Chocolate chip zuchinni muffins

These muffins are a great change from the usual zucchini bread. They have just enough sweetness to make them kid friendly. Last time I made them I baked up a bunch in my mini muffin tin so they were the perfect size for little hands. Emily even suggested that I could make for her to take in her cold lunch. I found this recipe last year on this blog. Last time I checked she had 19 zucchini recipes so this website might be a good spot to check if you have a crazy amount of zucchini to get rid of.

1 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder (I upped it to 1 1/2 tsp)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup finely shredded zucchini
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
¾ cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional, I didn't do the nuts)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 muffin tin cups with paper liners. Spray the paper liners with nonstick spray. (This is key, or the muffin will stick to the liner)In a medium bowl, stir the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar to blend them smoothly. Whisk in the oil and vanilla until blended. Use a large spoon to stir in the flour mixture just until incorporated. Stir in the zucchini, then stir in chocolate chips and walnuts (if using) until evenly distributed. Pour about 1/3 cup of the batter into each paper liner. Bake until the tops are light brown and a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, about 23 minutes. If the toothpick penetrates a chocolate chip, test another spot.Cool muffins in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Using pot holders to protect your hands, invert the muffin pan onto a wire rack and tap the bottom to release the muffins. Turn the muffins right side up to cool for about 15 minutes and serve warm, or let cool completely, about 45 minutes.

Blackened Corn Salsa

I got this recipe from Prudence Pennywise. Has anyone tried it yet? If you haven't, you really need to! I made chicken enchilada's last night for dinner. My kids are REALLY picky and like them pretty plain. Rocky and I like actual flavor in our food, so I thought I would give this a try. I put it in our enchilada's and it really added flavor! Rocky ate a little bit with tortilla chips and really liked it. Check out her website for a picture. I didn't get a picture of it, sorry!


Blackened Corn Salsa



1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups corn fresh or thawed, if frozen
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 jalapeno or serrano pepper, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
juice of one lime
1/2 cup chopped cilantro


Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Add corn and onion and cook, stirring from time to time, until corn and onion are blackened in places. Combine with other ingredients in a medium bowl and serve.

Add a little Spice to your chicken

Grilled Southwestern Chicken

4-(5-6 oz) boneless chicken breasts
1/3 cup canola oil
3 Tb cider vinegar
1 Tb chopped fresh cilantro
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper

Flatten chicken to even thickness and set aside. In a small bowl, combine all other ingredients an mix well. Place chicken and marinade in resealable plastic bag. Refrigerate 1-2 hours. Remove chicken and discard marinade. It is VERY important to grill this on low heat. The marinade will scorch otherwise. That is also why it is important to flatten the chicken.

Serve with salad greens and ranch dressing. YUMMY!

Also, if anyone out there has any great ideas for healthy, filling on the go breakfasts, it would be appreciated. Happy cooking!

A couple of quick dinners

Okay, Danielle, I've got a couple of quick dinners that come to my mind, but I'm almost embarrassed to post them because they aren't very exciting/creative. But, they both take less than 30 minutes, without being spaghetti, so here you go:

1. Taco plate/taco salad... whatever you want to call it:
1/2 - 1 pound hamburger (whatever your preference)
1 can drained kidney beans
1 can semi-drained pork and beans (I know, sounds lame, but I think it works. If you don't stock your cupboards with pork and beans though, it's not a vital ingredient)
1-2 can tomato sauce (I use 1, if you like it more tomato-y, you may want more)
taco seasoning to your liking (I usually use about 1/2 a packet)

Brown burger, salt and pepper it, add all other ingredients and simmer a bit. We usually eat ours like this: layer of tortilla chips, meat, cheese, lettuce, ranch, etc... whatever you like on a taco salad.

2. Chicken and black bean quesadillas:
1-2 chicken breasts, cut up
1/2 - 1 can of drained/rinsed black beans
1 can green chillies
taco seasoning to your liking

Cook chicken completely in a little oil with salt and pepper, add the rest of the ingredients and heat through. Make quesadillas: tortilla, cheese, chicken, cheese, tortilla. Serve with sour cream, guacamole, salsa... whatever you like. I also like to use this for a taco salad for yet another change.

Quick Dinner Quest

Okay ladies, I am on a quest. I'm looking for new ideas for quick, on-hand dinners for those nights when its 5:00 and I haven't started dinner (or just plain don't want to). You know those nights when you don't want to order out, but don't want to resort to Ramen noodles or cold cereal. I'm not the only one who has those nights, am I?

I'm not coming empty handed. Here are a couple things I do:

I try to have frozen ravioli/tortellini on hand that I can cook, pour a bottle of sauce over and serve with a quick salad-I'll admit, sometimes the salad doesn't happen.

I also like to freeze chicken in a ziplock with marinade. I just freeze it in amounts that make one dinner for our family. (Be sure to label it) Then I can thaw it, grill/cook it, and serve it up with frozen veggies and one of those quickie rice dishes in a box.

I tried this Lemon and Garlic Grilled Chicken marinade last night. I found it on My Kitchen Cafe. Its totally easy and super yummy. It even passed the Hannah-test, which is MAJOR.

See, I'm not looking for gourmet. In fact, quite the opposite, the easier the better. Don't be shy. What may seem totally mundane and basic to you is probably something I haven't even thought of. Come on...who doesn't need some quickie-dinner ideas?

Strawberry Cupcakes

I am so addicted to these right now I am going to have a strawberry cupcake caboose pretty soon. They taste like summer! I got the recipe from this site and I have loved everything I have made from her. This is a must try. This is also a fun recipe for kids to help with.

Wild Strawberry Cupcakes

Makes 24 plus-the recipe said 36 but I got about 28

16 oz Strawberries Destemmed

4 eggs

1 3/4 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Butter

1 t. Vanilla

1 1/2 t. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3 Cups Flour

Place first four ingredients in blender. Blend until fully pureed.Pour into large bowl and mix with remaining ingredients. Spoon into cupcake wrappers. Bake at 325 degrees for 18-20 minutes, or until tops spring back when touched. Allow to cool. Frost with recipe below.

Sweet and Pure Strawberry Buttercream

3/4 Cup fresh Strawberries destemmed

1/2 Cup Butter

1 tsp Vanilla

2 lb Powdered Sugar

Over a large bowl crush the strawberries in your hands(I just used a fork in the bowl). Allow juice and pulp to fall into bowl. Add remaining ingredients and beat well with an electric mixer. Frost cooled cupcakes. Allow to set at room temperature. I have found you have plenty leftover after frosting cupcakes to eat with a spoon-or your fingers!

Chicken Pasta Salad

I love Chicken Salad sandwiches – so I really enjoyed this pasta salad with the same flavors. My mom made this for a family gathering and I couldn’t stay out of it. Of course when I tried to make it for a party, it didn’t quite taste as good - but that is because I didn’t have all of the ingredients and so I substituted.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups bow tie (farfalle) pasta

1 (16 ounce) bottle bottled coleslaw dressing

1 cup mayonnaise

4 cups cubed cooked chicken

1 1/2 cups seedless green grapes, halved

1 1/2 cups seedless red grapes, halved

2 cups thinly sliced celery

1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions

2 cups cashew halves

Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain, and set aside. (Not an Al Dente fan - I usually cook mine for about 12 min )
   
   
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together coleslaw dressing and mayonnaise.
   
   
3. In a large bowl, combine pasta, chicken, grapes, celery and green onions. Stir in dressing, add salt and pepper if desired and mix well. Place the salad in the refrigerator to marinate for 2 hours, or overnight. Mix in cashews just before serving.
   Serve cold.

I don’t love onions – but these are pretty mild so I didn’t mind them. When I re-made the salad I didn’t add them and I think they needed to be there. Also I didn’t have enough mayo and so I added more coleslaw dressing and this made the salad a little too sweet. The other substitution I made was to use almonds instead of cashews – while almonds are tasty, they will never be as good as cashews.