Broiled Zucchini and Potatoes with Parm Crust

4 small new potatoes (red or white)

2 small zucchini, sliced into 1" rounds

2 tbsp butter

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp rosemary

1/2 tsp basil

1/4 tsp roasted red pepper

pinch of salt and pepper

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the potatoes and cook until just tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes and let cool. When cool dice into 1" pieces.

In a saute pan over medium heat add the butter, garlic, spices and let cook until the butter melts, about 2 minutes. Season the cut sides of zucchini and potatoes with salt and pepper. Add to the butter and spices and cook until golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. While cooking, preheat broiler.

Line a baking sheet with foil. Place the browned zucchini and potatoes on the baking sheet cut side up. Sprinkle the tops with the cheese. Place in the broiler until the cheese is golden brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate and eat!

** You can actually skip the broiler/cheese process all together and just eat out of the saute pan. With or without the cheese it's very yummy.

Canned Peaches

Blanch the fresh peaches: gently drop into boiling water for about 1 minute, remove and let cool until you can easily handle them. The peel will easily pull of without cutting any of the peach away.

Slice peaches into jar. Fill to the top (mine are packed tight to get as much in one jar as I can and I still end up with the empty juice space at the bottom once they cook down).

Add sugar water: 1/2 cup sugar to 1 quart water. Dissolve sugar in boiling water and set aside until ready to fill jars. It's best to keep it hot but not necessary to have it at a constant boil.

Wash rings of jars to make sure there is nothing to stop jar from sealing. Add canning lids to jars (follow directions on box of lids). Screw on the lids and set in water bath. Bring water bath to a full boil and let boil 8-10 minutes. The idea is to seal the jars, not make mush out of the peaches.

After time is over turn off burner, take lid off, lift rack of jars out of water bath but sitting on the side of the pan. Set jars on a towel on the counter. You want to make sure that they aren't by a window or fan blowing cool air so that the jars don't crack due to drastic temperature changes. Jars should seal as they cool.

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup soft margarine

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup honey

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups flour

Preheat oven to 375.

Beat together margarine and peanut butter

Add and mix sugar, baking powder and soda

Beat in honey, eggs and vanilla

Gradually add flour and mix well

Form into balls and place on cookie sheet, criss cross with a sugared fork

Bake 7 to 9 minutes, just until bottoms barely start to brown

Cinnamon Syrup

We became addicted to this syrup during our frequent trips to Springville to visit Shawn and Kellie (I really miss those days!). I have it pictured with french toast but it is also very delicious with pumpkin pancakes, zucchini pancakes or apple spice pancakes.

3 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups corn syrup

3/4 cup water

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 can evaporated milk

Bring everything except for the milk to a boil, then lower the heat and cook for a few minutes (usually about 3-5). ** You really have to watch it so that it doesn't bubble over. Add the evaporated milk. Serve.

**After watching food network I've learned a couple of tricks with syrups and adding milk to things. With syrups if you don't get all of the sugar mixed really well the syrup will separate or go grainy so make sure you don't have any sugar of the side of the pan that isn't melted in. Also, when you add the milk do it slowly, stirring the whole time. This prevents temperature shock and hopefully will help to prevent separation as well. If you do happen to have a jar separate while in the fridge just heat it, stir it and eat it. It's still very yummy!!

Peanut Butter Chex Mix

LeRoy's absolute favorite snack. He has loved this from his first Christmas with my family in 1990 (mom makes it every year for Christmas). He makes it for every Super Bowl, Thanksgiving, Christmas and any other occasion that he can think of. He makes it so often that I had never actually made it until October when I made it as a Halloween surprise for him (that's when I took this picture). I haven't made it since because he always beats me to it.

2 cups corn chex

2 cups rice chex

2 cups rice crispies

1 cup sugar

1 cup corn syrup

1 cup peanut butter

Mix all the cereal in a large bowl and set aside.

Bring the sugar and corn syrup to a boil. Remove from heat and add peanut butter. Pour over cereal and mix together. They can be formed into "cookies" (as pictured above) or eaten straight out of the bowl (which is how LeRoy likes it). Keep in airtight container to maintain gooey-ness.

Individual Peach Upside-Down Cake

It is my Mom's fault (and I think my Grandma's) that I occasionally make peach cobbler for breakfast. Some of the kids friends think it's silly or see it as a dessert but my kids still ask for it. I was watching Good Eats one evening and Alton Brown made this recipe. It is delicious! The best peach cobbler I've ever had (no offense, Grandma). Even though it is done in individual ramekins, I've also doubled the recipe and done it in a 9 x 13 and it turns out just as great (just not as fun).

