Zucchini Spaghetti

I have a spiralizer!!! I'm so excited to create new stuff with it! I've been wanting to get one for months but kept putting it off for money's sake (even though it's not expensive). But my mom and I both decided to order one so we'd get free shipping on Amazon.

I should explain the slicer. I forget that not everyone spends ridiculous amounts of time checking Pinterest and reading food blogs, so this might be new to some. The spiralizer is a tool that takes different veggies (and fruits) and cuts them into noodles. You can spiralize zucchini, carrots, potatoes, butternut squash, apples and more. There are three blades with this one but there is a version that includes a 4th blade. 

Hope that helps!

The timing of its delivery was great because I was able to pick it up right when I came back from the Des Moines Farmer's Market with zucchini. I had made my spaghetti sauce the day before so I was set to start spiralizing right away. I think it's great that "spiralizing" is a word. Was it a word before there was a veggie spiral slicer? What else would the word apply to? It's like how "Googled" is a word too. Anyway...

I began reading through Psalm 119 this week. It is quite long but is broken up by sections titled by a Hebrew letter I believe. The whole chapter is about God's law and seeking its instruction. The first verses express how happy we can be when we seek to obey God's commands. We don't have reason for regret when we choose to love God by submitting to His will. The writer treasures the scriptures; spends time in them so he knows them well and can keep from sin.

Spaghetti has been one of my favorite dishes for a long time! I think I learned to cook it back in high school or middle school. Its so easy when using a pre-made sauce. 

As I've tried to eat healthier, I avoid and almost stopped eating pasta altogether. But for some reason, I've always wanted to make my own spaghetti sauce so I bought regular pasta to try out an old favorite. I'm pretty happy with it and with how easy it was to make!

So because I made lots of sauce and everyone knows how to boil pasta, I wanted to show you the zucchini version! And because I'm still excited about the spiralizer!

Zucchini with homemade Spaghetti Sauce

-Makes lots of sauce, around 2 quarts-

3 minced garlic cloves

2 Tbs olive oil

1 lb ground beef (I used Fareway's own)

1 24oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

8 oz water

1+ Tbs dried oregano

3 fresh basil leaves chopped

1 tsp garlic powder

a couple dashes of salt and pepper

1. Put olive oil and minced garlic in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Let the garlic sweat and become transparent. 

2. Add the ground beef and let it brown.

3. Pour in the cans of tomatoes and water.

4. Add the spices and herbs and bring to a boil. 

5. Reduce the heat to medium-low and allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes.

For the zucchini:

Spiralize 2 medium or large zucchini with the smallest size blade. This will easily serve 3 people. I used half a zucchini for myself.

Sprinkle the noodles with salt and let sit in a strainer for 30 minutes so the excess water can drain. Rinse the noodles to remove the extra salt. The noodles can be eaten raw for a bit of crunch or you can saute them for a couple of minutes to soften them. 

Serve the noodles with the spaghetti meat sauce and enjoy guilt free!

Kale Chips

It's healthy post time! Aren't you excited!? I really do love kale chips though. I actually found myself trying to munch on Lay's but just wasn't enjoying them. Maybe it was the fried/oily taste that just didn't attract me, I don't know but I'm okay with it.

The foodie bullies out there like to poke fun at healthy things like kale chips and quinoa. But, we foodies can take confidence in our heart healthy choices, knowing we feel better for it. (And it means we don't have much guilt when we cheat;)

There are a few popular types of kale and this one is my favorite! It's called dinosaur kale! Well, its real name is Lacianto kale but it is also known as dinosaur kale which is awesome. It's a sweeter version that works wonderfully for chips. Other kinds are curly and red russian. Curly is the easiest to find but I think is the most bitter. Red russian I've only found at the Farmer's Market and I like best for salad because of its taste and softer texture. You can probably find all kinds at Whole Foods but it's not my usual grocery store. 

