Friday Favorite Finds #173

Welcome, almost, to your long weekend!  The official end of summer …. it’s bittersweet.  I am ready for fall foods, colors and weather.  Yet, I want to hang on to summer. 

{Note: All images are from the original blogger; please pin the source!}

Feel free to follow me on Pinterest to see more of my finds from this week!

BLT Bites. Fresh tomatoes stuffed with all the goodness of a BLT.  Delicious.  Thanks to my blogging friend Jessie for sharing this one!

Copy-Cat State Fair Cookies. I LOVE these…. Haley, you’ve done it again. 

Slow-Roasted Garlic Tomatoes. I can’t get enough of roasted tomatoes.  This recipe was linked up to our Ingredient Spotlight this week by Danielle, a regular Friday Favorite Finds participant too.  Yum-o. 

Egg Mater. What a great way to use up garden tomatoes in an easy breakfast.  This find comes from Morsels of Life – another Friday Favorite regular.  I must confess, though, all I can think of when I hear Mater is Mader from Cars :) 

If you were featured, grab the button below!

What did you find this week?

Please link up to a post containing your list of recipes to try -- do not link up individual recipes, or recipes that you’ve already made, your links will be deleted.   Be sure to leave a link back here to Finding Joy in My Kitchen.

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Banana Blueberry Baked Oatmeal

This recipe is perfect for a back to school morning.  Make it the night before and either bake it then, or bake it in the morning.  Double the batch and you can freeze leftovers as a easy grab-and-go breakfast during the week. 

Loaded with wholesome oats and flavorful bananas and blueberries, you are sure to enjoy this version of one of our favorite breakfasts!

Banana Blueberry Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients

• 1/2 C applesauce, unsweetened
• 1/2 C brown sugar (no need to pack this one)
• 1 egg
• 3 C oats (quick or old fashioned, or a mix)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• dash of cinnamon
• 1 C milk (add 1/4 C milk if you make the night before)
• Splash of vanilla
• 1/2 C fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1-2 medium bananas

Directions

In a large bowl combine 1/2 C applesauce, 1/2 C brown sugar and 1 egg.  Stir well.  Add in 3 C oats, 2 tsp. baking powder, a pinch of salt, a dash of cinnamon and 1 C milk.  If you are making this the night before and not baking it immediately, add an additional 1/4 C milk.  Stir in a splash of vanilla. 

Carefully stir in the blueberries.  Then, slice up your banana(s) into thin slices. 

Lightly grease a 9x9 glass baking dish and arrange 1/3 of the banana slices on the bottom of the dish. Pour half of the oat mixture over the top.  Then arrange 1/3 of the slices of banana over the top of the oats.  Top with remaining oat mixture.  Arrange bananas over the top. 

If you are baking immediately, place the baked oatmeal in an over heated to 350 degrees F and bake for 35-40 minutes until the center is set.  If you are not baking right away, cover and refrigerate overnight until you are ready to bake.  Place the pan in a cold oven and then turn the temperature on to bake and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes until warmed throughout and the center is set. 

Serve warm, sliced or in a bowl with milk. 

Enjoy!  

This would also make a great after school snack cake!

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Ingredient Spotlight: Tomatoes

Our tomatoes are ripening!  Tomatoes are unbelievable right off the vine, and we love to use tomatoes in just about everything we make. 

Tomatoes, as we well know, are high in lycopene a great antioxidant.  But, did you also know that tomatoes (a botanical fruit related to the eggplant and potato) are a great source of fiber and nutrients like Vitamin A, C and potassium.  They have been shown to reduce your cancer risk – especially for lung, breast, colon and even skin cancer.

Here are some of our favorite ways to enjoy tomatoes:

Simple Roasted Tomatoes – you can’t get any easier nor any tastier than these!

Crockpot Swiss Steak

Chicken Pesto Sandwiches

Spaghetti Braid

Caprese Stuffed Dinner Rolls

How do you like your tomatoes?

An InLinkz Link-up

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Roasted Green Beans & Mushrooms

This side dish can’t be easier, and it is sure tasty. 

We used green beans from our garden, but I would guess even frozen green beans would work!

Roasted Green Beans & Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 8 oz. baby bella mushrooms, quartered
• 4-6 C green beans, ends trimmed
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Parmesan cheese, optional garnish

Directions

Lightly grease a cookie sheet lined with tinfoil. 

Arrange quartered mushrooms and green beans over the top of the tinfoil.  Spritz with olive oil, season with salt and pepper.  Mince the garlic clove and sprinkle that over the top. 

Roast at 425 for 10-15 minutes, then stir.  Return to the oven and roast for an additional 5-10 minutes until veggies are crisp tender.  

Garnish with 1-2 T Parmesan cheese.  Enjoy!

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Lasagna-Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms

This recipe is down right amazing.  I’m a huge mushroom fan, but until I made this dinner I hadn’t ever had large, true, portabella mushrooms.  Sure, we eat the baby bellas nearly every week, but this opened up a whole new world for me.

Right now would be the perfect time to make these too, because of the fresh garden spinach and tomatoes. 

Make it for your next date-night at home, it’s so easy to make and so fancy to eat. 

Lasagna-Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms –  From Annie’s Eats

Ingredients

• 4-5 large portabella mushrooms
• Olive oil
• Minced garlic
• Salt and pepper
• 1 C ricotta cheese
• 1 egg white
• 1-2 T Parmesan cheese
• Mozzarella cheese, shredded
• Grape or cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp. basil
• 1/2 tsp. oregano
• Pinch of dried parsley
• 1 C frozen spinach
• 1-2 C sauce

Directions

Begin by washing your mushrooms; remove the stem and use a spoon to carefully scoop out the gills of the mushrooms.

