Thursday Dinner

Tonight I made stuffed zucchini - and roughly half the ingredients were free. Zucchini from my garden (the first!), a bell pepper from my garden, and a loaf of French bread purchased with a free coupon.

First, the coupon- Food Lion printed out several coupons for me when I bought coffee on Tuesday. I got 1 coupon for a free loaf of French bread from their bakery, and coupons for $1 off $5 or more of ground beef, and $1 off $5 or more of produce. This is the second time I've gotten this exact set of coupons - the first time was when I purchased 2 family-size Stouffer's entrees about 5 weeks back. So I have no idea what sort of purchase triggers these coupons, but keep an eye out for them.

I didn't use a recipe, but the stuffed zucchini went something like this: I sliced zucchini in half lengthwise and scooped out seeds with spoon, leaving 1/4" thick shell all the way around. I microwaved about 5 minutes, or until tender.

In large skillet I sauteed 1/2 chopped onion in a little oil until translucent, then I added 1/2 chopped bell pepper and 1 clove minced garlic and cooked over medium until everything was tender. I added about 2/3 lb. chicken Italian sausage (removed from casings), and cooked until sausage was done, crumbling it as I went. I poured in 1 can sliced, stewed tomatoes and broke up the tomatoes with my spoon. I cooked everything on high for several minutes until most of the liquid had evaporated. I tore about 3 thick slices of the French bread into coarse breadcrumbs and stirred into sausage mixture. I added about 2 Tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese and about 1 cup shredded cheddar/monterey jack blend cheese. I mounded everything into the zucchini shells and baked at 350 for about 30 minutes. It was absolutely delicious, and now I'm brainstorming as to what else I can stuff with the filling.

Along with the zucchini, I made oven-roasted onion potatoes. I think the zucchini would have been filling enough on its own, but the potatoes were at the use or toss stage, so I used them. I just follow the recipe on the back of Lipton's Onion Soup Mix - cube potatoes, toss with oil and dry onion soup mix, and roast until done. I did drop the heat and increase the time a bit so I could cook the zucchini at the same time.

Totals:

$1.20 - chicken Italian sausage (meat markdown + BOGO sale at HT)
$1 - cheese, onion, garlic, tomatoes
free - zucchini, bell pepper, bread

$1.50 - potatoes & onion soup mix

$3.70 for dinner for 4 (The Kid is still at youth retreat, but we fed sister & brother-in-law tonight)