Zucchini, Zucchini, Zucchini

When a sweet friend from church gave us a couple zucchini and I didn't have any go to recipes, I went to facebook and posted my problem. The result: MANY recipes from other sweet friends!

So far, I've tried two and I will post them here because they got rave reviews from friends and family. As I try the other recipes, I'll post the ones we like as well. For now, here are the two that have become favs here:

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

Zucchini Bread

Enjoy!

Blueberry Bread

Organic blueberries were on sale for the same price as regular blueberries today, so I decided to buy a bunch. In the back of my mind, I was thinking about blueberry pancakes with my kiddos and some kind of blueberry breakfast food to share with some girlfriends who are coming over tomorrow. I started searching for recipes and decided I wanted to make a blueberry bread. I found this recipe, which provided a starting point for me. Many people had left comments saying that they thought it was a little bland and dry, but that they added a little sugar or a little cinnamon, etc...so I decided to play around with it myself. I'm pleased with the results. It reminds me of a cross between blueberry pancakes and blueberry muffins. We'll see what the girls say tomorrow! :)


Blueberry Bread

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups milk
3 1/2 Tbs. vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (could probably use frozen?)
1/2 cup walnuts (optional--I opted against this)

1. Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease 2 loaf pans. (8x5)
2. Mix eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla and vegetable oil well with a whisk.
3. In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon.
4. Slowly fold in the flour mixture--don't over mix.
5. Toss freshly rinsed blueberries with a little (1 Tbs) flour
6. Gently stir the berries into the batter.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes.

Pizza Dough--no bread machine needed

Kendra also passed along Zach's grandma's pizza dough recipe. I have had it twice and it is really good. I will probably stick with my previously posted recipe that I make in the bread machine, just because it's easier and still pretty good. But for those of you out there without bread machines, I thought you might benefit from this yummy recipe. Enjoy!

Pizza Dough from scratch

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 1/4 tsp. yeast
1 cup warm water
1/2 tsp. salt

1. Combine all ingredients
2. Knead together for at least 10 minutes.
3. Coat a bowl with a little olive oil, place dough inside, cover and put in a warm place to rise for 30-45 minutes.
4. Spread on your favorite pizza pan/stone. Top w/ sauce and your favorite ingredients. Bake at 450 for 10-15 minutes.

Homemade Tortillas--freshly milled flour

Homemade Tortillas, w/ freshly milled flour

Ingredients:
2 cups freshly milled flour
2 Tbs lecithin
1 tsp salt
1 cup warm water
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup oil

Measure liquid into bowl.
Add dry ingredients.
Knead in flour until the dough is workable - it will be barely workable - too much flour makes them crack. I had to get a tortilla press to use this recipe because I handle the dough. It would get too stiff.

Let stand 10 minutes.

Shape into 8 balls and let stand 10 minutes more. Roll thin or use a tortilla press.

If using a press, follow those directions.

Otherwise heat ungreased skillet over med-high heat until a little a water sprinkled on the surface dances.place tortilla in pan - cook 20 to 30 seconds until top is bubbly and bottom is flecked with brown spots. Turn over and cook 20 to 30 seconds more. If tortilla puffs when cooking, press down gently with spatula. Remove. If pan becomes to hot - turn heat down.
From Stephanie Ross--thanks! :)

Homemade Tortillas--store bought flour

My friend, Stephanie-the same one who gave me the recipe for "No-Fail French Bread" (which we had with dinner last night--YUM)--gave me two recipes for homemade tortillas. One is for freshly milled whole wheat flour and one is for store bought. Eventually, we might get there, but for now, this will be the recipe I use--the one for store bought flour.

Tortillas

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup veg shortening
1/2 cup warm water

Combine flour and salt in medium bowl. Cut in shortening until mixture has a fine texture. Stir in water until dough forms.

Knead dough for 2 or 3 minutes - wrap in plastic and let sit 30 minutes at room temperature - this is an important step.

Knead dough a few times - divide into 8 pieces. Shape into balls and cover with plastic. Keep covered.

Roll out on floured surface, turning frequently.

Heat ungreased skillet over med-high heat until a little a water sprinkled on the surface dances.

