In-the-Zone Zucchini Crisps

My favorite summer side dish!

PRODUCE
3-4 medium sized zucchini (cut into chips)


SEASONING
1/4 tsp. seasoned salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper (or to taste)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder

OTHER
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup panko
1 cup of olive oil (or you can substitute with milk)

DIARY
1/3 cup of parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
1. Cut your zucchini into small slices. The thinner you cut the slices the more like chips they will be!

2. Mix all of the bread crumbs, parmesan, and seasoning together in a large bowl or on a plate.

3. Put a few TBS of olive oil into a large ziplock bag. Put your zucchini in your bag and shake it to cover the vegetable in the oil.

4. Roll your zucchini slices in the bread crumb mixture.

5. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

6. Place the crumb-covered zucchini slices onto the baking sheet-- do not layer.

7. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes or until the desired crispiness.


Ninja-Body Options: Use milk instead of olive oil and use less breadcrumbs.

Notes: I cut my veggies with a special blade-- the reason for the crinkle-look.

Locked and Loaded Baked Potato Casserole

This is an easy-to-make casserole which tastes much like a loaded baked potato! 

INGREDIENTS

Produce
1 medium sweet onion
3 small chives
1.5 lbs of red potatoes (or 6 fairly large baking potatoes) julienned or just diced
2-4 garlic (or sub 1/2 tsp garlic powder)

Kraft Fresh Take Savory Four Cheese Recipe Pack

Seasoning
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Dairy
2 cups of shredded Mexican Cheese Blend  (or mild cheddar)
1 cup of mozzarella cheese
12 oz of sour cream

Other
Bacon (fried and broken into bits)

Prep Work: dice or julienne potatoes, dice garlic, onions, and chives.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Oil the bottom and sides of your casserole dish.

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients except for the Kraft Savory Recipe Packet, chives, and bacon.  Blend the ingredients.

Next, open the cheese side of your Kraft Packet (only the cheese side-- do NOT mix the two sides), and stir the cheese into your potato mixture.

Spread the potato mixture into the baking dish. Sprinkle it with 1/2 of the breadcrumbs from the Kraft Packet and 1/2 of your bacon bits.

Cook uncovered for 20 minutes, check for softness of potatoes. Then, cover with aluminum foil and bake another 10-20 minutes (depending on thickness of the potatoes).

When finished, sprinkle with 1/2 bacon bits and the chives.

Go Bananas! and Chocolate Chip Smoothie

Here is the perfect summer smoothie recipe!  Feel free to mix it up, add to it, etc.

Ingredients

Produce
1 Ripe Banana (freeze it)

Dairy
2-3 Tbs of Vanilla Low-Fat yogurt
3/4 cup of skim milk (or whatever type you like-- maybe almond?)

Other
1 Tbs of chocolate chips (dark chocolate chips are amazing!)
1 Tbs of chocolate syrup (or sub 2 tsp of cocoa)
1/4 tsp of cinnamon
Ice


Prep Work
Cut your banana into small pieces. Weapon of choice: a big blade!

Directions
Add all of the above into your blender. Add 1-2 cups of ice depending on how thick or thin you prefer your smoothie!


In the Mix: try using a dash of cayenne or a spoonful of honey!
Ninja Body Options: use low fat everything! Remove the chocolate chips and sub more cocoa and yogurt to sweeten.