Zucchini & Yellow Squash Spaghetti

Credit: Jen Cochran
Recipe:
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
2 Tbsp of Kosher salt (to taste)
Ground black pepper to taste
2 Tbsp of olive oil
1 29oz can of tomato sauce (Target brand only has 2g of sugar)
1 cup of water
4 Tbsp of onion chives (or to taste)
7-8 garlic cloves (or to taste)
1 tsp of Rosemary
1 handful of fresh parsley
1 Tbsp of Tarragon
1 package of Jenny-O Turkey Italian Sausage (20oz)
1 package of Jenny-O lean ground Turkey (20oz)

Zucchini & Yellow Squash Noodles
- Use a potato peeler to make long noodle like slices of the zucchini & yellow squash. Stop when you reach the seeds and discard unless you have a use for them. I put them in my compost.
- Put zucchini and yellow squash noodles in a strainer in the sink. Give a good coat of salt (1/2 to 1 Tbsp of Kosher salt) to release water & gently mix (I used my hands). Let sit. Mine sat about 10-15 mins, I guess.
- While noodles are sitting, bring a pot (pasta pot) of water to boil. And chop bell peppers.
- When water starts to boil, rinse the noodles in cold water to remove some of the salt and put noodles in boiling water for one minute.
- After one minute, remove, strain, and immediately rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.
- In the pot, heat a Tbsp of olive oil and 2-3 sliced garlic cloves. Heat just long enough to soften the garlic, you don't want to brown the oil or garlic.
- Add noodles to olive oil and garlic pan. Toss right away. Add bell peppers to noodles and stir occasionally on medium heat for 5 mins.
- You can serve as is. For this meal I also completed the following steps to make spaghetti.

Ground Turkey & Italian Sausage
- Heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil (to help the turkey from getting too dry as it cooks) in a large pan or pot.
- Remove the sausage from the skin tubing so it can be ground and mixed with the lean ground turkey.
- Once pan is hot, add sausage and ground turkey.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Continue to mix and cook until meat is thoroughly brown.

Sauce
Note: I typically chop my own tomatoes and make my sauce from scratch, but I was running low on time and decided to doctor a low sugar canned tomato sauce. Premade spaghetti sauces I found were loaded with sugar and unnecessary ingredients.
- Pour 29oz can of tomato sauce into a large food processor or blender.
- I added a cup of water by filling the tomato can 1/4 of the way twice so I could get all of the tomato sauce out of the can. Pour water into food processor.
- Chop about 4 Tbsp of onion chives (it was fresh in my garden; feel free to use what you like). Add to food processor.
- Add a handful of parsley to the food processor (again, it was fresh in my garden).
- Add 4-5 garlic cloves to the food processor.
- Toss one tsp of Rosemary in the food processor.
- Include 1 Tbsp of Tarragon in the food processor.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Mix ingredients in food processor until you have your desired consistency.
- Pour ingredients from food processor to sauce pot on the stove and lightly heat and stir occasionally.

Now just build it... Noodles, then turkey, then pour sauce on top. Using the amounts above, I was able to make 8 servings, which included 5oz of turkey with each serving. Feel free to add, remove, change any of the herbs used to suit your liking. I just used what was on hand, and my family really enjoyed it! I hope you do, too!

Don't be intimidated by the meal. It came together quickly (something I did while home alone with my 2 year old) and was very easy. Enjoy!

BLT with Avocado Salad

Credit: Jen Cochran
Recipe:
- 1 Red Bell Pepper
- 1 Yellow Bell Pepper
- 1 Salad Tomato
- 1 Avocado
- 1 head of Red Leaf Lettuce
- 1 Romaine Heart Lettuce
- 1/2 lb of thick sliced bacon, chopped

Dressing
- 2 Tbsp Dijon
- 3 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/3 cup of olive oil

Croutons
- 4 slices of whole wheat bread
- fresh grated Romano cheese to coat
- Olive oil to coat
- salt and pepper to taste
- Garlic, minced, to taste (I used 1 clove)

Put 1/2 pound of bacon (about 6-8 slices) in freezer for 15 mins... it's easier to cut when slightly chilled. Slice bacon. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil into a pan and cook bacon until crispy. While bacon is cooking, follow instructions below. When fully cooked, remove bacon and set to side on to cool and drain grease.

