Zucchini Cake-Neighbor treat

With all of our projects going on we didn't plant nearly as much in our garden as we normally do. One of the things that we didn't get in the ground were my favorite zucchini plants. My good neighbor has been aware of this and has been sharing from her plants, since we all know how prolific they are. She does a better job monitoring the size than I do but one got away and she offered it to me to make bread or anything that I wanted to make. Because my stove was parked in the garage on a temporary basis I had to turn down the offer. The next day she showed up at our door with this yummy cake in her hand. It was too pretty not to post it. (I'm having a hard time keeping my hands off of the treats that have been presented to me the last few days, but I WILL BE STRONG!)

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Cream together:

1/2 c. shortening

1/2 c. oil

1 3/4 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 t. vanilla

1/2 c. buttermilk

add:

2 1/2 c. flour

4 T. cocoa

1 t. baking soda

1 t. cinnamon

2 c. grated zucchini

Pour into a greased 9x13 cake pan. Sprinkle with 1 c. chocolate chips and 1/2 c. chopped nuts. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

New "Bountiful Basket" Challege--Mexican

Another week of Bountiful Baskets, this time it was full of "Mexican" goodies. The tortillas which I forgot to take pictures of are so wonderful, they come in three sizes. Then there are these chile's and tomatillos that made me excited to start cooking.

First I began by pulling the husks off of the tomatillos, the inside is quite sticky once the husks are removed. Tomatillos are not apart of the tomato family even though you may hear that often.

After removing the husks I cut them up to place them into my food processor to make a delicious green sauce.
While I am working on the tomatillos I have the Anaheim chile's under a broiler in the oven.
The chile's will turn black and the skin starts to blister.
Remove them and place them in a plastic bag for a few minutes to let the skin soften and become easy to peel. While the Anaheim's sit cut the Jalapenos and remove the seeds, I ALWAYS USE GLOVES TO DO THIS. After removing the skin from the Anaheim Chile's cut them the Jalapenos and the Tomatillos into chunks and place in the food processor.
Process until they become an even texture.

Place into a bowl and serve with chips or use as a sauce for enchiladas.

While all of this is going on I also saute' a yellow onion to a slight brown color.

I always have cooked, cubed, chicken in my freezer for quick use. So I place the chicken some grated Cheddar and Monterrey Jack cheese and the onions on the fabulous tortillas and roll.

I cheated by using some canned green sauce to the bottom of the pan and place the enchiladas on top to keep them from sticking. Top with the fresh green sauce more of the grated cheese and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.
Top with sour cream and avocado's and more of the green sauce as needed.

Yum.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

This summer has been full of projects in the home-long over due projects and one thing leads to another. One of the projects being new counter top and flooring in my kitchen. As a result I have not been doing a lot of cooking or creating. Along with trying to lose and maintain weight loss I have not been making many "treats" lately. While I was in the basement sorting through piles of paper and organizing recipes Rebecca was busy making chocolate chip cookies. What a simple treat after a long process. Thanks Reb!

Rebecca's Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/2 brown sugar, packed

1/3 c. margarine or butter, softened

1/3 c. shortening

1 egg

1 t. vanilla

1 1/3 c. all purpose flour

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

1 pkg. chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375. Mix sugars, margarine, shortening, egg and vanilla. Stir in remaining ingredients.

With a small ice cream scoop place on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake 8-10 minutes or until light brown. Cool slightly before removing from cookie sheet. About 3 dozen.

Sometimes a glass of milk and a warm chocolate chip cookie is all you need to relax for just a few minutes

Bok Choy: Recipe Four

This a similar recipe to one I already had. I really liked using the chow mein noodles rather than the ramen in the original recipe. This is a keeper as well. Unfortunately my picture didn't turn out at all.

Yummy Bok Choy Salad

Ingredients
1/2 Cup Olive Oil
1/4 Cup White Vinegar
1/3 Cup White Sugar
3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 Bunches Baby Bok Choy, Cleaned and Sliced
1 Bunch Green Onions, Chopped
1/8 Cup Slivered Almonds, Toasted
1/2 (6 ounce) Package Chow Mein Noodles
Directions
In a glass jar with a lid, mix together olive oil, white vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce. Close the lid, and shake until well mixed.
Combine the bok choy, green onions, almonds, and chow mein noodles in a salad bowl. Toss with dressing, and serve.

The Original Recipe (still a favorite)

Chicken Cabbage Salad

Toss lightly in large bowl:
3 chicken breasts cooked and chopped
1/2 head finely chopped cabbage
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 oz. chopped almonds
1 pkg Ramen noodles (crumbled raw)
3 green onions, chopped fine

Dressing:
1/2 c salad oil
2 tbsp vinegar
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
flavor packet from noodles
Mix well and pour over salad just before serving.
Serves 4-6.

