One Pot Zucchini Mushroom Pasta

When we got home from our vacation we were pleased to find that our garden had grown a ton! It's kind of amazing what ten days can do. It wasn't long before we were enjoying peas and beans right from the garden. And soon we were discovering that our zucchini plants were producing nicely too! 

While we don't have zucchinis coming out of our ears just yet (I'm sure we will soon), we've picked enough that I knew it was time to start collecting all the recipes using zucchini that I could find.

Last night we tried one of the new recipes I came across on Pinterest, and it was delicious! 

Besides being delicious, it was also really easy, and didn't even make a lot of dishes for me to have to clean up. That sounds like the perfect trifecta: easy, less mess, and delicious! 

Have you heard of one pot meals? Where you cook everything all at once in just one pot? This pin I found for Zucchini Mushroom Pasta was just that kind of recipe. It instructed to put everything, pasta and all, in your pot and cook it.

I was skeptical at first, wondering if I really trusted that cooking it this way would work out, or if we'd end up with mushy vegetables, or not quite cooked enough noodles. But, to my surprise it turned out just right! 

The vegetables were as if they were steamed, not the mush I worried about. And the noodles were just right too. Once again I was mightily pleased with a Pinterest find (don't ask about dessert though... that turned out to b e a pintastrophy, you might hear about it later!).

The other great thing about this recipe is that we got to use veggies right from our garden. Both the zucchini and the peas were freshly picked. I think that made my kids more excited to try this dish.

Normally I couldn't get away with putting mushrooms into a meal like this. But, I chopped them a little extra and most of my kids didn't even know they were there. They all ate it up and loved it! 

I wanted this to be the main dish for dinner, so I added some chopped chicken into it. I started that cooking in the boiling water a few minutes before I added the other ingredients, just to make sure that it was thoroughly cooked. 

Also, when I made this I doubled the amount of pasta (I used Penne Pasta) and water, and also doubled the cream and parmesan cheese. I used almost two whole zucchinis, and a handful of sugar snap peas that my son picked for me from the garden. And I used however many mushrooms I had. I figured exact measurements of the vegetables weren't that important. I didn't have any fresh thyme on hand so I just added a little dried thyme and it seemed to work out fine.

Here's the recipe as I found it, feel free to change it up as you like! 

ONE POT ZUCCHINI MUSHROOM PASTA

(makes six servings)

INGREDIENTS

1 pound spaghetti

1 pound cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced

2 zucchini, thinly sliced and quartered

2/3 cup peas

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

2 sprigs thyme

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/3 cup grated Parmesan

1/4 cup heavy cream

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat, combine spaghetti, mushrooms, zucchini, peas, garlic, thyme and 4 1/2 cups water; season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until pasta is cooked through and liquid has reduced, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in Parmesan and heavy cream.

Serve immediately.

My Changes: 

I used 2 lbs of penne pasta, 9 cups of water, regular mushrooms, sugar snap peas (including the shells), regular salt, and a few shakes of dried thyme. For the sauce I premixed 1/2 cup of heavy cream with 2/3 cups of parmesan cheese before adding it to the pasta dish. 

This was delish! I'm sure we'll have it again!! It was a great way to incorporate our fresh garden zucchini into our dinner! 

I'm still looking for more recipes using zucchini, what are your favorite zucchini recipes?
 

Make Your Own Italian Soda... Mmm Mmm Good!

Have you had an Italian Soda? 

The first time I tried one was years ago at an Italian restaurant. I don't often order soda when we go out but my husband convinced me that I would love it, and he was right. It was so tasty and refreshing that I found my mouth watering at the thought of them for months after.

A few years later we were at another Italian restaurant, and when I saw Italian Sodas on the menu I knew I had to have another one. However, something wasn't the same. I don't know what was wrong with it, but it tasted bitter and plain, and not one bit refreshing... not at all like I had remembered. That experience soured me on the whole idea of Italian Soda for a long time. 

Fast forward a few more years, to just a couple of months ago, and my husband and I tried another Italian Restaurant. With hesitation I ordered an Italian Soda, hoping that it would be like my first experience and not like the second. What a relief it was to take that first sweet sip and have the refreshment I remembered, 

and taste that I loved fill my senses! 

