Chocolate Zucchini Bread

YUM! I love this stuff!!! I also love the fact that I'm getting a vegetable in my daughter and she doesn't know it! :) You could bake this in two loaf pans for "bread" or you could bake it in a 9x13 pan and ice it. Haven't done that yet, but it would be SO GOOD! I remember my Mom making zucchini bread in the summer all the time because we had so many zucchini in the garden. My husband picked two out of our garden the other day and I knew I wanted to make this. I have been craving it! I know you will LOVE THIS as much as I do.

Ingredients

*1/2 c. margarine
*1/2 c. oil (I used applesauce. It's a low fat way of making it moist and it cuts out a TON of fat!)
*1-3/4 c. sugar (or you can use Splenda)
*1/2 c. milk
*1 tsp. lemon juice
*2 eggs
*1 tsp. vanilla
*4 tbsp. cocoa powder
*2-1/2 c. flour
*1 tsp. baking powder
*1/2 tsp. baking soda
*1/2 tsp. cinnamon
*1/2 tsp. cloves
*1 tsp. salt
*1/4 c. chocolate chips
*2 c. shredded zucchini (2 small zucchini= 2 c.)

In a large mixing bowl cream margarine, oil, and sugar together until well mixed. Then in a small separate bowl mix milk and lemon juice together and let stand 5 min. (you are making "sour milk"). Add eggs and vanilla to mixing bowl and mix well. Then add sour milk mixture. In a separate bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients together; cocoa, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Mix well. Then add to wet ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips (**tip- so the chocolate chips don't sink to the bottom of the batter, toss them in a couple of tablespoons of flour before adding to mix) and zucchini. Pour into greased loaf pans or 9x13 baking dish for 50-60 min (until toothpick comes out clean). Allow time to cool before cutting. Enjoy!

Happy Eating!

Super Easy Cinnamon Rolls

This was part of my husband's Father's Day gift. Food is definitely the way to his heart! These are so super simple. I did try them with whole wheat dough instead of white. Thought I would try to make a "healthier version" of cinnamon rolls (if that's possible). But the best part is you don't have to fuss over making your own dough. Take some help from the grocery store!

Here's how you do it...

Ingredients:

Cinnamon Rolls
*1 pack of your favorite bread dough. Use only 2 loaves (white or wheat)
*1 cup brown sugar
*1/2 stick butter
* cinnamon (your desired amount)
*1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
*flour (just for rolling them out)

Cream cheese icing
*1/3 cup fat free cream cheese (or you can do full fat, but with everything in it you won't be able to tell.)
*1 stick butter
*1 cup powdered sugar
*1 tsp. vanilla extract

Thaw 2 loaves of bread dough in the refrigerator all day. Sprinkle counter with flour. Take both loaves and kneed them together until they come together as 1 loaf. Melt 1/2 stick of butter in microwave. With a pastry brush grease 2 9x13 pans with the butter then set aside. Dust your rolling pin with flour and roll dough out to about 1 inch thickness. (Dough will spring back. Don't worry if your dough doesn't seem long enough.) Then brush dough liberally with butter (hey it's not all healthy, but it's good!). Sprinkle brown sugar, cinnamon (your desired amount), and 1/2 cup pecans all over dough. Roll up dough like a jelly role. Stretch out roll (that is why you don't worry about dough springing back). Cut into 2 in. thick pieces and place in greased 9x13 pans. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit overnight to rise (it will double in size). In the morning preheat oven to 400 degrees. Take off plastic wrap and bake for 20 min. While that happens combine all icing ingredients with a mixer until fluffy. Ice warm rolls and enjoy!

Happy eating!

Salsa

There is such a difference between homemade salsa and store bought. The freshness of homemade salsa is amazing! I have no clue why people buy that stuff in a jar when it is SO EASY to make your own. It is as simple as throwing a few items in a food process and pressing the button. That's it! Truthfully salsa is a method. Some people like it mild. Some like it hot. So how much you put in of your favorite ingredients is up to you. Here's how you do it. I got this recipe from my Aunt Connie, but I have adapted it for my family. This is my most requested recipe!

Ingredients:

*1 12 oz. can of tomatoes (I prefer fire roasted. The favor so much better!)
*1 tsp sugar
*1/2 or 1 tsp salt (to taste)
*1 clove garlic
*1/2 med. onion
*1-2 jalapenos (you can take out seeds and ribs if you don't like heat)
*1 tsp lime juice
*handful of cilantro (I love this stuff! If you're not a fan you can add parsley.)

