True Confessions

Bless me Father for I have sinned, I have canned tomato sauce in my kitchen.

And do you know why I have canned tomato sauce in my kitchen? Because my Mom did. "All you have to do is doctor it up." Those were her exact words.  The rooster in the photo was from my Mom's kitchen.

Mornings like today are the reason you need to have canned tomato sauce. I took Stuffed Zucchini out of the freezer and realized they were not topped with sauce. And damn it I had no sauce in the freezer. No stress here. Just grabbed a can of sauce and left a note on it for Chris to "doctor it up." He doctored it up so it was Fra Diavolo. Delizioso!

The Zucchini was stuffed with cooked ground beef, onion, and rice. The seasonings were the usual suspects - oregano, parsley, salt, pepper, basil, and crushed red pepper.

Stuffed Zucchini

The zucchini came for Pete's garden. I cut them in half, cored them, saving the insides. I steamed the shells just a bit. I chopped onions and browned them and then added ground beef to the the pan. Next I added the zucchini that I had scooped out, after chopping it up. Seasonings were added, salt, pepper, thyme and basil. I removed the pan from the heat and stirred in cooked brown rice and Parmesan cheese. I filled the cavities of the steamed zucchini boats and placed them in a baking dish. Topped the zucchini with marinara sauce and grated cheese and into a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. Second zucchini dish of the week... more to come...