Mom's Zucchini Bread

Well, it's kind of mom's zucchini bread. I was a little taken aback by how much sugar was in it, so I made an adjustment and swapped out some sugar for applesauce. I also ran out of cinnamon and ended up using some nutmeg instead. And, finally, I halfed the amount of raisins and added some craisins since Natty loves them and I was looking for a selling point. I'm providing the original recipe and my modifications. It turns out if I cook veggies into bread, Natty will eat it and ask for more! What other veggies can I cook into bread? Spinach bread? Broccoli bread? Nah... I'll guess there's no easy way to get a toddler to try spinach.


Mom's Zucchini Bread
1 large zucchini, grated and drained
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup sugar (original recipe calls for 1 1/2 cup sugar and no applesauce)
3/4 cup applesauce 
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon (original recipe calls for 3 tsp cinnamon and no nutmeg)
2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup raisins (original recipe calls for 1 cup and no craisins)
1/2 cup craisins
1 cup chopped walnuts (I omitted these)
Stir together zucchini, eggs, oil, sugar, applesauce, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Mix zucchini mixture with flour mixture. Stir in raisins, craisins, and walnuts. Pour into two loaf pans and cook at 375 for one hour or until toothpick comes out clean. 

Stromboli?

So, I found a pie crust in my freezer that I knew wouldn't actually become a pie anytime soon. I also had some browned loose Italian sausage. I wasn't sure how to bring these two things together, but I gave it a go anyway. I'm not sure I can call it stromboli since it's made with a pie crust, but I don't know what else to call it. Next time I'll make it with a pizza crust and call it stromboli without hesitation! Recipe bonuses - it tricked Natty into eating spinach and it can easily be made vegetarian.


Sausage and Spinach Stromboli
1 frozen pie crust
1 batch pizza sauce (here's one recipe) or other thick red sauce
1/3 lb. browned loose mild Italian sausage
2 large handfuls chopped spinach
1 small carrot, sliced
1/4 small onion, sliced
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Stretch pie crust out slightly on greased cookie sheet. In a saute pan, heat olive oil and add carrot and onions. Cook until tender. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Salt and pepper to taste. Spread pizza sauce on pie crust. Top with sausage, spinach mixture, and cheese. Carefully roll pie crust into a tube. Place in 400 degree oven and cook until lightly browned (mine took about 45 minutes). Slice and serve topped with remaining warm pizza sauce.

Mac and Cauliflower

I saw cheddar cauliflower at the farmer's market and felt certain that I could get Natty to eat it... Especially when I pureed it and stuck it in some mac and cheese.

Mac and Cauliflower
1/2 box whole wheat elbow macaroni
2 tblsp butter
2 tblsp AP flour
1 1/4 cup whole milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup pureed cheddar cauliflower (steam then puree in food processor)
Cook macaroni in salted water to desired tenderness. Drain and set aside. Melt butter over medium heat. Add flour to make roux. Cook to a light brown color. Add milk and cook, stirring frequently, until milk thickens. Remove from heat. Add cheese and cauliflower puree. Stir until melted. Add macaroni and combine.

Cheesy Potato Sticks

These were supposed to trick Natty into eating something, but they didn't work. Luckily, they are tasty, so we'll just have to eat them with dinners.

Cheesy Potato Sticks

2 large potatoes

milk

butter

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 egg yolk

pinch coriander

flour (for dusting)

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Peel potatoes, cut up, and boil in salted water until fork tender. Mash potatoes, adding milk and butter to taste. Add cheese, egg yolk, and coriander and mix. Turn out onto floured surface and flatten to about 1". Cut into finger width strips. Flour hands. Pick up each piece of potato mixture and form square. Coat in breadcrumbs and place on lightly greased baking pan. Cook in a 400 degree oven until lightly browned.

Dressing up Ham Steak

After a crazy day, I had about 5 minutes to make dinner before everyone in my house, including me, had a breakdown about how hungry we all were. Ham steak to the rescue! I also made another attempt at getting Natty to eat veggies, but apparently rice isn't his thing... Stinker.

Ham Steak with Mustard Sauce
1 ham steak
1/4 medium onion sliced
1/4 cup white wine
1 heaping tblsp course ground mustard (by tblsp here, I mean one of the regular spoons out of the drawer, so it was probably more like 2 tblsps if you're actually measuring)
Cook ham steak in skillet over medium high heat until browned. Remove from skillet. Toss in onions and let brown for a minute. Add wine and deglaze pan. Add mustard and combine. Remove from heat.

Cheesy Rice
1 package instant brown rice
1 large carrot chopped into 1 inch chunks
milk or water
1/4 medium onion chopped
1 handful shredded mozzarella cheese
Cook rice according to package directions. Add carrot to water while rice is cooking. Drain rice and carrot. Place rice in serving dish. Puree carrot in food processor with a small amount of milk or water to help it along. Saute onion. Add pureed carrot, sauteed onion, and cheese to rice and stir to combine.

Roasted Vegetable Soup

Roasted vegetables... yummy... Soup... yummy...

I'm also hoping this will get Natty to eat some veggies. It's not green and he can use his new found spoon skills, so I have my fingers crossed.

Roasted Vegetable Soup
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
1 yellow onion, peeled and quartered
1 kohlrabi, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 quart chicken stock (or vegetable stock if you want to go totally vegetarian)
1/4 - 1/2 tsp cumin
Plain yogurt or sour cream
Prepare vegetables, coat with olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast in 400 degree oven. Veggies are done when you they slide easily off of a fork. Transfer veggies to soup pot and add chicken stock. Bring stock to a simmer and then puree vegetables with a stick blender. Add cumin to taste. Bring to boil. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. Serve topped with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream.

If you don't like cumin, leave it out. The soup was delicious before I added it, but I couldn't stop feeling like cumin would give it a really nice taste, so I threw it in.

If you don't have a stick blender, I would put the veggies in a food processor or blender before adding the chicken stock. Or if you want it to stay chunkier, you could just use a potato masher to chunk it up.

Spaghetti with Tomato Basil Sauce

Thursday night. Pasta night. Yum!

Since Kevin came home early tonight, I actually had time to make my own sauce, which has become a bit of a rarity. I took the opportunity to whittle down the basil bush.

I actually made an effort to measure things, but only after I put in almost all the spices... Just as well. You should adjust to your taste anyway.

Tomato Basil Sauce
1 small onion chopped
4 large cloves garlic chopped
1 14.5 oz can diced tomato
1 6 oz can tomato paste
6 oz water
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp sugar
3 pattypan squash
2/3 cup basil

In medium saucepan, sweat onion until translucent. Add garlic and sweat for two minutes. Add diced tomato, tomato paste, water, salt, pepper, red pepper, oregano, garlic powder, and sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently.

Meanwhile, prepare pattypan squash to your taste. Normally, I would saute the squash in 2 tblsp olive oil for a few minutes, but since Natty has decided recently that he will no longer eat vegetables, I opt to steam them and then puree them in a mixer. Kevin prefers it and thinks it makes the sauce just a touch sweeter. Add squash to sauce.

Chiffonade basil and add it to the sauce at the last moment. Serve with pasta of your liking cooked according to the package directions.