Stuffed Zucchini

This recipe can be made simply or according to directions. I almost always have zucchini, tomatoes, onions, and ground beef on hand, and cheese is a staple for any refrigerator. These few foods can give you a great tasting meal. If you do the full recipe with wine and specified cheeses, you will have a flavorful dish that pairs greatly with a side salad, corn, and rolls made with No Bread-Maker Bread.

If you want to do the simplified version, omit the wine, use any cooking oil you have on hand, use Italian Seasoning instead of figuring out an herb combo, and use whatever cheese you so happen to have. And you can guess on the amounts to save time and dishes.


Stuffed Zucchini
Recipe adapted and altered from Shanna Bridegan's recipe

2 LARGE green zucchinis
½ lbs ground beef
Your favorite Italian herb combo, to taste (possibly
garlic salt, basil leaves, and parsley flakes)
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
¼—½ cup olive oil
½ onion, diced
3 small tomatoes, diced
¼—½ cup Sweet Vermouth, a fortified wine (Lejon
brand is great. Once opened, wine will last about
4 weeks.) Optional
¼ cup parmesan cheese
½ cup mozzarella cheese (enough to top zucchinis)

Slice the zucchinis long wise, scoop/scrape out the inside and
reserve. Place hollowed zucchinis in tight casserole dish.

In 2 separate pans cook the ground beef with the Italian herbs,
garlic and onion powders, salt, and pepper. Let that cook down
until browned and juice has evaporated. In the other pan, add
olive oil, onions, tomatoes, and chopped zucchini centers, sauté
until soft, add salt and pepper to taste. If using wine, turn heat to
HIGH and add wine, reduce until the liquid is almost gone, stop
before mixture burns.

Preheat oven to 400˚F (bake).

Combine the vegetable and meat mixtures, add parmesan cheese
and mix. Once combined, stuff zucchinis (really pack them), and
top with mozzarella cheese.

Bake zucchinis for 20 minutes, until they are heated through. Turn oven to broil to brown the cheese. Remove and serve.

No Bread-Maker Bread

In a previous post I mentioned that I make my own bread. I haven't bought bread in over a year because I use this recipe. It is very filling, one slice will fill me more than two slices of processed grocery bread. This bread is also really great in French Toast, Cinnamon Rolls (I'll post that later), and anything else bread is used for.

This recipe is so easy, no bread maker is needed, no worry about when yeast foams, bread rises for 25 minutes, cooks for 25 minutes. You could have fresh, hot bread in 1 hour, and all dishes cleaned, makes for very easy entertaining. And everyone will be impressed with your skills.

Read the full recipe before making. The yeast must be SAF-instant yeast, and it combines with the dry ingredients first, not with hot water like most bread recipes.

No Bread-Maker Bread

5 ¼ cups (1 lb 10 ¼ oz) White bread flour
¼ cup Granulated sugar
½ Tbsp Salt
1 ½ Rounded Tbsp SAF-instant yeast
1/3 cup Vegetable oil
2 cups Hot tap water

Mix flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl (if using the bread
paddle on a KitchenAid, don’t use faster than speed 2). Add oil
and water. Mix for 1 minute, check consistency. Should be very
sticky; if dough is too dry, add more water. Mix for 5 minutes. (Do
not add more flour after it has finished mixing).

Grease counter and pans with butter.

Divide dough into two, shape loaves, place loaves into pans and
cover with plastic wrap and a dish towel. Let rise for 25 minutes in
a warm, moist environment with little air-flow.

Bake at 350˚F for 25 minutes.

Yield: 2 small loaves.
Note: can double recipe if not preparing in a KitchenAid or similarsized appliance

Want More Money? Spend Less on Food

The other day my friend mentioned to me, "Instead of paying $70 for a new suit, I went to the grocery store and spent $70 on food."

I completely understand how someone could spend $70 on groceries, but I know that if one pays attention to what he is buying, he will pay less out of his pocket, thus spending less than $70 on a large grocery trip.

