Beer Sausage Stuffed Zucchini

We got zucchinis from my boyfriend's mom's garden and I was trying to think of what to do with it all. This is what I came up with. It was delicious! I hope you will enjoy it just as much.

You will need:

1 large zucchini cut in quarters or 2 small ones cut in half
2 tbs oil
2 beer bratwurst sausages (not the precooked!)
1/4 of a red onion minced
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 small red potato shredded
salt and pepper to taste
2 1/2 tbs of  oats
1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

I apologize ahead of time not all the prep steps have pictures, I prepped everything really fast and forgot to pause and take pictures on some of them lol This recipe is not hard to follow though!

Step 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Step 2. Cut your if using 2 small zucchini in half and then spoon out the center leaving about a 1/4 inch of flesh, (I havent perfected the boat making process myself so it is ok if they are not perfect).
Step 3. Drizzle the oil into a baking pan, rub the oil onto the zucchini as well.

P.S. If you are using one large zucchini cut into quarters and then scoop the middle out. I had one large zucchini this time so here is an example below.  :-)

Step 4. Chop the scooped out zucchini into small pieces, mince the onion, shred the red potato (using a cheese grater), and shred the cheese.
Step 5. Remove the lining from the sausage links, this is easily done with a small sharp knife just put it under one edge of the lining and cut down to the other edge, the lining will peel right off the meat.
Step 6. Brown the sausage meat in frying pan on med-med/hi.
Step 7. Add the onions, shredded potato, chopped zucchini, garlic powder, italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Cook until onions are translucent and potatoes are tender. Then drain and empty into small bowl.

Step 8. Add oatmeal to sausage mixture and combine well.
Step 9. Stuff the zucchini boats with stuffing mixture and top with cheese

Step 10. Bake for 30 mins or until zucchini is tender but not mushy and cheese is melted and slightly brown.

That's it :-) 10 easy steps to get delicious stuffed zucchini!

Light Ginger Spice Cookies

                                                                                    You will need:

3 cups of all purpose flour
2 tsp of baking soda
2 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of all spice
1/2 of sea salt
3/4 cup of butter
2/3 cup white sugar and 1/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp of vanilla
2  1/2 tsp fresh minced ginger
1/4 cup of honey
In a small bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugars, then beat in the egg, vanilla, ginger, and honey. Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.  Mix well. Chill for 45 mins. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place the 1/4 cup of sugar into another small bowl. Make dough into small balls (about 2 tbs each) and roll through sugar. Place each ball on to a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 12-15 mins or until browned.
Tip: If dough is too sticky try getting your hands damp with water before rolling into balls and the dough won't stick to them!
Substitutes:
If you don't have fresh ginger it is ok! Just use 2 tsp of ground ginger and add it to the dry ingredients along with the cinnamon and all spice.
For a darker and stronger flavored cookie: replace the honey with 1/4 of molasses.

Sweet Chili Chicken w/ Stir Fry veggies

This was sooo good! Better than take out :-)

 4-6 pieces of chicken (I did 2 leg quarters and it was very saucy)
1 bag of your favorite frozen stir fry veggies
1 tbs of oil
salt and pepper
1- 1 1/2 tbs of corn starch * depends on how much pan drippings you have.
Sauce:
Mix together,
1/4 cup of honey
2 tbs ketchup
1 tbs soy sauce
thumb size amount of minced ginger root
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 - 1 tbs of chili flakes *depends on your heat preference

Here is what the sauce alone looks like

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, put 1 tbs of oil in baking dish. Place chicken in baking dish and salt and pepper.

Pour the sauce over the chicken

Bake for 40-45 mins until the chicken looks like below, remove chicken from pan.

Blend the corn starch into the pan drippings to make a sauce like this

Add the stir fry veggies to the pan

Stir the veggies and sauce together and add the chicken back to the pan. Bake for 15- 20 mins more covering with foil to keep chicken from browning further and facilitate steaming of veggies.

Remove the foil and let set for 5 mins. Serve chicken, stir the veggies and sauce and serve as a side dish. I even poured a little sauce over the chicken when serving. It was delish!