Bok Choy: Recipe three

Beef and Bok Choy Hot Pot (myrecipes.com)
2 1/4 cups water
3/4 cup low-salt beef broth
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound beef stew meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 1/4 cups chopped green onions
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
2 cups thinly sliced bok choy
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced carrot
2 cups hot cooked wide rice noodles or fettuccine

Combine first 6 ingredients, stirring with a whisk; set aside.

Heat vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add beef, browning on all sides. Add broth mixture, green onions, garlic, and ginger; bring to a boil.

Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until beef is tender. Stir in bok choy and carrot, and cook 5 minutes or until tender. Serve beef mixture over noodles or rice.

Bok Choy Challenge: Day two

My next recipe was a chicken stir fry. It was good and very easy to do.

Marinade the chicken.
Cut the vegetables up.
Place the chicken in the hot oil and stir quickly.

Add the vegetables and cook until tender add the cornstarch mixture to thicken.

Chicken Stir-fry With Bok Choy and Garlic Sauce (about.com)
•3 medium chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
•3 large bok choy stalks with leaves
•Marinade:
•1 TB Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
•1 green onion, diced
•2 tsp cornstarch
•Sauce:
•1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
•2 TB water
•1 tsp white rice vinegar
•1/2 tsp black rice vinegar
•1 clove garlic, finely chopped
•1/4 tsp salt
•Other:
•1 teaspoon cornstarch
•4 teaspoons water
•4 to 5 TB oil for stir-frying, as needed
Preparation:
Cut the chicken into thin strips about 2-inches long. Add the rice wine or sherry, green onion and the cornstarch. Marinate the chicken for 30 minutes.
While the chicken is marinating, prepare the bok choy and the sauce. Separate the bok choy leaves and stalks, and cut both cross-wise into thin strips.
Combine the sauce ingredients and set aside. Combine the cornstarch and water in a small bowl and set aside.
Heat wok and add 2 TB oil. When oil is ready, add the chicken and stir-fry2 until it turns white and is nearly cooked. (Stir-fry in two batches if necessary). Drain the stir-fried chicken on paper towels.

Clean out the wok and add 2 - 3 TB oil. When oil is ready, add the bok choy stalks. Stir-fry briefly and add the leaves.

Push the bok choy up to the sides of the wok and add the sauce in the middle. Turn up the heat to bring to a boil. Add the cornstarch/water mixture to the sauce and stir rapidly to thicken.

Add the chicken. Mix through and serve hot. Serves 4.

Nutritional Breakdown per serving (based on 3 servings and 4 TB oil for stir-frying): 451 calories (kcal), 21 g Total Fat (18 g Monounsaturated Fat), 57 g Protein, 5 g Carbohydrate, 137 mg Cholesterol, 818 mg Potassium, 424 mg Sodium, 1g Fiber

"Bountiful Baskets" Challenge

My daughter, Natalie, introduced me to a food co-op called "Bountiful Baskets".
Each Saturday morning you can get a basket of fresh vegetables and one of fresh fruit if you order it online. (for local information contact Bountiful baskets.com) My first experience was an interesting one, Bok Choy was one of the vegetables in the basket. The order had been miscalculated and so we got a lot more Bok Choy than anyone had anticipated when I got home I realized I had 16 heads of Baby Bok choy. This was a new challenge for me because I had never used this type of cabbage in my kitchen before. So I hit the Internet to learn more about it and to find recipes. Some were big hits and so I thought I would pass them along. Where do I begin?

DAY ONE

Vegetarian Pot Stickers: This one was so good we made it twice!Drain the Tofu and cut into cubes, then mash up finely.
Mix the Tofu with the diced vegetables.
Place the mixture into a won ton wrapper, moisten the edges with water and press the corners together tightly and work to seal all the edges.
Fill quickly and keep them covered with a damp paper towel to keep them from drying out and popping open.
Heat oil in a skillet, when hot place the pot stickers into the oil and fry on each side until golden brown.

Make a dipping sauce with equal parts soy sauce and rice vinegar.

Vegetarian Potstickers (about.com)
•1/2 pound firm tofu
•1/2 cup finely shredded carrot
•1/2 cup finely chopped bok choy
•1/4 cup finely chopped water chestnuts
•1/4 cup finely chopped bamboo shoots
•1/4 cup finely chopped garlic chives
•2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
•1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
•1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
•1/4 teaspoon salt
•1 package potsticker or gyoza wrappers
•2 tablespoons oil for frying the dumplings
Preparation:
Drain the tofu, cut into cubes and mash. Wash and prepare the vegetables. Combine the tofu with the remainder of the ingredients and seasonings.

Lay out one of the gyoza wrappers in front of you. Dip your finger in the water and moisten the edges of the wrapper.

Place a heaping teaspoon of filling in the middle of the wrapper.

Fold the gyoza wrapper over the filling and pinch the edges to seal it shut. (You may want to use a cornstarch/water mixture to make this easier).

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet or wok.When oil is ready, carefully add the dumplings and cook on high heat until golden brown (about 1 minute). Without turning the dumplings over, add 1/2 cup of water and cover. Cook for about 1 minute to cook the raw filling and then uncover and continue cooking until most of the liquid is absorbed.

Serve the potstickers with the burnt side on top, with potsticker dipping sauce or soy sauce mixed with minced ginger for dipping.

Wrap it Up Please

In my effort to lose weight we have been watching carbs and fat as well as sugar. Rather than making traditional sandwiches and taking them to meet my husband for lunch we have been doing wraps. I love the tortilla or flat breads that come in a variety of flavors. We use some of the flavored spreads rather than mayonnaise and lean cuts of meat. I also love sprouts for additional flavor and lettuce to top it off. By doing these wraps we cut the calories of a traditional sandwich almost in half. Plus they are less messy, that's a plus.

I am using the about com. recipe analysis even more these days in an effort to keep my calorie count and protion size in control.

other sites that I have found helpful are

Spark and Fat secret.com

Fresh Berries-Summer

I love late Spring, early Summer because of the fresh berries!
I used to add sugar to the berries and let them create their own sweet juice and then add cream as well. Rachel, my daughter, started putting low-fat yogurt on in place of the sugar and I have made this modification as well.

This is one of my favorite morning starts or evening treats. And oh so simple!

New take on Peanut Butter Cups

While at a farmer's market in Hononlulu we came across this peanut butter, it was so good. I decided that when I got home I would make one of our favorite treats for the family and substitute this for our original peanut butter and see how long it took everyone to taste the difference.

They looked the same and so everyone was excited that I had made them for our family get together.
All but one said they like the additional flavor. What's not to love? Coconut, chocolate, and peanut butter yum. I made a half batch, ate one, and sent the rest away.

Peanut Butter Cups

1 pkg. graham crackers
2 c. peanut butter (this is where the new peanut butter shined)
4 c. powdered sugar
2 sticks softened butter, not melted
1 pkg. chocolate chips.

Mix together graham crackers, peanut butter, powdered sugar and softened butter, blend well. Form into balls or place in mini cupcake holders. Melt chocolate chips and spread over the peanut butter mixture.

Little Lady Bug

Well we've been noticeably absent the last little while. I've been doing some traveling and gardening and house cleaning and dieting! Actually changing some life styles that have allowed me to gain too much weight over the years as a result I have been able to lose a considerable amount of weight.!!!!! I have not been cooking as much lately because life has been so crazy but I am home for awhile and that should change.

Part of our travel was to see our "Little Lady Bug" for her first birthday. Neither she nor her parents knew we were coming so it was a fun surprise

Don't you love this sweet little face?
Her mom made the cutest cupcakes. She topped them with marshmallow flowers that were so cute and easy. She took kitchen sheers and cut through the marshmallow to make the petals.
She place them on the cupcake and then place a "lemon head" in the center;

Cydney also made this cute Lady Bug cake, this was her first attempt at decorating a cake so she kept saying it wasn't going to turn out like she envisioned it. By the end I think she was pretty pleased by it.

What's not to love about it, so cute.

What one year old wouldn't love to get her hands on that cake?

And yes I had a tiny little piece of cake to celebrate with her!

Happy Birthday Little Lady Bug!

Crepe's-Sweet

Inspired by "Le Crepe" in Honolulu I decided to try a similar sweet crepe. So the basic recipe is on the previous blog. After turning the crepe I spread melted butter on top.

Followed by brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon.

Roll and sprinkle with a little powdered sugar, serve, yum yum!

Crepe's-Savory

Finely shredded Swiss Cheese and Parmesan Cheese
Diced green onion

Fresh basil chopped

in a 8 inch skillet pour 1/2 - 3/4 c. batter and coat the bottom of the pan and lightly brown. Carefully pull the crepe from the side and bottom of the pan and turn to brown the other side.

Place the onion, basil, and cheese on the crepe to melt.

Fold or roll and serve. Use your imagination for savory fillings. Bacon and or sausage are excellent as well.

Crepes

2 c. flour
1 t. salt
2 T. sugar
3 eggs
1 c. milk
2 T. shortening

Combine ingredients. Pour enough batter to fill the bottom of a frying pan, in a thin even coat. Over medium heat cook until slightly brown, flip the crepe over and brown on the other side.