Because of a few smalls steps I've taken, I keep a food budget of $30 per week. Here's how.

Pay attention to where each dollar is, you'll spend less of them.

I keep track of my expenses and income. Always. Anything that changes my bank account even the slightest penny, I know where that penny was coming from and what it's going to. There is a great app for this purpose, I've used it for over two years now, it's called iReconcile. Enter your accounts, enter deposits, withdrawals, and transfers, and keep track of your cash flow. With this app I can enter all my withdrawals, deposits, and transfers the moment they happen because my phone is with me.

Pay attention to what you're buying and what your options are.

I used to buy only the name-brand products at the highest prices, at the most posh grocery stores in town. I've since learned that food from other brands tastes the exact same. This took a couple months for me to figure out. I went to all the grocery stores on my most common routes to find the one with the best prices for the best food. I also looked into some less-popular options for food, I'll get to that in a minute.

In my experience, produce from Harmon's is the best and most expensive, from Wal*Mart is the worst, and from Smith's is slightly better than Wal*Mart but still nasty. 

Super Target is my winning grocery store. Good prices, good selection of food, good produce, and I can buy almost anything else there, too (i.e. housing decor, prescriptions, etc). Thus Target is where I buy food.

Though I love Target as a grocery store, I buy my produce from a company that gives me an even better price for an even higher quantity. My number one produce stop is Bountiful Baskets. Bountiful Baskets is a contribution co-op that puts all cost into the produce. You sign up on a Monday or Tuesday for 1-3 baskets (baskets are about 10 lbs of vegetables and fruits) and, if you want, other food products (i.e. bread baskets, peach cases, tortilla mix, etc). Then you pick up your order the following Saturday morning. It's $15 per basket. Fifteen dollars for 10 lbs of food. That's unheard of. One basket will last me for two weeks. Seriously this is such a huge money saver. Go to BountifulBaskets.org for information and to find a location near you.

Pay attention to what you eat.

Almost all of my meals are home-made. I've found little tricks to make really simple, quick, and delicious meals, usually involving the produce I got from Bountiful Baskets. I'll share my recipes in later blogs. And if I do eat out, it fits within my budget because I save enough to splurge on a restaurant meal.

Tricks for storing meat and bread:

I buy the meat, separate it into portions, and put all portions in Ziploc freezer bags, then in the freezer. If I want to cook with the meat, I pull the portion from the freezer the night before and let it thaw in the fridge. I also date the meat with the date I put it in the freezer. This keeps the meat the freshest it can be.

Bread. I make my own bread. Such an easy recipe, and healthy. No preservatives--not like I care anyways. I'll share that recipe later, too. Store bread in the freezer. When I want a slice, I stick it in the toaster and hit the defrost setting. Or heat it up on the stove. My bread lasts for weeks and is fresh every time I eat it. Another huge money saver.

This is my system for saving money on food. I hope you found some tips and tricks that could work into your life. If you have your own system, I would love to hear about it!

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Leave You Luscious Lipstick

This lipstick has become my all-time favorite. I won't stray from this because it is so wonderful. And truly, it leaves you luscious.
I've been using Bare Escentuals foundation for four years and it has been really good for my skin (health and looks-wise). A couple months ago I decided to try using their lipstick, so I bought the bareMinerals 100% Natural Lipcolor. This lipstick is awesome! I use it almost every day, it lasts until I wipe it off, you know because I'm a messy eater.
One of the best things about this lipstick is that it looks like lips, none of this dry, crackly lipstick, just pure lip and color. I have the Cherries on Top color, it's a bright, flirty lipstick. The picture below shows Bavarian Creme.
My favorite lipstick, $15, extremely long lasting, natural-looking (plus color).

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Photo Update

If you follow my Instagram (@Shaylee_Droubay) then you have probably seen most of these. Enjoy!

                    

                    

                            

                              

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