tooth is the size of an elephant.
But, he isn't too keen on healthier things like broccoli,brussel sprouts, steamed fish, and mushrooms. And trying to trick him into eating a veggie burger while telling him that it is a regular burger is not a smart idea.
Its kinda like cooking for a picky child.

The other day, I came across a recipe for mashed cauliflower; It was suppose to be like "fake" mashed potatoes. This was my plan, but then some medical stuff (mine, not my dad's) came up and I forgot all about the cauliflower that was sitting in our fridge. Well, last night I felt a bit better and decided to make a mash of broccoli and cauilflower and then making fritters out of them. like salmon cakes, which my dad loves, so I thought if I fried the mash then he would not ask what he was eating.

Roasted chicken quarters & Roasted baby potatoes

                                            This is a close up of the 1st egg that our chickens laid.

It was smaller than our store bought eggs.

Its "life" did not last long because I accidently dropped it.

Oops!

But this morning, there was another egg waiting in the nest.

And this afternoon, another little egg was laid.

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Here are some other pictures from this weekend.

Marley!

2 dogs, but they only ever play with 1 toy.

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Liberally season the chicken. We left the skin on, but if you chose you can take it off since you will be cooking the chicken in liquid; so you don't have to worry about it drying out.

dried chicken= YUCK

Italian Pork Chops & Crashed Potatoes

What's for dinner tonight?

This...

salt, pepper, and lemon zest in flour..