(Mostly) Veggie Casserole

As the holidays approach I am attempting to make smart choices with meals, since I'm pretty certain that I'll be indulging in quite a few sweets in the months to come.  I'm hoping it evens out somehow....hey a girl can dream can't she?

Anyway, I didn't really have a plan in mind when I went to the grocery store and bought a bunch of veggies.  I also didn't really have a plan in mind when I started cooking dinner; however the outcome was pretty darn good so I thought I'd share.  There are a couple of things I would do differently next time, and I'll share that too.

In this pot I poured about 2 Tbsp. EVOO.  (Extra Virgin Olive Oil).  I added some Pancetta, finely diced and brought it up to a nice sizzle.  Then I added one whole diced onion and cooked until it began so soften.  To this I added 2 cloves of minced garlic, and 2 large peeled russet potato's - diced.  I let this mixture cook for about 10 minutes to give the potatoes a head start. 

Here's where I also turned my oven on to 350 degrees.

**Next time I will use regular ol' bacon cut up into chunks.  The Pancetta got overwhelmed in here with all these veggies. Depending on how much you like bacon, you could also just omit this ingredient.

This is the point where I turned off the heat, and started to add layers.  I added salt and pepper and shredded Parmesan cheese on top of each layer.

This is the yellow zucchini layer (or yellow squash) whatever you want to call it.  I added two small sized yellow zucchini.

**here's one more step I would make a change next time.  I think cutting these cubed like would be easier to eat.

The layers can be any veggie you like, but I used Yellow Zucchini, Regular Zucchini, Mushrooms and tomatoes and topped it all off with more salt & pepper & cheese.

Oh, I also squeezed the tomatoes before cutting them to get the juices out and I'm so glad I did or this would have been way to soupy.

I cooked this for 45 minutes with the lid on, then took the lid off and cooked for 15 more minutes.

Then - I added more cheese.  I can't help myself.  It didn't look like it had enough fat in it so I added some.  I must be stopped.

This was really really good, and you can see there was still juice at the bottom of the dish.  If you want even more juice then don't squeeze one or two of the tomatoes.  That juice was really yummy sopped up with a piece of bread. Just sayin.

Here's what I did:
2 Tbsp EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil).
1 pkg. Pancetta (pre-diced) - next time I'll use bacon, probably half a regular sized package and just dice it up.
1 medium onion - diced
2 cloves garlic - minced
2 large potatoes - peeled, diced.
1 cups of grated Parmesan (or more if you like) - divided
2 small yellow zucchini - diced into the same size bites as the potatoes (I sliced them in the recipe but it was harder to eat this way)
2 small or one large regular green zucchini - diced.
3 regular tomatoes - squeezed so the seeds come out, then diced
1 container of button mushrooms, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste


Pre-heat the oven to 350.

Put the EVOO in the bottom of a large oven safe pot and turn the heat on to Medium.  Add the Pancetta (or bacon) and cook until crispy.  Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes.  Next, add the garlic and potatoes and cook for about 10 minutes or until the potatoes start to get slightly tender. 
Turn off the heat.
Add about 1/4 cup of the grated Parmesan Cheese and a little Salt and Pepper.
Top with a layer of Yellow Squash, add another 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, a little salt and pepper.
Layer on the green Zucchini with more cheese, and a little salt and pepper.
The top layer I mixed the mushrooms and the tomatoes, then added the rest of the cheese and a little more salt and pepper.
Bake with the cover on for about 45 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for about 15 more minutes.
Serve with some nice bakery bread of your choice.

Boston and Halloween!

My family and I just got back from Boston!  My hubby is from there so we went to see all of his family and show off our little two and a half year old daughter.  We had the best time.  Now that I'm back home I'll be cooking and baking and can hopefully share some great recipes for your holidays.  For now, here are a couple pictures from our trip!

Check back soon for some goodies!

Pumpkin Butterscotch Chip Cookies

Do I really need to say much here?  Pumpkin cookies, with butterscotch chips.  Yum.  The End.

Start by creaming together the shortening and sugar.

See?  Creamed.

Measure out 1 cup of pumpkin.

Plop the pumpkin in with the shortening/sugar mixture.  Add vanilla. Mix together.

Plop is a technical term.

Sift the flour into a separate bowl and add the salt...

Baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.

Slowly add the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture until its all incorporated.

Turn off your mixer and add the butterscotch chips.  You'll probably want to stir these in by hand.

Doesn't look like much dough but it makes a lot of cookies. These cookies are very sweet so you'll want to keep them relatively small.

Use a teaspoon to dollop them onto a baking sheet.  I lined mine with parchment paper but you could also spray your cookie sheet.

