Zucchini bread

I have posted so many things now that I forget what I have posted and what I haven't. I looked back through the posts, found that I haven't posted a recipe for zucchini bread.  How did this happen, since we have it fairly regularly. I usually make two loaves and freeze one, which thaws in the refrigerator in about a day.

Anyhow, I made this a couple of weeks ago when my mother in law came to visit. She eats fairly healthily, so I didn't want to send her into a diabetic coma with a lot of cookies or sugar. This time I used homegrown (well, my father in law's home grown) yellow squash and zucchini, so it was maybe a little sweeter than normal but it's all I had. I thought it was fabulous.

makes 2 loaves
3 c shredded zucchini (or combo summer squash/zucchini)
1-1/2 c sugar
1/2 c canola oil
4 eggs (or 3 eggs + 1 Tbl flax seed + 3 Tbl water)
3 c flour (I used half whole wheat)
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla

• Heat oven to 350*
• Grease, bottoms only, of two loaf pans.
• In large bowl, mix zucchini sugar, oil, vanilla, and eggs. Stir in remaining ingredients.
• Pour into pans. 
• Bake 50-60 minutes. 
• When cool, freeze one and enjoy the other. I like to eat it warm with a little butter on top.

Secret Recipe Club: Pretzel Rolls and Beer Bread

     It's that time of the month again! I'm participating in the Secret Recipe Club. Basically, you sign up and you are assigned a blog. You get to pick a recipe from their blog to try and change at your will. Then you make your post about it on the assigned day. All posts for that day are added to a blog hop, so it's easy to see what everyone else made too. It's so fun to see what people pick from your own website too!

     This month, I was assigned to Heather's blog: It's Yummy to My Tummy. There were several recipes I found that I wanted to try....and I'm still going to try the granola bars and the fruit and cheese danish. I ended up choosing two for this post: pretzel rolls and beer bread. I've been wanting to try my own buns for a while now, so the pretzel rolls worked out perfectly. I keep hearing about the Tastefully Simple beer bread, but I've never had it, so when I saw that recipe I had to try that too. Both came out tasting great.

    I really love the pretzel rolls. I've actually made them three times now (in a month!). We've eaten them with grilled burgers, chicken and lunchmeat. Chicken salad sandwiches would also taste great, but that is one thing I love and J won't eat! I think everything tastes better with a special bread, and this one wont disappoint. It tastes just like the soft pretzels at a ballpark...but I'm sure it's much healthier since you know all the ingredients in it! It also freezes well too. I froze them after baking them all the way, but you could also freeze them after a couple minutes in the oven (before they brown) then brown them after thawing.

     The beer bread is very good too. I recommend it as a sandwich bread or as a dipper bit. Alone, this bread is a good basic bread, but the beer flavor compliments and enhances other toppings or ingredients really well. We made grilled chicken with BBQ sauce sandwiches out of this bread. We used a strong dark beer from Trader Joe's (similar to Guinness), but you could use any beer you like the flavor of. Heather said once she made it with cream soda and sprinkled on cinnamon and sugar. I keep meaning to try that! Yum.

     Of course, I changed both recipes just a bit. I substituted white whole wheat flour, which is our family preference. This also means adding in some vital wheat gluten to make sure the yeast works properly.



Pretzel Rolls

1-1/3 cups warm water

2 Tbl warm milk

2-1/2 tsp yeast

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 Tbl melted butter

3-1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 Tbl + 2 tsp vital wheat gluten

kosher salt

2 quarts cold water

1/2 cup baking soda

• Mix 1/3 cup warm water (about 105*) with yeast and some of the brown sugar. Let stand until foamy.


•  Add the remaining cup of warm water with milk, the rest of the brown sugar, and melted butter and swirl to dissolve. Add flour and mix at medium-low speed. Knead for about 2 minutes. Roll into a 2 foot long log and cut into 12 even pieces. Cover dough with plastic and damp cloth and sit for 10-20 minutes. 


