Too easy fruit salad

My husband says I should share this - says it's brilliant. I disagree, but in the interest of marital harmony...

1 banana, sliced into bite-size pieces
1 apple, sliced into bite-size pieces
1 handful (or so) green grapes, sliced in half
1 6 -8 oz container of cherry yogurt with fruit.

Just before serving, dump fruit into a bowl. Stir. Add yogurt, stir.

I know... it's that easy... use yogurt as salad dressing. It really doesn't feel original.

Mexican Rice

I didn't realize that there is a difference between Spanish and Mexican rice. My husband found this recipe online, it's a great side dish, and it's really quite tasty when stuffed inside a taco shell with cheese (I ran out of taco meat at the end of the meal...)

• 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice (we used Minute Rice)
  
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 fresh jalapeno pepper, chopped (optional, it was good without)
  
• 1 tomato, seeded and chopped(or 1 can of diced tomatoes, drained)
  
• 1 cube chicken bouillon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tbsp dried cilantro
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

In a medium sauce pan, cook rice in oil over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Pour in chicken broth, and bring to a boil. Stir in onion, green pepper, jalapeno, and tomatoes. Add bouillon cube, salt and pepper, cumin, cilantro, and garlic. Stir until cube melts. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 20 minutes.

Zucchini Pork Chop Supper

This is why I like real cookbooks. You can page through and find totally awesome stuff. This one comes from The Best of Country Cooking 1998. I adapted it to the ingredients I usually have on hand. The result is shake n bake-esque pork chops, creamy yet crunchy stuffing, and zucchini that's a little sweet. YUM!

3 boxes stuffing mix
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 lbs zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch chunks (no need to peel, do seed)
1/2 cup grated carrots
1 can cream of celery soup
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sour cream
1 tbsp fresh or 1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp pepper
6 loin pork chops (I used bone-in, they worked...)
Additional milk

Combine 1 box of stuffing mix with half of the melted butter. Place in the bottom of a greased 13x9x2-inch baking dish.

Combine soup, milk, sour cream, parsley and pepper. Add zucchini and carrots. Spoon over stuffing. Combine 1 box of stuffing mix with remaining butter. Sprinkle stuffing over zucchini.

Crush final box of stuffing mix (use a blender, food processor or zip-top bag and rolling pin, aim for coarse crumbs.) Dip pork chops in milk, then in stuffing crumbs. Place chops on top of casserole. Sprinkle remaining crumbs over all.

Bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until pork chops are cooked through (use your meat thermometer and check!)

Zucchini Carbonara

I'm cheating, and I don't care.

We had this for dinner on Monday night. Heaven... Heaven I tell you!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/jamie-oliver/beautiful-zucchini-carbonara-recipe/index.html

Warning gardeners: If you pick all the baby zucchinis for this recipe, any big ones left will double in size overnight.

Zucchini Boats

My mother-in-law is a great lady. But really, her Zucchini bake was just a little more work than I'm interested in. Here's a slightly easier version. I promise, you won't burn your hand draining the liquid!

1 -2 medium zucchinis
1 can of diced tomatoes. Preferably ones with basil, onions, etc.

Cut zucchinis in half, lengthwise. Peel away the skin. Use a spoon to remove the fluffy middle. If the zucchinis won't fit in your baking dish, it's ok to cut them in half width-wise as well.

Spoon the tomatoes into the boats or half-boats you've created. If you've got extra tomatoes, keep piling upward. Add any extra tomato juice to the bottom of the pan (the boats will soak up the flavor from the top and bottom. )

Bake for 30-45 minutes at 350- 400 degrees. (I usually use a higher temperature, even 425) until the boats are translucent and you can easily pierce through the zucchini with a fork.

You can add cheese before serving if you like, though, if you're dieting, it tastes pretty good without it.

Zucchini bake

This recipe came from my mother-in-law. This is the way she makes it. Zucchini boats are my modified version thereof.

1 or 2 Zucchini - medium sized
1 can of diced tomatoes, preferably the kind with basil, onions or other additions
An orange variety of cheese

Peel and remove the fluffy middle from the zucchini. Cut the remainder into 3/4 to one inch chucks. Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray. Add the zucchini to the dish. Dump tomatoes, liquid and all, over the zucchini. Cover, preferably with a glass cover.

Cook for 30 - 45 minutes at 350 - 400 degrees (I mention multiple cooking options to encourage cooking along side the main dish.)

After the zucchini is cooked (it becomes translucent) use the glass cover to drain away most of the liquid. Remove the cover, add shredded cheese and return to the oven just long enough to melt. Or, if you're a cheap freak like me, put the cover back on, and set it on the table. By the time you've wrangeled the kids, it'll be melted.

Dorothy's Potato Bake

Dorothy is lovely 80+ woman I work with. This is truly an old-fashioned recipe. Calories and fat be darned!

8 large potatoes
4 Tbsp butter
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese (ok, more)

Peel Potatoes and cut into french fry stips (you can use a contraption or a plain old knife.) Rinse and drain potatoes. Place into a 9 x 13 baking pan. Dot with butter. Salt and pepper to taste. (I tend to skip and add it at the table.) Pour cream over all. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake at 350 degrees (no higher!) for 1.5 hours. Add the cheese during the last 15 minutes of cooking.

The first time I made this recipe, I thought I had screwed it up. The result is part cooked in cream, part steamed potatoes in a very rich sauce. No, the cream doesn't set, and it doesn't all cook into the potatoes.