Recipe: Potatoes and Zucchini with Parmesan

As so many things in my life turn out, this recipe turned out to be a little more complicated than I originally thought it was.   

Of course, that was because I neglected to read the entire recipe before I started cooking. :)

This recipe isn't hard at all; there are a few steps, but it's so delicious that's it's worth a few extra minutes of your time.  One of the things I love about dishes like this is that it requires so few ingredients and yields amazing and fresh-tasting results.

Enjoy!

Potatoes and Zucchini with Parmesan - Adapted from Gida de Laurentiis

 

4 small new potatoes

2 small zucchini, cut in half lengthwise, then sliced into 1 inch pieces

2 tablespoons butter

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Salt and pepper

1/4 cup Parmesan

Bring a pot of water to a boil; add the potatoes and cook until tender, about 8-10 minutes.  Remove from the pot, cool a little, and cut in half.

Put butter, garlic, rosemary, and thyme into a saute pan.  Heat over medium heat and melt the butter.  Meanwhile, sprinkle cut potatoes and zucchini with salt and pepper.

Put potatoes and zucchini, cut side down, in melted butter and herbs and cook until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.  Shake the pan occasionally to keep everything from sticking and the garlic from burning. 

Preheat the broiler.  Remove the veggies from the saute pan and place on a baking sheet lined with foil, cut side up this time.  Sprinkle with Parmesan.  Broil until the cheese melts, about 4 minutes.  Serve right away!

This post is linked to Tasty Tuesday and Delicious Dishes.

Menu Plan Monday

Last week a few things got moved around, but I did a much better job sticking to my menu plan.  I also plan to stick to my menu this week and try to eliminate any food waste. 

This week’s plan is a little different because I have two work functions and I’m cooking dinner a friend’s house.  My friend, who is Japanese, is going to teach me about tofu but I have no idea what we are making. 

As usual, I’ve planned both lunches and dinners.  Breakfasts are a choice of orange-oatmeal muffins, yogurt parfaits with fruit, and poptarts. 

Sunday

Lunch: Leftover Chinese takeout

Dinner: Celebrating my dad’s birthday with macaroni and cheese, green beans, squash and zucchini casserole, cornbread, and chocolate cake

Monday

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Quinoa “Mac and Cheese”

Tuesday

Lunch: out with a friend

Dinner: Work function – Research Week awards dinner

Wednesday

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Work function – CME committee meeting

Thursday

Lunch: Soup, peanut butter sandwich

Dinner: Cooking with a friend

Friday

Lunch: Leftovers (if needed)

Dinner: TBD

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday

April Goals

1.      Budget – Stick to my spending limits!  I have limits for a reason and that is to keep my budget in check so I can save for fun things like travel and necessary things like a new computer.  I need to keep this in mind the next time I’m tempted to order pizza instead of cooking what I already have or buying something just because it’s on sale.

2.      Food – Stop collecting recipes.  It’s no surprise that I love everything about food – shopping for it, preparing it, eating it, serving it, you name it, I love it.  And a product of that is my mammoth recipe collection.  Sometimes I get a recipe on purpose, like when I’m looking for a recipe that uses a specific ingredient, but most of the time, I collect recipes that I think I’ll make one day.  The problem is, I have two binders and 4 folders stuffed full of recipes I’ll probably never get around to trying.  So this month, I’m going to stop printing out recipes to try.  I need to come up with meals based on the recipes I already have and turn to my collection first, not the Internet, when I want to make something new.

3.      Blogging – Set aside some time each day to blog.  This was a goal last month, and it needs to be one this month as well.  I have tons of ideas for posts and if I just sit down and get them written, my life would be so much easier.

4.      Social – Stay connected.  I’m an “out of sight, out of mind” type of person.  If I don’t see something often, it’s probably going to slip my mind.  I find this especially true of friends I don’t see or talk to on a regular basis.  I have some very good friends here in town that I rarely see.  I want to do better getting together (or at least talking) with them this month.  There is no reason to neglect good friends.

5.      Personal – Organize my office.  My office is a disaster.  It's completely unpacked and I've organized my bookcase (of course!), but I never organized all my paperwork.  I have a huge basket of paperwork that needs to be sorted and organized.  My desk has also become a clutter spot and needs to be cleared off and put to good use.

What are your April goals?

March Goal Review

1.      Budget – Stick to my spending limits and adjust accordingly.  I did better here.  I under spent in my coffee shops, fast food, and entertainment budgets, but I overspent in my grocery, restaurant, and gas budgets.  What really happened was I forgot to take into account that I went on vacation in March.  I had upped my gas budget to compensate for the higher gas prices, but I didn’t account for the fact that I would be driving to and from the beach.  I didn’t raise my budgets for groceries and restaurants, because, well, I forgot.  I guess I’m human.

2.      Food – Bust out the cookbooks.  We’ll call this a partial fail.  I did cook two recipes (look for one on Tuesday!) from my cookbooks and I kept this goal in mind throughout the month, but I failed to really follow through. 