Add tomatoes, sugar, salt, lime juice, cilantro in your food processor. Give a rough chop to the onion, garlic, and jalapenos just to help the processing a little. Then add those in. Put your lid on and pulse 4 or 5 times to get a chunkier consistency like my photo. Or if you like more of a smooth texture turn your processor on and let it run for a few seconds. I prefer it chunky, but make it your own. Enjoy. Happy eating!

Tex-Mex Lasagna

It's a party in your mouth!! It's just pretty darn tasty to be honest! You could make rice and beans with this or have it with a salad and chips and salsa (my fave way to serve it!) I made two of these today. We had one for supper and the other I froze. You could put the whole recipe up in one 9x13 pan, but I decided to bump up the recipe just a tad so we could have another meal later. The whole fam will love this one. I made my low-fat version. I'll put in parenthesis what I did today beside the original ingredient. Here's how ya do it..

Ingredients

*1-1/2 lbs. ground (1 lb. ground turkey- you won't be able to tell!)
*1 garlic clove, chopped*1/2 med. onion, diced
*1 pkg. taco seasoning
*1 can diced tomatoes (I used two)
*1 6 oz. can tomato sauce (6 oz. can tomato paste)
*1/2 c. water*1 small can of green chilies
*2 cups of cottage cheese (I used fat-free. If you are dividing it into 2 pans you may want to use 2 containers. I used just two cups and it wasn't quite enough for 2 pans.)
*2 eggs (may want to use 3 if you are using 2 containers cottage cheese.)
*12 corn tortillas (1 pkg mission corn tortillas, cut into fourths for 2 pans.)
*3-1/2 to 4 cups cheese (I did not use that much cheese. I love the stuff but it is fattening. I used 2-1/2 cups divided between the two pans. 1-1/4 cup per pan. You could use fat free cheese but it doesn't melt well and lets be honest it's not that good.)

In a large skillet add meat with chopped onion and garlic, brown meat; drain in you are using beef. Add taco seasoning, tomatoes, tomato paste, water, and green chilies (don't drain cans!). Mix well. Simmer about 10-15 min. While that is working, combine cottage cheese and eggs. Then cut your tortillas in fourths. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray (I like to buy the small square disposable pans from the store. Make life much easier! One less dish to wash!! Freeze one, eat one. I did make 2 9x13 disposable pans today out of the "bumped up recipe"). Layer half of the meat sauce, half of the tortillas, half of the cottage cheese, and of the cheese (I divided this between 2 pans). Repeat layers. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 30 min.

or until bubbly. Let stand 10 min before serving. Enjoy! Happy eating!

As you can see. I needed TWO containers of cottage cheese. Ah experiments..

If you make an extra one for later you will need to mark contents, date it, and have cooking instructions on it. Again, makes life easier.

Individual Strawberry Triffles- Low Fat

In the words of my hubby tonight. This is summery, refreshing, very good! Best of all it's LOW FAT! Can I hear shouts of joy ladies! Yes, low fat doesn't have to taste like cardboard. It's soooo good! I had some leftovers of angel food cake so I used that, but you can use whatever type of "cake" you want. Plus, the great thing is you can make it for a couple people or a crowd.

Ingredients

* 1/2 a loaf of angel food cake (I didn't have a angel food cake "pan" so I used 2 loaf pans. Hey, it's what I had!)
* 1 c. Light cool-whip
*White chocolate pudding- Sugar Free-Fat Free
*1 c. milk
*Strawberries (again use as many as you want for the number of people you are making it for)
*little glasses
*whisk
*mixing bowl
*serrated knife

NOTE: You could make this in 1 big triffle, but the individuals ones are a portion. Plus they're pretty darn precious!

Add 1 cup milk to a mixing bowl. Add dry pudding to the mix and whisk until thick. Then add 1 c. of cool whip to the thick pudding and whisk until smooth. Put in refrigerator to set up more. Next, cut up cake into 1 in. pieces with a serrated knife (this type of knife won't smash cake) and set aside. Then wash, hull, and cut strawberries into small pieces and set aside. Get pudding mixture out of refrigerator and whisk well again. Get 3 glasses (Any kind you want. I used juice glasses..LOL!) and begin layering cake, strawberries, pudding mixture. Repeat. Garnish with a half of a strawberry. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to eat. Enjoy. It tastes a good as it looks!! Happy eating!

