Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins

We have TONS of Zucchini so what better than to make muffins! Soooo good!

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins

(modified from this recipe)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup wheat flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup shredded zucchini
1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS
In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Combine the egg, oil, milk, lemon juice and vanilla; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in zucchini, chocolate chips and walnuts. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until muffins test done. Makes 12 muffins.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Whole Wheat Cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup whole-wheat flour
2 tbsp flaxseed
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup applesauce
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grind oats in a blender or food processor. Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add applesauce, granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg and vanilla; beat until smooth and creamy. With the mixer running, add the dry ingredients, beating on low speed until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop the dough by heaping teaspoonfuls, at least 1 inch apart, onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake cookies, until firm around the edges and golden on top, about 15 minutes. Cool the cookies for 2 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

A great new recipe I recently tried from Allrecipes.com

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon celery salt
2 pounds tilapia fillets

DIRECTIONS
Preheat your oven's broiler. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.
In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celery salt. Mix well and set aside.
Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to over cook the fish.

Thanksgiving Menu & recipes.

This year my brother and 3 nieces will be staying with us over Thanksgiving. Here is my Thanksgiving Menu and some recipes.

I will probably have a Pecan Coffee Cake already made for snacking in the morning.

For our meal:
Turkey

Cornbread stuffing in the bird

Gravy

Sweet Potato Casserole (recipe below)

Green Bean Casserole (suggested by my sister-in-law - it sounds pretty good)

Rolls

Dessert:

Pumpkin Pie

Chocolate Pecan Pie (recipe below)

Sweet Potato Casserole: (Anne's recipe w/ some tweaks)

3 c mashed sweet potatoes

1/2 c milk

1/2 stick butter/marg

1 tsp vanilla

1 c sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp cinnamon

Topping:

1 c brown sugar

1/2 c coconut

1/2 c pecans

1/3 c flour

1/2 stick butter/marg

Mix together, put in 8 x 10 casserole dish. Top with pecan topping in diagonal lines leaving 1 inch space for marshmallows. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes. Remove and place marshmallows on top - cook for an additional 5-10 (watch to make sure it doesn't burn)

Chocolate Pecan Pie: (my mom's recipe)

1/2 c semi-sweet choc chips

3 tbsp butter

2/3 c sugar

1 c corn syrup

3 eggs

1 tsp salt

1 c pecans

1 pie crust

Melt choc & butter in a double broiler. Combine sugar and syrup in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Mix eggs, stir in chocolate, butter and whisk in syrup. (I often do this in my mixer cause you have to do it fast to keep it from cooking the eggs.) Stir in vanilla & pecans. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes then 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

Lactation Bars

I am breastfeeding but have a very hungry guy and a limited supply so I'm having to supplement. I am taking Fenugreek and Reglan but I just found this recipe which is supposed to help increase breast milk supply. Has anyone tried anything like this? I think I'm going to give them a try...I'd be interested to hear other's experience.

Lactation Bars

2 c. butter, Crisco, or margarine (can mix and match to equal 2 c.) or sub in equal peanut butter for "fat"
1 c. granulated sugar
2 c. packed brown sugar
4 eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. wheat germ
1/4 c. brewer's yeast or nutritional yeast powder
1/4 c. flax meal (or whole flax seed milled fine in a coffee grinder)
4 c. oatmeal (old fashioned, or as thick-cut as you can find)

Add In's: 1 bag mini semi sweet chocolate chips, chopped nuts ,dried fruit (especially berries) chunky peanut butter, butterscotch chips, milk chocolate chips, marshmallows, chocolate pudding

Cream butter and sugars well, then add eggs and vanilla and beat until well incorporated. Mix all dry ingredients except for oats in separate bowl, then add all at once and stir in as well as possible by hand before mixing with beaters until smooth. Add oats and chips (and nuts, if desired), and stir until well blended. Divide dough into five parts and line a 10x7 cookie sheet (with shallow sides, like a jellyroll pan) with foil, then spray foil with nonstick spray. Spread 1/5 of the dough into the foil-lined pan and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. When done, simply lift out the bars by the foil and place another piece of foil into the pan and spray for the next batch. Allow to cool at least slightly before cutting each pan of bars into eighths. Makes 40 bars. You can also use cup cake tins!

