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Archive for the ‘“Recipes”’ Category

I Finally Cooked Spaghetti Squash

Posted by terrepruitt on September 28, 2016

I often see people on my Facebook feed comment about how difficult it is to cut butternut squash. I just figured they didn’t have very sharp knives. I mean, it doesn’t slice easily, but it is not really difficult. It is not as hard as some other fruits and vegetables. I also always see a bunch of recipes for spaghetti squash. It could be that the fervor of it has calmed down a bit, but for a while there was a spaghetti squash recipe on my feed at least once a day. But not once did I see anything about cutting spaghetti squash being difficult. Not once did I see that as one of the main things about spaghetti squash, as I often heard in regards to butternut squash. Whew! What the heck is up with spaghetti squash? I thought I was going to break my knife. I love my knife and I would have been very upset, so I was trying to be a bit careful . . . but what is up with that??? I had to cook it for four minutes before I could BARELY break the skin. Then I had to cook it for two more to get to the middle. That stuff is TOUGH!!!

So . . . anyway . . . after all this time I finally got around to trying spaghetti squash. We liked it. It was good. I am curious if we liked it because it had ground beef on it. When I planned the dinner, I thought I had a jar of red sauce, but I didn’t. So my red sauce with meat faux spaghetti dinner did not materialize. Instead we had ground beef with garlic butter on spaghetti squash. It was good. It was really good especially the second night when I cooked it more. The first night I was — as usual – starting late and I had no idea it would take so long to cut and cook. I would have preferred to roast it in the oven, but it happened to be over 90° F that day and I didn’t want to turn on the oven. So I used the microwave.

Another thing I had not heard anyone say when making this for dinner was the challenge in shredding the squash out. I mean, it wasn’t HARD per se, but it was a challenge because the dang squash is so hot. It is tricky to hold and scrape at the same time.

Anyway, here is what I did. But, keep in mind, anything with ground beef on it, is so yummy.

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Spaghetti Squash With Ground Beef and Garlic Butter

Water
shallow casserole dish
1 spaghetti squash
salt
lid (to the dish) or plastic wrap, wax paper
half of a medium onion, chopped
half of a pound of ground beef
Italian Seasoning
garlic salt
two tablespoons of butter
three cloves of minced garlic

Put water in a shallow casserole dish, about halfway up the side of the dish. Then try to poke a whole or two in the squash and cook it on high (in the microwave) for six minutes. If your microwave does not have a rotating turntable, turn the dish every two minutes.

Once you can, cut the squash cut it in half – lengthwise. Take out all the squash “guts” and seeds. Place each half in the dish – cut side up. Cook in the microwave on high for six minutes with the cover on the dish, or use the plastic wrap, or wax paper.

Take the dish out and salt the cut sides of the spaghetti squash. Then cook for ten minutes with the cover on the dish, or use the plastic wrap, or wax paper. (Again, remember to turn the dish every two or three minutes if your microwave does not do that for you).

While the squash is cooking prepare your topping/sauce.

Heat up a pan with olive oil or coconut oil. Then cook the onions. Then add the half of a pound of ground beef. Add some Italian Seasoning and salt. Cook until beef is done.

In another pan, heat up two tablespoons of butter. Once melted add a few cloves of minced garlic. Cook for a few minutes.

Check the squash. It should be really soft. A fork should insert easily with no pressure required. If you think it is ready (mine was not) then take it out of the microwave. If you think it needs to cook more, sprinkle on more salt, then cook it for six to ten more minutes. Then take it out and let it cool a little.

Then use one fork to hold the squash as you use another fork to shred and scrape the flesh of the squash out.

Put the shredded squash in a dish, toss with the garlic butter. Then put the beef in the dish and toss. Serve with Parmesan cheese on top.

(Total squash cooking time: 32 minutes)

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I don’t think the squash will hold up to a red sauce but my husband does, so I might try that, as that was the original plan. But, even if not, I will definitely cook it again. It was good, but it was NOTHING like spaghetti. It was sweet. It was stringy. It was good. I am thinking chicken and mushrooms . . . that sounds good to me. Also, roasted. I can’t wait to roast it!

