Zucoli (Zucchini Ravioli)

       I've been trying to jump on the bandwagon of eating  healthier though it gets difficult when you get those constant comfort food cravings such as ice-cream, candy, cheese, and pasta. It could also be very difficult to eat vegetables when all that other good stuff is staring you in the face. 

      One of my weaknesses is pasta and so I have invested some effort into finding recipes that use alternatives to pasta. Zucchini seems to be a very popular supplement for it and it tastes very similar, except it is a tad crunchier than noodles. I have used zucchini as spaghetti using a spiral slicer and it turned out really well and now that is our go to instead of noodles. When I saw someone using it as ravioli I knew I had to give it a try. So as my husband as my sidekick, we took on the recipe.


Ingredients

1/2 lb of meat (we used jalapeño bratwurst and took the casing off)
2 cloves of garlic
2-3 zucchinis
2 cups of shredded Mozzarella cheese (I probably used more since this is one of my weaknesses)
1 jar of tomato sauce
Seasoning (Basil and Italian)
Some vegetables to go inside the ravioli (we used spinach)
Glass pan
Toothpicks


Step 1:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook meat, garlic, and seasonings together. When it looks about halfway done add your vegetables. 

 Step 2:

Cut thin slices of zucchini. You need 4 for each ravioli. We made 6 raviolis (24 slices of zucchini), but if you want to stuff more filling in yours you can make fewer. Layout your zucchini and place meat mixture in the middle and sprinkle some mozzarella on top. 

 Step 3:

Fold your zucchini and place toothpicks in it to hold it all together. Be gentle as you don't want to break a piece, I did that quite a few times. Put some sauce on the bottom of your pan and then place the Zucolis in it. Once you are done you can add some more of the tomato sauce on top and some mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

Step 4:

Pull out the toothpicks, serve and enjoy!

We are Farmers

     My husband I just bought our house last year and he promised me this year that I could start my very own garden. I could not wait to start and so of course we had to go to the very first farmer's market this year to get some plants. While there, this very nice old lady gave us advice on what we needed before we started because she believes that it is her job as the expert to train the younger generations so we can pass it on. She suggested that we get some Smart Pots since we were beginners and these help make growing easier and more of a success. Smart Pots are made of cloth that helps circulate air into the roots, reduce weeds, and you can get ones with handles that makes it easier to transport plants when you need to move them. She told us to order them and then come find her at the following Farmer's Market.

      We bought six 10 gallon bags thinking we could fit more and that following weekend we went to the Farmer's Market and saw her. She gave us advice on what to grow and how take care of all the plants. She even gave me a three page list of all the tomato plants she will have this season and told me to look up information about each one. At the end of the day we walked away with tomato, broccoli, spinach, hot pepper, strawberry, parsley, spearmint and oregano plants. We will still be getting more plants as the season goes on and the weather becomes warmer. My poor husband doesn't know what he got himself into, but he is enjoying watching his pepper plants.

   

*We did not plant the tomatoes since it's still chilly, but we are thinking of growing them in straw bails instead.

*It takes a 1 cubic foot bag of dirt for one pot.





This is my vertical herb garden from last year that we are working on replanting since I forgot to cover it for the winter. It's a trellis that has containers attached by zip-ties. Don't forget to make oles in the bottom of the containers if there aren't any.

It's As Easy As 1-2-Cheese!

I finally got the courage to try making homemade cheese. I had been reluctant to try making it because every time I had seen a recipe it was a mile long list of directions, but after going to farmer's market and feeling spring in the air last weekend I decided to give it a try and ordered a kit off of William Sonoma that came with majority of what you need (all you need is 1 gallon of unpasteurized milk) , and at an inexpensive price that makes 10 lbs of cheese (in 1 lb increments).

Upon its arrival I looked at the directions and geesh talk about confusing! So many words! Sorry instruction manual but I am a visual learner! So I took my problem I went ahead and found a solution, Google! And thus I found the easiest instructions to follow and it came out perfectly!