Place tortilla in pan - cook 20 to 30 seconds until top is bubbly and bottom is flecked with brown spots. Turn over and cook 20 to 30 seconds more. If tortilla puffs when cooking, press down gently with spatula. Remove. If pan becomes to hot - turn heat down.

Basic Pancakes

This morning, my three year old requested pancakes. This might not seem like a big deal, but if you're around here in the morning you know that breakfast ALWAYS equals cereal or hot oatmeal. He'll do eggs, pancakes or french toast for dinner but he thinks it's dinner food. I've suggested it for breakfast and he laughs--I'm not kidding! So, this morning when he requested pancakes, even though I knew it would take longer and slightly change our plans for the morning, I jumped at the idea! Especially because I had been wanting to try this recipe from my friend Jen for weeks! And they are delicious. Just writing about it is making me want to go warm up one of the leftovers. :) We stuck with the basic recipe, but will definitely be adding blueberries one day soon--I heart blueberry pancakes! ;) Enjoy!

basic pancakes

Ingredients:
2 c all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 T sugar
1 or 2 eggs (I used 2)
1 1/2 to 2 c milk (I used 1 3/4)
2 T melted butter or oil

Mix together the dry ingredients. Beat the eggs into the milk and then add the butter. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry, enough to moisten the flour. If it's thick, add more milk.



Variations:
Add fresh or frozen blueberries. Fresh are added as the last ingredient in the bowl, Frozen are added without defrosting and the panckes are cooked slowly b/c they tend to burn.

Add chocolate chips while panckaes are cooking.

For you meat eaters, you can spoon the batter over cooked bacon.

Sprinkle ground cinnamon, ginger, cloves or allspice over batter as it cooks. Use sparingly.


I also make a whole batch and refrigerate or freeze the leftovers for future breakfasts. They are really good reheated in the microwave.

Thanks Jen! :)
(she said to be sure to give credit to "the minimalist", mark bittman, from the cookbook "how to cook everything."

Gingerbread Waffles

My friend, Jen, just shared this recipe with me and it sounds delicious. I haven't tried it yet, but I did just try her pancake recipe this morning and they are SO good! I'll post that next. Here's what she posted on facebook:

i am putty at the hand of anything gingerbread related, and these waffles are no exception. the recipe makes a gigantic batch of batter, so i freeze any leftovers or share the still-warm waffles with my next door neighbor. make sure that you use a huge bowl, and get all the dry ingredients mixed in(they are easy to miss once you get mixing because there is so much batter). i set the timer for three minutes once the waffle iron is closed, and that seems to be the perfect amount of time for cooking. source for this one is rachael ray's cookbook "cooking 'round the clock".


gingerbread waffles


3 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, eyeball it

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 1/4 cups milk

1/2 cup molasses

1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter, plus some to butter the iron

Syrup, whipped cream or fresh fruits for topping, to pass at table




Preheat waffle iron.



In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. In a medium bowl, beat eggs and brown sugar until fluffy, then beat in pumpkin, milk, molasses and melted butter. Stir the wet into dry until just moist. Do not overstir the waffle batter. Brush the iron with a little melted butter and cook 4 waffles, 4 sections each. Serve with toppings of choice.

Cinnamon Rolls

I believe that this recipe has been making the rounds on the food blogs, but it is simple and scrumptious, so I'll join the masses. My friend, Nancy, passed it on to me this week. I'm always glad for a new breakfasty food to serve to the sweet ladies that come to Bible study here each week. This one is definitely going on the list. It is worth noting that you must begin this recipe the night before.

Cinnamon Rolls (aka Land of Nod Cinnamon Rolls)

Ingredients:
20 frozen dough rolls
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vanilla instant pudding
½ t cinnamon
½ cup chopped nuts (optional)
3/4 cup raisins (optional)
1/4 - ½ cup melted butter

1. The night before ~ grease 10" bunt pan and add frozen rolls.
2. Sprinkle with brown sugar, pudding mix, cinnamon, (and raisins and nuts if you want them). 3. Pour melted butter over all.
4. Cover with a clean damp cloth. Leave out at room temperature over night.
5. In the morning ~ preheat oven to 350 degrees, and bake 20-25 minutes (until golden brown).
6. Let sit 5 minutes then turn out on a serving plate.