So what are your tips on how to cook spaghetti squash? How do you shred it? What do you mix with it?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: Butternut squash, Facebook feed, ground beef with garlic butter, microwaved spaghetti squash, roasted spaghetti squash, spaghetti squash recipe | Leave a Comment »

Sweet And Spicy Mixed Nuts

Posted by terrepruitt on September 14, 2016

So, this is kind of a “cheat” because it is so close to the Sweet and Savory Mixed Nuts, ha, in fact it is, but with minor changes. But there were enough for me to have to make note of it and I thought I might as well put it online since having recipes online helps me a lot. Plus I thought someone else might want to make the sweet and savory nuts sweet and spicy nuts. I actually did not try them because I knew they would be too hot for me. The last time I made them I put one packet of crushed red peppers in them and my hubby said that it was not really that hot. So this time I upped a few things.

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Sweet and Spicy Mixed Nuts

–1 cup raw unsalted almonds
–1 cup walnuts
–1 cup raw unsalted pepitas
–1 cup raw unsalted pecans
–2 tablespoons olive oil
–1 tablespoon and 2.5 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
–1 teaspoon thyme
–1 teaspoon crushed rosemary leaves
–1 HEAPING teaspoon rosemary leaves
–1 teaspoon cumin
–1 teaspoon salt
–1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons of maple syrup
–1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
–3 packets of crushed red peppers / flakes
–sea salt
–brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Mix the nuts together. Mix the olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, rosemary, cumin, salt, syrup cayenne pepper, and ONE packet of crushed red peppers together. Then mix in the nuts. Stir to make sure nuts are well coated. Then spread the nuts out on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Spread the nuts out, you want them somewhat in just one layer. Then, sprinkle with one packet of crushed red peppers / flakes, bake at 350° F for 10 minutes.

Then stir the nuts and spread them out again, making at thin layer. Sprinkle with another packet of crushed red peppers / flakes, some sea salt, AND brown sugar (not a lot, just a sprinkle over all of the nuts) bake for 10 more minutes.

Then stir the nuts one more time and let bake for 10 more minutes.

Then take them out of the oven to cool. You have a choice while cooling, you can stir them to break them up or you can let them cool in one big chunk or chunks. It depends on how you like to eat your nuts.

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Basically, let nuts and more of everything else, and the addition of the crushed red peppers / flakes. That is what the original recipe, the one my friend made for us for Christmas, had in it. But I don’t like spicy hot so I adjusted the recipe. I was originally making the nuts for me, since my hubby doesn’t normally like nuts. But when I make them he liked them so I make more – as I said with one packet of crushed red peppers / flakes, but that wasn’t enough, so I added more. I think it might be enough.

I mean I could just continue adding more until they are just hot nuts, but the sweet needs to come through, too. I wish I could taste them. I just can’t/won’t because a burning mouth is just not comfortable for me.

I think next time I will experiment with adding another flavor, like GARLIC!

So, do you like spicy food? Would these work for you, ya think?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: Christmas, maple syrup, spicy hot food, Sweet and Savory Mixed Nuts, Sweet-and-Spicy Mixed Nuts, Worcestershire Sauce | 8 Comments »

What To Do With CousCous

Posted by terrepruitt on August 26, 2016

What do you do with couscous? I like couscous. One time when I made it, both my husband and I decided that we really like it. I usually buy Near East brand. I usually by flavored kind. Our favorite is a Garlic and Olive Oil. We also eat a Parmesan flavor. But the boxes are very small and they really, when I think about it, are kind of expensive. I usually pay over three dollars for a box. It really only works for one meal. So to me that is expensive. So I went to where I always go to when I am shopping for less expensive stuff – Amazon. I ended up buying a lot of couscous. I got FOUR bags, that can serve as FOUR meal sides EACH, for $16! But now what do I do with all that couscous?

