Stuffed Zucchini & Squash Boats

For Thursday's dinner, I had no set recipe - just an idea in my head and a vague plan to execute it! I got up early Thursday to head up to the "big city" to run errands! I had to begin my day with a Starbucks Iced Chai Latte...mmm! I hit up Hobby Lobby to get a glue gun and soap making materials...came out with a giant pack of scrapbook paper and some vinyl stickers! Highly successful in my book. I had some returns to do and some bulk shopping, so that was most of my day. I did get to enjoy lunch with my dear friend from high school, who I don't get to see TOO often! I had been anticipating eating lunch alone somewhere...probably Panera...but I thought maybe she would be available! I'm so glad I texted her! And our lunch was scrumptious. I've eaten at The Fig Tree before, but it has always been for breakfast (get the Eggs Benedict. It does not disappoint. Eggs, avocado, sun-dried tomato, Hollandaise sauce...need I say more?). They use fresh ingredients and try to keep it to local sources which is great! You know you're getting something fresh, not something that's been in the deep-freeze for a month. I had been smart earlier this week by planning these zucchini/squash boats and having everything ready to go because as soon as I walked through the door, I had to start cooking! This is super easy, quick and not a giant mess in the kitchen! Enjoy.

Stuffed Zucchini & Squash Boats
Makes 8 "boats"

Ok, so I only ate the summer squash boat tonight...

Ingredients
4 zucchini or summer squash
2 Tbsp. EVOO
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, diced
1 lb. ground turkey
1 Tbsp. Italian seasonings
1 Tbsp. McCormick's Perfect Pinch Vegetable seasoning
salt & pepper, to taste
1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded

Directions
1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut squash in half lengthwise. Take a spoon and scoop out the zucchini flesh, leaving about 1/4" edge. This is where it should start resembling a "boat". Reserve zucchini flesh.
3. Place garlic, onion and zucchini flesh into skillet and cook until fragrant and soft. Add in ground turkey and cook until browned. Add seasonings at this point and stir to combine. If there's too much water, just remove with a spoon!
4. Fill zucchini boats with turkey mixture and place into a 9x13 baking dish. Top with mozzarella. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Homemade Empanadas & Salsa Verde

Every once in awhile, my husband comes up with a brilliant idea of something for us to cook together that we haven't made before. This time it was...empanadas! Recently, we visited his brother out in Colorado. While we were out there, we ate at a restaurant that makes a variety of amazing empanadas! If you're ever in the Boulder area, check out Rincon Argentino. They have all sorts of stuffing choices, from fsteak and chicken to mushrooms and even a caprese style empanada. With your order, you get a choice of salsa: chimichurri, salsa verde or asado sauce. We were blown away by the salsa verde! Thus...we were inspired to make our own!

Chorizo Queso Empanadas
Makes about 16-20 servings

Ingredients
1 can pastry dough, rolled out and cut into discs
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 onion, finely diced
1 lb. chorizo
12 oz. monterey jack cheese, shredded
4 oz. queso fresco, crumbled
1 egg

Directions
1. Heat the butter over medium-low heat and cook onions until soft.
2. Add chorizo. Cook over medium heat until fully cooked (about 6-7 minutes). Let cool.
3. Mix monterey jack with queso in a air-tight container.
4. Add spoonful of cheese to empanada dough circles, then top with a spoonful of chorizo. Do not overstuff, as the empanadas will burst open when baking.
5. Fold dough circles over and gently seal the edges with fingers, making sure to close all gaps. You can use a fork to help seal them.
6. Chill for an hour in the fridge. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush with an egg wash, then bake for 20-25 minutes.

Salsa Verde
Makes 4 cups

Ingredients
10 tomatillos, husked, rinsed and quartered
2 serrano chiles, seeded and roughly chopped
1 garlic clove
1/4 small onion
1/2 cup cilantro
1 avocado
salt, to your taste
1/4 tsp. ground cumin

Directions
1. Add tomatillos, chiles, garlic and onion to a food processor. Pulse until ingredients are chunky.
2. Add in the cilantro, avocado, salt and cumin. Continue to pulse until ingredients are fully incorporated and salsa has a creamy texture.