The sad part was that my food there wasn't very good. In fact, the only thing I enjoyed about my meal was the Italian Soda... and as tempting as it is to go there JUST for the Italian Soda, it's not very practical. So, I left wondering if I'd be able to find a way to enjoy this treat again.

As usual, that's where Pinterest came in! I started seeing pin for Italian Soda, so I pinned several. Then, when Father's Day came around, and the kids and I were planning an Italian feast for my husband, I knew it was the perfect time to try out one or two of the recipes and see if the homemade version would be as delicious as what I had at those two restaurants.

Can I just say... I was not disappointed!! Heaven in my mouth! 

And I wasn't the only one who loved them. My kids were a little skeptical when they saw the club soda and the cream, but one sip and they were hooked too!  

And the best things are that they are easy to make, cheaper than ordering them at a restaurant, and we can have them at home any time we want! 

You should try it too! 

       Here's all you need to make delicious Italian Sodas:

*Club Soda
*Cream (half and half)
*Syrup

    1 cup berries (fresh, or frozen - I used frozen mixed berries)

    1 cup sugar 

    1 cup water

        Here's all you need to do: 

Make the syrup: Boil water and sugar in a saucepan over medium high heat until sugar is dissolved. Add berries and stir well. Bring mixture back to a boil for about ten minutes. Cover and simmer for ten minutes more. When berries are nice and mushy smash them up as much as possible then drain them over a bowl. Keep the juice (syrup), and discard the berries (or let your kids eat them like mine wanted to!). Let the mixture cool in the fridge until ready to use.

When ready to serve, pour 1/4 cup of syrup into a cup with ice. Add about 1/2 a cup of club soda, and finish with 1/4 cup of cream on top. (You can adjust the amounts of club soda and cream to your liking).  Pop in a straw, and enjoy your refreshing drink! 

The syrup will stay good in the fridge for a few days.

This recipe makes four servings... of course I doubled ours, and it still wasn't enough. I think I could have consumed one whole batch myself! 

Homemade Weed Killer - It Works!!

It's always exciting to me when a pinned tip actually works! And the one I am going to tell you about today really worked for me.

When we got home from vacation last week I was excited to see that my garden had grown... what I wasn't so happy to see was that so did the weeds, and not just in my garden. 

We had big healthy and lush weeds all over our back patio, and also coming out of the cracks in our driveway. They were out of control. That's when I remembered that I had pinned something about a homemade weed killer... so I looked it up and got to work.

It was easy to make. All you need is Vinegar, Salt, Dish Soap, and a spray bottle to put it all in. 

The amounts the post (here) called for were:

1 Gallon Vinegar

1/2 Cup Salt

A squirt of Dish Soap

Since my spray bottle wasn't going to hold a gallon of Vinegar I adjusted the amounts and put in about a quarter cup of salt and filled the spray bottle almost to the top with vinegar, and then squirted in a bit of dish soap.

I think it's the salt and vinegar that kills the weeds, and the soap is what makes it sticks to the leaves, etc. of the weeds. 

I sprayed generously on all the weeds I could find around the cement areas of my yard. I didn't use this method on my garden weeds since I figured that if it would kill the weeds, it would probably also kill the plants. 

This method worked beautifully! After a couple of hours I came back and found that those healthy weeds were no more. They were all brown and shriveled up... just the way I like my weeds! 

That night once it cooled down I went out and pulled those dead weeds up... I'm so glad I found a way to easily get rid of those pesky things so we can enjoy some weed-free space! 

Crustless Quiche - Quick, Easy, and Delicious!

In my last post I told you about the foolproof and deliciously amazing biscuits I made. Today I'm going to tell you about what we ate them with... deliciously amazing crustless quiche.

We had lots of eggs and some ham to use up the other night, and quiche sounded like a yummy way to do that. So of course I did a Pinterest search for quiche recipes. 

 
It didn't take me long to realize that making a regular quiche wasn't going to be happening - I had no shortening to make a crust!! Since running to the grocery store for shortening wasn't an option that night, I was thrilled when I happened upon this pin for crustless quiche. 

