waffles

This is the recipe that came with our GE waffle maker- I must admit, I'm rather a fan :)

MAKES:: 10 medium-sized waffles (may vary by waffle maker)

.:Ingredients:.

2 c. flour

2 TB sugar

1 TB baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 3/4 c milk

1/3 c vegetable oil

2 eggs

.:Directions:.

Combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients. Gradually add wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir until just blended- do NOT over stir. Pour batter into waffle maker.

.:Notes:.

- Follow your waffle maker's instructions as to how much batter to add at once.

- We use spelt flour for a low-gluten option.

- For a blueberry option, after pouring batter into waffle maker, sprinkle fresh blueberries on top! Note, this may cause the waffles to stick to the waffle maker, so putting a little olive oil on the maker before you start may be advised (check your waffle maker's instruction guide first though- not all models may advise using olive oil on the maker).

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup oil

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup baking cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. cloves

1/2 cup buttermilk (or plain yogurt or sour cream)

2 cups shredded zucchini

Frosting:

1 cup shredded coconut

6 TBS. butter, softened

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup milk

In a large bowl, beat butter, oil, and sugar until smooth.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well.  Beat in vanilla.  Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and cloves;  add to batter alternately with buttermilk.  Fold in zucchini.  Pour into greased 13"X9"X2" pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 45-50 minutes.  Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes.

In a bowl, combine frosting ingredients.  Spread over warm cake.  Broil 4-6 inces from heat for 2-3 minutes until golden brown (be careful...can burn very quickly!)  Cool completely before serving.   serves 12-15.

I made it without the frosting, and I used a little vanilla ice cream and fresh berries instead.  
From a friend, Debbie Terry

Perfected Peach Cobbler

From onehungrymama.com
I would use less sugar overall if I made this again.  It was still super tasty though!

6 c peach slices, 1-1 1/2″ wedges (about 8 peaches, peeled** & pitted)
1/4 c packed brown sugar, plus another 1/8 c
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1/2 c white sugar
8 Tbsp (1 stick) cold butter, cut into bits, plus more for greasing pan
1 egg
1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 375. Toss peaches with 1/4 c brown sugar, cinnamon & cornstarch. Spread in a lightly buttered 9″ inch pan.

2. Pulse remaining 1/8 c brown sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and white sugar in a food processor once or twice. Add butter and process until dough comes together. Put dough in a bowl and mix in the egg and vanilla in by hand.

3. Drop spoonfuls of dough across the fruit. Do not spread it around. Bake until all the dough turns golden brown, about 45 minutes.

Note: The easiest way to peel peaches without waste to is submerge them whole in boiling water for a minute or two. Plunge them in cold water immediately after taking them out of the boiling water. Leave for 30 seconds or so, after which the skin should just peel right off.

White Chicken Chili {Crockpot}

1 lb. chicken (breasts or tenderloins)
2 cans cannelini beans, rinsed and drained
1 onion, chopped
2 apples, cut in chunks
1 small can green chiles
3 T butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper
3 cups chicken broth

shredded cheese, sour cream. and fresh cilantro


1.) Cut chicken in small chunks, and brown in a little olive oil.  Drain oil.
2.) Place butter in crock pot first.
3.)  Then put in browned chicken, apple, onion, garlic, beans, and chiles.
4.) Add spices and broth.  Stir together.
5.) Cover and cook on low for eight hours or high for four to five.
6.) Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, and fresh cilantro.

Cranberry Nut Bread

I made this today with raspberries in place of cranberries and lowered the sugar a tad, and it came out great!

2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 teas salt
1 1/2 teas baking powder
1/2 teas baking soda
1 cup chopped cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 egg
2 T all natural applesauce
3/4 cup Orange juice
1 T orange zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease 9" x 5" loaf pan.
Combine flour, sugar, salt, powder, and soda.
Add the cranberries and walnuts, and stir to coat with flour.
In separate bowl, mix together egg, applesauce, orange juice, and zest.
Pour egg mixture all at once into flour mixture, and stir until JUST blended.
Spoon batter into prepared pan.  Bake for 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.  Cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove to rack to cool completely.

Zucchini Bread

Just made this today, and it came out super tasty!  I substituted apple sauce for the oil, and a 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour in place of part of the white flour.

Zucchini Bread:

1/2cup (50 grams) pecans or walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

1cup shredded raw zucchini (1-2 zucchini)

1/2 cup peeled and grated raw apple, (about 1 large apple)

1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all-purpose flour

1teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup (120 ml) safflower, corn, or canola oil

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

Cream Cheese Frosting:  (optional)

1/4 cup(56 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

4 ounces(1/2 cup) (110 grams) cream cheese, room temperature

3 tablespoonsconfectioners' (powdered or icing) sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Garnish:

Toasted coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

Zucchini Bread:Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Grease (or spray with a nonstick vegetable spray) a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan. 
Toastthe pecans or walnuts for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and then chop coarsely.
Grate the zucchini, using a medium grater, and then peel and grate the apple. 
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ground cinnamon, and nutmeg. 
In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat theoil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract until well blended (about 2 minutes). Beat in the grated zucchini and apple.Add the flour mixture, beating just until combined. Then fold in the nuts and coconut.Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the bread has risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 to 60 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Frost with cream cheese icing, if desired. Well wrapped, this bread will keep for several days at room temperature (if unfrosted) or for several days in the refrigerator (if frosted). This bread can be frozen.
Makes one - 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf.

