Ultimate garlic bread

What you will need

 

6 cloves roasted garlic, mashed into a paste (I made garlic oil earlier today, so I used the poached garlic that I saved from that)

1 cup shredded Italian cheese
1 stick of butter, room temperature

 

 

 

 

I go heavy on the garlic but cut back if you aren't a big fan. (and don't try to kiss any vampires afterwards, well or anyone) I actually used garlic confit instead of roasting in the oven. I made a large batch of garlic infused oil and saved the poached garlic for this recipe and it was fantastic!

 

Mash the roasted garlic into a fine paste.

Stir in to 1 stick of room temperature butter
Add in cheese

Slather over a french loaf that has been cut lengthwise in half

Bake at 400 degrees until the bread is crusty and topping is gooey and melted

 

Slice and Serve 

Stuffed Zucchini

Our garden has been over producing like crazy here lately with the amount of rain we have been getting here in the south. Not only do I already have a freezer FULL of squash and zucchini to last half of a century, but I have also been playing around with different cooking techniques. This one was delicious. Stuffed Zucchini. oh yes. I went there

 

 

What you will need

 

3 zucchini, cleaned and cut lengthwise. center scooped out

1 pound ground beef

6 cherry tomatoes

1 cup of Italian breadcrumbs

1 cup Italian blend cheese

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp onion powder

2 cloves garlic, minced

 

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

 

After washing your zucchini, cut lengthwise and scoop the center out. I went fairly deep and packed them as full as I could with the delicious filling.

 

For the filling start by browning your ground beef

 

Season with salt, pepper and onion powder

 

Once it is about halfway cooked, drain the excess grease off

 

Add in chopped cherry tomatoes and garlic to your ground beef and cook until the tomatoes start to get soft.

 

 

Remove from heat

 

In a large bowl combine meat mixture with breadcrumbs and cheese

 

stuff zucchini and pack in the filling

 

bake at 450 until the zucchini is soft. (This does not take long since the zucchini is hulled out so keep an eye on them.) Remember that your filling is already cooked!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remove from oven and drizzle sauce of your choice over them

 

I covered with my easy homemade pasta sauce. GET THE RECIPE HERE

 

 

These made 6 stuffed zucchini and they are so delicious and filling! My husband has asked for me to make this again this week!

Homemade Biscuits

What you will need:

2 Cups All purpose Flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 pinch of salt

8 tablespoons of butter

3/4 cup milk

Stir together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder

Cut in butter

YES BUTTER!

Why??

Because Butter has FLAVOR!

It should start to look like Cornmeal

Make a well in your mixture

add milk

mix

add mixture on floured surface

flatten about an inch thick

use a glass or biscuit cutter

 to cut biscuits to ensure they are the same size

 

Bake 425 for 10-13 minutes

add some extra butter over hot biscuits

Yellow Cornbread

Love Cornbread?? Hate when it comes out flat dry and crumbly? Try out this yummy sweet cake like cornbread. It's sure to knock your socks off!!

What you will need:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup sugar

3 1/4 tsp baking powder

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/3 cup of oil

Stir together cornmeal,sugar,salt and baking powder

Add Flour

Stir in one egg

Add Milk

Then Oil

Stir until smooth and looks like cake batter

Bake at 400 until golden

(depending on oven, 18-22 minutes)

Make sure to coat pan with nonstick cooking spray

or a little extra oil

WARNING: This is NOT your moms cornbread

THIS IS ADDICTIVE

Freezing Squash

 I have had a ton of people asking me about putting vegetables up for winter. If you don't have a vacuum sealer, I've found that the best way is to blanch and freeze. This is how I do squash and zucchini.

 

 

 

 

Start our by washing your squash or zucchini

 

 

Slice into desired size

 

 

 

 

add to a pot of boiling water and cook until barely soft

 

 

 

Shock them and stop the cooking time by placing in a large bowl of ice water

 

 

 

Drain

 

 

 

Place in freezer bags and freeze

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 These bags will last for 6-8 months in the freezer

 

Spaghetti Squash

I just recently came across the BEST TIP EVER for cooking a spaghetti squash. Normally, I would cut my squash lengthwise, turn upside down on a baking dish and bake. Once it was done, I would scrape with a fork and get the "noodles"

 

NOT ANYMORE!!!

 

This is seriously insane but, CUT YOUR SQUASH IN DISCS!

 

I was skeptical when trying this but it almost tripled the length of the "noodles"

 

I did everything else the same way I always did minus the cut.

 

 

 

 

Once they are sliced, I baked at 400  degrees until tender and pulled apart

  

Look how much longer they are!

 

 

 

 

 

I added it to my pasta sauce

(Get The Recipe HERE)

 

 

Look how wonderful this meal turned out!

 

Easy Pasta Sauce

I always say that I should have been born Italian with as much pasta as I eat. I seriously LOVE it. Most of my recipes might even end up being pasta because it is such a staple in my household.

 

 This is my basic recipe for tomato sauce with meat. As you can see, I like mine on the sweeter side. Normally, I can my own vegetables and use them all year round. But since my tomatoes aren't quite ready yet and I have used all of my veggies from last year I used a jar from the store. This is a really easy sauce when you are rushed for time or have company coming over. No peeling tomatoes! Just add into a big pot and simmer for 45 minutes.

 

 

What you will need

 

28oz can crushed tomatoes

24 oz jar of marinara (I like the kind with burgundy wine added)

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon salt

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 tablespoon pepper

2 tablespoons sugar

1 cup water

2 pounds of ground beef

 

 

Brown your ground beef in a large skillet, drain

 

In a large pot, combine ground beef, garlic, crushed tomatoes and seasonings

 

cook together for 5-10 minutes

 

Add cup of water and deglaze your pan

 

add marinara

 

Simmer on low for 30-45 minutes until the flavors develop

 

add in fresh basil and parsley for an extra boost

 

 

 

 

I served over spaghetti squash and topped with grated parmesan