It has been a busy time for me and I am sure everyone else is right there with me! Since it has been over a month since my last post I have quite a bit to share. Here’s hoping you find something of use and by all means, please share your recipes, hacks and craftiness with all of us in the comments.
Recipes
You might get the idea that I frequent fruit stands during harvest time when you look at these recipes and you would be correct!
Cold spaghetti Salad
1 lb. spaghetti noodles (broken in halves or thirds) black olives (chopped or sliced) cucumber (diced) red onion (diced) green pepper (diced) cherry tomatoes (cut in half) parmesan cheese Italian dressing
I cooked the pasta el dente and diced all the veggies. I didn’t put amounts here as I just put in as much as I wanted. When it looked good to me, I stopped. I put the noodles, once cold, in a bowl and then added the veggies. To that I added the Italian dressing and the parmesan and tossed. I reserved some dressing to add just prior to serving as so much gets absorbed.
Breakfast Burrito the Easy Way
I am attaching a link as it is so much easier to watch than to explain. I tried it for my son and it came out great! Side note, you should follow the Pun Guys and their wives on any of the social media. They’re great!
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?extid=NS-UNK-UNK-UNK-UNK_GK0T-GK1C&v=797095441297711
Corn and Zucchini Fritters *gonnawantseconds.com
- 2 cups zucchini grated with skin on
- ▢1 cup corn cooked corn kernels or canned sweet corn
- ▢2 large eggs
- ▢½ cups all-purpose flour
- ▢1 cup cheddar mild or sharp, grated
- ▢1 medium garlic clove minced
- ▢¼ cups green onions or chives chopped
- ▢1 teaspoon salt
- ▢¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ▢½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- ▢¼ teaspoon cumin
- ▢½ teaspoon seasoned salt
- Grate the zucchini and transfer it to a colander. Season with a teaspoon of salt and let stand for 15-30 minutes. Press down on the zucchini (2 cups) to remove as much liquid as possible. Lay zucchini out on a clean dish towel and wring towel to squeeze out more moisture, Repeat with another clean towel until no more liquid comes out.
- Transfer zucchini to a large bowl and add all the rest of the ingredients. Stir until thoroughly combined.
- Heat a little cooking oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add about 1 heaping tablespoon of batter to the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side or until crispy and golden brown. If you want more uniform shapes, spread out the batter quickly with the back of the spoon and even out the edges into a round shape. Cook fritters in batches and keep warm in a preheated oven at 400°F until ready to serve.
- Serve warm with parsley or green onions, sour cream, or ketchup.
Zucchini Bread *foodcharlatan.com
Everyone has access to some version of a recipe for this item but this is the first one I tried that had sour cream and it was DELISH!
Bowl 1
- 2 cups all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 & 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom, optional
- 2 cups shredded zucchini, 12 ounces, about 2 zucchini
Bowl 2
- 1/2 cup butter, (1 stick) melted
- 1/4 cup neutral oil, vegetable oil, canola oil, light olive oil, etc
- 3/4 cup brown sugar*, packed
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Optional
- 1 cup chocolate chips, I used half mini, half dark chocolate chopped
- 3/4 cup toasted walnuts, or pecans
- 1 tablespoon raw sugar, or granulated sugar, to top bread
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line one 9×5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper, or grease well with nonstick spray.
- If you plan to add nuts to your bread, toast them now. Spread about 3/4 cup chopped nuts on a dry baking sheet. Toast at 350 for about 5 minutes. Stir the nuts and continue baking in 2 minute intervals, stirring every time, until the nuts are browned and very fragrant.** Set aside to cool.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl combine the dry ingredients: 2 cups all purpose flour (spooned and leveled), 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon cardamom. Whisk together and set aside.
- Mix the wet ingredients. Add 1/2 cup butter (1 stick) to a large microwave safe bowl. Melt the butter in the microwave.
- Add 1/4 cup oil, 3/4 cup brown sugar*, 1/4 cup sour cream, 2 eggs, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Whisk together until combined.
- Add the zucchini to the bowl of dry ingredients and stir together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix only until just combined.
- If you plan to add (1 cup) chocolate chips*** or (3/4 cup) nuts, add them to the batter before the flour is even all the way mixed in, see photos. Then stir together with a spatula with as few strokes as possible. Over mixing the batter will result in tough bread.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Top your loaf with 1 tablespoon raw or granulated sugar, or a scatter of chocolate chips (or both! But use sparingly, if you add too much it will weigh down your loaf so that it doesn’t rise well.)
- Bake the bread in the center of the oven at 350 for about 60 minutes. The bread is done when a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center comes out with no batter on it.You may need to bake the bread for up to 70 or even 80 minutes, so prepare to be patient. Do not take it out of the oven until a toothpick comes out clean. (Be sure that you’re not seeing chocolate if you used chocolate chips) Cover your bread with foil as it finishes baking if it is getting over browned.
- Let your bread cool in the pan set on a wire rack for 15 minutes. At this point, if you used parchment paper, lift your bread out of the pan and let finish cooling on a wire rack. If you didn’t use parchment paper, let cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Then flip the bread into your hand or a plate, then transfer back to the cooling rack. Let finish cooling on it’s side for extra crispy edges.
Veggie Pinwheel Appetizers *peasandcrayons.com
- 1 cup chopped veggies: broccoli, carrots, red bell pepper
- 4 oz cream cheese (softened)
- 1/3 cup mayo
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp dried dill
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 2 large burrito-sized flour tortillas
- 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 2 TBSP chopped green onion
- Choose and chop your veggies. I mince mine extra small so there’s a little bit of everything in each tasty bite.
