Maple Glazed Carrots

Everything tastes better coated in sugar!  Right?  My kids certainly think that cooked carrots taste better that way.  This is our favorite way to prepare them!

2 pounds carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

4 tbsp. butter

3 tbsp. maple syrup

2 tbsp. brown sugar

1 tbsp. fresh parsley or you can use dried

Use a steamer to cook sliced carrots until tender.  Drain water and return carrots to pan.  Add butter and stir gently until melted.  Add brown sugar, syrup and parsley and saute gently for 2-3 min.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Be amazed at how fast these carrots disappear from your dinner table!

Mushroom Rice Pilaf

This is a Ball family favorite.  It's quick to prepare, easy, and delicious.

1/2 c. butter
2 cups rice
1 c. chopped onion
1 c. chopped celery
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
32 oz. chicken broth
1/2 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. salt
pepper
1/2 c. chopped parsley

Feel free to play with the quantities a bit! It tastes good lots of ways.  Sometimes I add chopped carrots. I often leave out the mushrooms.  The celery and onion give it lots of flavor though, so I always use those!

Melt butter.  Add rice and stir.  Add onion, celery, and mushrooms and saute for 5 min.  Add liquid and additional ingredients and simmer for 25-30 min. until rice is tender.  Tastes great served with a favorite chicken or fish dish.

I always make mine in a rice cooker and just throw everything in and press start!  Super easy!

White Corn Salsa

My awesome neighbor Jessa brought this over as a gift years ago and it's been a family favorite ever since!

1 can black eyed peas, drained

1 can white corn, drained,

1 package Italian dressing mix

1 avocado, chopped

2-4 green onions or chives, chopped

5 roma tomatoes, chopped

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped (I prefer less)

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and serve with favorite tortilla chips.  Best if eaten immediately.  Makes about 4 coups of salsa.

Zucchinni Fries

Our Best Bites is one of my very favorite recipe blogs.  Those talented ladies are always cooking up something delicious.  I saw this on their site a while ago and finally got around to trying it this summer.  YUMMY!  This recipe is definitely a keeper.  My only advice: don't bother with cutting all that zucchini into little fry sized strips, just cut into thin rounds instead.  This greatly reduces the somewhat time consuming process of dipping the zucchini pieces first in the egg then in the crumb mixture.

Baked Zucchini Fries
Recipe adapted by Our Best Bites from Aggie’s Kitchen

About 1 lb. zucchini
1/2 c. Italian-seasoned panko bread crumbs
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese (the crumbly stuff, not shreds)
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

Combine bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Set aside.

Whisk 2 eggs together in a shallow pie plate and set aside.

Cut the ends off the zucchini and then cut the zucchini in half so you have two short, stubby pieces. Set one piece on its end and cut it in half lengthwise. Cut that half in half, making 2 planks. Repeat with the remaining halves (so you’ll get 16 planks per zucchini).

Stack 2 planks on top of each other and cut into strips. Thicker strips will yield “meatier” fries with more zucchini flavor while thin strips will be crispy and taste virtually nothing like zucchini. When all the fries are cut, blot the pieces with a paper towel.

Working with a small handful at a time, dip the zucchini sticks in the egg, shake them to remove any excess, and then roll them in about 2-3 tablespoons of bread crumbs at a time, adding more as needed; you just don’t want to work with all the bread crumbs at once because they’ll soak up moisture from the egg and won’t stick to the zucchini. Place the coated strips on the prepared baking sheet and repeat until all the zucchini strips have been coated.

Bake for 10-12 minutes in the prepared oven then remove from oven, flip the fries, and bake for another 10-12 minutes or until the zucchini is not soggy and the coating is crisp and golden brown. Serve immediately with Pizza Sauce or Buttermilk Ranch Dressing. Serves 6-8 as a side dish.

Caramelized Green Beans

I haven't really been loving green beans for the last few years since one of my dear babies was born--until I found this recipe that is! I LOVE these green beans, but will probably never eat those nasty canned ones again if I can help it. Justin bought me the Our Best Bites cookbook for Mother's Day and that's where I found this delicious recipe. I've copied the recipe from their site, but you'll have to click recipe title below to go to their site and get all of their instructions.

Caramelized Green Beans

By Our Best Bites

1 lb. (actually, just a little bit more…maybe 1 1/8 lb.) fresh green beans
1/2 lb. bacon
1/2 red onion, sliced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
olive oil
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
Lots of freshly-ground pepper

My note: This recipe really is easy, especially if you leave out the bacon as I always do. I'm sure they're delicious with it, but I just never have bacon on hand and these beans are seriously good without it!

Olive Garden Pasta E Fagioli Soup

This is one of our family's favorite recipes. I can't believe I haven't posted it before. Justin found this recipe on the Recipe Zaar website, but we've made just a few changes so I've typed it up the way we do it. A word of warning: this makes a lot of soup. We can easily feed two families with just one crockpot full.

3/4 lb. ground beef
1 med. onion chopped
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced carrots
3-4 stalks of celery thinly sliced
2 cans Italian style diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
32 ounces beef broth
3 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. black pepper
5 tsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. Tabasco sauce (optional- I don't ever use it, but Justin always adds a little to his own bowl)
1 20 oz. jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 cup small shell or other small pasta noodles

Brown the beef in a skillet. Drain fat from beef then add all ingredients except pasta to a large crockpot. Cool on low 7-8 hours or high 4-5 hours. During the last 30 min. on high or last hour on low add pasta.