Pasta with Zucchini and Easy 5-Minute Sauce

Ingredients for our favorite easy meal

One of my family's favorite meals for nights when I need to get supper on the table fast is pasta.  Throw in a vegetable or two, perhaps some meat, and we can even make it a complete meal if there is no time to make side dishes.

A couple years ago, I noticed that almost all of the jarred sauces available at the store came with high fructose corn syrup and a bunch of other ingredients I didn't want or need in pasta sauce.  I tried a few different recipes to make my own sauce, but most of them required a long time to simmer.  Then, I discovered 5-minute sauce.  Not only is it fast, we all like it better than any other sauce we have ever tried!  (My 10-year old regularly tries to lick his plate clean when I make this sauce.)  I regularly send leftovers of this pasta dish in Thermoses with my kids in their school lunch.

On this day, I diced up two leftover grilled Italian sausages and added them as well

Pasta with Zucchini and Easy 5-Minute Sauce

Ingredients
1 lb pasta
1 medium-large zucchini/yellow squash, cut in into 1/2 inch cubes
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil

1/8-1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3 medium cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes

1/2 tsp. dried basil or 1 TBS chopped fresh basil

1/2 tsp. dried oregano or 1/2 TBS chopped fresh oregano

Put a large pot of water over high heat for the pasta.  Then, chop up the garlic and get the ingredients ready.  When the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook according to package directions.  Add the diced zucchini to the pasta pot during the last 4-5 minutes of cooking.

While the pasta is cooking, combine the olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt, and garlic in a medium (3 qt) saucepan.  Stir while you heat up the saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute for a minute or so until everything is fragrant.  [If you are using dried herbs, stir them in at this point.]  

Mix in the tomatoes and heat to a gentle simmer. [If you are using fresh herbs, add them at this point.]  Turn burner to low and keep the sauce hot until the pasta is finished.

Drain the pasta and zucchini and toss with the sauce in a large serving bowl.

*Note:  If you use the Trader Joes Tortellini pictured, it only needs 12 minutes to cook (not the 16-18 minutes listed on the instructions.  I really wish they would get that fixed.  If you cook it for 16 minutes, you will have pasta mush.

Adapted from Five Minute Tomato Sauce

XFC Extreme Flight Championships

Today we went out to the Academy of Model Aeronautics, near Muncie, for the XFC Extreme Flight Championships. This is an international competition that attracts radio control pilots from all over the world.  The competition was very impressive.  We saw the 17 best airplane pilots and the 12 best helicopter pilots fly their routines in an "unknown" round of the competition.

Each competitor flies their aircraft, while doing amazing stunts, all choreographed to music.  I liked the airplane category the best and took a bunch of photos of them and didn't take any of the helicopters.  Oops!  Anyway, we had a great time!

The competition continues tonight with a night competition and fireworks and then finals tomorrow with the top 7 competitors in each category.

Cherry Chocolate Muffins with Almond Cream Glaze

These bunches of two cherries look just like the cherries on Pac Man!

Two days ago, I took the boys to pick sweet cherries at Hidden Acres Fruit Farm in Wilkinson, Indiana.  This was a completely new experience for us as we had never picked cherries before.  The farm is a bit of a drive from Muncie, but was worth it to us just for the experience and fun we had. (Plus we used the outing an excuse to go get waffle cones at Good's Candy Shop in Anderson.  They have by far the best ice cream I have ever tasted in my life and I love the extra yummy surprise in the bottom of the waffle cones!  If you go, be sure to ask to walk through their viewing area so you can see the candy-makers at work.)

The picking experience at Hidden Acres started with a hay wagon ride to the orchard.  On the way, one of the older kids from the family that owns the farm told us some of the history of the farm and a bit about their operation.  After a few minutes, we arrived at the cherry-laden trees.  They really have an excellent crop this year.  The boys and I started by tasting both varieties of cherries they grow and since both were equally fantastic we decided to pick a mix.  As we picked, we talked a bit with a couple of the younger kids from the family that owns the farm.  They were quite happy to chat (especially since my boys were close to their ages) and seemed quite proud of their farm and the work they do.


Since we've indulged in far too many desserts lately, I decided to bake some of the cherries into muffins for the boys to snack on after they get home from Cardinal Kids Camp and they can also take some in their lunches the rest of the week.  I love the flavors of almond and cherries together, but since we aren't particularly fond of nuts in muffins I decided to get the almond flavor with almond extract.  If, unlike me, you don't have a block of cream cheese you've been trying to use up, feel free to skip the glaze.

Cherry Chocolate Muffins with Almond Cream Glaze

Makes 18 muffins


Muffin Ingredients
• 1 cup milk
• 2/3 cup plain greek yogurt
• 2 large eggs beaten
• ¼ tsp almond extract
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups pitted fresh sweet cherries, halved
• ½ cup chocolate chips 
Glaze
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 oz softened cream cheese
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon almond extract (according to taste)

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat muffin pans with cooking spray.  Toss the cherries with one tablespoon of the flour to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the muffins.  

