Zucchini Bake

Summertime means lots of fresh vegetables! We love them roasted, raw, sautéed and baked into yummy dishes. I happen to love zucchini so of course I pulled this recipe out as one to make. This one was actually a hit with all 4 of us! It's got a cup of cheese in it, how could it be bad?  :)

I did squeeze out some of the juice after grating the zucchini so it wouldn't be so wet. I used about 40 regular saltine crackers that I put into a baggie and crushed and rolled into crumbs with my rolling pin. I also went old school and rubbed some unsalted butter all over the baking dish. Maybe that's why it was so good, all that butter melting into the outsides of the dish. I baked it uncovered too. 

I have to say, I thought it was yummy cold as a leftover too!

Here's my interpretation of the recipe:

Zucchini Bake

3 cups grated zucchini

1 cup cracker crumbs

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

2 tbs. chopped onion

2 beaten eggs

Mix together and place in buttered casserole. Bake 1 hr in 350 degree oven.

* I used about 2 medium sized zucchini to get 3 cups of it grated.

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Breakfast Apple Muffins

With school starting up, I wanted to find something different to offer for breakfast. Seriously, my 5 year old wants/eats the same thing almost everyday. She prefers frozen waffles or pancakes over homemade (what's wrong with her?!?), along with a boiled egg (just the white part WITH salt) and sometimes she'll eat whatever fruit I add to her plate. That's it. Once in a blue moon I'll get her to eat an egg & cheese taco. So when I saw this sweet breakfast muffin recipe, I had to try it.

She likes granny smith apples, so that's what I used. It was a pretty big one so once I grated it, it measured out to about 2 cups worth. I also used whole milk and butter flavored shortening. I also sifted the flour before I measured it out, something I don't normally do but wanted to follow the directions as much as possible.

I think we all liked the muffins except my picky girl. I asked why and all she said was "I just don't". Seriously, they turned out good. I thought they'd be tart because of the green apple but they were sweet and very moist. I'll definitely try them again but maybe a little more healthy by using whole wheat flour and almond or skim milk. 

Here's my interpretation of the recipe:

Breakfast Apple Muffins (12)

1 c applesauce may be sub. for fresh apple

Sift together:

1 1/2 c. sifted flour

1/2 c. sugar

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/8 t. nutmeg

Mix together:

1 egg

1 grated apple

1/4 c. milk

1/4 c. melted shortening

Bake 400 degrees for 20 minutes

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Breakfast Treat

Our 5 year old started back to school today. Her first day of kindergarten! Seriously, didn't I JUST have her?? Anyway, there was a BooHoo/Yahoo Breakfast after the kids went to class. I figured, what a better way to try out a new recipe? So, I started looking through my collection for some kind of a breakfast casserole. I must have looked through thousands of recipes and found nothing! Really? There are a TON of Jell-O based recipes and different versions of meatloaf. I couldn't find a single breakfast casserole. Now, I didn't look through my entire collection but I was tired of looking. I was about to turn to Pinterest when I decided to check one last box. What do you know? I found one. Go figure!

So here is the Breakfast Treat that I made. I have to say, it was pretty easy, and from the one bite I got to try, I thought it was pretty good. It definitely smelled good! I will absolutely make it again, but with some adjustments.

There are notes she adds about adding 1/2c - 3/4c of both onion and bell pepper. I used 3/4c of both. I also used 8 eggs instead of the originally listed 4. I used regular mustard instead of dry.  I couldn't find just seasoned croutons, so I used garlic & cheese flavored ones. About a 5oz bag. I did add a few more from a second bag just to make sure the bottom of my 9x13 pan was covered. I tried to butter my pan, but since I used a tin foil one, it was taking forever to get it in all the grooves, so I gave up and just sprayed it with butter flavored non-stick spray. The only other major thing was, it says to cover and bake at 300 degrees for 30-40 minutes. After 40 minutes, the egg on top was still clear and jiggly. So I uncovered it and bumped up the temperature to 350 and left it in for another 15 minutes. Well, it was still a little clear so I again bumped up the temperature to 370 ( I meant to put it on 375 but missed a push while trying to get the girl ready for school) and left it in for about another 15 minutes. I honestly didn't think it was going to be ready when we had to leave. I literally took it out of the oven, covered it back up, placed it on a towel and off we went.

After all that, there wasn't any left. I wanted to get a picture of the dish as a whole, but was lucky enough to get a little piece. I hope everyone enjoyed it!

