summer squash series {2- summer vegetable tian}

Summers in ENC are spent eating fresh veggies from everyone's garden.  I feel like we will never have to have a garden because of the things that we get from our family and friends.  Squash is a staple at our house in the summer.  There are a million ways to cook squash.  Over the next few days, I will share a few ways we have cooked squash.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium yellow onion

1 tsp minced garlic

1 medium zucchini

1 medium yellow squash

1 medium potato

1 medium tomato

1 tsp dried thyme

salt & pepper to taste

1 cup shredded Italian cheese.

Instructions

-  Preheat oven to 400.  Finely dice the onion and mince the garlic. Saute both in a skillet with olive oil until softened (about five minutes).
-  While the onion and garlic are sauteing, thinly slice the rest of the vegetables.
-  Spray the inside of an 8×8 square or round baking dish with non-stick spray. Spread the softened onion and garlic in the bottom of the dish. Place the thinly sliced vegetables in the baking dish vertically, in an alternating pattern. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, and thyme.
-  Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, top with cheese and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.

summer squash series {1- squash bake}

Summers in ENC are spent eating fresh veggies from everyone's garden.  I feel like we will never have to have a garden because of the things that we get from our family and friends.  Squash is a staple at our house in the summer.  There are a million ways to cook it.  Over the next few days, I will share a few of our favorite ways.

Squash Bake

This is a twist on something similar to a dish Ryan ate when he was younger.  I am sure it not exactly like his Mom and Grandma use to make it.  He loves it though so I keep cooking it.

Ingredients
At least 4 medium squash
1 medium onion sliced
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Instructions
-  Throw sliced squash in a baking dish.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
-  Top squash with a layer of sliced onion.
-  Pour the stewed tomatoes over the squash and onions.  I like to run my stewed tomatoes through the food processor or blender to break up the really big tomatoes.  
-  Top with shredded cheddar cheese.
-  Cover and bake on 350 for 30 minutes.
-  Uncover and bake or broil until cheese is bubbly.

Sweet Baby Ray's Crock-Pot Chicken

This has easily become one of the girls favorite chicken dinners.

It is so easy and I feel like we always have this stuff without having to run to the grocery store.

I found the recipe on Pinterest but thought I would put it here so I don't lose it.

Sweet Baby Ray's Crock-Pot Chicken

4-6 chicken breasts
1 bottle Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp garlic powder

Directions
1.  Mix everything but the chicken.
2.  Place chicken in the crock-pot.  **I actually sprinkle my chicken with salt and pepper then quickly sear it on both sides before putting it in the crock-pot.
3.  Pour sauce mixture over chicken.
4.  Cook on low 4-6 hours.

Bacon, Cheddar, Ranch Potatoes

Ingredients

~ 1- 16oz container sour cream

~ 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

~ 4-6 slices of bacon, cooked (you can use a bag of real bacon bits that you find on the salad dressing aisle at the grocery store.  However, we prefer the real bacon.  It takes no time to cook in the microwave.  My general rule is 1 minute in the microwave per slice of bacon.  4 slices of bacon= 4 minutes)

~ 1 package Ranch Dip mix

~ 1 package Ore-Ida Southern Style Hash Browns (They are the little cubed hash brown potatoes)  ***NOTE:  You will only use 1/2 of the bag.  To use the whole bag, you will double the other ingredients***

Directions

1.  Combine the sour cream and Ranch Dip mix.

2.  Add cheese and cooked bacon to the Ranch mix.

3.  Add 1/2 package of Hash Browns to the ranch dip mix.

4.  Spread into 8x8 casserole dish.

5.  Bake at 400 for 45-60 minutes or until potatoes are very tender.

Adapted from:  http://www.plainchicken.com/2011/01/crack-potatoes.html

Cream Cheese Potato Salad

Ingredients

- 3 lbs. new red potatoes, quartered
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian dressing
- 1 tub reduced fat Philadelphia Italian Herb and Cheese Cooking Creme
- bunch of green onion
- 1 box frozen spinach
- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

Directions

1.  You have to options 1.) Place potatoes in a 2-qt. microwaveable dish.  Add water; cover with lid.  Microwave on high for 12 to 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.  Drain. OR 2.) Boil the potatoes until tender.  Drain.

