foodie friday : stuffed zucchini

I just got my garden planted, which totally means I need to be gearing up for when I am overwhelmed with the massive quantity of produce I won't be able to eat alone in a couple of months.  Time to try a new recipe.  Because I'm the only one in the house that will eat zucchini muffins.

Actually, that isn't really why I made this.  I made this because my popping-5-teeth-including-4-molars-all-at-the-same-time toddler was back to his old ways of being super angry at me when I tried to get in the kitchen and be productive feeding him, so I totally only paid attention to the ingredient list for the beef and barley stew recipe I was gearing up to try.  I prepped for that with him angry at me, was totally ready for the next 20 minutes of sautéing everything with him on my hip, and then I looked at the directions and found out that it would be a 2 hour simmer time instead of the 30 minutes that I thought based on the episode of The Chew that I watched and I needed us to eat like now.  They should really include the "or you could do it this way" directions that they mention on the sly with their recipes.  Just saying.  So then I switched gears and got started on the quicker, less prep meal that I had planned for this week... these sausage stuffed zucchini.  Let me tell ya, Myles was super thrilled with that new development.

I looked at a million different recipes, and then got annoyed and just did whatever I felt like doing with all of that research in mind.  The result was awesome and you should probably remember to thank me later.  And make the whole batch, because I only did half just in case we weren't thrilled with it; after the first bite I was really mad because I could have eaten a lot more of it if it had been available.

italian sausage stuffed zucchini

by: me.

4 medium zucchini 

1 lb italian sausage

1/3 C plain breadcrumbs

1/3 C grated parmesan

1/2 medium onion diced

about 1/4 C your favorite pasta sauce

shredded mozzarella

Cut the zucchini length wise in half, scoop out the seeds.  Place in a microwave safe dish and cook for 2 minutes until crisp/tender.  Meanwhile, cook the sausage and onion.  Mix together the cooked sausage and onion with the breadcrumbs and parmesan.  Add enough sauce to help hold it all together.  Fill the zucchini with the meat mixture and top with the shredded mozzarella.  Bake at 350F for 30 min.  Serve topped with warmed sauce. 

We had this with some garlic bread; it might be fine with some pasta or just a great salad of some kind.  I was completely in love with this as something different than our norm.  Kyle had his typical reaction but did actually eat 2 of them with no complaints.  And Myles gobbled it up.  So this is going to be repeated for sure.  

currently

designing  I have already talked about how I have started making bibs for our friends that have babies down here; I have not mentioned that I have made a few more mobiles for a couple of them to put in their nurseries.  I loved how Myles' airplane themed mobile turned out, so did a similar one with only clouds for Lane's room, and turned those clouds into sheep for Charlotte's.  Lyndsey's baby boy will be here before we know it so I am starting to think about how I will make his for the vintage train theme Lyndsey is planning.

enjoying  Time with my little family.  We are trying to get some of the "technology creep" under control around here, and the results have been awesome.  Dinner on the deck, Kyle chasing Myles around the yard, card games with Kyle after Myles is in bed; it has been a pretty nice change.

ordering  I just ordered my first set of Jamberry nails.  I got the Urban Lights design and can't wait to get them on!  I have a Facebook party scheduled to begin the week of May 31st so let me know if you want to participate!  

celebrating  I feel like we are constantly celebrating all of the new things Myles is learning right now.  He has added more words to his vocabulary since our trip to KY, has learned how to blow a dandelion (and hot food), truly helps Kyle with chores, cheers/laughs every time he gives kisses, plus much much more.

tasting  We have tried out 2 new recipes this week, and this Friday my foodie friday section will return with some amazing stuffed zucchini, so remember to stop back by!

As always, I am linking up with Anne at In Residence and Jenna at the newly rebranded Gold&Bloom (formerly Dearest Love).

i'm back?

Photo cred: Kyle's sis Tracy

It has been a while... what have I been doing instead of writing on here?

Playing too many addictive games on my Kindle.  Spending some much needed time with both sides of our family both in SC and in KY!  Reading books for the first time in a while.  Evaluating my job performance.  

I go through seasons of addiction to random things.  Sometimes it is a reading addiction.  Sometimes it is a bread baking addiction.  Sometimes it is a DIY project addiction.  Sometimes it is a coffee making addiction.  Sometimes it is a blogging addiction.  And sometimes it is a free "escape" and "object search" Kindle game addiction.  

First, Kyle's family made it down for a long weekend, a week and a half later, my parents made it for almost a week, and then 2 weeks after that we made the trip up to KY for Kyle's final week of vacation for this fiscal year.  Photo dump coming soon.

I love our library system.  Like love.  I haven't used a library membership since high school, but I use ours here all the time.  Probably because our local branch is within walking distance (not that we walk it...).  I have been keeping a few books for Myles around, using our interlibrary loan service, and the ebook library.  Recent reads include Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape by Jenna Miscavige Hill (the niece of current Scientology leader David Miscavige); As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes (Westley):  and currently reading Divergent by Veronica Roth.  Highly recommend the first two, the last is good so far, but so is the movie IMO.

I have recently had the realization that I focus on being a "stay at home mom" (keeping Myles happy and healthy and learning) and have been totally neglecting the other part of my job... the "housewife" title... mostly as it pertains to the state of our home.  And not for any reason other than laziness.  So for the past month, I have been trying to find a better balance between the two and it has been really fulfilling.  I often would reach a moment when I would look around and be disgusted at the state of my home, (not in a "omg...there is a sock in the floor and a dish in the sink, how gross!" sort of way... more like "there are crumbs and dirty dishes all over the kitchen and old mail and random crap on the dining table and toys everywhere and cat hair everywhere and the bathrooms are gross and lets shift this pile here so we can sit down" kinda way) and then that would turn to disgust at myself for letting it get that way, and turn into a major cleaning spree that would last all of a day until it started getting gross again.  Now, I am trying to maintain a functional "lived in" feel, not spotless, but not inhibitory to us enjoying our home and being scared to let anyone into the house. 

Some of this is stupid and I need to get it under control, and some things have needed to take priority...either way the blog has taken a back seat for a while and I'm hoping to get back in the swing of things.  Discipline in all areas of life is my current goal... Be back soon.  I have a giant suitcase to unpack and cloth diapers to assemble.