July 26, 2012 - Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard

*8/19/2012 Correction was made in the ingredient list for the Zucchini Pizza Casserole, and Blogger re-published it out of order.

Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard, AKA Granny's Garden Dinners. Garden and pantry items are in (parentheses), * means the recipe is included.

Thursday

*Zucchini Pizza Casserole (zucchini, onion, seasoned tomato sauce, green pepper)

Green beans and Crookneck Squash (pole beans, squash)

Bread Machine Italian Bread

Iced Tea

Home Made Chocolate Ripple Coffee Ice Cream

Zucchini Pizza Casserole

 4 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, beaten
  1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 pound ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cups Italian seasoned tomato sauce

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup sliced black olives

Directions:

Place zucchini in strainer; sprinkle with salt. Let stand for 10 minutes. Squeeze out moisture. (Place in a clean towel and wring out as much moisture as you can)

    

Combine zucchini with the eggs, Parmesan and half of the mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. Press into greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish.

    

Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cook beef, onion and bell pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add Italian tomato sauce; spoon over zucchini mixture.

    

Sprinkle with olives and remaining cheeses. Bake 20 minutes longer or until heated through. 

Friday

*Swiss Steak (onion, carrot, celery, green pepper, Sweet Chili Sauce)

Mashed Potatoes (potatoes)

Broccoli (broccoli)

Corn on the Cob (local corn)

Fruit Salad

Iced Tea

Swiss Steak

vegetable oil spray

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 pounds round steak, cut into 6 servings

4 tablespoons flour, seasoned to taste

2 cups diced onion (12 oz.)

1 cup diced carrot

1 cup diced celery

1/4 cup diced green pepper

1 cup Sweet Chili Sauce

2 cups (1 can) diced tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 beef bouillon cube

1cup water

Heat oil in a large frying pan, which has been sprayed with vegetable oil spray.

Dredge the steak in seasoned flour and brown on both sides in the hot oil.  Move steak to one side of the pan, and add the onion slices.  Cook and stir the onions, over medium heat, until they are golden and caramelized.  

Add all the remaining ingredients.  Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, or until steak is tender.  I removed the cover of my dutch oven the last half hour, to let the sauce reduce and thicken.

Saturday

Mr. Granny's best friend from high school through adulthood passed away last week, so we drove to Idaho for his burial.  We ate breakfast on the way, and had a late lunch at our old favorite Chinese restaurant before driving home.  We had a late snack when we got back:  Strawberry Shortcake (strawberries)

Sunday

Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato on Toast (lettuce, tomatoes)

Fried Zucchini (zucchini)

Fruit Salad

Monday

*Creamy Braised Chicken  (onion, carrot, parsley)

Mashed Potatoes (potatoes)

Sliced tomatoes (tomatoes)

Iced Tea

Zucchini Granola Cookies (zucchini)

Creamy Braised Chicken

1 tablespoon margarine

8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (2)

1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced

1  carrot; thinly sliced

1 stalk celery; thinly sliced

1 can chicken broth

1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes

1/8 teaspoon pepper

3 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup evaporated skim milk

In a large fry pan or Dutch oven, brown the chicken breasts in margarine. Add onion, carrot and celery and sauté until vegetables are tender. Stir in broth and seasonings, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink inside.  

Remove chicken to a serving platter.  With a large, slotted spoon, remove vegetables and place over and around chicken pieces.

Combine flour and milk until smooth; stir into pan juices.  Cook and stir until thickened. Serve sauce on the side as a gravy for mashed potatoes and to spoon over chicken.

Revised from: Taste of  Home Light & Tasty, premier issue 2001, p.37

Tuesday

Leftovers - Swiss Steak from Friday

Baked Yukon Gold Potatoes (potatoes)

Lettuce and Cucumber Salad (cucumbers)

Wednesday

Taco Salad with 

Garden Fresh Pico De Gallo (Black Cherry tomatoes, sweet onion, jalapeno pepper)

Iced Tea

Home Made Chocolate Ripple Coffee Ice Cream

Preserving the Harvest

7/24  1-1/2 pounds Fortex pole beans for the freezer and 15 half-pints Sweet Zucchini Relish.  There was a lot of syrup left from the double batch of relish, so I used it to make a quart of cucumber refrigerator pickles.

7/24   I had too many tomatoes for fresh eating, but not enough to can, so I made a small batch (2 -1/2 cups) of plain tomato sauce.  It's in the freezer, but I'll can it when I get enough to do a few pints.

Hop on over to Robin's place at The Gardener of Eden and link up to let others see what you've been using or preserving from your garden and/or pantry!