Spinach Lasagna

homemade tomato sauce (or jar of your favorite brand)
1 box of lasagna noodles
2 cups cooked, chopped spinach
2 eggs
2 cups ricotta cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Boil the lasagna noodles according to the package directions.
2. Mix the ricotta cheese, eggs, spinach, and parmesan cheese in a large bowl.
3. Place a layer of sauce in the bottom of a 13X9 glass baking dish.
4. Place noodles on top (3 laying the long way and then 4-5 on top of those laying the short way). Place a couple ladles of sauce on the noodles. Spread half the ricotta mix over the sauce. Sprinkle 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese over this.
5. Repeat the layering of the noodes, sauce, and cheeses. Top this with the final layer of noodles, ending up with 3 nice long beautiful noodles on the top. Cover with a layer of sauce.
6. Bake in a 325* oven (if using a glass dish) and bake for 45-60 minutes or until bubbly.

Homemade Tomato Sauce (Fat Free)

10-12 large tomatoes
fresh herbs-garlic, basil, parsely, oregano
onion
green pepper
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Blanche the tomatoes in boiling water: wash and remove the stems, drop in boiling water for 1 minute or so, remove and place in cold water. Remove the skins.
2. Chop the tomatoes and drain in a colander which is over a large bowl to catch the tomato juice.
3. Place the tomatoes in a large pot. Add chopped garlic, onions, peppers,and fresh herbs of your choice. Toss in a little salt and pepper to taste.
4. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, cover and let cook. The longer the time of cooking the more flavorful the sauce will be. Using a cover keeps in the flavor of the tomatoes but will result in a more watery sauce.
5. Remove the cover to thicken the sauce or add a can of tomato paste. If the sauce gets too thick add some of the remaining tomato juice.

Cheesy Spinach Squares

2 tbsps. melted butter
1 cup milk
3 eggs
1 cup flour
1 tsp. bak. Powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp. thyme
2 pkgs. frozen and thawed chopped spinach: squeeze all the water out
2 cups cheddar cheese (shredded)
2 cups Monterey Jack cheese (shredded)
1 cup finely chopped onion

1. Butter the sides and bottom of a 13×9 baking dish. Preheat the oven to 350*.
2. Combine the remaining butter, milk, eggs, flour, baking powder, salt and spices, mixing well.
3. Stir in the spinach, cheeses, and onion.
4. Spread in pan and bake, uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test.
5. Makes 2-3 dozen mini squares.

Baked Stuffed Zucchini

1 large zucchini, cut in half and deseeded (scoop out the seeds to make a boat)
1/2 lb. lean ground Angus beef
2 slices bacon, not cooked
3 hot Italian sausages with the casings removed
1 tbsp. fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic
1/2 small onion, minced
1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
salt and pepper
1 tsp. dry basil
2 cups tomato sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350*.
2. Mix all ingredients, except the bacon, tomato sauce, and zucchini, in a bowl.
3. Fill the zucchini and place in a baking dish. Top with 1 cup tomato sauce. Place one slice of bacon on each half.
4. Add boiling water to the baking dish, (about 1/2 inch).
5. Bake for 1 hr.  Remove and top with cheese if desired. Add more sauce on top or to the sides of the zucchini if dried out.

Olea Europaea Cream Cheese Spread

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
1 jar of green olives with pimentos

Soften cream cheese to room temperature.
Drain olives. Grind and add to cream cheese.
That’s it!!! Spread on cleaned and sliced celery.

Check out the crisp edges of browned cheese and stuffing mix! MMMM.

I am one of those people that love their veggies. I usually try to eat them in their natural state and add little to them. Some might say that is boring but I know that it is a healthier way to eat them. However, once in a great while, usually for a holiday meal, I make this casserole that really has nothing in it that is healthy, except for the broccoli.  Why? Because it is a very delicious casserole. It has to be, it is loaded with sodium from the soups, and fat from the butter, but yet, I still make sure to have it at least once a year! Worth every bite. In fact, having it once a year is rather a lie, as it tastes incredible heated up the second day, if I am so fortunate to have some left!

Broccoli Casserole
6-8 large heads of broccoli (I use just the florets)
1 can Cream of Celery Soup
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 stick of butter
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
pepper
2 cups Pepperidge Farms Coarse Stuffing mix
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 large stomach:you’ll need it after eating this because you’ll want more!

Par boil broccoli (about 6 cups florets).
Place in a casserole dish, and stir in 1 can Cream of Celery soup and 1 can Cream of Chicken soup. Set aside.
In a frying pan, saute a chopped onion in a stick of butter.
Add some minced garlic and pepper. (Don’t need salt as the soups have more than enough.)
Add ¼ cup water to this and 2 cups of Pepperidge Farms Coarse Stuffing and stir.
Pour this mixture on the broccoli mix.
Put 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese on top.
Bake 350º for 45 minutes.

Chicken Buttercup Squash

1 3 lb. Buttercup squash
2 large potatoes
3 large carrots
1 small onion
fresh parsely
salt and pepper
2 cups cooked chicken
1 cup chicken gravy
1/2 cup frozen peas

1. Clean the buttercup squash. Place in a study pan.
2. Preheat the oven to 320*.
3. Cut up the vegetables into bite size pieces. Precook the carrots and potatoes for about 10 minutes.
4. Cube the chicken, mix in the carrots, potatoes, onion, and peas, add the salt and pepper, stir in the gravy, and fill the cleaned buttercup squash. Brush the outside of the squash with oil.
5. Bake for 2 hours.

Greek Orzo Salad

1 cup dry orzo pasta
2 tbsp. chopped green onions
1 chopped tomato or 32 grape tomato halves
1 can pitted black olives, halved
1 small cucumber, chopped
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley

1. Cook orzo according to package directions, drain, rinse with cold water.
2. A add in rest of ingredients.
3. Prepare dressing and pour over the orzo mix.

Dressing:

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. grated Parmesan
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. chopped basil
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

Zucchini Bars

1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp. water
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup unbleached flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup coconut
3/4 cup oat bran
1 1/4 cup zucchini: shredded, squeezed, and tightly packed
confectioner’s sugar

Mix the butter, oil and sugar.
Add in egg, water, vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
Stir in remaining ingredients.
Spread into an 8X8 greased and floured pan.
Bake in a 350* oven for 40 minutes.
Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar before serving.

I hate to see all this fresh produce go to waste so I decided to get busy with some new zucchini dishes. I enjoy experimenting with recipes. I am home for the summer so this gives me time to try out some new ideas. My mom, who is a great cook, is my personal taste tester! I can rely on her expert advice and then there’s always a story of some remembrance brought on by the recipe to accompany the test. One way to use up some of these squashes is to make a zucchini tomato mix, shown on the left,  and have it readily available as a snack or side dish. I enjoy this with any meal. I decided to try something a little different, make a dinner with the zucchini, and put together a zucchini casserole that uses hot Italian sausage and a mix of mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. This combination is very tasty. I have used this recipe with pepperoni in place of the sausage. Either one works great. Freshly grated parmesan cheese is a must. One could also omit the mushrooms, etc. but I love them so I included them. I also suggest letting the cheese crust on the top. Yum, if you like crusty cheese. Cooking and baking is a chance to get the creative juices flowing. Personalizing recipes is such a great feeling, especially when the end product is successful!

I also decided to put together some zucchini scones. I like to use the blender to grate the zucchini. I simply peel and cube and put the liquids and zucchini together and in seconds the mix is ready to add to the dry ingredients. When making scones, breads, or muffins, dry ingredients should be blended together in the large bowl and moist ingredients mixed together in a separate bowl and then added to the dry mix. Less is always best for mixing the two together. Too much mixing creates a dry, tough muffin or scone. Also, buttermilk is quite easily found in all supermarkets but milk with a tbsp. of lemon juice or vinegar is a great substitution. This milk needs to stand for a bit to sour before it is used. This scone recipe is very lightly sweetened. I baked them in a lightly greased cast iron skillet. By the way, my mom loved these and was quick to remind me of Sunday winter evenings when she would make raisin scones. Hmm, some things never change!

Zucchini Italian Casserole

2-3 medium zucchinis
5 tomatoes, chopped or 1 large can diced tomatoes
fresh parsely, oregano, basil
2 cloves minced garlic
6 hot Italian sausage
8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
8 oz. freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup diced peppers
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 chopped onion

Remove sausage from casings and brown in pan. Drain.
Slice zucchini.
Put 1/2 cup sauce on the bottom of a casserole dish.
Place the zucchini slices on the sauce. Sprinkle the sausage on top.
Add the onion, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, salt and pepper, garlic, basil, and oregano. Pour the remaining sauce on top.
Sprinkle on the cheeses.
Bake in a 350*  oven for about 1 hour.

Zucchini Scones

2 cups unbleached flour
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup chopped nuts
1/3  cup buttermilk
1/2 cup grated zucchini
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut in the butter til crumbly. Stir in the nuts and raisins.
2. In a separate bowl mix the buttermilk, zucchini, and vanilla and then add to the dry mix.
3. Stir only til just mixed.
4. Turn out mixture onto a floured surface, knead gently a few times, pat the dough into a 7 inch round circle.
5. Cut circle into six wedges. Place in a lightly greased cast iron skillet.
6. Bake at 400* for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Notes: I cubed the zucchini, put 2 cups in the blender with 1/3 cup sour milk. The dough was very sticky and I kneaded in extra flour. They turned out very moist and incredibly tasty.

Zucchini Bars

1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp. water
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup unbleached flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup coconut
3/4 cup oat bran
1 1/4 cup zucchini: shredded, squeezed, and tightly packed
confectioner’s sugar

Mix the butter, oil and sugar.
Add in egg, water, vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
Stir in remaining ingredients.
Spread into an 8X8 greased and floured pan.
Bake in a 350* oven for 40 minutes.
Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar before serving.