Adventures in cooking for 7:)

It's not easy cooking for 7 people all the time, no one likes the same thing generally unless it's pizza! But I figure with 7 people I'll at least make 1 person happy at dinner time every day!!!

It's also really difficult getting all the good veggies into the kids all the time and after a busy day sometimes it is easier to make the same old spaghetti or butter noodles!

However today I had 3 large zucchini's that had to be used TODAY!  And I wasn't in the mood for baking zucchini bread.  So my thoughts went to trying Zucchini Lasagna, but I didn't have the right ingredients, then I remembered an old recipe on file for a nice zucchini casserole, only I didn't make sure I had all the ingredients until I was half was through cooking.  So I did what all mother's do, improvise and hope for the best:) 

No one was more surprised than I was when the three eldest kids (9, 8 & 6 years) actually tried it and well liked it!!! They also ALL requested and ate seconds, which is unheard of in our house!!!

It was no surprise that the wee ones (2 & 4 years) didn't even try it, but they equally loved their nutella sandwiches, bologna and cheese slices:) 

So I can say I've created a new recipe that we will definitely make again:)

Zucchini Stuffing Casserole:

Preheat oven to 350F

3-4  Zucchini (approx. 4 cups)
1 onion

2 tbsp. butter (I used Olivina margarine)

salt & pepper to taste
¼ cup skim milk + 1 tbsp corn starch to thicken)
2 large eggs
½ cup grated  low fat cheddar cheese
1 cup grated marble or cheddar cheese for topping

Puree zucchini with onion and 2 tbsp. of water

Cook in deep fry pan or large pot on stove until a lot of the water evaporates (I cooked on medium for about 10min constantly stirring while it bubbled away)

Whisk in the butter, salt and pepper

Then add  the milk/corn starch mix, eggs and cheese, pour into casserole dish and set aside

 

I used the same pot the other was in and boiled  (cause who wants to wash more dishes) 1 1/2 cups water added 1 tbsp butter and added two boxes of turkey Stove Top Stuffing Mix, following the directions on the box, stirred, covered, removed from heat and set aside for 5min, fluffed with a fork then spread out on top of the zucchini mix!!!

 

Then before popping it into the over I added 1 cup of shredded marble cheese

 

Bake in pre-heated oven at 350 degrees about 50 minutes
Let stand for 5 min before cutting and serving:)

Again, totally amazed at how much they loved it, waiting for hubby's review when he gets home:)  Now to put the mini's to bed, love that they're exhausted after a fun filled summer day at the beach:)
T