Salsa

This is definitely salsa season and I'm happy to say I've finally been able to make some fresh salsa from my own garden produce. MMMmmmm! I'm really terrible about measurements when it comes to salsa and sauces. This is normally how I make salsa:
Chop enough tomatoes to fill your bowl about half to 3/4 full.
Add a little less than half as many onions as tomatoes.
Chop enough peppers to thickly cover everything else in the bowl.
Add an entire bunch of cilantro finely chopped (I love cilantro!)
Sprinkle salt all over the top layer of veggies.
Squeeze a couple limes into the bowl
Add garlic a couple cloves at a time until it tastes right.
Add more salt if it needs it.
Add some ground cumin and chile powder if I feel like it.
Taste again.
Add more stuff if necessary.

Since that's not exactly a coherent recipe for most people I did try to keep track of exactly what I put into my salsa these last few times I've made it. Keep in mind this makes a large batch. If your family doesn't put salsa on everything like we do then you may want to halve everything. Enjoy!

Fresh Salsa

10 cups diced tomatoes (about 5 pounds)
1 1/2 cups finely diced mild peppers (like chiles, bell pepper, banana pepper)
1 cup finely diced jalapeno peppers, seeds removed (substitute for more mild peppers if you don't like spicy)
3 cups chopped onion
1 bunch cilantro
1 tbsp red chile powder, ground
1 tbsp ground cumin
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp salt
1/2 cup lime juice (fresh squeezed it will be 2-3 limes)

Dice tomatoes and add to a large bowl. I always like to hand chop my tomatoes so they don't become frothy. I also like them to be pretty which is hard to do with a food processor. Remove stems and seeds from peppers. You should wear plastic gloves for this step... I never do, but almost always wish that I had... Coarsley chop onions, peppers, and cilantro. Add to food processor and process until finely chopped.  Add chile powder, ground cumin, garlic, salt and lime juice. Mix to combine everything. Use within 3-5 days.

Turkey Zucchini Meatballs and Swedish Meatballs

"Of course... you had to add zucchini" Betcha can't guess which of my little darlings said that? These are seriously so good, though. Don't trust me.. make them and see for yourself. They are moist and tender and so flavorful. When I make these meatballs, I usually use beef but Summer needs something a little lighter. At least for me... the guys at my house could eat a steak or a burger for dinner every night with no complaints.

For the following recipe feel free to use dried herbs in lieu of the fresh, just be sure to halve the amounts. Fresh herbs can get pricey which is why I love to grow my own!

Turkey Zucchini Meatballs

2 lbs 90% lean ground turkey
1 egg
1 cup zucchini, grated and liquid squeezed out
1/2 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small red onion, grated
2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped 
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme, chopped
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Combine turkey, egg, zucchini, breadcrumbs, garlic, onion, and herbs.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Using a cookie baller (or your hands) form each meatball into a golf ball sized ball. If using your hands, try spraying a little Pam (or just rub some oil) onto your hands before handling the meat. Meat will be sticky. Line a large cookie sheet or jelly roll pan with aluminum foil and arrange meatballs on top. You can place them close together if needed just so long as they aren't touching. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cooked through. Makes about 48 meatballs.

When I make this recipe I like to double, triple, or even quadruple it so I have meatballs available for easy meals later on. To freeze: Allow meatballs to cool completely. Freeze individually on a large cookie sheet and then transfer to zip-top freezer bags in meal-sized portions. To reheat: Reheat in the oven at 350 F for 15-20 minutes or in the microwave for about 3 minutes per dozen. You can also add them to soups, stews, crockpot meals, etc and allow them to re-heat while cooking the rest of your meal. Some of my favorite ways to use meatballs are: Spaghetti & Meatballs, Swedish Meatballs, Meatball Subs, Sliced and used as a pizza topping or Appetizers.

So after making my massive batch of meatballs, I wanted something quick and easy to serve for dinner. It doesn't get much easier than Swedish Meatballs. Especially when you already have all of the ingredients pre-cooked. On Sunday we had roast and mashed potatoes (big surprise for those of you who know me, right?) so I made extra potatoes knowing that I'd use them later in the week. I also had a quart of chicken gravy in my freezer from the last chicken dinner I made. (See! I tell you to save your gravy for a reason!)

Swedish Meatballs

30 meatballs
3-4 cups chicken gravy
2 quarts homestyle mashed potatoes (or you can use cooked egg noodles)
1/2- 1 cup berry preserves

Heat gravy in a 2 qt. sauce pan over medium heat. Add meatballs and allow to cook until heated through. (You can heat them in the microwave to speed things up if you'd like). Meanwhile warm your mashed potatoes. Serve gravy and meatballs over potatoes with a dollop of berry preserves on top if desired. (I always serve my jam on the side so I can mix it into each bite.) Serve with a fresh garden salad.

See how I tell you to serve with a fresh garden salad and then I don't do that? Unfortunately, salad becomes food fight fodder at my house.. which is why I try to sneak veggies into just about everything I cook!

Squash Crust Pizza

Not only does this recipe use a massive amount of Summer squash (Ok, maybe not massive.. but a lot for this year since my garden hasn't been producing zucchini up the wazoo like it normally does) but it tastes great, is a low-carb pizza option, and it is nice and savory for you sweetened squash haters.