3 tbsp butter, divided

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 medium peaches, peeled (or 1 can of peaches)

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk (I've always used regular milk)

1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Divide 2 tbsp of butter between 4 (6 oz) ramekins. Melt the remaining tbsp of butter and set aside.

Evenly divide the brown sugar between the ramekins; sprinkling it into the bottoms of the dishes. Cut each peach into 12 to 14 pieces. Lay the peaches on top of the sugar; evenly dividing them between the dishes. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl whisk together the sugar, milk, vanilla and melted butter. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir just until combined. Pour the batter over the peaches; dividing the mixture evenly between the dishes. Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cake reaches an internal temperature of 190 degrees on an instant read thermometer (or use the toothpick method just through the cake, not the peaches).

Remove from the oven to a rack and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of each dish and turn upside down onto a serving plate. Serve immediately with whipped cream or ice cream (or as we did growing up: put in a bowl and top with canned milk).

** This can also be made with fresh apples and a little cinnamon. I've never tried it but Alton says its great.

Roasted Chicken with Caramelized Onions Soup

2 cups shredded roasted chicken

2 tsp vegetable oil

2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced

8 cups water

3 bouillon cubes (Knox brand - if using other read directions for 8 cups water)

1/8 tsp pepper

2 medium carrots, sliced

2 stalks celery, sliced

3/4 cup uncooked pasta of choice

Heat oil in 10" skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until they begin to brown, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium. Cook until onions are tender and caramelized, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.

Heat water, bouillon, black pepper, carrots and celery in 4-qt saucepan over medium-high heat to a boil. Stir in pasta and chicken. Reduce heat to medium. Cook 10 minutes or until pasta and veggies are tender. Stir in onions and serve.

** When I am short on time or don't feel like having 1 extra messy pan (yes, sometimes that seems too overwhelming) I just dice the onion and stick it in with the other vegetables. Not quite the same flavor but still very good.

Baked Omelet (Roll)

Easier to do one omelet in the morning instead of six!

(This is a picture from a magazine . . explanation to follow recipe)

6 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup shredded cheese

Place eggs and milk in a blender. Add flour, salt and pepper, cover and process until smooth. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes or until eggs are set.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese. Roll up omelet in pan, starting with a short side.

Place with seam side down on a serving platter. Cut into 1 inch slices - 6 servings.




As you can see from my picture I don't take the time to roll it up and place on a serving platter (I'm not real big on presentation at 6am). We just cut it into squares and some of the kids eat it between toast.

Nathan's Birthday Fruit Pizza

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 - 8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla


Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In large bowl, cream together the butter and 3/4 cup sugar until smooth. Mix in egg. Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Press dough into an ungreased pizza pan. ** The dough is kind of a pain to work with because it is sticky. The easiest way I found is to roll it with parchment paper on the top and bottom instead of using the rolling pin on the dough. When you take off the top paper to bake it the dough is super thin and you have to use a butter knife to pull it off the paper. It looks terrible but I promise that a super thin, weird looking dough cooks into a perfect cookie. Bake it directly on the parchment paper and remove it after it has cooled a little.


Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool. ** Mine takes about 12 minutes but be careful not to overbake or it will be be crispy instead of soft.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla until light. Spread on cooled crust.

Arrange desired fruit on top of filling and chill. ** Don't put fruit on until right before serving or the crust will go soggy.

It is fun to google pictures of the fruit pizza to see different ways to decorate it. Lots of fruits are optional.

Halloween Finger Foods

These are disgustingly funny and yummy. After Nathan watched me make a plate of them he refused to even touch them. Finally, I made a peanut butter ball while he wasn't looking and gave it to him and he did enjoy it but the fingers were a little much for his 2 year old taste. The kids have been invited to a neighborhood Halloween party Thursday night and were asked to bring a finger food . . Derek is so excited to take these. They are great served with chocolate eyeballs.


1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered milk

stick pretzels
sliced almonds
red gel icing

Mix all together. Take 1 tbsp of dough and roll into a log. Press small pretzel stick (bone) into log and rolld dough around it. Press a sliced almond (fingernail) in one end and put a glob of red gel icing (blood) on the 'severed end'. Refridgerate before serving. 1 batch makes about 20-24 fingers.

Popcorn Balls

One of my favorite childhood traditions was having carmel popcorn almost every Sunday. The only thing greater than that is the side order of homemade fudge that came with it and the games we played while eating. Silly me, I haven't taught my daughter to make a whole lot of meals but she can whip out carmel popcorn in no time.

1 cube butter
1 cup corn syrup*
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups brown sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk
10 quarts popped popcorn** (approx)

In a saucepan over medium heat bring butter, sugar and corn syrup to a boil. Add the milk and bring to another boil. boil to softball stage (just barely softball if you like it to still be gooey after a few hours). Remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour over popcorn.

