What To Do With All Those Veggies

Remember our humble little raised bed garden we built and planted this spring?  Well,
who knew that such a small area could produce so much?!  Our garden, thanks in large part
to our productive native soil and the amazing weather and sunshine here in Louisiana,
is literally overflowing with veggies.  I have been giving away green goodies to all
my neighbors, stocking up our freezer, and cooking up a storm with this overabundance
of squash, zucchini, eggplant, cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes.  Not a bad deal, right?
I've been Pinteresting my little heart out and collecting tons of recipes to try and my family
is reaping the benefits.  Today, I'm sharing two super easy recipes that were a big hit and
made great use of a productive week in the garden.

What to do with all those cucumbers:

Bread and butter pickles

Bianca shared this recipe with me and it is amazing!  We have been picking 10-12
cucumbers out of our garden daily and this pickle recipe was the perfect way to utilize
them all.  Plus, I'm pregnant.  And anything with the word "pickle" in it sounds appetizing.  

Here's what you'll need:

5 1/2 cups thinly sliced pickling cucumbers (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 cup thinly sliced onion 
1 cup sugar
1 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
I also added two banana peppers, sliced and 1 cayenne pepper, sliced for some added Louisiana style flavor

1.  Thinly slice cucumbers.

2. Combine cucumbers and salt in a large bowl, cover, refrigerate for 1 1/2 hours.

3. Remove cucumbers from fridge, rinse with cold water, drain, return to bowl, add onion 
and peppers, return to fridge.

4. Combine remaining ingredients in a medium sized pot on the stove.  Simmer over 
medium heat, stir often to allow sugar to dissolve.  Once sugar is dissolved, remove 
mixture from heat and pour over cucumbers in bowl.

5.  Allow cucumbers and vinegar mixture to cool at room temperature for about an 
hour.  Cover and return to refrigerator for 24 hours.  After 24 hours, serve your 
delicious pickles with any dish you wish!  This dish may be stored in an airtight container 
in your fridge for up to 2 weeks.  I used mason jars to store mine and they look so pretty 
and appetizing in my fridge!  Enjoy!

What to do with all those squash and zucchinni:

Baked squash and zucchini parmesean

A coworker shared this recipe with me and we have literally eaten it every night this week.
It is so simple and packed with flavor!

Here's what you'll need:

1 pound of squash or zucchini or both
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 Parmesan cheese

1.  Slice squash and zucchini into thin slices, place in a foil lined pan, coat with olive oil.

2.  Mix bread crumbs and Parmesean cheese in a separate bowl. Sprinkle mixture over 
veggies, covering them as much as possible.

3.  Place pan of veggies in oven, bake at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes or until 
golden brown.

4.  Sprinkle with a little cheddar/Monterrey Jack cheese mixture right before pulling pan 
out of oven, allowing cheese to melt on top of veggies.  Serve right away for maximum 
flavor!  

5.  Attempt to take a finished product photo for your blog before your children devour 
your  dish.  Fail miserably.  Take it as a compliment.  Be thankful your kids eat their 
veggies.  The end.