Keto Spitzad - Zucchini, Onions, Tomatoes & Yellow Squash - Keto Friendly

This is one of those great summer dishes that I would like to share. My mother made this dish a lot in the summer while growing up and it's one of the few vegtables dishes that Mark actually loves. I'm not really sure how it's spelled, so I spelled it like it's sounds.

It's great to make when the bounty of tomatoes, zucchini and squashes are at their peak. It's definitly versatile allowing for many variations. It's an excellent side dish. It goes great over rice and with pasta.

Get the frying pan going over med-high heat. Add 2-4 tablespoons of your favorite oil. Start with the onions, then zucchini/squash and finally the tomatoes. As you cut them, put them directly into the hot frying pan and let them start cooking in the oil. After vegetables are done, chop up herbs to your liking and add to vegetables reserving some for the end. Add salt and pepper to your taste cover and stir every 15 minutes or so. Keep it covered, allowing some steam to escape, but let it retain some of it's juices, especially when serving it over rice. After about 40 minutes or until veggies are cooked, remove from heat and sprinkle with cheese reserving about tablespoons. Mix gently and top off with reserve cheese. The basic recipe consists of:

1 med Zucchini sliced into 1" pieces
1 med Yellow Squash
- sliced into 1" pieces
1 med-large onion cut in 1/2
- cut into 1/2" verticle slices
3 cups of tomatoes
- quartered
4 tbsp Fresh Basil chopped
3 tbsp Fresh Italian Parsley chopped
1 tbsp italian seasoning (dried)
1 cup of grated cheese, parm. reggiano, locatelli, etc all work well.

Use any combination of herbs you want. I found that the dried Italian Seasoning works well when used with fresh herbs.

The day I made this, I used 2 green squash (in picture above) and 2 yellow squash, one very large "sweet" onion and about 3/12/ cups of tomatoes. It also refrigerates very well and never tried freezing it. For it's simplicity, you gain something that is very healthy and tasteful. I like to serve it with a my egg & cheese pasta, but that's for another time.

Skillet Lasagna

On a recent episode of America's Test Kitchen, they demonstrated an effective method of making Lasagna on the stove in one pan, hence, skillet Lasagna. After watching the episode (and specifically this segment) a second time, I was off to the store to gather up the ingredients. Even though I love lasagna, it can be quite the time consuming process to put together! (Nothing still beats a lasagna layered with homemade pasta sheets!) I used the Barilla lasagna sheets but they used regular lasagna noodles in the show.

I think Mark will agree with me, this dish came out absolutley delicious! It made so much that I was even able to freeze some for a future meals! The recipe is available on the America's Test Kitchen website. If you are looking for a fairly quick way to make a very tasty lasagna, I highly recommend this recipe! Finire di mangiare! (Eat Up!)

Tony Makes Kalyn's Egg "Muffins"

I've been intrigued by this recipe for quite some time. There was some Canadian Bacon that had to be used up so I thought it would be a great time to make: Kalyn's Egg "Muffins".

When shopping one day, I happened to find silicon cupcake pans that were actually on sale. There was no issue of them being released from baking. Kalyn had mentioned in a later post about theese muffins that she wouldn't make them in any other type pan.

I mixed in a chopped scallion and chopped candian bacon and some grated cheddar and Asiago cheeses along with salt and pepper and they came out Eggalicious!!!! And it's great for a Low-Carb Diet! :-) Thanks Kalyn!!

Hot Cross Buns

I saw these in the supermarket yesterday while grocery shopping and just had to buy them as they reminded me of my childhood and I thought they'd be a nice treat this weekend. These have the taste I remember but someone must have found some of those green fruits they use in Fruitcake at Christmas time and thought that they would be good mix in with these. (They're not, they ruined it and I picked them out).

When researching the significance of this pastry which always appeared around this time of year when I was a child, the book of Dates and Meanings of Religious & Other Festivals, hot cross buns:

"used to be kept specially for Good Friday with the symbolism of the cross, although it is thought that they originated in pagan times with the bun representing the moon and its four quarters."

Helfer Pastries online states:

Hot Cross Buns are made with sweet, yeast-raised dough, raisins, currants, cinnamon and other spices. They are finished with roll icing in the shape of a cross, to remind us of the death of Jesus and the victory of His Resurrection!

Hot Cross Buns are mainly associated with Good Friday than Easter Sunday.

Bella Online had the following to say about their pagan origins:

Their origins lie in pagan traditions of ancient cultures, with the cross representing the four quarters of the moon. During early missionary efforts, the Christian church adopted the buns and re-interpreted the icing cross. In 1361, a monk named Father Thomas Rockcliffe began a tradition of giving Hot Cross Buns to the poor of St Albans on Good Friday.

In years that followed, many customs, traditions, superstitions, and claims of healing and protection from evil and were associated with the buns. In the 16th century, Roman Catholicism was banned in England, but the popularity of Hot Cross buns continued. Queen Elizabeth I passed a law banning the consumption of Hot Cross Buns except during festivals such as Easter, Christmas and funerals.

HAPPY EASTER!

Fondue

A Recent Book Purchase ...



... and the Carmel Sauce from Williams-Sonoma was excellent on Valentine's Day when warmed and served with sliced apple and pound cake!

Cheese Me!

My staple of cheeses that I like to keep on hand!

A Favorite Winter Dinner

Sweet Potatoes, Apples & Onions with Chicken-Apple Sausage

This was so good, I thought I'd share! I whipped this up pretty quick tonight while I was on the phone with Dee. (Love and Miss you!)

I also made an awesome variation of the classic mac 'n cheese, which I will also share!





More To Come . . .