3.      Blogging – Dedicate some time each day for blogging.  I did really well with this goal early on in the month.  I wrote some quality blog posts and didn’t allow myself to get behind.  But by the end of the month, I was back to where I started, blogging behind schedule, or worse, not blogging at all.  I must do better on this.

4.      Social – Establish a balance.  I did much better on this.  I’ve had several quiet days at home and I don’t feel like I’ve neglected anyone, including myself.  I’ve been able to get stuff done around the house and still enjoy being with friends.  I think going on vacation with friends really helped. 

5.      Personal – Read 4 books.  I actually read 7!  I read I’m a Stranger Here Myself, Gone Too Far, Lover Unbound, Lover Enshrined, Lover Avenged (I’m on a Black Dagger Brotherhood kick at the moment.  Don’t judge me; you know you love some angsty vampire romance too.), The Spymaster’s Lady, and listened to Over the Edge.  Currently I’m reading Lover Mine and next on the list are Not Quite a Husband and The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie; it’s time to get back to my Reading List.

How did you do on your March Goals?

Recharging the Batteries

All the work I've been doing for the past few months is finally coming to fruition.  But that also means this is a very busy week for me.  I've been running all over the hospital for the past two days helping to get everything set up for Research Week in addition to handling the work from both libraries as my coworker is a symposium learning awesome stuff for us.

Did I mention that I do all of this running in heels?  Ouch, my feet hurt.

So it's no surprise that I'm exhausted.  And sick.  Allergy season is in full swing and the pollen seems to be affecting me even more this week.  I look like I've spent all day crying, my eyes and nose are so red.

So I'm taking today (and potentially tomorrow depending on how things go today) off from any real blogging and focusing on recharging my batteries and getting some rest. 

Anyone else feeling run down?

Recipe: Cheesy Garlic Bread

These are so good.  I can't even describe how good these are.  So I'm not going to spend time trying to describe them to you or tell a witty little story.  I'm just going to tell you to put these on your menu and make them ASAP.

Cheesy Garlic Bread - Adapted from Our Best Bites

1 loaf of French bread dough, made through the first rise (I recommend either this recipe or this one)

1 stick of butter, softened

1 1/2 tablespoons garlic bread seasoning (see below)

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Grease a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray.

After you have made your French bread dough, allowed it to rise, and punched it down, roll it out into a rectangle, about 18-20 inches long and 6 inches wide.  

Combine softened butter and seasoning together.  Spread all over the dough rectangle.  Make sure it reaches all the way to the edges.  Evenly sprinkle with cheese.  Roll up jelly-roll style (from the long end of the rectangle).  Cut the roll into 12 equal slices; dental floss or a really sharp knife is best for this.  Place one roll into each greased muffin cup.  Cover and set aside while you preheat the oven to 350.

Once the oven has preheated, bake the bread muffins for 18-22 minutes.  You should watch them very closely for the last 5 minutes as the cheese tends to burn.  You may need to loosely cover it with foil to prevent this.  

These are best eaten immediately so you can enjoy the cheesy goodness! 

Garlic Bread Seasoning

1/4 cup powdered Parmesan cheese (like the kind by Kraft)

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried parsley

Mix all ingredients together and place in small container.  Seasoning mix should be stored in the refrigerator and can be kept up to 6 months.

This recipe is linked to Tasty Tuesday and Delicious Dishes.

Menu Plan Monday

Last week I did not do a good job of sticking to my menu plan.  I had lunch out more than I planned and ate dinner out with friends when I had a perfectly good meal at home.  Lately, I've also noticed myself falling back into my old single girl routine of eating too many snacks, ordering pizza way too much, and baking too many sweet treats.  

Not that any of that is bad every once in a while, but too much of anything is a bad thing.  So this week, I'm making a committed effort to stick to my menu and eat at home.  I'm also trying to fix healthier meals.  I had hoped that going vegetarian for Lent would lead to a small weight loss and healthier attitude towards food, but so far that hasn't been the case.  I don't think I'm getting enough protein because I've noticed that I'm always hungry, so I'm incorporating some lentils, shrimp, and leafy greens into this week's plan to help combat that. 

Sunday

Lunch: Leftover pizza

Dinner: Roasted shrimp, potatoes and zucchini (bumped from last week)

Monday

Lunch: Leftover pizza

Dinner: Lentils and rice (check the comments in this post for how I prepare this)

Tuesday

Lunch: Leftovers lentils and rice

Dinner: Leftovers aka clean out the fridge

Wednesday

Lunch: Soup, toasted cheese sandwich

Dinner: Pasta Florentine (made without the meat)

Thursday

Lunch: Leftover pasta

Dinner: Veggie burger, frozen vegetables

Friday

Lunch: PBandJ sandwich, chips and hummus

Friday: TBD

Breakfasts are orange-oatmeal muffins or Greek yogurt parfaits.  I'm thinking of making cookie cake bars for something sweet to have around the house and to take to work. 

Any vegetarians out there?  What are your favorite (and frugal) protein choices?  What's on your menu this week?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday.