Meatless Monday – Zucchini Squash Bake

Tim’s dad dropped off a large garbage bag full of squash, zucchini and corn this morning so I knew I had to get a jump on preparing it all before it went bad inside the refrigerator.  Honestly, this week is going to be jam-packed with activities and appointments, and I really didn’t know when I would have the opportunity to package all the veggies.  So in between switching out loads of laundry and taking care of the boys, I was able to get all the vegetables cut/shredded and packaged for the freezer.  Yay!

Before I started, I did a quick internet search for a homemade vegetable/fruit wash that I could mix together and use to clean the squash and corn before freezing.  Almost every link I found said to use equal parts water and vinegar.  Well, okay!  That was easy enough and another great use for the ever-versatile vinegar.  Great money saver in not having to buy any of those expensive store products!

I cleaned out an old spray bottle I found in the closet, made a label then filled with 2 C. hot water and 2 C. vinegar.  After rinsing all the veggies in water, I sanitized the one side of the sink and then sprayed each vegetable liberally with the wash and placed inside the sink to rest for about 10-15 minutes.  After this time, I rinsed them with cold water and dried with a towel.

For the zucchini, I saved the extra-large one to dice and used the two smaller ones to shred for cakes and breads since the seeds weren’t as large.  I decided to go ahead and peel the two I shredded since after talking with my mom she recommended the texture and taste as being better with no skins added.

The rest of it was easy to either slice or dice and then package in freezer bags.

Well, since we had an abundance of the fresh veggies on hand and already diced, I decided to utilize those ingredients into a “Meatless-Monday” dish for the family.  I used:

• 2 C. zucchini, diced
• 2 C. yellow squash, diced
• 1/2 C. onion, diced
• 1/2 C. breadcrumbs
• 4 T. vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 tsp. oregano
• 1/2-1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 package tri-colored spiral rotinini
• Parmesan cheese
• 2 C. mozzarella cheese

Saute all veggies in the oil until tender approx. 7 minutes.  Add seasonings and bread crumbs and cook an additional 3 minutes.  In a separate pot cook one package tri-colored pasta.

After pasta is cooked, mix with 1 qt. jar of spaghetti sauce.  Then mix veggies in with the pasta.

Spray a 9×13 pan and pour pasta mixture into pan.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese.  Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!