Do: Freezing Tomatoes - A Photo Tutorial

We FINALLY got around to harvesting our tomatoes from our raised bed garden.  We planted Early Girl and Black Price heirlooms and got quite a load!  This last batch was picked just before our first frost, so I had to do something with them FAST.  Since I haven't figured out canning yet, I decided to dice them and freeze them for winter.

Freezer Tomatoes

18-20 Ripe Tomatoes

Boiling Water

Qt Freezer Bags

Marker

1.  Wash your tomatoes.

2.  Bring a pot of water to a boil and carefully add your tomatoes.

In less then 1 minute, start removing the tomatoes that have split.  

Place in a bowl to cool.

Use a bowl to help your baggie "stand" up.

Now the skin will just all off!  Peel and dice the tomatoes.

Place in Qt ziploc bags and label.  Freeze!
They have a shelf life of about 8 months.

Enjoy the fruits of your labor!!

Do: Cheesy Mexican Rice Bake Recipe

I made this up for dinner Monday, and it was so yummy. Pure comfort food!

Ingredients:
1 cup dry white rice
1 can red or black beans
1 can corn
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup of salsa
2 cups of cooked boneless chicken breast or thigh, cubed
1 cup shreaded Mexican blend cheese, divided
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp dried cilantro (fresh would be better!)

Do:
Preheat oven to 350.  Cook your rice according to the package directions.  In a 9x13 casserole pan, mix the beans, corn, cream of chicken soup, salsa, chicken, 1/2 cup of cheese, and spices.  Add cooked rice and stir until blended.  Top with remaining cheese.  Bake for 30 minutes or until warm and bubbly.
Serve with avocado, sour cream, or diced scallions.

Enjoy!

Do: Fried eggplant and/or Zucchini Recipe

Summer is here, so it's time to make fried zucchini with all the extra zucchini you have coming out of your garden!  Actually, this is the first time we are making fried zucchini this year because our zucchini plants got trampled...so sad.  But that is a story for another day!  We just got our first zucchini and eggplant from our CSA so it was time to make this yummy family recipe.  It's so easy and SOOOOOO good.

Fried Zucchini and Eggplant (YUM!)

Ingredients:
1-2 zucchini (big ones work great!)
and/or eggplant (peel the eggplant because it's tough)
3 eggs (I use about 1 egg per zucchini//eggplant)
1-2 c. flour
grated parmesan cheese
lemon
vegetable oil

Do:
In a large frying pan, add enough oil to cover the bottom of your pan.  Warm oil on medium-high heat.
Cut your zucchini and eggplant into thin slices.  Make sure you peel your eggplant.
In a shallow bowl, scramble your eggs.  Pour 1 cup of flour in another shallow bowl.  Once your oil is hot enough (I drop a little water in the pan and if it sizzles, it's hot!,) dip your zucchini slices in the egg wash first, coating both sides.  Then dip the slices in the flour, coating completely.  Place in pan in one layer.  After about 2 minutes (or when golden brown,) turn with a fork.  Cook 2 more minutes. Place on a paper towel to cool.  Sprinkle with lemon and grated parmesan cheese while still hot. Continue until you cook all your zucchini/eggplant.  It usually takes 3-4 rounds to finish it all.  Make sure you add the lemon and cheese after every round.
Serve with pasta and red sauce.

My cooking station:  Egg, Flour, Cook, Cool, Lemon, Cheese!

Toddler Approved!

Enjoy!

Do: Pizza

When I was in high school I worked at a pizza joint and I still love to toss pizza!  Every Friday we have pizza at our house.....here is how we do it.

Ingredients:

1 pizza dough ball from the Deli

Dusting of Flour

1 8oz can of tomato sauce

Sprinkle of dried basil and oregano

Fresh mozzarella or shredded mozzarella

Toppings of your choice:  We usually do 1/3 cheese,1/3 meat, 1/3 veggie.

Do:

First you need to thaw your dough for about 8 hours if it is frozen.  Frozen dough works just as well as dough from your deli. 

Preheat your oven to 450. I unwrap my dough ball and dunk it in the flour, coating it on all sides.  On a floured surface, flatten out your dough ball, working out all the air bubbles.  If you leave in the air bubbles, you may get one of those giant bubbles on your cooked pizza.  Then I toss it.  I'm sure you can find a youtube video on this....I may try to make one net week!

After your dough is stretched to the size of your pizza pan, spread out your sauce.  I like to use the back of a spoon to spread it around.

Then I give a generous sprinkle of basil and oregano (use your best judgement.)

Pizza with sauce and spices.

Toppings:  1/3 Turkey pepperoni and Bacon, 1/3 tomato and basil, 1/3 cheese.

Once the sauce is on, I like to lay out my toppings, then the cheese.  Some people like the toppings on top of the cheese, this is your choice.  JD likes shredded cheese, so his chunk is shredded, while the rest is slices of fresh mozzarella.

Ready to bake!

 Bake for 12 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown.

Fresh out of the oven!

Wait about 5 minutes before cutting so the cheese can set.

Serve with a salad.  Enjoy!

Do: Baked Ziti

This is a recipe my mother in law makes this when we visit, and it's become a family favorite!  We don't make it with ziti very often.  JD prefers pasta wheels!

Ingredients:
1 lb box pasta (ziti or other shape)
1 1/2 jars of pasta sauce (it's good with Newman's sausage sauce or homemade meat sauce!)
16oz container ricotta
1 egg
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
8 oz fresh mozzarella

Do: 
Preheat oven to 350.  Boil past according to package directions.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix egg and parm.  Add ricotta and salt and pepper to taste. 
In a 9x13 casserole dish, pour a small amount of sauce on the bottom of the pan.  Add 1/2 of your cooked pasta, and 3/4 jar of sauce.  Then top with the ricotta mixture.  Add the remaining pasta, sauce and top with thin slices of fresh mozzarella. Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Enjoy!

Do: Kids Apron and Hat

Here is my latest creation! This kids apron and hat was made for my goddaughter, Izzy. The apron based on a tutorial by MB at Superfine, with a little Lily Mountain design thrown in! The hat is a Simplicity Pattern 3650. I used about a yard of striped quilting cotton and a 20" x 15" scrap of canvas I had. You also need a piece of heavyweight fusible interfacing for the hat that is about 4" x 30".