- Allow cream cheese to soften for easy mixing. In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, mayo, garlic powder, dill, salt and pepper.
- For easy rolling, microwave tortillas for 15-20 seconds first. Spread on cream cheese mixture and sprinkle evenly with veggies, cheese, and chopped onion.
- Start at the edge of the tortilla and roll it, tightly, until you reach the opposite side.
- The cream cheese will help it stick. Fasten with a toothpick or two and chill in the freezer for 20 minutes to set.. Feel free to chill overnight in the fridge (tightly wrapped or in a storage container) if making these in advance for easy. meal/snack prep.
- All that’s left is to slice into pinwheels and serve!
*when I made these I just used 3 colors of bell peppers diced instead of the veggies listed. So I think you could use any combo you would like.
Crafts
I used a skull drinking cup and flowers from Dollar Tree for this. I removed the cap and straw rom the cup and put black ribbon around the neck. Before placing the flowers in, I filled the cup 2/3 full with uncooked rice to weight it down. Then I just added the flowers and there you go!
I went to a few thrift stores and collected two bundt pans and a large jello mold. I spray painted them all a burnt orange. I tied ribbon through the middle and made a big loop for hanging. Then it was just to embellesh as I desired. All the ribbon, flowers and leaves came from Dollar Tree and most I had on hand. This one wreath was made for less than $5.
Who remembers Cousin Itt from the Addams Family? I love this little guy! This summer I had purchased 2 grass skirts from Dollar Tree in anticipation of doing this project. I also bought the sunglasses there. The hat was another story. I had to buy it for $12.99 from the Spirit store. All together this cost $16. I hot glued the skirts inside the hat and put the hat ontop of a tall candle stick I had. I put glue on the nose of the glasses and the hinges of the bows. I held it in place a couple minutes for the glue to set and “Itt” was done.
All of us girls have to take a bath now and again! This stylish lady is wearingg a black turbin (made out of tulle and glued in place) and has an orange bath pouf (also made with tulle). I purchased the tub at a thrift store and filled about 2/3 of it with tissue paper. Ontop of the paper I spread 2 bags of glass beads from Dollar Tree. I ordered the skeleton from Amazon as I needed one where all the joints were moveable and I couldn’t find one locally. She is divine!
I used a twelve inch wreath form from Dollar Tree and wound the loopy orange yarn (purchased from Amazon) around it. The yarn was anchored with a knot at the beginning and the end. I used hot glue to attach the embellishments that I already had on hand.
This didn’t take much craftiness at all. I just found the perfect Fall orange vase at a thrift store and used the colorful sunflowers I had on hand to fill it. The flowers are anchored in floral foam. The best part is not only that it is pretty but it only cost $2.
This guy right here ties with Cousin Itt for my favorite item! I picked up the frame a long time ago really cheap. I spray painted it black. I tied an orange ribbon like a bow tie for this cool fella. He is holding a sign that I had in my stash and wrote on with a chalk pen. The flowers, bow and jack-o-lantern were all items from Dollar Tree that I had on hand. The only thing I spent money on was the skeleton and mini Corona bottle from Amazon. He greets all my visitors!
Hackity, Hackity, Hacks
*If you are like me and use your coffee grinder for things other than coffee like spices here is a trick to clean it. Just use Cheerios! Grind them in the grinder maybe one batch and possibly a second and your grinder is clean as a whistle!
*Grilling season is all but over but I discovered a little trick that I want to share. I always start a grease fire when grilling burgers. I have tried lining the grate withw foil but I usually poke a hole in the foil when turning the burgers. A cheap foil disposable pan from Dollar Tree was the solution! i grilled them in the pan until nearly done and most grease was out. Then I put them on the grate to get some grill marks.
*I bet you’re like me and sometimes forget to take butter out of the frig to soften and desperately want to butter your bread. Usually microwaving it melts a little too much of it. You can use your box grater right over the item you want to butter and grate the end of your stick of butter until you have the desired amount on your bread. Presto, change-o! buttered toast or bread
*Have you ever been dinged with a late fee on a credit card or other bill? Usually by calling or emailing customer service you can have the fee waived as a courtesy, providing it is not a frequent thing.
*If you want to read books free, download the free Libby app to access your local library. Download books on your phone, tablet, computer or ipad.
*Stop paying for subscriptions you forgot you had. Download the Truebill app. The app will locate all your subscriptions and list them for you. If you see any you no longer want Truebill will cancel them on your behalf.
*Make Thursday night a pantry night to save on food waste. Use the items you have on hand to create your dinner. Americans waste 30 to 40% of their food supply by not using it until it is inedible. Thursday pantry nights can help lower that percentage.
* Going along with that last hack, create an “eat me first” section in your refrigerator. Use this section for things like little end nubs of cheese blocks, a lemon that needs used soon, a half serving of leftover pasta, etc.
*Check local gas prices on your phone with apps like GasBuddy orWaze. You can compare prices and head where the best price is (providing you don’t have to drive too far).
* Share streaming services. Check the ones you have and have your family members do the same. Usually, these services allow a certain number of “household members” or “family members”. See how many you can have and share services and cost.
Hope you enjoyed this post and I will see you next month with more “stuff”. Keep warm and dry!
