Spaghetti Squash Pizza

Spaghetti Squash Pizza

This is one of my favorite recipes of all time.  A go-to in this house.
You can use any ingredient you normally enjoy on pizza.

3 Cups of grated or raw zucchini
OR
3 Cups cooked spaghetti squash *this is what we always use
2 eggs beaten
2 1/2 Cups mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 Cups tomato sauce *we just use can of diced tomatoes sometimes -don't drain the juice!
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup sliced black olives (we use whole black olives!)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried  (or fresh!) basil
1 tablespoon olive oil
OPTIONAL:  1 lb browned Italian Sausage or other meat you enjoy on your pizza

1.  Cook spaghetti squash:  we cut it in half lengthwise, remove the seeds etc, place meat faced up in a glass 9 x 13 pan that has 1 inch of water in the bottom.  Microwave for 6 minutes. With a hot pad, turn them over to be face down for another 5 minutes.  Scrape the spaghetti squash strands out into a bowl and let cool.

 2.  Squeeze the excess moisture out of the grated zucchini or cooked spaghetti squash with cheese cloth or paper towels.  Mix the squash, eggs, and 1 1/2 Cups mozzarella together in a large bowl and press into the bottom of 9 x 13 baking dish.  Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.
3.  Remove the pan from the oven and spread the tomato sauce (or canned tomatoes), vegetables or other pizza toppings and the remaining cheeses over the crust.  Sprinkle with oregano and basil and drizzle the olive oil over the top.  Bake for 25 minutes (also at 350 degrees) or until cheese is lightly browned. Let cool 5 minutes.

Original recipe that we found:  Click Here

Massaged Kale Salad

Lemon Avocado Massaged Kale Salad

This is dairy, soy, gluten free, vegan, and raw... if you're interested.

I had one bite of a salad while spending the afternoon with my friend, Aly in Boulder.  One bite.  I was hooked on this "massaged kale salad".  I don't know their recipe and haven't spent any time analyzing it myself, so I just googled it.  I found one that sounded simple enough to make so I did.  It was SOOO YUMMY!  Do it... if you like the list of ingredients!  While we enjoyed it at the dinner table we talked about all the other options we could do to twist the recipe.  I can't wait to have this again.

2 Avocados - peeled, pitted, divided
juice of 2 Lemons
2 Large bunches of Kale, stems and ribs removed

Slice avocados in half lengthwise, set one half of one avocado aside.  Remove the remaining three avocado halves from their peels, place in blender (we just used immersion blender).  Juice two lemons into blender, process until creamy smooth.
Remove stems/ribs from each kale leaf, roll tightly and chiffonade.
Place in large bowl and pour lemon avocado sauce over top, use hands to massage, coating thoroughly.  Serve with reserved avocado (sliced) and tomato.  Add sea salt to taste.

Lucky Stew in the slow-cooker

My wedding gift from one of my very best friends was a beautiful cookbook that she created by asking all of the women in my life to contribute recipes to it.  It is filled with so very much love, photos, and yummy recipes.  Jack and I decided that we are now on a mission to make every single recipe in that book.  This is one of those recipes.

This recipe is from our friend, Michelle. She notes in the cookbook that they stole this recipe from Rick Bayless. You can find the original recipe here. They say that it's their go-to recipe when they want to throw something in the crock pot. They usually double it since it is always better the next day.

I re-named this recipe Lucky Stew because I was offered a job the day I made it and now I get to work with Michelle who contributed this recipe! 

I can't believe how simple this was to prepare.  I cut up the onion, tomatillos, and potatoes the night before and threw it together in the morning before work.  It was so nice to have such a savory meal to come home to. Thanks Michelle and Jeff!

Morning photo:

1 Medium yellow or white onion, sliced into rounds about 1/4 inch thick

4 Medium (about 1 lb) of potatoes (we used red) sliced about 1/4 inch thick

8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (1.5 lbs or 2 lb if bone-in)

1 cup cilantro leaves (yes, 1 cup - but it doesn't end up tasting too "cilantro-y" at all) we used a whole "bunch"

8 - 12 medium tomatillos, husked and rinsed and sliced 1/4 inch thick

1/4 cup sliced pickled jalapenos 

2 tablespoons pickling juice from the jalapenos

Spread layers of the ingredients in the slow cooker as follows, sprinkling generously with salt after each layer:  onion, potatoes, chicken thighs, cilantro, tomatillos.  Rick notes that this is the only salt in the dish, so be sure to add enough.  I sprinkled each layer as though I were just eating that.

Scatter the jalapenos over everything, then drizzle on the pickling juice.

Cover the slow cooker on high for 6 hours.  If your slow cooker is awesome like Michelle's and automatically turns to low after the timer goes off, know that it can sit on warm for another 4 hours or so before the chicken starts to overcook. 

Also: When serving, make sure to get a bunch of the awesome juice/sauce that accumulates on the bottom of the slow cooker.  If you want, you can boil this down a bit to make it even richer and thicken it a bit.  Serve as is, or on top of rice, tortilla chips, or with tortilla shells.

Evening photo:

Fresh From the Farm Dill Spread

My wedding gift from one of my very best friends was a beautiful cookbook that she created by asking all of the women in my life to contribute recipes to it.  It is filled with so very much love, photos, and yummy recipes.  Jack and I decided that we are now on a mission to make every single recipe in that book.  This is one of those recipes.

This recipe came from my pal Katie Olson!  We both grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa where you can find Dill Spread almost anywhere - even at Subway!  One night after enjoying a few adult beverages we convinced ourselves that we would one day have our own dill farm and grow enough dill to make LOTS of dill spread that we could sell to Delis in the Denver area.  There are so many of us Iowans out here that you would think that could actually work - we need to get to farming!

