Nameless? Italian Summer Veggies

This meal was a throw together meal. Do you ever have those in your house? Usually they are the best meals, and if you don't write down how you make it, it can never be made the same way again.....

Whoever invented the zucchini ribbons to put in place of pasta, that person is a genius. I just love this stuff.

I used a summer squash to make my ribbons.

Make your ribbons with a potato peeler, place them in a colander, salt them, and then let them sit in the brine for a few hours.

When I am making the squash ribbons, I usually let them sit in the brine from lunch time until dinner time.

All you have to do is heat an empty skillet....*note: coat the skillet lightly with cooking spray. The last time I made these, I threw the ribbons in a hot empty skillet with no spray. For some reason the zucchini ruined the Teflon in my skillet. Yup, ate it right off.....and it was an expensive skillet too. I cried when I had to throw it away. Once the Teflon is ruined, there is no fixing it. Or maybe there is....something I don't know about?

This evening I was staring at cherry tomatoes, garden onion, a half bag of spinach, and left-over sweet corn cut off the cob.

I dug through the frig and kept adding things.....

I'm going to try and put this in recipe form for you.

Italian Summer Veggies

1 summer squash peeled into ribbons (you don't want the seed part)

cooking spray

1 TBS olive oil

3 small onions from the garden, sliced

1 c. cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

1 heaping cup of sweet corn cut off the cob

1 tsp. chopped garlic

1/2 large bag of fresh baby spinach

Italian seasoning sprinkled on top (I don't know the amount, but if I would have to guess, I would say 1 TBS)

crushed black pepper

I sauteed the onion, tomatoes, sweet corn, and garlic in olive oil for about 3-5 minutes on med/high heat. Added the spinach, crushed black pepper, and Italian seasoning. Stirred until spinach started to wilt. Placed a lid on top and turned down the heat to low.

While the spinach finished wilting, I heated my skillet for the ribbons. You don't want to cook the ribbons, just get them hot. It only takes a couple minutes.

Place the hot ribbons on your plate and top with veggie mixture.

I didn't have a name for this recipe, so I turned to my Facebook fans for ideas. I had some pretty interesting names for this dish:

"Shoulda left out the tomatoes"

"Tuscan Delight"

"Italian Summer Veggies"

I like the sound of "Italian Summer Veggies". What do you think?

Sharon Lynn Maynard Gentry is the one that suggested the title. Thank you Sharon!!

"All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing."

Ecclesiastes 1:8

"All things are restless." It has been observed that there is a built-in restlessness in everyone. It is so widespread that no one can possibly describe all the restlessness of life.

Human desire is never satisfied; "The eye never has enough of seeing." My grandmother was 90 years old, legally blind, and never once complained. She wished for her eyesight to be perfect, but always asked for help in seeing. My descriptions of things to her was satisfying, and she would always respond with, "Yes, I can see that." Despite her years, the eye was not tired of seeing; her eyes longed to see things new, and even other places.

The ear never has its fill of hearing. We are always alert to some new idea or something new that has happened. That is why news programs are always popular. Television and radio both cater to the ear's hunger to hear about something new, something exciting, and all that gossipy jazz about Hollywood. The ear never tires because human desire is never satisfied; it is the consequence of the restlessness that is built into our life.

"Is this all life is about?" Is life an empty pursuit of that which never satisfies? Will there ever be a breakthrough whereby something can be found that will continually meet the hunger of the human heart, to give an unending sense of delight, satisfaction, and joy? We will continually search for that satisfaction. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.

There's A Chef In The HOOUUSE!! Randi's Salsa

It's Labor Day, and that means picnics, cookouts, reunions, and just keeping things simple so you can relax.

Salsa and chips is a perfect food for a picnic or keeping things simple.

Just mix everything in a bowl and there you have it......simple!

There's a chef in the HOOUUUSE!! Did you drag out the word house when you said it?

Let's raise the roof for Randi.....

She is attending the local vocational school for chef training.

She is learning how to properly cut veggies, use spices, and lots of tips and tricks in the kitchen.

Then she comes home and shares with me.....YES!! I need to know more tips and tricks.

Did you know that you can get more juice out of a lemon if you microwave it? I didn't know that either.

This salsa is top notch, let me tell ya....

I couldn't quit eating it. Randi did great!

This recipe is linked to:

Happy Labor Day!

Randi's Salsa

3 c. seeded and diced tomatoes

3/4 c. onion, minced

1/2 c. diced green pepper

2 minced garlic cloves

2 TBS chopped cilantro

1 - 2 jalapenos (with some seeds)

2 TBS olive oil

1/4 tsp. ground white pepper

salt to taste

Mix all ingredients and season to taste. Serve with chips.

"But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, please! Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die.""