Chicken & Waffles

Lately, it seems like people are more excited about food and want to try new dishes! Recently, my friend from college came to visit. We drank homebrew, played games and spent a long time talking about life and reminiscing about "back in the day". It was so nice to see her again and I was thrilled to be able to cook for her. One of my greatest passions is to cook for people. Before she came down, I asked her if there was anything in particular she wanted to eat for dinner. She never responded - but suddenly, an idea popped into my head. Chicken and waffles. I sent her a text to see if that sounded good with her. Lo and behold, she had been wanting to try chicken & waffles for a long time but never got around to it! Decision made.

Best Breaded Chicken Breast You'll Ever Have

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

3/4 cup dry, Italian seasoned bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

4 1/2 tsp. minced fresh cilantro

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/3 cup butter, melted

3 Tbsp. lemon juice

2 garlic cloves, minced

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut in half lengthwise

Directions

1. In a shallow bowl, combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, cilantro, salt and pepper. In another bowl, combine the butter, lemon juice and garlic. 

2. Dip chicken pieces into the butter mixture, letting excess drip off. Roll chicken into bread crumb mixture until fully coated.

3. Place chicken in a coated 9 x 13" baking dish. Drizzle with any remaining butter mixture.

4. Bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, or until juices run clear.

Savory Herb & Cheese Waffles

Makes 3-4 waffles

Ingredients

Dry:

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp. baking power

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Wet:

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

Fold Ins:

1/2 cup cheese, shredded (we use cheddar usually)

1/2 cup onion, finely diced

2 Tbsp. dried oregano

2 Tbsp. cilantro

Directions

1. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

2. Add the wet ingredients, mixing well with a spatula. Fold in the egg.

3. Add your fold-in ingredients. Gently fold in until fully incorporated.

4. Add a ladle-full of batter to a hot waffle iron and cook through.

5. Allow to cool a few minutes before serving.

Serve the chicken over the waffles. Top with extra cheese and PURE maple syrup! Bless your heart!

Zucchini Crust "Pizza"

Recently I've decided that I'm going to use the ideas from the South Beach Diet to guide my meals. I'm not cutting anything out completely - I don't believe that is good for your body. Yes, it works to lose weight by cutting out carbs and sugars completely. I've done it before and been successful. But of course, eventually that weight comes back, even though you gradually add in fruits and whole grains on the diet. In the past, my biggest issue was that I would eat too much food and not work out. So that is what I'm working on - eating less, working out more.

I'm not trying to spend hours in the gym. I'm just trying to be more active. Going for walks with my husband and talking about our day instead of sitting on the couch talking about our day. Playing bocce ball in the yard instead of binge watching The Office. And I've been doing much better about the amount of food I eat. I've been trying to listen better to how my body feels as I'm eating. If I start to feel uncomfortable I know that I should stop eating. I've struggled in the past with emotional eating, whether that emotion is sadness, anger or boredom. 

Dinner last night was an old stand by, Flatbread Pizza. However, I made my dinner a little different than normal. Instead of using the naan bread (which I made for my husband), I made a zucchini crust. Now, it in no way shape or form tastes like, looks like or smells like a regular pizza. As long as you go into it knowing it's not going to trick you into thinking you're eating pizza, then you will be surprised by how yummy it truly is! It resembles more a flattened frittata or thin omelette.

Zucchini Crust "Pizza"
Makes 1 large pizza

Ingredients
2 zucchinis, grated

1 large egg

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Additional pizza toppings

1. Preheat oven to 450. Wash and grate your zucchinis into a colander. Set the colander over a bowl or in the sink and allow excess moisture to drain out for 10-20 minutes. Press on the zucchini with a spoon to help push some of the moisture out.

2. Pour zucchini into bowl, along with egg, cheese and spices. Mix well to combine. 

3. Place parchment paper onto a pizza stone. Spread zucchini mixture onto parchment in desired shape. Bake for 20 minutes.

