Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Eating Zucchini and Picnik

I'll finish the posts on motherhood soon -- I just about have it written in my head -- but in the meantime, I wanted to share a couple things I've been up to lately.

1. Picnik.com is my new favorite website! So
easy to use and fun to play around with all the effects you can make on your pictures. I have spent way too much time playing around with cute pictures of the Sus. Here are a few of my favorites.





2. Eating Zucchini! It's that wonderful time of year when this versatile veggie is in abundance! Even if you are not personally growing it in your garden, its likely those who are growing it are sharing it! I just LOVE to eat that stuff!! Of course you can whip up some yummy zucchini bread, or slice it up and use it like chips in dips, hummus or cottage cheese. Last night I made this recipe I saw on Food Network. Here's the simple breakdown:

Cut zucchini, yellow squash and mushrooms into chunks and roast for 15 minutes at 450 degrees with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Then mix it with cooked penne pasta, a little marinara sauce and cheese (I like lots of cheese). Bake it in a greased casserole dish at 350 for 25 minutes. VERY good!

Another simple casserole that I've made for years when I have an abundance of zucchini is this:

Slice zucchini and summer squash in thin rounds and toss together with a can of Rotel. Bake at 350 until the veggies soften, then top with shredded cheese (I like to use cheddar, but you could use whatever you have) and bake until the cheese is all melted. Yum! My mouth is watering!

If you have any simple ways to enjoy this plentiful veggie, please post in the comments section!

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow Gretchen,
Adorable pics of Susie and yummy recipes too. Great post!

periwinkita said...

Haha. Great pictures! Glad you found Picnik. I love that site too. It's VERY addictive!

jillybean said...

I like to add zuchini to my spaghetti sauce. Sometimes I serve it over spaghetti or sometimes over cheese ravioli. Sometimes I bake it all together for a quick make ahead meal for Sunday lunch. In 9x13, place frozen cheese ravioli and cover with zuchini spaghetti sauce. Leave in frig overnight for ravioli to thaw. Bake for 30 or so minutes on Sunday. Sometimes I've even set my oven on a really low temp and baked it covered for a few hours while I was at church. Not sure I would recommend this for all oven types though. Another good one is zuchini boats. Carve out the inside of a couple zuchinis. Then in olive oil saute zuchini pulp, green peppers, onions, garlic and some spices like basil and oregano. Add cottage cheese to the sauted vegetables and let melt down. Then put it all back in the zuchini boats, sprinkle with cheese and bake until outside of zuchini is softened. YUM!

Gretchen said...

Oh Jill! Those Zucchini boats sound GREAT!!

jillybean said...

i forgot to mention that you can add mushrooms to the zuchini boats and saute with the other vegetables! Yum!

Janelle said...

Hey Gretchen,
This is Miss Johanna's sister. I found your blog through her and have enjoyed reading it. Recently I used your book reviews when ordering books for the library.

Do you still have lots of zucchini? Zucchini soup is something that I enjoy here in Mexico.

Saute grated zucchini (what we have is small and green), galic and onion. Add chicken broth and allow soup to boil for 2 minutes. Salt as needed. Beat 2 eggs. Drop eggs into boiling soup as you beat soup. Allow to boil one more minute. You can add chopped zucchini flowers right before serving for extra color and zest.

Sarah said...

I adore zucchini! Your recipes sound fabulous. I even slice up zucchini like carrot sticks, and put it on a veggie tray with dip. It is so yummy!