Zucchini Tots

I have honestly never been a fan of zucchini, but during one of my Pinterest sessions, I can across this recipe for zucchini tots from The Two Bite Club. These are a play on tater tots, but are much healthier and don't leave you feeling guilty about eating them. I journeyed to the local farmer's market to see what I could find. The zucchini I found was about 12 inches long (which is huge!) and a few inches around...the difference between local and other produce. I wasn't sure what to expect when I took them out of the oven, but these tots were deliciously. They were crispy on the outside, but tender on the inside. I might have cooked mine a for just a few more minutes to get them a tab bit more golden on the outside. However, this was not a bad first try. Plus, they were super yummy! They don't have an overwhelming zucchini taste to them and they would be great with a homemade marinara dipping sauce. Since they are similar to tater tots, they are a super kid-friendly food and the perfect way to get them to eat more veggies!

Ingredients: 

1 1/4 cup zucchini, grated (this was about 6 inches of the giant zucchini)

1 egg, brown

1/4 cup onion, diced

1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese. finely grated

1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs

Pepper

*You will need a 24-count mini muffin pan, but the recipe only made 20 for me. 

Directions:

Grease your mini muffin pan with cooking spray. Dice your onion and grate your zucchini.

 I didn't realize this, but there is a ton of water in zucchini. The next step is to take the grated zucchini in a dishtowel and wring out the water. The more you get out, the better the tots will stay together. *Just a warning it will turn the dishtowel a light green color, but it will wash out.*

In a small to medium size bowl, mix together the zucchini, onion, egg, cheddar cheese, breadcrumbs and pepper. Add the mixture to the pan. Be sure to use your fingers or a spoon to press the mixture down. You can to compact it so that when it bakes, it stays together.

Next, bake the tots at 400F for 12-15 minutes or until the top gets a nice golden brown color. I am not sure if it was because of the Panko breadcrumbs or that they needed to cook a tiny bit longer, but mine seemed to be a bit delicate. They didn't fall apart but it seemed like they wanted to. These little veggie bites were super yummy and are a nice treat when you are looking for a tater tot like option. Fortunately, I have the other half of the giant zucchini that I will be using to make another batch.

Gaga over Granola

I love soft, chewy granola bars, but I don't always love that strange ingredients in the store bought kind. I am not a fan of the crunchy granola bars and the chewy ones are way too sweet for me, so I set about trying to make my own. Of course, I went to my "go to" website to see what a granola recipe usually had and then set to work on creating my own version since they looked easy enough to make. There have been quite a few batches in the recent past, but I think I finally have the recipe perfected. Fortunately, I have a captive audience that has been willing to try my different versions of the granola bar (which haven't always come out perfectly). A few were too crumbly and fell apart when you touched them, one was a bit too sweet, and a few managed to come out quite well. I did try adding in wheat germ, but this turned out to be one of the batches that fell apart. The flavor was there though and it would have been wonderful as a cereal or frozen yogurt topping. However, now matter what the consistency, the flavors always seemed to impress the taste testers so I just needed to work on getting the ingredients to stay together.

Ingredients:
2 cups of oats
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup light or dark agave
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup dried cranberries, cherries, raisins, etc*
1/2 cup chopped almonds, pecans, walnuts, cashews, etc*

Directions: 
Toast oats on baking sheet for 4-5 minutes at 400 degrees F. If you can smell the oats baking, then you need to take them out immediately. Line a glass 8 x 8 baking dish with parchment paper. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, combine the flour, spices, and salt in a bowl and add toasted oats once they have cooled. Mix in the coconut oil, syrup, agave, and vanilla. Stir in whatever dried fruits and nuts you are using. Pour into the pan and bake for 24 minutes.

Allow the pan to cool on a wire baking rack until the pan is cool to the touch. Then place in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes and then cut into bars. Store in an airtight container.

*You can you any kind of dried fruit or nuts that you want. However, I did find that the nuts need to be pretty finely chopped in order for the bars to stick together. You can also choose to omit the fruit or add in chocolate chips, coconut, or whatever you want in your granola bars. Don't be afraid to make them your own.

These granola bars are easy to make and definitely much better than the store bought versions. I promise you that once you try these, you won't go back. No matter what your mood, these granola bars are great anytime of day. These have become a must have at the office and are requested on pretty much a weekly basis, so I know that the recipe must be pretty delicious. Make sure you save yourself a piece because they will disappear before your eye.

