French Toast Sticks

Holy Cow....you will hate yourself for eating these. They are soooo not good for you, but totally worth it!

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What you'll need:

2 eggs

2 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups milk

1 cup flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

12 slices Texas style toast, cut into thirds

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3/4 cup sugar mixed with 4 teaspoons cinnamon

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In a large skillet, heat 1/4" of vegetable oil over medium heat (you may need to add more after a few batches). In a shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla, milk, flour and baking powder. Test oil heat by flicking some water into the pan. If it pops, reduce heat. If hardly anything happens, turn up the heat. If it sizzles, it's just right.

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Working quickly, dip each bread stick into the batter and shake off excess batter before placing in hot oil. Cook until puffed and golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel. Then roll into cinnamon sugar mixture. Place in a 200 degree oven to keep them warm while cookin' up the rest. Serve with syrup to dip them in. You won't be disappointed. They taste just like a donut. Delicious!

Morning Glory Muffins

We've made these muffins many times using the original recipe (found on zupas.com), but seeing as how we have plenty of zucchini, I substituted one for the apple. It made for a great muffin!
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2 cups flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins (sometimes we substitute chocolate chips)
2 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1/2 cup coconut (optional for Amber!)
1 apple, peeled and shredded (or 1 medium zucchini, shredded)
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
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Preheat oven to 350. Grease muffins pans (it makes about 24 muffins). In a large bowl mix flour, sugar, soda, salt and cinnamon. Add carrots, raisins, coconut, walnuts and apple.

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In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, oil and vanilla. Add to carrot/flour mixture, just until moistened. Scoop into muffin cups and sprinkle on a little sugar to add a little crunch. Bake for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

"Potato Chips"

These are not really potatoe chips, its just they end up looking like them. They are baked potatoes that taste like a mix between curly fries and potato wedges if you do them right. These are SUPER SIMPLE to make and that's why I love them.

about 4 medium russet potatoes

2 tbsp butter/margarine - melted

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp seasoned salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and grease a baking sheet.

Cut unpeeled potatoes into 1/4-inch slices, but don't cut all the way through. Place potatoes on prepared baking sheet cut-side up. Spread slices apart without breaking.

In a small bowl, mix butter and oil together, then lightly brush mixture over potato skins and in between slices (ok I admit it, I just pour the butter and oil all over the potatoes!). Sprinkle with salt. Bake for 40 mins, or until potatoes are tender and edges are brown (best when edges are crispy).

When they come out of the oven, the bottoms are kinda hard so I just cut all the little circle (chips) off and then we dip them in ranch. (But you can do whatever you like with them!)

Lime Ice

A really refreshing summertime treat!

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2 1/2 cups sugar

5 cups water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup fresh lime juice (about 5-6 limes)*

1 tablespoon grated lime peel

Combine sugar, water and salt in a large saucepan. Cook, stirring continually, over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium-high. Bring to a boil and cover. Boil for 5 minutes, do not stir.

Remove from heat. Stir in lime juice and grated peel. Pour into a 9x13 glass pan. Cool at room temperature for 10-20 minutes before putting it in the freezer. Freeze, covered with plastic wrap, until frozen, about 3-4 hours. Break it up and put it into a chilled mixing bowl. Beat it with an electric mixer until slushy, but do not allow mixture to melt. Pour back into glass pan and spread evenly. Freeze lime ice for another hour, stirring every 10-15 minutes. Spoon into chilled dessert dishes and serve.

*The original recipe calls for lemon's, but since my bountiful basket was loaded with limes, I decided to change it up. I'm thinking of trying this out with watermelon juice...yeah, that's gotta be good!

Shaved Zucchini Salad

I saw this recipe on www.tasteandtellblog.com It was a great way to use up some of the veggies from our garden.
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2 tablespoons grated onion
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 zucchini, shaved with a vegetable peeler into ribbons
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved (or whatever you have in your garden)
1 small bunch scallions, thinly sliced
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Whisk together the onion, lemon juice and mustard. Add the olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add in the shaved zucchini, tomatoes and green onions. Stir to coat and serve.
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This girl of mine was all over the salad!
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I feel the need to explain her look....we were outside playing in the sprinklers. Otherwise, she would be dressed with her hair combed. There, I feel better.

