We picked up some acorn squash at the Farmers Market – this is one of Brett’s fall favorites. I usually just roast it as a side dish with melted butter and brown sugar. This time, I decided to find a more exciting recipe and use it as a vegetarian main dish. After all, acorn squash is a bit of a seasonal splurge, so we should make it the star of the meal!

There are a lot of stuffed squash recipes to be found, but one stood out with simple ingredients and a unique concept – Roasted Corn Pudding in Acorn Squash. It was easy to make and quite delicious. There is supposed to be cheese sprinkled on top according to the recipe, but I didn’t have any and I’d skip it next time, too.

I served it with garlic toast, and it was a very filling dinner. I also saved energy by cooking it all in the toaster oven. The two halves of the squash fit perfectly.

Before Hannah was born, I had some friends offer to set up a calendar for people to bring meals for the first few weeks. I told them that since I wasn’t actually giving birth, I thought I’d really be fine and I didn’t want to impose on anyone. Luckily, they convinced me to let them set up the calendar for a couple meals per week. And wow, were they right! I may not have been physically recovering from giving birth, but with the sleep deprivation, the lifestyle changes and the stream of visitors (which we were also very thankful for), it was such a blessing to not have to plan and cook a meal every night.

Having been the grateful recipient of meals showing up on my doorstep, I make a sincere effort to “pay it forward” and to sign up to take meals to others. Our church uses the CareCalendar website (if you are not familiar with it, it’s amazing). I sign up on an open day, and it sends me email reminders.

Then there’s always the question – what do I take? On the CareCalendar, I look at the meals around my day to see what others are planning. If the person two days before me is taking chicken spaghetti, I don’t want to take chicken spaghetti. I would probably even choose something with beef to have some variety.

There are some people at the church who are faithful in delivering meals, and they have a signature dish – Brenda apparently has some amazing roast chicken. I like to mix it up depending on the other meals, so I don’t think I’ve actually taken the same meal twice. Some meals in the past:

• homemade macaroni and cheese with ham and broccoli
• baked spaghetti – sides of salad and garlic bread with muffins for the next morning
• rotisserie chicken ($5 from Costco) – with homemade sides of mac and cheese, zucchini gratin and apple cake
• stuffed shells with meat sauce – with salad and garlic bread, also cookie dough for whenever
• breakfast for dinner – hashbrown casserole (that’s a breakfast item here in Texas), sausage, pumpkin muffins and fruit
• enchiladas – sides of spanish rice and bean and corn salad
• taco night – with chips, spanish rice, black beans and cookie dough

Most recently, I went with a dish I was introduced to here in Texas – King Ranch Chicken Casserole. I found a “healthified” version online that is easy to make and is quite tasty. I did the chicken breasts in the slow cooker then just mixed the ingredients and baked it.

One of my other meal-taking tricks – if there are two different families in need of meals in the same month, I sign up for the same day or one day apart. That way I can make the same meal times three and we all get to eat with one meal’s worth of work. So there was a lot of King Ranch Casserole going on.

I’m looking forward to winter when I can do some soups because of their easy packability. One of our favorite meals that was delivered to us was the Chicken Verde Soup.

I think it’s good to have several options of go-to to-go meals because of the variety of dietary needs. Someone doesn’t like onions, someone doesn’t like spicy food, some family doesn’t eat beef, one family is totally vegetarian, another is gluten-free. Bring it on! My kitchen has seen a lot of different meals, and I’m sure I’ve got one to fit.

Now that I’m fairly confident in planning meals to take, I should take the extra step and have meals in the freezer ready for a need. I have several meals for our family in the freezer, but they are un-glamorously stashed in gallon bags with Sharpie scrawls across the front indicating the contents (or not, sometimes it’s a mystery). It wouldn’t be hard to have at least one meal in a decent, take-able form for instant hospitality to-go.

So I don’t have it perfected yet, but I hope these ideas may encourage you to help out a family who needs a cooking break. It’s not difficult and it will be immensely appreciated.

I could always use more ideas – what are your favorite portable meals?

I’ve been pondering canning. It seems like the ultimate homemaker activity, even above baking bread. Of course, to make the most sense of canning, this accomplished homemaker would ideally have also mastered gardening and would commence canning to preserve her backyard bounty.

I have no backyard bounty. I don’t even have grass in my backyard. It’s not really my fault; it has only rained one day in the last four months. But I digress.

After reading about the actual process of canning, I was concerned that any activity with lots of peelers, knives and huge pots of boiling water might not be good with a toddler around. Then, a couple articles mentioned “freezer canning.” Hey, I have a freezer! But I don’t have anything to actually can. A helpful article suggested analyzing what your family eats the most of and starting there. For us, that would be applesauce and tomato sauce. The former sounded less messy.

At the farmer’s market, we stopped at a local orchard’s stand and picked up about 5 lbs. of their “special” apples for only $5. The ones that are 95% perfect-looking, 100% perfect for applesauce. Just look at the photo above, gorgeous!

