Roasted Zucchini Topped with Eggs

If you don't like zucchini, this won't thrill you. If you really don't like zucchini, don't even look! 

I ate this with eggs as a meal, however, you could make this without eggs as a side dish. It's really good with fish. 

This is one of my Marshall's-not-home-eat-the-things-he-doesn't-like recipes. But don't let that turn you away! It's really delicious! He just doesn't like zucchini.

Ingredients

• Half a medium red onion, chopped
• 2 - 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced (optional - didn't have any this time)
• 2 large zucchinis, sliced
• 1/4 - 1/2 a cup freshly grated parmesan
• 2 eggs
• 2 - 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• salt to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute onion in about a tablespoon of olive oil until translucent (if using the garlic, add it in for the last minute of two of sauteing). Place the onions in an even layer in the bottom of an oven-safe dish.  

Lay out your zucchini slices on top of the onion. I left them in their zucchini shape when I sliced them and then picked up half a zucchini at a time and put all the slices down at once. That made it very easy to keep it evenly layered and beautiful.

 Add salt to taste, grated Parmesan, and a drizzle of olive oil.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, removing after 30 to see if it's too dry. If it is a bit dry, drizzle on a little bit more olive oil before returning it to the oven for the last 15 minutes. Depending on how thin you sliced your zucchini and how tender you like it, this may take more or less time.

Meanwhile (or as soon as you pull the zucchini out of the oven), cook two eggs as you like them. immediately place on top of the zucchini and serve hot. 

Guess who ate this?! Me, of course! Guess who ate the leftovers? Nobody, because there wasn't any! I ate it all and enjoyed every bite : ) ....well, maybe not the last bite.....I was a little bit full.

Menu

First of all, guess what I'm making right now?

QUICHE!!! (sorry there was no chance to guess)

Marshall is not a quiche fan. I have never even made one before today. Since Marshall is out of town I decided to go all out and make a quiche with mushrooms in it.....Something he would not be at all excited to eat. But I sure am! I'd much prefer to have my husband home and not eat quiche, but since he is gone I might as well make the most of it, right? For me that means eating zucchini, mushrooms, cucumbers, and quiche ; )

I'm not going to do a normal menu because I have no idea when I will make what and if it will be for lunch or dinner, yada yada yada. Also, I'm sure this quiche will feed me for many meals. But I do have some other plans. Here they are: 

mushroom barley soup -- I make this every time that Marshall is gone

tuna salad filled cucumbers -- I'd call it a tuna boat but I won't be having any tomatoes for people

roasted Parmesan zucchini topped with eggs -- I'll post the recipe for this later.The roasted zucchini makes a great side dish, but adding the eggs makes it a meal. Yum!

And, though this isn't a meal (or shouldn't be), I will definitely be popping some popcorn in coconut oil and sitting down to a movie at some point. 

Any movies suggestions? I'm thinking either Little Mermaid, Pride & Prejudice (with Keira Knightley), or Enchanted. But I'm willing to go to Redbox : )

Mistake #1

As a blogger it's very easy to come off as perfect. 

Only share your most delightful recipes, wait on the sun so your picture enhances the looks of your food, eat clean for your What I Ate Wednesday post, and NEVER talk about what went wrong in between all of those fabulous moments captured on your blog.

I want you to know that I am real, that I make mistakes, not everything I do in the kitchen is great (or even good), and if you have ever made something that you pretended to like for a couple of days and then threw out, have no fear, so have I. Or maybe you haven't done that.....I have.

Today will be the start of a little series of mistakes I'd like to share with you. I will post them sporadically, but they will definitely be shared ; )

Here goes number one!

This doesn't have so much to do with cooking as it does with prep for cooking. And there is a lesson for everyone to learn if they have not already learned it. Maybe when you see the picture below a memory comes flooding back of when you made this mistake. Hopefully for the last time.

Any guesses?

Let me walk you through this morning many months ago.

I had grand plans to make biscuits and gravy for breakfast as soon as I woke up. A breakfast that Marshall is always happy to have. It was a weekday though. I had the day off, but Marshall had to get to work. I was mentally prepared to wake up, run to kitchen, and prepare breakfast in a timely manner so Marshall could leave on time with a full stomach.

Those plans were carried out almost as planned. Here's what went wrong:

I knew the night before that the first thing I should do was turn on the oven so it could be nice and hot when I was finished making the biscuit dough. What did I actually do first? Just what I planned to do. I turned on the oven! What was the problem with this? My lovely English muffin dough that I prepared the night before was resting IN THE OVEN! As you can see, the bowl I used had a PLASTIC LID! 

As I happily opened the oven to put in the biscuits, I was so shocked that....Guess what I did? Very quickly set the biscuits on the counter and rushed back to retrieve my destroyed dough out of the 475 degree oven with MY BARE HANDS! OUCH! Thankfully, I only touched the hot metal, and didn't get my hands in the soft, melty plastic.

Lesson learned? Always check inside the oven before turning it on! I knew this already, but it slipped my mind. Since this accident, I have been much better about it.

So the morning didn't turn out exactly as planned, but we still ate our delicious breakfast, Marshall made it to work, and by 7am I had already learned a life lesson! I took this mistake in stride and laughed it off, but that's not always easy....especially with a burned hand. In the end, all that was lost was a plastic lid and some English muffin dough.....okay, my hand was burned too. But that was minor. So I'd say it was a big lesson with a small loss. 

My goal is to make as few mistakes as possible, but maybe by sharing them when they do happen I can prevent someone else from doing the same thing. I hope so!

Menu and Birthday Cake

Saturday - cheese ravioli with olive oil and parsley, cranberry walnut spinach salad

Sunday - broccoli chickpea curry

Monday - rosemary Marsala sausage pasta, more broccoli

Tuesday - cheese ravioli again, this time with leftover marinara sauce

Wednesday - beans and rice -- This is flavorful, not too much work, inexpensive, and satisfying

Thursday - rosemary lentils and probably more broccoli -- It's been on sale, I have to take advantage of it : )

Look at this beautiful cake Erin and Blake brought to me for my birthday! : )

Black Bean "cookies"

Am I on a chocolate roll or WHAT?!

Coming at you today is another great way to enjoy your chocolate and your health at the same time : ) I really don't think of these as cookies at all. Just a yummy little protein ball of deliciousness that serve as a great afternoon snack or dessert. I ate them much more in the afternoon than evening, but suit yourself. Marshall isn't crazy about these because of the black beans, but I actually enjoy what the black beans do for these "cookies". The texture is nice and the taste is.....well.....tasty ; )  

The recipe is from THIS blog (with a few minor changes)

Ingredients

1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed well

3/4 cup pitted dates

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup almonds

3/4 cup natural peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup rolled oats

coarse salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a cookie sheet and set it aside.

Put all ingredients except the chocolate chips, oats, and salt into your food processor and process until very smooth.  Your dough will be thick.  Stir in the chocolate chips and oats (the dough could be warm from the processing. If that's the case, wait until it has cooled to add the chocolate chips or they will melt).  Use a rounded tablespoon (cookie scoop if you have one) to scoop out the dough and then form it into a ball.  Sprinkle each cookie with a pinch of salt.  Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes. 

I think these are best at room temperature, however, you could eat them warm, or even store them in the fridge so they last longer. I actually really liked them cold!

Let's summarize: 

Are these cookies supposed to be chocolate sour cream bundt cake?

No, not even close!

Are these cookies supposed to be turtles?

No, not even close!

Are these worth trying because we don't want to eat tiramisu everyday?  

Yes, seriously!

Menu

Sunday - pitas filled with beans and rice, falafel, and topped with chipotle sauce -- A Marshall and Rachel special ; )

Monday - herbed lentils and broccoli (Marshall will be gone)

Tuesday - either Sunday leftovers, more lentils, or maybe some simple eggs and toast (Marshall will still be gone)

Wednesday - chicken dumpling soup and dutch oven loaf (Marshall will be home!) -- We're having some of his office-mates over

Thursday - quinoa and black beans -- quick meal before dessert at Cafe Intermezzo for my birthday 

Friday - pork chops, dumpling, and peas -- This is was my very favorite meal growing up. It's been a while since I've made it so I'm really looking forward to it. YUM!

Any favorites on your menu this week?