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Cookbook Review: Inspiralized by Ali Maffucci

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Inspiralized by Ali Maffucci

I have to admit, one of the things that drew me to Inspiralized (new cookbook by Ali Maffucci) in the first place was my great love of my Spiral Vegetable Slicer. I was curious how anyone could come up with enough different recipes to fill a cookbook.

I further have to admit that I was a little skeptical! My skepticism thought, “Meh. She’ll probably fill the book with 75% pictures, 25% recipes.”

Wrong on all accounts!

Inspiralized is a beautiful, fresh, and downright inspiring cookbook that is, in fact, filled with exciting recipes.

{Review continued below….}

Recipe from Inspiralized by Ali Maffucci

From the inside cover:
On her wildly popular blog, Inspiralized, Ali Maffucci is revolutionizing healthy eating. Whether you’re low-carb, gluten-free, Paleo, or raw, you don’t have to give up the foods you love. Inspiralized shows you how to transform more than 20 vegetables and fruits into delicious meals that look and taste just like your favorite indulgent originals. Zucchini turns into pesto spaghetti; jicama becomes shoestring fries; sweet potatoes lay the foundation for fried rice; plantains transform into “tortillas” for huevos rancheros.

Ali’s recipes for breakfast, snacks, appetizers, sandwiches, soups, salads, casseroles, rices, pastas, and even desserts are easy to follow, hard to mess up, healthful, and completely fresh and flavorful. Best of all, she tells you how to customize them for whatever vegetables you have on hand and whatever your personal goal may be—losing weight, following a healthier lifestyle, or simply making easy meals at home.

Here, too, are tons of technical tips and tricks; nutritional information for each dish and every vegetable you can possibly spiralize; and advice for spiralizing whether you’re feeding just yourself, your family, or even a crowd. So bring on a hearty appetite and a sense of adventure—you’re ready to make the most of this secret weapon for healthy cooking.

{Review continued below…}

Recipe from Inspiralized by Ali Maffucci

If you love vegetables – and I mean love them to the point of getting as excited about veggies as the average person does chocolate or bacon – you will definitely want this cookbook.  Inspiralized: Turn Vegetables into Healthy, Creative, Satisfying Meals is a celebration of vegetables.  Tomatoes, zucchini, corn,  bell peppers, carrots, parsnips, kale, and their colorful friends are the star of the show. There are, however, lots of herbs, cheeses, fruit, seasonings, and even meat as well.

If you enjoy “mixing things up” and creating meals that are as visually impressive as they are delicious, you’ll want this cookbook.

The recipes create colorful, fresh, delicious, and beautiful dishes that will make you a legend in your own kitchen.

Some of the recipes include:

  • Daikon Ramen with Skirt Steak
  • Pickled Onion and Watermelon Salad with Ricotta Salata
  • Jalapeno Turkey Burgers with Cilantro-Lime Kohlrabi
  • Short Ribs with Sweet Potato Grits
  • Zucchini Linguine with Garlic Clam Sauce
  • Spicy Jicama Strings
  • Cucumber, Avocado, and Strawberry Salsa
  • “Everything Bagel” Breakfast Buns

The recipes are extremely creative and most unusual.  Suffice to say the average guest would never be able to guess what you were about to serve them.

Earlier in the review, I noted that this cookbook was “downright inspiring.” It honestly is, from front to cover – and that’s what, ultimately, you want from a cookbook – more than anything else. You want to be inspired to come up with your own creative recipes and ways of expressing yourself with your cooking.

Ali Maffucci reminds us that vegetables are incredibly versatile that can be.. and should be… used as beautiful and tasteful center attractions to build our meals around.

Find out more about Inspiralized: Turn Vegetables into Healthy, Creative, Satisfying Meals and order your own copy today – just in time to use on all the fresh produce this summer!

Note: I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review. The opinions are entirely my own.

Vegetable Cooking Times Chart

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Vegetable Cooking Times Chart

When it comes to cooking vegetables, just a few minutes over or under the right cooking time can mean the difference between yummy and crummy.  The colorful, handy cooking chart above (click for a much larger.. and readable.. version) can serve as a perfect cheat sheet. It very well could save your day – or at least your meal.

 

Infographic Credit:  LarkandLarks.co.uk

 

The Many Benefits of Eating Local!