Honey Yeast Rolls

I've heard nothing but great things about these rolls from Annie's Eats, so today, I finally tried them. But I adapted the recipe so that I could make them in my bread machine--a little less work for me and more time to work on the chicken and dumplings and chocolate chip cookies. To get the original recipe, click here. Here's my adapted version:

Honey Yeast Rolls

Ingredients:
1 cup warm water (105°-115° F)
¼ cup honey3 tbsp. canola oil1 ¼ tsp. salt1 egg, lightly beaten
4 cups bread flour
2 ¼ tsp. instant yeast

To spread over rolls:
1 T butter, melted
1 T honey

Directions:
1. Put ingredients in the bread machine in the order listed.
2. Select dough cycle on your bread machine (mine’s approx. 1 ½ hours long)
3. Punch the dough down and divide into 12 equal portions. Shape each portion into a ball and place into a round, lightly greased baking dish, spacing evenly.
4. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for 20 minutes.
5. Mix together the melted butter and honey, and brush lightly over the tops of the rolls. 6. Bake at 400° for 13-15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Adapted from Annie’s Eats

Melt in Your Mouth Scones!

My friend from college, Kim M., mentioned this delicious recipe on Facebook the other day, so I asked her to share it with me. She did and wow! These are so scrumptious! (that's kind of a fun word, isn't it?) The recipes makes 16 (or 12 large scones, if you make them at 11pm and are hurrying) and I took about half to share with my friend, so it was perfect. However, if I were just making them for my family, I might split the recipe in half. Maybe I'll give you both:

Scones

Ingredients:
4 cups plus one tbsp all purpose flour
2tbsp sugar, plus more for sprinkling
2 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
3/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced (this is 3 sticks or 1 1/2 cups)
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup cold heavy cream
3/4 cup small-diced dried strawberries (or other dried fruit...I used cherries)*
1 egg beaten with 2 tbsp water or milk, for egg wash

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. In a LARGE bowl, combine 4 cups of flour, 2 tbsp sugar, baking powder, and salt.
3. Blend in the cold butter using a pastry blender until butter is in pea-sized pieces (do not overblend butter!).
4. Combine eggs and cream and quickly add them to the flour/butter mixture. Combine until just blended.
5. Toss fruit with 1 tbsp flour, add to the dough, and mix quickly.
6. The dough may be a bit sticky.Dump dough out onto well-floured surface and be sure it is well combined. Flour your hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough 3/4 inches thick.
7. Cut into squares with a 4-inch plain or fluted cutter, and then cut them in half diagonally to make triangles. (I rolled the dough into a circle and cut it like a pizza to make the triangle-ish shapes).
8. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops with egg wash. Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 20-25 minutes, until outsides are golden brown.

Makes 16 scones

My friend, Tina, is going to try chocolate chips instead of fruit--I think they'll be just as delicous. Seriously, you need to try these--YUMMMMMM!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recipe halved:
2 cups plus one tbsp all purpose flour
1tbsp sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/8 pound cold unsalted butter, diced (3/4 cup, or 1 1/2 sticks)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup cold heavy cream
3/8 cup small-diced dried strawberries (or other dried fruit...I used cherries)
1 egg beaten with 2 tbsp water or milk, for egg wash

follow same directions above

Brown Sugar Raisin Bread

This recipe comes from the fabulous website, Annie's Eats. She makes it in her Kitchen Aid mixer. I wanted to make it in my bread machine, so I halved the recipe and made a few adaptations. It turned out really delicious. If you like raisin bread, you'll love this--it's moist and tasty! :)

Brown Sugar Raisin Bread
(Adapted from Annie’s Eats)
½ cup warm water
½ cup warm milk
1 ½ Tbs. butter, melted
½ egg beaten lightly*
1 ½ Tbs. sugar
3 cups of bread flour
½ Tbs. salt
½ Tbs. dry active yeast
¾ cup raisins

Filling:1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1. Put ingredients in the bread machine in the order listed above, except for the raisins and the filling. Start the bread dough cycle on your machine.
2. Follow your bread machine’s instructions for adding fruit/raisins. (mine is about 25 minutes into the cycle)
3. Preheat your oven to 350 F about 10 minutes before the dough cycle is complete.
4. Once the bread cycle is complete, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board. Roll or pat the dough into an 8x12 rectangle. Lightly sprinkle with the filling, leaving an inch border on all sides. Beginning at a narrow end, tightly roll up the rectangle into a compact log. Pinch the ends and the long seam to seal in the filling. Place the log of dough, seam side down, into a lightly greased 9x5 loaf pan.
5. Bake until the loaf is golden brown and pull away from the sides of the pan, 35-40 minutes. Turn onto a wire rack to cool.

Banana Bread

Banana Bread

Ingredients:
3 mashed very ripe bananas
1/2 shortening or butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour- you can do 1 cup wheat flour & 1 cup white flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts(walnuts or pecans)*

1. Cream bananas, shortening/butter, brown sugar.
2. Add eggs vanilla salt & baking soda and mix
3. Mix in flour and nuts then pour into greased loaf pan.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 min then check every 5 min 'til done.
*nuts are optional

From Tina Gathany

Pumpkin Bread

I'm actually not a fan of all things pumpkin, like others I know. But I heart this bread. It's REALLY good. I don't think I've met anyone who's tried it and doesn't feel the same. My husband, who sadly doesn't get excited about food, even really likes it. It makes 3 full sized loaves or 8 mini-loaves. (I usually make 2 full-sized and 3 minis) It freezes well and is a great gift for a neighbor or a friend. Try it--you won't be disappointed!

Pumpkin Bread

prep time: 10 minutes cook time: 40-50 minutes

Ingredients:

3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
16 oz. can of pumpkin
3 ½ cups of flour (I use half wheat/half regular)
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla
2/3 cup water

1. Mix sugar, oil, eggs and pumpkin.
2. Add flour, baking soda, salt, spices alternately with water.
3. Pour into 3 greased 8 x 4 loaf pans.
4. Bake at 350 for approx. 45 minutes.

From Valerie Cook/FCS Cookbook

No Fail French Bread

Two of my friends had their babies on Sunday--what are the chances? So, tomorrow, I'm taking them both meals. They will be getting Jenny's Pasta Florentine and Stephanie's No Fail French Bread, along with some salad. Jenny made me the pasta recipe when I had Jon three years ago and it's been a favorite ever since. It takes a little longer than most of my recipes, but it makes a lot--two 8x8's, one to eat and one to freeze. I'll post that recipe tomorrow. For now, here's the yummy French bread recipe. Enjoy!

No Fail French Bread
prep time: 10 minutes (then stirring every 10 minutes for another 40 minutes) bake time: 20-25 minutes

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients:
½ cup warm water
4 ½ tsp yeast
2 cups of HOT water
1 Tbsp salt
3 Tbsp sugar
1/3 cup oil
6 cups flour (I use half whole wheat and half regular)

1. Sprinkle yeast over warm water in a small bowl or measuring cup
2. In a large bowl, combine hot water, salt, sugar and oil. Let stand until warm.
3. Add yeast mixture and 3 cups of flour. Beat until smooth.
4. Add remaining flour to form soft, stirrable dough. (add a little more if it's too sticky--sometimes the humidity in the air can affect this)
5. Cover the dough with a towel and let it rest for ten minutes. Stir again. Repeat this step 5 times.
6. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead enough to make dough workable for easy handling.
7. Divide dough in half and use hands to form into an oblong loaf shape. Fold in sides, push through the middle and seal seam.
8. Arrange side by side on a large cookie sheet
9. Brush with beaten egg white. Slash diagonally 3 or 4 times.
10. Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes.

This recipe is from my friend Stephanie Ross :)

Sweet Corn Bread

Sweet Corn Bread

Ingredients:

1 cup ground corn meal
2 cups white flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups sugar
¾ cup butter, melted
4 large eggs, separated
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

1. Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
2. Combine the egg yolks, milk, vanilla and melted butter
3. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients
4. Beat egg whites w/ mixer until stiff
5. Carefully fold the egg whites into the batter.
6. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan (or 2 8x8’s)
7. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until done.

This jewel was passed to me from my mother in law when Pete and I got married, but I didn't try it until a few weeks ago. I've made it twice since then! Also, at least two of my friends have made it and loved it, too! Enjoy! :)