One thing I LOVE about it, is that cooks so fast. It is so easy. So really adding too much to it, just takes away from that. But when you have as much as I do ya look for different things to do with it.

One thing I did that was awesome and easy was just chop us some kale and throw it in. I chopped up the kale and two minutes into the last five minutes of the couscous cooking I put it in the pot and stirred it. Then let the couscous continue to cook.

But that to me is still more of a side dish. I wanted something to eat as a main dish. So what do I do when I am trying to add some “weight” to a meal? AND I happen to have made hamburgers a couple of days before? Well, I throw in beef, of course. It was very good! So I thought I would share what I did.

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Beef, Kale, and Couscous

1/4 teaspoon coconut oil

1 tablespoon red onion

a little less than 1/4 pound ground beef

2 kale leaves

1 1/4 cup water

2 teaspoons butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon garlic salt

3/4 teaspoon powdered garlic

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Heat the oil in a pan. Once it is heated add the onions. Cook the onions a bit. Then add the meat. As the meat is cooking, begin to boil the water. Add the salt and butter to the water.

Fine chop the kale. After the water has boiled, add the couscous to the water. Set a timer for 2 minutes. When the timer goes off sprinkle the garlic and turmeric on the couscous and add the kale, then sprinkle the garlic salt on top of the kale. Stir everything together. Then set the timer for 2 minutes and let it all finish cooking.

Once the couscous is done add the meat. Then stir it all together, mixing it well. Then serve.

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As you can see from my pictures I used too small of a sauce pan to mix it all in it. So I did the final mixing in the pan I used to cook the meat.

The beef adds a richness and not a lot is needed. The beef also helps it be satisfying as an entrée.I added more garlic salt while it was on my plate. I added pepper to my husband’s plate. My hubby and I really enjoyed this so I will probably be doing it again.

So, as I said – what do you do with couscous?

PS While I was looking for my kale and couscous pictures a search reveal this post Couscous, Fennel, and Garbanzo Beans. I forgot about this.

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: Amazon, and Garbanzo Beans, beef, couscous, easy entree, easy to cook, fast to cook, fennel, Garlic and Olive Oil, hamburgers, Kale, Near East brand | Leave a Comment »

Sweet and Savory Mixed Nuts

Posted by terrepruitt on August 22, 2016

Every year at Christmastime my three friends and I gather for what I call “Christmas with the Girls.” We have been doing it since were 18, so I’ll just say decades! Well, when one of us four moved away it was sad. We couldn’t have the four of us meet for Christmas. Three of us still meet. There is usually eating, drinking, opening of gifts, laughing and visiting. Well, last year our distant friend sent us some mixed nuts. She had made Sweet-and-Spicy Mixed Nuts from a Bon Appétit recipe. They were pretty good. A little spicy for me as they had crushed red pepper flakes in them, but they were good. I thought I could just leave the peppers out when I made them. The recipe also calls for maple syrup. We didn’t have maple syrup. When I would go to the store I would forget to buy some. Plus I was thinking I needed a couple of tablespoons and I didn’t want to buy a whole bottle for just that. So I kept putting off making the recipe. Eventually I did buy the nuts (from Amazon). But when I went to the store I kept forgetting the syrup. Finally one day I remembered to buy the syrup and it was sitting on the counter and my husband says, “What did you buy maple syrup for?” And I explained the whole thing to him. He says, “We have maple syrup.” He explained to me that someone went to Vermont and had asked him if he wanted anything and he said, “Maple syrup.” So she had brought a little bottle back. It probably would have been the perfect amount. Oh well, I am sure I will make these nuts again. Although I did not use the recipe my friend used. I ended up making something up. I am not too big on the spicy so I didn’t use any crushed pepper flakes.

