Zucchini Bread Pancakes

Ingredients1. c all purpose flour
3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
3 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg (we didn't have so I used a sprinkle of ginger)
1 1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
2 c. zucchini, shredded
1 tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp butter, melted

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In another bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, zucchini, vanilla, and melted butter. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until well-combined.
2. Coat a griddle with butter or spray with cooking spray and set to medium-high heat. Drop 1/4 c. of batter onto the griddle; cook 1-2 minutes on each side, until brown and cooked through.

Steel Cut Oats- The Breakfast of Champions!

I've been LOVING steel cut oatmeal and have it about 3-4 times a week. Thus, usually on a weekend, I'll pick a day when I can spend some time in the kitchen and make 4 servings at once. This makes mornings easier, plus I've been having so much fun in the kitchen on my cooking/baking days. This past weekend, I made baked sweet potatoes, peanut butter brownies from scratch, steel cut oats, soup, turkey bacon, and stir fry veggies. Already, this week is delicious.

Why steel cut oats? They're better for me, taste so good, leave me feeling content for a long time, and are delicious with some extra add-ins. Check out Bob's Red Mill steel cut oatmeal, the one I've been using lately. Note that this site is selling them for $10.88 a CASE (not a bag), and see the nutrition facts below. High in protein, a good source of carbs and iron, and low in fat and sugars.

So how does one make steel cut oats? Just follow the directions. They take a bit longer than rolled oats- these take between 10-20 minutes to simmer after the initial boil- and I usually add in some goodies like cinnamon, honey, nutmeg, mashed banana, flax seed powder, almond butter, greek yogurt, raisins, etc. toward the end (the last 5 minutes or so). I'll sometimes add some fresh fruit when I eat it or some blue agave syrup if desired. In any case, do what makes you happy and enjoy!

Morning GLORIOUS Muffins!

Modified from Can You Stay for Dinner's Morning Glory Muffin recipe, these are amazing, sweet, healthy and were a blast to make!

Ingredients:
2¼ cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)
2/3 cup sugar
1½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (generously used this, I love cinnamon!)
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple (including juices)- I skipped this and used a cup of cinnamon applesauce instead.
1½ cups shredded carrots (2-3 medium)- I didn't use quite this much, but will happily add more next time.
½ cup raisins
½ cup sweetened shredded coconut
½ cup walnuts

AND...
about 5 sliced strawberries
1 diced nectarine
about 3 diced dried apricots
a few dried cranberries
...and I think that's it. But there might be more.

To Do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper cups. (I made mini-muffins, and it made about 3 dozen).
In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
In a separate bowl, beat together oil, eggs, and pineapple (including pineapple can juices/applesauce). Stir egg mixture into the flour mixture, just until combined.
Stir in the carrot, raisins, coconut, and walnuts (and other ingredients). Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups.
Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean. (About 15 minutes for minis)
makes 12 (or 36)

Review: I could eat these all day long, and on the first day I made them, I honestly had 6 (like having 2 regular-sized muffins, and with the chunks of fruit and bits of walnut, I didn't feel guilty about it at all). I have since limited myself to 1-2 per day, so that they'll last longer, but I am (and everyone else who has tried one is) loving them! When they run out, I'll be making a batch of banana chocolate chip muffins using the same recipe. The only issue was that the paper's a little tough to remove, any ideas for making this easier? Cooking spray inside the muffin papers? In any case, these are winners in my book and I was SO excited to share them that I came back and posted lots of new recipes, of course saving the best for last :) Yum, yum, yum!

Easy Cinnamon Rolls

Another one from 'Fast Fix Family Food', these easy cinnamon rolls were truly that- really simple and such a sweet way to start the day! Just 25 minutes start to finish. We'll definitely make them again!

1 8 oz. package (8) refrigerated crescent-roll dough
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 2 teaspoons orange juice or milk (we used milk- but I'd be interested to taste it with orange juice)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease an 8x 1 1/2 or 9 1/2 inch round baking pan; set aside. Unroll dough (do not separate); press perforations to seal. Brush dough with melted butter. In a small bowl, stir together the cinnamon and granulated sugar; sprinkle over dough. Starting from a long side, roll up dough. Using a sharp knife, slice dough into eight 1 1/2 inch pieces. Arrange pieces, cut sides up, in prepared pan, flattening each roll slightly.

2. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden. Remove and cool rolls slightly in pan on a wire rack. Remove from pan. In a small bowl, stir together powdered sugar, vanilla and enough orange juice/milk to make an icing of drizzling consistency. Drizzle over warm rolls. Serve warm. Makes 8 rolls.

Zucchini Bread

This zucchini bread (with carrots, walnuts and raisins) is delicious. Here was the recipe that I used:

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts
optional: grated carrot (about 1/2 cup) and raisins (as many as you'd like)

Directions:
Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

Yum yum yum, enjoy :)

Honey Corn Muffins

I woke up wanting corn muffins last Saturday and upon initial inspection, I had everything I needed for the recipe I found online here. I started mixing everything up and got down the milk when I realized that we didn't actually have any. Since I'd already started and was committed to my muffins, I made a quick Turkey Hill run, and we were good to go- so good, in fact, that after these scrumptious muffins were devoured (by the end of the day Sunday), I decided to make another batch! Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup honey
*The 2nd time I made them, I added about a teaspoon of cinnamon into the mix. Yum!

