Summer Vegetable Casserole Recipe

Summer is very quickly coming to a close.  My heart is breaking a little right now.  I got up early this morning and noticed a significant chill in the air.  What, a chill!?  I'm not ready for a chill yet!  I even wished I had put a sweater on before I left the house.  I've been enjoying my summer way too much to have it get chilly.  Luckily it warmed right up once the sun came out.  My oldest daughter got to play in the water at her cousins house after preschool which was a perfect way to play off some of her extra energy.

Before summer officially ends I found a yummy recipe for you.  It was seriously simple and my oldest gobbled it up.  My youngest who is just shy of 2 was a bit picky and wouldn't even give it a taste.  My husband and I both really enjoyed this and it made me wish that I had planted a fantastic garden this year so I could use my own produce.  Too bad this year I took the lazy route and no garden was planted.

You will need a Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Onion, Potato, Garlic, Tomato, Cheddar Cheese, Canola Oil, Salt & Pepper, and a Mandolin.

Start by chopping your Onion and mincing the Garlic.  Warm a pan over medium heat, add the Canola Oil, Onion, and Garlic and cook about 5 minutes until the Onion is softened.

Meanwhile, using the Mandolin slice the Potato, Zucchini, Yellow Squash, and Tomato very thin.  I cut the Tomato with a knife to avoid smashing it and making a huge mess with the mandolin.

Spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray.

Place the Onion/Garlic mixture in the dish and spread it out evenly along the bottom.

Place the sliced veggies in the dish alternating the veggies to get a good mixture.  Sprinkle with a bit of Salt & Pepper.

Grab your trusty bottle of Italian Seasoning.

Sprinkle it over the top to your liking.

Cover the dish with foil and bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile grate the Cheese.  Make sure to feed some to your 2 year old or she will get really super mad at you.

When the timer dings grab the casserole out and sprinkle the cheese over the top.  Place back in the over for another 15-20 minutes.  You want the veggies to be good and tender at this point.

Gooey Cheesy Goodness.  Gotta love the Cheese.

Enjoy!

Summer Vegetable Casserole Recipe
Source:  Budget Bytes

1 TBSP Canola Oil
1 Yellow Onion
1 tsp Minced Garlic
1 Zucchini
1 Yellow Squash
1 Potato (I used a Yukon Gold)
1 Tomato
1-1 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 C Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Chop the Onion and Mince the Garlic.  Warm a skillet over medium heat and add in the Canola Oil, Onion, and Garlic.  Saute until the Onion is softened, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, using the Mandolin slice the Zucchini, Yellow Squash, and Potato as thinly as you can.  Using a knife thinly slice the tomato.

Spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray.  Place the sliced veggies standing up alternating the veggies for ultimate flavor distribution.  Sprinkle with a bit of Salt & Pepper to taste (remember that potatoes like Salt).  Then sprinkle the Italian Seasoning over the veggies.

Cover the dish with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove the foil and sprinkle the Shredded Cheese all over the veggies.  Place back in the oven and bake another 15-20 minutes.  You want all the Veggies to be tender and the Cheese to be melted.

Enjoy!

Zucchini Bread Recipe

Every summer I get super excited to plant my garden.  I always choose tomatos, Zucchini squash, and pumpkin to plant.  Then about 1/3 of the way through the summer I get too busy (aka lazy) to really attend to my garden and give it the TLC it needs.  I just let my lawn sprinkler do the hard work and check every week or so to see if anything is growing.  The other day I checked on my little garden and I had several tomatoes and one huge zucchini.  Sadly the pumpkin will not be producing this year.  Perhaps next year I will give it the attention that it needs.  My Grandmother had broken 5 bones in her foot and I decided that a little zucchini bread would help her feel a tiny bit better.  I found this recipe and it turned out very nicely.  I used 2/3 whole wheat flour and 1/3 white flour.  Also I didn't have as much sugar as the recipe called for so I ended up using about half what the recipe called for.  I liked how it turned out and my Grandmother felt at least 12% better after eating a slice.

You will need Flour, Cinnamon, Salt, Eggs, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Sugar, Vanilla, Oil, and Zucchini.

Combine the Flour, Sugar, Cinnamon, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, and Salt. 

The recipe says to sift but I don't believe in sifting..instead I just mixed everything together really well.

In a separate bowl combine the Eggs, Oil, and Vanilla

Mix together well.  In the actual recipe it says to combine the sugar in with the wet and not the dry.  I didn't read the recipe very closely so my sugar went in with dry.  It all turned out good.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix to combine.

Grate your Zucchini and add it in with the rest of the ingredients.

Prepare 2 loaf pans by greasing and flouring the pans.

Split the dough into the two pans and bake 325 degrees for 40-60 minutes.

Once a toothpick comes out clean.

Let the bread cool in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Zucchini Bread Recipe
Source:  Allrecipes - by v monte

3 C Flour (I did 2 Wheat and 1 White)
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
3 tsp Cinnamon
3 Eggs
1 Cup Canola Oil
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
3 tsp Vanilla
2 C grated Zucchini

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Prepare to 8 x 4 loaf pans by greasing and flouring them.

In a large bowl combine the Flour, Salt, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Cinnamon, and Sugar.  Mix together very well.

In a separate bowl combine the Eggs, Oil, and Vanilla.  Beat together well.  Add the dry ingredients into the Egg mixture and mix together well.  Stir in the Zucchini until well combined.

Pour the batter into the two prepared pans and bake 40-60 minutes.  Once a toothpick comes out clean allow the bread to cool in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes.  Once bread has cooled remove from pan and enjoy!

Approximately 20 servings

173 Calories
28 Carbs
5 Fat
4 Protein