Zucchini Cookies...The Most Correct Way to Eat Vegetables

I picked three zucchinis from my garden this week while I was out looking at the progress on my cucumbers.  This is the most successful garden we've had in the time we've lived here.  We relocated it from the east side of the property, where it wasn't getting enough sun exposure.  We also cut the size of it in half.
I have no gardening experience.  I can barely buy vegetables.  My father-in-law would have survived in Colonial 'Merica with his sweet gardening capabilities.  They would have thrown me overboard somewhere in the Atlantic.
I bought six different veggies to plant. Four made the cut; I did not have room in my raised bed for squash or melon.  As it is, the cucumbers have totally wrapped themselves all over the rest of their neighbors (sorry, peppers.)
I've been watching the zucchini blossoms and cucumber blossoms.  Then, all of a sudden, BOOM.  There are cucumbers.  It's been so awesome to see them grow.  And I thought nothing was doing on the zucchini plant...but I was looking in the wrong place.  If I was an animal, I'd die off because I wouldn't be able to find the vegetables in the garden.  The zucchinis are nestled at the bottom of the plant.  Nice diversion.
So, to put those lil zuccs to good use, I thought I'd go sweet with them.  Sure, zucchini boats stuffed with sausage and cheese is all the Pinterest rage, but I say, buck that.  Also, these were a little too small to put filling into (in my opinion.  Who wants a measly amount of stuffing?  In those recipes, the zucchini is just an edible plate.)  If I can reap some bigger zucchinis, I will try them stuffed.  But for now, we add chocolate!
This recipe comes from the Food Network.  The dough is more like scoopable brownie batter than chocolate chip cookie dough.  Nothing wrong with that; just making it known so you don't get the same confused look I did when everything was put together and it looked loosey goosey.  It'll hold.

It thickens up by the second or third sheet...

Before you begin, have everything measured, shredded, melted.  It's easier than having to stop in the middle of mixing to measure, shred, and melt.  You'll also need either parchment paper or silicone baking mats for your cookie sheets.

3/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
8 oz chocolate (original recipe calls for semi-sweet; I used 4 oz German chocolate and 4 oz semi-sweet because that's what I had on hand)
6 oz butter (that's 1 1/2 sticks)
2 eggs
2/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. chopped walnuts (or nut of your choice, or no nuts if you're not down for nuts)
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. grated zucchini (1 1/2 of my zucchinis equaled 1c.)

Things to do beforehand:  grate your zucchini, melt your 8 oz of chocolate with your 6 oz of butter on the stovetop, chop your walnuts.

In a small bowl, combine flour with baking powder and salt.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar for 4 minutes with a mixer on medium-high speed.  Beat in the melted chocolate and vanilla, then add in the flour mixture, walnuts, chocolate chips, and zucchini.

Drop spoonfuls two inches apart onto paper/silicone lined cookie sheets and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Give em room!

Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet and then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

First sheet out of the oven...minus one...I had to make sure they were good enough to blog about...

I think you could easily throw this batter into a 9x9 pan and bake them like brownies. They taste like that. They also taste like I had three before this blog was finished.  It's cause I wanted to make sure I ingested my daily intake of zucchini.

Bake and enjoy!!

Reese's Ice Cream Cake

The best time to try to make an ice cream cake is when it's 77 degrees outside and your kitchen is on the second floor of your house.  Take my word for it.
Trust me--I succeeded.  You can, too.  This is very easy, and much cheaper than the beloved, tasteless DQ cakes that pop out during summer birthdays and other celebrations.  You don't even have to wear extremely short shorts and look disdainfully at everyone to make it, but you can if you want.
I used my leftover hot fudge from the peanut butter pie I made earlier in the week for my husband's birthday.  This cake is also for his birthday.  My goal is to make him heavy enough that he can't run from me.  Soon.
Feel free to go store-bought on all the ingredients.  If you make your own ice cream sandwiches, use em, and tell me how you get that kind of free time.