If forming into balls be sure not to press them tight together - this makes them hard to pull apart or eat. Our family likes to just get bowls of it or to eat it out of the mixing bowl. . . we're to impatient to make balls.

* I use 1/3 cup molasses and 2/3 cup corn syrup. I reminds me more of the popcorn we had growing up and gives it a little more carmel flavor

** We like to mix corn chex with the popcorn to give a little crunch to it

Chicken Scampi (Olive Garden copycat)

This is my favorite meal at Olive Garden so I searched it online and found this recipe posted by a lady that used to work at Olive Garden. I wanted to know what scampi means so searched it and found that it is: "a large shrimp sauteed in oil or butter and garlic". Hmmm .. no shrimp in the recipe but definetly alot of butter!

1 cube butter

1 1/2 tbsp garlic puree * see note

1 1/2 tbsp chicken base

2 Tbsp flour

5 ounces white wine * or white grape juice

5 ounces water

10 ounces heavy whipping cream

3/4 tsp Italian seasoning

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

1/2 tbsp fresh chpped parsley * or dried

Angel hair pasta

Melt butter over LOW heat; do not let it brown. Add garlic puree and let sweat for 2 minutes, quickly whisk in flour and chicken base then add wine/juice and water. When all smooth slowly add the whipping cream while whisking and then all of the spices. Let simmer for about 10 minutes and keep warm while cooking the noodles and chicken.

* You can buy bottled garlic puree or you can make your own. To make your own slice off the top of 2 heads of whole garlic until you see cloves. Spread cloves apart a little and pour approzimately 1 tbsp olive oil over each head. Put in oven at 325 degrees for about 1 hour or until they smell sweet. After they cool, squeeze cloves out of the papery stuff and smash to a puree with the flat side of a knife.

Chicken and veggies for top of pasta: (this is a side recipe, Olive Garden orders pre-cooked chicken for this dish)

Marinade chicken for about 1 hour in:

1 cup Italian-style salad dressing

3 tsp honey

juice from 1 fresh lime.

Grill or sautee chicken with sliced green, red and orange peppers, and red onion.

Serve pasta with sauce, chicken and veggies over top.

Strawberry Romaine Salad

Romain Lettuce - washed and torn into pieces.

*Toss with dressing before adding other toppings. I like to just barely have a hint of dressing on it - others like a dripping salad so do it to your own preference.

Strawberries - sliced

Manadarin Oranges

Chopped Almonds

Craisins

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Dressing:

1/2 cup white vinegar

1 cup sugar

1/2 chopped onion

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp mustard

*Mix in blender until smooth. Then slowly add while blender is on:

1 cup oil (Olive or Vegetable)

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**For variations you can use spinach or a combination of spinach/lettuce. Instead of almonds use carmeled walnuts or pine nuts. You can also add sliced green onions for a more tart taste.

Hints - Frozen Fruit for Smoothies

Posted Earlier . . . A hint for always having fruit on hand for smoothies is to buy it at Sam's Club/Costco in bulk and freeze it. This is especially great for strawberries, pineapple and kiwi. Just peel the kiwi and pineapple and slice them in about 1/2 inch slices, place in large freezer bag and they will be great to toss in for smoothies. Even bananas can be frozen, just peel and stick in a bag.

Update . . . I have recently found that rather than have all of my fruit in seperate bags and needing to open a bunch of them and then seal them and then put the all bag in an organized way in the freezer . . (whew, it's extra work just to type it) . . . that I can put a variety of fruits in one freezer container and then pull out only one container to make smoothies. It is saving me alot of baggy mess in the freezer and is causing alot less frost on the fruit from all of the opening and closing of the bags and extra time with the freezer door open trying to organize.

As you can see from the picture, I need another container as I still have some fruit in bags but you can also see the organizational difference between the bags and container.

* Smoothie Recipes *

Veggie Tortilla Pizza

This is my 'disgusting, healthy" version of pizza. Thank you for your opinion kids!

Keep in mind that all of these toppings are optional, these are just the ones that I use. The day that I took this picture I didn't have any olives or pineapple opened so it may look a little plain, but the color and flavor of this pizza is one of my favorite ways to eat veggies.

Tortilla(s)

Pizza Sauce

Zucchini

Canadian Bacon (if I have it on hand)

Peppers (green and red are my favorite)

Onion

Pineapple

Olives

Cheese

Put tortilla(s) on a baking sheet and spread sauce on top. Layer your favorite combination of toppings, ending with cheese.

Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes or until veggies are cooked to your preference.

The easiest way I have found to eat these is to fold them in half, use a knife and fork and eat away!

