Fried zucchini is another one of my new favorite ways to serve this polarizing squash. The flour crust brings some texture to the squash, and the butter add a good flavor to the side that makes it very enjoyable. I have some advice though based on my mistakes. First, heat the oil fully before hand. I started with barely any butter in the pan and no oil, so quickly my mixture became a thick rue. I was adding oil as it cooked just to get some liquid in the pan. Also, make sure you get off loose flour before it enters the pan. You don’t want an even messier oil after you flip you zucchini over. Finally, I also plated the fried zucchini right away, however I would have benefited by letting them strain on a disposable plate first.
What You Will Need
1 Medium/Large Zucchini
3 Tbsp Butter
1/4 cup Oil
1/4 cup Flour
Large Frying Pan/Dutch Oven
Large Ziploc bag
Instructions
Wash and slice a zucchini into 1/2 to 1/4 inch thick slices.
Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat. Add 3 Tbsp butter, and 1/4 cup oil.
In a large Ziploc bag, add 1/4 cup flour. Add your slices into the bag a few at a time, and cover thoroughly in flour.
Shake off flour, and add to the hot oil. Cook until golden brown on both sides. Remove from oil and strain on a paper towel lined disposable plate. Let strain for about 5 minutes before serving.
A couple of days ago, we had KFC for dinner and we had our wings and drumsticks left over. I wanted to use up our leftovers and also make something new. As a result, this casserole was born. If you don’t prefer spaghetti, you could use other noodles, such as egg noodles or bowtie pasta. I used vermicelli, but that’s just what I’ve always used. I break my pasta in half, but you can also beak it smaller for this casserole if you want an easier time serving. I used 3 pieces of chicken. I warmed them, de-boned, removed cartilage, then tore up and added the chicken and the skin. Other than that, I served my pasta casserole right away, however it was pretty messy with the big noodles. The leftovers were very easy to divide and serve. Absolutely delicious, and I plan to make this dish or a similar version again in the future. Also, since I used KFC chicken it had plenty of flavor. If you plan to make this with a very plain chicken, you should consider doubling the spice in the casserole to add more flavor.
Bake one chicken breast till internal temperature of 165 F is reached. (Bake at 400 F for 30 minutes. You may also use a whole can of shredded chicken, or 3-4 pieces of fried chicken and skin.)
Using a mixer, shred the chicken. Place 1 cup of shredded chicken to the side and preserve the rest.
In a large sauce pan, bring water to a boil and cook 12 oz of spaghetti until al dente and strain.
In a 3 qt casserole dish, add your shredded chicken (1 cup), 1 can of cream of chicken concentrate, 1/2 can of milk, 1 Tbsp garlic powder, 2 tsp paprika, and 1 tsp curry powder. Stir together.
Heat oven to 400 F.
Add spaghetti and stir together. Add 6 oz of your choice cheese. (I used 4 oz shredded mozzarella, 1 oz shredded white shape cheese, and 1 oz crumbled white American cheese.) Stir together until cheese is distributed.
Top with even layer of parmasean, then bake for 20-25 minutes until golden. Serve right away, or refrigerate, cut, reheat, and serve.
This is a quick way to a refreshing glass of juice in the summer. Simply blend, strain, pour, and freeze. You can also transfer them from the tray into a freezer bag to have lots prepared for your next picnic. The cucumber flavor is perfectly complimented with the lemon and sugar. The salt helps negate some sour, and that helps the cucumber flavor come out on top. It is helpful to serve this drink with a straw, since the cucumber and sugar will settle to the bottom as the frozen cubes melt. You can also omit sugar and salt if you prefer a flavored water experience instead. This is also a great opportunity to use up your extra cucumbers before they go bad!
Wash 3 medium cucumbers. Slice into 1/2 inch slices.
In a blender, add 2 cups of lemon juice, 10 Tbsp sugar, a pinch of salt, and a few cucumber pieces.
Blend on high for 30 seconds, remove lid and add more cucumber pieces.
Repeat step three until all cucumber is blended.
Strain through a fine mesh strainer. Return to a cleaned blender, then pour into an ice cube tray.
Carefully transfer to freezer and freeze for 8-24 hours, till solid.
Hello, and welcome to another one of my garden updates. My last update was for May, and this one is for June. (Sorry it’s a bit later than the last one.) My garden has grown so fast, it’s shocking! I’ve gotten some radishes and lettuce off my plants, and this weekend I was able to get some cucumbers off my plants too.
This last month I’ve learned some valuable lessons. First, and I mentioned it in my last post, it is so important to space radishes. I tried to get them high density, just it just grew into a mess, and it took about 2 weeks longer to get any. Also, the two pictures below of harvested radishes is all the radishes I was able to harvest out of that mess. I had several radishes break under the soil and begin to rot, and I had many many more that produced no bulb due to overcrowding.
Second, I’ve discovered that cucumbers are a handful! I’ve been trying to grow them vertically, tying them to a tomato cage. And, though that works, They don’t climb naturally well, so I find myself every 1-2 days in the garden directing and tying off my cucumber plants. I also trimmed off some of the lower leaves off my cucumbers. They were turning yellow and dying, and they were also restricting air flow and making it hard to see any low hanging cucumbers.
Third, I learned all spacing needs to be respected more. I planted my green beans and cucumbers about 18 inches apart, and you’d swear they are star-crossed lovers. I go out into my garden everyday, and I always see these two plants reaching for one another, and being less than an inch from becoming a tangled mess I don’t look forward to dealing with. However, my other bed of lettuce, Swiss chard, tomatoes, and onions aren’t having any crowding issues. My Swiss chard didn’t come up. I believe I waited too long to plant. I also planted another segment of lettuce, and that also didn’t come up, I’m assuming same problem. My onions in that bed have appeared to stop growing. They are tinier than the other bed despite being planted earlier. They tops have also begun to fall over on several in that bed, leading me to believe pour drainage is likely a problem. I have several tomatoes that are nice and big, however none have begun to turn red yet. I also have one that a bug got into, but that’s not bad.
Fourth, I’ve learned good soil and drainage is important. As I just mentioned, my one bed isn’t holding onions, and I’m positive that if it isn’t holding onto moisture too much, the soil is likely not giving them enough nutrients. This bed was filled with mostly decomposed mulch, so the soil isn’t as good as my other bed. Besides that, the fabric bags we filled using soil from my in-law’s house, and their soil has a very high clay content. Because of this, in the hot June/July weather, I have to go and water them about every other day, when I see the leaves really wilting.
I’ve gotten everything planted and going. Some things aren’t growing as well as others, but I’m learning. We got a peach tree about 2 weeks ago and got that into the ground. I also left a few radishes to go to seed, and I have 2 onion sets going to seed now.
Ive also fertilized my soil about 3 times. I’ve been using Miracle Grow plant food for vegetables. Between that, watering regularly, and all the warm weather, my veggies have grown so fast!
This is a quick and easy meal. I used Aldi brand chicken patties, and they were very good. I used American cheese, and my sandwiches were assembled in less than 15 minutes. I recommend getting a good toast on your bread and adding the sauce to the chicken and cheese and not directly to the bread, or it will get soggy.
Cook chicken patties as recommended on packaging.
Toast your bread.
In a sauce pan, add tomato sauce. Add 2 tsp garlic powder, and 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning. Stir and heat over very low heat until boiling.
Stack your chicken with cheese and 2 Tbsp sauce, top with bread, and enjoy!
Our Lustron Home 