Baked Chicken Ricotta Bowls

Over the past few weeks I've been absolutely spoiled with delicious meals from all my dear friends. One of the best things I love about these great meals is finding new recipes. My girlfriend Krista made this fantastic meal...the original recipe is HERE from foodnetwork.com but I am re-typing it cause they added a salad to theirs which kind of confused me when I was looking down the ingredient list. This recipe is EASY, yummy, different, and a perfect recipe to make a lot of and freeze.

Baked Chicken Ricotta Bowls

2 refrigerated pie crust
2 chicken breast halves, cooked and diced
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Divide crust into 12 pieces (6 from each) and shape each piece into a ball. Press the balls into the bottom and up the sides of 12 cup muffin tins. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine chicken, ricotta, cheddar, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, eggs, Dijon, parsley, salt, and black pepper. Mix well. Spoon mixture into prepared muffin cups and top with remaining Parmesan. Bake 30 minutes, until a knife inserted near the center of 1 cup comes out clean and crust is golden brown.

Nutty Apple Crisp

I found this recipe at allrecipes.com and it is absolutely delicious and perfect for the season.

Nutty Apple Crisp

5 cups thinly sliced apples
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss apples with lemon juice and water in a shallow 2 quart baking dish. (I use an 8 x 8) In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, sugar, nutmeg, and salt. Mix to blend thoroughly. Cut in the butter or margarine until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Mix in walnuts. Crumble over apples to cover completely. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until top is lightly browned. Serve warm with ice cream.

Freezer Meals Part 2

I am so tickled to already have 7 meals in my freezer. I'm sure it will be such a huge relief to have things already prepared and have one less thing to worry about as I adjust to becoming a mother of two! This week I made Chicken Enchiladas & Baked Ziti for the fridge. I have yet to make any bread for the freezer yet - but it's still on my list.

Chicken Enchiladas (This is an adaptation of an allrecipes.com recipe)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tbsp margarine
1/2 onion diced
1 tsp taco seasoning
2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
1 (4 oz) can chopped green chile peppers
8 flour tortillas (large ones)
1 cup shredded Cheddar

Mix chicken soup & sour cream in small bowl. Set aside. Melt margarine in saucepan and saute onion & taco seasoning until tender. Add in chicken, peppers, and 2 tbsp of the soup mixture. Spoon 1/2 the soup mix in bottom of pan. I actually did 2- 8 x 8 pans and divided the soup in 1/4. Fill tortillas with 1/4 cup of mix. I put 4 tortillas in each of the pans. Cover with remaining soup and cheese. I cooked one that night and put the other in the freezer.

To bake from freezer. Thaw - cook in preheated at 350 for 25 minutes.

We both really liked this recipe!

Baked Ziti (This isn't very fancy but it's delicious!)
1 lb ground beef
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 - 8 oz container sour cream
2 cups cooked ziti noodles
2 cups mozzarella cheese
seasonings of your choice

Cook & drain ground beef - add spaghetti sauce. Layer 1/2 sauce/meat mix, 1/2 sour cream, 1/2 noodles, then 1/2 cheese. Repeat. Cook at 375 for 30 minutes. To freeze - freeze and cook frozen for about an hour.

Freezer Meals - Part 1

As part of my preparations for the new baby, I have started planning & making some freezer meals to have on hand. I searched and found a ton of useful websites with lots of freezer meal ideas & recipes. I'm trying to take it slow so to start I baked 7 boneless chicken breasts yesterday and shredded them. Today I used the chicken to make 2 Chicken Pot Pies & Caesar Chicken Casserole.

Chicken Pot Pies
4 shredded/cooked breasts of chicken
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can veg-all (large)
salt
pepper
garlic powder
4 pie crusts

Mix ingredients together and split into 2 pie crusts. Cover with the other. Wrap & freeze. To bake: Thaw 1 1/2 hours then bake at 350 for 1 hour & 15 minutes.


Caesar Chicken Casserole Recipe was found at momsbudget.com here but I did modify mine..here is my modified recipe.

3 shredded/cooked chicken breasts
1/4 cup minced onions
1/3 cup light creamy Caesar dressing
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 cups Mozzarella cheese, grated
1 - 12-oz package tubed pasta (such as penne or macaroni), cooked and drained
1/4 cup croutons

Combine all ingredients but croutons, mixing well, in a 2 quart baking dish. Allow to cool and freeze. From freezer: Thaw casserole. Top with crushed croutons and bake in 350F preheated oven for 30 minutes or until topping is browned and casserole is bubbly.

I also made these Chocolate Chip Cookies this week and froze them. I did find I needed to cook them a little longer than stated - like 12-13 minutes but they are really good. Also, out of the freezer I found you can cut and bake them frozen and they turn out great!

Some of the great websites I found for freezer meals are listed below:

• The Freezer Chicks
• Mom's Budget
• Southern Living
• Mrs.Pear at Home
• Kids Cooking Activities

Next week I plan on making Baked Ziti & Bread for the freezer.

Taco Chicken Cheese Dip

This is an absolutely delicious dip. Serve with tortilla chips.

2 8oz. pkgs. Cream cheese
1 Pkg. Sharp cheddar shredded cheese
1 can diced chiles
1 lg. Can or 2 sm. Cans chunk white chicken (use all white meat)
1 pkg taco seasoning mix

Mix all together and bake for 45 mins at 350 degrees.

Chicken Salad

I have been craving apples through most of my pregnancy but now I'm onto Chicken Salad. So I figured I'd post a picture and this simple recipe for it since I'm eating it 2-4 times a week right now. Thankfully John humors me and let's me continue to fix it for dinner even though it has become a little excessive. :)Chicken Salad

• 2-4 breasts of boneless chicken (depending on serving size)
• Italian dressing
• Lettuce greens
• Salad fixins'

Marinate chicken breasts in italian dressing for about an hour. Grill until done. Cut up and serve warm onto of salad greens. I use lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, & cheese. You can use any salad dressing you like! Easy and delicious!!!

Poke Cake

One of my favorite spring/summer recipes - especially during strawberry season.

Poke Cake
1 white cake mix (prepared by directions in a 9 x 13 pan)
1 small box jello
1 tub cool whip
cut fruit of your choice

Prepare cake per the directions and let cool. Poke with a fork every one inch throughout the cake. Mix jello with 1 cup boiling water. Pour over cake and refridgerate one hour. Top with cool whip and serve with strawberries or other fruit.

Santa Fe Wraps

This is a Paula Deen recipe from the Food Network that my friend made the other day - I LOVED it! This is the full recipe - but I recommend as does she - using only 1/2 the recipe.

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese softened
1 cup sour cream
1 (4 1/2-ounce) can chopped green chiles
1 (4 1/4-ounce) can chopped olives
1 cup (4-ounce) shredded pepper jack cheese
2 tablespoons salsa, plus salsa for dipping, optional
1/2 cup green onion tops, sliced
1 cup chopped fresh spinach
2 packages flour tortillas

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until creamy. Then add sour cream, green chiles, olives, pepper jack cheese, salsa, and onion tops. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer. Stir in spinach. Spread mixture evenly over the surface of each tortilla. Roll up tortillas tightly and cut each tortilla crosswise into 6 slices. Skewer each wrap with a wooden toothpick. Serve immediately or chill. Serve with salsa for dipping, if desired.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Yummy & moist Banana bread recipe!

INGREDIENTS
1 stick butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 eggs
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees . Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Stir ingredients together. Coat chocolate chips with flour then fold in. (keeps them from sinking). Bake for 50 minutes.

Greek Chicken Penne Pasta

This is a great recipe! It taste very Mediterranean and was done in 30 minutes total on the stove top. I found this recipe on Allrecipes but have altered it.

Greek Chicken Penne Pasta

1 - 8oz pkg penne pasta

1 tbsp butter/margarine

2 tbsp onion

2 tsp minced garlic

2 breast of boneless chicken, cut into bite size pieces

1/2 - 10 oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts, drain and chopped

1 small can diced tomato's

1/2 cup feta cheese

2 tbsp parsley

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp oregano

salt & pepper to taste

Boil pasta per directions until done. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan melt butter with onion, garlic, and 2 tbsp of the marinade from the artichokes over medium heat. Add chicken and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat. Add chopped/drained artichoke hearts, tomato, 1/2 the feta, parsley, lemon, oregano, & pasta. Stir together & cook for about 2 minutes until heated through. Season w/ salt & pepper. Top with remaining feta & serve. YUM! Serves 4.

Baked Grits

Being a southerner, I figured it was high time for me to learn to make grits. So this morning I made my first batch and boy were they delicious!!

