Sneaking in some veggies--Kielbasa Skillet With Rotini

Kielbasa Skillet With Rotini
Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes Copyright 2002

2 cups dried rotini or rotelle pasta (about 6 ounces) I used 12 ounces of whole wheat rotini
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound cooked kielbasa, halved lengthwise and sliced diagonally I used smoked turkey sausage
1 small zucchini, cut into matchstick-size strips
1 yellow or orange sweet pepper, cut into small strips I used orange and yellow
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper I misread this and used black pepper
8 roma tomatoes, cored and chopped (about 1 pound) I used too regular tomatoes
Fresh herbs (optional)

1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Meanwhile, in a very large skillet heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add kielbasa; cook until onion is tender, stirring frequently.
2. Add zucchini, sweet pepper, Italian seasoning, and ground red pepper; cook and stir for 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and cooked pasta. Heat through, stirring occasionally. If desired, garnish with fresh herbs.

Makes 6 servings: Per serving: 410 cal, 26 g fat, 0 mg chol, 714 mg sodium, 31 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 14 g protein
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The best chance I have of getting my husband to eat vegetables is to sneak them into the main dish. Otherwise, he often just ignores vegetable side dishes. This recipe had plenty of veggies making it perfect for Sweetnick's ARF/5-A-Day Tuesday.

I was pretty loosey-goosey with this recipe. I cooked down the vegetables for a while, really breaking up the tomatoes since my husband doesn't like fresh tomato very much. I went heavy on the vegetables and had plenty of 'sauce' to coat an entire box of pasta, twice as much as the the recipe called for. I almost always add more pasta.

I'm just treading water right now, getting ready for our cookout which happens to coincide with a huge heat wave. As long as it doesn't rain, I'm happy.

Today's the last day to enter the July cookbook giveaway. The winner may get to cook from that book before I do! I do have one recipe from the book on deck for later this week. I just couldn't get to it before the end of the month.

Blast From The Past: Brownies from last year's cookout. I didn't think these were all that great when I made them yet they disappeared in a flash.

Question of the Day: How often do you entertain?

More Dorie--Orange Berry Muffins

Orange Berry Muffins
Baking From My Home To Yours Copyright 2006

Grated zest and juice of one orange
About ¾ cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons honey
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberries – fresh, preferably, or frozen (not thawed)
Decorating sugar for topping (optional)

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds of a regular-size muffin tin or fit the molds with paper muffin cups.
Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.

Pour the orange juice into a large glass measuring cup or a bowl and pour in enough buttermilk to make 1 cup. Whisk in the eggs, honey and melted butter.

In a large bowl, run the sugar and orange zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of orange is strong. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with a whisk or rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough – the batter will be lumpy and bubbly, and that’s just the way it should be. Stir in the blueberries. Divide the batter evenly among 12 muffin cups.

Bake for 22 to 25 minutes. If you want to top the muffins with decorating sugar, sprinkle the sugar on after the muffins have baked for 10 minutes. When fully baked, the tops of the muffins will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted in the center of the muffins will come out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 3 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from it’s mold.

Makes 12 muffins.
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I froze some blueberries before leaving for vacation last week so I went hunting for a blueberry recipe. I really didn't want a muffin, coffee cake or pie recipe but you know, that doesn't leave much else! So I did settle for a muffin recipe but one with just a slight twist.

These smelled so good. I was able to get so much zest off of that one orange using my handy-dandy microplane that the orange flavor was nicely intense. I really liked the orange with the blueberries. I did get a little heavy handed with the blueberries which had consequences. The extra berries just sunk to the bottom. They would have been a little bit prettier inside if I had just used the one cup the recipe called for but I threw in about another half cup of them.

So far the weather looks good for my cookout on Saturday. Please, please let the forecast stay that way.

Blast From The Past: Big Chocolate Chip Cookies from July 2006. I was thinking about making cc cookies for my cookout. I love, love this recipe but I'm wondering if it's time to experiment again.

Question of the Day: What's the last new recipe you've tried?

