The Untamed Optimist

you do you and people will follow

  • About
    • Q & A
  • College
  • Recipes
    • Breakfasts
    • Lunches
    • Dinners
    • Desserts
    • Snacks
    • Refreshers
  • Wellness
    • Health
  • Style
  • Garden

Explore

  • Q & A
  • About
  • Let’s Be Insta BFF’s
  • Pin Your Favorites
  • Like TUO on Facebook
  • Join the TUO Newsletter

What are you looking for today?

Dinners, Lunches, Recipes · January 27, 2022

Oven-Baked Summer Squash Chips

Ah yes, the sun finally came out in Maryland and blessed us with some sunny days before quickly squashing that with back-to-back frostbitten nights… again.


I lack patience with mother nature when she decides to kill all my plants, so I’ve been busy covering what is out in the garden and keeping our seedling plants inside for another week. While squash will come later in the year for our climate, I’m still dying to make these again!

I’m excited to be sharing this delicious summer squash recipe with you! It’s an easy bake that the whole family will love as an appetizer or side to lunch. I made this batch with my boyfriend and it was a flavorful win for both of us!

Ingredients

  • 1 large zucchini
  • Herb mix
  • Olive oil

Optional: 1/2 cup shredded cheese

For the herb mix:

Add the preferred amount of each of the following into a bowl and sprinkle over slices:

  • Salt & Pepper
  • Tajin or Cumin
  • Garlic powder
  • Onion powder
  • Parsley or Thyme

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 425F while prepping the squash slices.
  2. Slice the squash into 1/3-1/2″ slices. Be sure to stay within this range as anything thinner may stick even with the oil. For smaller pieces cut near the stem, cut a bit thicker to prevent it from getting burnt around the edges.
  3. Lay down a thin towel and place slices of squash along half of the fabric. Fold the other half over and begin pressing on the squash to absorb the water and dry them out before baking. This helps with how soft they’ll be when removed—we don’t want it to be super soft and soggy in the center when we peel them up!
  4. Coat your pan with olive oil and lay down the first batch of slices.
  5. Sprinkle the herbs onto the slices and bake for 10-12 minutes before flipping. Bake for another 10 minutes before serving! If you plan to add cheese you’ll want to do so on the side that has just been flipped from the bottom of the pan and is now getting cooked.

I’ve been getting so much work done around the garden and many flowerbeds around the yard. I can’t wait to share the progress I’ve been making and to finally show some of the before and after photos I took!


Squash has found its way into my produce bundles more and more recently, though we won’t have any in our garden for a while. While I still have some coming in regularly from the local market, I’m sure to make some more recipes with squash. It’s one of the veggies I’ve only recently begun to celebrate in my meals and now get experimental with my recipes.

I’m thinking of including squash in an upcoming shrimp recipe that’ll be perfect for Memorial Day spent at home. I’m excited to work beside my mom to make sure these cook perfectly and have just enough of a flavor pallet to keep you wanting more without running out of room for more ingredients.

Posted By: byshannonamos@gmail.com · In: Dinners, Lunches, Recipes

Turning to a Natural Eczema Treatment
Ooey Gooey & Fudgy Zucchini Brownies

You’ll Also Love

How to Make the Perfectly Balanced Granola Bowl
Candy Corn Cookies
Vegan Oat Blueberry Pancakes

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Italian Herb Crackers
  • Sowing Seeds Ahead of Spring
  • Margherita Pizza
  • Wild Violet Pink Lemonade
  • Wild Violet Syrup

Reader Favorites

Managing and Maintaining 3A Curls

10 Journal Entries for Self-Discovery

keep reading

  • About
    • Q & A
  • College
  • Garden
  • Instagram
  • Recipes
    • Breakfasts
    • Desserts
    • Dinners
    • Lunches
    • Refreshers
    • Snacks
  • Style
  • Wellness
    • Health
Who remembers these journals? They were the very f Who remembers these journals? They were the very first product I ever made with my TUO photography on it and I still have a couple leftover 💕 I of course kept one for myself and have since filled it almost halfway full of journal entries straight from the heart

What would you use this journal for?
Alright y’all, who’s ready for my Italian herb Alright y’all, who’s ready for my Italian herb cracker recipe?! 🙋🏻‍♀️ I made these for our trip to Deep Creek as we always stop by @fireflymarketdeepcreek and they made the perfect base for all the different flavors we got 🤤

I’m in the final stages of getting this posted, so keep an eye out!
I’ve been considering an update to last year’s I’ve been considering an update to last year’s post on fall earring inspiration… these definitely need to make it on there!
There’s always something to admire in the space There’s always something to admire in the space around us. This little guy was happy buzzing around (quite loudly) while I washed my car and I couldn’t help but watch him for a while. If you’re lucky, you can catch them leaping from one flower to the next, letting their wings dance around in the wind rather than putting them to work.
In case you didn’t know, the Untamed Optimist is In case you didn’t know, the Untamed Optimist is 7 years old as of August 2023 and I couldn’t be more proud of where it’s come in all these years. I know it’s been pushed to the back burner recently as my other business has picked up, but I can’t wait to make more TUO content for you in the coming weeks ☺️ thank you for sticking with me all this time, and get ready for new posts by #theuntamedoptimist coming soon!

I’m definitely sharing my Italian herb cracker recipe with you cause it was just too damn good not to, and I’ve got a few new ideas brewing for my local readers 😉 you’ll have to stay tuned for that one though!
There’s something so special about the wildflowe There’s something so special about the wildflowers that pop up around our garden spaces. The ones that are planted by the birds and cultivated by only Mother Nature’s touch.

Some might consider them weeds, but I know they serve a purpose. Take a moment to appreciate the ‘weeds’ in your yard today.
Our Hostas are blooming and I’m feeling grateful Our Hostas are blooming and I’m feeling grateful for the long lasting blooms we get this time of year. I made a point to scatter the Hostas around the garden beds earlier this season in an effort to do two things:

Toward the end of last summer, the hostas had completely outgrown their space and weren’t living up to their potential. Dividing them filled the otherwise empty spaces in our beds whilst allowing each individual plant to grow bigger to fill it in.

While the largest section of Hostas wasn’t quite as showy as last year, our garden is already fuller and will only fill in more as the years go on. Turns out, plants and people aren’t so different if you think about it 🤔
It’s important to be present in each moment as i It’s important to be present in each moment as it comes. I try to remember this as often as I can and my garden is often the best reminder.

Each bloom changes day by day. The colors and conditions are always a sight to see and I don’t think I’ll ever not look forward to it. Nothing beats an evening stroll during harvest season.

Ask yourself, how do you ground yourself in the present? There are more opportunities than you may expect.
  • Q & A
  • About
  • Let’s Be Insta BFF’s
  • Pin Your Favorites
  • Like TUO on Facebook
  • Join the TUO Newsletter

Copyright © 2023 The Untamed Optimist · Theme by 17th Avenue