Category: Recipes

If you are needing a break from all the holiday dishes this is a good one to try and gives you some amazing benefits with this squash like fiber, vitamins C, B6 and magnesium, zinc to help us during this time of year of stress and all sorts of cold or flu going around.

Growing up my mom would at times substitute spaghetti squash with our pasta. I was definitely not a picky eater, but I never fully appreciated this until I grew up and enjoy having a change from pasta.

On a night of wanting a fast dinner and needing to use up spaghetti I would then as many of us do turn it into a casserole.

With this thought in mind, I had squash that needed cooked up and tomato sauce so I decided a casserole it will be. As I mentioned in another recipe a great way to cook spaghetti squash is to cut in half, clean out the seeds/guts put in crock pot flesh side down add a little water cook on low for about 3 hours.

After the squash is cooked this dish comes together very easy.

Spaghetti Casserole:

1 medium spaghetti squash (cooked and removed from the flesh with fork, put in bowl and set aside)

Marinara Sauce about 3 1/2 cups (I make my own but store-bought will still be good)

1 cup of Italian blend cheese shredded or a little more if you like a lot of cheese.

In 13×9 pan add half of your squash and marinara stir together sprinkle half of cheese on top. In bowl that has the remainder of the squash add your sauce, mix together. Add this to the casserole and top with cheese. Bake uncovered at 350 for about a half hour.

I’m so excited that once again I can make all the soup I want. So, when my son gave me a large head of cabbage, I got excited. Sure, I first asked him to make some cabbage rolls or something but after he declined, I knew that it was going to be put to use in a soup.

Yes, I know some people shy away from cabbage because of the gas it may bring but did you know that it actually helps with your digestive system? I know crazy but it does have sulfur compounds along with the great fiber. Not only is it great for your digestion but studies have found the benefits with heart health and inflammation. This veggie has some great vitamins like B6, K, C as well as magnesium and potassium. I didn’t mention all the benefits but just the highlights.

Plus, when adding the rest of the ingredients I put in this soup, you will not only have a warm comforting bowl on these colder days/nights but a healthy meal to help keep you feeling your best.

Vegetarian Cabbage Soup:

1 head of green Cabbage (chopped/diced small)

3 Spring Onions diced. (Green Onions)

4 large Garlic cloves diced

1-2 Carrots diced or grated.

1 stalk of Celery diced.

1 can 15 ounce can of Chopped Tomatoes

1 15 ounce can of Chickpeas rinsed and drained.

1-2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

1-2 Teaspoons of Lemon Juice

Salt, Black Pepper, Poultry seasoning and ground dry Parsley per taste.

5-6 cups of Water

Vegetable Boullion measured out per package directions for the amount of water you are using.

After you are done chopping and dicing all your veggies, in a large pot over medium high heat add olive oil, carrot, celery sauté for just a few minutes then add garlic, onion and poultry seasoning. Sauté these for a few minutes more then add cabbage. Stirring and sautéing for about 3-4 minutes then add the can of diced tomatoes, can of chickpeas cook for a few minutes then add water, lemon bouillon salt and pepper. Simmer covered on low for about 20 minutes or until the veggies are at the desired tenderness, serve and enjoy!

Zucchini, the vegetable that keeps on giving and giving even when we might not appreciate its generosity. I think we could learn a lot from this hardy, versatile vegetable. I have made stuffed zucchini often and enjoy changing it up a lot but this recipe could basically be featured on “Chopped”. I used half of a zucchini that was left from a different dish and the rest of the stuffing from what I had on hand. The marinara sauce was left over too but just a little short so I added a tomato to kind of help it out.

I am in my happy place cooking when I have to use what I have or improvise. My family wouldn’t always appreciate my creativity but to me its more fun. Now that it’s just me I usually cook for I get to do this without any sighs, blank stares and put on smiles. Yes, my kids were good sports, and I am so blessed.

And blessed to have zucchini so lets get to todays recipe.

As You can see I was not stretching the truth about all the little odds and ends do make it work.

