Pickled Veggies

My good friend and neighbor, found a recipe from Alton Brown for pickled veggies and it was so good that I decided to give it a try and add my own touch to it.

Here it is, enjoy!

This recipe makes enough to fill two 16 oz. jars of veggies.

2 16 oz. jars
Zucchini
Fresh cauliflower
Baby carrots
1 cup water
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. mustard seed
2 tsp. dill weed
2 tsp. red pepper flakes

In sauce pan mix and bring to a boil; vinegar, sugar and water.
Slice up your zucchini and place all veggies in jars.
When mixture is boiling hot, pour over veggies in jars. Add 1 tsp. of each ingredient to both jars.
Place lids on tightly and give a little shake.
Let set it the refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours.

Roasted Garlic & Parmesan Bake

This is a simple, easy and quick casserole but DELICIOUS!

1 16oz jar of Roasted Garlic & Parmesan sauce ( I use Ragú )
1 16oz box of Rotini pasta
1 14.5 oz can of Italian diced tomatoes
Texas Toast seasoned croutons
1 stick of butter
1 Tbsp minced garlic

Cook your pasta as directed on the box. When the pasta is cooked, mix your pasta, sauce, tomatoes and minced garlic in bowl. Add a dash of salt & pepper then pour into a 9x13 baking dish. Take a hand full of your croutons, place in baggy and crush them up into bread crumbs.

Layer the croutons on top of pasta. Place 4 slices of butter, randomly on top. Bake at 350º for 15 to 20 min.

Thanks to my good friend, you know who you are, for the crouton idea!

Homemade Pizza

About 2 years ago I started making homemade pizza because ordering out just got to be to expensive for us.
My husband fell in love with my pizza so much that we never order out pizza anymore.
Here is the recipe for pizza dough that I use.

Side note, I use a Kitchen Aid, so if you don't have one be prepared to mix for a long time and work your hand into the dough.

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 cup warm water ( 105ºF to 115ºF )
2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
cornmeal
minced garlic
butter

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl. Add salt, olive oil and 2 tsp of minced garlic. Add 1 1/2 cups of flour.
Attach bowl and dough hook to mixer. Turn to speed 2 and mix about 2 min.

Continuing on speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl, about 3 min.
Knead on speed 2 about 2 min. longer.

Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.
Punch dough down.

spray your pizza pan with grease and sprinkle with cornmeal.
Press dough across bottom of pan, forming a collar around edge to hold toppings.

Melt about 3 Tbsp. butter with 1 tsp. minced garlic. Brush dough with melted garlic-butter.

Add toppings as desired. Bake at 450º for 15 to 20 min.

For my tomato and bell pepper pizza, layer cheese, sliced bell peppers and sliced tomatoes on top of each other then sprinkle with salt and pepper.


Enjoy!

Zesty Warm Salad

One of my favorite things to top off a salad with is cooked onions and bell peppers!
Add just a bit of mild salsa and YUM YUM!

To make this salad you will need

Your choice of lettuce ( I like to use iceberg because of the crunch)
2 Tbsp. Olive oil
2 Tbsp. butter
Salt & pepper
2 Tbsp. of mild Taco Bell salsa ( or whatever you have laying around)
1 whole bell pepper ( or you could use a red one )
half a yellow onion

Slice up your onions and peppers. Heat up your pan and add the butter, olive oil, onion and peppers. Add a dash of salt and pepper, while they are cooking and let them cook until wilted.
Cut up your lettuce and drizzle the salsa on top. when the onion/pepper mixture is done pour on top of salad and enjoy!

Zucchini Bread

One of my favorite snacks as a child was my mother's homemade zucchini bread.
Fresh out of the oven, I loved that first warm slice with butter on top, yum!

I am going to share with you the recipe my mother used but with just a little bit of a twist, Rachel style!

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 finely shredded unpeeled zucchini
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 egg
1 lemon ( use the zest and juice from 1 large lemon)
2 Tbsp. of orange juice


Preheat your oven to 350º
Mix all of your ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
pour into greased bread pan and bake for 55 min.

COOKIES!

Whenever I make a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies, I always have more cookies then the family knows what to do with.
After the second day of snacking on chocolate chip cookies straight, the cookies becoming this forgotten snack that seems to just sit there on the table lonely.
SO, my genius of a husband came up with an idea ( yes it's been done before but don't tell him that)

To switch things up and not let the cookies go to waist, we took some room tempter chocolate chip ice cream and smeared it in between two cookies. Wrap them up in foil or whatever you have to keep them freezer safe, let the cookie treats freeze and TADA!


Yum Yum!

So there you have it. If you are ever stuck in a leftover cookie dilemma or need to switch things up a bit, give it a try!

Acorn Squash Casserole

This casserole will take you some time, just because of how hard the Acorn Squash is but it is SO worth it!

You will need

2 Acorn Squash
1 16oz. pkg of baby carrots
1 pkg of cherry tomatoes
5 Tbsp.Olive oil ( or just eye it, give it all a good coat)
Fresh Basil
2 Tbsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. pepper

Peel and cut your uncooked acorn squash ( see I told you this would take FOREVER!) into bite size pieces.
After you have done this, without killing the person next to you, mix the acorn squash, baby carrots and cherry tomatoes in a bowl with the olive oil, salt & pepper.
Mix in cut up fresh Basil then pour into a backing dish and bake in the oven at 350º for 45 min. or untill veggies are soft!
After its done baking, toss one more time and serve worm.

Enjoy!