• Pat dough into rolls or knots (the rolls rose better for me) and arrange on a lightly floured surface about an inch apart. Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let pretzels rest for another 30-45 minutes. They should rise quite a bit during this time. 


• Preheat oven to 425*. Lightly oil baking sheets.


• In a large stockpot (seriously-Large! When you add the baking soda it's like a volcanic reaction!) Bring the cold water to a rolling boil and add baking soda.


• Drop two rolls into the boiling water and boil no longer than 30 seconds, turning once. carefully remove and place  on baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt. Repeat.


• Bake rolls for about 8-10 minutes or until browned all over. 


• Cool about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Beer Bread

12 oz beer

2-1/2 cups + 2Tbl whole wheat flour

1/3 cup sugar

4 Tbl melted butter

4-1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

• Preheat oven to 350*. Grease loaf pan. 


• Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in beer. 


• Pour batter into pan and brush on melted butter. 


• Bake 50-60 minutes until browned.


• Cool slightly and remove from pan. 

Best Ever Pancakes

I think I have mentioned one of my favorite cookbooks before...A PTO cookbook from an elementary school where my grandma used to work. I love this cookbook because it has recipes that real people make....and those real people must think the recipes are fantastic or they wouldn't have submitted them to be published in the PTO fundraiser cookbook. Sometimes, I look through cookbooks and they have a few things I would make, but I would never buy the cookbook because other recipes have crazy ingredients or seem really complicated...not that I don't like a challenge every once in a while.

Anyway, as I flipped through my favorite, well one of my favorite, cookbook I saw "Best Ever Pancake" and I had to make them. We make pancakes every Friday morning to celebrate making to the end of the week, so I'm always on the lookout for a good recipe. These were great. They were nice and buttery, without being super rich.  We will definitely keep this recipe in our rotation.

1-1/2 c flour (I used half whole wheat/half white)
1-3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 Tbl sugar
1 c milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten (or 1 egg + 1Tbl flax seed + 3 Tbl water)
3 Tbl butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla

• Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in large bowl.
• Combine milk, eggs, butter, and vanilla in a small bowl.
• Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients and mix well. 
• Scoop 1/4c batter onto hot griddle. Flip when edges begin to turn.

Blueberry Muffins 2

We went back to get more blueberries. The U-pick season had just ended, the day before-just my luck, so we got some from the cooler. For lack of creativity, I decided to make blueberry muffins again. Though I liked the muffins we made before, I decided to try something different. These were fabulous right out of the oven...and the next morning, too!

I found it in my favorite old cookbook: Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook.


As I type this, I smell the strawberry muffins baking. We like muffins, can't you tell?

2 cups flour (I use half whole wheat/half white)
2 Tbl sugar
1 Tbl baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 c sugar
3/4 c fresh/frozen blueberries
1/2 tsp lemon extract
1 c milk
3 Tbl flax seed (or 1 Tbl oil)
3 Tbl oil (canola)

• Preheat oven to 400*. Grease or line muffin pans.
• In large bowl, mix flour, 2 Tbl sugar, baking powder, and salt.
• In small bowl, beat egg slightly, then stir in milk, flax seed, oil, 1/2 c sugar, blueberries, and lemon extract.
• Add egg mixture to flour mixture. Stir until just moistened. Ovoid overmixing to prevent toughness.
• Spoon into muffin pan.
• Bake 20-25 minutes until risen and golden. Toothpick should come out clean and dry.
• Cool on wire rack immediately

Blueberry Pull Apart Bread

  A couple of weeks ago I had to go to a family reunion. Of course, we were all supposed to bring one of our favorites, but like a typical food blogger I don't have one favorite. I wanted to make something that would be ok to sit out for a while and something that would be easy to serve. I remembered this pull apart bread that was amazing! When I went to start on it, I realized I didn't have butterscotch chips! This is rare, because I always have butterscotch chips. I was not discouraged. I figured if I could make babka with fruit in it, pull apart bread would work too!