Here's my interpretation of the recipe:

Breakfast Treat

(Joy Shilling and Ginger Galloway)

1 1/2 lb bulk sausage (with sage seasoning)

2 1/2 cups herb seasoned croutons (1 small box)

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

4 eggs (Ginger uses 6 eggs, Joy uses 7 or 8 eggs)

2 1/4 cups milk

3/4 ts dry mustard

1/2 - 3/4 cup chopped green pepper

1/2 - 3/4 cup chopped onion

Crumble sausage and fry it; drain grease (Ginger saves grease and makes  cream gravy)

Grease 13"x9"x2" baking dish with butter or cooking oil.

Spread croutons on bottom of dish.

Sprinkle grated cheese on croutons.

Spread crumbled sausage over cheese.

Beat eggs with milk and mustard added.

Add green pepper and onions.

Pour over meat mixture.

Peppers and onions will float on top.

Set at room temperature for 30-40 minutes. (can be refrigerated at this time until ready to cook)

Ginger covers with foil while baking.

Bake at 300 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Loosen foil for few minutes before slicing.

Ginger gets about 10-12 servings from this.

*Oh, I also added a little salt & pepper to the egg mixture before pouring it over the sausage.

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Mexican Salad

While looking for a recipe to revive my blog, this one caught my eye. Who wouldn't love a Mexican Salad? So I looked over the ingredients and was surprised to see "rat cheese" listed. Sounds yummy, right? What the heck is "rat cheese"?!? I turned to Google, and my wonderfully intelligent friends on Facebook, and came to the conclusion that "rat cheese" was what they used to call cheddar cheese. It was used for rat traps and cut off of a big wheel of cheese. Okay. We happen to love cheddar cheese so this quickly became a must try recipe. 

I used a head of iceberg lettuce and chose medium cheddar cheese. We actually like the extra sharp, but I figured that would have been used for something like this back in the day. I got the good old black label ranch style beans, sweet yellow onion (because it's what I had on hand), a 16oz bottle of Kraft Classic Catalina (didn't think they had the family size option back then either) and a regular sized bag of original Fritos, not the family size or scoop kind. 

This was a super easy and quick salad to make. After tasting it, Anthony and I agreed that it screams Church potluck to celebrate the pastors anniversary, or some occasion like that. It was good. Cheesy for sure! The iceberg lettuce seems to wilt a little after being mixed with the dressing, but adding the Fritos before serving brought some crunch back to the dish. 

A few changes I would make next time would be to possibly try romaine lettuce, purple onion, another can of beans and Anthony said cilantro as a garnish once served. 

Here's my interpretation of the recipe:

Mexican Salad

1 head lettuce

1 lb rat cheese

1 can ranch style beans chilled and rinsed

1 sm chopped onion

3/4 bottle of Krafts Catalina dressing

1 pkg Fritos - mashed

Cut lettuce, grate cheese, add beans, onions, add dressing, refrigerate 30 minutes before serving. Add Fritos. 

This was found in a small recipe binder. Behind each divider is an envelope to put clippings in. The recipes are handwritten on loose leaf type of paper. A lot of them are just tucked in because the holes are torn. The very back cover of the binder has the name Janelle Parker written on it. It's the same handwriting as this recipe shows. I'm going to assume the owner of this collection was Ms. Parker :)

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Another Try

Wow, it's been 3 years since my last post. It doesn't seem that long, yet it does. I didn't realize how big of an impact my Grandma had when it came to wanting her opinion on things. I know she loved tasting things I would make. Even if something was terrible she'd say it was "good" while adding some hot sauce to it. Or that she wasn't real hungry after a taste and say she'd eat it later. Of course, I'd find it still in her refrigerator a week later, or even stashed in the freezer because she just so much food and didn't want it to go to waste. Silly Grandma! Next week will be 4 years since she went back Home to dance with my Grandpa. I still miss her like crazy. The memories I have of spending time with her mean more than anything physical. Of course I treasure the few things I do have of hers, but I miss sitting around the kitchen table working on jigsaw puzzles and making fun of the female host of a Spanish talk show she used to watch. I always teased that she was either one ugly lady or used to be a man. I know I drove her crazy but she secretly loved it. That's what I'm going with anyway :) 

So, over the years Anthony still finds handwritten recipes at estate sales. I have a pretty big collection that has just been sitting around. I really do think I'm ready to try again. I know my Grandma isn't here to give her opinion, but I have a bunch of friends and family who will happily take free food. Plus, I've since had Anthony Jr. and he has pointed off to places and said "LaLa" which I like to think is his way of saying "Wela". What Anissa used to call my Grandma. So, I know she's here and watching over my crazy and beautiful family.

I love and miss you Grandma! Now, back to my kitchen :)