Zucchini Bread

This is my favorite Zucchini recipe.  I make lots of mini loaves and freeze them for my kids.  It's not the healthiest recipe but it's sure yummy!


Zucchini Bread

• 3 cups of flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup of vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/4 cup of white sugar
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups of grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans or coat with cooking spray. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Add the cinnamon and nutmeg and mix thoroughly. Beat together, oil, eggs,white sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until creamy. Add flour mixture to the creamy mixture and mix well. Gently add the zucchini and walnuts until well combined. Pour into greased bread pans and bake for 40-50 minutes or until a knife is inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for a few minutes moving to a rack. Enjoy.

Strawberry Freezer Jam

I found a good deal on Strawberries at our commissary last week and then ended up getting a container of strawberries in our weekly produce box which meant I was being overrun by strawberries.  My boys eat a lot but we  had a lot of fruits and vegetables in our house and I did not want these wonderful treats to go to waste.  I decided to make some freezer jam.  It's so simple and you end up with a delightful, fresh tasting treat.  I had enough strawberries to make this recipe twice.

My boys think the jam is a bit sweet (they said it tastes like strawberry soda).  I guess it would be sweet given it has 4 cups of sugar!  This jam takes about 30 minutes to make and then you let it sit for 24 hours.

Strawberry Freezer Jam

 

4 cups strawberries, washed and cut in half

4 cups sugar

3/4 cup water

1 package (1 3/4 ounces) powdered fruit pectin 

 

• Mash strawberries with potato masher or in food processor until slightly chunky (not pureed) to make 2 cups crushed strawberries. Mix strawberries and sugar in large bowl. Let stand at room temperature 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Mix water and pectin in 1-quart saucepan. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Pour hot pectin mixture over strawberry mixture; stir constantly 3 minutes.
• Immediately spoon mixture into freezer containers, leaving 1/2-inch head space. Wipe rims of containers; seal. Let stand at room temperature about 24 hours or until set.
• Store in freezer up to 6 months or in refrigerator up to 3 weeks. Thaw frozen jam and stir before serving.

 

Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole

I will have to make this again soon and add a picture but today one of my friends was asking about what to feed 10 teenage boys and after a bit of discussion this popped into my mind and I figured I'd share the recipe here.

I got this recipe from one of the ladies I went to church with in Texas and now it's one of our go to casseroles when I need to take a breakfast dish to an event.  I love that you can prep it ahead of time and bake the morning of.

Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole

1 pkg tater tots or frozen hashbrowns.
8 eggs
1 (15 oz) can evaporated milk
1 small package sausage/ham/bacon
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp salt
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. chopped green pepper

Brown sausage (or any other meat you are using), drain and remove grease.  Butter or spray a 9x13 casserole dish.  Set aside.  Place tator tots in large skillet with about 1 Tablespoon of oil.  Heat the tots all the way through and break the apart with a spatula.  (You don't have to heat them up but I like the consistency better when I do).  Distribute the evenly on the bottom of your casserole dish.  Sprinkle meat with onions and peppers  over potatoes.  In a separate bowl, crack the eggs and whisk until blended.  Add the milk, salt, pepper and dry mustard; beat well.  Pour over potatoes.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes until eggs are set.  Leave uncovered for last 10-15 minutes of baking.

*You can add whatever you want, mushrooms would add a nice taste.  Serve with salsa or ketchup.

Turkey Pot Pie

 We're a week out from Thanksgiving and we still have a bit of turkey left in the fridge.  Time to use it up with this delicious dish.  It's also a cold, snowy day so what better to warm up with?  It's simple, makes your house smell good and is so tasty!

Turkey Pot Pie
2 pie crusts
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup finely diced carrot
1/2 cup finely diced celery
2 small russet potatoes, diced
2 cups leftover turkey
1/4 cup flour
3 cups low- chicken or turkey broth (more if needed!)
3/4 cup heavy cream
Thyme, fresh or dry, to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Melt butter in a skillet . Add onion, carrots, and celery, and cook until translucent (a couple of minutes.)
Add turkey and stir. Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir. Cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.
Pour in chicken or turkey broth, stirring constantly. Add potatoes.  Pour in cream. Bring to a slow boil and allow mixture to cook and thicken for a few minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, and thyme to taste.

This is where you have to decide if you want pie crust on both the bottom and top or just the top.  I personally like to have it on top and bottom.  If you want both as well, then be sure to roll out your crust and place in the bottom of your pan.
 Pour mixture into a casserole dish or deep pie pan.
Roll out other crust so that it’s about 1 inch larger than the pan you’re using.
Place the crust on top of the pot pie mixture, and press crust into the sides of the dish. Cut vents in the top of the crust.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until very golden and bubbly and the crust is done.
Allow to cool for a little bit before serving.

Buttermilk Pancakes

It's a snow day here in Missouri!  No school for the kids and no work for my husband.  My wonderful husband decided he was in the mood for some pancakes so he whipped some up.  The roads are pretty bad and our commissary is closed and we had no buttermilk...so we made our own!  These pancakes are so delicious!  