Genesis 19:18-19

Recently I read an article that really made me think. What do children really see when they look at their parents? Our children are watching us, and they see our outward respectability, our desire to be right and to do good. But in some of us, they also see that the deepest thing in our life is to get gain or to enjoy pleasure. They see that we will quickly sacrifice a prayer meeting for a night out, that we are always willing to take that bigger salary, regardless of what it may do to the family in terms of new conditions or new circles of friends. They see that the things for which we sacrifice and are willing to skimp and save are not missions, or the church, or the work of God, but what they truly see is the new car, a new television, new furniture, a bigger and longer vacation, and a pretentious home. They are watching, and is this really what they see? Is this really what we are showing them? If this is what they are seeing, we need to be more careful as parents to make sure that our children do not lose interest in the Bible and church. We need to make sure that they do not sacrifice important occurrences in their life just to get ahead in the world.

When we, as parents act selfish just for material things and niceties, it is possible that children will turn from God. And the deep sorrow that us parents will feel, we will have to carry that sorrow to our graves.

We need to always remember we do not live in isolation. Do we weigh our choices, mindful that the direction we take has serious fall-out consequences on others?

Oh My Lord!!: Veggie Lasagna

Oh my Lord!!! Veggie Lasagna!!

Did you know that lasagna is absolutely amazing without red sauce and meat?

I will make this again over, and over, and over....

Move over Olive Garden!! I am stomping through with this amazing veggie lasagna.

And it is linked to:

AND:

Busy Vegetarian Mom ~ Foodie Friends Friday

When I served this for dinner, the very first comment I got was, "Oh my goodness, this is just like eating in a restaurant."

This was so easy to make. All I had to do was dump all of my layering ingredients into a bowl (sliced summer squash, purple onion, spinach, cheeses, and spices).

It sits in the bowl waiting to be layered in the lasagna.

Sliced tomatoes that surround the no boil noodles.

I have never used the no boil lasagna noodles before, because the traditional lasagna is so good, and I had no reason to try anything else.

Can you believe that statement just came from a cook? Me either....

The more I experiment, the more I like it.

You start with no boil noodles on the bottom of the baking dish.

Tomatoes on top of the noodles.

And then that mixture that's sitting in the bowl (lots of it....it cooks down).

More tomatoes, more noodles.....you just keep layering until the dish is heaping.

Top it with cheeses and bake for 40 - 45 minutes.

See, I told you it was easy.

And eating it is even more easy. I absolutely love this stuff.....

This is what it looked like right out of the oven. You will want to let it sit (I know it will be hard) for about 10 minutes to let the cheese set up.

And the aroma that was coming from my kitchen.....totally satisfying!!

I served this lasagna with naan bread and red wine. The perfect summer meal. And a perfect way to use some of those garden veggies.

Veggie Lasagna

1 med. yellow summer squash, washed and sliced

1/3 c. chopped red onion

1 (2 c.) package shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

1/2 c. crumbled feta cheese

4 c. fresh baby spinach

1/4 c. chopped fresh basil (I used dried)

1 TBS chopped fresh oregano (I used dried)

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 TBS olive oil

1/4 c. balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 (8 oz.) package no-boil lasagna noodles (if you don't use them all, that's alright)

9 roma tomatoes, thinly sliced (I used my own garden tomatoes)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x9 baking dish.

In a large bowl, toss together the squash, spinach, garlic, red onion, 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese, and feta cheese. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and toss in basil, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper. Toss the mixture until evenly blended.

Place a layer of noodles into the bottom of the pan. Make a layer of tomato slices over the noodles. Spread a generous amount of the spinach mixture over the tomatoes. It shrinks down while cooking. Lay slices of tomatoes over the spinach mixture, then another layer of noodles. Start with another layer of tomatoes on top of the noodles, and repeat layering until the dish is heaped with lasagna, ending with the spinach mixture. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top (I sprinkled a little more feta on top.

Bake for 40 - 45 minutes, until noodles, and vegetables are tender. Let stand for about 10 minutes before cutting.

"Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.""

Corinthians 12:8-9

The most dangerous threat to any servant of Christ is spiritual pride. I confess to you, that is the thing I fear most in my life. Also another fear is, letting food compliments stroke my pride. There are so many boosts to my ego that I fear I will begin to believe that some of these compliments represent remarkable abilities that I posses.

This underscores the spiritual battle we are involved in. When is the devil being beaten? Not when we feel great and confident, when it looks like wonderful things are happening, when the cooking is going well. No, the devil is being defeated when we are feeling attacked and under the gun, when we feel weak and helpless and do not know what to do, when we are not sure how to respond, when in our confusions and sense of weakness we come before the Lord and plead with Him for strength to go on one more day and for grace to help us stand. That is when we are winning and when the kingdom of God is being spread more abundantly than ever before.

Can we receive our weakness and incompetence as a path to God's power at work in us?