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Sweet and Savory Mixed Nuts

–1 1/2 cup raw unsalted almonds
–1 cup walnuts
–1 cup raw unsalted pepitas
–1 cup raw unsalted pecans
–2 tablespoons of olive oil
–1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce
–1/2 teaspoon thyme
–1 1/2 teaspoons rosemary leaves
–1/2 teaspoon cumin
–1 teaspoon salt
–1/3 cup and 1 teaspoon maple syrup
–tiny sprinkle of cayenne pepper

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Put all the nuts on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Put the pan in the oven, letting the nuts roast, for 10 minutes. In a big bowl mix the olive oil, worcestershire sauce, thyme, rosemary, cumin, salt, maple syrup, and sprinkle of pepper all together. Then put the nuts in the bowl and mix. Coat the nuts with the mixture. Then transfer all the nuts back onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Let the nuts toast/bake for 20 minutes, but toss them occasionally.

Allow nuts to cool before storing.

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This makes a flavor snack. And, of course, you can use whatever type of nuts you like. And perhaps futz with the amount of spices and herbs.

Now I need recipes that call for maple syrup.

Do you like mixed nuts? Do you have any recipes that call for maple syrup?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: Bon Appétit recipe, Christmas, maple syrup, Sweet and Savory Mixed Nuts, Sweet-and-Spicy Mixed Nuts, Worcestershire Sauce | 4 Comments »

Hard “Boiled” Baked Eggs

Posted by terrepruitt on August 15, 2016

I love eggs. But I only like scrambled eggs. I don’t like them any other way. NO OTHER WAY. Not fried, not hard boiled, not soft boiled, not poached, nothing! My hubby likes them different ways. He even likes hard boiled eggs. He is famous for his deviled eggs. One reason he is famous for his deviled eggs is that he has been working to perfect them. Ya know . . . he has worked to find a way to make them come out really well. A while back I had heard about people baking the eggs INSTEAD of boiling them. For years I kept saying, “I’m gonna try that.” I had a friend, my chef friend I often mention on my blog, who did an experiment on hard “boiled” eggs. I forgot exactly all that she did, but baking them was included in the test. She concluded that baking them didn’t make them easier to peel. This encouraged me to put off trying the baking method. Then one day my husband came home with a new idea, he was going to bake his eggs. <sigh> Then, HE never did. But he, like me, kept saying he was going to. One day I just threw some eggs in the oven. I used a muffin tin . . . but you might know from Muffin Tin Eggs post that I don’t have a TIN, I have the silicone kind. It worked. My husband liked them. And that is all it took. Sometimes it just takes someone . . . even if it is not you . . . to take the first step. After I made them in the oven and they came out well and my husband liked them, he decided to try it. But his method is a little different. I asked him to take pictures for me so that I could post about it on my blog for you. So here is my husband’s method for making hard “boiled” eggs.

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Hard “Boiled” Baked Eggs:

As many eggs as you want (that is the beauty of this method, you can do as many as will fit on a towel in your oven)
a dish towel
a bowl big enough to hold ice, water, and ALL the eggs
ice
water
timer

If you are making hard boiled eggs for deviled eggs you might want to turn the eggs on their sides for at least 24 hours. This helps center the yolk so you will have a nicely centered cavity to fill.

Preheat the oven to 325°. Wet the dish towel, ring it out. Then spread the towel out over the oven rack. Place your eggs on the oven rack. Allow for space between the eggs. Then bake them for 30 minutes. When the timer goes off, open the oven door and leave the eggs in there for 5 minutes.

Fill the bowl with ice and water.

You will notice the egg shells have spots on them. I have not researched this and I don’t know why that happens, but don’t fear my husband said that you can’t really see them on the outside of the egg. He said you have to actually look for the spots to even notice them. He calls them “heat freckles”.

After the five minutes with the door open, VERY CAREFULLY gather up the corners and edges of the towel (using oven mitts if necessary) holding the eggs. Then wet the towel and eggs. Then rinse each egg and put it in the bowl filled with ice and water. Let the eggs sit for 30 minutes.

Then dry off the eggs and store them. Or eat them. Or make them into deviled eggs.

