Zucchini-Beef Tacos

So what do you do when you have a fridge full of zucchini, kids that don't want to eat it as a side dish, and a desire to not bake it into desserts and zucchini bread?


You stick it in everything else you can think of, of course!

This actually turned out really good, and the kiddos just ate it right up as if it were regular beefy taco meat.  (Which actually means that my meat-eaters liked it and my non-meat eaters wouldn't touch it because they don't eat beef...)

So how did I do it?  There's no recipe here because I know you can handle this one without it.  It's really hard to screw up.

First you start to cook your ground beef (or turkey) just like you would any other day you were making tacos.  If you like to add a little onion or garlic, add it in.  Just cook it like usual.  Then, when there's just a little pink left in the meat, dump in the grated zucchini.  (Hint: If your ground beef/turkey is fatty and there's a lot of grease in the pan, drain your meat before adding in the zucchini.)

Then you mix it up and keep cooking.  What you see pictured here is a little over 1/2 lb. of ground beef and one medium zucchini, grated.

Cook until the meat is no longer pink, then add in your usual taco seasoning and water.

Cook and stir until the extra water has cooked out, then serve in tacos, taco salads, or whatever you normally use the taco meat for.   It's excellent!

Avocado-Lime Pico De Gallo

It's almost embarrassing that it has been a month since my last post.  I don't know how the time gets away from me!  Actually, I do.  I used to blog at night after my kids went to bed.  Lately I've been walking with my neighbor and my dog most nights around 8:30, and since I'm pregnant and tired, I'm in bed by 10:00.  It's a severe strain on my blogging time, let me tell you!

I know I promised you a bread recipe next (for those of you who DID save your potato water from those garlic mashed potatoes), but I'm going to break that promise for two good reasons.  First, it's been hot around here lately, and I don't know about you but when it's hot outside the last thing I feel like doing is turning on my oven for any reason.  But second, and even more important is that this stuff tastes so freakin' good that I couldn't wait another minute to blog about it.  I ate the first batch I made for lunch today with some tortilla chips - the whole batch!  I didn't even wait for the flavors to blend in the fridge first.  To hide my crime I had to make an additional batch to have with our tacos tomorrow night.  Shame on me, but it tasted oh so good!


Avocado Lime Pico De Gallo

1 can diced tomatoes
3 green onions
40-50 leaves of cilantro (about 6 or 7 sprigs)
1 1/2 jalapeno peppers
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 avocado

Who would have thought that these simple ingredients could bring such pleasure?

Open the tomatoes and dump them into a strainer in the sink.  DO NOT RINSE WITH WATER.  However, you do want to get the extra juiciness out as much as possible, so shake your strainer just a bit.  As you can see, you'll have some tomato-juice-splatters to clean up later.

Next, let's pour those tomatoes gently onto a cutting board.

I like my tomatoes chopped a little smaller than the can of regular diced tomatoes has them.  One solution for this is to use petite diced tomatoes, but I didn't have any on hand today.  So I opted to just chop them a little more once they had drained.

Next, scrape them into a small bowl.  See how they are still juicy around the edges?  This is good!

 Next we'll do the green onions.  Take three and wash them.  Cut off the very end where the roots come out and about 3 inches or so above that.  Discard both ends and keep the middle.

 We want the green onions finely chopped, and since I don't have a food processor that will do it for me, I start by slicing each green onion down the middle.

 Next I take my knife and cut off slices about 1-2 mm thick.  Voila - we have finely chopped green onion to add to the bowl!

 Now let's move on to the cilantro.  Pick off about 40-50 leaves and chop roughly on the cutting board.  You're done!  Add it to the bowl.

 For the jalapeno peppers, you will start by slicing them down the middle and "seeding" them, which is an easy way of saying cut out the middle parts and keep the outside.  If you're a sissy about spicy stuff like I am, you want to make sure you keep the seeds out of the bowl, so once I have seeded them I rinse them with water to get all the random seeds off of the outer part.

 Next, cut each half into skinny slices.  As you can see, my half was cut into about 8 pieces, which is pretty slim!

 And then we're going to chop each bunch of slices into small pieces, just like the onion only slightly bigger.  And we have... finely chopped jalapenos.  Fancy, eh?

 Once you've added the green onion, cilantro, and jalapeno to the bowl you can also toss in your garlic powder, salt, and lime juice.

 Mix well.
Looks pretty, right?
Well, we're not done yet!

