Chicken Zucchini Bake

Here we are, another month gone by. My bedroom is making progress, although it's been slow this past couple of weeks. I've finished my quilt (I'll never make a king-sized quilt again! Holy cow!) painted the nightstands, purchased a headboard, made a few decorative pillows, and rearranged furniture. Now all I need to do is paint and put it all together. The problem with painting is that I spent all the rest of my grocery money last month on... well, groceries! Since I've been trying to cut back and pay for all my improvements out of the grocery budget that means painting will have to wait until next pay day. Which is almost upon us, hooray!
Last night's dinner was a fun one for me to make. I just went into the kitchen and got creative! I started off making pizza crusts because my 5-year-old has been begging for pizza for the past week or so. But then, looking in the refrigerator and seeing all my eggs and zucchini staring back at me changed my mind about just a simple pizza. I was also feeling hot and icky yesterday so turning on the oven was the last thing I wanted to do. I made my dinner on the grill, but it would work in the oven as well. Here's what I made:

Chicken Zucchini Bake

1 prepared pizza crust recipe
1 Tbsp mustard powder
1 Tbsp honey
3/4 cup white sauce mix
3/4 cup water
4 cups sliced zucchini
1 large onion, sliced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken breast meat (I used a pint jar that I'd bottled)
3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (175 degrees C) or preheat outdoor grill to 400 (med-high). Generously grease the inside of a large cast-iron skillet. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup course cornmeal all over skillet. Press the edges of the pizza dough into and up the sides of the pan to make a deep crust. Bake (or in my case, grill) for 12-15 minutes or until edges pull away cleanly from the sides. If you are grilling, the top will not fully brown so be sure not to overcook your crust. Meanwhile, chop and slice your vegetables.Place the zucchini and a few tablespoons of water into a saucepan over medium heat, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook the zucchini until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and set the zucchini aside. Place the onion and pepper in a large skillet with butter over medium heat, and cook and stir until the onion is translucent, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir the cooked zucchini and chicken into the onion, and mix well. Let the mixture heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add water, mustard powder, honey and white sauce mix. Allow mixture to boil and thicken. Spread the zucchini mixture in an even layer over the crust. In a bowl, beat the eggs with salt, black pepper, basil, oregano, and garlic powder; pour the egg mixture over the zucchini. Sprinkle the cheese over the top. Turn oven to broil on HIGH. Place cast-iron pan into oven a couple inches from top broiler and allow to cook until eggs are set and cheese is browned. Allow to cool about 5 minutes before serving.

I know this recipe looks a little complicated and the ingredient list looks long but it really wasn't too bad. From start to finish (excluding making the pizza dough) this dinner took me less than 30 minutes.