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My husband took pictures of every step. He wanted to show you how nicely these eggs peel. He has had better results, as in easy to peel and quick to peel, with this method than his boiling method. The results are better as are the number of easy to peel eggs. Sometimes there is a difficult one or two, but for the most part they peel easy.

I believe he originally saw the wet towel method from Alton Brown. But, as I said, my husband has been working to perfect the deviled egg and he has found that this method of making hard boiled eggs is the easiest because you can easily cook more than a dozen at a time. And they peel really well.

Do you have preferred method to make hard boiled eggs? Any tricks or tips?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: Alton Brown, baked eggs, boiling eggs, deviled eggs, easy to peel, Eggs, eggtainer, fried eggs, hard boiled eggs, muffin tine, poached eggs, scrambled eggs | 6 Comments »

Muffin Tin Eggs

Posted by terrepruitt on July 25, 2016

I am sure you have seen these eggs baked in muffin tins on the internet, too, just like the Caprese Bites. And just like that yummy appetizer I thought I could do this without looking at a recipe. I mean, it seems so easy. It is. I am sure you can do it, too. But sometimes it is nice to have tips and advise. Experience from those who have come before. I thought I would need an egg per muffin cup, but I did not. I ended up making eight mini muffins and four regular sized muffins with 6 eggs. So this really isn’t a recipe with actual amounts of things because that is up to you. But it is an idea of things and some tips.

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Muffin Tin Eggs

6 eggs
milk (1/4 of a cup – ish)
salt
pepper
other seasonings
cheese (1/2 cup-ish, grated)
broccoli (1 cup-ish)

Preheat the oven to 375° F.

Clean the broccoli and rough cut it into bite sized pieces. Grate some cheese.

Crack your eggs into a bowl big enough for you to mix them and add a little milk. Mix up the eggs and milk. Add the salt and pepper to taste. Any seasonings you would like. I used garlic powder (of course).

If you are using metal muffin tins then you probably want to spray them with some cooking spray or put some oil or butter on them. Whatever you would normally for muffins. I used the silicon kind and they don’t need spray.

Place a few pieces of broccoli into each muffin cup. Then add the grated cheese into the tin. Then pour the eggs on top. Only fill it about half way.

Place the muffin “tin” in the oven and let it cook for about 12 minutes. Check the eggs. Cook them to your liking. Some people like “wet” eggs and others like them dry. So you get to decide.

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Not having cooked the broccoli beforehand will allow it to stay somewhat firm. But if you like softer broccoli you cook it beforehand.

As I said I made two different sized muffin tin eggs. I imagine this would make at least eight regular sized muffins or twelve to sixteen mini ones.

These are like scrambled eggs except you don’t have to do all the work every morning. You can make them on Sunday evening and then have a quick breakfast everyday all week. They are also like scrambled eggs in that you can put whatever you want in them. Whatever you would eat in a scramble put it in the tin. Somethings you might want to or need to cook before putting them in the tin. Meat would need to be cooked prior to putting in the tin for baking with the eggs. And we all like our veggies done differently so you might even want to cook some before putting it in the tin to bake.

I want to use mushrooms next time. I would cook them before putting them in the muffins. What would you put in yours?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: baked eggs, baked scrambled eggs, easy breakfast, make-ahead breakfast, muffin cup, muffin tins, scrambled eggs | 1 Comment »

Caprese Bites

Posted by terrepruitt on July 20, 2016

You’ve probably seen these before. I know I have. I don’t know where, but I know that when I saw them I wanted to make them. I was having company over last weekend and I didn’t know what to make because I didn’t know who was eating what and we usually end up with so much food. I decided I would do these as an appetizer and supply the dessert and the company could bring the rest. Worked out great! 🙂 As I said I had remembered seeing these before, but didn’t bother to look them up because I thought I could figure them out. I did, but as I sat down to write this I thought I would give it a quick look-see. I should have looked before I made them because, of course, there are much better ways to present them shown on the internet. Mine were ok, and I will probably do it again, but I do like the swishy drizzle. Not that I could ever accomplish that. I tried to drizzle and the new thing from Costco that is on the balsamic vinegar, just dripped it all over the plate. I gave up and used a spoon. Anyway . . . here is a quick and yummy appetizer. Caprese salad or as I am calling these Caprese Bites.