These cookies don't spread out in the oven like some cookies do so keep that in mind as you're putting them on the cookie sheet.  They will pretty much look the same before and after they are cooked.  The Butterscotch adds the perfect flavoring to these.  Even though they are sweet, they are also addictive!  Great fall cookie!

Here's where you can find the recipe: Pumpkin Cookies

Chicken Lasagna

Here is my attempt to eat more white meat.  I think I've mentioned in the past how I'm not a huge white meat fan.  If I'm eating white meat I need to have it pretty much covered in a sauce of some sort.  Luckily this recipe certainly fits the bill, the chicken is smothered in cheesy goodness! 

We buy the big bags of chicken from Sam's Club so these chicken breasts were frozen.  I just dunked them in some water and boiled them for about 20 minutes.  You want 2 cups of cubed cooked chicken.

While your chicken is cooking, chop up one onion and mince one garlic.

Shred about 1 cup of Parmesan cheese.

Melt 1/2 cup of butter (one stick) and add the onion and garlic. Cook until tender.

Add 1/2 cup of flour and the salt.

Mix well and then let this come to a bubble.

Add in the chicken broth, and milk and stir constantly for about 1 minute.

Add 2 cups of mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and stir until melted.

Add your basil, oregano, and black pepper and remove from the heat.

mmmmmm, cheesy.

I used the no-boil lasagna noodles but either way, here's where you start layering them.  Start with 1/3 of the cheese mixture on the bottom of the pan.  Add three lasagna noodles, top with the ricotta and chicken (which I mixed together). 

Top this with three more noodles.

Add another 1/3 of the cheese sauce on top of the noodles.

Spread the spinach on top of the cheese mixture.

Put the other 2 cups of mozzarella cheese on top of the spinach.

Add 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese on top of the mozzarella cheese. 

Here's where I apologize for not taking any more pictures until the very end.   I'm sorry....

Add three more noodles on top of the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.  Pour the remaining cheese sauce over the noodles.  Sprinkle with parsley and the remaining 1/4 Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in a pre-heated oven.

 May I also apologize for not taking a very good "end" shot.  My reasoning is good however, this lasagna smelled so good that when it came out of the oven I just served and dived in - then remembered to take a quick picture before I finished it off.  I know you'll be able to relate when you try this.  It's that good.  I'm just sayin.  Try it.  Soon.

Here's where you can find the recipe: White Cheese Chicken Lasagna

Pumpkin Creme Pies - Whoopie Pies

I've always wanted to try to make whoopie pies but I've just never gotten around to it.  While searching one of my favorite recipe sites I came across this pumpkin creme pie and decided it was the perfect time to dive into fall and also try a recipe I've been meaning to.  These are super yummy, very moist, and very sweet!  The filling is a little different than a normal whoopie pie because its a cream cheese base but I think you'll agree that its mighty tasty.  Some of the reviews I read on this switched up the filling with some regular frosting which might be good also.  The next time I try this recipe I'm going to attempt to just do it by dolloping the dough on parchment paper instead of doing this circular pattern for each.  I read another review who did this and they just needed to cook them slightly longer.  If you try these, let me know!

My handy helper was very useful while making this recipe since I could use both hands on the camera. Although the mess was much bigger so I'm not sure how much of a trade off it was!

In this bowl: brown sugar, white sugar, vegetable oil, and 1 can of pumpkin.

After mixing the wet ingredients first, add each egg separately; mixing well after each egg.

In a separate bowl add the flour...

Salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and ground ginger.

Now slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients being careful not to over mix.  Just mix until all the ingredients are moist.

That looks right.

Now use a frosting decoraters bag, or a zip lock with a corner cut out and fill the bag will dough.  Its easiest if you put the bag in a tall drinking glass and fold the edges down over the glass until its full, then pull the edges up.

Now pipe the dough in a circular motion so they are all the same size.  The original recipe called for cutting squares out of the parchment paper therefore helping to ensure they were all the same size, but that sounded like way to much work for me.  However, parchment paper is a MUST.  These little babies can be sticky.

Let them cool for just a minute on the parchment paper before moving them to a cooling rack.

Lets start on the filling shall we?  One 8 oz package of cream cheese, and one stick of butter both at room temperature.

Add one 16 oz package of confectioners sugar.

Add 3 drops of vanilla extract and 2 shakes of cinnamon.

Slather this on one of the cooled cakes, and top it with another one.

Even though it does feel like there are a lot of steps to make these, they are super easy and I would hate for you not to try these just because of that.  Also, don't forget that some people just dolloped this onto the parchment paper and didn't bother with the piping of the dough at all.  I'll try that next time for sure. 

Here's where you can find the recipe: Pumpkin Creme Pies