Our Favorite Ways to Enjoy Zucchini

/

Our garden is in full swing, and the zucchini plants are producing like crazy. While I’ve been exploring new ways to put it to use—like this Spaghetti with Crispy Zucchini or these Japanese Zucchini—here are my tried-and-true favorite recipes that incorporate zucchini.

Korean Beef Bowls with Spiralized Zucchini

One of the meals we have regularly around here are these Korean Beef Bowls with Spiralized Zucchini Noodles. It’s a favorite meal with our kids, and they ask for it often. I usually double the sauce and the amount of zucchini noodles. I have the Spiralizer attachment for my KitchenAid, which makes quick work of the job, and I highly recommend it!

Roasted with Garlic Salt

As a side dish, zucchini is perfect roasted with garlic salt. I toss it with olive oil, sprinkle with garlic salt, and pop it in the oven for 20 minutes at 425º. We usually grill brats or some sort of marinated chicken to go with it.

Cheesy Zucchini & Bacon Quiche

Inspired by our favorite Spinach, Bacon, Gouda Quiche, I decided to make Zucchini, Bacon, Gouda Quiche, and it was a big hit. It goes great with a Balsamic Side Salad (with lettuce from the garden) or Roasted Potatoes. I didn’t really use a recipe for my version, but I’d like to try this Caramelized Onion, Gruyere, and Zucchini Quiche or this Zucchini, Bacon, and Gruyere Quiche. (You could totally substitute gouda cheese in place of the gruyere in the latter recipe.)

Minestrone Soup

As the weather starts to turn chilly in the fall, I love to make Minestrone Soup. This is one of my favorite soup recipes in general, but I am definitely looking forward to it with fresh zucchini from our garden!

Zucchini Bread

If you are looking for a change from traditional Zucchini Bread, bake up a batch of Chocolate Zucchini Bread. It’s so decadent and a nice change from other ways to use up zucchini!

Now tell me, what are your favorite ways to eat zucchini?

Thanksgiving Menu Ideas

/

Beautiful fall foliage arrangement via the Kirkland’s blog

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It’s low-key and full to the brim with comfort food! What’s not to like?! I also really like that it feels like an exclamation mark to the end of fall, and from there I can turn my attention to Christmas and winter-time. Without further ado, here’s what’s on our menu this year.

Thanksgiving Menu

I am really digging the idea of a Cheese and Fruit Tray as a late lunch / appetizer on Thanksgiving Day. We have guests coming, and I think this would be a great option to have in the fridge for when they arrive.

In terms of the main meal, we will make a Blue Moon Brined Turkey. We have made this for years, and it always turns out well. Naturally, we have to make mashed potatoes and stuffing (because is it even Thanksgiving without it?!)

I’ve been thinking about a kale salad with blue cheese for a while now, so this Kale Salad with Bacon and Blue Cheese seems like a great opportunity to make a big one with festive cranberries.

We make this Orange Bourbon Cranberry Sauce every year. It is so good! I recommend you serve it warm.

I am thinking about making this classic Green Bean Casserole as a side dish as well.

For dessert, we will make our beloved cheesecake, but I seriously considered trying to talk Dylan into this Rustic Pear Baked Custard. It looks tasty, and I like that it’s different than the traditional pumpkin pie. I might find an excuse to make it another time this holiday season.

So tell me, what’s on your must-make list this Thanksgiving?

And in case you are interested, here are my Tips for Throwing a Party and Thanksgiving Dessert Ideas if Pumpkin Pie Isn’t Your Thing.

What's on the Menu—June

/

My favorite month is here! Here’s what’s on our menu—

Week of June 1

M—Leftovers

T—Burgers and Potato Chips

W—Bruschetta Chicken served over Spaghetti Noodles (I just use a store-bought Balsamic Glaze instead of making my own. It saves a lot of time and tastes way better.)

TH—Chipotle Beef Bowls (these are so good!)

F—Quesadillas and Aztec Salsa (also one of our favorites)

S—Grilled Tandoori Chicken

Su—Mexican Bow Ties (hoping to share this recipe soon)

Week of June 8

M—Leftovers

T—Pasta with Sausage, Peppers, and Rao’s Marinara Sauce

W—Taco Bowls (Finn requested these. I use ground beef with taco seasoning, and then let everyone pick their own toppings: avocado, corn, black beans, shredded cheese, and cilantro)

TH—Pierogi Sheet Pan Meal

F—Italian Pork Sandwiches (the recipe calls for chicken, but I like to use pork loin; use fresh red peppers if you can’t find roasted ones. Add black olives.)

S—I would love to try this Dan Dan Noodle recipe, but it’s probably too spicy for my kids. So we’ll see. Maybe we’ll get chinese takeout instead. :)

Su—Takeout and Homemade Birthday Cake because it’s my birthday!

Week of June 15

M—Leftovers

T—Tuscan Pasta Salad (add spicy italian sausage and leave out blue cheese; great for leftovers for lunch during the week)

W—Takeout

TH—Grilled Hawaiian Chicken and Teriyaki Bowls

F—Skirt Steak with Pinto Beans

S—Snacky Dinner (we pull out cheese, crackers, and some fruits and veggies for this)

Su—Dinner at Dylan’s parent’s house to celebrate Father’s Day

Week of June 22

M—Sticky Sesame Ginger Meatballs (hopefully these taste as good as they look!)