Slice bread in cubes. Put in a bowl or zip lock bag. Add olive oil to make moist, but not completely dampen. You just want enough to help seasoning stick and make bread brown. Add cheese, salt, pepper, and garlic. Mix thoroughly. Lay on a greased cookie sheet or an oven mat in a single layer. Cook until desired crispiness in the oven at 350 degrees. I cooked ours about 20 mins.

Dice bell peppers, tomato, avocado, and clean and pull apart lettuce. In your serving bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients: Dijon, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and olive oil.

Add lettuce to dressing and mix well. Next top with bell peppers, avocado, and bacon. Serve croutons on the side. And enjoy! This meal came together so fast and was a much healthier alternative to the traditional BLT, as it has mayo and we would've had much more bread.

Extras
- Keep dressing, bell peppers, tomato, and avocado to the side if you think you will have extra for leftovers so your lettuce doesn't get soggy.
- I'm not a huge fan of having salad as the main course. This salad was hearty enough that I found it satisfying as a meal.
- More pics:

Pulled BBQ Chicken

**These are our dear friends Steve and Sandra with our son. Their visit from Holland was the reason for the open house. I'm working on a food pic. Until then, enjoy these faces I love oh so much!!**
Credit: This is a Jen Cochran original. I made this up for an open house party and everyone loved it.
Recipe:

- 1 box of chicken broth (I believe it is 4 cups)
- water (see instructions below)
- 10 whole peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 lbs frozen raw boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- Durkee Grill Creations St. Louis Style Chicken & Rib Rub to taste
- Weber Beer Can Chicken Seasoning to taste
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
3 Tbsp of olive oil

Place the chicken in the slow cooker. Sprinkle with peppercorns, salt, and bay leaves. Pour chicken broth over top of everything. Add water so liquid comes to the top of the chicken. I use a 7 quart slow cooker. Cook on high 5 hours or low for 8 hours. Making the chicken is definitely a step you can do in advance.

Once the chicken is cooked, carefully remove the chicken from the slow cooker and let it rest a few minutes (I'm guessing here, 15 mins or so. It's not really a deal breaker if it is longer). While the chicken is cooking, I strain the liquid from the slow cooker into a container.

The chicken is so tender you can now use two forks to pull the chicken apart and shred it. Place the chicken back into the slow cooker. I seasoned the chicken with Durkee Grill Creations St. Louis Style Chicken & Rib Rub and Weber Beer Can Chicken Seasoning.

I did this on a whim preparing for 70ish people. So, I apologize I don't have exact measurements. I'd say just give it a good coating. Stir the chicken and add more so it is noticeable there is seasoning throughout. I added more salt and pepper to taste, as well. I love garlic, so I also added 3 minced cloves of garlic. I then added about 3 Tbsp of olive oil, and mixed it all together. Olive oil wakes up dry seasonings to release full flavor.

I knew my chicken was going to be sitting for a few hours in the slow cooker since it was for an open house (eat all day environment). In efforts to make the meat moist, I added a cup of the broth I drained from the slow cooker earlier. **Side Note: I put the rest in a plastic container and used in quinoa, etc in place of store bought chicken broth.** I then added a bottle (18 oz) of Sweet Baby Rays Original BBQ Sauce. **Side Note: pic captured is a different flavor than original, but wanted you to have a visual. The bottle I used is long gone.**

This made it a bit soupy, but it was perfect at dinner time a few hours later. If you're eating right away, I recommend adding the BBQ sauce first and then adding the chicken both as needed to get the texture you want.

