TJ Wilde Trilogy · Duxbridge Mysteries · Jennifer McCaffrey Mysteries
Expecting our first hard freeze this week. It’s been cold enough that the tomatoes have stopped ripening, so it was time to bring them in. I picked about six pounds, and I expect more than half to ripen, more if I’m lucky.
With cold weather and tomatoes on the mind, it seemed the perfect time for soup!
Since I discovered using a cast-iron skillet method for making apple crisp, that’s been my go-to. Cooking the apple mixture on the stove changes everything. The apple mixture has time to become soft and syrupy before adding the topping and baking at a higher temperature.
And this week I had a few apples I needed to use before they went bad. I think I made one of my best apple crisps.
Here’s what I added to the recipe below: caramel sauce spread liberally over the cooked apples before I added the crisp. I also grabbed the jar of pumpkin spice and added about two teaspoons worth while cooking the apple mixture.
I was looking for a Zucchini Chocolate Cake recipe and one of the food bloggers I follow posted one a few days later. Kismet or zucchini overload?
I followed the recipe, but I might make a few changes next time.
Continuing the discussions about frozen versus fresh, this time focusing on beef, pork, chicken, and fish.
This past year has been ridiculously busy, and I have found myself taking more and more shortcuts when it comes to food prep. Two shortcuts I was reluctant to embrace at first, have become go-tos.
The first is frozen chicken breasts. I would shop sales and buy bulk “fresh” chicken breasts on sale and then spend an hour packaging them into freezer bags. It was messy and time-consuming. And the not-so-fresh packages were usually previously frozen, and then sold. This meant the quality of the meat was hit-or-miss, and I would often end up with tough, chewy chicken breasts.
One day, there was a not-to-miss sale at Costco on frozen chicken breasts. Since it was soup season, I took the chance and purchased a bag (it was Costco, it was a big bag, LOL), knowing a lot of inferior meat could be dressed up in a good soup. To my surprise, they were excellent, flash frozen, tender, and so easy to thaw and prep what I needed.
The tomatoes have been coming in fast this week, so it seemed like a good time to make a nice, fresh sauce with some of them. I also had some ricotta and mozzarella in the freezer. Time to revisit Skillet Lasagna.
Fresh from the garden ingredients elevate this easy weeknight dinner menu. On the board tonight:
MENU
Skillet Lasagna
Patty Squash Sauté
Italian Bread
Peaches
Skillet Lasagna
skillet
saucepan
In the saucepan, cook pasta according to package directions, cooking to al dente (slightly chewy), and drain well.
Meanwhile, in the skillet, brown beef, onion & pepper. Add spices, garlic, carrot, and sauté for 1 minute. Add sauce and paste, stirring well into the meat mixture.
Add pasta, stirring gently to mix.
