Five a Day the Decadent Way...

So, I saw this recipe for Zucchini Brownies and thought it would taste you know, healthy. Boy, was I wrong! The brownie itself is good, but the frosting is what makes it all fabulous. You could never guess (at least I couldn't) that it had a whole 2 cups of zucchini in the pan...Try it! You won't believe it either!

Zucchini Brownies

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups white flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 9x13 inch baking pan. Mix it all together and throw it in the pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until prick-test done. Cool before frosting with....

Frosting
6 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup margarine
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Source: Marian on allrecipes.com

Awesome Homemade Brownies

I have tried lots of homemade brownie recipes, and finally can say that I found one that was as good, or better than the store-bought kind! This one was "Brooke's Best Bombshell Brownies" by BROOKE on allrecipes.com with just a couple minor changes suggested by one of the reviews. I borrowed my sister Kim's idea of cutting them out with a greased heart-shaped cookie-cutter, sprinkled on some powdered sugar, and ta-da! A perfect Valentine treat for a few friends and MUCH easier than all the sugar cookie mess...My kids even loved eating the "scraps" around the edges of the hearts, and okay, I found them addicting as well!

1 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 TBS vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white flour (my fav, of course, Lehi Roller Mills from Costco)
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's)
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk chocolate chips (Hershey's again)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease 9x13 pan. Mix butter, sugar, and vanilla together in mixer. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add salt, then slowly mix in flour and cocoa powder, scraping the bowl as needed. Mix in chocolate chips at the last. Pour in pan and bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool on wire rack before cutting.

Fabulous Sandwich Bread

I stole this recipe from my friend, Debbie, at a playgroup/lunchgroup and the kids and I fell in love with it! It makes awesome peanut butter sandwiches (or any sandwiches), or stands great on its own! You can alter the wheat/white flour ratio, but this had a great rise and tasted so good...

3 cups warm water
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 rounded TBS yeast
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1 TBS salt
3 cups wheat flour
3 1/2 - 4 1/2 cups white flour (I love Lehi Roller Mills from Costco)

Mix all the ingredients except the white flour and let rest for 3 minutes. Then add white flour, a little at a time, until kneading consistency. Knead for 10 minutes on a floured surface ( or you can mix it in your mixer like my friend, Debbie does), adding flour as needed. Cover and let rise for 20-30 minutes. Put in two big loaf pans and cover to let rise again for 20-30 minutes. As a side note, Debbie omits the first rise, and just puts in pans to rise once. I tried it this way and thought it was yummy either way, but I got a better second rise after I did the first one and thought it made for bigger loaves...Slash the tops with a knife if desired and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Saucy Crock Pot Black Beans

I have long been on a quest to learn to do something edible with dry beans. I had a recipe a couple of years ago that David liked, but it wasn't my favorite, so here was my exciting new discovery of a FAMILY-FRIENDLY (yes, EVERYONE ate and like it!) recipe for black beans, adapted from a few recipes online....

6 cups (1 small bag) dry black beans
9 cups chicken broth
extra water as needed
1 1/2 tsp granulated garlic (equivalent to 6 cloves)
1 TBS baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp cumin

Rinse and strain the dry beans, picking out any nasty ones or rocks. Put them into your crock pot and add water until at least 2 inches above the beans. Mix in baking soda and let soak about 8 hours (I did this overnight, but had to add water a couple of times to keep the beans covered). The baking soda softens the beans and is especially important if your beans are "old," but you can omit the baking soda from the soak if you want. Baking soda also helps get the gas out if you know what I mean...If you used the baking soda in the soak, thoroughly rinse the beans after the soak. If you just used water, just dump out the water and add the remaining ingredients to the beans without rinsing. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally. Enjoy over rice, salad, or just plain (I couldn't stop dipping my spoon in the pot for a snitch!). I love it with brown rice, lettuce, and tomatoes, but the next day I decided this combo was better with my favorite salsa instead of tomatoes!

Yummy for this summers veggies!!!

So I kinda made this up from some other recipes I was looking at...

Place thawed chicken (cut up in chunks) into frying pan, cook until no pink...
Then add 2 yellow crooked neck squash sliced up like spaghetti--so you have to make sure the pan is big enough. I also ended up cutting some of mine in half so they weren't so long and hard to stir around.
Then, drizzle a little olive oil over the top of the chicken and squash
then add some lemon juice and some lemon-pepper(to taste)
While this is cooking at the stove top and you are constantly having to stir it to make sure the squash all gets cooked...place cherry tomatoes-cut in halves on a baking sheet with crumbled asiago cheese sprinkled on top and a little salt and pepper... broil in oven for a couple minutes(til the tomatoes are hot and almost popping)

After the chicken/squash mixture is finished(squash is tender, but not mushy) place it on a plate and then place the yummy tomatoes on top!!! I thought this was delicious and nutritious! Plus I was able to use some of my yummy garden veggies in a slightly different, but fun way!

Bo LOVED these, he said that they were "up there with crepes," and that means they are mouth watering yummy, so I thought I would post! Of course they are better with homemade syrup...but thats just me! (you can use the homemade syrup recipe from the frenchtoast below without the cinnamon.)

Whole-Wheat Waffles

Add some extra nutrition to your morning meal. Prepare batter the night before and you can just plug in the waffle iron and GO in the morning! Batter does need to be prepared at least several hours ahead of time. (I just made it the night before and it was soooo yummy!)

10 waffles

• 1 cup milk (can use lowfat or skim)
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 2/3 cups whole wheat flour (I freshly ground mine and it tastes so fresh!)
• 3 eggs (or equivalent)
• 1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast (about ¾ of a tablespoon)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Directions

Heat milk, water, butter and honey to 120F (48C) In large mixing bowl, combine flour, eggs, yeast, salt, and warmed milk mixture

Mix at low to moisten, then med-high for 1 minute.

Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight, stirring occasionally

Preheat Waffle maker and set oven temp to"warm"

Pour 1/2 cup (125 ml) batter over grids

Close waffle maker gently and bake until steam no longer escapes (about 3-4 min)

Remove waffle with a fork and place on a baking sheet so you can keep them warm in the oven while the others cook

Serve with your favorite topping and Enjoy!

ALMOND CRUSTED FRENCHTOAST

I used Frenchbread for this and sliced it up...it was so yummy!

Yummilicious homemade syrup
(by Ann...my mom!:)):
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup of water
1/4 cup karo

Cook until boils. Then add 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp maple extract and cook until thickens.
THEN I like to add a cinnamon stick esp. for this frenchtoast(or just add a little cinnamon) and let that just simmer for a minute while prepping the rest of this yummy meal...)

Frenchbread batter:
1 cup of cream
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract

Directions:
1. Dip bread in batter(kinda push it in the batter to get it all covered).
2. Dip the battered bread into slivered almonds(you may need to press some almonds onto it).
3. Place the batter- almond covered bread into a pan or skillet of about 1/2-1 TBS. of melted butter
(IMPORTANT:HAVE THE BURNER SET ON JUST BELOW MEDIUM(ABOUT MED/LOW) HEAT!!!- Frenchtoast needs to cook thru-soggy frenchtoast sucks!)
4. Set the oven on warm and when your pieces are getting done and you have more to cook, place the done pieces in the oven so as to keep them crisp and warm!
5. When thru cooking...
Place frenchtoast on plate...then add sliced strawberries... a little whip cream... and to top it all off...cinnamon syrup!!!:) I don't know if we should call this a breakfast or dessert, but whatever it is you will love it!!!