The Garden O' Plenty

My Dad's garden had another successful year!  

Which means that we were lucky enough to receive a  big bag of produce!

Which means that I had so much fun coming up with recipes to ensure every single piece was utilized.

This is just a small portion of what we received:

Eggplant, Yellow squash, patty pan squash, zucchini, cucumbers, jalapenos, green peppers, and more jalapenos!!  Our favorite!

My first challenge was to come up with a good recipe for the patty pan squash.  I googled and discovered this recipe: Stuffed Patty Pan Squash.

Yes, it has bacon in it.  Yes, it has cheese in it.  No, I haven't stopped eating healthy.  Yes, I'm enjoying my summer a little TOO much.

It was delicious!  I believe that any time you get the chance to eat the "bowl".... your meal must have been pretty fantastic.

Taco salads.  Bread bowls filled with soup.  Need I say more.

I also sliced up the eggplant, drizzled it with olive oil, and roasted it in the oven.

AND I made up a squash/ravioli lasagna as a side dish.  I basically layered cheese raviolis and squash in a 9 x 13 and covered it with cheese.  And baked it, of course.

I named the meal "Dad's Garden Bonanza"

I decided to give myself another challenge.  Not only did I insist on using every last piece of garden goodness... but I challenged myself to come up with recipes that would utilize the leftover produce from the party on the 4th as well as food that I had been stockpiling.

I was informed recently that I am a hoarder of groceries.

And unfortunately ( fortunately?) it is very true.

I love buying food more than shoes and clothes.

Sometimes.

Anyway......

Another meal consisted of broccoli fritters, tomato pie, and a salad with Dad's cukes!

I considered that dinner to be the perfect summer meal!  The broccoli fritters are so easy and are quite amazing dipped in Jalapeno Ranch dressing ( which I now consider the nectar of the gods <--whatever that means).  And who doesn't love a tomato pie?  ( actually, I know a lot of people that don't like tomatoes... but whatever)  My sister, Holly, was the first one to introduce me to it.... and I think about her every time I make one.

I think about her lots of other times, too!

Pizza night used up a ton of random food items that had been living rent-free in our fridge.  Including the Naan bread that had been in the freezer for months ( gasp!).

Our pizzas were: pepperoni and jalapenos, green olive ( I'm slightly addicted to them right now), green pepper and onion, and broccoli and tomato.

Thankfully, Dad's produce lasted until Sunday night - 1 1/2 weeks after he gave it to us.

Kev grilled the last pieces of yellow squash and zucchini for our side dish.  I also had him throw in some fresh okra - YUM!  Grilling the okra whole gets rid of the slime.  Not that I mind the slime.... but Kev certainly enjoyed the okra more once it was grilled.

Other side dishes for the evening were:

Coleslaw ( made from the Dinosaur BBQ cookbook that Dave and Laura gave me) I would have to say that it was my favorite coleslaw EVER.  But that is to be expected because my meal at Dinosaur was my favorite meal EVER.
Rice- see all of those words above.
And
Baked Artichoke Cheddar Squares.

Thanks to my pantry clean out, I found these:

And just happened to have all the other ingredients on hand.

The squares were very cheesy and rich and perfect.  They didn't necessarily go with our meal... but when has that ever stopped me before.

The final plate:  All sides served with the main course.  SHARK STEAK!

We had never had shark steak.  I have never seen shark steak.  And I have luckily never seen an actual shark. ( Except for that HORRID ride at Universal Studios.)

But while shopping for fish on Saturday, the lady behind the counter suggested it to me and said it was delicious.  So, I got it.  And it was.  But it was definitely better the next day for some reason.

Our fridge and pantry and freezer are a little bit emptier thanks to last week.  Which, unfortunately, causes me to break out in sweats in fear of us running out of food.

And now I'm off to the grocery store.