Just for fun....

Within your garden you will find food, hope, medicine, a sense of great accomplishment, the value of hard work, gratitude for nature, sun on your face, a renewed joy for cooking, and some hidden gems you never knew. Take the cucumber, for example. Look at all of the things that bumpy little vegetable can do:

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon? Put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans, but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6. Want to avoid a hangover or headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Eat some cucumber.

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly-cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD-40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but is won't leave streaks and won't harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!

Mango Quinoa Salad

By popular demand!  Andi Rawlin's Quinoa salad

Basic Cooked Quinoa

by Our Best Bites

Yields: about 2 C cooked quinoa

2/3 C dry quinoa

1  1/3 cups water or broth (chicken, vegetable, or beef)

1 pinch salt

Place quinoa in a bowl and cover with 1 inch of water.  Gently stir and carefully pour out excess water.  Add water again until it covers quinoa by 1 inch.  Let sit for 5 minutes.

While quinoa is soaking, bring 1 1/3 C water or broth, and pinch of salt, to a boil on the stovetop.  Reduce heat to simmer. Drain quinoa from soaking water using a fine mesh sieve.  Add grains to simmering water on stove top.  Place tight-fitting lid on pot and simmer for about 15 minutes, until all the water is evaporated.  Remove from heat and let sit 5 minutes.  Fluff with fork.

Mango Quinoa Salad

Recipe adapted from Ali Vincent (Biggest Loser)

2 cups cooked quinoa* at room temperature, or chilled

1 14 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 medium mango, peeled and diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

6 green onions, thinly sliced

1 handful chopped cilantro (about 1/2 cup)

4 tablespoon red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1-2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

kosher salt

freshly cracked black pepper

*Quinoa can be cooked in water or broth.  I suggest using vegetable or chicken broth for enhanced flavor, but plain water works great too.

Place cooked quinoa in a large bowl.  Add mango, red pepper, green onion, black beans, and cilantro.  In a small bowl combine vinegar, olive oil, and lime juice.  Whisk until smooth and pour on top of salad.  Toss to combine and add salt and pepper to taste.  Chill for at least one hour before serving.

(***I just use whatever I have for this recipe. I usually leave out the mango just because I can’t ever pick out a decent one and I don’t miss it much, sometimes I’ll add extra cilantro and an orange bell pepper, etc. I’ll leave out the onions if I don’t have any, or add smoked pork. It’s a pretty forgiving recipe.)

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes

1pkg. Yellow cake mix
1pkg. (4 servings) vanilla instant pudding
1 C. canned pumpkin
½ C. each oil and water
3 Eggs
11/2  tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp. Ground Cloves
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

Beat all ingredients until moistened. Spoon into 24 paper lined muffin cups, filling each cup ⅔ full.

Bake in preheated oven at 350 for 20 minutes. Frost cooled cupcakes with Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting.

Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting Beat
1pkg (8 oz) cream cheese softened, ¼ C butter, softened), 1 tsp Vanilla
Extract and ¼ tsp Ground Cloves until light and fluffy. Gradually beat
in 1 box (16 oz) confectioners’ sugar until smooth.

Recipes from the Freezer Meal Service Project

Chicken Potato Casserole

10 oz. can cream of chicken soup
1 1/1 cups sour cream
1 /4 cup milk
2 cups cubed cooked chicken (2 lg., 3 sm.)
12 oz. medium shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
1 lb. frozen hash browns
1 T. olive or vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
1 t. salt
1 t. black pepper
1 1/2 cups crushed potato chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium skillet over medium heat, saute peppers
and onions until crisp tender, remove from heat. In large bowl combine soup, sour
cream, chicken, half of the cheese and the peppers and onions.

Spread 2/3 of this mixture in the bottom of a greased 9”x 13” baking pan. Spread
hash browns over the top of the casserole and press down lightly, then top with
remaining chicken mixture, top with remaining cheese and potato chips.

Bake, uncovered, for 50 – 60 minutes or until bubbly; Let stand for 5 – 10 minutes
before serving. Makes 8 servings.

To freeze, assemble casserole as directed except for potato chips. Wrap casserole
in freezer wrap or heavy duty foil and freeze. Before baking, thaw overnight in
frig. Uncover and bake at 350 degrees for 60 – 70 min. or until bubbly. Top with
crushed potato chips and bake 5 – 10 min. longer.

