spaghetti + summer squash = delicious!

Looking for something quick & healthy for dinner tonight?  Well my friends, you've come to the right place.  And did I mention the time involved would be minimal?  Add that one to the pro's.  Summer is winding down, and the last thing you want to do is waste lots of your precious play-time slaving away in the kitchen.  Am I right?  Of course I'm right.  So, don't let me take up any more of your time, either.  Take 20 minutes to make this dinner, and enjoy the bounteous fruits of your SLIM efforts.

Spaghetti with Summer Squash

A Get in the Kitch Original

Ingredients

12 oz. whole wheat spaghetti

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 small to medium zucchini squash, chopped into 1-inch pieces

1 small to medium yellow summer squash, chopped into 1-inch pieces

6 oz. button mushrooms, brushed clean & quartered

Your favorite pasta sauce

1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cook spaghetti as directed until al dente.

2. Meanwhile, saute vegetables in olive oil in a deep skillet until tender, about 5 minutes.

3. Drain pasta, then pour it into the skillet with the vegetables.

4. Add your favorite pasta sauce, and gently toss the pasta and veggies to coat them.

5. Dish up & top with grated Parmesan cheese.

The best part of waking up is...Oatmeal Breakfast Bread! {TWD}

Its time again for my post with the cooking club Tuesdays With Dorie, but I'm kinda breaking the rules a bit, so I hope you can keep a secret.  I was out of town with my Momma last week and missed this recipe that I'd really been looking forward to, so I'm making it this week (and that's where the rule-breaking comes in).  I'm out of order, but you're gonna be thankful for my rebellious ways the instant you taste this bread!  The thing that really got me swooning and wanting to try the recipe is in the book when Dorie describes the bread as "pudding-soft."  How could I resist?  Clearly, I could not.  I changed things up as follows with scrumptious results:  skim milk instead of buttermilk; 1/2 c. wheat flour & 3/4 c. all purpose flour; Craisins for the dried fruit; and no cloves. 

I can't wait to go to sleep tonight so I can wake up and have it for breakfast!  Don't worry about the fact that I just got done having a slice for dessert.

Oatmeal Breakfast Bread

From Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan

Click HERE to find the complete recipe at Oven Love

Stuffed Zucchini

Are your fridge drawers overflowing with squash like mine are?  We don't even have our own garden, and they're coming out of our ears!  We are pretty lucky people to have such wonderful friends/neighbors/family to share the fruits of their labors with us, huh!  I know.  Hopefully next year we will be able to pay it forward.  For now though, you have someone else's green thumb to thank for this tasty dinner.  I've seen zucchini stuffed with a variety of things - meat, rice, veggies, greens, etc. - so I figured I'd just use what I had.  That's the greatest thing about recipes like these (aside from the fact that they're easy & pretty quick!) - you can substitute almost anything you've got in your fridge for something I used that you might be out of (or can't stand the taste of).  So, get busy making those little zucchini boats and set sail with stuffed zucchini for dinner tonight!

Stuffed Zucchini

Ingredients

2 medium zucchini, cut in half lengthwise & centers hollowed

1 1/2 c. cooked brown rice

1/3 c. sun dried tomatoes, roughly chopped

1/2 c. artichoke hearts, roughly chopped

1/3 c. button mushrooms, chopped

3/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

garlic & onion powder to taste

salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or tin foil and place zucchini halves rounded side down on the tray.

2. Mix together all other ingredients & spoon the mixture into the hollows of each zucchini halve.  Be generous with the filling!

3. Bake 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees, or until cheese in filling is just starting to brown & zucchini is tender.

Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes

Hello, strangers!  Did you think I fell off the face of the blogging earth?  I did for a minute.  My camera was having technical difficulties, went out of town a couple days - oh yeah, and did I mention I got a little lazy?  OK, maybe not lazy (because I've been doing lots of other stuff!), but definitely distracted.  Don't think for a second that the distractions kept me from cooking, though.  Don't believe me?  Here's the first of my evidence:  Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes.

You'll never believe where I got this recipe.  I think it'd be safe to say that few, if any, of you have ever cooked a recipe from this same place.  Any guesses?  Nope.  You're right, I don't know what you said, but I bet it wasn't this: a Tupperware catalog!  My very lovely, and very hip grandmother (Shirl) sells the wonderful stuff, and I was just flipping through one of her magazines one day awhile ago, and I saw this.  Mouth started watering, yada yada yada, and now here are the pics from our "breakfast for dinner" that took place just last week.

They're very healthful, and very delicious!  I guess I have a lot of repenting to do after that ice cream cake, huh?!  Count this recipe as my first Hail Mary. 

Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes

From a Tupperware Catalog

Ingredients

1 1/2 c. wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1/2 c. quick oats

2 eggs

1 3/4 c. buttermilk

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

3/4 c. blueberries, fresh or frozen

2/3 c. sliced almonds or walnuts

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and oats.

2.  Mix in eggs, buttermilk, & vanilla until incorporated.

3. Fold in blueberries & almonds.

4. Pour 1/3 c. amounts onto hot, greased skillet and cook until the batter begins to bubble and bottom side is golden brown.  Then flip and cook about 2 more minutes, or until golden brown on other side.

5. Serve with your favorite pancake toppings.

Banana Split Ice Cream Cake for Dick's 27th...Mmmmmmm...

My hunka hunka burnin' love just turned another year older, and wiser, too!  When I asked what birthday treat he wanted he couldn't decide.  In fact, he couldn't even give me any options to choose from - may have been because he was glued to the Game Cube with his brother for hours on end - but I jumped at the chance to make something marvelous I'd seen online just days before: banana split ice cream cake.  Your blood sugar spikes just reading that, doesn't it?  I know.  With an Oreo crust, sliced bananas, 2 kinds of ice cream, a layer of gooey fudgey goodness, and perfectly sweet strawberries and toasted coconut to top it off, how could it not?  There may not be a birthday in your family or circle of friends coming up, but I'd strongly suggest you find some reason - any reason - to celebrate so you can make this cake.  They won't be screaming for ice cream, my friends.  They'll be screaming for you!

Banana Split Ice Cream Cake

Adapted from recipe found at Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients

1 package Oreos (I used double stuff w/ good results!)

1/2 stick (4 Tbsp) butter, melted

4 bananas, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces

1 pint strawberry ice cream

1 jar fudge sauce (loved special dark!)

1 pint vanilla ice cream

4 c. sliced fresh strawberries, sweetened with sugar

1 regular can whipped topping

1 c. coconut, toasted

Directions

1. Crush oreos in a food processor, or place them in a Ziploc bag & crush them with a rolling pin.  Mix in melted butter & press into the bottom of a 8-10 inch spring form pan.

2. Layer sliced bananas evenly over the cookie crust until it is completely covered.

3. Spread softened strawberry ice cream over the bananas.  This works best if you space individual scoops over the banana layer, then flatten and smooth them into each other with a rubber spatula.  Freeze for 2 hours.

4. Remove lid from jar of fudge & warm it in the microwave for 30 seconds.  Spread it evenly over the layer of strawberry ice cream & freeze for another hour.

5. Spread softened vanilla ice cream over the fudge layer the same way you did the strawberry ice cream layer.  Freeze until just before you're ready to serve. 

6. Remove the spring form.

7. Pile the strawberries onto the cake, leaving about 1 1/2 inch border around the edge.  If you put the strawberries on earlier and let them freeze, the cake will fall apart when you cut into it.  Trust me...that's why there are no pictures of individual pieces of cake.

8. Cover the edge of the cake with loads of whipped topping, and sprinkle with toasted coconut. 

~WINNERS & Kabobs~

Congrats

to all those who left a comment telling me what kind of Wild Bill's Gourmet Seasoning they'd like to try on my 100th post...you are ALL winners!...Lisa from Gourmified, Devyn, & The Rigby's... There were only 3 of you (counting the hubby & wife as 1), which made it too hard for me to choose just one, so you are all getting what you asked for.  You can thank Dick for that - I tried to get him to assist me, and he said, "just make them all winners!" And there you go.  Thanks for reading & cooking along w/ me!

Please email your address to me at rachy_p@msn.com and I'll pop your prize right in the mail!

Then you can get right to making some of these delicious chicken & veggie kabobs!

Chicken & Veggie Kabobs

Ingredients

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, fat trimmed & cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes

2 small-med zucchini, cut into 3/4 inch pieces

1 med-large yellow squash, cut into 3/4 inch pieces

4 bell peppers, whatever colors you'd like, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

12 white mushrooms, wiped clean

Wild Bill's 5-Star Gourmet Seasoning

olive oil or cooking spray (canola or olive oil)

Directions

1. Slide the chicken & veggies onto metal skewers in whatever pattern/order you'd like them to be (if you're using wooden skewers make sure to soak them at least 30 minutes before loading them up & putting them on the grill so they don't burn).

2. Brush or spray your kabobs with olive/canola oil.

3. Liberally sprinkle the 5-Star seasoning all over the kabobs.

4. Put them on the grill, about 5-7 minutes each side, or until chicken is cooked through & veggies are tender.