2.  Place potatoes in a large bowl.  Toss and coat with the Zesty Italian dressing.

3.  Mix the tub of Philadelphia Cooking Creme in as well.  If you do this while the potatoes are still warm it makes it much easier.  It melt the cooking creme making it easy to stir.

4.  Cook the spinach according to the box directions.  Drain the spinach completely.  Use a dish towel to twist the water out of the spinach.  Add the spinach to the potato, dressing, cream cheese mixture.

5.  Refrigerate for at least one hour.

6.  Before serving, stir the potato salad.  Then add green onion and fresh Parmesan to the top.



Adapted from: http://www.kraftbrands.com/philly/recipes/cooking-creme/recipe-of-the-month/Pages/may-2012.aspx

Something Similar to Logan's Teriyaki Club Steak

Ingredients
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 5 oz. soy sauce (or 10 tbsp)
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 cup pineapple juice (I just used the juice from the canned sliced pineapple)
- sliced pineapple (I used Del Monte canned pineapple rings)
- Steaks (we had New York strips)


In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients but the pineapple and steaks (save those for later).


Place steaks in a ziploc bag and pour marinade over top.


Throw a pineapple ring or two in there if you wish.


Seal and refrigerate overnight or for at least 6 hours.


Grill steaks and left over pineapple rings.


Serve and enjoy!




Credit:  http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1815,132191-246194,00.html

Paula Deen's Garlicy Basil Shrimp Skewers

These are AMAZING...

Ingredients:
1/3 cup veggie oil
1/3 cup OJ
1/4 cup minced fresh basil
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 pounds peeled and deveined fresh shrimp
1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions:
In a large ziplock bag, combine first 7 ingredients, add shrimp, seal bag, refrigerate for at least 2 hours, but 4 hours max. Soak 16-20 (10 inch) wooden skewers in water to cover for 30 minutes; drain. Preheat grill to high heat (500). Remove shripm from marinade, discard marinade, thread shrimp on skewers. Brush shrimp with melted butter and grill for 1-2 minutes per side or until shrimp are pink and firm. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Parmesan Zucchini Bake

In the summer, we are overloaded with fresh veggies.

One of those veggies being zucchini.

The other night I threw together a dish that was so yummy!

Slice 4-5 zucchini into little sticks.

Place sticks in baking dish.

Add tiny pats of butter throughout the mound of zucchini.

Pour Kraft Parmesan cheese all of the zucchini.

Bake covered on 350 for about 30 minutes or until zucchini is tender.

Uncover and broil until cheese is crispy and brown on top.

Super easy and super yummy!

** For a less fat, use EVOO instead of butter. ;-)

Dried butter beans.

I was suppose to take pictures but totally forgot. I will take some next time I cook them.
--------------

Ingredients
1 bag of dried baby limas
Water
1 roll of Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage
Salt and pepper to taste


Instructions
- I normally put my butter beans in the crock pot in the morning. Just pour your butter beans in the crock pot and fill the crock pot with enough water to cover the beans. You will have to watch them though because the beans will suck up a large amount of water.
- Turn your crock pot on high, cover, and let cook. Again, be sure to check your water level often. Add water if necessary.
- Add your seasonings once the beans become soft.
- An hour before you are ready to eat, cook your hot sausage. Just fry it in the fry pan like you would ground hamburger. Sausage cooks fast and burns easily so be careful. Just cook it slow.
- Drain the sausage because it will be super greasy.
- Throw the cooked sausage into the crock-pot with the beans.
- I normally turn them on low at this point.
- *Note: I like for my butter beans to be the consistency of a runny mashed potato. I don't want them too watery but I don't like them very thick either. Use your own judgement and add water if necessary.
- Serve with Texas Pete, ketchup, and crackers.

Enjoy!

Hailey's Shrimp & Grits

We love shrimp and grits and this is the recipe I threw together.