I was a little skeptical about how this recipe would turn out without the crust, but I tried it and was pleasantly surprised... I made two of them, and they turned out so delicious! Not having to make a pie crust for them made them super easy to make.  And since they didn't have a crust the biscuits (here) were the perfect match to go with them. 

(The add-ins I used were cubed ham, chopped tomatoes, diced onion, and diced peppers.) 

 
Here's the recipe: 

 

One Crustless Quiche

Ingredients:
`

•  6 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup cheese, grated (cheddar, swiss, mozzarella, or your choice)
• 2 tbsp parmesan cheese (optional)
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 cup optional ingredients (see below)

Optional Ingredients (combine to make about one cup):

• cubed ham or crumbled cooked bacon
• chopped broccoli
• chopped tomatoes
• sliced onions, or green onions
• diced green or red peppers
• chopped spinach
• chopped asparagus
• cooked cubed potato
• other veggies (your choice)

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Whisk together all the ingredients
• Pour the egg mixture into an pie dish, and bake uncovered for about 45 minutes (until the center is set, and not jiggly)

Next time you want to make quiche but don't have the time or ingredients to make the crust, try this recipe, I think you'll like it too! And don't forget the biscuits!

 

Foolproof and Delicious Buttermilk Biscuits

Man I love Pinterest! I have found some of the best recipes on ideas on there. Not everything I try turns out to be my favorite, but these have to be the best biscuits I have ever made! 

They turned out thick and flaky, soft, and delicious! No more hockey puck biscuits for me! And no more refrigerated biscuits from a can - the only things I like about those things are the convenience and the fun explosion when you pop them open.

Anyway, like I said these biscuits turned out great. And they were so easy! I followed the recipe (found here) pretty closely. I didn't have buttermilk so I made some by adding one and a half tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to a cup and a half of regular milk and letting it sit for a couple of minutess. And, as often is the case, I doubled it! 

One thing that this recipe has that I don't think I've seen before is to fold over the dough over and over while rolling it out. I think this is probably what makes them so nice and big and fluffy, so don't miss that step! 

Here's the recipe for these amazing Foolproof Biscuits: 

• 4 cups flour
• 5 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 10 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 11/2 cups cold buttermilk 
• 6 tbsp honey

• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt
• Mix in butter cubes into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter (or your hands) until it looks like a coarse meal
• Chill in fridge for ten minutes
• While the dough is chilling, mix together the buttermilk and honey in a small bowl
• Stir the buttermilk mixture into the dough/flour mixture just until the dry ingredients are moistened
• Place dough on a lightly floured work space and knead a couple of time to combine all the ingredients fully (a bit crumbly is okay)
• Divide the dough into two balls and roll one into a 9x5 rectangle, about half an inch thick, then fold the dough into thirds
• Roll out and fold into thirds three or four more times
• Cut biscuits from the dough using an up and down motion
• (Repeat last few steps with the second ball of dough)
• Place on baking sheet about 1 inch apart
• Bake for 11-15 minutes, until the biscuits have risen and are golden brown on top
• Cool slightly, and serve! 

       (Makes about 16 biscuits)

Thank you Pinterest for another pin-licious recipe! 

Cub Scout Advancement Ladder

I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July yesterday. We spent it with my husband's family in Washington. My brother in law goes all out with his fireworks every year so we lucked out with an amazing show last night! Between that, the good company, and the tasty food we had a fabulous time celebrating the Independance of this great country. 

With all the travelling and visiting I didn't get a chance to try out anything from my "fourth of July" Pinterest Board this yeat, so I don't have any fun new patriotic pin-complishments to show you. 

However, I do have something that has to to do with Scouting, which seems pretty American to me, so it seems applicable for today. 

I just became a Den Leader for my son's Cub Scout group. What fun it is spending an hour a week with ten nine year old boys! 

We have a fabulous Cub Master who is always doing fun and unique things for our Pack Meetings. 

Recently she was telling me about a Cub Scout achievement ladder that she saw on Pinterest. Her husband had already built one for her, but she was trying to figure out how to get the words on it. 