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Caprese Bites

A tub of mozzarella balls
two tubs of grape tomatoes
a bunch of basil
balsamic vinegar
salt

Drain the mozzarella and let it dry out a little bit. Wash your basil if you desire, then let it dry a bit. Wash the tomatoes and let them dry. Then cut the mozzarella balls in half. Sprinkle the cheese with salt. Then decide the order. I had cheese-tomato-basil. Then stick a tooth pick through the cheese, then the tomato, then a basil leaf. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with a little salt.

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So, I made these last weekend. I didn’t take a picture. I had leftover cheese, so I made them again for this post. I salted the cheese the second time I made these. Then I salted the entire “bite” after I drizzled on the balsamic vinegar. I barely used an salt and half of it rolls off. But I really think the salt helps bring out the flavor in everything. Salt is a flavor enhancer. YUM.

Also the second time, I tried to stick the tomato on one side . . . in other words NOT IN THE MIDDLE. I tried to pierce it closer to one side of the tomato so it would rest better on the plate. I did also try doing it with the tomato on the bottom and the toothpick up in the air, I didn’t like that. It probably would have worked better with the cheese on the bottom. Or if the tomatoes are cut.

Either way . . . such an easier appetizer. And so yummy. I actually assembled it the night before. But I put the vinegar and salt on right before I served it. Both kind of make the cheese “melty”. So it got a little messy. But it was still good.

I was actually surprised how much I liked them. I made a lot and I think I ate most of them. My hubby and I even had a few in the days that followed.

Now we have more. Yay! Yum!

Have you made these before? How do you assemble them?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: balsamic vinegar, basil, Caprese Bites, Caprese salad, easy appetizer, gluten free appetizer, grape tomatoes, make ahead appeziter, mozzarella balls | 5 Comments »

Bake Polenta “Fries”

Posted by terrepruitt on June 17, 2016

When I make burgers I want fries. Potato “fries”. Even though, I don’t fry things . . . I bake ’em, I love fries with my burgers. I do love baked “fries”. But I also don’t always like to have potatoes because we are having buns. I don’t do my burgers protein style. Half the fun of a burger (to me) is the bun. Often times I will make other types of fries, like Baked Golden Beet “Fries” or Squash Sticks (even though I breaded these). Now, I don’t really think of corn as a vegetable, I mean, I know it is a vegetable, but I think of it as a starch. I think of potatoes and corn in the same kinda category. So, this isn’t really a great replacement for potatoes fries . . . if I am thinking starch, but they were good. My husband really liked them. I made polenta fries.

I had purchased a tube of polenta a week or maybe more ago. The idea for which I bought the polenta changed. Do you ever do that? Buy an ingredient for one thing but then change your mind. Then you are stuck with that ingredient wondering what to do with it. I turned to Google looking up how to cook tube polenta. If you look up polenta it has ideas on how to cook the porridge style polenta. Usually polenta is corn meal mush. But if you buy it in a tube it is a solid. My search led me to Our Everyday Life that gave three different ways to cook polenta from a tube, oven fries was one of them. I didn’t even read the full recipe because I figured I could do it.

Here is what I did, next time I will use less oil . . . and now that I look at the recipe on the website it calls for no oil, but I want crispy fries so I will continue to use oil, just less.

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Oven Polenta Fries

1 tube of polenta
olive oil
garlic salt

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 450° F. After cutting the polenta out of the tube cut the tube in half, then cut the polenta into 1/4 of an inch strips. Try to cut the whole tube into equal sized strips.

Then spread the strips out on the pan. Sprinkle with a little oil. Sprinkle with the garlic salt. Place pan in the oven. Let the fries bake for 15 minutes. Then take the pan out of the oven and turn the fries. Then put it back in the oven for another 15 minutes. Then check the fries. If they are done to your liking, take them out and serve. If you want them cooked more, flip ’em or toss them on the pan, then put it in for 10 (or whatever) minutes.