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The Complete Idiots Guide to Eating Local by Diane A. Welland, M.S., R.D.

The most recent “cookbook” I was sent to review isn’t really a cookbook at all. It’s more of a live longer, be healthier, help your community, and protect the environment type of book. If that’s your cup of tea, this ambitious and truly fascinating book is for you.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Local is one of those books that, after reading, my first thought is, “I wish this were required reading for everybody. Everywhere.”  Of course, I  have on idea how one would go about enforcing the reading assignment, but I think someone should give it a try.

Seriously, when is supporting local farmers NOT a wonderful idea?  When is eating healthier foods NOT a wonderful idea?

Product Description

Supporting local farmers has really grown on people-and here’s the guide to doing it right.

There are so many great reasons to shop for and eat locally grown or raised foods, including freshness, taste, energy conservation, and supporting small business owners. That is why tens of thousands have made the switch to local foods. Now families and communities are enthusiastically supporting farmer’s markets, artisan dairy farmers, cheese makers, family farms, local vineyards, and local livestock. Food expert and nutritionist Diane A. Welland explains what local eating is and isn’t and how anyone can move toward a more sustainable way of eating. It covers: Types of foods considered local; what is in season when; Storing foods; Money saving tips.

• A practical approach for a challenging endeavor.

• Includes a complete overview of local eating across all 50 states.

Front to back, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Local is an education in wholesome eating. You’ll learn things you never knew you didn’t even know! (Say that three times fast…. but not in front of you cat. They can be so condescending.)  You’ll find ways to feed your family healthier meals, and yes, to do so on a budget.

From the Back Cover:

You want to eat healthy, fresh foods, and at the same time, be good to the environment.  But it’s a challenge to know what is available, when itis available, and where you can get it locally.

You can find your favorite foods – and discover new favorites – without headaches and a tank of gas.  The next best thing to a personal tour through your local farmers’ market, this helpful guide gives you:

  • A primer on why eating close to the land not only rewards you with incredible food, but also supports your community and your planet.
  • A look at heirloom vegetables, seasonal fruits, fresh meats, and dairy products, and other local food near you.
  • Tips for shopping local at food festivals, CSAs, U-picks, and even supermarkets, plus advice on food foraging.
  • Suggestions for making the most of your harvest, including 25 regional recipes highlighting local specialties.

Favorite Regional Recipes include Wild Blueberry Muffins, Pennsylvania Dutch Chow-Chow, New York State Apple Pie, Maryland Crab Cakes, Southwestern Stuffed Jalapenos, California Avocado-Almond Salad, Texas Chili, and many more.

I’ll leave you with an excerpt from this outstanding book. It’s from a section titled, Fresh Food Tastes Better… which is a delicious fact!

Local foods, because they’re ripened on the plant rather than in storage, develop high levels of aromatic compounds that help give the food its characteristic taste and heightened flavor.  This is most noticeable in fruits, where the intoxicating scent of fresh-picked strawberries or peaches can signal the start of the season even before you pop one into your mouth.

Another reason why local food tastes better has to do with the timing.  The longer a food travels, the more flavor and aroma compounds it loses during transit. Because produce is often brought to market within 24 hours of being picked and is at the peak of freshness and ripeness, this isn’t an issue for local farmers.  It may, however, be a big concern for food traveling from California to New York.

Finally, local produce tastes better because it is better, inherently. Over the years, supermarket produce varieties have been chosen for their ability to be shipped long distances and withstand harvesting equipment, bulk handling, and processing.  They’re bred for sturdiness, stability, and looks, not taste.  As a result, we’ve gained the ability to have peaches in the dead of winter and apples in April, but at what cost?  Bite into any of these off-season fruits, and you’re likely to find a dry, mealy texture with only a hit of its natural flavor.

On the other hand, local foods are just the opposite.  Small farmers care most about taste, quality, and diversity of crops.  Raised according to the natural seasons, local produce is picked at the peak of flavor and ripeness and quickly transported for a quick sale.  -The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Local, page 20

The author explains the local food movement, how near or far is considered local, what is and is not organic, how eating local is best for your health, how eating local builds a stronger community, how eating local helps our planet. You’ll get a complete education on produce as well as meats, dairy foods, and eggs.  There’s also a lot of great advice about freezing and preserving fresh local delicacies so you won’t have to even look at the produce in the stores during the winter months.