The end of James 5 is focused on prayer. "The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect." Elijah was just like us and he was able to ask God to stop the rain and He did. I don't see that kind of request being applicable for me but I really do need to be more fervent in prayer and faith. I was really excited to read this passage because I saw God answer a really simple request yesterday. It challenged me to not be wimpy in my prayer. Prayer does need to be guided by chapter five and James 4:3 "You ask and don't receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your evil desires." So, no asking for random, large sums of money for myself...

So, those four leaves of kale that take up an entire baking sheet...yeah I ate all of them. In one sitting. They're a little addicting. Enjoy!

Kale Chips

Lacianto (dinosaur) kale with main rib removed

olive oil

salt

Preheat oven to 325° F. Cut center ribs away from kale leaves. Place parchment paper on baking sheet. Lay out kale leaves and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and put in the oven. Make chips for 10-11 minutes but keep an eye on them so make sure they aren't turning brown. When they are done, then you can easily cut them or break them into smaller chips. 

Quail Eggs Benedict

Yes, quail eggs! I know, it's bizarre to see someone using quail eggs. Aren't they only in kitchens of Food network stars?!

 I was so surprised/excited to see that someone in my home church raises quail and had taken the time to make deviled quail eggs! These guys are tiny. They should just be called bite-size deviled eggs. I'm pretty sure it would take 3 of them to equal one chicken egg. 

(poor photo quality blamed on basic smartphone)

So cute! 

My mom asked Angie, the quail raiser, if she had any eggs to sell. We got lucky and Angie had 8 for us! Now, you should know that Angie raises so much more than quail. They call their farm a zoo which kinda makes sense when you realize all they do out there. They raise and sell fancy chickens (silkies), quail, groom dogs, have many cats and more importantly, have 11 blonde hair/blue eyed children! I don't know how she and her husband do it but they do it well. 

Little perspective on their tiny-ness!

James 4:14-15 "You don't even know what tomorrow will bring - what your life will be! For you are like smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes. Instead, you should say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that".

I'm a mental planner. I keep my plans for the day in my mental calendar. I try to stay on time and organized with what I do. Now, this is not reflected in my cleanliness. My bedroom and office are organized messes. I know where most things are and I'm okay with that. 

I think it's good to be organized and have plans for how to spend time but that also causes me to be controlling of my time. I also somehow expect the rest of the world to function on my timetable. I get frustrated with slow traffic or delayed events. Yet I'm often 2 minutes late for church...

Anyway, James encourages us to live day by day. I don't need to cling to my weekly or even daily plans. I need to stay flexible to what God brings into my day and not mutter under my breath when He changes my "plans". 

Back to these guys! I was so excited about them, I told mom I'd make breakfast for us with them. There's no way I was going to scramble these cuties. Sunny-side up is the only way to go.

Quail eggs don't taste different to me but their shell is a bit tougher than chicken eggs. The membrane is strong too. 

Eggs benedict made sense because you'd have to eat so many of these to really fill up on eggs alone. I used bacon rather than ham because it's what mom had in the fridge. Ham would taste great too!

Quail Eggs Benedict

makes 2 sandwiches

4 quail eggs (or 2 chicken eggs)

2 strips of bacon

2 English muffins

For the hollandaise:

3 egg yolks (chicken eggs)

1/4 cup melted butter

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp dried parsley

Cook the bacon and toast the muffin so they are ready for assembly as soon as the eggs are cooked. 

To make the hollandaise, separate the egg yolks in a bowl or pan to be used as a double boiler. Put about an inch of water in another pan and let it boil. Hold the bowl with the yolks over the steam from the water and stir constantly. This allows the yolks to slowly cook without becoming scrambled. 

After about 2 minutes, pour in the melted butter. The butter should not be hot when you pour it in, we don't want it over cooking the eggs. Continue to stir and let thicken. After another 2 minutes or so remove from heat and stir in the seasonings. Most recipes mix lemon juice in with the yolks but we didn't have any and it tastes fine still. 

Have another pan on the stove on a med-low heat. Lightly spray the pan or use a good non-stick pan for cooking the eggs. Crack the eggs into the pan with care to avoid breaking the yolk. Let cook for 2-3 minutes and then the eggs should be ready to assemble on your sandwich!

Pour on the hollandaise and top muffin and enjoy!