     This turned out so good. When I pulled it from the oven I considered drizzling on a powdered sugar glaze, but I'm glad I didn't. It was just sweet enough without putting you into a coma. The blueberries and cinnamon sugar filling really complimented each other. Think blueberries and cinnamon rolls...

     As an aside, I apologize for the picture. I didn't get to take the best picture because I was rushing to get this done to take to the reunion...in a disposable loaf pan. That is why the picture is a close up of the bread!









for the dough:

2-3/4 c flour (take away 2T + 2.25 tsp if using whole wheat)

(Add 1 tsp wheat gluten/cup whole wheat flour)

1/4 c brown sugar

2-1/4 tsp salt

2-1/4 tsp yeast

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 c butter

1/3 c milk

1/4 c cold water

2 eggs, room temp

for the filling:

1 cup sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

8 oz. blueberries

1/4 c butter, melted

• Mix 2 cups flour with brown sugar, yeast, and salt. 


• Warm milk and butter until butter melts. Add cold water. Let stand for 2 minutes.


• Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients, and mix at medium speed for about a minute.


• Add the eggs and remaining flour, and mix  for another minute. 


• Cover the dough with a wet towel, and rise until doubled. (1 hour?)

• For the filling, combine the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. 


• Knead dough a couple times. Add a little flour if it's too sticky.


• Roll dough into a 12x20 rectangle.


• Spread about 2 tablespoons of the melted butter evenly over dough. Add the sugar mixture and sprinkle the blueberries on top of that. Make sure to spread out the bits so they cover the entire surface of the dough.


• Cut the dough into 6 equal short strips. Make two stacks of dough with 3 strips in each stack. Then cut each stack into 6 equal parts. (Now you should have 12 stacks of 3)


• Layer the dough squares in a greased (I used parchment paper too) loaf pan, like a flip book. 


• Let the dough rise for 30-45 minutes.

• Preheat oven to 350*


• Pour the rest of the melted butter over the top of your loaf. 


• Place on a rack in the middle of the oven, and bake for 30-40 minutes. Watch for the bread to turn slightly golden, then cover loosely with foil. This will allow the center to cook, but prevent the top from getting too dark.

linked up to 

Sweet Tooth Friday

and 

Sweets for Saturday

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

     If you have been following for a while, you know we really love our pancakes and waffles. We eat them every Friday morning. Lately, since my husband got a new job, I make huge batches and freeze the extras so that he can let me sleep in eat them before he goes to work. For an on-the-go breakfast, Heat a frozen pancake in the microwave and top with peanut butter. Fold up like a taco, and get on your way.
     Usually, I just make plain pancakes, but I went all out last week and added mini-chocolate chips. I hate when you bite into a chocolate chip pancake and all you taste is chocolate. Don't get me wrong, I love chocolate! I just don't want to eat something that sweet and rich for breakfast. Mini chocolate chips were the perfect compromise. You still taste the chocolate, but it's note overpowering the whole pancake.
     In addition to the chocolate chips, this particular recipe includes oatmeal. This makes me feel less guilty about serving pancakes to my two year old every Friday! They are super filling and mostly healthy.
     If you want to freeze them....Cool completely and layer wax paper between each pancake in a resealable freezer bag.

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbl baking powder
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups milk
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 Tbl brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

• Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. 
• In a different bowl, mix the milk, oatmeal, sugar, and vanilla. Stir in the eggs and then add the flour mixture a little at a time. Stir in the chocolate chips. Stir until just combined. 
• Coat a griddle (or skillet) with spray. pour about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. 
• When the edges are cooked and little bubbles form in the middle, flip the pancake over. Cook until golden. 
• Serve with syrup or peanut butter. 