Ingredients

1 cup Old Mill of Guilford grits {yellow}
3 cups of water
salt
pepper
cheese
butter
green onion

smoked sausage, cut into medallions
one medium onion, chopped
one medium green pepper, chopped
1 lb bag frozen cooked shrimp, thawed
Old Bay Blackened Seasoning
1 tsp fresh minced garlic
Cajun seasoning

Directions

Saute onion and green pepper in butter. Once soft, throw in smoked sausage and saute until smoked sausage is a little brown.

Coat shrimp with blackened seasoning and Cajun seasoning. Add 1 tsp of minced garlic. Stir to coat well. Let sit for a few minutes.

Boil 3 cups of water. Once boiling, add salt and grits. Stir constantly. Cook about 10-15 minutes until thick. Once they start to thicken, I add a splash of milk. Once thick, add butter {we use lots} and cheese {we use lots}. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add green onion.

Throw your shrimp on the grill until pink. It usually only takes them about 3 minutes.

Build your shrimp and grits. Grits on the bottom, shrimp, onion/green pepper/sausage mixture.

Enjoy!

Caramel Popcorn.

Ingredients

• 1 large package microwave popcorn (to yield 10-12 cups)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup w/ real vanilla {I use Karo}
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar

1.Prepare popcorn according to package directions. Pour into a serving bowl.

2.Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in corn syrup and brown sugar.

3.When the sugar is dissolved, and the mixture turns a caramel color, remove from heat and pour over poppped popcorn. Toss to coat well.

Dough Ornaments

*********Pictures to come***************

Materials

- 1/2 cup salt
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup water
- Rolling pin
- Cookie sheet
- Toothpick
- Miniature cookie cutters: star and Christmas tree
- Washable paints: green, yellow, and various colors of your choice for tree ornaments
- Glitter glue or glitter paint
- ribbon

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

2. Mix together, salt, flour, and water until dough is formed.

3. Knead the dough on a floured surface until the mixture is elastic and smooth. If dough is too sticky, sprinkle with flour, continue to do so until stickiness is gone. Do not add too much flour, this will dry out the dough and will cause it to crack before you get a chance to bake it.

4. Roll out the dough to about ¼” thick with a rolling pin that has been dusted with flour.

5. Use cookie cutters to cut out as many trees and stars as you want.

6. Use a toothpick to make a hole toward the top of the shape. Poke the toothpick into the shape, then holding toothpick straight up and down, make a circular motion as if you were stirring something. Keep circling until the hole is the size you want. {I omit this step because my ornaments are so little. I just hot glue ribbon on the back after they are painted and dry.}

7. Place all shapes onto an ungreased cookie sheet and place into the preheated oven.

8. Bake for 2 hours.

9. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

10. Paint the ornaments.

11. When paint is dry, use glitter glue or glitter paint to put a sparkling cover coat on your ornaments.

12. When dry, thread ribbon through hole and tie in a knot in the back OR hot glue ribbon to the back like we did.

13. Hang on your tree, give as gifts, use as decoration on presents. The possibilities are endless.

Chocolate Bark

• 1 sleeve of saltine crackers
• 1 cup butter
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 12 oz semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper, folding the edges up so the sides are covered as well. Lay the saltines in a single layer on the parchment paper.

3. Melt butter and brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium to medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Adjust temperature as necessary. Pour butter-brown sugar mixture over the saltine crackers. Spread the mixture evenly, working quickly as it will begin to cool. Put jelly roll pan in over and bake for 15 minutes.

4. Remove the pan from oven and immediately sprinkle with the chocolate chips. Wait a few minutes for the chips to soften from the heat. When the chips are soft enough, spread them evenly over the entire layer of sugar covered crackers.

5. Put the pan into the refrigerator and refrigerate for one hour. When the bark has finished cooling, remove the pan from refrigerator. Using your hands or a pizza cutter, break or cut the bark into pieces.

6. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. If layering the bark, place sheets of waxed paper between the layers to prevent sticking

Pineapple Upside-Down Biscuits.

Another one of my favorite Paula Deen desserts.