Equipment:
Muffin tin, paper muffin cups, mixer (or a spatula/whisk), mixing bowl (I used my Tupperware Mix N' Stor Pitcher, which is quickly turning into my very favorite TW tool).

Here's What You Do:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Into a large bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the whole milk, eggs, butter, and honey. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed. (Add cinnamon here if you'd like)

Place muffin paper liners in a 12-cup muffin tin. Evenly divide the cornbread mixture into the papers. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden.

If eating at a later time, warm up in the microwave (or even better, the toaster), top with butter or jelly, and indulge. Happy Summer!

Homemade Bagels

Only 5 ingredients! And pretty easy, just allow enough time for the dough to rise! These are the ingredients for 8 bagels, each bagel turns out to be about the size of the palm of your hand (not huge like the Dunkin Donuts ones).

2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 1/4 cup warm water
3 1/2 cups flour (I used bread flour, the recipe said high-protein, wheat, or white would work fine)
1 12/ tsp salt

Put 1/2 cup of water in a bowl and add the sugar and yeast. Let this sit for about 5 minutes, it should get frothy, then you know the yeast is activated! Stir to dissolve sugar and then add in the remaining water, flour, and salt). Knead ingredients together for about 5 minutes, you'll want the dough to be moist yet stiff. If it's too sticky add some more flour, too dry add some more water. After kneading let rise for an hour.

1 hour later: Dough should have doubled in size, gently punch down and let it sit for another 10 minutes. After this divide your dough into 8 pieces and roll each into a really tight ball of dough (this took awhile to get a really good ball). Use a finger to make a hole in the center of each ball and stretch out the center a little (not too much, the dough will about double in size during boiling). Let the bagels rest for 10 more minutes. While this is happening bring a big pot of water to a boil.

Using a slotted spoon (of whatever you have) drop each bagel into the water for 1-2 minutes. They should float, the more time in the water the chewier the bagel. I boiled mine for a minute each side. Take them out of the water and put them on a oiled baking sheet.

Now is the time to add toppings! I didn't (because we were planning to eat them with cinnamon raisin peanut butter) but if you wanted to: beat an egg and brush the top of each bagel with egg. Add any toppings you want (poppy seeds, onion, garlic, salt, etc) and that's it. (the egg helps the toppings stick)

Bake the bagels for 20-25 minutes at 425 degrees or until they are browned and crispy on the outside. Enjoy!

Pancakes

Got up this morning with pancakes on our minds, only to find that we didn't have any mix. I was bummed and thinking about making something else, but Kyle thought to look up a recipe online and see if we could make them from scratch..and that's just what we did! So here it is...

2 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. (we used a little less) salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1 egg
3 Tbsp. oil
and a little vanilla
**plus chocolate chips, of course!

...and they were delicious! Score one for the home team, no more pancake mix for us! This made over a dozen good size pancakes, and I even made a few with different things inside- nuts and coconut today, although if I had been thinking ahead, I could have thawed out some berries we have in the freezer (for our favorite spring/summertime treat, smoothies) and put them in. Oh well, maybe next time! Until then!

Easy Quiche

This was a great quiche we made for a quick dinner, the best thing is that they are easy to make and can have endless combinations. Enjoy!

1 frozen pie crust thawed

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups dairy (most recipes use heavy cream or half and half but I used 1% milk and it was great)

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated

2 cups or so of fillings (for the one in the picture we used a large sauteed onion, Swiss cheese, and American Cheese)

salt and pepper to taste (and a spur of the moment decision to add in some garlic powder)

In a mixing bowl beat eggs, parm cheese, and milk together, add in salt, pepper, and any other seasonings. Lay out the pie crust in the dish, place any fillings in the crust. I usually put meat at the bottom (if we use any), then vegis, then diced up cheese. Pour the egg and milk mixture over the fillings and bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Keep an eye towards the end of the time because you don't want the top to burn, but you want it to be cooked all the way through (test by inserting a fork and see if it comes out clean). Now some people put the cheese on top of the quiche and then bake it but I find that then sometimes the cheese burns before the egg is cooked through. Check out my golden crust... :)

Yummy Quiche Fillings

Meats- ham, bacon, steak-ums, sausage, tuna, ground beef

Vegis (I usually cook them a little first)- onions, peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, mushrooms, asparagus, spinach, zucchini, cauliflower,

Cheese- basically any... Swiss, American, cheddar, jack, Parmesan, goat, Gouda, cream cheese, Munster

Seasonings- salt, pepper, garlic powder, dill, thyme, basil, parsley, cumin, nutmeg, hot sauce, mustard, salsa,

Some people also add in home fries or breakfast potatoes!

Experiment with what you have on hand and post if you come up with anything good!

Snow Day Apple Oatmeal

I got the call at 5:09 am that my school was closed for the day so what better thing to eat on a snow day... oatmeal! Found this recipe online and tweaked it... and it was delicious!



Slow Cooker Apple Oatmeal


- 1 cup of old fashioned oats
- 2 cups 1% milk
- splash of vanilla extract
- sprinkle of brown sugar
- 1 large apple chopped up (we used golden delicious)

Mix all the ingredients in your crock pot and cook on the high setting for 1-2 hours. Ours cooked for about an hour and a half and it was great. Jason and I both had a bowl and we have a serving left over. I could not believe how creamy and sweet it was. Top with cinnamon and enjoy :)

Things you could add that would probably taste good: chopped nuts, raisins, maple syrup instead of the brown sugar, bananas instead or with the apples