Adventures in Zucchini- Challenge 4

My top five comfort foods:

1.) Cereal and Milk (preferably Golden Grahams)
2.) Pretzels and Milk
3.) Chocolate Milk
4.) Peanut Butter and Jelly (crunchy peanut butter, grape jelly, wheat bread.  mmm) and a nice, cold glass of milk
5.) Macaroni and Cheese (with peas, especially)

Fact: Until right this second I had no idea how much I really do love milk.  You know, milk really agrees with me.  I hear people complain about milk so much and I even have a daughter who suffers with casein allergy.  I can tell you honestly that when I eat milk and cheese I both feel better and lose weight.  Same with Butter.  I mean, if I were slathering a piece of sourdough bread with a big, glob of soft butter and ended up with a bellyache, I can promise you this- the culprit would certainly be the bread and not the butter.

But that's beside the point.

Goodness, for most of my early 20's I ate macaroni and cheese for dinner at least four nights a week.   The kind from the box too.  And I never tired of it.  Come to think of it, if I thought that I could get away with doing this now, I would.  I, however, sadly am no longer 20 years old.  My 30's have not been so kind to me, unfortunately.

That said, I made a nice, big, homemade macaroni and cheese casserole to accompany dinner tonight.  And I thought, why not incorporate a little zucchini in this!

When I make mac and cheese I like to use a few different types of pasta, different shapes and both whole wheat and plain white pasta.  I cooked and then mixed in freshly sautéed and seasoned zucchini and onions.

Then, you mix up your favorite cheese sauce.  Mine is not for the lactose intolerant or the casein sensitive (though, I do plan on letting Bunny have a small portion of this tonight).

So, I'm not entirely sure about measurements here, but I'll estimate.

I usually mix 1/2 stick butter with 1/4 cup flour to make a roux.  Add around 2 cups of milk and let thicken, whisking constantly.  Add 1 package of cream cheese (cubed) and then around 2 cups cheddar cheese.  I might add a bit more milk here and there if it gets too thick.

Then, pour the cheese sauce over top of the macaroni.  Cover with shredded cheddar and bake at 350 for around 45 minutes.

Lila just passed by this and informed me that "dinner looks gorgeous."

Zucchini Confession

I have to admit that I am getting sick of grilled and steamed summer squash every night with dinner, but they are growing faster than we can eat them.  I read that round zucchini are supposed to be around the size of pool balls, but I swear to god that some of mine are the size of pool balls in the morning and grow to be small watermelons by sun down!  My zucchini might be magical, the jury is still out.

My point:  recipes are welcome.  

Put them in the comments or email me: annapholler@gmail.com

Black Bean Dip

Here's a great summer side!

Serve this hearty black bean dip with your bbq'd dinner instead of a potato or pasta based starch. It could be eaten alone as a side dish, but my family likes to scoop it onto a tortilla chip.

It could go from side dish to whole meal by rolling it in a tortilla with 1/2 a cup of rice.  Yum.

Here's how you do it:

You need:
1/2 cup fresh, chopped tomato
1 piece of bacon, cut finely
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 bundle of fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 white onion, minced
1 tbsp garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup frozen corn
1/4 cup water
1 splash hot sauce
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1  sm bag monterey jack cheese


Use a medium pot to fry tomato, onion, bacon, garlic and cilantro in oil until the onion is translucent and the bacon is well done.

Add salt and pepper.

Add water, corn and hot sauce.

Stir occasionally until corn is fully cooked and mixed well with the other ingredients.

Mix in blackbeans.

Mix in cheese.

Lower heat to a simmer and cover. Serve warm!  Enjoy!

Easy Vegan Meal Idea for Summer

These tofu kabobs are not low-carb, but they are also not that high either.  The big culprit (other than them being delicious terrible because they are fried) is the flour you need to roll them in.  When they have a little coating of flour it makes them crispy on the outside.

Who wants to eat slimy, slippery, mushy tofu?  Not me!  Really, I'm not a huge fan of tofu anyway.  It gives me a belly ache, so as delicious as these are, they are probably not for me anyway.

If you have a vegan or vegetarian guest at your BBQ this summer, this is an easy way to please all.

Preheat your oven to 450.

Spray a cookie sheet with your favorite cooking spray and spread your cut veggies on top.  I used mushroom, zucchini and onion for these kabobs.  Sprinkle the vegetables with a bit of garlic pepper  or another seasoning that you're particularly fond of!  Pop them in the oven for about five minutes.

In the meantime, heat oil in a large pan.

Cut your extra firm tofu into cubes and roll each cube first in soy sauce and then in flour.  When all of your cubes have been coated cook them in the oil, keeping a close eye on them and turning them often.

Remove them from the oil and let them cool a bit before kabobbing them.

I'll be serving these with a store-bought peanut sauce.

Enjoy!

Chilled Asparagus with Coconut Curry dipping sauce

I just made this to take to a friend's house for dinner tonight.  It's vegan and low carb!

If you like curry and feel like preparing a healthy, plant based treat for your family, this makes a great appetizer or snack!

Here's how it's done.

Steam asparagus and immediately run it under cold water and put it in the fridge.  Or, remove it from steam and transfer it directly to ice water.  You want your asparagus spears to be firm.

Mix one package of silken tofu with one can of coconut milk, one large, heaping tbsp yellow curry powder, 1/2 tsp sat, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp apple cider vinegar and half the juice of one lemon.

Enjoy!