As I have told you before, Ryan and I have had to get pretty creative with squash and zucchini this year because we have a ton.

Here is one of my inventions:

I am going to call it the “Squash and Lasagna Mix Up.”

I boiled some squash (I used 2 really large ones)  for a few minutes, until tender.

Cooked a pound of Italian sausage.

I gathered up some Ricotta, Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese; and. . .

mixed the cheeses together.

Then I heated some tomato sauce.

We also have a ton of tomatoes, but I was lazy on this particular night and used Prego.

I put the squash in,

and the Italian sausage.

I stirred it all up and put it in a 13 x 9.

Put the cheese mixture on top and put in the oven for about 10 minutes to melt the cheese.

This concoction totally satisfied by lasagna craving and used up some more squash and zucchini.

I think I will make it again!

BUT, we have not had many peppers yet.

So, when Ryan asked for stuffed peppers, I made stuffed peppers and stuffed squash.

I did not use a recipe, but I ‘m going to try to create one with pictures. . .

In a Skillet,  I cooked lean  ground beef (a little over a pound), squash, onion, jalapeno, salt and pepper. You can leave out the squash or add bell peppers. I would have added peppers if we would have had any.

While you’re waiting on the beef halve your peppers, or squash,  clean out the seeds, and put them in a pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes. When they are slightly tender take them out and drain them.

When the squash and onions were tender, I added a can of sliced mushrooms, garlic, cooked rice (2 cups-ish), and a little sauce that is a mixture of ketchup (1/2 cup-ish), Worcestershire sauce (1 tsp-ish), and hot pepper sauce (to taste)

You could add diced tomatoes and/or tomato sauce in addition to or instead of the ketchup mixture, it is equally delicious.

When the mixture is complete, put the squash and peppers in a greased baking dish.

Fill them with the mixture and top with cheese

Bake, at 350, for about 20 minutes. . .

and enjoy!

I pulled out my newest cookbook, a book I purchased when Ryan and I visited Michie Tavern because it includes the recipes for the food served at The Ordinary.  The Ordinary is the dining room a Michie Tavern, which serves a huge meal they describe as a “hardy midday fare,” an understatement to say the least.  Anyway, I got the book knowing that everything in it would be delicious, and I finally got a chance to use it!

I chose to make the Lamplighter’s Squash Casserole:

The Veggies:

The squash I used is from my parent’s garden and the onions were from ours.

(I used 4 small onions instead of two medium )

Slice the squash,

and dice the Onions and Peppers.

Then put the ground beef, onions, peppers, mushrooms and spices in a skillet together,

and go ahead and put the sliced squash in a pot with 1 cup of water to boil.

Let the meat cook, for about 10 minutes,  or until the beef was browned and the onions were tender,

and then added the tomato paste and tomato sauce,

cover and let simmer for about 30 minutes.

While the sauce is simmering you should find that your squash is plenty tender,

take it off and drain it.

When the sauce is done simmering, begin layering the casserole:

Sauce first

Then squash

Then cheese

And then repeat, and top the 2nd layer of cheese, with the left over sauce,

and a mixture of bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese

Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes

Then it is Done!

We ate it with Italian bread, Cucumbers and Corn.

It was Yummy!!

And look at all of this leftover casserole!

PS- I had leftovers for lunch yesterday; and it was just as good, if not better leftover!

Ground Beef: (2.5- 3 lbs)

2 Eggs:

Worchestershire Sauce:

Montreal Steak Seasoning: (to taste)

Mix it up!

Form your burgers. .  .

Now grill ‘em!

While Ryan and Sean were manning the grill, Courtney and I prepared a salad and hamburger toppings.

Lettuce- for salad and burgers:

Burger tomatoes:

Burger Toppings:

Salad Ingredients:

Delicious colorful salad:

Yay! The burgers are done grilling!

We had the burgers with salad and Red Potatoes.

I posted the potato recipe here, try it, it is simple and delicious!