Some nights are just roasted brussels sprouts kind of nights.  Last night was one of them.  I know there are all kinds of fancy bacon, cheese, lemon juice add-ons, and goodness knows I love all of them.  But when you’ve got a Costco sized bag you need to quickly roast (read: expiration date quickly approaching) and you’re home alone with kids climbing all over you, you need easy.  And fast.  Oh, and easy.

Preheat your oven to 375 degree f.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Trim and halve the sprouts and drizzle with olive oil, balsamic vinegar (no sugar added for Paleo & Whole 30), sea salt and pepper.  Toss to coat and throw in the oven for 35-45 minutes.  THAT EASY!

Make a cup of tea, chase kids, knock out the kindergarten nightly reading assignment, find the Paw Patrol episode for your 2 year old that you’ve all watched a million times already and wait for your beautiful, bright green orbs, to gently steam to tender and then crisp up.

Here’s where you can get caught up in eating them right off the sheet pan, or you can do the practical thing and portion it out for meal prep for the week.  I won’t have enough for the full week now, but it was totally worth eating them hot off the pan.

Enjoy!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts

 

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Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

35 mins

Total Time

40 mins

 

A super quick, super healthy, super delicious veggie side dish. Great for weeknight dinners, meal prep for the week or holiday gatherings!

: Phanneth Wood

: Side Dish

Serves: 8-10 servings

Ingredients

• 2 lbs Brussels Sprouts, washed, trimmed and halved and dried
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3-4 tbsp balsamic vinegar, aged, no sugar added
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
• black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees f
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
3. Spread prepared brussels sprouts evenly over parchment
4. Drizzle olive oil, vinegar and salt and pepper over sproutus, toss to coat
5. Bake 35-45 minutes or until desired crispness - be careful not to burn them

3.5.3208

Did your garden spit out some ridiculously sized zucchini like mine did?  Good golly, did we get some giants out of the garden this year! Perfect for grilling, perfect for snacking on raw, and PERFECT for fall traditions of making the best zucchini bread ever.

The hardest part about making zucchini bread is grating the zucchini.  No joke – my mom used to have us grate, by hand, on an old green tupperware grater.

Popular in the 80’s, funky and ugly, now considered a classic, possibly even vintage, this baby never disappointed and always turned out the world’s best zucchini bread ever.  EVER.

I have to admit, I’ve tweaked mom’s tried and true recipe a touch.  But Joel and the boys ate two mini-loaves in under 48 hours, so we’re still talking about the good stuff here.

I used a food processor with a grating attachment to quickly churn out 12 cups of grated zucchini – used what I needed for the triple batch I made to share with neighbors and still froze 6 cups…from ONE zucchini!  I cut chunks big enough for the food processor chute, removing the large seeds first and collected it all in a large bowl to assemble my ingredients.

DO NOT squeeze any liquid from the grated zucchini.  No body likes dry zucchini bread!

Each batch will make two standard loaves, or 3 mini loaves.  I opted for mini loaves and had the boys walk them down to neighbors to ring in the fall season!

Happy sharing, happy fall and happy best zucchini bread season!

Enjoy ~

5.0 from 2 reviews

Best Zucchini Bread Recipe

 

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Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

60 mins

Total Time

1 hour 15 mins

 

The best, and easiest, zucchini bread recipe you'll ever need. We've made this in my family every year since I was a little girl. Great for meal trains and leave-behind dinners, especially in the fall.

: Phanneth Wood | www.fireflytales.net

: Bread

Cuisine: American

Serves: 2 standard loaves or 3 mini loaves

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar, packed
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup applesauce
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla
• 2 cups zucchini, grated
• 3 cups unbleached flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup nuts, optional (walnuts or pecans)

Instructions

1. Pre-heat ovevn to 325 degrees F, grease (Pam spray, oil or butter) 2 standard loaf pans or 3 mini loaf pans, set aside
2. Grate zucchini, set aside
3. In a bowl, mix dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, soda, powder, salt), set aside
4. In a mixer with paddle attachment, beat eggs and sugar until fluffy
5. Add oil, applesauce and vanilla, beat to incorporate
6. Add dry ingredients and mix until flour is incorporated, about 2-3 minutes, but do not overbeat
7. Fold in zucchini and nuts, if using.
8. Bake 50-60 minutes, until bread is beautifully browned on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean

3.5.3208

Here’s a super easy salmon recipe that doesn’t require a marinade or tons of prep to get in the oven and on the table.  High protein, omega-3’s, bright lemony flavor and still great tasting leftover for tomorrow’s lunch.  And super affordable when salmon is on sale; which it always seems to have been for us lately.

I like to line my baking dish with foil to start ~ this will make clean up a cinch!

Wash your salmon and pat dry.  Place on foil lined baking sheet.  Grab a lemon, fresh (or dried) dill, capers, sea salt and pepper & garlic powder.

If you’re not afraid of mustard, grab a jar of country dijon.  Smear about a tablespoon or so over the fish ~ makes an easy, delicious, secret weapon-style, layer of flavor.  Next, sprinkle on sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, dill and capers.  Spill a little caper juice on top. Go ahead; it won’t hurt.  Just a little.  Squeeze half the lemon over the dressed salmon and slice the other half thinly.  Dress the salmon with the sliced lemons and throw it in a cold oven.  Bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees.

Enjoy right away, with a side of veggies for dinner, or the next day on top of field greens as a salad.

I love lemons…and salmon…and capers.  I hope you will, too!

xoxo,

~p

Best Baked Lemon & Dill Salmon Recipe

 

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Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

25 mins

Total Time

30 mins

 

An easy, baked salmon recipe with bright lemon, briney capers, dill, salt and pepper. Couldn't get much easier than that!

: Phanneth Wood | www.fireflytales.net

: Dinner

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs of salmon
• 1 lemon - half juiced / half sliced thinly
• 1 teaspoon fresh dill, chopped (or ½ teaspoon dried)
• 1-2 teaspoon of capers (more is ok if you like capers!)
• 1 tablespoon caper brine
• Sea salt & cracked black pepper, to taste
• ¼ - ½ teaspoon garlic powder, to taste
• 1-2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided

Instructions

1. Line a baking sheet with foil, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
2. Wash salmon and pat dry. Cut into 4 portions, place on the olive oil, skin side down.
3. Squeeze the juice of half the lemon and drizzle the other tablespoon of olive oil evenly over the top of each piece.
4. Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, pepper, dill, capers and caper brine.
5. Lay sliced lemons over the top.
6. Put in a cold oven and bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees (just don't pre-heat the oven).

3.2.2929