Crispy Zucchini Fritters

 Let me share with you a recipe for my families new favorite food. 

I made these Zucchini Fritters for the first time a few days ago and they were so good I have made them for dinner every night since. They are low calorie, low carb and packed with veggie goodness. Special K likes them so much I can barely get them to the table before she’s snatching them off the plate.

2 Large Zucchini, grated
1/2 Large Sweet Onion, grated
2 Carrots, grated
1 Tbsp of garlic (optional to use fresh grated garlic, 1 clove)
2 Tbsp of Lawry’s Season Salt
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Bread Crumbs
Enough coconut oil to simmer in a skillet

Start by putting your oil on to heat at medium temperature.
Mix all of the above together in a large bowl. I used a very small amount of Bread Crumbs since I was going for the low carb option.
Form the mixture into small patties and place in your skillet. Put them a little ways apart from each other to allow for spreading as they cook. Let them cook for about 2-3 minutes per side, or until golden brown.
Remove from pan once desired color is reached.

I served them with lemon herb yogurt on night one but they are just as good naked (as K called it)

Lemon Herb Sauce-

1/2 Cup Unflavored Greek Yogurt
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp Italian Herb Blend

Mix all ingredients together and serve.

So simple, so quick and super tasty!

 

The Man-sandwich

Sunday night is sandwich night. I try to mix it up and do a different melt/grilled/awesomeness between two slices every week. My sandwich recipes are on a 6 week rotation with the rest of our dinners cause I’m anal like that.
The French dip, Patty melt and Philly cheese are extremely popular with the Hub so when I came across the Pioneer Woman recipe for the Marlboro Man sandwich I was excited to see the combined all three of them into one glorious bun.

Another Extremely Easy Recipe

Crispy Onion Coated Chicken with Gravy and Loaded Mashed Potatoes 15 Min prep, 20 Min Cook.

First off, let me apologize for the poor photo quality. My  real camera went dead so I was forced to use the camera on my phone, which is less than optimal. Of course, the one time I have the presence of mind to take pics through out the process, I am without the right tools.

This recipe is another of our every-other-week eats. It’s super easy and pretty cheap to put together.  We usually have enough leftovers for Hub to take it to work for lunch, so that’s a Win as well.

Another Extremely Easy Recipe

Smoked Sausage and Cheesy Potatoes – 20 min. prep, 40 min. cook

The word YUM does not begin to describe this dish. Special K and The Hub are big fans of anything involving Meat and Potatoes. Add Cheese and they will be your best friends for at least the duration of the meal.

Smoked Sausage is something I generally have on hand. When they are on sale it’s usually a BOGO or something like that. It’s an easy food that defrosts quickly when I forget to pull something out the night before, therefore it is one of my best friends always.

The sausage has saved my life a few times.  *hehehe

To make this ultra yum dish you need a few simple things that are usually on hand in your kitchen. 

• 3 cups idaho potatoes, peeled, boiled and cut into cubes when cool, approx. 1 lb (I usually use fresh potatoes but last night I used canned, precooked and sliced white potatoes) 
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 lb give or take Velveeta cheese, diced
• 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 lb skinless smoked sausage (Hillshire Farm is my favorite brand, we prefer the all beef or turkey sausages)
• 1/8 teaspoon paprika

First thing you want to do is pre-heat your oven to 350.
(Make sure you check it first for any toys, pans, socks, cats, or other small woodland creatures that may have found their way in without your knowledge.)

Second thing you want to do is cut up your sausage. Toss the slices into a skillet and let them cook until they start to turn brown. This will help bring out the flavor. 
(I like to cut my sausage into little half moons, just under bite size. While I do this, I also like to laugh maniacally and use an unnecessarily large knife. Hub finds this very disturbing. I’m ok with that.)  

While your sausage is cooking, warm the Milk, Butter, Salt, Pepper and Flour in a sauce pan on around medium heat, depending on the stove.
Be sure to mix the flour with a bit of milk before adding it to the whole sauce pan. Blend them together with a fork until there are no lumps.
(This is called a Ru, if you are from the South) 

Once you have blended the Ru with the rest of the Milk, add your Velveeta. I use about 1/2 lb but you can go more or less, depending on how cheesy you want it.

Let the mixture cook until it starts to get thick and all the cheese is melted.

Make sure to check on your sausage and turn it as needed while you are stirring your Ru.

While those two are on the stove, pour your taters into a non-stick 2qt casserole dish or a 9×9 baking pan (that’s what I did) 

Add your browned sausage to the taters. Give it a gentle toss, being careful not to break the potatoes.

Now, add your thickened cheese sauce.

Top it all with the shredded cheddar and a sprinkling of paprika.

Now, pop it all in the oven for about 35-40 minutes, until the cheese on top is browned.

I like to leave mine in until the cheese is on the slightly burnt side. That’s my favorite part. 

I served it with a mixed green salad and some various fresh veggies from the community garden. I love tomato season!

We had friends pop in at the same time I was taking this out of the oven.  It smelled so good that they were begging me to send some home with them. So, now I am minus a few forks and Tupper-ware containers but may have gained a few new regular dinner guests.

It was all so DELISH! I hope you all enjoy as much as we did.

An Extremely Easy Recipe

Every family has their own recipe for Beef Stroganoff. This is mine.
We have this about every other week. I usually try to space things out a bit more than that but the first time I made this The Hub put his foot down and demanded that we have this weekly. We compromised with every other. This is the one of the few recipes that Special K cleans her plate and asks for seconds on.

Beef Stroganoff 

1lb of Ground Beef- I use 93/7% but you can use what you want. You can also sub Turkey or Stew Beef.
1 Medium Onion, sliced and diced
2 Tsp Garlic Powder
1 Packet of Lipton Beefy Onion Soup Mix
1 Medium Size Daisy Sour Cream
1 Tbs Flour
1 Tbs Lawrys Season Salt
1 Cup Water
1/2 Cup Milk

Start by browning your meat in a large skillet. Once it’s done, drain it.
While your meat is draining, throw the onion in the Skillet. Stir them around with the Garlic Powder and let them caramelize*
While the onions are cooking and your beef is draining, mix the Soup Mix and Flour with 1 cup of water

Mix all the goodness together and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. The liquid will cook down a bit during this process.
Add your sour cream and give it a good stir. Add some salt to taste.

All Done!

I serve my Stroganoff over Egg Noodles and garnish with Parmesan Cheese.

Of course, you have to have your veggies with every meal and I am a firm believer that the only veg that should ever be served with Stroganoff is Green Beans.

“Beans, Beans, the magical fruit, the more you eat the more you toot, the more you toot, the better you feel so let’s have beans for every meal! ”  K can’t resist singing the song.

That’s it. Enjoy!

Sadly, that is not my pic up there. We ate all of it before I had the presence of mind to take a pic. It was so good.