Check out these other pancake recipes on my blog:
Cinnamon Chip Pancakes
Blueberry Cheesecake Pancakes
Best Ever Pancakes
OOPs Pancakes
Cornmeal Pancakes
Blueberry Pancakes

Beer Batter Pizza Dough

This week we decided to have homemade pizza. We haven't made it in such a long time. As I was reading various blogs, I came across this recipe for Beer Batter Pizza Dough.  I didn't follow it to a T, mostly because I ran out of flour, but it is delicious! I read somewhere, sometime that you can replace up to 1/3 of your flour in recipes with oatmeal. Sometimes, if I make this substitute, I grind up the oatmeal so it is oat flour. This time, I used ground oatmeal, then added a little bit of oatmeal for texture. I also made one deep dish pizza, instead of two thinner crust pizzas. I lowered the oven temp to 350* and baked it a little longer to make sure it was done.
I will definitely be making this again...after I use what we froze because it makes a ton! The thick crust was amazing, but it did take much longer to cook. Next time, I might make a thinner crust plus breadsticks. Seriously, this is the best pizza crust so breadsticks would be fantastic.
     We prefer to use a dark, hearty beer like Guinness. We usually use a Trader Joe beer (Black Toad Ale) for this recipe because you can buy one bottle at a time for only $1, but not everyone lives near a Trader Joe's. 

2c warm water
2 Tbl honey
2 Tbl yeast
7-8 c flour (I used about 2 c ground oatmeal and 6 c flour)
2 tsp salt
4 Tbl olive oil
12 oz beer, room temp
toppings of your choice (We used sauce, mushrooms, pepperoni, ham, and cheese)

• Mix the yeast with the water and honey in a small mixing bowl. Rest until foamy.
• Mix 4 cups of the flour with the salt in a large bowl. Pour yeast mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture. Add the olive oil and beer. Stir to combine.
• Add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until the dough isn’t sticky. Once you’ve reached 7 cups of flour, turn the dough out of the bowl onto the tabletop and knead for a few minutes until smooth and elastic, sprinkling with flour as needed to keep it from sticking. You may not need the full 8 cups. Once the dough is soft, smooth and elastic.
• Place in a deep, greased bowl and let rise 45-60 minutes, or until double in size. 
• Once risen, you're ready to make pizzas! This makes 2 large or 4 medium pizzas. Divide the dough into 2 or 4 balls. This is the point where you would freeze any crusts you’d like to save for later—just wrap them well in plastic wrap. 
• Preheat oven to 425°. Have all the topping ingredients assembled before rolling out the crusts. If you are using a pizza stone make sure it is also heating in the oven. Sprinkle a flat surface with flour and gently roll out the dough and place the prepared crust on a pizza paddle sprinkled with cornmeal or a perforated pizza pan.
• Bake 5-7 minutes.
• Add the toppings to each pizza. 
• Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the edges have browned.

blueberry muffins

     We went to u-pick blueberries last weekend which turned in to quite an adventure. We went before to get strawberries and the little on was content with hanging out in the stroller as we picked to our hearts content. This time around, she is a little older and realizes that it's more fun to walk around than sit in the stroller with nothing to do or get into. Well, one of my latest Goodwill finds was one of those baby leashes (is that what it's really called?) so you can keep hold of your kid but still let them have the freedom of walking around. Miss E thinks it's a game for now and loves her new freedom. So, off we go to the blueberry patch, kid on a leash in tow. I might have mentioned before: Miss E's very favorite food is "Bubbles" a.k.a. blueberries. We start picking, and she all of the sudden realizes what we are doing and goes nuts. She eats them off the ground, out of our box, off the trees. Some were green, some were blue...she wasn't discriminating. At least they don't spray their plants with any chemicals! Lesson learned: when picking blueberries, Miss E and Daddy go to the park!

     Enough of the story. We are all here for recipes, right? We decided to make the classic blueberry muffin with some of our freshly picked blueberries. There is just something special about the tart sweet taste of fresh blueberries that makes everything you make with them better! I might get motivated to make more treats with them....or we might eat them out of the box....or we might go pick some more!
Recipe from B Hand G New Cook Book 


1-3/4 c flour (I use half wheat/half white)
1/3 c sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 beaten egg
3/4 c milk
1/3 c cooking oil
3/4 c fresh blueberries (frozen if that's all you have)
1 tsp shredded lemon peel

• In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in center.
• Combine egg, milk, and oil. Add all at once to the flour mixture.
• Stir till just moistened (will be lumpy). Stir in blueberries and lemon peel.
• Grease muffin cups or line with cups. Fill 2/3 full. 
• Bake in 400* oven about 20 minutes or till golden.

Cinnamon Buns with a Secret

The only sign of veggies...a little un-pureed carrot-OOPS!

    I love cinnamon rolls! I love the whole thing, but the center of a cinnamon roll is the very best part. My very favorite recipe, and I think all my friends would agree, is this pumpkin cinnamon roll masterpiece. Yes, masterpiece. But, this posting is not about those cinnamon rolls...or these really good cinnamon rolls either.
     I always feel so guilty when I make cinnamon rolls...especially if they are to be eaten for breakfast. Though delicious, they are not the most healthy meal or snack. Many of you know that I often add vegetables to things so that my family will eat them without knowing. Part of the inspiration for that came from Jessica Seinfeld's book Deceptively Delicious. Recently, she came out with a new book call Doubly Delicious and this cinnamon roll recipe was in it...Yes this is a posting for cinnamon rolls with vegetables! Don't stop reading. I promise your family will not notice, and the best part is you I don't have to feel guilty about making cinnamon rolls for breakfast!
     If you don't have time to do all this before breakfast...make the dough the night before and let it rise overnight in the fridge. Then just bake in the morning.

1-1/2 cups lukewarm milk
1/4 cup 100% orange juice
2(1/4oz) pkts yeast
1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 cups flour (Take away 2 Tbl/cup whole wheat substituted)
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or 1-1/3 cup ww flour + 1/2cup ww flour +4tsp cornstarch)
1/4 cup dry milk powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup carrot puree (You can see above I didn't get mine all the way pureed! Boil carrots/puree)
1 large egg
3 Tbl soft tub margarine spread
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbl cinnamon

1/4 cup cauliflower puree
9 Tbl powdered sugar
1 Tbl  vanilla
1 Tbl 100% orange juice
water

• Place milk in small glas bowl and microwave 40 seconds until lukewarm. Stir in orange juice, yeast, and sugar. Set aside in a warm place  until foamy..about 10 minutes.
• Combine flours, milk powder, and salt on low speed. Add yeast mixture, carrot puree, and egg. Increase speed to medium and knead for 5 minutes.
• Add margarine and run mixer one more minute. The dough is pretty sticky! Cover the bowl with plastic wrap adn let the dough rise until doubled..about an hour.

• Place dough on rolling mat with floured hands.
• Coat a large baking sheet (I used a jelly roll pan) with cooking spray. 
• Flatten the dough with your fingers, patting the edges making sure it is even. You should end up with a huge rectangle. Sprinkle the dough with the brown sugar and cinnamon and then flatten it out a bit more if you couldn't get it thin enough the first time. It's a bit easier once the cinnamon and brown sugar has been added since it's not as sticky.
• Roll the longest edge of the dough away from you to form a log. Cut the dough into 1-inch rounds and flip them swirl-side down onto the prepared baking sheet. 
• Preheat oven to 350*. The dough will rise a little as the oven is preheating.
• Meanwhile, make the glaze. Whisk all the ingredients for the glaze in a small bowl and set aside. If needed add water a drop at a time to make a nice texture. If you get it too runny, add more powdered sugar to even it out again.
• Bake the buns until they are cooked through...about 18 minutes. Remove and add glaze.

linked to

Jerk Chicken on Foccacia

I mentioned in a previous post my love for Ramsi's Jamaican chicken sandwich. Inspired by a recent post with a recipe for homemade foccacia, I decided to try to make the sandwich at home....and it saves a two hour trip to Louisville to eat at my very favorite restaurant!
The result??

