Shiny Copper & Quick Veggie Dishes

Hey Guys! 

I’m so glad you guys want to win that “Summer in a Box” giveaway!  Pretty sweet right?  We’re all suckers for free desserts and products!!  You still have until Wednesday to enter!

Hope everyone has had a great weekend! Mine was pretty busy, but also really fun.

I’m still working my way through our garden full of zucchini and now also this PILE of feta cheese! (I weight it too, almost 9lbs total!!)

I’ve never seen so much feta cheese in one place before, not even when I was in Greece!  I can’t complain though, I love the stuff and so far have really been enjoying coming up with recipes.  I’ll be sharing those with you in the near future :)

This feta comes to you from the same people who brought you Chobani Greek yogurt, so you know it’s good!  Real good.  

One easy way to use up is obviously on salad.  I was invited to a Pig Roast at Tina and Mal’s house yesterday and so I made my favorite party salad, but substituted feta for the Romano cheese!

I also brought a dessert, but I’ll get to that later.

Another fun weekend surprise was a FANTASTIC deal my mom found for me at an estate sale!

See, my grandmother (the most), and my aunts…LOVE garage/yard/estate sales.   I usually lack the patience to try and find something great at those things, but I’m always grateful when someone ELSE finds something for me ;)

Like this beauty:

Oh yes.  My mom snagged me a GORGEOUS Ruffoni copper casserole!   I  drool over those acorn handled pieces of art every time I go into William Sonoma. 

This must be an older model as I can’t find it online anymore, but I’d be willing to guess it would cost around $300-$400 brand new. 

She paid $5!!!  FIVE DOLLARS!! 

Seriously!  Thank you mom!!!!  She also found some other great items for me at this sale…it was one of the better sales they have been to in a while, and somehow I made out like a bandit :) 

And you want to know how she polished it up?  Ketchup!  Yup, just rub some regular old Heinz ketchup all over your copper for a few minutes, wash off and it’s shiny and beautiful.

($5!!!!)

Now I just need to figure out a nice spot to showcase it.

Ok onto the veggies!

The first was a tasty green bean side dish I enjoyed while I was on Nantucket.  My aunt made it, and it was so simple I re-created it when I got home. 

Vinegar Green Beans (you’ve got to like vinegar for this one)

Now this is more of a recipe by description, not exact measurements.

• Simply steam up some green beans (she boiled them, but I went with steaming) 
• I had the steamer basket full.

 

• While your beans cook.  In a shallow serving dish/bowl combine:
• Red wine vinegar (2 parts)
• 1 clove minced garlic
• olive oil (1 part)
• salt & pepper
• As you can see, I definitely used more vinegar than oil, but feel free to adjust.  You just want enough to dress the beans, and using a shallow bowl is great because you want the beans to sit in the vinegar.

 

• Once the beans are cooked to your desired level of doneness, immediately transfer the hot beans to the vinegar mixture

• Toss the beans, and let them sit for 5-10 min.   Or let them marinate overnight! 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed them the next day, cold, after they have marinated in the vinegar :)

Next…

BBQ Broccoli Slaw

This was one of those random snacks I made myself that I kept going back for more and more, and in turn at almost an entire bag of broccoli slaw!

It was all this hot weather making me crave cool foods, and I had a bag of Trader Joe’s broccoli slaw in the fridge.

This is pretty much a typical slaw, topped with BBQ sauce.

• approx 8 – 10 oz broccoli slaw
• 1 T olive oil mayo
• 1 T plain yogurt
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar (more or less to taste)
• 1/4 tsp celery seed (or few shakes)

So I whisk up the dressing, add in my broccoli slaw until I achieve my desired slaw to dressing ratio and serve myself a bowl. 

Then it hits me!!

One day in Nantucket (yes a lot of good food ideas came out of my 3 days there with family), one of my cousins was making herself some coleslaw for lunch.  I wasn’t really paying attention, but I do recall her adding some Sweet Baby Rays to her mixture.

Didn’t think twice about it, until I made mine!

GENIOUS! 

Obviously BBQ + Coleslaw go hand it hand, but I’ve never thought to add BBQ sauce TO my slaw!

So so so good! 

Super fast and healthy snack!  I literally ate what you see above X3!   Almost an entire bag of Broccoli Slaw! 

Ok that is all!!

This girl needs some sleep…  First day of work tomorrow!

Yes I got a new job :)  I’ve actually also had some time off lately which has been really REALLY nice, and making it real hard for me to want to go back.  Yet all good things must come to an end…oh and those pesky things like bills and mortgages need paying. 

The FUN part is that I am now working in downtown Boston!  I’ve always wanted to have my chance to work right in the city, so I’m excited it’s finally happening.

Wish me luck…I feel like it’s the first day of school.  What to wear, what to wear ;)