That's where I came in. I am lucky enough to have a Silhouette SD machine, and can cut vinyl lettering. So I offered to help.

I didn't know exactly what she had in mind, so I jumped on Pinterest. After a quick search I found a few examples (here) of what she had seen and got to work. 

I designed, cut, and transferred the lettering onto the advancement ladder, and I think it turned out super cute! 

I definitely had the easy job for this project. 

Each clothes pin will have one of the boys' name on it and we'll have a fun way to keep track of where they are in their advancements. 

I'm sure the boys will love this, I can't wail till they see it at the next Pack Meeting! 

Poutine - Canadian Cuisine at it's best!

Yesterday was Canada Day! I grew up in Canada so of course we had to celebrate! 

Most of my family is still up there. They all got together and celebrated with their traditional backyard barbecue. But since we'll get the barbecue experience on the 4th I had to get a little more creative here! 

I thought a lot about what might be a fun Canadian type of meal. There are many things that I could have done... Kraft Dinner, Fish and Chips, Yorkshire Pudding, ketchup chips, anything with Maple Syrup! I guess I could have gone with any of the meals that I ate while I was a kid and made it work, but I wanted to make at least part of the meal something that is truly Canadian. 

Finally I decided on a couple of things that I love, and that I knew my kids would eat too! Once that was decided I turned to Pinterest to find some recipes. 

First up, Poutine. If you've never had Poutine you are missing out! It's basically french fries covered in cheese curds (or squeaky cheese), and then smothered with gravy. Sooooo Good! This dish originated in Quebec, Canada.

The funny thing about Poutine is that I never actually had it while I was living in Canada, in fact, I don't think I even knew it existed. Maybe because it was more of a French Canadian thing, and living on Canada's west coast we were pretty removed from that. 

My family lived on Vancouver Island and we often travelled back and forth to the mainland on a big ferry boat. As a youth I fell in love with the fries and gravy dish they sold in the cafeteria on the boat. But, it wasn't until I was an adult and took my family home that I learned about Poutine... fries and gravy with gooey melted cheese... maybe not the healthiest of all foods, but I'd say definitely one of the tastiest! 

So, to Pinterest I went, searching for some advice on creating this traditional Canadian dish for my family. I found what looks like an excellent recipe, making everything but the cheese from scratch (here), but I had lots going on yesterday and didn't have the luxury of time to dedicate to going all out on it, so decided to save it for another day and go with an easier cheaters version that I found here. 

This version uses frozen french fries, dry brown gravy mix, and cheese curds. Can't get much easier than that! 

Finding cheese curds can be the hardest part of the process. Cheese curds are a byproduct the comes when making cheese. They are firm like cheese, with a mild flavor, but have kind of a springy, rubbery texture. They can be hard to find here in the western United States. 

When we lived in the midwest there was a little Amish town down the road where we could find cheese curds. Those ones were nice and fresh, and when you'd bite into them they'd squeak! That's why they have the nick name of Squeaky Cheese! 

Somehow I came across cheese curds at a store here in Idaho though! I was excited to use the real thing (even if they didn't squeak since they weren't freshly made). If I couldn't find them here I would have substituted chunks of cheddar or mozzarella cheese in their place.

Of course the frozen fries and brown gravy mix were easy to find.

So, first, all I did was deep fry my fries (they could have been baked in the oven as a healthier alternative, but this time I did it the not so healthy way). I used Peanut oil, and actually deep fried them twice... the second time was for a little extra crispiness right before I put them on our plates. 

Once I had a plateful of crispy fries I added a bunch of cheese curds over the top. The curds I had were quite large so I crumbled them up a little to make sure that they'd melt just right. 

Then I smothered the whole thing in hot gravy... it needed to be hot enough to start to melt the cheese and get it nice and gooey! 

And that was it, bon appetite! The easy cheater version of mouth watering Poutine! 

I served it with a little fried chicken, Canada Dry Ginger Ale, and fresh red cherries. 

Then for dessert we ate another Canadian treat, originating just North of where I grew up... Nanaimo Bars... maybe I'll share that recipe with you sometime too!

I think we'll have to just eat salads for at least three weeks to make up for last night's dinner, but I would say it was well worth it!