stuffed!

OK, I am sooooo stuffed. Dinner was so good. Every Tuesday night I serve dinner to my hubby's father and aunt. We have been doing this for more than a year, maybe even two. I have to say, it was kind of annoying at first, having to cook a big dinner. But now, I love it. I look forward to seeing Aunt Alix. The kids love having their Zayde (grandfather) for dinner, and have growm loads of love for Aunt Alix. The kids fight over who sits next to Zayde and Aunt Alix.
I always like to serve a nice big healthy dinner. Tonight was going to be canceled becasue the kids were of from school and hanging out with friends. When we got home I realized that there was food in the house to be eaten and it was not neccesary to eat out.
I had zuchini and thought about making a soup. I can make a soup or sald out of anything. So into the pot went a bunh of ingrediants and in about an hour was a delicious thick soup.  Then I made a recipe that my friend gave me for a "zuchini creole", i made it this time from a yellow squash. I never follow directions so I made my own twist on it. I made a chicken and a salad. I need to go to the produce store so the salad was kind of lame, but it worked. The salad was romaine hearts, shredded purple cabbage, cucumbers, and baby corn. We added some candied walnuts and some dressing and we were good to go. I like a balsamic vinnegrette, but my family likes  a caesar. so i never dress it.  My fave is Mauzone balsamic and my family likes the "lite caesar"
http://www.allinkosher.com/p-40173-mauzone-caesar-salad-dressing-12-oz-parve.aspx

Yellow squash or Zuchini with creamy stewed tomatoes

 I used one HUGE yellow squash (or zuchini) or 2 regular size sliced thinly
One large onion diced
3 TBS margarine
3 TBS flour
1 TBS brown sugar
salt and pepper
1 large can stewed tomatoes
1/4 cup soy milk
corn flake crumbs

slice veggie and put in a dish. (make sure it is nice enough to put on the table, since you can't tansfer the casserole)
in medium saucepan on medium heat melt margarine add onions and cook for 2 minutes. add flour and mix. add stewed tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste. add brown sugar and soy milk. bring to boil. keep mixing so it doesn't burn. Make sure the mixture thickens. Pour mixture over veggies. sprinkle with corn flake crumbs. BAke in 350degree oven for about an hour. (if you want you can add sharp cheddar cheese the last 15 minutes of cooking)


Zuchini Potato soup
2 lbs zuchini chopped in to peices
2 yukon gold potatoes
1 large onion
2 small garlic cloves
one box imagine non chicken soup (you can use any broth) http://www.imaginefoods.com/
more water to cover veggies (about 1 1/2 more cups)
now for the spices; i use an amazing blend called Ratatouille seasoning you can find them at this great place called the spice house. unfortunatly it is in wisconsin but they do ship.
http://www.thespicehouse.com/spices/ratatouille-seasoning
I use a few sprinkles of it. If you don't have that you can use a blend of basil, oregeno, marjoram, thyme and pepper. i am not sure how much but start off with a 1/4 tsp each and go from there. you can always add but you can't take away.
Bring everythgn to boil and cover. reduce to medium heat and boil for about 40 min or until all veggies are soft. When everythign is soft use an immersion blender and puree the soup. And done.....
my kids like it with a dollap of sour cream.

Please feel free to ask questions about recipes.
Happy cooking!