Mix the first 5 ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix just until wet.  Do not overmix.  Fold in the cherries and chocolate chips.  

Use a levered ice cream scoop to divide the batter into 18 muffins.  Bake for 20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.   

Let muffins cool in pan for 10-15 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack.  Use a fork to whisk the milk, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and almond extract in a small bowl and then top each muffin with a bit of the glaze.

Adapted from Whole Grain Cherry Muffins with Light Cream Cheese Glaze 

Anna's Summer Fun Ideas in the Muncie Area

Every summer, I get about a million ideas in my head of all the fun things I want to go try to do with the kids.  I decided to make a list of some of the ideas floating around in my head so we could easily reference the list and try to do as many as possible.  Robby pointed out to me that the list I made is exactly 25 items long.  Please excuse the fact that I don't have pretty handwriting.  I got all the organizing genes and none of the artistic genes in my family!

Since this list was written we have added, "canoeing on the river" and "check out some of the adventure bags at Minnetrista".

Brown Bag Lunch Fridays in Downtown Muncie

The weather today was perfect for the first of a summer-long weekly line-up of Friday brown bag lunches at Canan Commons in Downtown Muncie.  So, I packed up some picnic lunches for the boys and myself and headed down there.  I had been wanting to check out this music/entertainment series last year, but the weather proved to be stifling hot pretty much every week.  

The event is advertised as lasting from 11:00-1:00 each week, but other than the bounce house there wasn't much going on before noon on this first day.  My kids had a blast with the whole bounce house all to themselves though!  The organizers of the series plan to have a bounce house and/or other activities for kids every week this year, so hopefully more parents or caretakers will take advantage of this great free activity.

I really enjoyed the music provided by Barry Banks.  He was pretty humorous with his between-song commentary too.  My favorite song was one of his originals about how much he loves green beans fresh from the garden!  I can't wait to attend this event again soon on another Friday, and if Andrew gets his wish we'll be dining on hot dogs from the Big Ed's Dogs cart instead of bringing our own food.

Bounce House provided by HD Superent

Barry Banks singing one of his great songs in the Canon Commons ampitheater

Food vendors this week were Big Ed's Dogs and Slop on Top

Strawberry Banana Coconut Muffins with Lemon Glaze (dairy free)

The last three days have been crazy busy with end of school activities. Now that things have settled down a bit, I need to get busy using strawberries before they are done for the year!  

I still want to make several pints of freezer jam, and I definitely need to make our favorite homemade strawberry cake.  

To start things off today, I made these wonderful muffins.  They are packed with fruit and are incredibly moist and delicious.  They make a great snack or breakfast.

Strawberry Banana Coconut Muffins with Lemon Glaze


Ingredients:


2 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (one 4-oz single serve container)

1/4 cup coconut oil (vegetable oil may be substituted)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup sugar

1 ½ cups flour 

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup sliced strawberries

½ cup sweetened coconut flakes

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the banana, applesauce, oil, egg, vanilla, and sugar.  Next, add the flour, baking soda, and salt and lightly mix until all the flour is moist. Do not overmix.  Gently fold in the strawberries and coconut.  Divide mixture among 12 greased muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden on top and a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow muffins to cool in pan for 15 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.  Mix lemon juice and powdered sugar in a small bowl.  Drizzle glaze over cooled muffins.

Picking Strawberries

Quality testing.....yum!

Picking strawberries is something we do every year. Robby and Andrew absolutely love going picking fruit of any kind, and strawberries seem to be one of the few u-pick opportunities in this area.  Both my husband and I come from families with generations of farmers, and I think farming is just in our kids' blood!

Landess Farm is just 20 minutes south of the Ball State area and is the strawberry farm we usually visit.  Last year we also visited Pastor's Produce in Anderson, which is further from our house but has really nice strawberry beds that made for easy picking.  Both farms are closed on Saturdays and operate on a cash basis, so keep that in mind if you decide to go.

Landess Farm will be having a strawberry festival at their farm on Sunday, June 9th.  See their Facebook page for details. Also, if you get on their e-mail list, they will send you updates and maybe a coupon.

This morning, we went and picked two buckets of the early ripening variety of strawberries at Landess Farm.  Two of their white buckets completely full is about 10 pounds of strawberries and their usual rate for u-pick berries is $1.85/lb.  We plan to go back soon to pick more.  The boys have big plans for us to make freezer jam, a pie, and our favorite strawberry cake with strawberry frosting.

Here's some photos of Robby and Andrew picking strawberries through the years. 

Strawberry Picking 2013

2012 - we picked 24 1/2 pounds!

2011

2010

2009

2008