Garden Veggies and a Recipe. . . .

Our garden is coming along and I have learned a few things:  1. we cannot grow Brussels sprouts in the Summer, 2. cauliflower needs shade, and 3. I love cucumbers.  I am sad our pod people did not grow, we will try them again in the fall.  I do not think we will try cauliflower again, it seems futile.  On the upside my herb garden is doing wonderfully, I have dried lots of oregano, basil and sage.  Mark dug our potatoes and onions and we have them stored.  We have our first zucchini and I made an amazing pasta with it the other night, I will share that recipe at the end of this post.  I do believe the hubbs and I could live out of our garden, the boys on the other hand, require meat and other stuff. They are broadening their pallets though, with some veggies.  Our cucumbers are coming in like crazy, cannot wait to do some pickles with my very own fresh dill.  There is just nothing better than fresh veggies and herbs. 
Update on Sprat, we got to meet the girlfriend this week.  She came for a visit and Sprat took her on the sweet tea tour of our little area.  She is from the Boston area and this was her first trip to the South.  Sprat took her to all of his stomping grounds and local watering holes.  She went to Church with them ( I was working) yesterday and then to watch adult lacrosse Summer league.  She had not seen Sprat play lacrosse at school since his season was cut short with the school closing. 

Here is my Zucchini recipe:

2-3 zucchini sliced thin
1 box angel hair pasta
2 cloves garlic pressed
2 onions sliced
4 Basil leaves torn
3 stems of lemon thyme
olive oil
white wine

Saute garlic and onions in olive oil and then set aside,  add sliced zucchini to the oil and saute until tender add a little wine and continue cooking.  Add back the garlic and onions that you set aside and simmer then add Basil and Thyme with another splash of white wine and cover to simmer a little longer.  Boil your pasta and when it is done throw it in  with your Zucchini another dash of wine and cover on low. 
You can add mushrooms, peppers and pea pods if you would like.  I did not have those on hand the other night.
Serve with some fresh grated Parmesan cheese. 

Garden Crazy. . .

The cucumbers and zucchini are really going strong now.  I thought I would share a couple of recipes that I am using to keep up.  Yesterday I made my yummy zucchini cornbread casserole with jalapeno peppers.  I had to use my peppers from the freezer because our peppers are not ready yet.  I have been eating our cucumbers just with a little salt.  Now that they are really going strong I needed a recipe that would use more than one.
I was reading something on the Internet the other day about cucumbers and their health benefits.  I thought I would share some since cucumbers are going to be in full swing in the next few weeks.  One point was relieve joint pain (arthritis) and inflammation, as I have gotten older I have noticed my knees aching more and my hands sore at times.  I am willing to try anything that is natural for joint pain and I love cucumbers so this is a no brainer for me.  This article also said it helps with weight loss, this one I am more skeptical about but I have seen several posts about cucumber water on Pinterest lately.    It is also supposed to help blood pressure, diabetes, hydrate the body, and reduce cholesterol.  I love cucumbers and I always have, I am not sure that I believe all of what they said cucumbers can do but they are very tasty.
I fixed these the other day:
3 cucumbers peeled and sliced (thick)
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tbsp dill
1 or 2 garlic cloves or 2 tsp garlic powder
1 jalapeno pepper
3 small onions sliced
I used a large mason jar and put my vinegar in then added my cucumber slices, dill, onion, and pepper (whole), then filled with water.  It was hard to leave them in the fridge because I wanted to eat them right then.   I held off for 2 hours and tasted, they were good but the longer they sit the better they get.  I love these!!

We have a lot of zucchini too so, I decided I would make zucchini muffins.  This is not the original recipe, as usual I tweaked it just a bit.
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 egg beaten
2 1/2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp molasses
1 cup finely chopped zucchini
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Combine first six ingredients and set aside.  Combine egg and oil then stir into dry ingredients.  Fold in zucchini and chocolate chips.  Oil your muffin cups bake 350 for 20-25 minutes or until pick comes out clean.

Below is my cucumber vinegar combo:

Whacky Wednesday. . .

We are eating pizza tonight but I would like to share a recipe with you of a favorite zucchini casserole.   This one is in honor of our garden that is growing and will hopefully produce some fabulous zucchini.
Here is what you will need:
2-3 medium zucchini chopped
1 can green chillis chopped or
1-2 fresh jalapeno peppers chopped
1 medium onion chopped
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 box jiffy corn muffin mix
2 egg beaten
Dash or two of texas pete

Mix your zucchini,  chilis or peppers, onion, dash of Pete.  Add your eggs and muffin mix then add the cheese.   Spoon into casserole dish and bake at 350 for at least 60 minutes or until bubbly and browning.  You can also add some extra cheese on top toward the end of baking.  I made 6 of these last year and froze them.  If you want to freeze them bake for 30 minutes and let cool completely,  then cover with plastic wrap and cover with foil and freeze.  I have one left in my freezer and we are eating it tomorrow.
Here is a shot of our garden with a huge thank you again to my brother-in-law for getting it going.

Graden cooking. . .

Our garden is goung crazy!!  I have zucchini and cucumbers coming out of my ears.  I have been searching for recipes for them both.    I have my one tried and true zucchin casserole that I absolutely love.   I have added a zucchini bread recipe I found on pinterst that is really good.   So far I have 4 zucchini casseroles in the freezer, one zucchini bread, and one mountain stew ( ground meat, carrots, cabbage, and potatoes in tomato base).  Cabbage and potatoes out of the garden too.
Here is my zucchini casserole recipe:
4 cups shred zucchini
1onion chopped
2 eggs beaten
1 box jiffy corn muffin mix
3 jalapeno peppers chopped or a can of green chiles.
4 oz cheddar cheese grated in casserole
4oz cheddar cheese grated to go on top
Mix everything together and top with cheese.

Bake 350 for an hour.  If you are going to freeze bake 30 minutes then cool completely and then freeze.
One of my faves!!!!

I will share my cucumber recipes next post.  Stay tuned.

Zucchini and other garden goodies. . .

We have a lot of zucchini out of the garden this year.  I have been making a good zucchini cornbread casserole.  At least 2 zucchini chopped fine, add 2 eggs, and a cup of shredded cheese and a box of jiffy corn muffin mix.  Mix all of this together and sprinkle top with a 1/2 cup of shredded cheese and bake at 375 for at least 40 minutes or until golden brown.  When we have jalapenos I add a couple of them chopped up fine and only a few seeds for some added heat.  This is a good casserole.  It keeps well in the fridge if you have left overs.  I eat it cold the next day for breakfast most of the time.
I made some zucchini bread last night and it was good too.  I like the casserole better.  We are freezing peas for later and I also made some mountain stew to freeze for this winter.  Mountain stew is really good.  Brown some ground beef and throw it in the crock pot.  Add some tomato sauce, I like to add a little V8 juice, cumin, chili powder, dry mustard, cilantro, garlic powder, onion powder.  Add carrots, some cut up potatoes, and some chopped cabbage and cook over night in the crock pot on med high.   This is a great hearty stew and good served with sour cream and shredded cheese with tortilla chips or crackers.   The carrots, potatoes, and cabbage soak up the flavor of the stew and make this really good.