Sausage Zucchini Rice

I bought ingredients intending to make Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats,
but I was making it on a work night and I wanted something a little quicker.
So I decided to do a little research and my friend Google
gave me a recipe for Sausage Zucchini Rice that sounded amazing!

I went home that night and made it and it was quite good.
Then I made it again, and I'm pretty sure I made it once more.
THEN I realized I hadn't, but needed to blog about it,
so here I am to tell you all about it today!

The Goods:

Italian Sausage

Zucchini

Basmati Rice

Onion

Unsalted Butter

Chicken Broth

Parmesan Cheese

Parsley

Basil

Salt

Pepper

Note - I omitted the Pine Nuts from my version

because I had a bad experience with them once

and have been afraid to eat them ever since.

Feel free to use them if ya like - I'm sure it'd be tasty!

Chop your zucchini and onion.

And shred your cheese.

Brown the sausage.

Meanwhile, cook the rice...

Add butter to pot and sauté onions - about 5 minutes.

Add rice and broth to pan and bring to a boil.

Cover, reduce to a simmer and cook until water is absorbed.

While rice is cooking, start your zucchini...

In the same skillet you cooked the sausage,
cook your zucchini until tender - about 4 minutes.
Return sausage to the skillet and add broth and water,
cooking until heated through completely.

Add sausage and zucchini mixture to cooked rice.
Stir to combine and taste, then adjust seasoning if needed.

Now - serve and ENJOY!!!

Oh and before you go...

On a totally unrelated, but important note -
if you haven't signed up for Ebates yet, you need to.
It's so easy and right now lots of store have DOUBLE cash back!
Like I said before, I wish I had done it sooner!
Oh and with all the Christmas time you're probably doing.
Why not earn a little cash back while buying gift for others?

Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats

I haven't posted a food blog recently,
so I figured it was time I did so!
Hope you enjoy!!!

While browsing recipes online awhile back,
I ran across one that I knew I wanted to make soon!
It wasn't like anything I'd ever made and I was intrigued.

So after having the recipe for months,
I finally decided that it was time to make
SAUSAGE STUFFED ZUCCHINI BOATS!!!
I followed the recipe linked above,
Check out how I made this tasty meal below.

The Goods:

Zucchini

Italian Sausage

Onion

Garlic

Marinara Sauce

Mozzarella Cheese

Parmesan Cheese

Cook your sausage,

grate your cheeses,

scoop out your zucchini and

dice up the scooped out part!

Make sure your zucchini boats are clean and dry.

And drain your sausage to remove the grease.

Saute your onions and garlic.

Add diced up zucchini and cook a few minutes.

Add the cooked sausage and combine well.

Put a little sauce on the bottom of your dish.

Then lay out zucchini boats and then fill with mixture.

Top with more sauce and both cheeses.

Now you can either pop this in the oven 

and bake for 30 to 35 minutes at 400 degrees.

All done!

Can you say YUMMY!??!

If you don't want to bake it right away,

or if you want to bake half now and save half for later,

you can seal it up very well and freeze to bake soon!

I tend to use plastic wrap AND zipper baggies.

Robyn Recreates Olive Garden Favorites

Yup, you read that right!!
I have recreated not one, but TWO Olive Garden dishes that are favorites to many!

While I haven't had Olive Garden in years, I still remember what their signature salad tastes like. I used to go there just because of their amazing salad and breadsticks.

The salad was all about the dressing and I think I got pretty darn close to the real thing. I was reassured when a girlfriend I had over that night agreed that it was pretty spot on! 

Sadly, their breadsticks wasn't something I made - I haven't taken that on yet!
(Who knows, maybe soon?)

The second Olive Garden knock off I made is something I made twice in one week and just couldn't get enough. I made Zuppa Toscana Monday night and again on Friday, which was perfect for the cold evenings we've been having.

And the finished product...

So, so, SO good!!!

Since I didn't make breadsticks, I did the next best thing and made savory monkey bread muffins. They were amazing and not a single one was leftover!!!

Farfalle Pasta a la Robyn!

I've made a version of this pasta numerous times, but it never really occurred to me to blog about it - until the other night! I was going to make dinner for a friend and wanted to use what I had in my fridge, freezer, pantry and growing in my garden. This a pretty simple dish and can be modified so many ways.  Take a look at what I ended up doing last night!

The Goods:

Farfalle Pasta - I used Mini!

Olive Oil

Bell Pepper - I used Orange, 

but whatever you have works!

Broccoli

Yellow Onion

Garlic

Chicken Sausage - ANY kind.

Parmesan Cheese

Fresh Basil

Chop up the bell pepper...

Cut the broccoli and cook for a few minutes.

It should still have a LITTLE crunch, but not tons.

Now chop up the onion...

And slice the garlic!

Now start the pasta and cook as directed on the box.

While the pasta is cooking, heat up a pan and add olive oil.

Throw in the onions and garlic and sauté for a couple minutes.

Next throw in the bell pepper, and cook for a few more minutes.

Now it's time to throw in the sausage.

Note - if your sausage isn't precooked, you'll want to do that FIRST!

Cook until the sausage gets a nice little color.

Turn off the heat and throw in some cooked, drained pasta.

Mix the pasta around and then add the cooked broccoli. 

Mix the broccoli in...

And COVER it with fresh Parmesan!

Now get the basil and cut it into long thin slices - AKA chiffonade.

Put the pasta in a bowl and top with the fresh basil.

Dig in and ENJOY!!!

Fun With Pillsbury Crescent Rolls - Take 6!

It's been awhile since I did a Fun With Pillsbury Crescent Rolls post, and I had plans to make something else with the dough, but yesterday I used it to make something equally as tasty for a friend.

I made...

Breakfast Pizza!

I've never actually made this before, but I've had it many times. My Sister-In-Law introduced me to it because it's always been part of breakfast on Christmas morning in her family. I did things a little different than my Sister-In-Law does, but I made use of what I had on hand and it turned out just as good!

I'm sure Breakfast Pizza can be made MANY different ways, but here's how I made mine last night! 

Yes, I said night because we had this for dinner. I LOVE having breakfast for dinner. YUM!

The Goods!

Seamless Crescent Dough

Chicken Sausage

Eggs

Cheddar Cheese

Green Chilies

Shred a whole bunch of cheese. 

MMMMmmm cheeeeeese!

Cook the sausage.

Or in this case - warm/crisp the sausage 

because these ones were fully cooked!

Beat the eggs with a lil bit of milk.

I used skim because that's what I have.

Roll out the Crescent Dough and press it up against all sides.

Put down sausage and cover with eggs.

Sprinkle the cheese and green chilies on top.

Bake at 325 for about 35 minutes.

You'll know it's done when it no longer jiggles.

We were SOOOO hungry when it was done baking,

and I completely forgot to take picture of the finished product 

UNTIL after we were done eating...

OOPS!

So here's what it looks like with two pieces missing! :)