This is a wonderful and timely book and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Read more about The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Local and order you copy today by clicking the link!

Why Aren’t You Eating Your Food in the Raw?

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The Everything Raw Food Recipe Book

The last book I wrote about, The Everything Mediterranean Diet Book, was one of two books I recently received to review on Get Cooking. The other is a book that has completely fascinated me, The Everything Raw Food Recipe Book (Everything Series). What’s more, it has opened up a whole new way of looking at food – something I wouldn’t have thought possible after this many years in the kitchen.

I would say how many years in the kitchen but who wants to get depressed on a Wednesday? We’ll save that for a Monday.

Increased energy. Clear, glowing skin. Decreased risk of cancer.  Reads like a self help guru’s dream come true. These are only a few of the benefits of a raw foods diet; some studies have even shown that this diet can actually slow down the aging process! Whether you’re looking to go completely raw or just incorporate some raw aspects into your diet, this book is your one-stop guide to a health lifestyle.

In The Everything Raw Food Recipe Book (Everything Series), you’ll find the information you’ll need to begin your love affair with raw foods. If you’re like me, you probably think of a raw food diet as consisting of apples, corn on the cob, and cauliflower – all piled on a plate that someone stands proudly behind and says, “Look! I made this just for you!”

A diet consisting of raw foods includes more foods, food combinations, and recipes than I ever imagined. Lots more than a plate with an apple, corn on the cob, and cauliflower not that there’s anything wrong with any of the three!).

In addition to detailed explanations of why this diet is so extraordinarily healthy, you’ll find the tools of the trade you’ll need if you’re really serious about taking up this type of eating (even if only incorporating raw foods into the food you regularly eat), and 300 recipes.

The recipes include:

  • Cherry Pomegranate Smoothie
  • Curry and Pumpkin Seed Crackers
  • Banana Vanilla Ice Cream with Blueberry Sauce
  • Raw Vegetable Lasagna
  • Pad Thai with Almond Sauce
  • Spicy Coleslaw with Cashew Mayonnaise
  • Fresh Vegetable Soup
  • Marinated Zucchini Strips
  • Cool Cucumber Salad Dressing
  • Peach Cream Crepes
  • Cinnamon Oatmeal
  • Tortillas
  • Zucchini Hummus
  • Garbanzo Bean Hummus
  • New Orleans Beans and Rice
  • Spinach Pie
  • And many, many more

I admit, although I’m intrigued with the recipes, the concept, and the healthy side effects of eating a raw food diet – I couldn’t even consider devoting myself to eating this way exclusively.  The great thing is, the authors completely understand that!  This book doesn’t try to convince you to take up a certain way of eating or try to convince you to leave behind your favorite foods.  It simply presents a colorful, fresh, and flavorful new option.  After all variety is the spice of life and, when it comes to such a healthy option – it isn’t just the spice of life, it’s the enhancement of life!

From Page 5: Reduced Risk of Cancer and Heart Disease

The following research bears out the benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables:

  • Researchers at Harvard Medical School tracked the health of more than 22,000 physicians.  The study found those who ate at least 2-1/2 servings of vegetables a day lowered their risk of heart disease by almost 25 percent.
  • At the University of California, Berkeley, researchers found that a high intake of fruits and vegetables also reduces the risk of cancer on average by 50 percent.
  • A recent study on diabetes at the University of North Carolina reported that a vegan diet rich in vegetables reduces diabetes indicators.
  • In Stockholm at a Swedish university hospital, researchers found that a vegan diet also increases immune protection against arthritis.

The following is one of the great smoothie recipes in the book.

Vanilla Almond Milk Smoothie Recipe (page 22)

2 cups Almond Milk
2 cups pear, chopped with peel on
1 cup banana, sliced
1/2 cup cherries, pitted and chopped
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 vanilla bean, or 1 tsp vanilla extract

  • Add the almond milk, pears,banana, cherries, and nutmeg to the blender.  Blend until smooth.
  • Cut the vanilla bean open.  Scoop out the inside pulp from the bean and add to blender.  Discard the vanilla bean pod.  Blend again to incorporate vanilla for another 20 seconds.

 

Learn more about The Everything Raw Food Recipe Book (Everything Series) by clicking the link or check your local bookstore.  Fascinating.  Positively fascinating.

