Zucchini Carrot Casserole

Our summer vegetable garden is pretty much an overgrown weed patch. Seriously. It is the weediest it has ever been and the little that was planted got out late. It is so bad that we just got our first zucchini of the year last night. Most people I know have been drowning in zucchini for weeks, so this is embarrassing. Usually by this time of year, the kids are all sick of the many zucchini recipes I try, but now they are really excited! They are requesting zucchini alfredo, zucchini gratin, and zucchini chocolate cake. I am hoping for a good zucchini crop so that we can make all of those, but last night I decided to make zucchini carrot casserole.

I haven't shared this recipe on the blog before and it isn't something I make an awful lot because I don't usually buy the key ingredient- stove top stuffing mix. Yes, we try to make food from real ingredients most of the time, but sometimes, like when the summer has been a long and challenging one, I just don't care anymore. This casserole is so easy and that is pretty much my game plan these days.

In a baking dish (mine is 9" x 13") mix cooked zucchini and carrots, sour cream, and a can of cream of chicken. I peeled the zucchini before I cooked it 'cause some of us are picky.

Sometimes I make the cream of chicken myself, but I just lack the ambition right now. I am dragging myself to the finish line of summer vacation here, people.

Mix it all up. Don't bother dirtying another bowl. It was bad enough that I used two pots to cook the vegetables.

Finally, prepare stove top stuffing according to the package directions and spread it on top of the zucchini mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until everything is heated through and the stuffing starts to get a tiny bit crispy on the edges.

Yummm....

If you have lots of zucchini, this is a good recipe to use some up. It would also work well to take along to a potluck or picnic.

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Zucchini Carrot Casserole

6 c. cooked zucchini
4 c. cooked carrots 1
pint sour cream
1 can cream of chicken
1 box of chicken stove top stuffing, prepared

Mix zucchini, carrots, sour cream, and cream of chicken in a 9" x 13" baking dish. Top with stuffing. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until casserole is heated and stuffing is lightly browned.

Here are some more zucchini recipes you may like:

Baked Zucchini Gratin

Zucchini Pie

Zucchini Chocolate Cake

Zucchini Mock Crab Cakes

Peanut Butter and Jelly French Toast Roll-Ups

Since we had a snow day, I decided to make a nice breakfast for the kids. I am not so great at early mornings (see my freezer breakfast solution HERE) but I can handle a nice, late breakfast on a relaxing day at home once in awhile. These are one of my kids' favorites. I always have an assortment of jelly (see HERE) so I can make a variety of them with very little effort.

I have horrible lighting in my kitchen, especially on a snowy day, so please excuse my lousy pictures.

Spread peanut butter and jelly on bread. (Seeded Italian bread is not ideal, but it is what we had on hand.) On these I used strawberry, grape, and peach jams.

Roll them up from the jelly side to the peanut butter side. The jelly oozes and the peanut butter is sticky and helps seal it up. The bread might break apart a bit, so just smoosh it together as needed. If you want to cut the crust off, you can do that, but I don't like to waste/encourage picky eating.

Mix one egg and a cup of milk in a dish- I use a soup bowl. Roll the bread around in the milk-egg mixture to coat.

 

Fry in a lightly greased pan on medium-low heat, rolling around to brown all of the outer edges.

Remove from heat and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

I love that these are so easy and add a little extra protein with breakfast. They really aren't that hard to make and it is something different to mix things up.

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Here are some more recipes you might like...

A Big Batch of Filling- Freezer Cooking

Now I am going to show you what to do with those leftover crusts from the uncrustables sandwiches... 

I save them to make filling!  I get a lot of compliments on my filling and it is so moist!  It is really simple to make, too.  Here is what you need:

6-7 loaves of white bread
3-4 medium onions
3-4 stalks celery
8 sticks margerine

I know!  That is a lot, right?  I like to make my filling in my electric roaster in a HUGE batch so that I have some to freeze for later. When I have some stocked in my freezer, it makes a quick side dish that is way cheaper and so much tastier than that boxed stuff (not to mention I can pronounce all of the ingredients!) So, I go to our local discount bread store and grab a lot of bread.  

I get to work (and put the kids to work) cutting the bread into cubes - it does not always fit in the roaster.  I let it sit out for awhile so that the cubes are not so soft.  If I am making a large noon meal, I will cut it in the evening and let it sit out overnight with the lid cracked a bit to let some air into the roaster.  You can cut up those leftover crusts, too!

Then I cry my eyes out and peel the onions.  I cut the onions and celery into big chunks...

...and my trusty, old food processor chops it all up for me!

This is probably how a normal person would chop them.

I don't like onions.  Or celery.  So I practically puree it to disguise them.

In my big skillet, I melt 8 sticks of margarine 

I mix in my veggies and let them simmer for a few minutes.

I also dump some parsley in there to give it some color.

Then I pour it all over the bread cubes.

I give it a good stir.  It doesn't seem like it coats every bread cube, but it works out just fine.  I cook it at 200 degrees for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. Do NOT crank that temperature up.  Trust me.  It burns.

It cooks down quite a bit, so you should be able to add any extra bread that didn't fit in no time.  All of the bread in that first picture cooked down to this:

Oh, it is so yummy and delicious!  You can eat it right away...

...or freeze it for later.  It is a quick side dish- just pull it out of the freezer and warm it up!  I like to use the microwave to get it thawed and then I pop it in the oven in a baking dish at 350 for 10-15 minutes just to make the edges a little crispy (but if you leave it in the oven too long it will dry out and you'll need lots of gravy).  I have also squished it into filling balls to freeze.  This would be great to pull out just a few at a time for smaller households.

I am hoping that my little cooking tips can help someone save a little $ while feeding their family healthier foods!  I would love to know if anyone makes this, so just leave a comment to let me know if you do!