I just made a batch tonight but cut it down to a quarter of this recipe since I know I can't consume that much before it goes bad.  I can't wait to have it on a sandwich this week!  Enjoy!

2 Cups mayonnaise (I used light mayo)
2 Cups sour cream
4 Tablespoons parsley
4 Tablespoons of minced onion
4 teaspoons celery salt
4 teaspoons dill weed

Combine mayonnaise, sour cream, parsley, minced onion, celery salt and dill weed.  Chill.

Presentation option:
1 loaf sour dough bread
1 large oval or round dill bread

Presentation option:
Cut off the top of the round bread, reserve for lid.  Scoop our inside of oval or round bread, leaving 1 inch of bread.  Leave bread out overnight to dry.  Cut sour dough loaf into 1 inch cubes.  When ready to serve, pile dip into bread shell.  Surround with bread cubes to dip.

Skillet Rosemary Chicken

My wedding gift from one of my very best friends was a beautiful cookbook that she created by asking all of the women in my life to contribute recipes to it.  It is filled with so very much love, photos, and yummy recipes.  Jack and I decided that we are now on a mission to make every single recipe in that book.  This is one of those recipes.

My cousin, Audrey Fay submitted this recipe.  You will need to have a cast-iron skillet for this one.  Two things that would be helpful to have on hand are tongs and one of those juicer things - not the machine, but the one you can use by hand.

It sounds simple when you read the title, but when you make it and then sit down and bite into it - you will be amazed and probably add it to your favorite dinner recipes. Enjoy!

3/4 lb small red-skinned potatoes, halved, or quartered if large (I used three medium sized ones and quartered them)

Kosher salt

2 sprigs fresh rosemary, plus 1 1/2 tablespoons leaves

2 cloves garlic, smashed

Pinch of red pepper flakes

Juice of 2 lemons (squeezed - but reserve the halves!)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4-6 skin-on, bone-in, chicken thighs (6 to 8 oz. each) (we accidentally bought skinless, boneless and it was delicious all the same)

10 ounces cremini mushrooms, halved

Preheat the oven to 450.  Cover the potatoes with cold water in a saucepan and salt the water.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until tender, about 8 minutes; drain and set aside.

Pile the rosemary leaves, garlic, 2 teaspoons salt and the red pepper flakes on a cutting board, then mince and mash into a paste using a large knife.  Transfer the paste to a bowl.  Stir in the juice of 1 lemon and the olive oil.  Add the chicken and turn to coat.

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken, skin-side down, cover and cook until the skin browns, about 5 minutes.  Remove chicken from pan; add the mushrooms and potatoes to the skillet, place chicken over mushrooms and potatoes and drizzle with any marinade remaining in the bowl and the juice of the remaining lemon.

Add the rosemary sprigs and the squeezed lemon halves to the skillet; transfer to the oven and roast, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is crisp, 20 to 25 minutes.

Grey Poupon Classic Chicken Dijon

My wedding gift from one of my very best friends was a beautiful cookbook that she created by asking all of the women in my life to contribute recipes to it.  It is filled with so very much love, photos, and yummy recipes.  Jack and I decided that we are now on a mission to make every single recipe in that book.  This is one of those recipes.

My cousins and I used to love saying "Please pass the Grey Poupon" in British accents when we were little in the 80's.  This recipe was submitted by my cousin Johnny's wife, Brittney.  Thank you Brittney!

This is a SUPER simple recipe and pretty healthy too.  It is now one of our go-to recipes if we have chicken breasts on hand. The second time we made this, we threw whatever veggies we had in our veggie drawer in the refrigerator on top of the chicken to bake along with it.  It included yellow peppers, broccoli, and onions.  I recommend it!

2 Tbsp. Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard
1 Tbsp. water
1/2 tsp.garlic powder
1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning
4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix mustard, water, and seasonings.  Place chicken in shallow pan; brush with mustard mixture.  Bake 20 minutes or until chicken is done. (165 degrees)

Quinoa & Black Beans

Primarily Vegan - this is my new addiction.  It's great hot or cold.  It's great with a fried egg on top.  It's great with some chopped tomatoes and mixed greens.  It's just great... and hearty!

I got this recipe by doing a google search for quinoa side dishes and then added and subtracted ingredients until I made it my own.

Before beginning to cook this dish prepare the following:
chop the garlic and onion
roast red peppers and dice (really easy in a toaster oven- For instructions click here.)
rinse 2 cans of black beans
wash and chop kale

What you will need:
3 Cloves of garlic; minced
1 Onion chopped - I used a Vidalia onion
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 Cup Quinoa
3 1/2 Cup vegetable or chicken broth (I used water since I didn't have this - and it is still great!)
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and black pepper
a bunch of kale chopped and cleaned
1-2 red peppers roasted and diced (sauteed is fine too - but the peppers seem sweeter when roasted)
2 15 oz cans of black beans rinsed and drained
1/2 Cup of chopped up cilantro

Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add onions and garlic and cook until they are slightly browned.  While they are cooking, rinse the quinoa.  Add quinoa to the pan and stir together with garlic and onions.  Cover with vegetable broth and add cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper.  Bring this to a boil.  Cover and reduce to a simmer.  Allow to simmer for 20 minutes.  Top with kale and put a lid on in order for the kale to wilt down.  Add rinsed black beans and diced roasted red peppers.  Stir and allow to heat up for a few minutes.  Remove from the heat.  Toss with cilantro!

I made this for dinner as a side dish to our Roasted Red Pepper Soup that you can find below as the last recipe added to the blog.  We served both of these with shrimp we grilled on skewers with a Jamaican spice blend.  A great summer dinner!  In the morning I warmed some up and served it with a fried egg on top and a dash of Chalula.  So much you can do with this.  I hope you enjoy.