Fried Green Tomatoes: A Southern Delicacy

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1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 – 2 TBS All-Purpose Flour
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp. kosher salt, plus extra for sprinkling
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Canola oil for frying
3 medium-sized round green tomatoes, sliced 1/2-inch thick

Heat about 1/8 inch oil in a large skillet – over medium heat.   Beat the eggs in a shallow bowl.

Combine the cornmeal, flour, and pepper in a large bowl.

Coat the tomato slices, one at a time, in the egg mixture, then dredge in the cornmeal mixture.

Fry the slices in the hot oil until the cornmeal is a golden brown, about 2 or 3 minutes – each side. The goal is to turn the tomatoes only once during the cooking time.

Carefully remove the tomatoes from the oil and place them on a paper towel-lined plate. Sprinkle with salt while they’re still piping hot!

We LOVE fried green tomatoes around our house and eat them joyfully each summer. I even serve them at breakfast: Toast English muffins and place a fried egg on the bottom half. Place a fried green tomato on top of the egg and top with the other half.

Outstanding!

Freezing Green Tomatoes:

I have never tried freezing green tomatoes (for the record, none ever last long enough in our kitchen TO freeze) but I have heard of people who slice and coat the tomatoes, place them on a baking sheet, and place the sheet into the freezer.  When the tomatoes are frozen solid, they place them into a freezer bag or freezer container.  Word is they thaw and fry up beautifully.

I’m going to have to give this a shot.  How surprised would my family be to see fried green tomatoes on the Thanksgiving table?  I think my hubby would tear up with happiness.

This would be me headed out to the garden to commence the ceremony….

Recipes From the Root Cellar: Italian Wedding Soup Recipe

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I was recently sent a copy of a wonderful cookbook to preview: Recipes from the Root Cellar: 270 Fresh Ways to Enjoy Winter Vegetables. I can’t even tell you how much a cookbook fanatic and collector like me loves getting her oven mitts on new cookbooks! Especially when they’re as packed with great recipes as this cookbook is.

Recipes from the Root Cellar: 270 Fresh Ways to Enjoy Winter Vegetables is wonderfully written by Andrea Chesman. She is the author of several cookbooks, including, Mom’s Best Desserts and Mom’s Best One-Dish Suppers.

About Recipes From the Root Cellar
Nothing tastes better than the seasonal bounty of local farms. Everyone loves the spring-is-here excitement of peas and asparagus and the summer sweetness of tomatoes and corn. Now it’s time to give the hearty, long-lasting bounty of the autumn garden its due. Whether these vegetables are eaten straight from the garden, out of a well-tended root cellar, or straight from the market, their flavors reward the home cook, and their nutritional benefits pack a powerful punch.

Sweet winter squashes, robust hardy greens, jewel-toned root vegetables, and potatoes of every variety are the staples that make eating locally so delicious and satisfying during the cold months of late autumn and winter.

These cold-weather treasures work wonderfully well in soups (Celery Root Bisque, Creamy Leek and Root Vegetable Soup, Portuguese Kale Soup) and baked entrees (White Lasagna with Winter Squash, Chicken Pot Pie with Root Vegetables, Winter Vegetable Pot Roast), but they also shine in winter salads. Warm Goat Cheese and Beet Salad; Endive, Pear, and Walnut Salad; and Thai Cabbage Salad can be the centerpieces of light winter dinners or delicious preludes to the main event.

With this collection of more than 250 recipes, veteran cookbook author and gardening enthusiast Andrea Chesman deliciously demonstrates how locavores in all parts of North America can eat seasonal produce year-round. Whether they’re eaten in soups or salads, side dishes or entrees, root-cellar vegetables can be a delicious part of every cooks winter kitchen.

Recipes include:

  • Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
  • Garden Cornbread
  • Deep-Fried Root Vegetable Chips with Garlic Aioli
  • Sautéed Brussels Sprouts with Cranberries
  • Cashew Carrots
  • Applesauce
  • Braised Collards with Bacon
  • Rosemary Roasted Potatoes
  • Deep-Fried Onion Rings
  • Root Vegetable Bread Pudding
  • White Lasagna with Winter Squash
  • Ravioli with Smoky Greens
  • Baked Winter Squash
  • Mashed Potatoes with Greens
  • Chicken Stew with Root Vegetables
  • ….and hundreds more!