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Of course ovens vary and people desires of doneness varies so keep an eye on them and cook them to your liking. Also, try your favorite seasoning. Mine is garlic salt. Presently I have garlic salt with parsley in it, so that was good. Also . . . I used garlic basil polenta. Again, I didn’t buy the tube for the fries so it was not a plain flavor. But I might try that next time.

As with many of my food posts, I didn’t plan on blogging about this. I did snap a few pictures after they had already been baking, but I didn’t document it from the beginning, but really that would have just been the tube of polenta. I did take a few shots of them on my plate, but I really like my husband’s shots, so I am using his, too!

What do you do with a tube of polenta? Share, please, I need some ideas!

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: beet fries, buns, hamburgers, oven baked fries, oven polenta fries, polenta fries, polenta in a tube, potato fries, squash fries, starchy vegetables | 8 Comments »

Stuffed Zucchini

Posted by terrepruitt on May 18, 2016

So, do you know that we have gone in with a friend to by a cow? We get a small portion of a grass-fed cow. If you have read any of my post regarding food you have probably heard that we do this. You might also know that our favorite type of meat is the ground beef. My hubby and I love hamburgers. We usually have two “regular-sized” burgers and then some. By “regular-sized” I mean big enough to fit a bun but not really thick. I am still working on trying to get the burger to actually fit the bun. It doesn’t have to be perfect but I would like it just a little closer to the edges of the bun. Anyway . . . I end up with a little meat leftover. I could just make two burgers out of it, but I really don’t want to have 1/2 pound burgers. We ALMOST have them that big, but not quite. Without using the entire package to make two burgers I have a little left over. The challenge is always, what to do with that little bit left over. I often throw it over pasta. Yum! Always a quick, easy dinner. The other day, though, I looked in my fridge and saw two zucchinis I need to use up. And you know, if you have read some of my other recipes, how much I love stuff pumpkin. So I decided to stuff the zucchini.

I didn’t get all fancy with the ingredients. I just basically used the meat, the zucchinis, onions, and cheese.

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Stuffed Zucchini

coconut oil
2 zucchini
1/2 of a large onion (I prefer white)
1/4 lb of ground beef
garlic salt
salt
pepper
3/4 cups shredded cheese (your favorite)

Preheat the oven to 450° F. Wash the zucchini. Slice them in half length-wise. Use a spoon and drag it down the inside of the zucchini. Only remove a little bit. Just enough to make a little shallow “gully” down the middle of the zucchini. Spread a little bit of coconut oil on both sides of each half. Then place all four halves face down on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Let them bake for 10 minutes. Then take them out of the oven and salt all eight sides. Then put them back in the oven for 10 minutes.

While they are baking, heat up a tablespoon of coconut oil in a pan. Chop up two thirds of the onion then heat them in the pan. Once they are starting to get translucent add the meat. Let the meat begin to cook then start adding the garlic salt and pepper if you would like. Since the meat is going to be baked in the oven you might want to be certain not to cook it TOO much.

If you have to grate your cheese do that while everything is cooking. Also finely chop/mince the rest of the onion.

Check on the zucchini, I like the “inside” to start browning. Then once it is the color I like it, I flip them over and bake them some more. I would say I roast/bake the zucchini 20 to 30 minutes before I stuff them. So keep an eye on them so they are cooked to your liking.

Then once your zucchini are roasted to the way you like and the meat is cooked and drained, if need be. You can “stuff” the zucchini.

I always add more garlic salt. And a little pepper for my hubby. Then “sprinkle” the minced onion . . . some on each half of zucchini. I don’t necessarily measure here because I like less onion than my hubby. So just put the amount on that you want. Then put the meat on top. Distributing it as you see fit. Then top with cheese. You might want to press down on top of each half to ensure (for the most part) that everything stays on while you are baking.

Then put the pan with the stuffed zucchini back in the oven until the cheese is browned.

Then you can serve it.

We usually eat it as an entrée, but you can serve it however you would like.

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Dang, as usually when I type up the recipes I end up wanting to have it for dinner. Also, as usually I hadn’t planned to post about this, but then I thought, why not?

Do you like zucchini?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: garlic, grass-fed beef, hamburgers, roasted vegetable, stuffed zucchini | 10 Comments »

Couscous, Fennel, and Garbanzo Beans

Posted by terrepruitt on April 25, 2016

Sometimes I just don’t take out meat in enough time for it to defrost by dinner. I thought about it early enough. But I am at that state of meat-in-the-freezer where it is the stuff I don’t know how to cook. My mental inventory check led me to hamburger, but I didn’t want to cook that, so then my brain flitted off to something else. Then later, I think I might have opened the freezer and, uninspired, shut it. Then, by the time I got serious it was too late. I was HOPING it was not too late, but alas when it came time to cook dinner, the meat was not defrosted. And on top of that we didn’t really have all that many veggies in the fridge. Sigh. We have lettuce and salad fixings, but nothing to cook except fennel. We had leftover couscous from the other night. So I was thinking I could roast the fennel AND some garbanzo beans and then mix it with the couscous. Ahhh . . . sometimes I love when there is “nothing” in the house to eat. I loved it.

I always say I don’t like beans, because I don’t for the most part. I don’t like BEAN beans. I like green beans, but I don’t think of them as beans because they are long. Or more so because green beans are eaten fresh like a vegetable and not dried like a “bean bean”. I do like garbanzo beans though. And I like red kidney beans but only in Red Beans and Rice and in THIS bean salad.

I like garbanzo beans or chickpeas as they are also known, because they taste buttery. They add a butter flavor to dishes — to me. And I really like them roasted. So I decided to roast them with the fennel.

I actually roasted them both on the same pan. I put parchment paper on a large jelly roll pan. I cut up the fennel and — well, if I am posting a recipe I put is in that form.

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Couscous, Fennel, and Garbanzo Beans

–2 cups prepared Couscous
–olive oil
–1 bulb Fennel
–1 can Garbanzo beans
–handful of grape tomatoes
–garlic salt
–pepper (if you like)
–1 1/2 tablespoon butter

Drain the beans and rinse them. Set them aside to dry. Cook the couscous according to the package (I used left over couscous). Preheat the oven to 450° F. Cut up the fennel and put it on a parchment paper lined oven pan. Drizzle olive oil on it and sprinkle garlic salt on it. Toss it. Then put it in the oven for five minutes. After five minutes take the pan out and put the beans on the pan. (I kept the fennel and the beans separate on the same pan because I was not sure they would cook to my liking at the same time. This gave me the option of taking one off the pan.) Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt. Bake for 15 minutes. Take them out of the oven and toss both the fennel and the beans (keeping them separate). Adding more salt if you would like. Bake for 15 minutes.

Cut the tomatoes in half.

Add the butter to the couscous and mix it withe the roasted veggies. Add the cut up tomatoes before serving.

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Of course, since I was just throwing veggies in leftover couscous I didn’t think to photograph any of it until the end and it came out so lovely – at least I think so. Probably the bright red tomatoes. They make dishes look pretty. And it tasted fairly good. I really like fennel.

As a note, since I used leftover couscous, I heated it in a pan with a little butter, then I added the roasted veggies. The recipe is written using just made couscous.

If you like roasted tomatoes you could roast them, too. I prefer tomatoes raw so I put them in just before serving.

Couscous is great. It is like pasta you can add anything you want to it. It can be a side dish or a main dish.

Do you like couscous?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: couscous, dinner, fennel, main dish, roasted vegetables, side dish | 4 Comments »

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Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

I teach yoga, Nia, and stretch online!

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Archive for the ‘“Recipes”’ Category

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Couscous, Fennel, and Garbanzo Beans