4-27, Dinner with Steak, Stewed Squash and Zucchini, Half-Baked Squash, and normal Green Beans.

So, like I mentioned yesterday, there's only so many times you can eat the same vegetable, before you never want to see it again.  I don't like peas, and I don't like that many beans.  Gary doesn't like them that much either, which when you think about it probably rules out about half the vegetables in existance.  The one type we do like fairly well is green beans.  It had never occured to me that there was any way to eat green beans that the standard, dump them in water, boil, remove eat variety.  Unless you were going to dump them in water boil, add a bunch of other stuff, and turn them into a soup or stew or something.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Sis. Lydia has found several other ways to cook them.

5-8, Dinner with Kraft's new Fresh Take baked Chicken, Stuffed Zucchini, Fried Green Tomatoes with homemade Ranch dressing, and Bacon wrapped Green Beans

My new favorite way to eat green beans has to be Bacon Wrapped Green Beans.  I was hooked on these things when she brought them to Church one Sunday.  She got the recipe from here.

Bacon Wrapped Green Beans - Put your green beans in a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil.  Cook them, without a lid for around 8 mins.  Meanwhile, fry your bacon in another pan, but only till cooked not till crispy.  After you drain the bacon grease and your green beans.  You are going to wrap between 8 to 12 beans with one piece of bacon and then keep it all in place with a toothpick.  Then place it on an UNGREASED cookie sheet.  (If you grease it, it changes the flavor trust me on this one.)  I also tried to cut corners but using half a piece of bacon to wrap them with, I could only put 4 green beans in mine as a result.  And they didn't stay together really well.  Next is what makes it all taste so amazingly yummy.  In a bowl, mix up 3 T of melted butter, 1/4 c of packed brown sugar, 1/4 teas. of garlic salt (I just used garlic powder after all the butter and the bacon are already salted), and 1/8 teas. of soy sauce.  The recipe calls to brush it over the buddles, and that probably would have helped with clean up, but I just poured it over them.  Bake at 400 for 10 to 15 mins.  Then try to stop from eating the entire pan.

5-9, Dinner with Fried Porkchops with Brown Gravy (for Gary), Mashed Potatoes, and Baked Green Bean Fries.

I also tried out some green bean fries that she made.  Gary really liked these, I couldn't convince Britt to try them.  I liked them, but not near as well as I like the zucchini fries.  They are nice and crispy on the outside, but a little juicy on the inside.  Definitely something different.  We had them with the ranch I had made the night before, and they were really good.  I might have liked them even better with some marinara sauce, but I've not tried it that way yet.

Green Bean Fries - Parboil fresh green beans (she suggested about 15-20 for 3 people) for about 8 minutes, then dunk in an ice bath to stop the cooking. Meanwhile, mix together 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, 1 cup panko bread crumbs, 1 tsp sea salt, and dash of cayenne.  Dip the cooled and dried green beans into an egg mixture (1 egg and a splash of milk), then coat with panko mixture. (It's best if you only have a small amount of the panko mixture to deal with at a time. The egg mixture will make the panko chunky and won't stick on the beans after about 2 beans.) Place coated green beans on a foil lined baking sheet, bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes, turning halfway through. These are especially good with ranch or marinara to dip them!