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:

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

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.

Fall Party Food & Decorating

A month or so ago I was watching The Chew, and Clinton Kelly had such a cute idea for a cheese selection display. I looked and can't find the idea online, so I don't have a link to share. However, I hosted two parties last month and made my own version. It was a huge hit with my guests, and I want to share with all of you. So easy, too!

First, I went shopping for fresh fruit, dry fruit, various cheeses, and crackers. Then I asked for paper bags from my local grocery. I cut the large rectangular sides out and taped them together with the grocer's name on bottom. Then I cut small pieces of wax/parchment paper to place on top of the bag, but under my cheeses. From there I cut the cheeses and fresh fruit. Then I arranged my snacks on the paper bags, labeling all of them with a sharpie marker right on the taped bags. Ta dah! I very approachable and casual cheese and fruit spread!

 

 

I decorated the tables with gourds drilled with candle size holes in them. I then placed candles in the holes and lite them. So cheap, easy, festive, and pretty! Careful to only to this a day in advance... they molded very fast. 

 

 

Pumpkin Pancakes



Credit: High Heels & Grills
Recipe: http://highheelsandgrills.blogspot.com/2012/09/pumpkin-pancakes.html

Cochran Review: After a tough night of teething with our son, my husband told me to go back to sleep as he got up with our son. Super husband moment! He looked up this recipe on my Pinterest board, took our son to the store to get ingredients, and I woke to the smell of these delicious pumpkin pancakes, bacon and coffee! Heaven! The pancakes were moist, fall like, and wonderful just like you would hope! I imagine he made them just as directed... my husband is a wonderful cook by number sort of chef. Meaning, he follows recipes precisely. Unlike me. I get distracted by creativity. You should definitely give these a try! Enjoy!

Here's a pic he took for my blog before I woke! Another super husband moment!



Clinton Kelly's Pappardelle with Summer Vegetables and Ricotta

Credit: The Chew's Clinton Kelly
Recipe: http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Pappardelle-Summer-Vegetables-Ricotta-Auberge-du-Soleil-Resort

Cochran Review: Bleh! How's that for an official food blog review? LOL! OK, in all fairness to Clinton, I didn't have cherry tomatoes (my plants have stopped producing) and I didn't have Arugula (lettuce). So, maybe that makes a huge difference. I also had to swap out pappardelle noodles for egg noodles. I don't think this was a big deal tho. Clinton even recommended it on the show. I substituted egg plant for tomatoes and I think that's where I went wrong. I haven't done a lot of cooking (OK, none) with egg plant and was interested to try it. I think this wasn't the best recipe for it though. The dish was OK, not a lot of flavor, after cooked fresh. However, warmed up was awful! The veggies got rubbery and were not edible. If you give this dish a shot, I recommend going with tomatoes or something that provides that acidic flare. We won't be trying it again. Oh well, I told my husband, one bad dish out of a hundred isn't bad, right? Ha ha ha! This is where I usually say enjoy, but I think I'll end with good luck.  ;)

Here's a pic of our dish:

Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas

Credit: Cookie + Kate
Recipe: http://cookieandkate.com/2011/black-bean-sweet-potato-enchiladas/

Cochran Review: We had these tonight for dinner tonight! Yum! Yum! Yum! Very good dish. I LOVE meals that say throw the ingredients in a bowl and mix! Doesn't get easier than that!!

A few things I changed up:
- I shredded chicken from last night's dinner (Wine & Tomato Braised Chicken) for my husband who insists on having meat with every meal.  :)
- It is a warm day today. So I decided to cook the sweet potato on the stove top in a pan with coconut oil instead of bake them. The less I have the oven going, the better.
- I chickened out. I omitted the Red Pepper, Jalapeno, and Serrano peppers. I planned to feed this to my 16 month old, and was not up for being awake all night due to his tummy hurting. I think they would add a nice kick, tho. So, do it and let me know!  ;)
- Also, I thought I had a jar of green salsa at home, but I didn't. So, I used what we had left of a jalapeno cilantro salsa on the bottom of the dish. I didn't have enough to top the enchiladas, but I had extra stuffing. So, I threw the extra stuffing on top with the cheese.

Even with my few misses, changes, and additions, this meal tastes great and was easy to make! I'd be happy to have it again and maybe add a little more kick. Enjoy! Thanks for joining us for dinner!