Stuffed Zucchini:

1 or 2 Zucchini depending on size of the squash

1 Green Bell Pepper diced

1small Tomato

1/4 of a white Onion diced

6 cloves of Garlic diced

1 cup a Marinara Sauce

1 cup of cooked Quinoa

1 cup of grated Cheese

1-2 Tablespoon of Olive Oil

Cut the center of the zucchini length into two strips and width slice across all the way down but not all the way through leaving a shallow bottom of the zucchini. Scoop out the bite sized pieces setting aside. Next dice green bell pepper, tomato, zucchini, onion and garlic. Add the olive oil to a skillet and turn on to a med/high, add veggies and sauté until the union is almost translucent then add marinara sauce. Simmer for a few minutes add quinoa cooking just long enough that all ingredients come together. Take of heat spoon into zucchini shells that are in a 13×9 baking dish with water in the bottom then top with cheese. Cover and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. After 30 minutes take of cover and let cheese brown for the remainder of 15 minutes. The zucchini is done when it is tender and the stuffing is bubbly.

Cut into serving pieces, serve and enjoy.

Yes! Tis the season for pumpkin. I have the usual pumpkin pie of course but I always love to enjoy pumpkin in every other way I can. As I channeled surf, I came across a little pumpkin trivia watching that for a time I found out some interesting things, like did you know that pumpkins originated from Central America about 7500 years ago? I didn’t, but I do know they are good for you because they are high in antioxidants and vit A plus the pumpkin seeds are high in magnesium but of course today’s recipe cancels out the benefits of pumpkin.

I’m sure I could come up with a healthier version of these bars and maybe I will look into it but for now I hope you enjoy indulging your sweet tooth.

Pumpkin Bars:

Dry Ingredents

1 1/2 Cup Flour

2/3 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 Salt

(1/2 Cup Butter)

Wet Ingredients:

1 egg

1 15 ounce can of Pumpkin puree

1/2 tsp Vanilla

In a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients mix them well add cubes of butter. With a fork break the butter into the dry ingredients so it becomes a nice crumble. Pour 1/2 of crumble mixture into the bottom of a 11×9 ungreased pan.

In a small bowl add pumpkin puree, egg and vanilla mix well. Pour pumpkin mixture over crumble then top with remaining crumble.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes.

I am bring this older recipe back because it is that time of year for Butternut Squash. You may find that it is in season (for the US) from end of September all the way through late Autumn even early Winter.

I used frozen in this recipe because I made it in the off season and it is easier but with this great squash in season it would make this soup even better. If you choose to use fresh it is very easy to cook just allow about an 40-50 minutes to bake this yummy squash.

Butternut Squash has some pretty amazing health benefits too. It helps boost the immune system, support lung function and who doesn’t need that especial this YEAR! The benefits of this great Veggie go on but just the two I mentioned has me eating this vegetable as often as I can.

Hope you enjoy this as much as I do and maybe eat it in some fuzzy warm cozy socks.

Todays recipe is a very fast way to make butternut squash soup.

As you can see, I have just the basics but this is still full of flavor.

Butternut squash soup:

1  12 ounce bags of cut up butternut squash

( if using fresh squash: cut length ways clean and remove seeds, wash squash then drizzle olive oil salt and pepper on squash. Place face down in pan add enough water around squash so it is steamed not submerged in the water. Bake at 375 for about 40-50 minutes.)

2 cup of veggie broth

1 cup of unsweetened coconut milk

1 Tablespoon of coconut oil

The following seasoning per your taste:

Rosemary, poultry seasoning (or sage and thyme), black pepper mix, parsley

In a hot pan add coconut oil, butternut squash and seasonings. Sauté for a few minutes until fragrant.  Turn down burner to a simmer then add veggie broth. cook for about 10 minutes until squash is done. If you want a smooth soup put soup mixture in a food processor. When I am in the mood for more texture or I don’t feel like cleaning my food processor I just mash-up the squash with a potato masher. Finally add and stir in the coconut milk. Simmer for a few minutes more, then enjoy your quick soup.

This recipe came to me when I was watching Sister Wives. Yes, I watch it, I started years ago when they first came out and were on The Today Show all those years ago. I couldn’t help but get sucked in. It was almost like not being able to look away from a train accident but then I started to root for the women and when one of his wives left, I cheered thinking about time, as I’m sure those who watch did too. The other week on the show they talked about bow tie pasta and lasagna. My recipe is different from what they showed but I think it is as tasty as theirs looked.

I took tomatoes, basil and oregano from my garden for the sauce, but you may want to use can tomato sauce to make yours or buy some marinara from the store that is totally up to you, but I had a surplus of tomatoes and the time to make my sauce. If you buy yours this is such a quick dish and feeds a good amount of people so on those busy night this may be one, you want to do over and over.

I also used rainbow bow tie pasta with no preservatives, dies or enriched bleached flour but this again is all up to you and what you have on hand. This recipe isn’t the healthiest I have made but it does taste good and if you use whole grain pasta or a protein pasta like lentils or chickpea, make your sauce and don’t use meat the only part of this dish that may cause your doctor to frown is the cream cheese. There are always ways to make dishes just a little healthier if you’d like to make those swaps. So, this recipe leaves a large amount of leeway for you to have fun with.

Bow Tie Lasagna:

8.5 ounces of Bow Tie pasta cooked per package directions.

3 1/2 cups of marinara (or about 24-ounce jar of spaghetti sauce)

8 ounces of cream cheese

2-3 Tablespoons of milk

2 1/2 cups of vegetarian crumble (or about 1 pound of hamburger meat cooked)

1-2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese

Parmesan for the top

In a medium Dutch oven add vegetarian crumble, cream cheese, milk and 1/4 cup of marinara sauce stir together then add cooked pasta and rest of marinara sauce. Stir all ingredients together toping with mozzarella cheese. Cover and cook at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Let stand a few minutes, dish up and top with parmesan cheese if so desired.

With my love of eggplant, lunch came around and I thought I would make a quick and easy meal with it. Plus, I had some wild rice from the previous day, what luck! This will make a great meal for dinner as well. With eggplant high in antioxidants and so many nutrients which help you fight cancer to helping your blood sugar this plant benefits you in so many ways.

You can always salt your eggplant but for this recipe I skipped this step. Some people really like salting their eggplant leaving it sit for 30 minutes then rinsing but I had a time crunch and didn’t want to wait any more than was needed.

Garlic Eggplant with Wild Rice

1 small eggplant washed and diced (I peeled mine but if you want you can leave the skin on)

4-5 cloves of garlic diced.

3-4 green onions washed and diced.

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 cup of veggie broth

1- 1 1/2 Teaspoons of cornstarch

2 Tablespoon of brown sugar

2/3 Cup of Soy sauce

per your taste onion powder, garlic powder and ground black pepper (if you like a little fire add red pepper flakes)

In a frying pan pour olive oil in then add cubed eggplant start to brown the eggplant then add garlic and towards the end the green onion. This can go fast, so a good do ahead tip is getting the sauce together. as you brown the eggplant. Mix broth, cornstarch, brown sugar and soy sauce with the seasoning in a bowl set a side.

After the eggplant, garlic and onion are nicely brown stir in the sauce. Continue to stir for a few minutes until it is a nice thickness. Simmer a few more minutes remove from heat. Pour over wild rice that is cooked per the packaged instructions. I have also had this over quinoa.

Just shy of a half hour (if you cook the rice ahead of time) you have a really good meal.

Today’s recipe is an old recipe, I’m not even sure where it came from other than it has been passed down, but I was thinking of it because my one lonely zucchini plant that I planted in less-than-ideal conditions is still producing and I wanted to make something sweet but not bread although zucchini bread is good, I was wanting more of a dessert.

So, if you are in need of using up your zucchini but want something sweet this is a great classic recipe for you to try. Sometimes the older simpler recipes make the best cakes. Most of the ingredients are in your pantry’s/cupboard, maybe the only thing you may have to get is the soft cream cheese, if your house is anything like mine cream cheese goes fast so I don’t have it around very often.

Cake:

2 1/2 Cups of flour

2 Cups of sugar

1 1/2 Teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

1/2 Teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 Teaspoon of baking soda

1 Cup of chopped nuts (optional)

1 cup of apple sauce

4 eggs

2 Cups of shredded zucchini

1 Teaspoon of vanilla

Frosting:

1 package plus 1/4 Cup of soft cream cheese

1 Tablespoon milk

1 Teaspoon of vanilla

2 Cups of powder sugar

In mixing bowl add dry ingredients, you may want to mix your wet ingredients in a different bowl, if using the same bowl add applesauce, eggs then zucchini and mix well. Fold in nuts then pour in a greased 9×13 pan. Bake at 350 for about 35-40 minutes.

While you are waiting on your cake to cool mix up frosting by beating the cream cheese, milk, vanilla until smooth then fold in the powder sugar and mix well.

Frost your cooled cake, I didn’t add any, but you may want to top with remaining nuts.