Baby Food

I thought...okay, why have recipes just for adults?.?. Since I'm a stay-at-home Mom and we are on a budget (the dreaded "B" word..), plus I have a 6 month old. Why not post a recipe for baby food. Sounds weird, but hey, babies have to eat too! Plus I'm sure that there are Momma's out there that want to know how to do this. I ground up bananas and green beans today, but you could use this same method with just about any food that you wanted to "grind up for baby". I made baby food with my first child and I'm doing it again. It's really very easy. Why spend the extra money if you are at home. Granted the jars are better for travel. Save some moo-la and make your own!

Ingredients

*Vegetables with NO SALT or Fruit with NO SUGAR OR SYRUP
*A bit of water (1/2 c.)
*Ice cube trays
*Food processor or one of those bullet machines

NOTE: If you are using fresh veggies (my choice mostly), you will need to wash and cook them down before you put them into your choice of grinder. Or you could use canned veggies, but make sure they are SALT FREE. If they are canned drain them and rinse them well. When you use fruit it's better to use fresh or frozen. Canned has way too much sugar! Fresh, be sure to wash it. Frozen, thaw it out and rinse well (with frozen fruit you may not need extra water to get the consistency you want.)

First wash and rinse veggies and fruit well. Cook it down in a sauce pan with a bit of water (about 1/2 c.). Allow time to cool for a bit then spoon food into grinder. Set warm pan with water aside. Pulse until you get the consistency you want. If consistency is too think you may want to pour a little of the warm into grinder. (I like using the water that you cooked the food in because of the nutrience in the water. Plus the warm water breaks food down better and makes it smoother.) Then when it is to the desired consistency poor into ice cube trays. Cover with plastic wrap and place in freezer. When baby food is set, crack out of ice cube trays and place in a freezer safe storage bag. Be sure to mark the content and date it. When I am ready to feed my baby, I take out 1 cube (depends on how much baby eats..) and put it in a microwave safe bowl and zap it for about 10 sec. Take it out and test. If it needs more time then give it more time. Enjoy babies!

Momma's Fried Squash

Memories! It's summer on a plate. It's my childhood on a plate. I love my Momma's Fried Squash!! It's so simple. Here's how you do it.

Ingredients

*3 med. size squash (0f course..)
*1/2 c. bread crumbs
*1/2 c. flour
*3 eggs
*Olive oil
*Veg. oil
(I use both because I like the flavor of the olive oil and the veg oil has a higher burning point)
*salt
*pepper
* 2 pie plates
* skillet
*something to cool your squash on. I like a sheet pan with a paper towel and a cooling rack over that. It allows excess grease to drip down onto paper towel.

First put oils into skillet (I love a good iron skillet) and heat to about 375 degrees (a good frying temp). While the oil is heating, cut your squash into 1/2 in. circles and set aside. Then, put your flour and bread crumbs into one pie plate and season with salt and pepper (how much of the s&p you use is your choice). Then in the other pie plate crack and add your 3 eggs and beat them until light and fluffy. Dip squash into egg then into flour a bread crumb mixture. Shake off excess. Place carefully in hot oil and fry until side begins to brown (1-2 min). Then flip and fry the other side. When squash are done put them on the cooling rack and immediately add a bit of salt. Enjoy.

Happy eating!

Hello Foodies!

For the past couple of years my hubby has been saying I should do a food blog. Why, I thought. I already blog "The At Home Chick" so why do I need another blog. Too much for this chick to keep up with. But then I got to thinking, "Lora you so LOVE to cook and you so LOVE food!" I have people asking "Lora, how did you make that?" So I figured I might as well start a blog that is for busy Mom's that need new recipes and are tired of the same ol' thing. Now I LOVE The Pioneer Woman. She is amazing! My blog won't be that detailed. I will give you the recipe and the finished product. My whole goal with this is just to give you a pick me in your recipe repertoire. Most of my recipes are low-fat and good for you. I love taking old classics and giving them my own spin. I will also try new recipes. Mom's (and Dad's too. Men please feel free to use also!) are busy people! Whether you are stay-at-home-Mom like me, or a working Mom; I hope you enjoy my food creations.

Happy Eating!
The Chick