4. Remove from oven. Place additional toppings on pizza and bake for another 5-10 minutes.

ENJOY!

*To grate the zucchini, I used my Vegetti to cut it into thin strands, then took a knife and cut it down into smaller strips. You can use a box grater, mandolin, whatever device you want. 

**We roast garlic in the toaster oven to spread over our pizzas in place of sauce. Then we lay provolone strips, basil, diced tomatoes and caramelized onions on top. Mix it up, try out different combinations!

Crafty McCrafterson

For someone that was going to be more consistent about keeping up her blog, I am pretty much failing. Unless the goal was to write a blog post every three months. Then I am doing amazingly awesome.

We are all moved in to our new house and loving it. There is room for all of our stuff, no more turning bedrooms into storage rooms or shoving things under beds to get them out of view. And we have a basement! While we're not using it very much right now since it is winter and quite nippy down there, I know we will love it when the temperatures warm up again. I feel so much cozier and happy in this house - not to say that I don't miss our previous one. I do miss it. It was our first home together and there were things I loved about it. The wood burning fireplace...oh, I miss that. We have a gas fireplace here. While that means that yes, I can operate it on my own and whenever I want, it just isn't the same as a wood-burning fire. But seriously...I love this house. It isn't just a house - it is home.

Lately, I've been trying to force myself to do more crafty projects since I have the time to so. I used to be very creative as a child, and now...pfft. Well, I'm just not. I don't know if that's what years of schooling does to you or if it's just something that happens to most of us as we age. Maybe it's the science background in me...very orderly, organized and precise. Not very good for "thinking outside of the box". But! I'm forcing myself to at least do some projects.

Project #1: T-shirt Bag

Honestly, the reason I picked this was because it seemed like the lazy girls project. No sewing. No crazy amount of materials. Nothing except a t-shirt and scissors. Bingo! Basically, you cut off the sleeves and neckline, then cut strips at the bottom of the shirt. You tie the strips together and voila!

I took some of the leftover material from the sleeves and cut them into strips, then tied "handles" with them so they weren't quite so wide. Next time, I will cut off more of the neckline so the handles are a little smaller. But seriously, if I could do this, you could do this. And if you're anything like me, your t-shirt drawer will thank you (and maybe actually close for once).

My next project is to make coasters. I got the ceramic tiles from Lowe's and then the rest of my supplies from Hobby Lobby. I'm going to use some of our favorite beer 6-packs for the design. This is going to be a little bit more outside of my comfort zone as I have to use...Mod Podge! I plan to work on these later this week.

Until next time! (Which ya know, could be in May...)

Corn & Potato Chowdah!

Well, we are still dealing with damage from the power surges! We lost not only our washing machine but our dishwasher and stove as well. So, we have been eating with minimal preparation and washing everything by hand! I even did laundry at the laundromat in town, which is not an ideal way to wash clothes when you're a bit of a germ-a-phobe. It's been very frustrating to be without three major appliances. Not exactly what I was planning our last few weeks in this house to be like. We move in less than two weeks! I cannot wait to move into our BIG, new house! We went over today to get some measurements for curtains and furniture placement; I love it so much!

Luckily, part of the time without these appliances we were in Colorado! If I've never said it before...I love Colorado! We spent the first night in Denver and then drove out to Aspen. We will have to go back next fall because a lot of the aspen trees had already dropped their leaves. We got a few pictures of some bright yellow aspen trees, but not exactly what I was hoping for! We were able to hike in Aspen and in Rocky Mountain National Park, which is probably my favorite place to hike! While we were in Colorado, we also hit up a few breweries! Great Divide, J. Wells, Aspen Brewing, and Denver Beer Company specifically!

Maroon Bells, Aspen

Beautiful trees, Aspen

Continental Divide

Independence Pass, Continental Divide

Dream Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park

Last night, we went to our friends Halloween party (yes, I know it isn't until next weekend. We all are going to our friends wedding and won't be celebrating Halloween on its actual date!). It was a great time! Zach and I dressed up as Sheldon Cooper and Amy Farrah Fowler from The Big Bang Theory! Everyone that dressed up had great costumes! It was lots of fun!