T—Grilled Brats

W—Moo Shu Pork Tacos

TH—Leftovers or Takeout

F—Greek Chicken Bowls

S—Mediterranean Lamb Burgers

Su—Pizza (takeout or homemade)

Week of June 29

M—Spicy Tuna Cakes (these are another favorite in our house)

T—Glazed Five Spice Burger (We haven’t made these in a long time, but we remember them being really tasty.)

Do you have any fun plans this month, or new recipes you’re hoping to try out? I’d love to hear!

What's on the Menu—April

/

So…for the last two months I have made a monthly meal plan. This is new for me because I usually plan one week at a time (and that’s how I grocery shop too). I wanted to try out planning for the whole month, though, to see if it would give me a better view of the whole month, keeping our overarching grocery budget in mind. It was hard to get started, but once I sat down and looked at our schedule, I was able to plug in different meal ideas, taking into account ingredients I could use for more than one meal. Obviously there ends up being some flex from week to week, depending on what we are wanting to eat or what we didn’t get to the week before, but it’s definitely simplified my Sunday night weekly planning/grocery list because I just see what was on my menu, see what else is left from the prior week, and then plug it into my grocery list. Here’s what I came up with for this month….

Image via Anne Sage

Week of April 6

M—Chicken Mushroom Pasta (a combo of this recipe and this recipe)

T—Tuna Cakes with Jalapeno and Cilantro

W—Homemade Pizza and Salad with some Talenti Gelato for Penelope’s Birthday

TH—Brats and Strawberry Cupcakes for Finn’s Birthday

F—Slow Cooker Chicken Tamale Chili

S—Leftovers or Eating Out

Su—Braised Pork and Mashed Potatoes for a special Easter dinner. And if you need a good dessert idea, we love Pineapple Upside Down Cake for a refreshing spring dessert!

Week of April 13

M—Pasta Carbonara with Peas and Spicy Sausage

T—Salmon Sandwiches

W—Sweet Asian Chili Chicken Stir Fry + Store-bought Eggrolls

TH—Leftovers or Eating Out

F—Korean Beef Bowls

S—Chicken Tikka Masala

Su—Leftovers

Week of April 20

M—Unstuffed Spicy Tomato Basil Shells

T—Shrimp & Pineapple Kabobs

W—Bruschetta Chicken

TH—Eating out or Leftovers

F—Mexican Stuffed Peppers (I add ground beef)

S—Leftovers

Su—Sheet Pan Steak Fajitas

Week of April 27

M—Curried Chicken Sandwiches

T—Calzones (I usually use Italian Sausage, Green Peppers, and Mushrooms as my filling.)

W—Beef and Broccoli Ramen

TH—Eating Out

P.S. This is a favorite of ours if you are looking for a different salmon recipe—Honey, Garlic, Butter Salmon served with Angel Hair Pasta and Roasted Broccoli. It’s sooo good!

What's on the Menu

/

I hope you had a nice weekend! Ours was pretty good. It’s been cold here, so we hung out around the house on Saturday, except for a quick trip to the bookstore. Dylan had a gift card from Christmas, and we let the kids each pick a book too. On Sunday, we went to brunch after church, and then I worked on this menu and wiped down our sticky, sticky counters. I had intended to put the kid’s clothes away to start the week with all the laundry in drawers, ready to wear, but I didn’t get to it before they went to bed. Oh well. There’s always tomorrow. :)

Here’s what’s on the menu.

I’m going to make a batch of our favorite chili for dinner on Monday and then to have for lunches throughout the week. It’s so good, and makes a huge batch! Sometimes I freeze half to make another week.

Dylan gets home late on Tuesday night, so I’ll have something quick with the kids. We usually do quesadillas or a snacky-dinner with whatever cheese, crackers, fruits, and veggies we have in the fridge.

Wednesday night, I’m excited to try this recipe for Chicken Meatballs with Peppers and Orzo. It looks tasty, and I don’t cook with chicken sausage often, so I think it will be a nice change of pace for us.

Thursday night will either be leftovers, or this Bruschetta Chicken over Angel Hair Pasta. (If I don’t make the chicken this night, I’ll make it on Sunday.)

And then Friday night, it’s a pizza party! After I made the BBQ Chicken & Corn Pizza last week, Dylan asked if I could make a Goat Cheese & Sausage Pizza. I’m always happy to oblige a pizza request. :) I’m going to use this recipe, but reduce the mushrooms and add sweet italian sausage.

Dylan’s dad’s birthday was a few weeks ago, so we’re having his parents over for dinner on Saturday to give him our present. We’re going to make Spicy Pork Meatball Bahn Mi. Funny story: the last time I made this, I was pregnant with Penelope, and the smell of the leftovers in our fridge was unbearable to me. It made me gag every time I walked past the closed fridge. I made Dylan take them to work. So…it will be interesting to make them again, but mostly I’m excited! It’s such a good recipe, a bit labor intensive, but so good!

Are you making anything new this week?