Well, it wasn't quite the same, but when you make things at home they never are right? It was really good though and had the hints of flavor that reminded me of the real deal (without the spiciness that makes your nose run). I didn't leave the dinner table wishing I had just driven to Ramsi's...so I would definitely make this again when I'm longing for the "Jerk."
Following my penny-pinching budget, I made everything at home...including the Jerk seasoning and foccacia. Total cost: about $2.50 (for 4 servings...plus extra bread which my daughter loved)

foccacia
3 c flour (or bread flour)
1 Tbl dried rosemary
1 Tbl sugar
1 tsp salt
2-1/4 tsp yeast
3 Tbl olive oil
1 c warm water
2 Tbl olive oil
1/4 c Parmesan cheese

• Mix 1 cup flour with rosemary, sugar, salt, and yeast. Add 3 T olive oil and water. Beat 3 minutes. Stir in remaining flour till dough forms and leaves sides. Knead 5-8 minutes till smooth and springy.  Place ingredients in a greased bowl and rise 30 minutes or until doubled.
• Grease 2 cookie sheets with oil. Deflate dough and shape into two 10 inch circles. Cover with plastic wrap  and rise 30 minutes or until doubled. 
• Preheat oven to 400*. Make finger dents about 2 inches apart in bread. Brush with 2 Tbl oil and sprinkle cheese on top. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden. While baking...make the chicken.

Jerk Seasoning (makes 1/3 c)
2 Tbl onion powder
1 Tbl sugar
1 Tbl salt
1 Tbl garlic powder
1 Tbl thyme
1-1/2 tsp all spice
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp red pepper, ground (more or less as desired)

1-lb chicken, cut into bite size pieces

• Heat oil to medium. While warming place chicken in bag and cover with about 2 Tbl Jerk seasoning. Shake to coat. 
• Place chicken in skillet and cook. I sprinkled some extra seasoning on during cooking.
• When bread is done, cut each circle into 6 triangles. Place one triangle on each plate, top with chicken and another triangle to make each sandwich.

posted on

Meatfree Monday #5, Tomato Basil Alfredo Pizza

Yup! She's kissing a fish!

     I hope you all had a fantastic 4th of July. We were out of town visiting family, so I wasn't able to get my Meatfree Monday post in. We had such a good time, and Miss E got to see fireworks for the first time. She also had her first wienie roast, smores, and went fishing for the first time. She had so much fun!
     The holiday is over now, so we are getting back into the swing of things. This weeks meatfree recipe, was so easy. My husband actually made it which tells you how easy it is...those of you who know him understand. I left directions and came home to dinner...I should do that more often.
     He went out to the garden, and picked some fresh basil. The tomatoes aren't ripe, so we used store bought. We had alfredo sauce and pizza dough in the freezer. I didn't leave very detailed directions, but he did follow exactly what I put. I might have arranged things a little differently, but I'm a little more particular with symmetry and appearance than he is. To each his own.

The point is that it came out delicious and was so easy and cheap to make. It was supposed to be a near copy to our favorite pizza (The Bazbeaux Special), and it was pretty good. We used fresh tomatoes instead of sun-dried.

1 pizza dough
alfredo sauce
fresh basil
sliced tomatoes
mozzarella cheese

• Place dough on pizza stone. Our recipe requires that you cook it for about 5 minutes before adding toppings, but if you are using your own dough follow those directions.
• Spread alfredo sauce on top of dough.
• Sprinkle shredded cheese or fresh mozzarella over the sauce. Top with basil and sliced tomatoes.
• Bake until golden.

Meatfree features of the week...
a small collection of my favorite meat free recipes that I come across as I search the web each week. All the recipes that I post from various blogs will be stumbled to bring a little extra love to their posts...and if you happen to be one of my featured recipes you can grab my "I was featured on Meat Free Monday" button for your post.

Heirloom Tomato Sandwich from Gina's Skinny Recipes

No Fuss Foccacia from Sweet As Sugar Cookies

Southwestern Pasta Salad by Debbi Does Dinner

Southwestern Bruschetta by Cooking Creation