Hints - Zucchini

Cami called me because she had been given some zucchini and wanted to know what to do with it so here are a couple of hints that I gave her.

Zucchini freezes really well so don't feel like you have to use it all this week. For zucchini pancakes I cube the zucchini and put 2 cups of cubes in a freezer bag and freeze it. This way I can take the bag out of the freezer the night before and it is already measured and ready to go by morning. Also, you can freeze grated or chopped zucchini. I freeze that in 1 cup measurements.

I use the 1 cup measure/frozen/chopped zucchini to add to spaghetti and lasagna sauces. I don't change anything else in the recipe because the veggie carries enough water in it that it doesn't thicken it too much. If you already use green peppers in your sauces then the zucchini just blends in. I like to use 2 cups if I'm adding it to a meatless lasagna sauce because it gives a little texture of ground beef without the extra fat. Keep in mind that I add 1 cup/2 cups to a sauce large enough for a family of 7 to eat so you may want to add a little less.

Recipes:

Zucchini Pancakes

Veggie Tortilla Pizza

Broiled Zucchini

and of course Zucchini Bread which I am trying a new recipe for (zucchini-pineapple) so I may post that later . ..

Zucchini Pancakes

I was hesitant to try these because of the whole wheat flour. The recipe sounded heavy - and too healthy for my picky crew. I was very pleased when Levi came in after he ate and asked what kind they were because they were "dand good"'. I hesitated, then responded "zucchini and whole wheat". "Ah, mom, why'd you have to tell me, now I can't like them". Evidently, taste doesn't matter as much as whether they sound good.

The cinnamon and allspice make these pancakes great! The kids loved the apricot syrup on them and I also liked them with raspberry jam, no syrup, just eating them like bread. The leftovers were a little dry and unimpressive so eat them hot. This recipe makes 12-14.

1/3 cup milk

2 cups zucchini cut into 1" cubes

3 eggs

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp allspice

*Mix in blender until zucchini is chopped up and blended well. Then add:

1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour (you could use white)

2 tsp baking powder

*Blend just until flour is mixed in well

Cook on hot pan or griddle at 375

Surprise Brownies

20 oz package fudge brownie mix

12 Nilla wafer cookies

12 caramels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare brownies according to package instructions. Coat muffin tin with cooking spray and place one wafer cookes each in bottom of tin.

Spoon 3 tablespoons of brownie batter over each wafer. Unwrap caramels and place one in the center of each brownie, topping with small spoonful of batter.

Bake brownies 22 minutes. Cool for about 10 mintues, remove from tin, and serve warm (if you let them sit the caramel will be chewy again).

Derek's English Muffin Pizza

After Derek went to scout camp he tried to convince all of us how great these pizza's were. We were all a little skeptical based on his description of them but when he volunteered to make dinner one night I let him have at it. They were so yummy and I'm not a pizza fan. Making these is easier with the large Canadian Bacon slices and they are a little thicker and yummier but as you can see from our picture we used the small ones this time - the store was out of the big ones. It can be a little tricky to flip over but it still worked and tasted yummy.

english muffins (1 muffin =2 pizzas)

pizza sauce

pepperoni rounds

large canadian bacon rounds (as big as the muffin)

cheese

optional toppings (pineapple, olives, onion, peppers)

*cut open the muffin and spread both sides with pizza sauce, add the pepperoni rounds, cheese and any other toppings you want, then. . . add the large canadian bacon round last.

*in a hot pan sprayed with pan spray (you can also use the pancake grill if you are making alot of them) set your muffin pizza in to cook with the muffin on the pan. After 2-3 minutes, carefully turn the pizza over and cook on the canadian bacon side for about 2 minutes until lightly grilled.

Popeye Pancakes

or Hercules Pancakes - depending on who your kids would know. I believe these are also called German Pancakes but I grew up knowing them as Popeye's. In this picture they are topped with apricot syrup and a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

Preheat oven to 400 and while it is preheating and you are mixing the ingredients, put the pan in the oven with 1/2 cube of butter on it to melt. *Be careful though, don't leave it to long, you don't want to start with burnt butter.

4 eggs

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup milk

1/4 cup sugar

Mix all ingredients with a mixer, it will be very runny. Spread melted margarine all over the pan and pour the mixture in. Bake for 20-25 minutes until all puffed up and lightly browned on the top. After removing from oven (as they cool the big bubbles will fall flat), top with jam or syrup and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Tip: These measurements make a very light and thin version of the pancake. Because my kids weren't getting enough in one pan I 1 1/2 times the recipe and still bake in the same baking sheet. (6 eggs, 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 1/2 cup milk, 1/3 cup sugar)