Buttermilk Pancakes

2 eggs2 cups buttermilk (to make your own buttermilk, take just under 1 cup of milk and add 1 Tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice and let it sit for 5 minutes).
4 tablespoons butter, melted
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
oil or cooking spray (for cooking)

Step 1: In a large bowl beat eggs. Add buttermilk, butter and vanilla and mix well. Add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well until smooth and let batter set for a few minutes.
Step 2: Heat griddle or pan over medium heat. Brush lightly with oil or spray with cooking spray. You can test to see if the pan is hot enough by adding a few drops of water, if  or when the drops start to dance its hot enough.  
Step 3: Pour ¼ cup of batter onto the griddle. Cook on the first side until bubbles that form start to pop. You can also gently lift up the pancake to make sure the bottom is not overcooking, if it is the pan may be too hot and you will need to adjust the heat. Flip the pancake over with a spatula and cook until golden brown. Repeat until all the batter is gone.

Sinfully Delicous Chex Mix

One of my sweet girls that was in my young women group in Texas posted this delicious recipe the other day. I'm not a fan of the name because I think it's dumb. So I changed it...because I can. Because it's ridiculously rich with sweetness, I decided to call it sinfully delicious...because it is.  Of course, I had to change it up due to unavailability to the exact ingredients but it's all good, because that's the fun of baking/cooking.  You can make whatever you want, however you want.  Have fun, go crazy and remember this isn't diet friendly, it's sinful...I mentioned that before, remember?

This was teenager tested and approved, enjoy and don't think about the calories or you won't eat it and you'll be missing out and that will be sad. 

Sinfully Delicious Chex Mix
original recipe found here

8 cups Chocolate Chex® cereal (I used vanilla chex, because that's what the commissary had)

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

6 tablespoons butter or margarine

3 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, chopped

1 cup MINIATURE marshmallows (I used some fun ice cream flavor marshmallows I found and chopped into smaller pieces)

1/2 cup caramel bits (found by the chocolate chips in the baking aisle -- or chop up regular caramels)

1 Tbsp heavy cream

1/2 cup milk chocolate baking chips 

1/2 cup white chocolate baking chips

1 tsp coarse sea salt

Directions

• Into large microwavable bowl, measure cereal; set aside. Line cookie sheet with waxed paper or foil.
• In 2-cup microwavable measuring cup, microwave brown sugar, butter and corn syrup uncovered on High 1 to 2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute, until melted and smooth. Stir in baking soda until dissolved. Pour caramel mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Microwave on High 3 minutes, stirring every minute. Spread on cookie sheet. Cool 10 minutes. Break into bite-sized pieces.
• Make sure Chex mixture is cool to the touch (so candy doesn't melt.) Evenly sprinkle  peanut butter cups candy and miniature marshmallows over Chex mixture.
• In small microwavable bowl, microwave caramel baking bits and cream uncovered on High about 1 minute or until chips can be stirred smooth. Use a spoon or fork to drizzle over snack. Microwave the milk chocolate baking chips next (adding a teaspoon of oil will help it melt better and make it smoother), starting with 20-seconds and stirring, then at 20 second intervals until the mixture is completely smooth (microwave temps vary, so watch the chocolate and stir frequently until it's of drizzling consistency). Drizzle over the snack mixture. Then microwave the white baking chips in 20-second intervals, stirring until smooth, and drizzle that over the snack mixture. Quickly sprinkle coarse salt over all while candy drizzles are still wet.
• Refrigerate until set. Break apart and store in tightly covered container.

Copy Cat Zuppa Toscana

You may have heard that we live in place that some like to call "Lost in the Woods".  That name usually bothers me because I really love this place, however there are moments when I'm reminded that some of the creature comforts are a bit further away from us than we'd like.  Places like big name restaurants like Olive Garden.  I don't usually miss restaurants since the boys are perfectly content eating whatever Kevin or I come up with but every now and again we miss some of our favorites...like this soup.  Thankfully I found this recipe years ago on the internet and it's been a family favorite on cold days like today.  Like most recipes, we doubled it to feed our growing family of boys.

Zuppa Toscana

1 lb spicy Italian sausage - browned, drained & crumbled (I like to use a mix of hot and mild)
1/2 lb smoked bacon - cooked & chopped (bacon bits work well too!)
1 quart water
(2) 14.5 oz cans chicken broth 

 2 large russet potatoes - scrubbed clean and cut into small cubes with skin still on (I've used red potatoes and they were just fine)

 2 garlic cloves - peeled, crushed
1 med. onion - peeled, chopped
2 cups chopped kale 

1 cup heavy whipping cream
salt and pepper - to taste

•  Place water, broth, potatoes, garlic, and onion in a pot; simmer over medium heat until potatoes are tender.

•  Add sausage and bacon to pot; simmer for 10 minutes.

•  Add kale and cream to pot; season with salt and pepper; heat through.