Sugar Donut Muffins

I had to admit that I love donuts, but tend to stay as far away as possible because they are really quite bad for you. However, when I saw this recipe for a donut muffin, I definitely needed to try it. This is a super simple recipe, but it only makes about 10 regular muffins. The recipe is super simple and the best part was I had everything on hand. Like usual, you beat the butter and sugar together and separately mix together all the dry ingredients. Then you add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar until mixed. Add in the liquids and you are ready to pop them in the oven. They cook at 350 for about 15-18 minutes. Usually my oven, takes about 5 minutes less than the suggested cook time, but this time it was exactly 15 minutes. Once you pull them out of the oven, you brush them with a bit of butter and roll in sugar. You can roll the whole thing or just the tops. I opted for sugaring just the tops an in half of them added a dash of cinnamon to the sugar. They are a dense muffin that doesn't crumble. I would say it has a very close consistency to a cake donut and was a perfect morning pick me up! I will definitely be making these again as they are fun and something different then just a regular muffin, so be sure to give it a try.

Two-Ingredient Cookies

My taste for sweet things comes and goes, so I am trying to look for some healthier options that I won't feel guilty afterwards for eating. This of course lead me on another Pinterest adventure to see what I could find. I was trying to find a recipe for something with the ingredients I have on hand. This is a good way to challenge my creativity and helps a bit with my budget. I had remembered seeing a few recipes for simple banana and oatmeal cookies, so I started searching for those. Low and behold, I found one from iAManRD that used only bananas and oatmeal. Awesome since I happened to have both of those things on hand. Literally all you do is mash two bananas with one cup of oatmeal and bake a 325 for 10-12 minutes. The recipe calls for a potato masher, but oddly enough that is one kitchen tool that I don't have so I went for the next best tool - my hands. With your hands you always have the tools you need, even if it gets a little messy.

I had a few chocolate chips left over from another recipe so I threw those in, along with some raisins. Be careful not to add in too many mix-ins because then the batter won't stick together. You could also try any kind of dried fruit or spices...this is a really basic batter that you can totally make your own. I used two small bananas and got 10 small cookies from the batch. The number of cookies you get will depend on the size of the bananas you use. These will look a little undone because of the bananas, but of the toothpick is relatively clean then they are ready. This is would be great alternative to the traditional banana bread when you have some super ripe bananas and definitely healthier. Plus they tasted exactly like a chocolate chip banana bread, so it's kind of like you get the best of both worlds. 

S'more Cookies Please!

I love s'mores and got really excited when I saw this recipe for s'mores cookies on Pinterest. This recipe from Instructables is easy and not something you will see every day. It's like a chocolate chip cookies with the crunch of graham crackers and toasted marshmallows. I had graham crackers crumbs on hand, but if you don't you get to make your own by quickly throwing them in the food processor. Mix together the graham cracker with flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then cream the sugar, brown sugar, and butter. Mix the egg and vanilla with the butter and sugar mixture, followed by the dry ingredients. I decided that I wanted extra chocolate chips in the cookies, so I added them in before putting them on the cookie sheet to bake at 350 for about 6-8 minutes.

While the cookies are cooling, you get to toast the marshmallows. Place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet under the broiler. I did mine in the toaster oven, but the ones on the edge didn't really get that toasty. Do not walk away from the marshmallows while they are toasting! It happens quickly and you don't want them to burn. You need to work quickly to use a buttered spatula to move the marshmallows onto the top of the cookie. They cool and then start to stick to the pan and the spatula. I might suggest doing smaller batches so that you can get the marshmallows to the cookies before they cool too much. The finishing touch is a chocolate drizzle. I can honestly say this tastes exactly like a s'more and is one of the best cookies I have made. The gooey marshmallow, the crunch of the graham cracker, and the sweetness of the chocolate is a symphony of flavors! This is a fun treat if you are doing an indoor camping night or a fun birthday treat. They are pretty easy to make and won't be around for long!

Delicate Daisy Wreath

The winter has come and gone and the weather is slowly getting warmer, so I figured that it was probably appropriate for me to start on my spring wreath. However, I think like most I have an issue with not having enough storage space, so I wanted to make something that was not so bulky, but simple and sweet. While perusing Pinterest for ideas, I can across the perfect wreath and it couldn't have been simpler to make. It used green fuzzy yarn for "grass" and embroidered daisy flowers to make a field of daisies wreath. Though the link only gave pictures and not the amount of supplies needed, I made by best guess and just went for it. You will need two packages of yarn, ribbon of any color, some straight quilting pins, and 1 1/2 yards of embroidered flower edging. This you will most likely need to find at a specialty fabric store. The daisies I found were yellow, so I used yellow ribbon to match. However, the ones in the original post I found were pink, so I think it's up to you on what color you want to go for. Keep in mind that you will need to find matching straight pins, so it's probably best to not go too crazy.

 The best part about this wreath is how simple it is to make, though I have to admit it is a bit time consuming. Start off with a styrofoam wreath and hot glue one end of the yarn to the wreath. All you do is just start wrapping the wreath in the yarn. You can make the "grass" as dense as you want. I made mine very tightly wrapped because I wanted it to look lush and for the stryofoam not to show through. Keep wrapping and wrapping and I promise you will eventually finish. It felt like forever, but it doesn't require much thinking so pop in a movie and you'll be done in no time.  

