Where you are always allowed to play with your food!
Forget Meatless Monday! Eat what you want when you want. Lots of veggie options today from my local market. I found a pretty heirloom tomato. The guy said it was hollow and needed to be stuffed. #challengeaccepted
Orzo and Cheese Stuffed Tomato
All I did was cut off the top and hollow out the inside of a summer heirloom tomato… I filled it with leftover cooked orzo and topped with mozzarella. Broiled on low for 10 minutes. YUM!
Hey there! I am here with another idea for summer veggies. Make them into chips! I did my chips 2 ways; kale and beets. Crunchy and healthy.
For the kale- tear or cup off the leaf from the rib and stem. Discard the rib and stem. They are just too fibrous to eat. No bueno. I sprayed a cookie sheet with Pam. Then I sprayed the kale with Pam and salted it just a bit. You could use olive oil. That is fine. Plus, it has no fat or calories, so it is a bit more figure friendly. But if you have olive oil spray, that would be fine as well. Still healthy! Cook at 450 for about 15 minutes. This stuff cooks fast, so be on the watch so it doesn’t burn. I don’t mind when it turns a little brown, but more than that and it is unedible. 
for the beets- slice very thin, preferably on a mandolin. Use the guard and be careful! I treated the beets the same way as the kale. Pam and a little salt and pepper. These take a bit longer. Mine went about 30 minutes. 
These are a great way to eat kale and beets even if you don’t think you like kale or beets. The kale has this amazing salty crunch that just sort of melts in your mouth after each bite. The beets are a mix of sweet and salty and are just beautiful. I think next time I will gild the lily and add a sprinkle of grated ginger. Ginger and beets go hand in hand.
Here is another vegetarian meal brought to you by my farmer’s market veggies. I made a huge pan, knowing full well that I am the only one eating it. Whatever is leftover in a few days will go straight to the freezer for future consumption.
This lasagna was super easy to make. Store bought sauce, pre-shredded cheese, no boil pasta, and lots of sliced veggies. I threw this together in less than 10 minutes, baked for about 45 minutes until the cheese on top was bubbling and starting to turn brown. The end product was super cheesy yet still light and full of summer flavors! You can mix and match your sauce and veggies and even add in ground meat if you want to make it non-vegetarian. Or serve it as a veggie side pasta to some chicken parm etc.
EASY Yummy Veggie Lasagna
Ingredients
jarred sauce- I used a mixture of alfredo and vodka sauce. I find that for lasagna 1 container of thick sauce is never enough, so I experimented with 1 regular sized Vodka Sauce and 1 small jar of light mushroom alfredo sauce. Perfect amount! I love making different homemade pasta sauces, but I love the convenience and ease of a jarred sauce. I try to keep a couple in my pantry for quick dinners.
1 small bunch of kale, chopped- just the leaves- the ribs and stems are too fibrous to chew-
1 large or 2 small summer squash, sliced
2-3 summer tomatoes- I used one large yellow and 1 small red
1 package of no cook lasagna
1 pound of shredded mozzarella
Directions
Preheat oven to 350
Spray large oven safe casserole dish
put a bit of sauce spread on the bottom
add kale, then some cheese, then pasta, add sauce
add squash, then some cheese,then pasta, add sauce
add tomatoes, then some cheese, then pasta, add sauce
Bake for 45 min-1 hour until cheese is bubbly and brown. That combo of the mushroom alfredo and vodka sauce is unbelievable. It is rich and creamy, yet somehow still manages to feel light and delicate. It pairs perfectly with the veggies, which just kind of melt into the pasta and sauce. This is an awesome recipe to use some pretty amazing farmer’s market ingredients. I hope you give it a try!
Happy Thursday my fellow food fanatics! Thanks for supporting me in my culinary adventures in the kitchen. Here is another food win… oven baked tilapia. This fish turns out moist and flaky and has a delicious crunchy parmesan coating that my family loves.
Oven Baked Tilapia
Ingredients
3 large tilapia fillets- almost 1 pound. On sale, it cost less than $6.
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
2 cups breadcrumbs (plain or Italian will do fine)
1 tablespoon paprika
3 tablespoons parmesan
1 teaspoon each of onion and garlic powder
Salt and Pepper
Directions
Preheat oven to 450
Set up your 2 stations…
Station 1- milk and egg mixed together
Station 2- breadcrumbs, paprika, parmesan, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
Take your fish and dunk in station 1 on both sides well. Then dunk in station 2. Add each piece to a oven safe dish that has been coated with your favorite cooking spray.
Cook for about 12 \minutes- 6 minutes on each side; flip halfway through. This all depends on the thickness of your fish.
I served with pan roasted brown butter squash (brown 3 tablespoons of butter and add squash with salt and pepper), spicy sauteed spinach (bunch of spinach sauteed in olive oil, a tablespoon of both butter and marscapone, crushed red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper), and couscous cooked in chicken stock.
Good evening! So one of my most popular recipes is my easy oven baked chicken. https://funfoodiefamily.com/2013/08/31/oven-baked-chicken/ I think people love it so much, becuase it is so simple and easy. Work weeks are busy; weekends are filled with soccer/baseball/gymnastics games/tournaments etc. Sometimes you just want to come home, sit on the couch and watch Ellen/Rachael Ray etc. This is a great recipe for just that.
Oven Baked Barbecued Chicken
Take your chicken; I used legs and thighs, but any kind will do; Salt and pepper them. Place them in a zip top bag. Some people I have talked to HATE touching raw chicken. There are 2 inventions called gloves and tongs. Used them if you must. No biggie; seriously. If you don’t mind touching the chicken, just wash your hands. Soap. No worries, ya’ll!
Add your favorite barbecue sauce to the bag; about 1/2 the bottle. Ours is Sticky Fingers Original.
Put in a greased oven safe casserole dish. Cook at 350 for 45 minutes- 1 hour. Turn halfway through. Add more sauce if needed. Moist, tangy, and juicy!
I cooked yellow rice and oven roasted corn to go with it.
Roast the corn in the husk in the oven for about 30 minutes.
And let me just say that I LOVE summer corn! So sweet and juicy! It doesn’t even need butter! This is a great way to cook it. You could also grill it in its own husk as well. YUM!
Fun Foodie Family 