 The reason I have added the avocado last is because you don't want to add it right away unless you're serving this the same day.  A plain avocado will turn brown once it's exposed to the air - kind of like a banana - so unless I'm eating this the day I make it, I won't add it in just yet.  However, when you get ready, here's how you chop that avocado without making a mess.

First, cut the avocado in half lengthwise and remove the pit.  Then, using a small knife, cut the avocado flesh into small cubes, being careful not to cut all the way through the skin of the avocado.  What you see should look something like this:

 Next you're going to take a large soup spoon and scrape it along the inside of the avocado peel.  This will scoop that diced avocado right out of the peel and into the bowl...

 ... leaving you with an empty skin.

 Mix in the avocado and you're done! 

Now.  Here's where it get's tricky.  You're supposed to let things like this sit for about 30 minutes or so before you eat them so the flavors will "marry" properly.  If you think you can wait, you go right ahead.  But me?  I usually go ahead and start eating this stuff right away with my tortilla chips.  It's also a great topping to put on your tacos, nachos, or any other Mexican dish.

Spicy Kale Soup

This is one of those recipes that The Honey calls "chick food".  He doesn't like split pea soup, either.  Or any soup that is pureed.  Or green.  What can I say - this is the man that loves Sloppy Joe sandwiches, remember?  However, the one time I convinced him to eat it for dinner, he admitted that it was surprisingly (he was surprised - not me!) tasty.  It may not sound like much of a testimonial, but it's the one I'm most proud of because it was the hardest to earn.

Although this soup looks remarkably like split pea soup, trust me when I tell you it tastes nothing like it.  It's a great blend of vegetables, including a couple of potatoes to make it creamy when it's pureed.  And the kale adds some great flavor to it, though I must admit that I'm not a big fan of kale by itself.  Add in your red pepper flakes and sour cream and you have a delicious bowl of tasty goodness that has a little kick to it.  And as an added bonus, has less than half the calories of a bowl of split pea soup.


Spicy Kale Soup
(Yields about 7 1-1/2 c. servings, about 100 calories each)

4 c. chicken broth
2 potatoes, peeled
2 carrots
1 large onion
2 crowns broccoli
1 bell pepper, red or green
1 bunch kale (about 6-7 leaves)
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt/pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1/2 tsp. thyme
pinch of red pepper flakes
3/4 c. light sour cream

Pour chicken broth into a large soup pot (with a lid) and place over medium heat.  Chop or slice all of the vegetables except the kale as desired and add to the pot.  You don't have to make it look too pretty because you'll be pureeing the soup, but remember you want the veggies to cook quickly, so be sure to chop the tougher vegetables, such as the carrots, into thin slices to they'll cook faster.

While vegetables are simmering, wash kale and separate the leafy part from the woody stem.

Chop the leafy part.

Add to the pot on top of the other vegetables.  This should fill your pot up significantly.  Do not try to stir it in just yet.

Put the lid on the pot and simmer for about 10-15 minutes.  See how much prettier it looks?

Now you can stir it in.  Add the minced garlic and salt/pepper.

Continue simmering veggies another 30-45 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender.

Now it's time to puree the soup.  I don't have a nice big food processor, but my blender works just fine.  I have to do about half at a time.

Puree for about 45-60 seconds, or until soup is smooth.

Return pureed soup to the pot and add red pepper flakes, celery salt, and thyme. Continue simmering over medium-low heat.

I'm kind of a baby when it comes to spicy things, so I just add a pinch of the red pepper flakes - maybe 1/4 teaspoon?  If you like hot, feel free to jump it up a notch and add more. You can also add the red pepper flakes BEFORE you puree it to release the spicy in the red pepper a little more intensely.  I did that once.  Never again.  I'm a wimp, remember?

Then stir in your sour cream.

When you don't see the creamy swirls any more you know it's mixed well and ready to eat.

If desired, add some cooked sausage to your bowl just before serving.

Easy Grilled Corn on the Cob

I love - and I do mean love - good corn on the cob. By good, I mean fresh. Like you-have-to-shuck-the-corn-yourself fresh. And to me it's not about how you season it. It's about the texture and flavor of the crisp, crunchy, yet amazingly tender and sweet corn that I can eat right off the cob. You can't get that from the frozen stuff. Which means I am doomed to a lifetime of buying the corn that I have to shuck myself.

This has always seemed like a lot of hard work to me. You have to buy the corn, shuck the corn, pick off all the random strands of corn silk, fill a big pot with water, boil the water, and cook the corn. Made me feel like the Little Red Hen. And then you had to hope you didn't over-cook it and make it mushy. Too much drama. So corn on the cob became a luxury in my house that we didn't get too often.