Frosting:  Beat the butter and cream cheese until very smooth with no lumps. Gradually beat in the  powdered sugar until fully incorporated and smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract. Spread over the top of the cooled zucchini bread. Garnish with toasted coconut, if desired.

(Note:  To toast coconut - Place on a bakingsheet and bake in a 350 degree F (177 degree C) oven for a few minutes until lightly browned. Watch carefully.) 

From joyofbaking.com

summer pasta

This is a favorite in our household! It's perfect for summer when you're looking for a light meal on those hot days, and when the tomatoes are in season. Take this recipe and make it your own- if you want more basil, add more! If you want more tomatoes, add more! This can be served hot as a main meal or cold as a side salad.

Recipe::

1 serving of pasta

~6-10 cherry or grape tomatoes

~6-10 small mozzarella balls

3-4 medium-sized fresh basil leaves

2-4 TB extra virgin olive oil

a few dashes of Adobo (optional)

Instructions::

Boil the pasta as indicated on packaging. I like to add some Adobo to the water to add a little extra flavor. While the pasta is boiling, cut the tomatoes and mozzarella into halves and mince the basil leaves. Drain the pasta and combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix. I usually put everything back in the pot that the pasta cooked in- it softens the mozzarella really nicely. Serve and enjoy!

Notes::

- the pasta shown above is gluten-free trumpets from our local farmer's market, but feel free to pick any shape you wish!

- this is for a single serving- double, triple, quadruple, etc as needed!

- you can substitute 1 medium tomato (diced) for the cherry tomatoes

- you can also substitute 3/4 cup mozzarella (cubed) if you prefer buying the larger mozzarella balls, which I usually do as it's more economical

- although I prefer fresh basil leaves, you could substitute dried crushed basil- start at 1/8 tsp increase the amount to your taste preferences

Zucchini Boat

*Can easily be made a Vegetarian meal by removing meat.  


One large or two medium zucchini cut in half the long way
ground beef, chicken or sausage
assorted veggie (if you want) - I used purple bell peppers, carrots, onions, and garlic
bread crumbs (1 cup at least)
grated mozzarella cheese
Tomato sauce (spaghetti sauce is good)

cut the zucchini lengthwise and scoop out all the stuff. If the seeds are big, you probably want to push it through a big-hold collander but I never bother. If the zucchini are small, you might want two - this stuff keeps for a week. Put them into a pre-greased lasagna dish or similar with the open part up, skin part down. If the skin is thick, you might want to stripe it.

At the same time, put either sausage meat, chicken or ground beef in a pan and brown it thoroughly. Stir in the zucchini meat, and add whatever else sounds good.

When everything is brown, drain out some of the liquid, if you need to, and add about a cup of bread crumbs. Stir until those are mixed in and you don't see them anymore. At the last minute, you add tomato sauce - I like lots. Jar sauce is fine. Add seasoning if your sauce doesn't have it. Pour from the pan into the hollow zucchinis.

Bake on 350 and after about half an hour, add grated mozzarella. Bake until the cheese is bubbly. If you need to stretch this out, you can lower the heat and bake for longer before you add the cheese, OR you can put in the fridge with no cheese on and re-heat to serve much later. 




Recipe from a friend of mine.  It's a great way to use all that extra zucchini that comes around in the summer time.  

Super Easy Crockpot Salsa Chicken

The Ingredients
--6-9 chicken thighs, or equivalent body parts
--1 can rinsed black beans
--1 cup chunky salsa
--1 cup frozen white corn 
--1 small can green chilies
--salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, sazon, and any other spice you feel fits in
The Directions

Put your chicken in the crockpot; add spices. Top with the rinsed black beans, salsa, and corn.

Cover and cook on low for 6-9 hours, or on high for 4-5. Cooking time will vary depending on whether or not your chicken is frozen, and how big the pieces are.

If you decide to use breasts, increase your salsa by 1/2 cup. Breasts are drier than thighs.


Serve with rice, quinoa, or another grain.




Original recipe found here, with additions/changes made by me.

peach sorbet

My husband and I have been on an ice cream kick lately, but we wanted to have a healthier alternative for our post-dinner snack. This is what we came up with!

MAKES:: ~4 servings

Ingredients::

2 peaches (pitted and sliced)

1-1 1/2 cups low-fat vanilla yogurt

2-3 TB agave syrup (optional)

2-4 TB fruit juice (optional)

Directions::

Put all ingredients in blender. Mix on "pureé" setting until smooth (30 seconds - 1 min). Pour into freezer-safe containers. Let sit in the freezer for 4-6 hours. Enjoy!

{***notes***}

- we used peaches, but you can certainly substitute any fruit you want!

- agave syrup is an alternative to sugar. it has a low glycemic index and is naturally sweeter, so you use less than if you were to use sugar. if you don't have agave syrup on hand (or don't want to buy some just for this recipe), substitute with sugar. You'll likely have to add a bit more than the recipe calls for- just increase the amount of sugar in small increments until it reaches your preferred level of sweetness :)

- the mixture will seem pretty thin and should pour well into your freezer-safe container. that's ok!

- - experiment with texture... if it's too thin or too thick it still taste great but can sometimes be really hard to scoop!

- my husband used blueberry-cranberry juice (I did not). I used agave syrup (my husband did not). You can use both or neither, it's completely up to your taste buds!!