Tag Archives: yummy

Zucchini Bites

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I totally BOMBED these Zucchini Bites (http://curiouscountrycook.blogspot.com/2012/03/zucchini-tots.html) the first time that I made them because I neglected to squeeze the excess water from the shredded zucchini, which resulted in super soggy bites. This recipe was so simple that I wanted to try again, remembering this time the important part of ridding the zucchini of it’s excess water. I figured if I was successful the second time around, this may be a recipe that Reagan will love and get her to eat a vegetable!

I found the recipe on the Curious Country Cook’s website: http://curiouscountrycook.blogspot.com/2012/03/zucchini-tots.html

I changed two parts of this recipe; what I baked the Bites in and how long I baked them for. I don’t own a mini muffin tin, so I used a larger muffin tin. The mini muffin tin would be perfect to bake things for Reagan, because they would be just her size…that is if I can ever remember to buy one when I’m at Marshall’s, Home Good’s, or even at the local grocery.
The original recipe calls for you to bake the Bites for 15-18 minutes. This would be the perfect abount of time if you were using a mini muffin tin. Since I had a larger amount of the bite mixture within each tin hole I had to up the baking time to 23 minutes.

The recipe yields 12 mini Bites (mini muffin tin) or 7 larger Bites (larger muffin tin)

Ingredients

1 cups zucchini, grated
1 egg (1 large egg equals 3-4 tbsp when whisked together)
1/4 yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup cheese (cheddar or Parmesan work the best)
1/4 cup bread crumbs – I used Italian style
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 400F. Spray muffin tin with non-stick spray, set aside.

Grate the zucchini and then place in a paper towel to squeeze out the excess water or place in a colander and push down on the shredded zucchini and allow for the water to drain through the holes– if you skip this part, the middle of the Bites will be really soggy (SOGGY IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT…THE WILL BE MUSH!!!)

In a bowl combine, the egg, onion, cheese, bread crumbs, zucchini, salt and pepper.

Using a spoon, fill the muffin holes to the top.

Bake for 15-18 minutes (mini muffin tin) or 23 minutes (larger muffin tin). Keep an eye on the tops of the Bites. When they are browning, remove them from the oven so they don’t burn.

I’m not going to lie and say that these were Reagan’s favorite, but she did eat half of one at two different sittings and that’s more vegetables than she’s consumed in awhile. My husband, mother and I really enjoyed them, so they are worth making again…but DON’T FORGET TO SQUEEZE!

Valentine’s Lunch for Two!

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I had the perfect date for Valentine’s Day lunch…Reagan! We made our boring pasta and turkey dog’s fun by adding a little Valentine’s love to them!

What we used for our Lunch for Two:

2 Applegate Organic Turkey Hot Dogs
2 Bendable Straws
Nugget Pasta
Red Food Coloring

Directions:

Add pasta to pot of boiling water. Let pasta boil for 5 minutes or so and then add as many drops of red food coloring as you like. The more drops you add the darker red the pasta will be. The fewer drops added, the pinker your pasta will be. Continue to boil pasta till desired tenderness. (the steam from the pot blurred the first picture a bit)

Boil hot dogs in separate pot of boiling water. I boil our dogs for about 10 minutes.

Cut middle of hot dog out at an angle so that you have two end pieces that are about an inch and a half long each. You can make the heart as big as you like by cutting away less of the middle of the hot dog or none at all. Reagan never eats the entire hot dog, so I figured a little hot dog heart would be perfect for her.

Cut the bendable straw so that neither end is longer than the length of the cut hot dog pieces. You want the bendable piece to be in the center.

Insert each straw end into a piece of the hot dog so that the bendable part is towards the bottom point of your hot dog heart. Push rounded tops of the hot dogs to secure the straw into place.

Ta Da! A Valentine’s Day lunch that Reagan will LOVE! We of course needed our fruit and veggie, so we also had a side of green peas and apple sauce! Now that I think of it, I could have dyed some cauliflower pink and added some red food coloring to Reagan’s apple sauce. She was happy with what she had and that’s all that I was aiming for!

Banana Bread’s Secret

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I’m not a banana fan in the least. Don’t like the taste, the texture and certainty not what they do to my kids! However, mix them up in a delicious bread and my mind completely changes. The sour cream in this recipe makes the bread super moist and I am always caught sneaking a second piece!

Ingredients
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup sour cream
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp salt
1-2 cups chocolate chips, optional

banana3

In a medium sized bowl mix together bananas and sour cream. Set aside.

In large bowl cream butter and sugars until smooth.

Beat in eggs and vanilla.

Stir in banana/sour cream mixture.

In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients then add to banana mixture.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour into two greased 7×3 inch loaf pans or one 9×13 pan.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake for 5 minutes. Then turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake an additional 45 minutes. * this will help to prevent the top from getting too dark*

Bread is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Chocolate Chip Amazingness

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If I could only eat one dessert for the rest of my life it would be these cookies. They are THAT good! I have been making these cookies for years and everyone always asks for the recipe. I am always reluctant to give out my “secret” recipe even though I didn’t even come up with it on my own. The thing that makes them so delicious, so soft and so amazing is the vanilla pudding. I don’t know how it does it but it’s like…magic!

1 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 3.4oz box instant vanilla pudding
1T vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1t baking powder
1t baking soda
1/4t salt
2 cups chocolate chips

First, cream together the butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl.

photo 2

Then, add the magic powder aka vanilla pudding.

photo-1

Next, beat in eggs and vanilla.

photo 3

After that, stir in the dry ingredients.

photo 4

Finally, pour in the chocolate chips.

photo 5

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-11 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet or until slightly golden brown.

All done and ready to eat!

All done and ready to eat!

The recipe will make approximately three dozen cookies so if you are like me and can eat a dozen in one sitting or want to be able to freeze some for a midnight snack at a later date then you might want to double the recipe. Give them a try…I doubt you will go back to your old recipe. Happy baking!

Kid tested and approved!

Kid tested and approved!