One of the most delicious soups in the world is Italian Wedding Soup.  Words can’t even describe this soup! Below is a perfect version of Italian Wedding Soup from Recipes From the Root Cellar.

Italian Wedding Soup Recipe


12 cups chicken broth or turkey broth
1 pound ground turkey, or 1/2 pound ground pork and 1/2 pound ground beef
2 eggs
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup acini de pepe, pastina, or orzo (or other small pasta shapes)
1-1/2 pounds Lacinato kale, cut into ribbons (about 18 cups lightly packed; remove and discard tough stems)

Bring the broth to a simmer in a large saucepan.

To make the meatballs, combine the meat, eggs, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, garlic,1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a food processor.  Process until well mixed.  Alternatively, mix by hand in a large bowl.  With wet hands (to prevent the meat from sticking), form the meat mixture into 1/2-inch balls (the size of marbles) and add to the simmering soup.  Simmer until the meatballs are cooked through, about 20 minutes.

Increase the heat slightly, add the pasta, and boil gently until cooked al dente, about 10 minutes.  Add the greens and continue to boil gently until tender, 8 to 10 minutes longer. Taste and adjust the seasoning, remove from the heat, and serve.

Kitchen Note: The greens can be altered with the season, using curly kale, mustard greens, turnip greens, escarole, chard, spinach, broccoli di rube, chicory, and cabbage, so feel free to substitute.  – Page 107, Recipes from the Root Cellar: 270 Fresh Ways to Enjoy Winter Vegetables

Whenever I make Italian Wedding Soup, I always use orzo – but the other suggestions the author makes are pastas I’m going to have to try.  I’m especially intrigued by the use of kale.  I’ve always used spinach and have never even thought of anything else.  But Kale, mustard greens, or cabbage – fascinating!  I can’t even tell you how much I love curly kale – so I know what I’ll be adding to my next pot of Italian Wedding Soup!

Truth be told, I’m craving a big bowl of soup right about now – in spite of the fact that it’s over 100 degrees outside (at least that’s what one of my outside cats just reported).  Soup is always the perfect thing for a meal, isn’t it?

Here are a few of the other soup recipes in Recipes From the Root Cellar:

  • Cream of Garlic Soup (YUM!)
  • Cabbage and Tomato Soup
  • White Bean and Cabbage Soup (my husband will love this one)
  • Miso Noodle Bowl
  • Onion-Miso Soup
  • Chicken broth, beef broth, vegetable broth, turkey broth, mushroom broth (!!!)
  • … and many more

I LOVE that she included recipes for vegetable broth and mushroom broth. When cooking things like stuffing or dressing, I always need at least one that’s completely vegetarian for my daughter, Brittany.  This mushroom broth will be ideal.

The applesauce recipe will also be put to great use as we have a great number of apple trees in our yard.  The author also includes recipes for Applesauce Crumb Cake and Maple-Apple Tea Cake.

In addition to the many recipes that I’ll use again and again, I also love the tips and quotes sprinkled throughout the 365 page cookbook.  There’s also a great section called “An Introduction to Winter Vegetables” – very informative.  There are cooking, buying, and storage ideas for Collard Greens, Kale, mustard greens, cabbage, garlic, leeks, shallots, onions, artichokes, squashes, beets, and many more.

From pages 18 and 19:  Jerusalem Artichokes

Jerusalem artichokes can be thinly sliced and added to salads, much like water chestnuts.  Their flavor is ore developed when cooked, and they are best roasted (see page 159).  They can be cooked alone or with potatoes and mashed.  They are also quite good pickled – just adapt your favorite dilly bean or bread-and-butter recipe.

If you love cooking and you love food – you’ll love this cookbook.  We all know we need to eat more vegetables for our health – it’s cookbooks like this one that help us feed ourselves, and our families, the kind of vegetable dishes we’ll all WANT to eat.  Again and again.

Click the following link to read more about Recipes from the Root Cellar: 270 Fresh Ways to Enjoy Winter Vegetables and order your own copy from Amazon.

Ocean Spray Juices That Give You Both Fruit and Veggies? Pour it On!