Amy Farrah Fowler, a Native American and an engineer

Sheldon & Amy

For awhile, we were both fine with eating sandwiches and salads for dinner but...come to find out, we got bored of that! Go figure! So I decided to find a slow cooker recipe that used ONLY the slow cooker and no other pieces of equipment. Lo and behold: Corn & Potato Chowder. I have never made a chowder before, so I was a little hesitant to make it since I wasn't sure how it would turn out! This is restaurant quality my friends! We've already decided that next time we make it, we would add some fresh rosemary or sage, green onion and use real bacon instead of the microwave kind we had to use (remember, no oven or stove top!).

Corn & Potato Chowdah
Makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients
6 potatoes, diced
1 can (14.5 oz) cream style corn
1 can (15 oz) whole kernel corn
2 cups chicken broth
8 oz. bacon, cooked
1 onion, diced
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup butter
2 cups half & half

Directions
1. Place the first 8 ingredients into the slow cooker and mix well.
2. Cook on low for 7 hours, stirring occasionally.
3. After 7 hours, add the butter and half & half. Cook for an additional 30 minutes.
4. Enjoy! We topped ours with some sharp cheddar cheese!

In future makings of this, we decided we would use freshly grated cheese (we used pre-packaged because we're trying to empty our fridge), green onions and some additional crispy bacon to top off our bowls! We had slices of sesame seed Italian bread on the side to wipe up all the leftover drippings in the bowl!

Spicy Cauliflower Stir Fry

Last week was a little bit nuts and this week is going to be just about the same! We are in the process of selling our house and have a contract, so we've been taking care of some of the issues from the inspection. We had an electrician out to put GFI outlets in a couple places that needed them - well, I had to have the electrician and eventually the power company out last week for a different reason! It was right after lunch and I was getting ready to go shower when there was this loud bang/cracking noise from the kitchen area! I stood up and noticed smoke coming out of the outlet by my couch and there was a hot electrical smell. I immediately pulled everything out of the surge protector. I went into the kitchen to investigate where I noticed none of the lights on the surge protectors in there were on and the GFI outlets reset buttons were sticking out. After a few minutes, I made my way to the breaker box where lo and behold, a couple breakers had tripped. The surge protector my washing machine is plugged into had black marks around it.

The electrician came out first and tried to figure out why this happened; he said there was nothing inside the house that he thinks could have caused this, that it must have been a surge from out of the house. So, he personally called the power company, personally went into town to talk to them and had them come out. So now, we have some box reading the voltage coming into the house. They'll come back this week to gather information and hopefully figure out why this happened!

We've also offered and been accepted on our next house! We are so happy and excited! I'll talk more about that another time though...still lots to do before it's OFFICIAL!

For such stressful (the bad and the good kind of stress!) times, you need something yummy and easy to eat. Enter: Spicy Cauliflower Stir Fry. This is a recipe I got from the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond! You can see her original recipe here. I love this recipe because it is super easy, super yummy and lots of healthy! I like it served over Jasmine or Basmati rice the best, with extra Sriracha on top!

Spicy Cauliflower Stir Fry

Makes 4 servings (though, for me it's 2 servings...)

Ingredients

1 whole cauliflower

2 tsp. vegetable oil (or whatever oil you cook with)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

Juice of 1 lime

2 whole green onions, sliced

1 Tbsp sriracha, plus extra

Directions

1. Break up your cauliflower into large florets, wash, then break up into smaller florets.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and garlic. Cook until garlic is fragrant, then add in your cauliflower. Allow to cook until the cauliflower is browned up, then turn the heat to low.

3. Stir in your soy sauce, lime juice and half of the green onions. Allow to cook for about 3-4 minutes, then stir in the sriracha sauce. 

4. Serve! Enjoy over rice or noodles, or by itself! Sprinkle some of the left over green onion on top and squeeze a little extra sriracha sauce on top