I do like radishes!--Sautéed Radishes

Sautéed Radishes
The Boston Cooking School Cook Book Copyright 1896, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1912, 1914, 1915, 1918, 1923, 1924, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1936

Peel (I didn't), slice, and cook in boiling, salted water 20 minutes. Drain and sauté in butter. I seasoned the radishes with salt and pepper.
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I hope this recipe isn't too complicated for you LOL. I've never been a huge fan of radishes which are usually presented raw. I can eat them buried in a forkful of salad and sliced thinly with butter on bread (but what doesn't go well with a hunk of butter?), but on their own I'm not crazy about them. In general, I'm not a big fan of raw vegetables so this isn't surprising.

So when I found myself with a pile of locally grown radishes larger than I could use up in salads, I turned to this recipe. I can now say that I love radishes - as long as they're cooked. They look like red potatoes but they're not as starchy. They sort of reminded me of turnips and I love turnips. Sautéed radishes have a very mild taste and at only 20 calories per cup (without the butter, of course), they can fit into almost anyone's diet.

I picked up this cookbook at the auction (farmer's market) for only $2. This was the cookbook with all the cool vintage ads, not the The New Antoinette Pope School Cookbook. I got confused. Another neat thing is that this cookbook has several four leaf clovers pressed into it. I felt so lucky when I opened it.

This book was written by Fannie Farmer and it's a classic. It was already over 40 years old when this copy was printed in 1939. I believe it's still being printed. That's pretty amazing when you think about it.

Anyone else remember the Fannie Farmer candy stores? My memory is awful but I seem to remember one in Scranton, PA, right near the Globe department store.

Blast From The Past: Lemon-Blueberry Bundt Cake from July 2006. I froze some blueberries before we left for vacation and I have a couple of lemons on their last legs in the fridge. Maybe this cake is in my future.

Question of the Day: Have you ever eaten cooked radishes?

I'm back (sort of)--Traditional Bread and Butter Pickles

Traditional Bread and Butter Pickles
Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving Copyright 2006

10 cups sliced trimmed pickling cucumbers (1/4-inch slices)
4 medium onions, thinly sliced
½ cup pickling or canning salt
3 cups white vinegar
2 cups granulated sugar
2 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tsp celery seeds
1 tsp ground turmeric

1. In a glass or stainless steel bowl, combine cucumbers, onions and salt. Mix well, cover with cold water and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours. Transfer to a colander placed over a sink; rinse with cool running water and drain thoroughly.
2. Meanwhile, prepare canner, jars and lids.
3. In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds and turmeric. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Stir in vegetables and return to a boil.
4. Pack vegetables into hot jars to within a generous ½-inch of top of jar. Ladle hot pickling liquid into jar to cover vegetables leaving ½ inch of headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot pickling liquid. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
5. Place in jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

Makes about 5 pint jars.
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I finally broke open a jar of these bread and butter pickles. They were the first canning recipe that I made, about five weeks ago. I think they're pretty good, although not quite as good as Mrs. Fanning's Bread and Butter Pickles. Not bad for a first try. I'll probably experiment with other bread and butter pickle recipes in the future, just for the heck of it.

I'm back from my vacation and one thing I seem to have left behind is my appetite. I think I just need to detox for a few days. I don't feel very motivated to cook. I don't think it will take me long to get back in the swing of things. I have to prepare for our cookout next week so I can't really get back to the blogging full-force until after that's over. I'm having trouble getting excited about that too.

While I was gone, Brilynn asked me what my all-time favorite recipe is and I can't say that I have one. How could I pick just one? I couldn't even narrow it down to a reasonable number. That's what so great about food and recipes - the possibilities are endless.

Blast From The Past: Bayou Chicken Pasta from May 2007. Maybe I'll make this next week - it was really simple to make and good too.

Question of the Day: Do you have trouble recovering from vacations or do you get right back into the swing of things?

On vacation

I'll be back Thursday July 26th.

In the meantime, check out the Weekend Cookbook Challenge Number 18. I submitted my Balsamic Red Pepper Jelly. Everyday is a cookbook challenge around here.

Don't forget you can always check out:

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This would be a good time to ask me a question, make a request, make a suggestion, etc.