Chocolate Zucchini Cake Recipe

Ingredients
·        2 1/2 cups regular all-purpose flour, unsifted
·        1/2 cup cocoa
·        2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
·        1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
·        1 teaspoon salt
·        1 teaspoon cinnamon
·        3/4 cup soft butter
·        2 cups sugar
·        3 eggs
·        2 teaspoons vanilla
·        2 teaspoons grated orange peel
·        2 cups coarsely shredded zucchini
·        1/2 cup milk
·        1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

·        Glaze (directions follow)

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
1 Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.

2 With a mixer, beat together the butter and the sugar until they are smoothly blended. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition. With a spoon, stir in the vanilla, orange peel, and zucchini.

3 Alternately stir the dry ingredients and the milk into the zucchini mixture, including the nuts with the last addition.

4 Pour the batter into a greased and flour-dusted 10-inch tube pan or bundt pan. Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes (test at 45 minutes!) or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 15 minutes; turn out on wire rack to cool thoroughly.

5 Drizzle glaze over cake.

Glaze: Mix together 2 cups powdered sugar, 3 Tablespoons milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until smooth.

Cut in thin slices to serve. Makes 10-12 servings.

Brigadeiro (Brazilian Candy)

Total Time: 20 mins

Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins
 
A traditional candy from Brazil that is typically served at parties. It tastes like chocolate-caramel and is very easy to make!

 Ingredients:

Serves: 30

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons cocoa
chocolate sprinkles

 Directions:

1 Over medium-low heat, stir vigorously the three ingredients.

 2 Cook the mixture until it thickens enough to show the pan bottom during stirring (it will be firm enough to stay together and not spread) Pour into a greased dish and let cool to room temperature (or chill a few minutes in the fridge) Grease your hands with butter and take small amounts of candy and form into 1 1/2 inch balls.

* If the balls don't hold their shape, cook an additional 5 minutes until it thickens up more. (I've had to do this a couple times, I can be impatient when making these)

 
3 Roll the balls in chocolate jimmies to decorate. Pace in mini cupcake liners.

Cinnamon Apple Cream Cheese Spread

Ingredients:

1/3 Cup Homemade Cinnamon Apple Sauce

½ Cup Cream Cheese

 

Directions:

1. Mix apple sauce and cream cheese with hand blender till thoroughly blended (it will look weird at first, but as you continue to blend it will get creamier). Refrigerate and serve.

 

Notes:

Delicious when topping: banana bread, cinnamon toast, pancakes, muffins, etc.  This "recipe" placed at a Stone Family Cooking Contest

Potato Pancakes

I wanted to title this one. Shoot! It's time to rotate food storage already! But that was too long.

So what was I supposed to do with a two pound box of instant mashed potatoes? Well after eating more than our fair share of mashed potatoes & eggs and shepherds pie I decided to branch out and search the infinite knowledge of google. And this is one recipe I found

http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2011/01/instant-mashed-potato-pancakes-made.html

Instant Mashed Potato Pancakes

1 cup cold water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup Betty Crocker Potato Buds (probably will work with any similar brand)
fresh chives
freshly ground black pepper
cayenne to taste (I used paprika)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter 

Where there would have been directions this blog had a step by step video. Very awesome but the directions can be summed up by saying:


Get a large pan to medium high, add oil. Flip pancakes when very crispy.


We ate this with breakfast and was great when you need "just one more thing" to serve. Its was super cheap and who doesn't love that. 

Chicken tacos... Copy cat style

I few months ago tried a recipe from one of my favorite food blogs: http://realmomkitchen.com
Everything here seems super family friendly and oh so yummy. I am trying to use the crock pot I got for my bridal shower (6 years ago) for more than keeping hot chocolate warm on those cold snowy days and the following recipe caught my eye. Sorry no picture, this was before I decided it should be a picture blog/recipe book.

I cut the chicken breasts up and it made a great 3 hour meal instead or 5-8. I always use a digital meat thermometer when cooking in the slow cooker cause mine runs hot and nothing ruins a dinner like overcooked food. We ate this with our friends and they provided some delicious homemade tortillas. That is an adventure I will definitely want to try!

Cafe Rio Chicken

Ingredients

• 2 lbs chicken breasts ( I use boneless)
• 1/2 cup zesty italian dressing
• 1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic
• 1 pkt ranch dressing mix
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
• 1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin

Instructions

1. Place chicken in a crock pot.
2. In a bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients and pour over the chicken.
3. Cook on High 5-6 hours OR on Low 8 hours.
4. Remove chicken from crock pot and shred.
5. Remove half the liquid from the crock pot and place in a bowl. Add the chicken to the crock pot and combine with the liquid left in the crock pot. You want the chicken nice and moist. Add more of the reserved liquid if needed.
6. Serve in tacos, burritos, salad, quesadillas, etc. I got two meals from this. I did tacos with some and quesadillas another time with the leftovers. This meat freezes well.

What the Crepe?

Since I started my recipe search in January I will will be doing some post-date catch up

First on my list is crepes. They looked so yummy and taste great too! This is the easiest crepe recipe I have seen and is a good impromptu party idea.

1 

cup Original Bisquick® mix

3/4

cup milk

2

  eggs 

 In small bowl, stir all crepe ingredients until blended. Grease 6- or 7-inch skillet with shortening or cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. For each crepe, pour 2 tablespoons batter into skillet; rotate skillet until batter covers bottom. Cook until golden brown. Gently loosen edge with metal spatula; turn and cook other side until golden brown. Stack crepes as you remove them from skillet, placing waxed paper between each. Keep crepes covered to prevent them from drying out.


Recipe from: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/strawberry-banana-crepes/beb17f18-b84d-48b9-b06b-d677430fe66e#?st=6&term=crepe&ps=9&pi=9&fv=AND%28HasGridViewImage%3ATrue%29

Next was the filling. I first saw it on pinterest as a fruit dip but when I made it I saw so many more possibilities!  Do get me wrong; good fruit dip; but great crepe filling! The possibilities really are endless. Hot chocolate topping, frosting replacement, waffles etc.

All you need is an instant pudding mix and cool whip. Large tub cool whip and large pudding box or small tub and box, respectively. Mix pudding mix with with half the mix it calls for for regular pudding and once it is mixed fold in the cool whip.  Easy as that! I made two batches. One with vanilla pudding and one with chocolate, both delicious.

Original Recipe can be found here: http://notjustcute.com/2010/06/24/dear-sweet-puddinhead/



Both of these recipes will most likely make it in the book!

And here the adventure begins....

I had two food new years resolutions. One is to find 10 new recipes to add to my recipe book and the second was learn to not be so picky. To aid in the latter I joined Bountiful Baskets where I receive a miscellaneous basket of produce every week. And this blog is to help with the first as a way to remember all the successes and food fails of this year.

Here's to becoming an ex-picky eater.