My husband Nate and I have had a garden every year we've owned our home; closed in March and had a garden established by mid April! I say we, I really mean HE since Nate does all of the gardening from seed! There is nothing like going out and grabbing a fresh crisp cucumber or a green bean right out of the garden, not to mention cheaper! You can't beat getting a gazillion zucchini for 1 dollar!
Speaking of zucchini, when I say gazillion, I'm only slightly exaggerating. These vegetables tend to grow well in North Carolina and produce in large quantities, so we're always trying to find different ways to utilize them. We've used them in omelets and in casseroles, we've grilled them, we've thrown them in rice etc but my mother in law Mary brought the best dish yet: a southern favorite with a twist: Zucchini Cornbread!! It was the talk of the table; very moist and so yummy I thought I'd share!
Mary came up with this recipe by researching different recipes for this dish and combining the best elements to create her own twist on this southern delight!
Zucchini Cornbread
2-3 cups grated zucchini 1/2 tsp. salt 3 eggs 2 tablespoons butter melted plus more butter to coat the pan. 1 cup milk 2 tablespoons sugar or honey 1 cup grated cheese* 2 cups self-rising cornbread mix 1/4 tsp. cayenne (optional)
*Preheat oven to 400 degrees. *Place grated zucchini in a colander lined with a kitchen cloth. *Sprinkle zucchini with salt and allow it to drain for about 30 minutes, and then squeeze out excess water. *Mix dry ingredients in a bowl then add wet ingredients stirring until just combined. *Fold in cheese and zucchini last. *Pour batter into a buttered, 8 or 9-inch baking dish and bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes!
Boil the chicken in the water, garlic, cumin, chili powder, taco seasoning, salt and pepper for about an hour (until the chicken shreds easily with a fork).
Shred the chicken and put back into the liquid it was cooked in.
In another pan, fry bacon and remove bacon from pan and crumble. Throw the onion and jalapeno in the pan with some olive oil and saute until tender, combine the bacon, onion, and jalapenos and set to the side.
Shred some cheese Mexican cheese
Layer Chicken, then cheese, and then the onion, bacon, and jalapeno on top of a whole wheat tortilla,
fold in half, brown both sides, cool and serve. Add some fat free sour cream and a little bit of fresh cilantro, a side of re-fried black beans and you've got a delish Mexican meal!!! :)
(I don’t know HOW much cheese I put in. I put in some Parmesan and Italian cheeses)
*In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, ricotta, Italian crumbs, 1/2 of the onion, 1/2 of the green pepper, bacon, 1/2 of the garlic, milk, thyme, egg, salt, Worcestershire, and black pepper, to taste. Mix until just combined; don't over mix. The mixture will be pretty soft.
*Using your hands, gently form mixture into 1-tablespoon small meatballs (about the size of ping pong balls).
*Place on a large plate or pan lined in wax paper; cover and refrigerate at least an hour or up to 24 hours. (I let mine sit overnight)
*Heat the oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add about 1/3 the meatballs and cook, turning occasionally, (too much turning will make them fall apart) until well browned on all sides, (about 6 to 8 minutes) Transfer the meatballs to a plate and repeat with the remaining meatballs.
*Drain off the oil and wipe out the skillet.
*Return the meatballs to the skillet and pour in the marinara sauce. Add the remaining garlic, onion and peppers to the sauce. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover, and simmer until the meatballs are cooked through, about 15 minutes.
*Roll in Italian cheese and breadcrumbs!
*Bake till browned!
*Serve on a bed of Italian cheeses and a side of marinara sauce!
I had the day off and decided to fix dinner tonight!! I also wanted to shop, and I shopped WAY too long to fix anything major! I was also craving Arugula so I decided to search for recipes! Anyway, I came across a few recipes for this goat cheese and arugula pasta, so I looked at a few to get some ideas and I turned the recipe into my own as I always do! The ingredients were pricey but the pasta was refreshingly light yet delightfully filling, jam packed with flavors of all sorts and the big plus–it was QUICK. A 15 minute meal here! You can add a meat to it, artichokes, onion etc. This will be served again and again!
Creamy Goat Cheese and Arugula over warm Penne Pasta
5 Oz Herb goat cheese
1 cup of cubed cherry tomatoes
2 ½ cups coarsely chopped Arugula
3 cloves of Garlic minced
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of sliced kalamata olives
9 Oz Penne Pasta
3 slices of bacon fried.
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cook your Penne.
Heat olive oil, then saute the minced garlic cloves in the oil for about 30-45 seconds and set aside.
In a large bowl combine the Arugula, half of the goat cheese (crumbled ) the tomatoes and the olives.
When the pasta is done, drain and pour into the olive oil and garlic mixture. Pour the mixture into the bowl and crumble the bacon and the rest of the goat cheese on top, salt and pepper then stir and enjoy! A VERY yummy meal!!