Squash Crust Pizza

4 cups shredded Summer squash (like zucchini, yellow crookneck, scallop, etc)

1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

5 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 large tomato, diced

1 8oz can tomato sauce

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 tsp basil (even if your Italian seasoning has it in there, I always like to add extra)

1 green bell pepper, chopped

Directions

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Place the squash in a colander and sprinkle with salt; let drain for 15 minutes then squeeze out the moisture. Combine the squash, eggs, 1/2 cup Parmesan, 1 1/2 cup mozzarella in a large bowl. Press the mixture into a greased 12 inch pizza pan. Bake, uncovered, in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. I used a pizza pan with holes in it so my crust would be sure to get crispy all the way through. Knowing that the zucchini would continue to drain as it was being cooked, I placed a sheet of aluminum foil under the pan (on the next shelf down, not directly under) to catch the drippings.

While the crust is baking, combine the tomato sauce, basil and Italian seasoning. Spoon the sauce mixture over the baked crust. Top with the bell pepper, tomato, onion, crumbled bacon and the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Increase oven temperature to 425. At this point you should be safe to remove the foil from the oven (I did, and everything was fine). Return pizza to the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes or until heated through. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

I didn't clue my family in that this was a different kind of pizza. Of course they knew once they bit into it, but that way they didn't have any preconceptions. I was a little nervous about how this one would go over. But they all liked it! My husband had three helpings! And even my 14-year-old neice who is a self-proclaimed squash hater licked her plate clean.

Just a note about the crust: I made a few crusts, two for dinner and one to snack on. The snacking crust got cooked a little bit longer until it was nice and crispy. I then broke it up into "crackers" which were promptly devoured by my girls.

Peanut Butter Cookies

A friend of mine turned me onto this blog. I love it. It's going to make me fat. er...

I have a case of peanut butter that I've been rotating this week. Why am I rotating an entire case of peanut butter in a week? Well, we usually don't use very much of it. I'm not a big PB&J person therefor my kids don't get them very often either. However, I do keep my "year-supply" nice and stocked up. Soo... the reason I'm rotating?
1. I have a case of peanut butter on my shelf downstairs that is past it's use-by date.
2. Peanut butter is on sale this week.
3. I don't have enough room on my shelf for the new case plus the old case.

Hence the Peanut Butter Brownie Bites the other day.. (Which is a variation of a recipe from the evil "make-me-fat" blog..)

And for today I tried two different peanut butter recipes. Josh saw me looking at the above mentioned blog the other day and has been bugging me to make these cookies ever since.

5 Ingredient Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

by Leslie Sarna

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp baking soda
½ cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips. When blended, mix in the chocolate chips. Using your fingers, form 1 1/2 inch balls (dough will be very wet and sticky) and place onto an un-greased parchment lined cookie sheet. You don't want to make them too big because they do spread. Bake for 9 minutes. Let the cookies sit on the cookies sheet for about 30 seconds to 1 minute before letting cool on a wire rack. Makes around a dozen small cookies.

Overall these cookies were good but tend to fall apart easily. As far as easy goes, though, these definitely take the cake. In about 10 minutes you can be pulling freshly baked cookies out of the oven... which can't be a bad thing. Well... maybe it is...

Zucchini Brownies

"Zucchini in brownies! Gross mom!"

The words of my 15-year old son when he saw me sneaking 2 cups of shredded zucchini into my brownie bowl. But I went ahead with my plan anyway. After they came out of the oven ...
"These are amazing!" (Ha! told ya so!)

Zucchini Brownies

1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 1/2 cups brownie mix
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)


For the frosting:
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup margarine
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan. In a large bowl, mix together the brownie mix, oil, eggs, baking soda and zucchini vanilla until well blended. Spread evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies spring back when gently touched. My brownies were done in 28 minutes. To make the frosting, melt together the 6 tablespoons of cocoa and margarine; set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, blend together the confectioners' sugar, milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in the cocoa mixture. Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares. I actually cut my brownies first so the frosting would goop over the sides when serving. Not as neat, but I love that effect!

Zucchini Cookies

These cookies are great for both rotating food storage and using up some of your surplus zucchini. They are light and sweet and delicious. And if your kids are like mine... when whole grains and vegetables are shaped like a cookie they don't ask questions... They just chow down! Mmmm

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies

1/2 cup shortening
1 cup shredded zucchini, lightly drained
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup dry powdered milk
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (to make your own, finely grind soft white wheat)
3/4 cup quick cooking oats
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 F. Combine shortening, zucchini, sugar and dry milk. Mix until well combined and creamy.  Add eggs and vanilla. Mix thoroughly. Add dry ingredients. Stir to combine. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if desired). Drop by teaspoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until edges are slightly browned. Allow to cool on cookie sheet about 1 minute then transfer to cooling rack.

Peanut Butter Brownie Bites

Here's what I made for my sweet family last night. Who doesn't love peanut butter and chocolate, right? This recipe is adapted from BakeOrBreak

Peanut Butter Brownie Bites

1 recipe Brownie Mix
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare brownie mix as directed and pour into greased mini-muffin pan, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake about 10 minutes or until edges of brownies are set. Remove from oven. Center of brownies should fall slightly. If not, with a small spoon indent the center of each brownie.

Place peanut butter into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high about 30 seconds. Stir peanut butter. Use a small spoon to fill the indentation of each brownie bite. Top with semisweet chocolate. Allow to cool completely in the pan before removing. To speed this up a little, place the entire pan into the refrigerator if you have room. And trust me... you will want to speed this up!