Lemon Zucchini Muffins

Zucchini is another food that I love.  We love to grill it, saute it with other vegetables, or bread it with Panko crumbs.  I really love zucchini bread too because it is so moist and has such a great flavor and isn't to sweet.  The lemon adds a wonderful flavor too.  Hope you enjoy, I'm taking these to church tonight for a special meal we're having.  I'm counting down the days until the semester is over... only 2 weeks left! Have a happy Friday!

Lemon Zucchini Muffins

1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini (small to medium size)
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cups canola oil
1 whole egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 lemon zested
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cups chopped pecans (optional)

Directions:

• Mix all ingredients until just combined.
• Pour batter into 12 muffin tins or a 9x5 loaf pan (either grease the pan or use muffin cups).
• Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees until muffins become golden and a toothpick comes out clean. 

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

Chewy, soft, chocolate, peanut butter... melt in your mouth.  Need I say more, these are great and my favorite go-to peanut butter cookie recipe.  So, put them on your list of "I'm going to make those." I know you won't be disappointed!

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup butter (softened)
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 whole large eggs
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 whole pkg. milk chocolate chips

• Combine all ingredients in the order listed above. 
• Use a cookie scoop to place 1 inch balls of dough onto a greased cookie sheet.
• Bake 10-12 minutes or until cookies are a little golden and just set.  (I usually go by what the cookies look like rather than the time, but 10 minutes is a good estimate... when you know, you just know).
• Remove cookies onto cooling racks, then go ahead and eat one while their hot!

Enjoy!

Homemade Granola

Granola has always been one of my favorite breakfast items and I always try to keep this granola on hand.  This is actually my Aunt Kayla's recipe and I absolutely love it.  What I really love about this recipe is it is healthy.  A lot of times we think granola is healthy when it isn't.  Many granola's are high in fat and use a lot of oil and sugar.  You will definitely see a difference with this one, it has just enough sweetness and is packed good nutrients.  Try it, I think you will love it as much as I do!

With that said, feel free to change the recipe as you like to add more or less of an ingredient.  I wait to add the fruit right before I eat it (dried cranberries, cherries or blueberries), but you can eat it plain too... which I do most of the time.

Granola

1 large container Old Fashioned Oats
1 1/2 cups coconut
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup stone ground oats
2-3 cups nuts roughly chopped (almonds, pecans, walnuts... you can choose!)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
2-3 Tablespoons vanilla
2 cups cold water

 Some of these ingredients can be a little expensive when they all add up, but they last a long time and you can use them again when you want to continue making the granola :) The recipe makes a large amount, a full gallon ziploc bag.  Also, homemade granola is cheaper and healthier than buying it at the store.

Step 1: Combine the first 6 ingredients into a large bowl

Step 2: Mix together water, oil, sugar, and vanilla until it is well combined.

Step 3: Pour the mixture slowly over the granola, stirring as you go. Make sure it is evenly coated!

Step 4: Transfer the granola onto baking sheets, cake pans, casserole dishes or whatever it will fit in, you will at least need 2 large baking sheets.

 

Step 5: Bake at  250 degrees for 80 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes.  Watch at the end to make sure it doesn't burn.

 Step 6: Remove from oven and cool completely. 

 Then enjoy with milk, dried fruit, or yogurt!

Health Notes:

• Flax seed may fight heart disease, diabetes, and breast cancer as well as lower cholesterol!
• Wheat germ is a good source of essential nutrients and vitamins.
• Oats are a good source of fiber and promote cardiovascular health... enough said, go make some granola :)

Lemon Asparagus Soup

Asparagus is one of my favorite foods! We eat a lot of it, especially this time of year when it is in season!  Some way or another, it always involves lemon too... they just go together.  This soup is delicious, it is wonderfully light and so easy to make, it really took only 5 minutes to put together.  Hope you enjoy it and are having a good week!

1 small onion chopped
1 clove garlic minced
2 Tablespoons butter
2 lbs fresh Asparagus
1 14oz can white beans
6 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon herbs de provence
1 teaspoon salt
1 whole lemon (juice and zest)
1/4 cup cream
cayenne and black pepper to taste

Chop the onion and garlic. 

Saute in butter for 5 minutes or until the onion becomes transparent. 

Snap off the tough ends of the asparagus.  Chop the asparagus but save the heads for the garnish. 

For the garnish, I broiled the tops of the asparagus for 5 minutes so they would be more tender.

Add the asparagus, Saute for 5 more minutes.

Drain the beans then add.

Add the broth and other seasonings.  Cook for 20 minutes or until the asparagus is tender.

 Use an immersion blender or regular blender to blend the soup until smooth.  Add the lemon juice (about 1-2 Tablespoons), zest and cream.  Garnish with asparagus. Add salt and pepper to taste!

Enjoy! We did! 

Pizza Pockets

Stephen and I have been so so busy the last few weeks... more busy than usual.  The meetings at the church have consumed all our time and we haven't been eating dinner until really late, which makes me pretty grumpy at times.  So, since I had a few hours at home today I wanted to make something that we could eat during the week.  My initial thought was lasagna (I've been wanting to make that for a while) but that didn't seem too car or on the go friendly, so I thought of these pizza pockets.

I used to make these often when I was younger, you can add your favorite pizza toppings or even make them with a breakfast filling.  They do freeze well too, I am usually against freezing anything! But I guess I will make an exception for these.

Hope you enjoy these, I know they will make perfect meals for us this week!

For the dough:

1/2 cup water
4 teaspoons yeast
3/4 cup warm milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 cups flour (I used 2 cups of wheat flour and 2 1/2 of white flour)

Mix and knead dough; let rise for 1 hour.

Then pick your favorite pizza toppings, I used zucchini, bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach, mozzarella cheese, and pizza sauce.

Chop 1 zucchini, 1/2 bell pepper, 1 cup mushrooms

Saute for 5 -10 minutes (until vegetables become slightly tender)

Season it up with some Italian seasonings and parsley. 

  

Pour about 3/4 jar of pizza sauce into a bowl.  Add some burger if you like

(Start our with about 1/2 jar and add more if you need it)

Chop 2 big handfuls of spinach and add to the sauce

Add the sauteed vegetables and 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Mix it all together and you have a wonderful filling, pretty healthy too! One note about the filling, you want it to be pretty thick, it the filling has too much sauce and is too thin, it will run out of the pockets. 

Now, back to your dough... form it into a log.

Divide into 18 pieces

Roll each piece into an oval

Place the filling on the lower half, leave some room around the edge to seal the pocket.

Form a pocket with the dough.

Pinch the edges closed. Make sure there is a tight seal.

Place pockets on a greased baking sheet.  Brush egg whites over the pockets before baking.

Check to make sure the edges are sealed once more, I usually pinch the edges once more before baking.  You will probably still have a little sauce that comes out but it's ok :) 

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes until golden brown. 

Berry Orange Muffins

I made these today when I probably should have been studying... but I decided school would still be there tomorrow and there wasn't anything too pressing... well, maybe not.  Anyway, it was a relaxing Sunday, now I'm back to another week. Hope it is a good one for you too! 

Berry Orange Muffins

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
3/4 cup orange juice
1 orange zest
1 t. vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup chopped berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, cranberries)

Topping:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup whole oats
  1/4 t. cinnamon

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees 
• Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, orange zest).
• Combine wet ingredients in another bowl. (orange juice, vanilla, eggs, oil)
• Fold wet and dry ingredients and berries together, making sure not to over-mix.  
• Spoon batter into muffin tins to make 18 muffins.  

•  Sprinkle the topping on the muffins

• Bake for 20 minutes (375 degrees).