Ingredients
1 (10-ounce) can crushed pineapple
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature
10 maraschino cherries
1 (12-ounce) package refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (10 count)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Grease 10 cups of a muffin tin. Strain the can of crushed pineapple, save juice for later. Combine the pineapple, sugar, and butter, and mix well. Divide the pineapple mixture among the muffin cups. Place a cherry in the center of each muffin cup, making sure cherry hits bottom of cup. Place 1 biscuit in each cup on top of sugar and pineapple mixture. Spoon 1 teaspoon reserved pineapple juice over each biscuit. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden. Cool for 2 minutes. Invert the pan onto a plate to release the biscuits. Serve warm.

Gorilla Bread

Carrie posted that she made Monkey Bread the other day. It reminded me about how much I LOVE it!

I thought I would share my recipe. Really, it is Paula Deen's recipe but whatevs. She calls it Gorilla Bread not Monkey Bread.

Ingredients

1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
2 (12-ounce) cans refrigerated biscuits (10 count)
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts I use pecans

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon. In a saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar over low heat, stirring well; set aside. Cut the cream cheese into 20 equal cubes. Press the biscuits out with your fingers and sprinkle each with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar. Place a cube of cream cheese in the center of each biscuit, wrapping and sealing the dough around the cream cheese. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the nuts into the bottom of the bundt pan. Place half of the prepared biscuits in the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, pour half of the melted butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle on 1/2 cup of nuts. Layer the remaining biscuits on top, sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar, pour the remaining butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of nuts. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Place a plate on top and invert.

Question

Last time we were down at the beach, Ryan and I ate at Ruddy Ducks. It is super delicious and I highly recommend it.

I just got a cheeseburger {cheese, ranch, and jalapenos} with chips and salsa.

Ryan got a chicken and seafood gumbo that was to die for.

Do y'all have any good gumbo recipes? I'm talking something super easy to make. I would probably only use shrimp and chicken in the gumbo.

This gumbo also tasted like it had a chicken broth in it.

Please help!

Catalina Chicken.

We had nothing to cook for dinner.

We had chicken.

We had salad dressing.

I googled Catalina Chicken. Found lots of recipes. Threw a few together and made my own.

Here you go.

1. Season boneless, skinless chicken breasts with garlic salt and cracked black pepper.

2. Place 2 Tbsp. of oil into pan. Cook chicken for 4 minutes on each side.

3. Place chicken breasts in a casserole dish.


4. In a separate bowl mix together 1/2 cup Catalina dressing and 1/2 packet of French Onion Soup mix.


5. Pour Catalina mixture over top of chicken breasts.


6. Cook on 350 until chicken is cooked through. {It only took my three chicken breasts about 15-20 minutes.}

I forgot to take a picture of the actual finished product. Here is a partial view. We had chicken, mac & cheese {staple at our house}, asparagus, and crescent rolls. You can see everything here except the asparagus. Caroline and Ryan fought over it and ate every last one. Weirdos.

Paula Deen's Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients
1 pound cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.

Honey Baked Chicken

Ingredients
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 Tbsp butter
1 cup honey
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp prepared mustard

Directions
Season chicken. (I just use a little garlic salt and lots of cracked pepper)

Place the chicken in a greased or foil-lined baking dish. Bake uncovered at 325 degrees for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine butter, honey, salt and mustard. Cooke and stir over low heat until well blended and heated through.

Once your chicken has cooked for 30 minutes, take it out of oven. Pour honey mixture over the chicken.

Bake the chicken again, uncovered, 30-35 minutes or until a meat thermometer reaches 170 degrees.

Baste (or spoon mixture over mixture) before serving.

Honey Bun Cake

Ingredients
- Box yellow cake mix
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream (8 oz. container)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1 cup pecans

Icing
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 4 Tbsp milk
- 1 Tbsp vanilla flavoring

Directions
Mix cake mix, oil, 1/2 cup sugar, 4 eggs, and sour cream together.

Pour half of the batter into a cake pan.

Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans together. Pour over batter and swirl with a knife.

Pour remaining batter over brown sugar mixture. Bake on 325 for 40 minutes.

For the icing: Whisk together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth.

Once cake is done, poke cake with a fork and drizzle icing over the cake while the cake is still hot.