Baked Grits
6 c water
1 1/2 c instant grits
3/4 c butter
1 lb Velveeta
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
pinch cayenne
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp Worcester
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium saucepan boil water and stir in grits. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add in all ingredients except eggs and cook until cheese is melted. Remove from heat and add eggs. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan and bake for 1 hour. Yum!

Pecan Coffee Cake

This is a really yummy coffee cake and is slightly altered version this recipe from Allrecipes.com.

INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tbsp melted butter

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350. Grease & flour a bundt pan. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in sour cream, sugar, and eggs, then stir in the vanilla. Fold in the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated. Spread 1/2 of batter into prepared pan.

To make the Pecan Topping: In a medium bowl, mix together brown sugar, pecans and cinnamon. Stir in melted butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over cake batter in pan. Pour remaining batter on top. Careful to keep topping in center of batter so it doesn't spill out and stick to the pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Awesome Brownies!!

I made these brownies yesterday for a charity function dinner. I forgot that I was supposed to make something so I scrambled to find something a little more homemade then boxed brownies but that I could make with brownie mix. These were SOOO good. I did make my own Coconut Pecan Frosting - recipe is below for both. It was easy, quick and seemed very gourmet.

Awesome Brownies
1 box brownie mix & ingredients to make
1 container of coconut pecan frosting
1 small container sour cream
1 c chocolate chips
1 c chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9 x 13 pan. Mix brownies per instructions for cake-like brownies - 1/2 of the oil called for. Add frosting & sour cream. Bake for 35 minutes. Spread chips & pecans across brownies and bake for 5 more minutes. Use a spatula to spread the chip/pecan mixture and let cool. Yummy!!

Coconut Pecan Frosting
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 stick butter
3 egg yolks
1 c flaked coconut
1 c chopped pecans
1 tsp vanilla

Stir milk, butter, & egg yolks in saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly till thickened - about 10 minutes. Take off heat - add coconut, pecans, & vanilla.

Enjoy!

Fellowship & Chicken Enchiladas

Today I had a few ladies over to make some food for a family in need. We decided to get together and make 3 freezer meals to provide to the family and to do it together as a way to make it a little more fun. I coordinated recipes to try to cross over ingredients then sent out an email list assigning everyone 2-3 ingredients to each bring. I made cards with instructions on how to prepare the food to put in the freezer and then another that we taped on top of the meal with instructions for cooking. The other goal was to have each lady take a 15 minute increments to watch the kids while the others cooked - however, it didn't really end up working that way as our house is compact and we could keep an eye on them and cook. Finally, I made some Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread for us all to enjoy after our hard work. I've attached one of the recipes below which is an adaptation of an Allrecipes.com recipe.

Chicken Enchiladas
(this recipe is to make one for now & one to freeze for later)
4 cups cooked chicken - shredded or cubed (about 4 breasts)
1 container sour cream
1/2 c diced onion
16 - 8 inch tortillas
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp butter/margarine
2-3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 2 - 8 x 8 pans (make sure one is freezer/oven friendly). Mix soup & sour cream - set aside. Saute chili powder, onion & butter till mixed. Add 4 tsp chicken soup mixture & chicken. Warm tortillas in microwave for 1 minute. Spread 1/2 of soup mixture into bottom of each pan. Roll 1/4 c chicken in each tortilla & place seam side down. 8 tortillas per pan. Spread remaining soup mix on the tortillas - top with cheese. Cook one for 25 minutes. Freeze the other for later. To cook the frozen one - place in pre-heated oven frozen for 35-40 minutes.

Cranberry Turkey Ring

This is one of my favorite recipes for using leftover turkey and since everyone will probably have some pretty soon I thought it was a good one to share. This is a Pampered Chef recipe but I couldn't find a link on their site for it and my ingredients are not exactly like theirs. My picture is only for 1/2 the recipe.
Cranberry Turkey Ring
2 c turkey (leftover is great)
1/2 c craisins
1/2 c mayo
2 tbsp honey Dijon mustard
1/2 c mozz or swiss cheese
pepper & salt to taste
2 tubes crescent rolls
1 egg

Mix all ingredients except rolls & egg. Put rolls out in a ring by touching all the corners with tube and then overlapping with the second tube. Evenly place scoops of turkey mix all around. Pull the triangle flaps over the turkey and tuck inside. Brush egg whites on top. Bake 375 for 25 minutes.