All that changed a couple of summers ago when we bought our first grill. It was a charcoal grill (because that was cheapest), and I used it to grill as often as I could. I had heard rumors of being able to grill corn right in the husk so one day I gave it a shot.

Ooh, la la! It was cooked to perfection every time. And as an added bonus, it was super-easy to shuck! The corn silk came right off with the husk in a neat clump. And now that we have a gas grill it's even easier. This is one of those things that is hard to screw up. As far as I know, the only way it's even possible is if you under-cook the corn but I have yet to experience that.

First, you must wrap the corn (in the husk!) in aluminum foil.

Next, throw it on the grill for about 20 minutes. Often we'll grill some chicken or something else for dinner to, so we'll cook the corn for about 10-15 minutes on the bottom rack, then move it to the top rack for another 10 minutes while the meat is cooking on the bottom.

IMPORTANT:
When you remove the corn from the grill, it will be hot. Amazing, but true. I highly recommend allowing the corn to cool for about 20-30 minutes before shucking and serving. Your fingers will thank you. If you can't wait, however, just be prepared for toasty fingertips.
If you don't have time to wait, I suggest placing the cooked corn (still in the foil) in a sink of cold water for about 5 minutes to cool it enough to shuck without burning your fingers.

When you open the foil, the outside of the corn should look browned like this:

Remove the husk and admire the beautiful corn, cooked to perfection. Season as desired. We generally just roll our corn on a stick of butter and eat!

Garden Spagetti Sauce

I don't know why I didn't get a picture of this spaghetti sauce actually ON the pasta. It's not really all that appetizing looking at a glop of spaghetti sauce in the pot. Oh well! I guess when I make it again I'll just have to snag one.

One of my main purposes in making this spaghetti sauce is to hide as many veggies as possible in the sauce without actually letting the sauce taste like anything but the tomatoes. Who wants "carrot-sauce" on their noodles? Not me! But The Honey and I are lovers of mushrooms, so I will confess we didn't try to hide those. Otherwise they would have been pureed as well. The kidlets can pick them out if they want. I'd hate for them to think we spoil them...

This is also a great meatless spaghetti sauce for those of you who don't like chunks of ground beef or turkey in your sauce but want something hearty and slightly chunky. And if you like meat in your spaghetti? Just throw in a few meatballs and you're good to go!

One other note: it may seem like we do spaghetti a lot at our house. And it's true, we probably have it about every 2-3 weeks. Part of the reason for this is because you can throw it in the crock pot before church and it's ready when you get home. Great reason, don't you think? But it's also because it's an inexpensive meal that will feed our family and a guest family. So those of you who have had the opportunity to come over and eat my spaghetti... now you know my little secret. We're feeding you cheap food. But we're trying to live on a budget and love having company over. It's a win-win situation when you cook up a pot of spaghetti!


Garden Spaghetti Sauce
(I've never measured it out of the pot, but it makes about 8 servings of 3/4 c. each. Each serving of sauce is about 110 calories. 1 cup cooked spaghetti noodles is about 220 calories.)

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
2 c. sliced, steamed veggies
12 oz. tomato paste
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
Salt/pepper to taste
3 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp vinegar
2 tsp pizza seasoning

Pour can of diced tomatoes into blender and puree. Pour half the puree into the pot and keep the other half in the blender to puree with the other veggies. (If you like your sauce with tomato chunks, only puree half the can.)

Slice about 2 cups of desired veggies and steam in the microwave. I used zucchini and carrots this time, but I have also done yellow squash. I'm sure you could use just about anything, though I wouldn't recommend corn for what (I would hope) are obvious reasons...

Add steamed veggies to the blender.

Puree for about a minute, or until there are no longer any recognizable chunks if you're trying to hide veggies from your kids. If you just want a chunky garden sauce, just pulse the blender until you get the veggies down to the desired consistency. Pour into pot with the tomato puree and add tomato paste.

Preheat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add diced onion and cook until almost translucent.

Add fresh mushrooms and sprinkle a layer of salt/pepper or Nature's Seasons over the mushrooms.

Cook until mushrooms are done. You'll know the mushrooms are done when they start making "juice" in the pan rather than absorbing it. If you don't know what I mean, try it and you'll see.

Finally, add mushroom mixture and all remaining ingredients to the pot. Stir well and let simmer as long as you can. If making it in the crock pot, generally 4-5 hours on low heat is plenty of time.