Ingredients:

18 ice cream sandwiches (Much as I hate the Walmart, they have quite the selection of ice cream sandwich flavors.  I picked a chocolate/vanilla hybrid.)
1 cup peanut butter, nearly melted
Hot fudge/Hot sauce (original recipe said 6 tablespoons, but I forbid you to measure this)
Caramel sauce (same forbidding here, as well)
12 Reese's cups, chopped (that's one package of 6 two packs...it sounds like common core math, I know, but they're right in the candy aisle)
Cool Whip (I used one of the big tubs o'Whip, but you just use how much you want.  I won't know unless I'm there eating it)

If you have a nice, long serving plate, assemble and serve it on that.  Can you believe I don't?  I sure don't.  So I assembled mine and it will be served on a cookie sheet.  We ain't fancy folk.  We want cake to mouth by any means necessary.

So, prep is best in assembling this cake.  Chop the cups up, melt the peanut butter (30ish seconds should do), and make sure the Cool Whip is thawed.  When you are ready:

Lay 6 sammiches out (3 across/2 down)
Spread half of the peanut butter on the sammiches
Spread 4 chopped cups evenly over the peanut butter
Drizzle hot fudge and caramel over cups
Lay another 6 sammiches on top of that, pressing a bit to make even
Spread other half of melted peanut butter on sammiches
Spread 4 chopped cups evenly over the peanut butter
Drizzle hot fudge and caramel over cups
Lay last 6 sammiches on top
Frost with Cool Whip

 This is about what yours will look like in the Cool Whip frosting step.  Ooey, gooey goodness, I say!

What I like to call the Cavities Shot.  Always trying to drum up business.  Tell my boss.

Make sure to check hand and forearm for stray peanut butter, hot fudge, and caramel splotches.  Those are best licked off at the end as a reward for sweet, sweet assemblage without melting it all.

Do I need to mention that you must keep this bad boy frozen (Let it gooooooo!  Let it gooooo!) until you serve it, and then put it back in the freezer, should any remain? Ok then.

I'm so very excited to try to transport this the 10 minutes it takes to get to my folks house.  This is when I will praise the lead foot that my husband bought on e-Bay.

Assemble and enjoy!!!

Angel Biscuits...Go yeast!

I have not been overly successful in biscuit-making.  I love big biscuits and mine don't reach that puffiness that constitutes a fantastic biscuit. 

I also love yeast rolls. Clearly. So these Angel Biscuits are a sweet hybrid. This recipe comes from the cookbook Home Baked Comfort, but I bet you have a similar one in any of the the 200 cookbooks you have in your kitchen. Or the three. Maybe I just have 200. 

Here we go:

1 pkg active dry yeast

1 tsp sugar, plus a pinch

1/4 c warm water (110 degrees)

3 c flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

6 Tbsp frozen unsalted butter

2 Tbsp melted butter

1/4 c cold shortening

1 c plus 2 Tbsp buttermilk

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in the water with a pinch of sugar. Let stand 10 minutes. 

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and sugar. With a large holes shredder, grate the butter into the flour mixture. Add in the shortening and mix together with your hands until you see crumbly chunks of butter and shortening. Pour in buttermilk and yeast and stir until mix is just combined. 

Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and press into a disk 3/4 inch thick. Cut out biscuits and re-roll scraps as needed. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit for an hour, then refrigerate for at least two hours. 

Preheat oven to 400. Brush biscuits with melted butter and bake 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Devour.

That last step is the most important. 

¡Fauxolé!

This is such a great end-of-the-week meal because it's so easy and can be a much healthier alternative to Chinese or pizza when you just want to get home to veg out the start of the weekend. 

My recipe is very easy to adapt. Use ground beef/chicken/turkey/fake meat instead of shredded chicken. Try shredded pork. Add any number of chopped veggies to the mix. Add a couple different kinds of beans. Whatever you like (or you want to trick your husband/kids into eating.)

Easy Mexican Chicken Pie

1 tube crescent rolls

1 rotisserie chicken (or meat of your choosing...about a 1lb worth)

1 packet taco seasoning

1 can red kidney beans

1 can corn

Shredded Mexican cheese

Sour cream

Preheat the oven to 375. Lay crescent rolls out in a pie plate, short ends out, fat ends in the bottom of the plate. 

Ina large frying pan, put taco seasoning and 2/3 cup of water and turn heat to medium. Shred the chicken, drain the corn and beans, and add all to the seasoning. Mix and cook until liquid is bubbling. Add a handful of cheese and pour into pie plate. Fold short ends into center and sprinkle with cheese. Bake 15 minutes or until browned. Serve with sour cream. 

