Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins

Chocolate chip-zucchini muffins

1 1/2 C. all purpose flour (I used 1/2 C. whole wheat flour and 1 C. all purpose flour)
3/4 C. sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 C. vegetable oil
1/4 C. milk
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 C. shredded zucchini
1/2 C. chocolate chips
1/4 C. chopped walnuts, optional

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.

Chicken Zucchini Casserole

We have so much zucchini from our garden that I am having to search for many yummy new recipes, and this one is a keeper.

This is one of those great comfort casserole's for a cold winter day.

Chicken Zucchini Casserole

1 (6 oz) pkg of stuffing
3/4 C. butter, melted
3 C. diced zucchini (this amount is probably okay when shredded, but is quite a bit when diced)
2 C. cubed chicken breast

1 (10.75 ounce) can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 medium carrot, shredded
1/2 C. chopped onion

1/2 C. sour cream

In a large bowl, combine stuffing mix and butter. Set aside 1/2 cup for topping. Add the zucchini, chicken, soup, carrot, onion and sour cream to the remaining stuffing mixture. Transfer to a greased 2-qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with reserved stuffing mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

Super Easy Chocolate Mint Truffles

We made these simple truffles for my daughters teacher as a end of year gift. They are super easy and she had fun helping to make these. You can always change up the flavoring, instead of using peppermint, you could use orange, raspberry or strawberry, etc. Go wild and have fun!

1 1/3 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 c. vanilla soy milk
1 tsp. pure peppermint extract (other flavors you may want to only use 1/2 tsp. so play around)
chocolate sprinkles

First you make your base ganache. Fill a medium saucepan half way with water, then bring the water to a simmer over med-low heat. Reduce the heat to low. Make a double boiler by placing a large metal or glass bowl over the saucepan but not touching the water. Add the chocolate chips and soy milk to the bowl and melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally,until the mixture is smooth and shinny. Remove it from heat. You then stir your flavoring into the warm ganache (you can omit flavoring for plain chocolate). Transfer the mixture to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate until its firm enough to scoop.

Place sprinkles or other topping choice in a shallow bowl. Scoop out a heaping teaspoon of the chilled ganache and using your hands roll into a ball. Roll truffle in the coating and place in airtight storage container.

Keep refrigerated until ready to serve or wrap. If you give the truffles as a gift, they can be kept at a cool room temperature for the day but should be refrigerated after that.

makes 24 truffles.

Other coating options include unsweetened cocoa powder, crushed cookies, crushed nuts, or minced sweetened flaked coconut.

Western Meal in One

This is a great casserole style dish. This is often my go to meal when I need to take a meal to someone. Everyone likes it and I've been known to switch it up a little too (I'll put my switch ups at the end of the post).

1 lb extra lean ground beef or turkey
1 clove garlic
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 bell pepper diced
1 t. salt
1 t. chili powder
16 oz can kidney beans
2 1/2 c. canned tomatoes with juice, diced
3/4 c. instant rice, uncooked
3/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Brown beef and garlic in pan with cooking spray. Add onions and green pepper, cook until onion is transparent and drain off fat. In 2 quart casserole dish combine meat mixture, salt, chili powder, beans and tomatoes and rice. Bake covered at 350 for 30 minutes, uncover sprinkle with cheese and bake another 15 minutes.

Serves 6-8.

So last time I made this I decided to spice it up a little, instead of the tomatoes I used 2 1/2 cups salsa, and black beans instead of kidney. I then used Mexican blend cheese instead of cheddar, and added some cilantro. It was slightly spicy so if I made it this way again I would probably omit the chili powder.

Favorite Waffles

As I have stated before we LOVE waffles, so here is my favorite waffle recipe. I often make these plain, but sometimes I throw in blueberries. Baby girl LOVES blueberry waffles and eats them with out syrup.

Waffles

2 eggs
2 C. Flour (I usually use 1c. white, 1 c. wheat or 2 c. wheat)
1 3/4 c. milk
1/2 c. canola oil
1 T. white sugar (I usually use splenda)
4 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1 c. frozen blueberries thawed (optional)

Preheat waffle iron.

Beat eggs in large bowl with hand beater until fluffy. Beat in flour, milk, oil, sugar, baking powder, salt, and vanilla- just until smooth.

Spray waffle iron.

Pour mix onto hot iron and cook until golden brown.



I usually double the recipe and freeze what doesn't get eaten. Then we can just pull out how many we want when we want them, plop them in the toaster and voila homemade breakfast on a busy school morning.

ENJOY!!!

Quickie Lasagna (ravioli)

I love this quick and easy recipe it's ravioli made like a lasagna, you can make it with just marinara sauce or a meat sauce if you prefer. I usually do just a marinara sauce, hence the quick part.

Quickie Lasagna

marinara sauce
family size ravioli
4 oz mozarella cheese, shredded

In a 9x13 baking dish spread 1/2c. marinara sauce. Next put down a layer of ravioli and top with 1/2 c. mozarella cheese and then 1 1/4c. marinara sauce. You will then put another layer of ravioli, 1/2c. cheese and 1 1/4c marinara (or the rest of the bottle).

Bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Fabulously easy, and everyone loves it. I always serve with salad and garlic bread.

Fabulous Garlic Bread

I tried a new garlic spread recipe Sunday night when we had our church missionaries over, it was fabulous! I found the recipe on allrecipe.com (one of my favorite recipe sites) and it is perfect for any Italian meal, I made some with cheese and some with out and they were both great.


Toasty Garlic Bread

1 (1lb) loaf Italian Bread (I used french bread and it was still great)
5 Tbsp butter, softened
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded (optional)

1. Preheat the broiler.
2. Cut the bread into slices 1 to 2 inches thick.
3. In a small bowl, mix butter, olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Spread the mixture evenly on the bread slices.
4. On a medium baking sheet, arrange the slices evenly and broil 5 minutes, or until slightly brown. Check frequently so they do not burn.
5. Remove from broiler. Top with cheese and return to broiler 2 to 3 minutes, until cheese is slightly brown and melted. Serve at once.