Golden-Crusted Brussels Sprouts

24 small brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for rubbing
fine-grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated cheese of your choice

Wash the brussels sprouts well. Trim the stem ends and remove any raggy outer leaves. Cut in half from stem to top and gently rub each half with olive oil, keeping it intact (or if you are lazy just toss them in a bowl with a glug of olive oil).

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in your largest skillet over medium heat. Don't overheat the skillet, or the outsides of the brussels sprouts will cook too quickly. Place the brussels sprouts in the pan flat side down (single-layer), sprinkle with a couple pinches of salt, cover, and cook for roughly 5 minutes; the bottoms of the sprouts should only show a hint of browning. Cut into or taste one of the sprouts to gauge whether they're tender throughout. If not, cover and cook for a few more minutes.

Once just tender, uncover, turn up the heat, and cook until the flat sides are deep brown and caramelized. Use a metal spatula to toss them once or twice to get some browning on the rounded side. Season with more salt, a few grinds of pepper, and a dusting of grated cheese. While you might be able to get away with keeping a platter of these warm in the oven for a few minutes, they are exponentially tastier if popped in your mouth immediately.

Strawberry pie

I asked Amber to take some pictures of this pie, because goodness knows she's much better at that stuff than I am!
I will issue a warning about this pie: Be prepared for the whole thing to disappear in one sitting! Okay, here goes:

Pastry shell:
1 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup shortening
1/2 teaspoon salt
4-5 Tablespoons ice water

Stir together flour and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening until pieces are pea-size. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the water over part of the mixture. Gently toss with a fork. Repeat moistening dough, using 1 tablespoon of the water at a time, until all the dough is moistened. You don't want it stick, just wet enough to make a crumbly ball. On a lightly-floured surface, roll dough from the center to the edges into a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Generously prick bottom and sides of pastry in pie plate with a fork. Prick all around where bottom and sides meet. Line pastry with a double thickness of foil. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 8 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 5-6 minutes more, until golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Filling:
8 cups medium strawberries
2/3 cups sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch

Remove stems from strawberries. Cut any large strawberries in half lengthwise; set aside.
For glaze, in a blender/food processor, combine 1 cup of the strawberries and 2/3 cup water. Cover and blend until smooth. Add enough additional water to the mixture to equal 1 1/2 cups. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch; stir in blended berry mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Cool for 10 minutes, off the burner, without stirring.
Spread about 1/4 cup of the glaze over bottom and sides of baked pastry shell. Arrange half of the remaining strawberries, stem end down, in the pastry shell. Carefully spoon half of the remaining glaze over fruit, thoroughly covering each piece of fruit. Arrange remaining fruit over first layer. Spoon remaining glaze over fruit, covering each piece. Chill for 1 to 2 hours. Great with whipped cream!

Green Beans with Prosciutto and Gouda

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I found this recipe on www.tasteandtellblog.com after receiving way too many green beans from my bountiful basket. It was pretty amazing, but had a little too much olive oil for me. So, I'm going to cut it down a little for the following recipe.

serves 8

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3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons minced white onion
5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 lb. fresh green beans, ends trimmed
1/4 lb prosciutto, thinly sliced
1/4 lb Gouda cheese, cut into sticks
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Whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, onion, 4 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Add additional salt and pepper if needed. Set aside.
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Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the green beans and boil for about 3 minutes or until bright green and a little tender. Drain and rinse with cold water. Drain well.
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Toss the green beans and dressing together and let marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature.
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Heat remaining olive oil in a medium saute pan over med-high heat. Add the prosciutto to the hot oil and cook for just about 2 minutes. Add the prosciutto and Gouda to the green beans and serve at room temperature. It's also good cold the next day.

Grilled Summer Sandwich with Garlic-Herb Mayonnaise

This sandwich may not look like anything special, but it is worth it's weight in gold! Who knew that zucchini would be so yummy in a BBQ chicken sandwich. And....oh, man.....the mayo has to be the best thing about it all! I really am not a fan of mayo, but when you add garlic, lemon juice and all kinds of herbs....yeah, I'm sold!

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recipe from my favorite grilling cookbook, Modern Grilling

serves 4-6 depending on the breast size

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4 chicken breasts, pounded flat
1/4 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce
4-6 of your favorite sandwich rolls
olive oil
1 zucchini cut in thin slices lengthwise
4-6 slices of Havarti cheese (about 1/4-1/2 pound)
Garlic-Herb Mayo (recipe below)
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Preheat grill to medium
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Barbecue your chicken for about 4 minutes per side, make sure you coat it well with barbecue sauce. When cooked through, remove from grill and set aside.
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Brush a little olive oil on the cut side of each of your rolls and brown on the grill (oiled side down). Grill zucchini at the same time (without olive oil).
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Now put your sandwich together. Layer on your chicken, zucchini and then the Havarti. Place back on the grill to melt the cheese. Watch it closely! Remove from heat and spread on your Garlic-Herb Mayo and enjoy!
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Garlic-Herb Mayonnaise
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3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1-2 cloves of crushed garlic (I love garlic so 2 was perfect for us.)
3-4 drops of Tabasco sauce (optional, we didn't use it)
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Whisk all the ingredients together and serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. DELICIOUS!

Ham Steak with Peach-Mustard Glaze

Ham steaks....I've never heard of ham steaks and had no idea where to find them at wal-mart, but my friend, Suzanne, knew exactly where they were. In the middle refrigerated section between the cheese and cereal. Huh, I had no idea I was walking by them for so many years. I've really been missing out! These were awesome!
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ingredients:
(serves 4...we doubled it and had some leftovers)
3 tablespoons peach preserves
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil (I used vegetable oil)
A good pinch of ground dried ginger
1 ham steak (1-1 1/2 pounds)
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Preheat barbecue to medium-high. In a small bowl, combine preserves, mustard powder, oil, and ginger; stir to blend. Pat ham steak dry with paper towels. Make small cuts at 1" intervals around the edges of ham; this prevents curling during cooking.
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Place ham on the BBQ; cook for about 4 minutes- don't close the grill. Turn ham and brush on half of the preserve mixture. Cook for about 4 minutes. Turn ham and brush with remaining preserve mixture. Cook for about 3 minutes, then turn and cook for about 3 more minutes, or until ham is heated through and nicely glazed.
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We grilled some fresh zucchini from our garden to go with our meal. We just sprayed them down with vegetable oil and seasoned with lemon pepper. They stayed on the grill the whole time the ham was cooking. They were so yummy!

Asparagus Pizza

There are very few things that I miss from living in Stockton. One is the Asparagus Pizza that Dante's serves every spring. Oh, how I miss their crust.....but this is as close as I can get to having that pizza.
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What you'll need:

Your favorite pizza dough (I like to use Rhodes frozen dough)

A little olive oil

1 Tbs. cornmeal

A package of McCormick's hollandaise sauce (prepared according to the package)

8-12 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

6 oz. Canadian style bacon

5-8 spears of asparagus, sliced into 1 inch pieces (microwave for 2 min. before adding to the pizza)

1 tomato, slice it, remove seeds and pat it dry with a paper towel (I only get to put tomatoes on half of my pizza...silly Wayne isn't such a huge fan.)

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Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare pan by brushing with a little olive oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. Roll or stretch dough to fit your pizza pan. Brush on the hollandaise sauce (I only used half of the sauce. You can save the rest to make this amazingly delicious breakfast pizza http://deliciousdixie.blogspot.com/2010/05/breakfast-pizza.html). Sprinkle on half of your cheese then top with Canadian bacon, asparagus and the remaining cheese.

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Bake for 10 minutes, add the tomato slices, bake for another 10 minutes or until cooked through. I like to take the pizza off the pan for the last 5-10 minutes to add a little crunch to my crust. And there you have it....a pizza that brings back all kinds of happy thoughts for me.

Black Bottom Banana Bars

So this is my first blog post EVER! So if it doesn't look right, you'll know why! Karen I'm afraid you'll have to do without a picture and just be grateful I'm finally posting something. I could go take a picture of the last one in the pan (since I'm so kindly saving it for my hubby), but it's late, I had the urge to post something, and I don't want that urge to go away. But trust me, if you like banana bread or anything of the sort, you'll love these! Here's the recipe:

1/2 c. butter, softened
1 c. sugar (I usually reduce by about 1/4 c., especially if the bananas are extra ripe)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour (I did 1 c. white and 1/2 c. wheat flour and didn't notice a difference at all; leave it to me to try and healthify any recipe)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. baking cocoa

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla; beat until thoroughly combined. Blend in the bananas. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Divide batter in half. Add cocoa to half and mix well. Spread cocoa mixture into a greased 13x9x2 baking pan. Spoon remaining batter on top and swirl with a knife until it looks marbly. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until the bars test done. Cool (or just eat right when they come out of the oven--I mean, who really waits for things to cool anyway?).

My kids enjoy smashing the bananas and stirring up the dry ingredients in recipes like this.

So there you go. I did it!

Bok Choy Cabbage Salad

5 c. bok choy cabbage, chopped into 1" - 1 1/2" pieces
1 bunch green onions, chopped, green & all

DRESSING:

1/2 c. oil
1/4 c. cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 c. sugar

Shake well in a bottle before adding to cabbage. Mix cabbage and dressing and refrigerate before serving. Add noodle mixture.

NOODLE MIXTURE: Lightly brown 1/4 cup butter; add 3/4 cup slivered almonds, 2 packages Ramen noodles and sunflower seeds. Mix well and cool. Later add to cabbage.

Chicken with Bok Choy

8 oz. chicken thighs

3/4 tbsp. soy sauce

3/4 tbsp. cornstarch
1 lb. Bok Choy
1/2 c. water
1/4 tsp. salt
1 slice ginger root
4 slices garlic

1 tbsp. oyster sauce (or soy saucer)

1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/4 c. water

Slice the chicken and place in a medium mixing bowl or large zilpoc bag; add the soy sauce and cornstarch and mix; set aside for later use.

Heat the wok (or pan) then add 4 tablespoons oil; stir fry Bok Choy with 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup water until it becomes limp, remove from heat and set aside.

Heat the wok (or pan) then add 4 tablespoons oil, stir fry the ginger root and garlic until fragrant, stir fry the chicken slices until cooked. Add the remaining indgredients, turn heat to high and stir quickly to mix. Remove and place on top of the Bok Choy (or mix with Bok Choy).

Chocolate Cups

I can't believe I have never posted this on here.

It's like my signature treat!

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ingredients:
1 bag of Wilton's candy melts
You could use almond bark, but then you have to chop it up so that it melts evenly. It's more work, but it's less expensive. You choose.
8 oz package of full fat cream cheese, softened
7 oz container of marshmallow cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla
strawberries or raspberries or blueberries or a little of each
about 36 mini cupcake wrappers
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Melt your chocolate in the microwave according to package directions. Take the mini cupcake wrappers and pour in a small amount of the melted chocolate. Use the back of the spoon to spread the chocolate evenly. Make sure you coat it well. Place them on a tray and set in the freezer while you make the cream filling.
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In a mixing bowl, blend the cream cheese, marshmallow cream and vanilla until light and fluffy. Put it into a frosting bag or a Ziploc bag with the tip cut off.
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Remove chocolate cups from the freezer and gently tear off the paper wrappers. You may crack a few until you get the hang of it. Then pipe in the cream and top with your berries. In a small baggie, melt a little more chocolate and snip off the tip. Drizzle a little chocolate on top of the berries. And there you have it....a fancy treat that's really not that fancy.