That's it. Slap it on a bun and call it a day. We really enjoy it on a whole wheat bun topped with a vinaigrette cole slaw. Yum! Yum! Yum!

Extras:
- If you don't like biting into garlic chunks, smash open 3 garlic cloves and put them in w/ the raw chicken. Then you can strain the cloves out.
- Use the BBQ sauce you love. The sauce listed above is what the boys brought home. So, I used it. I use different ones often.
- I normally look at the ingredients in prepackaged seasonings and then just make my own. These were a gift at some point. So, I just used them. Feel free to play with the seasonings to your liking.
- I think everyone likes this so much due to the tenderness of slow cooking the chicken and the layering of the flavors. Adding flavor at each step really takes it up a notch.
- This makes a lot of chicken. You can make this recipe as is and freeze what you don't eat for later, or cutting it in half would probably make for a nice family of 4 dinner.

Oatmeal Pancake Cupcakes

Recipe: Donnie Cochran (my husband), cooking instructions by Gwaltney Foods

Gwaltney Foods Link: http://www.gwaltneyfoods.com/food-fun/?fun=sausage_pancake_bites

Recipe/Cochran Review: My husband is the true morning chef in our house. He's been tweaking and perfecting his pancake mix for quite awhile now. I found a fun way to make pancakes through Pinterest. The Gwaltney Foods link said to mix pancakes as instructed and provided a unique cooking method for pancake bites... or as we like to call them, pancake cupcakes. Call anything shaped like a cupcake just that and our toddler will gobble it up! Parent trickery!

So, here it is. Donnie's recipe combined with Gwaltney Foods cooking method. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Pancake Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease mini or full size muffin pans, your choice.

- 1 & 1/4 cup of oatmeal (ground in food processor or blender finely)

- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

- 3 Tbsp of Greek yogurt or 1/4 cup of oil (we prefer yogurt)

- 1 tsp of baking soda

- 1 tsp of baking powder

- 1/4 cup sugar

- 1 tsp vanilla

- 1 & 1/4 cup of milk

- 1 tsp of apple cider

- 1 egg

- Extras desired: Turkey sausage crumbles, fruit, nuts, syrup, etc

In a small bowl, mix 1 & 1/4 cup of milk with 1 tsp of apple cider. Let this mixture stand for a minimum of 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, blend ground oatmeal, flour, Greek yogurt, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, vanilla, and egg. After milk & apple cider mixture has sat at least 5 minutes, combine in large bowl with other ingredients. If the mixture appears too runny, adjust by mixing in small amounts of additional flour.

Pour mixture into greased muffin pans. Add extras. For example, we like turkey sausage crumbles, strawberry & banana, strawberry & chocolate chip, toasted almond & syrup, etc. We even made one with apples, cinnamon, & nutmeg, like an apple pie! Yum! This is where you can get creative and personalize the pancakes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 13 minutes.

This baking method is great for several reasons:

- the cook can socialize with a cup of coffee instead of slaving over the stove

- little hands love to gobble the cupcakes up

- fun dipping into syrup or fruit compote, if you choose

- they freeze well; so, make a large batch during the weekend, and breakfast is quick with a reheat

- these travel well for breakfast on the go

- for those who struggle eating oatmeal, you'll never know you did

- And last, but not least... Toddler approved!



Hope you enjoy!

~ The Cochrans

Chicken and Avocado Soup


Recipe Inspiration from: Skinny Taste
Original Recipe: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/02/chicken-and-avocado-soup.html

Cochran Review: I say inspired and original above because I had to alter the original recipe cooking instructions in several ways to appeal to my boys. I'm sure I'd love the original recipe as is. We're having this for dinner tonight. Stay tuned for what we thought and pictures.

Rather than state my changes in a paragraph format, I thought it may be easier to just rewrite the recipe as I made it. So, here is how I prepared our dinner..