While Hannah was at school, I tackled the peeling and chopping. It was tedious but didn’t take too long.

The sliced apples filled my slow cooker about 3/4’s full. I added a small amount of apple juice as cooking liquid and a sprinkle of cinnamon (after taking the picture).

After 5 hours on low, I let it cool then used the immersion blender to get a consistent texture. A couple days ago, I found these official “freezer canning jars” and decided to give them a try. They were a good price, are BPA-free and have twisty lids.

Yes, there is a spoon in the partial jar. That one didn’t make it past dinner. So I have two in the freezer, and we are seriously looking forward to consuming those in the future. Hannah’s comment: “more, more, more.”

According to my calculations, even though I got a great deal on the locally-grown, low spray apples, buying organic applesauce is still cheaper. But this tastes way better. Tough call there.

Do you have any canning experiences to share? Should I attempt the boiling vats and glass jars?

I recently read the autobiography of a missionary to Morocco. One food item kept appearing over and over – lentils. So, to get a more authentic experience after reading the book, I found a recipe for Moroccan Lentil Soup. I chose this one because it had easy ingredients and utilizes my favorite appliance, my slow-cooker. The originator of the recipe wrote of her difficulty actually finding lentils in the grocery store. I will brag a little that I am no stranger to lentils and know exactly where to find them; for this recipe I hit up the bulk bins.

The smell was tantalizing us all day, very fall-ish with all the spices. And it tasted great! Hannah prefers her food ingredients to be separated, but even she ate quite a bit. She really liked the carrots; I should have put more in.

The bread is a whole wheat sourdough we picked up at the farmer’s market. The soup recipe makes a lot, so we have nice big bowl-fulls and more for freezing. Yum!

For our recent trip to Oklahoma, my mother-in-law, Denise, made a batch of “Caramel Puffs.” These are basically like caramel corn except you use corn puffs instead of popcorn. So yes, this is basically sugar on air – yum! These didn’t last long with our group; I was lucky to be able to snap a photo before the bowl was emptied. All that crunchy, sweet, and salty goodness.

Caramel Corn Puffs

• 2 bags Corn Puffs
• 2 sticks butter/margarine
• 1/2 c. light Karo syrup
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda

Butter two large pans. Spread corn puffs evenly on pans.

In a large saucepan, mix butter, syrup and brown sugar. Bring to a boil; boil for 2 mins. stirring constantly. Remove pan from heat. Add 1 tsp baking soda. Mixture will froth up. Pour over corn puffs. Stir to coat.

Bake in 250 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread onto wax paper to cool.

While in Oklahoma with the extended family, we took turns cooking dinner each night. My sister- and brother-in-law grilled burgers and introduced us to Allegro marinade. This stuff is good! I picked some up as soon as we got home and planned to do an Asian-inspired summer cookout. The Hot and Spicy marinade’s ingredients are basically soy sauce, lime juice, garlic and red pepper – perfect for an Asian burger. Main dish done.

The side dish made me think for a while. There are several recipes for Asian coleslaws, but I wanted something new to try. We picked up some cucumbers at the Farmer’s Market, and my sister gave me a recipe for Sesame Cucumber Salad. Side dish done.

The burgers were spicy and juicy, and the cucumber salad was cold, crisp and tangy. Serious yum. Brett also grilled some mushroom skewers, and we added some kettle-cooked chips because they’re just really good. He pronounced these his favorite cucumbers ever. We enjoyed mixing Asian flavors with American cookout staples for this tasty summer meal.

This is a surprising combination, but really good! My Grandma Ava shared that she likes to mix about a cup of grated zucchini in with brownie batter and gets lots of compliments. This makes brownies a health food, right? And talk about easy and affordable – a brownie mix and a zucchini don’t break the clock or the bank.

As strange as it sounds, I found several recipes that combine chocolate and zucchini. Here are a few:

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread – from Paula Deen, ’nuf said

Zucchini Chocolate Rum Cake – intriguing!

Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes – from 101 Cookbooks, cupcakes are always fun

Another delicious recipe from my mom, Joyce. I am not a fan of raw zucchini, but this sounds so good I’m definitely going to give it a try.

Raw zucchini salad? You are probably thinking about those oversized zucchini rounds on the grocery store salad bar. Put aside those spongy seedy discs and check this out!

The chef/instructor at a cooking class recently prepared this recipe, and we all became converts. The recipe uses a base of ingredients that I almost always have in my kitchen, and variations are listed below.

Note – This is NOT a way to utilize monster zucchini. They have thick skins, huge seedy areas and a spongy texture, unlike the smaller version.