Nate and I decided to serve ourselves up a yummy 3 course meal! Initially, it was intended to be a four course meal, but after all of this deliciousness there was no room nor interest in dessert! This is how our meal began!
1. cut the baguette into 1/2 inch thick pieces. brush with olive oil and bake at 400 until just getting brown. remove from oven and cool.
2. put the 1 cup of balsamic into a sauce pan and cook on Med heat until reduced by half.
3. Pre-heat BROILER to high(about 500degrees). cut the cherry tomatoes in half and lay on a baking sheet. drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil for 10-15 mins, checking frequently. Take them out when they start to bubble and are charred around the edges.
4. slice the mini mozzarella balls into thin slices. Cut the basil into thin strips(chiffinade)
5. lay the tomatoes and cheese on the toast, alternating back and forth(cheese, tomato, cheese, tomato ect). sprinkle with the chiffinade basil and drizzle with balsamic reduction!
Bacon wrapped Scallops on an arugula salad w/ lemon vinaigrette
4-5 large Sea scallops
1 pd bacon(center cut with 40% less fat is great for this)
1 bunch arugula
1 red bell pepper
1 lemon
salt, pepper and olive oil
1. wash your scallops and pat dry with paper towel. Take off any abductor muscles still attached(they are edible, but tough)
2. Take your CENTER CUT bacon(this is important because it is sliced thinner, so the bacon can crisp and the scallop wont be over cooked). Cut it in half and then wrap it around your scallop. I did 1 around the outside circumference, and 1 around the flat side. Total bacon coverage. Hold it together with toothpicks
3. Sear your bacon wrapped scallops on MED heat, ON ALL SIDES, until bacon is crispy. The scallop should be done when the bacon is done.
4. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper into a bowl then slowly whisk in olive oil until the dressing is thick. Toss arugula and thinly sliced red bell pepper in vinaigrette
5. Serve scallop on bed of salad with lemon wedges as garnish
I must start out by saying that my family has been homeless, so I know first hand how it feels to be homeless. I've volunteered overnight several times in a homeless shelter and it hurts me to see hungry people in this world when I eat so well.
That being said, I was scrolling through one of my favorite sites, alernet.org and found an article titled: “Outrageous: Three People Arrested for Feeding the Homeless” . I read their article and was angered at the lack of compassion shown by city officials concerning the homeless. I wondered, how could these people be arrested for doing good deeds? I was intrigued to search for the reasoning behind the arrests. I read another article in the Orlando Sentinel titled: "Three arrested, accused of illegally feeding homeless". KEY word being ILLEGAL!! They weren't arrested for feeding the homeless, they were arrested for breaking the law, and after these three folks done their good deed, they were arrested; yes the cops waited till all homeless were fed!!!
After reading both articles, I TOTALLY agree with the actions of city officials. If you read the second, more detailed, less biased article, you’ll discover that the Organization (Orlando Food Not Bombs) was fully aware that a permit was needed to feed groups larger than 25 people and they planned on intentionally breaking the law openly on their website!!! This same permit is required for several other festivals held in this same park. This organization was given 2 free permits by the city previously, and according to locals, they left the park A MESS when all was said and done!!
In my very humble opinion, this incident is NOT about feeding the homeless, it's for the media attention. I'm all for feeding the homeless, and you can, as long as it is not buffet style with a large group gathering around. I can totally understand the reasoning behind permits, if no one got permits, we'd have the wine festival, a field trip and the carnival in the park all on the same day!!! If the permit is SUCH a big ordeal, they could always go through the park and pass out meals to the homeless that are there, because that is not illegal. Since when does helping someone constitute breaking the law?? If it was REALLY about feeding the homeless, then why not do it elsewhere? It's not where you feed them, it's that they get a full belly right? WHY must it be in the park?? If this TRULY is about feeding the homeless, then why not get a permit?
The group says feeding the homeless in the park teaches kids that we have a problem with homeless in America, they are EXACTLY right, helping the homeless is EXTREMELY important, but so is compromise, structure and rules and regulations. If this group focused more on those issues, and less on intentionally defying the law, maybe they could help more people and use extra 750 dollars they spent on bail money on PERMITS to do it LEGALLY!!!! WOW-now that's good old fashioned reasoning there! So, again, it's not feeding the homeless that is against the law, its organizing a gathering of a large crowd on a playground without a permit. Just because you don’t agree with a law doesn't give you a right to break it. I certainly don’t like where all of my tax dollars are going, but I can’t stop paying taxes! FEED the homeless, but do it a block away..............if its truly about them, and not you.
This being said, I am posting a link, so that everyone of you who reads this can help fight hunger....LEGALLY!! Please click, it may not be much but it's a start!!
All it takes is a CLICK RIGHT HERE to help fight hunger!
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