ArcaMax

My trainer was on her way to my place to work out with me when she spotted something in the middle of a very busy street. She thought it might be a light-colored rat at first and realized it was a kitten frozen in fear in the middle of the road. She risked her own safety and stopped the car to grab the tiny kitten. Because she was meeting with me momentarily, she brought it along. So much for my workout...

We took the kitten upstairs. It was trembling and still hissing in terror.  We think this was its first human encounter. I decided the next stop was our vet. We needed to find out if it needed immediate medical care. My vet loves me so of course, they let us in right away. In COVID-style, we waited outside. The vet called to say the little guy was in remarkably good health. I blurted out, “It’s a boy!”

She then went on to explain he had no worms, no parasites like most cats born in the wild, and that he weighed one pound. We projected that he was likely five to six weeks old. My trainer had not seen any evidence of a mother cat or other kittens. This little guy was alone. The vet said he was right on the border of having to bottle feed or he could likely manage wet food mixed with water. Our next stop was the pet food store. We stocked up and brought him back to our place again.

My trainer is a newlywed with a new house. She’s been wanting a kitten for a long time, so her plan was to take this adorable little guy home. We even started brainstorming names for him. She took him home with grand hopes but was not particularly surprised when her husband expressed his dismay. He didn’t want anything to do with this kitten.

So what was Plan B?

Read the full column at PlanZDiet.com

Italian Sausage and Zucchini Bake

This is sort of one of those dump casseroles that come together quickly and doesn’t require a lot of effort or dishes.

Servings: Serves four to six. You can definitely serve six if you have a side Caesar salad.

Ingredients:

1 Tbl olive oil
3/4 lb of loose Italian sausage. You can use hot or mild.
1/4 cup of chopped onion
1 tsp of Italian blend spice
1/4 tsp of grated sea salt
1/4 tsp of grated pepper
2 cups of spaghetti sauce. Find a jarred one with no sugar. Rao’s is a good brand.
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup of ricotta cheese
3 cups of zucchini chunks. I cut mine into about 2” long chunks that are about 1/2-inch wide.
1 cup of grated or shredded mozzarella cheese (or more to taste)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium saute pan add the olive oil and heat it. Add the loose Italian sausage and cook on medium-high. Break it up regularly so you get bite-sized pieces or smaller. When it’s half cooked, add the onion and the Italian spice blend. Cook until meat is completely done. Season with salt and pepper. Add the spaghetti sauce and stir.

While the meat is cooking you can combine the beaten egg with the ricotta cheese in a small bowl.

Spray a nine by nine inch ovenproof baking pan with olive oil spray. Cover the bottom of the pan with half of the meat sauce. Scatter on your zucchini chunks and sort of poke them into the sauce. Add your ricotta mixture in blobs with a spoon. Just scatter those over the zucchini and sauce. Top with the other half of the meat sauce and then cover it with mozzarella.

Bake for 30 minutes. Take out of the oven and add extra mozzarella to the top if you want it extra gooey. Wait about five before serving. I just use a large spoon to serve this in dinner bowls.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola