Zuchinni fritters

As some of you know this year I joined an organic produce program delivered by Trussler's Pantry. Every week I receive a bin full of fresh, organic, locally grown produce. In the latest bins I've received a lot of zucchinis, and didn't know what to do with them all. 

I also went to the library and picked up "The Vegetarian Student Cookbook: great grub fit the hungry and broke" by Ryland, Peter and Small. It's in this book that I have found the zuchinni fritters recipe.  I looked at it for inspiration and made my own version. I also highly recommend the book, there is a lot of yummy recipes in this book.

Ingredients

2 zucchinis (I used 1 green and 1 yellow)

3 green onions

2 tsp garlic 

1/2 tsp vegetable seasoning and  dill

5 tbs of flour
Olive oil or coconut oil ( I prefer coconut oil but it's your choice)
1 cup cheese of your choice ( I used cheddar)

Grate zuchinni. Put in a strainer and let sit to remove excess water.

Put oven on broil.

In a skillet put a bit of oil, the garlic and green onions and cook until tender. Pull off heat let cool.

Finish staining excess water from zuchinni by pressing it in your hands put into a bowl ( you can add 2 eggs if you want this will help hold your zuchinni patties together and help them brown). Add seasoning and dill and onion mixture into the bowl as well as the flour. Mix together.

Put empty skillet back on the stove at medium heat ( I use the same one that oII cooked the onions in to save on dishes), add a bit of oil. Make patties with the zuchinni mixture and put in the skillet.

Cook until browned, take out of skillet and put on a baking sheet. Add cheese on top of the cooked patties. Put into oven until cheese is browned.

Take out and eat. Yum.

Potatoe chicken casserole

 I was browsing Pinterest the other night when I fell upon this recipe. I took a look at the ingredients and well I had them all. I also had ingredients that I thought would be awesome if I added then to the recipe.

I liked this recipe for two reasons:
1) It looked fairly simple to make.
2) My partner K isn't fond of chicken and I wanted a recipe that didn't just make the chicken a slab of meat but made integrate into to meal.

The ingredients listed are what I used but the quantities are approximations. Those that don't have quantities are because you can put as much or as little as you want.

Ingredients

1-2 lbs potatoes

1kohlrabi 

1 medium onion

Garlic

Olive oil

Greek or Italian seasoning

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast

3 cups of cheese ( cheddar, marble, mozzarella, wte you like)

Preheat oven at 425 f

If you use large potatoes cut them into pieces of you use gem potatoes just leave them as they are. Peel the kohlrabi and cut into pieces do the same with the onion.

Put in an oven safe baking dish. Sprinkle with as much seasoning as you would like ( I used about 1/4 cup) and add the garlic too ( I used about 2tsp).  Drizzle some olive oil over it all and mix ingredients to coat.

Put in oven for 20 minutes. 

Pull out the dish from the oven and add the chicken ( you can cube it before hand but I just left it whole). Put the dish back into the oven for approximately 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Once chicken is cooked take the dishes out of the oven ( if the chicken isn't cut up you can take the time to do it now and mix it into the potatoes and kohlrabi). Sprinkle cheese over it all place back into oven until cheese is melted.

Take out of the oven and serve.

This fed me, my partner ( why had to helpings), and my two boys ( 2-4 yrs). We also had plenty of left overs for the next day.

Month of August

Hello Jelly beans,

As you all know I set goals out to accomplish this month and I wanted to update you on how everything has been going.

A quick recap of my goals:
Finish organizing the new house
Get back into an exercise routine ( I will be taking pictures and measurements)
30 day you challenge ( taking 1 hour a day to be with just myself no one else with no electronics including music)
30 day no-POO challenge ( that's right no shampooing for 30 days)
Making my own toothpaste ( coconut oil, mint oil, baking powder)

And here is how everything is going. I decided to set myself monthly goals in hopes that it will help me keep on track and it did and didn't.

Organizing the house is a work in progress. I have finally hung up the pictures I wanted on the wall.  My partner K has started organizing the basement for me ( and no we don't live together yet), he even supplied some shelves to help with the organization process. There's still a lot to do down there but it's getting there. I still have to go through the kids toys and find a place for the last few items in a box ( a lot of items actually)

The 30 day you challenge which consist of taking an hour to yourself to do what you want to do hasn't been going as well. You aren't supposed to nap well I fell asleep reading several times and didn't give myself any alone time other nights. What I have done though is take more time to myself even if it's not every day. I probably should've used that time to work out ( note that was a goal and it didn't happen) but instead I took time to read ( even though I feel asleep) and I also took a few relaxing baths which I haven't done in a long time. I also started doing things without the television or music on and without my phone. I just do things in silence which is amazing. Between kids and work my life is noisy, and sometimes all the noise stops me from being able to think, it clogs my mind and that's typically when I start getting a shorter fuse. I have found that doing dishes and food prep without any of those distractions has helped me relax more because I can actually listen and be aware of my own thoughts and feelings. It lets me analyze myself and my actions and majes me see how I could've tackled a situation differently.

30 day s of no-Poo ( shampoo that is). I made it to day 27 with no shampoo. It was surprising how my hate didn't get as oily as I thought it would our feel dirty and itchy. I washed it after 27 days because my hair got wet in a hot tub and baking soda didn't help get rid of the icky feeling my hair gets after being in chlorine. Otherwise my experience was fun.

I made my own toothpaste with coconut oil, salt, peppermint oil, banking powder. I've made it because of all the chemicals in toothpaste. With that said I still use store bought toothpaste once a week and use a store bought mouthwash and floss.

Other things that happened.

My oldest H is starting school this week which is exciting.  B ( my ex), his mother and I will be bringing him to school for his first day together. I am glad that he invited to come along so I can see my son off to his first day of school.

I'm also in the process of buying a sewing machine. I am spending a bit if money on it. The store in town here has one for 180$ used but I decided to go with the same model that is currently on sale for only 20$ more and it will be delivered free of charge. It will save me a ton of money on pant hemming. Since I have to get all my pants hemmed it will save me money in the long run.


The goals for September.

Get some pickling and jam done.
Complete the budget from August receipts.
Finish organizing the house ( my room and kids toys
Learn to hem pants
Make one vegetarian "dish" a week.

Until next time loves.