Pizza Spaghetti Style

1 lb. mild Italian sausage
1 med. onion, chopped
1 lg. green bell pepper, chopped
8 oz. pkg. sliced mushrooms
26 oz. jar pasta sauce
8 oz. can tomato sauce
2 t. dried Italian seasoning
1 lb. spaghetti pasta, broken into 3” pieces
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
5 oz. pkg. sliced pepperoni
6 oz. (1 1/2c.) shredded med. Chedder cheese
8 oz. (2c.) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring large pot of salted water to boil for
cooking spaghetti. In large skillet brown sausage, add onions, green peppers and
mushrooms, continue cooking until veggies are crisp tender. Drain well and add pasta
sauce, tomato sauce and Italian seasoning; stir well and let simmer while preparing
spaghetti.

Cook spaghetti according to pkg. directions. Meanwhile, combine eggs and milk
in large bowl and whisk until blended. Drain spaghetti and toss with egg and milk
mixture. Spread half of the spaghetti mixture in a greased 9”x 13” baking pan. Top
with half of meat mixture. Repeat layers.

To freeze, cool casserole in frig at this point. When cold, wrap well, label, and
freeze up to 3 months. To thaw and reheat, thaw casserole overnight in frig. Bake,
covered, at 359 degrees for 50 – 60 min. or until thoroughly heated. Uncover, top
with cheeses and pepperoni and bake 10 – 15 min. longer until cheese melts and
edges of casserole bubble.

If baking without freezing, bake at 350 degrees for 40 – 50 min. until hot and
bubbly. Top with cheeses and pepperoni and bake for 10 – 15 min. longer until
cheese melts and edges of casserole bubble. Let stand 5 min. to set. Makes 10
servings.

Zucchini Pie

Crust:
2 C. Flour        ¼ tsp. Salt
1 C. Sugar       ¾ C. Butter

Mix well. Press ½ of the mixture into 9x13 inch pan. Bake 375 for 10 minutes.

Combine in sauce pan and simmer 5 minutes:
5 C. peeled and sliced zucchini (use food processor)
½ C. Sugar
⅛ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. cinnamon
⅓ C .lemon juice

Add ¼ tsp. cinnamon to remaining crust mix; crumble over filling. Bake at 375 for 35-45 minutes.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Chocolate Zucchini Bread {makes 2 loaves}
 THE ONLY Zuchinni bread recipe you will ever need!

2 C flour
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t baking soda
6 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 C canola oil
1 C sugar
1/4 C brown sugar
3 eggs
2 t vanilla
1/2 C sour cream
3 C grated zucchini
3/4 C mini chocolate chips
optional: zest from one orange

Topping:
2 T brown sugar
2 T white sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 2 loaf pans and set aside. I actually used one 8″ disposable pan to give away and a larger 9″ one for me and the batter divided perfectly. So you should get 2 very full 8″ pans or slightly less full 9″. Do one of each like I did!



Mix topping ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Place flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
With a stand or hand mixer beat oil, white sugar, brown sugar, and eggs until combined and slightly fluffy, 1-2 minutes.  Add vanilla and sour cream and mix until combined.
Gently stir in the grated zucchini (and zest if you’re using).

Take a spoonful of the flour mixture and stir in with the chocolate chips (that will help keep them evenly distributed.) If you only have regular chocolate chips, or a chocolate bar, just give it a chop so it’s the size of mini chocolate chips.
Add the remaining flour mixture to the batter and stir just until combined. Add chocolate chips and stir to combine.
Divide the batter between the two pans. and sprinkle topping over each.  Bake in your preheated 350 degree oven for 50-60 minutes. I set my timer for 45 minutes and then keep an eye on it for the remainder. 
When it’s done a toothpick or skewer should come out without goopy batter on it and the top will be gorgeous and cracked with sugar.
Let it cool on a rack for 5-10 minutes and then remove from pans. You definitely have to eat a slice warm. And slathered with butter. When you call it a quick “bread” it’s okay to slather it in butter, when it reality it’s like slathering a piece of really good chocolate cake in butter. Just do it. It’s bread. And vegetables.

Submitted by Lynette Doman