Shaved Zucchini Salad with Almonds, Lemon and Parmesan

From Chef Paige Vandegrift

• 2 lbs. small zucchini (preferably weighing 3-4 ounces each), washed and dried, ends trimmed away
• 3 oz. Parmesan, shaved with a vegetable peeler (or just buy the shaved Parmesan at the store in the deli department – don’t sub with the grated variety)
• 2 oz. (a generous ½ cup) sliced almonds, lightly toasted
• 2-4 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2-4 T extra virgin olive oil, divided
• Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
• ½ C (not packed) Italian Parsley, very coarsely chopped

Using a mandoline slicer (and being very very careful), slice the zucchini thinly lengthwise (less than 1/16^th inch thick, if possible). Place in a large bowl with 2/3 of the shaved Parmesan, plus the almonds and the parsley. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Drizzle 2 T of lemon juice over. Toss and add more lemon and salt as necessary. Add 2 T of olive oil and toss again. Taste and correct the seasoning. The salad should be a bit on the tangy side.

Divide the salad among serving plates and drizzle each serving with a bit more olive oil. Garnish with additional parsley leaves and the reserved Parmesan.

Serves 6-8.

Greek Option – Use crumbled Feta instead of Parmesan, use walnuts instead of almonds, and use basil instead of parsley

For a saltier salad, add olives and/or capers

This is from my sister Kristen who blogs at The Uncomplication Project. Great way to use a bunch of veggies!

From the woman who taught me how to cook – today’s recipe is from my mom, Joyce. 

We have a small garden in our backyard, which I have always referred to as being a “supper garden.” Other than freezing pesto and chopped basil, everything in the garden is used fresh.

Over the years I have made endless variations of what I call “Summer Sauté.” I have written down a basic road map, but you should view this more as a springboard than a recipe. I have also included some possible variations, since customization is what this is all about. Use vegetables and quantities to suit what you have and what you like. Zucchini is always at the heart of the sauté, as there’s plenty to use up!

As you can see in the picture, my garden veggies are all quite small. My sauté for today will include zucchini, ichiban eggplant, tomatoes, a jalapeño, two banana peppers, basil, onion, mushrooms, garlic and some Trader Joe’s chicken sausage.

Summer Saute Road Map

Bowl #1 – Use any combination of zucchini, yellow summer squash, ichiban eggplant, green beans, sweet corn, onions, mushrooms, garlic, peppers (green, red, banana, jalapeño) of a quantity to suit you.  I would also add chicken sausage.

Slice or cut the vegetables and sausage into pieces of similar size and thickness. (Just lay the ear of corn onto your cutting board and slice off the kernels) Dice the onion and peppers. Tip – Cut up the eggplant as your pan is pre-heating, since eggplant darkens after it is cut.

Bowl #2 – Dice the tomato. Chiffonade (a fancy word for rolling up a stack of leaves and then slicing thinly across them – better than chopping) some fresh basil and stir it in with the tomato.

Pour 1-2 T olive oil into a large, deep non-stick skillet. Heat to medium high. Add the contents of Bowl #1. Stir lightly, and then let this sit until things start to brown. Stir lightly and let sit again. Repeat as needed. Resist the temptation to add more oil.

When things in the skillet look to be somewhat cooked, add the contents of Bowl #2 and stir this together. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer lightly until everything is warmed. Do not overcook so everything is mushy.

Remove from heat and pour into a large serving bowl. Sprinkle optional freshly grated parmesan over the top.

Protein options

Instead of the chicken sausage (yes, it is delicious and you can find many flavors of this at Target, Hy-Vee, Trader Joe’s) you could use:

Chopped rotisserie chicken

Leftover beef or pork

No meat – use canned white beans, or additional cheese

Veggie options:

Leftover veggies should be added when the tomatoes go in, since they just need to be warmed.

Flavor options

Leave out the basil and add chili powder & cumin for a Mexican flair. Top with cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese instead. You could even clean out your fridge by adding the last inch or two from the jar of salsa.

Leave out the jalapeño and yellow banana peppers, and add more of your favorite Italian seasonings.

Go Greek by using oregano as the seasoning, add some sliced olives right before serving, and crumble a little Feta over the top.

Consistency options:

If you opt to add lots of tomatoes and your consistency is soupy, then this is wonderful served over rice, couscous or pasta. Otherwise, it is fine on its own. Nice to have a little crusty bread on the side.

Today’s recipe is by my friend Vanessa whose son Finn is only days apart from Hannah. This is a super-toddler-friendly idea, and I can’t wait to try it out!

Today I invented the Fruicchini Smoothie (husband Joel came up with the name). In order to get a bit more than just fruit sugars, I decided to go to my handy-dandy grated zucchini.

This is your basic fruit smoothie, and I throw in whatever fruit we have in the house. Today’s selection was the following:

• 2 clementines
• 1/2 bag of frozen smoothie fruit: strawberries, pineapple, mango
• 1/2 cup orange juice (or enough to make the smoothie thin without being too thin – I don’t actually measure anything when I make smoothies).

To this I added:

• 1/4 of zucchini grated

Blend until smooth.

This is quite delicious. Finn actually stole Joel’s glass, so Joel didn’t get any. He didn’t seem too heartbroken over that, though. I think you could do this with any fruit combination really – would probably go really well with berries. Well, darn, now Finn has stolen mine, too. Sigh. But at least he’s getting veggies!