Jalapeños, green salad, tortilla chips...there are many additions that could be made! Enjoy!!! 

Martha Stewart's Blueberry Muffins....Level: Unintimidating

If you've never baked from a Martha recipe, this is an easy one to try.  She hasn't recommended that you forge your own muffin tins out of metal (though my father-in-law could totally make me some...birthday present!) or mill your own flour for this recipe.  I bet you have all the ingredients on hand.  I did. 
Take your stick of butter out about 10 minutes before you start prepping for this recipe.  You want to be able to leave an indent in the butter, but not have it be too soft or melty.  In the warm temps like we have now (or if you have a second floor kitchen, as I do) you may need to watch it, as it will likely be softer sooner.

1 stick of unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh blueberries (I used a pint...I didn't bother to measure and I don't know if it's equal, but I was happy with blueberry/muffin ratio)
1 cup sugar (plus a tablespoon extra for sprinkling over the tops of the unbaked muffins)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375.  Grease a 12 cup muffin tin (MS says to grease and flour, so whatever you feel down with doing is fine.  I was in spray-mode this morning.)
Whisk the flour, powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Put the berries in a mesh strainer over the flour and sprinkle some flour mix over the blueberries and shake to coat.  Set it all aside.
Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes.  I used my KitchenAid.  Go with what you got.  KitchenArm or KitchenHandMixer is fine, too.)  Add eggs, one at a time.  Splash in vanilla.  At the lowest speed, add in the flour and mix until just combined.  Do the same with the milk.  Fold in the blueberries with a spatula.  Divide batter among the muffin tin, sprinkle the tops with a little sugar and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.  Rotate the pan halfway through the cooking time.  (Good MS tip!)
Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then knife those bad boys out and serve to your happy husband waiting in the other room with hot coffee and butter or cream cheese (or one of each, cause that's how he's feeling today!)

It cures everything but a Monday morning...

Coconut Shrimp

This recipe is so easy and works up quick in batches. Sam's Club sells frozen, uncooked peeled and deveined shrimp, leaving you to just thaw and gather ingredients. This recipe was adapted from Betty Crocker and the Joy of Cooking. 

Here we go:

1 lb peeled and deveined shrimp, uncooked and thawed

1/2 c apricot preserves

2 tsp. cider vinegar

3/4 tsp. pepper flakes 

1/2 c. Bisquick

1 egg

1/4 c. Milk (plus an extra splash, if needed)

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 c. Coconut

1 c. Panko breadcrumbs (I used lemon pepper flavored as I had that on hand. Use what you have)

1 cup oil

Mix preserves, pepper flakes, and vinegar and set aside. 

Pat dry the shrimp. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Mix the coconut and breadcrumbs in a shallow dish. In another shallow dish, mix egg, cayenne, Bisquick and milk, adding a little extra if necessary to make batter moveable (that's official speak.)

Dip shrimp in batter then in coconut mix and fry 3-4 mins, turning halfway through, until shrimp is cooked and coating is browned. Heat apricot sauce in microwave for a minute and serve over shrimp. 

I kept the tails on the shrimp which made it easy to dip, coat, and turn. We ate ours with rice and smiles. This would make a lovely valentine dinner. Looks tough but is easy and delicious!

Blondies Have More Fun

Found this book at Mardens this weekend:

16 bucks, bub! Heck of a deal for a cookbook. Of course I read it cover to cover. Then went through to find the first recipe for which I had all the ingredients. I landed on blondies. Her recipe is not for albino brownies. These are squares of chocolate chip cookies, soft and delicious, without the pan work and wait time of their round sibling (hey, I'm a round sibling...).  The other great thing is that it takes about half the ingredients of a chocolate chip cookie recipe. Which is good when you're craving a snacktreat but don't have all the goods to produce them. Here we go:

10 tablespoons butter

1 c packed brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 1/4 c flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 c chocolate chips

Grease and flour 9x9 pan. Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar. Mix in egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and stir to combine. Stir in chips. Press into pan and bake about 30 mins or until light golden brown. Cool in pan. Cut into 9 or 16 squares. 

Took a whole bunch of self control but I cut mine into 16. Doesn't mean I only ate one!

Doesn't mean I couldn't eat two bites before I snapped a picture!

Happy baking, bub!