Place the mushrooms with the cap-side down onto a lightly greased and tinfoil lined cookie sheet.  Spritz the top of the mushrooms with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper as well as minced garlic. 

Roast the mushroom caps for 10 minutes at 425 degrees; you may wish to flip the mushrooms over once during this roasting time.  If there is any liquid in the mushroom caps after 10 minutes, carefully spoon that out. 

Meanwhile, combine 1 C ricotta cheese with 1 C frozen spinach and 1-2 T of Parmesan cheese.  Toss in some dried parsley, salt and pepper too, for good measure. 

Mix in the egg white, basil and oregano. 

Carefully, place the ricotta mixture into the mushroom caps. 

Cover the top of the caps with the tomato sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.  

Slice open the tomatoes lengthwise, and place them cut-side up on the cookie sheet next to the mushrooms.  Sprinkle with basil and/or salt/pepper. 

Place the cookie sheet into the oven for 10-15 minutes, cooking until the center of the mushrooms are set and the tomatoes are warmed and beginning to caramelize on the top. 

Serve the stuffed mushrooms with additional marinara sauce, and top with roasted tomatoes. 

Enjoy!

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Menu Plan–August 25

Our recipe highlight from last week went to the zucchini mac & cheese.  We used white cheddar cheese this time and wow! If you are looking for ways to use up zucchini, add this recipe to your list. 

We also pulled out an old recipe for zucchini boats, and we really enjoyed these too.

This week, we’re using garden produce and trying not to turn on the oven as forecast highs are well above 90 with dew points in the 70s all week long. 

Sunday
Leftover Mini Doughnuts {new}
Roasted Tomato BLTs, Sautéed Zucchini
Leftover Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

To do: Make lunches!

Monday
Bacon & Egg Grilled Cheese
Veggie Risotto

To do: Thaw chicken

Tuesday
Granola & Blueberries
Crockpot Chicken Taco Bowls {new}

Wednesday
Leftover Whole Wheat Buttermilk Waffles
Leftovers – wrapped in tortillas

Thursday
Granola & Blueberries
Summer Vegetable Spaghetti {new}

To do: thaw chicken

Friday
Breakfast Enchiladas {new}
Crockpot Shredded Cheesesteak Sandwiches {new}, Summer Squash Gratin {new}

To do: Prep brunch, make crust for fruit pizza

Saturday
Brunch – Crockpot Breakfast Casserole, OJ, fresh berries, fruit pizza
Leftovers

To do: Make bagels

Sweet Treats:
Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread {new}
Caramel Pretzel Bites or Cookies!

Find more great menus at OrgJunkie’s Menu Plan Monday!

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Friday Favorite Finds #173

Come and join us!  Share your favorite recipe finds of the week – or just check out what everyone else found. 

{Note: All images are from the original blogger; please pin the source!}

Feel free to follow me on Pinterest to see more of my finds from this week!

Dark Chocolate Blueberry Scones – oh my!  Featured on Beneath My Heart’s Blog, by guest blogger Ruthie of What’s Cooking with Ruthie – two new-to-me blogs. 

Cookie Dough Ice Cream Sandwiches – I say, bring on the 90+ degree weather in late August if I can have some of these “Cookie Monster Ice Cream Sandwiches” from The Cake Blog. 

Snickerdoodle Cookie Butter – Are you sensing a dessert theme here?!  A Biscoff-like cookie butter made from Snickerdoodles!  Featured on Parade, by Stefani Pollack. 

St. Louis Style Pizza – Just so it’s not all sugar on here tonight – some amazing pizza from Reeni at Cinnamon Spice.  Best part – it’s ready in 30 minutes. 

If you were featured, grab the button below!

What did you find this week?

Please link up to a post containing your list of recipes to try -- do not link up individual recipes, or recipes that you’ve already made, your links will be deleted.   Be sure to leave a link back here to Finding Joy in My Kitchen.

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Zucchini & Ham Tortilla Bake

This was an absolutely delicious way to use our garden’s abundance of zucchini, summer squash and tomatoes. 

I loved the flavor combination and how easy it was to put together in less than 30 minutes! 

You will too. 

Zucchini and Ham Tortilla Bake – Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens

Ingredients

• 1 large zucchini, quartered
• 1 large summer squash, quartered
• 1 medium red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 10-15 cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1 C diced, pre-cooked ham
• 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 tsp. minced onion
• salt and pepper, to taste
• White whole wheat tortillas (n=6), fajita or taco size recommended
• Shredded Monterrey Jack or Cheddar cheese

Directions

Prep the veggies.

Begin by sautéing the quartered zucchini, bell pepper and summer squash in a large skillet until liquid begins to release from the zucchini.  Add in the minced onion and garlic at that point.  If you normally use olive oil during sautéing, use a little here as well. 

Add in the diced ham and the tomatoes.  I recommend halving the cherry or grape tomatoes, but you could easily dice up a larger beef-steak or roma tomato.  Heat until the tomatoes and ham are warmed throughout. Remove from the heat. 

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Place about 1/2 C of the mixture in the center of each tortilla. 

Top with cheese.  Roll up the tortilla and place it seam-side down into the bottom of a lightly greased 9x9 inch baking dish. 

Continue filling the other tortillas, leaving about 1/4 C of the zucchini mixture behind.  When all tortillas are filled and in the pan, arrange the remaining 1/4 C zucchini mixture over the top of the tortillas and sprinkle with a little shredded cheese. 

Place the tortillas in the oven and bake for 5-7 minutes, until tortillas have crisped. 

Enjoy!

Note: These are best eaten the day that you make them and they are quite filling.  Plan on 1 per person, especially if you have side dishes.  Make up just enough for your family or guests.  Then, reserve the extra mixture in a container in the fridge and use the filling to create the tortillas fresh when you are ready for the leftovers.  

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