Zucchini Cakes

I am not a big fan of zucchini, but I tell you what, these are delicious! I found the recipe on http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/ a couple of weeks ago. And today lo and behold a dear friend dropped off the biggest zucchini ever, so what else could I do but make this delectable little cakes.

1 large zucchini

1/2 c. seasoned bread crumbs

1 heaping Tbsp. minced garlic

1/2-3/4 c. Italian cheese blend

1-2 eggs

a pinch of kosher salt

olive oil

black pepper

Chop the ends off the zucchini and then use a cheese grater to shred it. Place the shredded zucchini in a clean towel and squeeze out the liquid. I was very surprised how much came out. Next place the semi-dry zucchini in a large bowl. Add the garlic, bread crumbs, cheese, 1 egg and salt and pepper then stir with a fork. If mixture is to dry, add another egg. If it is too dry, the mixture will fall apart when you try to cook it. In a frying pan, heat olive oil on medium heat. Use enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan by about 1/4". When the oil is hot, drop the zucchini batter by large spoonfuls into the pan and then flatten with the back of the spoon. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. The PW recommends serving these with Ranch dressing for dipping sauce, of which I had none last night, so we ate without and they were still fabulous on their own.

Broccoli Chicken Casserole

4 (or 2-3 large) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 lb broccoli florets, cooked
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup dry stuffing mix

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Boil chicken until tender and shred or cut into bite size pieces. Meanwhile, steam broccoli until crisp but tender.

3. In a small bowl, mix together the soup and mayonnaise. Set aside. In a 9X13 inch baking dish, layer the chicken, broccoli, soup mixture, and cheese. Sprinkle dry stuffing mix over the top and bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.

Serves 4 and very yummy.

Sweet and Sour Pork

4-6 thick pork chops

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup chili sauce (found in Asian food section)

1/4 cup honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix honey, soy, and chili sauces.  Place pork chops in greased 3 quart casserole dish.  Pour sauces over pork chops.  Bake for 1 hour.  Easy and yummy!

Calabasa Con Pollo y Tortillas

I am half Mexican and grew up with this staple that is not only tasty, but very healthy and delicious. It's name translates into squash with chicken, sounds a lot less intimidating in English:). It is an easy dinner to make. I usually make the tortilla dough, let it sit while I get the calabasa together and begin it and then go back to the tortillas to start rolling them out.

A make-ahead tip: you can make the tortilla dough and roll out the tortillas, placing one at a time in between pieces of waxed paper and then in the fridge. When you want to cook them, take them out and pop them on a warmed up grill. They taste so much better than store ones and are better when first cooked.

I haven't taken a picture of it, but will post one as soon as I have one.

Calabasa con Pollo

5 to 6 boneless chicken breasts (can substitute 10-12 chicken tenders) frozen
1 large onion, chopped
1 large butternut squash, peeled and cubed (you can always buy it already cubed at the store)
1 - 15 oz can of diced tomatoes or diced tomatoes with chile
2 cups of frozen or fresh corn
1/2 tsp garlic
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in large soup pot. Cover and simmer over low to medium heat for 45 minutes or until chicken is done, stirring occasionally. Serve with hot flour tortillas.

Flour Tortillas

4 cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp to 2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
About 1 1/3 cups of warm water

After mixing salt and flour, cut in shortening until mixture is crumbly (with pastry cutter or fork). Add warm water. Knead well.

Place in bowl, cover and let rest in a warm place for at least 1 hour. Knead again until dough is smooth and glossy. Pinch a small amount of dough and roll until very thin. Keep flipping tortilla as it is rolled to get a round shape.

Cook on top of stove on an ungreased griddle set to medium heat.

Turn tortillas on both sides until lightly brown.

Keep warm in tortilla warmer or fold two pieces of foil together on three sides, put paper towel in foil and place tortillas inside to keep warm.

Using Leftovers

I HATE wasting food and when we were preparing for a trip a few weeks back, I realized we had 1-2 pieces of three different types of chicken leftover from dinners in the past week. We also had several items that would not wait until we made it home. I didn't feel much like cooking or anything heavy that night, so this fit the bill. It's nothing too exciting, but I guess i hadn't spent much time thinking about making salads as entrees.

a few leftover chicken tenders or slices of ham or salami
(we used marinated ones)
green leaf lettuce
green pepper
sugar snap peas
tomato
anything else you need to use in your fridge that works

My husband and I used different chicken leftovers to top our salads. Prep salad. Cut chicken tenders in slices and heat up in microwave for 25 seconds. Top salad with chicken and drizzle with dressing. It was filling and a great way to get our veggies. It's so simple, it's easy to overlook using leftovers in this way.

Mom's Sweet Spaghetti

This is still my favorite spaghetti sauce to date:

1/4 cup spaghetti seasoning
1-1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 quart canned tomatoes (or "stewed" tomatoes from the grocery store)
1 can tomato soup
salt and pepper to taste

Brown the beef with salt and pepper. In a blender, mix together tomatoes, soup, seasoning, and brown sugar. Add to beef mixture and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve with pasta. Easy!

Cocoa Surprise Cookies

My little sister randomly sends me recipes that she clips from magazines. She doesn't cook, but she loves for me to cook and try new things so I can tell her about them. Yes, she's a bit odd.
She sent me this recipe a while ago and I finally got a chance to try it.
They were a huge hit with my kids and with my class that I teach at church.

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup baking cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used a mixture of dark chocolate and semi-sweet chips)
2 cups miniature marshmallows, frozen

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour, cocoa and baking soad; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips. Roll into 1-1/2 inch balls. Press 2 to 3 frozen marshmallows into each; reshape balls.
Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 400 degrees F for 8 -10 minutes or until set. Cool 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool.

Crock Pot Recipes!

I ran across a post on meckmom.com requesting crockpot recipes - see the comments on that post for lots of recipe ideas

Here's one of the links I found there: http://www.crockpothappiness.blogspot.com/

Cream Cheese Frosting for Red Velvet Cakes

Beat together 6 ounces of cream cheese, softened (I use the low fat kind) with 1/2 cup of butter and 2 teaspoons vanilla till light and fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups powdered sugar, beating well. Gradually beat in 2 1/2 -2 3/4 cups additional powdered sugar to reach spreading consistency. This frosts one sheet of red velvet cake. Cover and store cake in refrigerator.

Cinnamon French Toast

Every time we try to make French Toast we always put cinnamon in the egg mixture and that never really works out very well. I came across this cinnamon bread and it's really good as French Toast and gets rid of the putting the cinnamon in the egg issue. I'm not really sure it can be found everywhere, but I found it at our Wal-Mart and our Costco (although we didn't have it at our last Wal-Mart). Anyway, it's really easy and good!

Ingredients:

-Cinnabon cinnamon bread

-Eggs

-Milk

Directions:

Make like you normally make French Toast! Voila!