Lita's "Italian" Rice

Hey lovies! Sorry I haven't posted a recipe in a while. The past few weeks have been crazy and incredibly busy. Recently, my boyfriend and I have been trying to explore more vegetarian options for meals to help get us back on the healthy track! Here's an experiment that we both really liked.

1 cup of brown rice
1/2 a tomato
1/2 red or green bell pepper
1/4 medium size zucchini, sliced then chopped into quarters
3 cloves of fresh garlic, crushed
Dried Oregano
Parsley Flakes
Dried Basil
Black Pepper, coarsely ground
Salt, to taste
Olive Oil

In a small saucepan, put in water and rice. Bring to a boil and cook until rice is tender. Strain rice and set aside until vegetables are ready.

Lita's Creamy Rice

So another experiment that turned out to be delicious! I wanted to use up the leftover chicken broth from my Sweet Potato Soup Recipe and ricotta that has been sitting in my fridge for a week or so; as well as I wanted to use the plethora of zucchini that my boyfriend's parents gave us from their garden. Lately Theo and I have been eating a lot of pasta so I wanted to do something different and create a rice recipe. Here is the end result!

1/2 cup of rice
2 cups of chicken broth
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/4 of onion, finely chopped
1/4 of green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 spoonful of jarred minced garlic
1/2 a small zucchini, chopped
2 pinches of Italian Seasoning
2 pinches of salt
2 pinches of black pepper
1 pinch of dried thyme
2 pinches of dried parsley

1/4 cup of ricotta
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

Sweet Potato Soup in a Crock pot!

2 large sweet potatoes or 4 medium sweet potatoes
4 cups of low sodium chicken broth
2 1/2 cups of half-an-half
1 inch section of fresh ginger root
6 teaspoons of raw sugar
pinches of ground cinnamon for topping

Peel and cube sweet potatoes into small, thin chunks; place in crockpot. Peel and cube ginger root into small chunks as well; place in crock pot. Add chicken broth to crock pot. Cook on high for 3 hours.

Breaded Zucchini Chips with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

For Zucchini:
1 large zucchini, thinly sliced
1 cup of panko bread crumbs
1-2 eggs
1 spoonful of thyme
2 spoonfuls of parsley flakes
1 spoonful of ground mustard
1 spoonful of crushed red pepper flakes
1 spoonful of salt
1 spoonful of black pepper
1 spoonful of sugar
2 spoonfuls of Italian seasoning

For Dipping Sauce:
1/4 cup of spicy brown mustard
1/4 cup of honey
1 large spoonful of mayonnaise or salad dressing

Lita's Barbecue Sauce

1/2 cup of ketchup
3 tablespoons of spicy brown mustard
3 tablespoons of molasses
2 tablespoons of honey
1 teaspoon of tobasco sauce
1 shot of whiskey
1 spoonful of jarred minced garlic
1 spoonful of minced onion
2 pinches of crushed red pepper
2 shakes of black pepper
2 shakes of salt