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For Self Help Daily, Out of Bounds, and Get Cooking, I do A LOT of research about healthy living, healthy eating, disease prevention, and nutrition. I’m amazed – again and again and again – at the number of times I read the words EAT MORE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES.  Whether an individual wants to prevent cancer, lose weight, look and feel their best, age well, improve their heart’s health,  improve their memory… or a countless other positive pursuit… the experts, without fail, point to the importance of a healthy diet – one in which many fruits and vegetables are consumed regularly.

It’s pretty easy for those of us who love fruits and vegetables.  We delight in our fruit and vegetables at supper and try to squeeze them into lunch and breakfast as often as possible.  Trouble is, it’s  not always as easy to do as it is to say. And if we think we have our hands full, just think how tough it is for those people who aren’t that crazy about fruit or vegetables – or those who, like a few members of my family, just want the same vegetables and fruits over and over again?!

Ocean Spray has served up a couple of delicious solutions.  I was fortunate enough to receive a few of their new outstanding juices.  I’ve tried the 100% Juice Fruit & Veggie Cranberry Strawberry Banana Flavored Blend of 8 Juices and the 100% Juice Fruit & Veggie Tropical Citrus flavored blend of 7 juices.

About the Ocean Spray Juices

When you think of Ocean Spray, you probably think of Cranberry Juice.  With the hilarious commercials (I love those guys!) and the popularity of the Cranberry juice, itself, their brand identity is as strong as any.  However, what a lot of people don’t realize is that Ocean Spray is cock of the walk when it comes to other juices and products as well.  You can taste the quality and the goodness in each drink.  If you’re like most of us, you’re looking for healthier drinks for your family to enjoy and would love to steer them away from soft drinks as much as possible.

The problem was that most juices just don’t motivate kids (or anyone for that matter) to put down the Coke and pick up the juice.  Ocean Spray is exactly what parents need – delicious motivation!  Their juices are also available in “On the Go” sizes that are perfect for grabbing on the way out the door whether you’re going for a walk, to the beach,  to the park, to a ballgame or just to sit in the front yard and watch the commotion around your bird feeder.

I’ve noticed something with my family – if I have juice in individual serving containers, they’re a lot more apt to grab them instead of something else.  Same holds true with water.  Most young people just don’t want to slow down long enough to get a glass, fill it with ice, get the container, and pour the juice in the glass.  After all… Heaven forbid… they’d then have to clean up after themselves.

Horrors!

From Ocean Spray.com:

When most people think of Ocean Spray, they think that we’re the Cranberry Juice folks. And if you’re reading this, then it’s likely you’re already a fan. The question is, which juice is your favorite? Check out all our varieties of cranberry juice, grapefruit juice and our juice blends.

My new favorites are the Fruit and Vegetable blends.  I think it’s partly because of all the research I do about nutrition and healthy living.  I KNOW the importance of getting more fruits and vegetables in every possible way.  Now, having said that, if these juices weren’t exceptional, I probably wouldn’t bother!  Fortunately, they are outstandingly delicious and I’d just as soon grab one of them for lunch or breakfast (or for a walk) as anything else.

To know that I’m drinking something that’s so good for me while serving up my taste buds a little party makes it all the better.

The next time you’re at the store, you’ll definitely want to try these juices for yourself.  They’ll flat blow you away.

For more information, recipes, and a super cool website experience, visit Ocean Spray’s website.

Ground Beef with Mixed Vegetable Casserole

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Why should stews get to have all the fun?  The following recipe ran in a 2006 edition of the Owensboro Messenger Inquirer. 

1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
1 (9 oz) package frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 (10 oz) can biscuits
1 TBS margarine
1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves, crushed

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a casserole dish.

In a large skillet, brown the ground beef with onion and drain. Stir in water, pepper, tomato sauce and paste. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat, stir in vegetables and 1-1/2 cups of the cheese. Spoon mixture into your casserole dish. Separate dough into 10 biscuits. Separate each of the 10 biscuits into 2 layers – giving you 20 thinner biscuits. Place these thin biscuits near the outer edge of the hot mixture overlapping slightly. Sprinkle remaining cheese in center and around the edge. Gently brush biscuits with margarine and sprinkle with oregano.

Bake at 375 degrees for 22-27 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.

Makes 6-8 servings.

This recipe is not only delicious, it’s an economical one to make – always a plus!