Southwestern Chicken & Black Bean Soup

Zucchini Recipes You'll Love

I love zucchini and I've been trying out different dishes on my family.   
In the summer I'm always looking for different recipes to make with fresh vegetables. 

I've found three recipes that my whole family likes, hope you like them too.   


Four-Cheese Zucchini Strata

ingredients

• 4medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch slices (about 5 cups)
• 2tablespoons olive oil
• 8cups garlic-flavor Italian flatbread (focaccia) cut into bite-size pieces
• 1cup shredded provolone cheese (4 ounces)
• 1cup shredded white cheddar cheese (4 ounces)
• 1/2cup crumbled feta cheese (2 ounces)
• 1/2cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 7eggs, lightly beaten
• 2cups milk 
• 2tablespoons snipped fresh parsley
• 1/2teaspoon salt
• 1/2teaspoon ground black pepper
• Snipped fresh parsley (optional)

• directions

1.Lightly grease a 3-quart rectangular or oval baking dish; set aside. In an extra-large skillet cook zucchini in hot oil over medium-high heat until light brown, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Place half of the bread pieces in the prepared baking dish. Top with half of the zuchini and half of each of the cheeses. Repeat layers.

2.In a large bowl combine eggs, milk, parsley, salt, and pepper. Pour evenly over layers in baking dish. Using the back of a large spoon, gently press down on layers. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 2 to 24 hours.

3.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Remove plastic wrap. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until set and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 170 degrees F. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with additional parsley if desired.

Zucchine Pizza Boats

Slice the zucchini in half. Slice off the bottom to keep in stable. 

Brush with olive oil and top with garlic or garlic powder. 

Top with sliced tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste. 

Use mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese or mixed blend.. 

Bake 375 for 20 to 30 minutes until soft.

Zucchine Parmesan Crisps

Ingredients

1	lb. zucchini or squash (about 2 medium-sized)
¼	cup shredded parmesan (heaping)
¼	cup Panko breadcrumbs (heaping)
1	tablespoon olive oil
¼	teaspoon kosher salt
	freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with foil and spray lightly with vegetable spray. Slice zucchini or squash into 1/4 inch-thick rounds. Toss rounds with oil, coating well. In a wide bowl or plate, combine breadcrumbs, parmesan, salt and pepper. Place rounds in parmesan-breadcrumb mixture, coating both sides of each round, pressing to adhere. The mixture will not completely cover each round, but provides a light coating on each side. Place rounds in a single layer on baking sheets. Sprinkle any remaining breadcrumb mixture over the rounds. Bake for about 22 to 27 minutes, until golden brown. (There is no need to flip them during baking -- they crisp up on both sides as is.)

Craftastic Tuesday

Wow, this holiday weekend really flew by.   It was super busy and then it was over.  

No fair, I want more!

Well since I can't make the weekend last longer I guess I could show you

 some of the things Jacob and I did for fun. 

We decided to create something.  I have saved a ton of Similac

Formula cans for "someday" when I'd use them for "something".

You know what I mean, you just save everything and hope that someday inspiration 

will smack you in the face and you will create a masterpiece, lol.

Well, it happened.   Of the 3,999,999 formula cans I've saved, 

I've finally used 1.

  We created this cute little supply holder.  

This was super easy and so much fun to share with Jacob.

Supplies:  crayons, glue, empty can, ribbon tape measure.
That's all!

We spent about an hour making this cutie.  

Jacob had to taste test a few of the crayons so we used a few extra of those for munchies.  

And no crafting project is complete without some snacks, right?

So we made some chocolate chip cookies.   

I love cookies when they are warm straight from the oven. 

Ummmmm, warm, melty chocolate.  Can't you just taste them?

Oops, I'm making myself hungry again.

After a day of cookies and crafts we decided a nature hike sounded good.

We took a 4 hour hike and Jacob loved it. I thought he would give

out after an hour or so but he just kept on going.  Me, well

I gave out and was exhausted.  But we had a blast.

Jacob spied this huge tree and couldn't wait to climb on it.

Did I say climb, I meant fall off of it. lol

Then climb up and fall off it again and again.

All boy.

We did stop and smell the roses for awhile.

Isn't this yellow rose beautiful.  I just love roses.

Jacob likes to touch the petals with one fat little finger.

He's so cute when he does that, he's very gentle.

I've taught him that in stores we only touch things with one

finger so we don't break it, so now he touches everything with one finger.

This cute little duck was swimming in the lake making all kinds of noise.

It followed us around the lake for a long time and Jacob

loved it.  He wanted to take it home with us of course.

Thank goodness the lake only went so far, right.

We found this adorable little baby bunny hiding under some old grass.
What a cutie.  We just looked, no touching.  

Then we finally went home and just crashed.
I'm such a wuss in my old age, the kids keep going and I'm
whining about how everything aches.
Oh well, living the dream?


We had a great weekend.  Hope all of you did too.
Thanks for visiting me today and have a wonderful rest of the day.

Till next time
Angel