Chicken
- 5 cups of chicken broth
- 10 whole peppercorns
- 1 lime (sliced thinly)
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 raw boneless skinless chicken breasts
- pinch of cumin powder
- pinch of cayenne pepper powder

Place the chicken in the slow cooker. Sprinkle with peppercorns, cumin, cayenne pepper, and bay leaves. Toss lime slices on top. Pour chicken broth over top of everything. Cook on high 4-5 hours (5 if frozen) and low 6-8 hours (8 if frozen). Making the chicken is definitely a step you can do in advance.

Soup
- 1 tomato, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1&1/2 cup of green onions, finely chopped
- 2 ripe avocados, mashed
- 1 cup of cilantro, finely chopped
- 1 lime sliced
- 2 tsp of grape seed oil
- ground sea salt & fresh pepper to taste
- 18 oz of whole wheat three cheese tortellini

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat grape seed oil. Saute tomato, garlic and green onions in pot about 3-5 minutes. Let cool enough to be safe to transfer to food processor. Blend saute mixture well in food processor.

When chicken is done, remove from slow cooker and shred or cut into bite sizes pieces. Strain broth (to remove fatty chicken pieces, peppercorns, bay leaves, and lime slices) into large pot or dutch oven used to saute vegetables. Bring to a boil. This is the base for your soup. Whisk saute mixture into soup base. Whisk mashed avocado into soup. Put tortellini and chicken into soup broth. Simmer, covered on low for 15-20 minutes.

To serve, place cilantro, lime slice(s), additional scallions (if desired) into a bowl, and ladle soup over top.

Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup

Credit: Two Peas & Their Pod
Recipe: http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/italian-sausage-tortellini-soup/

Cochran Review: This was really good. You may notice on the labels I have Meatless and Slow Cooker. Meatless is tagged because you can make this meal without the Italian Meatballs... unless you're cooking for me boys. Ha! I had a jam packed day when I made this so I altered the meal to a slow cooker method. However, you do not have to make this in the slow cooker. Just follow original recipe for stove top cooking.

One cautionary word of advice, I found rolling a zillion tiny little meatballs time consuming and tedious. So, if preparing this on a work day or busy day, you may want to do this step in advance. You could put them on wax paper in fridge to keep or even freeze them. Also, I ended up scooping all of the tortellini for our original meal and buying another batch to make for leftovers. My family likes a chunky, hearty soup over mostly broth. I will definitely make this again with doubling the tortellini. Enjoy!

Here are some pics from our dinner:

I made the meatballs about the size of a baby spoon.

I couldn't decide which pic to use, so I offer both. Ha ha! Also, I decided to top the soup with freshly grated Romano cheese I had on hand from another recipe.

Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken

Credit: The Comfort of Cooking
Recipe: http://www.thecomfortofcooking.com/2012/08/crock-pot-honey-sesame-chicken.html?m=1

Cochran Comments: This was super easy and super yummy! Lots of flavor. I only did a few things different from the recipe. I used 2 pounds of frozen chicken thighs. I threw them in the slow cooker, and generously seasoned them with salt and pepper. I didn't do both sides as the recipe indicated since my chicken was frozen. I would've thawed and seasoned both sides if this wasn't a last minute dinner effort. I then cooked my meal for 3 hours on high since the chicken was frozen. They were done and tender.

I removed the chicken and made the sauce as indicated. After the sauce thickened, I threw in about a cup of frozen sweet peas and let them cook in the sauce on warm until we were ready to eat (15-20 mins). I opted to omit the scallions because my boys are not fans, and added peas to incorporate a veggie. It turned out great, and everyone was happy.

As for the rice, I made four servings of brown Jasmine (sticky) rice in our rice cooker. This was the perfect amount. The quantity of chicken suggested in this recipe made 4 servings plus a small toddler serving for our family. We had some sauce leftover, but not an obnoxious amount. I think what I'll do next time is go ahead with the entire 3 lb bag of chicken and follow the same sauce measurements. Enjoy!

Below is a picture of our meal: