Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Chocolate Zucchini Cake
2 Cups Sugar
1 Cup Oil
2 Cups Grated And Peeled Zucchini
½ Cup Milk
2 ½ Cups Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
3 Eggs
3 Tsp Vanilla
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Soda
½ Cup Cocoa

Mix And Bake At 350 Deg For 1 Hr In A Bunt Pan. Drizzle With Warm Chocolate Fudge Frosting.

Chocolate Fudge Frosting
¼ Cup Margarine
1 Tsp Vanilla
6 Tbsp Cocoa
2 Tbsp Milk
1 Lb Powdered Sugar
¼ Cup Sour Cream
Cook In A Sauce Pan On Low Heat Until Melted.

HOLY COW! I kid you not, best stuff ever! Try it, you won't be disappointed!

-Yummy Zucchini Bread-

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 t. each salt, baking soda, nutmeg

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. baking powder

3 eggs

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup oil

1 T. orange zest

2 t. vanilla

2 c. shredded zucchini

1 c. chopped walnuts(optional...I don't use them because I'm not a nut fan)

1 c. chocolate chips(I did half milk and half semi sweet. Also it might be a good idea to use the mini chocolate chips so they don't all fall to the botton of the pan. )

Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another bowl. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then pour into two greased 8x4 loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes then remove from pans and cool the rest of the way.

Peach Cobbler

Batter:
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup room temperature milk
1 room temperature egg

Filling :
1 (28 ounce) can sliced peaches, drained
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions
1. Melt butter in a 9 x 13 inch pan.
2. Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder & salt.
3. Stir in milk & egg.
4. Pour evenly over melted butter.
5. Combine peaches, sugar & spices and spread over batter-DO NOT STIR!
6. Bake 35-45 minutes at 350°F until batter comes to the top and is golden brown.
7. Serve warm with ice cream.

Ribollita

I found this recipe while watching Giada on food network. It is so yummy!

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus some for drizzling on bread

1 onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

4 ounces pancetta, chopped (or bacon)

2 cloves garlic, 1 minced and 1 whole

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 pound frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1 (15-ounce) can cannelloni beans, drained

1 tablespoon oregano

3 cups chicken stock

1 bay leaf 1 (3-inch) piece

1/4 Cup parmesan cheese, grated

1 Loaf ciabata bread, sliced

-Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, pancetta, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook until the onion is golden brown and the pancetta is crisp, about 7 minutes. Add tomato paste and stir until dissolved. Add tomatoes and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to release all the brown bits. Add the spinach, beans, herbs, stock, bay leaf, and Parmesan cheese. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

-Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

-Drizzle the ciabatta slices with olive oil. Toast until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and rub the top of the toasts with the whole garlic clove. Place the toasts in the serving bowls and ladle the soup over the toasts. Sprinkle with Parmesan and serve immediately.

Steak (hamburger accually) and Everything Sandwiches

When I ask Jon what he wants for dinner, this is a common request. I guess it is like a Philly cheese steak, but my version. I hope your husbands like it as much as mine does.
All the these ingredients can be increased or decreased according to your taste

1 lb. Hamburger
1 Large Onion (cut in spears)
1 Bell Peppers (cut in spears)
Mushrooms (optional)
Tomato (optional)
Garlic Salt
Italian Seasoning
Mozzarella Cheese
8 Buns

Brown hamburger. While cooking, sprinkle with garlic salt and italian seasoning. Drain grease and add veggies and cook till soft, adding more garlic salt and seasoning as needed. After they are soft add cheese to the top and cover, so that it can melt. Serve over buns. My favorite are hamburger buns from the bakery. Hoagie buns and french bread work good too.

*Make it even better: Make your buns Garlic Bread*
While meat and veggies are cooking butter both sides of the bun and sprinkle it with garlic salt and italian seasoning. Put it in the oven at 350, until it is barely golden.

We had this the other night with garden fresh tomatoes and corn. Jon is still telling me how great it was...............3 days later.

- -Layered Peanut Butter Bars- -

These are the only kind of peanut butter bars that I like...In fact, I can't stop eating them!

InGrEdIeNtS:
{Batter}
1 Cup Butter
1 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
2 1/2 Cups Peanut Butter
1 Egg
1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla
2 1/2 Cups Quick Oats
2 Cups Flour
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt

{Frosting}
6 Tbsp. Butter
4 Cups Powdered Sugar
1/2 Cup Cocoa
1 Tsp Vanilla
6-8 Tbsp. Milk

Mix BUTTER, BROWN SUGAR & GRANULATED SUGAR until light and fluffy. Add 1 cup PEANUT BUTTER, EGG & VANILLA, blend well. Mix in FLOUR, OATS, BAKING SODA & SALT, blend until all dry ingredients are moist. Spread batter in a 13x8 baking pan. Bake @ 350* for 13-15 minutes or until it looks like this...


Allow crust to cool slightly. While its still warm, spread 1 1/2 cups PEANUT BUTTER over the top. Cool completely. While that is cooling, make the frosting. Frosting should be thick but still able to spread. Once cooled, spread on Chocolate frosting.



*Enjoy*

Lasagna Buns

I saw something similar to this on Rachel Ray and modified it to fit my family's tastes. It's a variation on lasagna that eliminates working with noodles (my least favorite and most time consuming part).

1 lb ground beef
16 oz ricotta cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 large can tomato sauce (or marinara sauce)
2 eggs
8 kaiser rolls (or any roll large enough to scoop out the inside and fill)

Brown the ground beef in a pan. Drain the grease and add tomato sauce. I added some salt, pepper, and garlic powder, but you can throw in whatever you want. In a separate mixing bowl beat the eggs. Add ricotta and mozzarella cheeses. Cut tops off rolls and scoop out the inside. You can save the bread for bread crumbs, or eat it as an appetizer while you cook (like I do). Fill the rolls halfway with meat mixture, then the rest of the way with cheese mixture. Replace tops on rolls and wrap each roll in tin foil. Place wrapped rolls on a cookie sheet and bake at 325 for an hour.

I served them with ranch as a dipping sauce, but that's just because we eat EVERYTHING with ranch.

Here's the link to Rachel Ray's recipe if you'd like to try her variation.

Ratatouille

Is anyone else looking for things to do with Zucchini? I made this for dinner the other night and it was sure good!

1 meduim eggplant

1 meduim bell pepper

1 medium onion
1 medium zucchini

1/4 cup sun-dried tomato dressing (Kraft or Ken's Steakhouse)

1 can (or 16 oz fresh) diced or stewed tomatoes

2 T. parmesan cheese

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

Cut the eggplant in bite size pieces. Chop the bell pepper. Cut the onion and zucchini in 1/2 inch slices. Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix eggplant, onion, red pepper, zucchini and dressing in large skillet; cook and stir on medium-high heat for 6 to 8 min. or until vegetables are tender and lightly browned.
Add tomatoes; cook 15 min., stirring occasionally. Spoon into baking dish. Top with grated topping and mozzarella cheese.
BAKE 15 min. or until cheese is melted and vegetable mixture is heated through.

NOTE: I've made this with and without the eggplant. I've also added 1-2 cut up chicken breasts to make it non-vegeterian.

Indian Chicken

3 tbsp butter or margarine

1/2 onion, minced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 can evaporated milk (I use the fat free skim kind)

2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garam masala

2 large skinless-boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks
Cooking Spray (I like the olive oil spray)
2 tablespoons curry powder

2 tbsp flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Melt half of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion and garlic, and cook slowly until the onion caramelizes to a dark brown, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile melt the remaining butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat along with the tomato sauce, evaporated milk, flour, salt, cayenne pepper, and garam masala. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low; cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then stir in caramelized onions.
While the sauce is simmering, spray baking sheet with cooking spray and spread chicken peices out onto a baking sheet, then sprinkle with curry powder.
Bake chicken in preheated oven until no longer pink in the center, about 12 minutes. Once done, add the chicken to the sauce and simmer for 5 minutes before serving.

Serve over Basmati rice.

NOTE: Garam Masala and Curry Powder can sometimes be hard to find - I got mine at World Market. If you want to try this recipe, feel free to just come over and borrow some of the spices for the first time before you make a special trip to buy them.

Scratchy Pancakes & Daddy Syrup

For MarKey, my sweet sis!
First, the story:
I make these for my daughter and apparently it's THE way pancakes are supposed to taste. She stayed the night at my mother's house last summer and in the morning she told Grandma that she wanted pancakes for breakfast. My mom pulled out her best store bought mix and fixed some for her. She took one bite and said that they didn't taste right and refused to eat any more. So, later on the drive home she told me that Grandma didn't make the pancakes right. I told her that Grandma made her's from a mix and I make them from scratch, so they taste different. This answer seemed to satisfy her, but after a little thought a small voice from the back seat said, "But our pancakes are not scratchy." Thus, the name was born.
The "Daddy Syrup" story is shorter. Our daddy makes syrup at home and it's better than store bought...it's a little runny, but the flavor is awesome. Anyway, one day she told me she wanted pancakes for breakfast and wondered if I had Daddy Syrup or the Pantry Syrup. I just thought it was funny that she called them that with no prompting or anything.
Sorry, this was long.....

Scratchy Pancakes
1 1/4 cups flour (can be white or wheat)
1 Tbsp. (or 3 tsp.) Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 to 1 1/2 cups milk
2 Tbsp. oil
Mix dry ingredients together. Add egg and liquid. Mix to a smooth batter and cook on a hot surface. This will make 10-12 pancakes and they are best on the first day, but the batter can be stored in the fridge.

Daddy Syrup
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. Mapeline (imitation maple flavoring)
1 tsp. Imitation vanilla
Add sugar, water, Mapeline, and vanilla to saucepan. Bring the water/sugar mixture to a full boil. Watch it so it doesn’t boil over. Make sure the sugar dissolves, but doesn't burn! Makes 2 1/4 cups.

P.F. Chang's Orange Peel Chicken

I just made this last night to celebrate the Olympics being in China this summer! Just a warning: It was kind of a lot of prep work, but it was so worth it!

Yummy!

Sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 tablespoons minced garlic
4 green onions, sliced
1 cup tomato sauce

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons oriental chili-garlic sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce

chicken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 chicken breast fillets
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1 cup flour

1 orange (peel from 1/4 orange, julienned into 1/8-inch thick strips)
1 cup sugar snap peas

Directions
1~Prepare sauce by heating 1 tablespoon of oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add minced garlic and sliced green onions. Add tomato sauce and water quickly before the garlic burns. Add sugar, chili garlic sauce and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Simmer 5 to 6 minutes or until sauce thickens, then turn off the heat.

2~Prepare the chicken by heating 1/2 cup oil in a wok over medium heat. Slice chicken breast fillets into bite-size pieces. Combine beaten egg with milk in a medium bowl. Pour the flour into another medium bowl.

3~Coat chicken pieces by dropping them into the flour a few at a time, then into the egg/milk mixture and back into the flour. Arrange coated chicken on a plate until all chicken is coated.

4~When oil in the wok is hot, add about half of the chicken to the oil and cook for a couple minutes or until brown on one side, then flip the chicken over. When chicken is golden brown, remove the pieces to a rack or paper towels to drain. Repeat with the remaining chicken. When all of the chicken is cooked rinse the oil out of the wok with water and place it back on the stove to heat up.

5~When wok is hot again add julienned orange peel and chicken. Heat for 20 to 30 seconds or so, stirring gently. Add sugar peas and sauce to the pan and cook for about 2 minutes. Stir dish a couple times but do it gently so you don't knock the coating off the chicken. Cook until the sauce thickens then serve up the dish with white or brown rice on the side.

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