Once you get done with the yarn, it's time to add the flowers. I use a wreath hanger, so instead of using the ribbon to hang the wreath, I made a very small bow to put at the top. Next cut apart the daisies and attach them to the wreath using the straight pins. You can put as many on as you like in whatever pattern you want. I tried to do mine in a random fashion and included some on the inside and outside of the wreath. Now you are done! I told you it was super simple. The other fun part about this wreath is how versatile it can be. You can add some wreath picks for Easter or add some other flowers to it if you want to change it up. This is a dainty, feminine, and delicate wreath that will be easy to store and is the prefect way to welcome spring.

Banana Saver

Pinterest is not only an inspirational website, but it is also chock full of helpful hints for everything from home remedies to beauty tips to cleaning solutions. I have found some of the do-it-yourself spa treatments to work well, so I decided to try out this kitchen trick. I am slightly picky about my bananas and don't like them to be too ripe. I used buy green bananas and put them in the frig. They ripened a bit more slowly, but the skins got a little crazy looking and then I heard that it was bad to put them in the frig, so I started leaving them on the counter. However, they would ripen at lightening speed and go bad before I could eat them. I saw on Pinterest that if you wrapped the stems in plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil that it would make them last longer. I gave it a try and can definitely see a difference. The bananas ripened at a much slower speed and didn't get soft spots by the stems. This is a quick thing to do right after you get home from the store and will keep your bananas fresher for longer. If you have any other useful kitchen tips, feel free to share them!

Spicing it Up

I get especially inspired around the holidays to be in the kitchen. However, I have begun to run into several problems. Somehow I am always short on baking sheets or bowls, there never seem to be enough storage containers, and I end up with way too many leftovers. That doesn't stop me!...Especially since I committed to try and make something new everything. So what do you? Enter the gift basket. I know that can be a bit cliche, but they can be really great. I personally like when there is a bit of everything. This is a great way to be able to try all the recipes you want, but not have oodles of leftovers. Things like cookies, brownies, hot cocoa, cheese, crackers, nuts (like almonds), and if they are of age a bottle of wine or their favorite liquor are perfect Last year, I tried these spicy, baked crackers and they were so addicting! The crushed red pepper gives them a kick but the neutral cracker balances it out. So while on Pinterest (go figure), I found a recipe for these crackers and was so excited. 

This is another quick snack recipe that can be done in minutes and is the perfect basket filler. You need saltines, canola oil, a ranch dressing packet, and crushed red pepper. The proportions of the recipe are kind of based on how big the bowl is. I used two sleeves of crackers, half the ranch packet, 1 1/2 tablespoons crushed red pepper, and 1 1/8 cups of canola oil. It was a bit to much in the bowl, so I would probably do one thing of crackers at a time. All you do is combine everything in the bowl, let sit for 5-10 minutes, and bake at 250 for 15 minutes. You do have to stir everything part way through to make sure nothing is getting burnt. If it ends up like mine where the baking sheet is way to full the mixing is even more important to make sure nothing stays hidden. It is one of the easiest things to make, but is so yummy! Mine were a bit spicy, but you can control the heat with how much red pepper you add. Once you make them, they will be gone before you know it, so make more than you anticipate.

Almonds to the Rescue

It's that time of year when company stops by unexpectedly and having quick little gifts is a necessity. Instead of the usual sweet treats, opt for a salty (and healthier) option that is beyond simple to make and very comforting. A Pinterest session had me stumble on this recipe for herbed almonds. I know that the "go to" this season is sweets, but I think that people really appreciate something different. Don't get me wrong... I am most definitely not encouraging that the sweets get shunned, I am giving people a feasible option. All it is is blanched almonds, olive oil, fresh thyme, salt and pepper. A blanched almond is just an almond without the skin on it. You can buy blanched almonds at the store or make your own by quickly soaking them and using a towel to rub the skin off. The best thing about this recipe is that you can play with it and make your own combinations. The earthy aroma that the almonds have makes it seem like you have been slaving away for hours, but all you need to do it heat up the olive oil, put in the almonds, toss with the thyme, salt and pepper, and cool on a baking sheet. It takes no time at all, but it is an easy way to make them a little more sophisticated. I know that I am definitely excited to make a slightly different batch, maybe using rosemary. Plus, this is a healthy, filling, quick, and yummy snack or easy gift to throw together. It is also a great snack to have out when company is over. So run by the store and grab some blanched almonds and make a batch...you will be pleasantly surprised.

Christmas Garland

Last year I found this adorable light and ribbon garland on Pinterest that I made. It's super simple to make, but it does take some time. All you do is take a strand of lights and tie leftover ribbon or tulle on it. I didn't have that much leftover ribbon, so I just bought additional ribbon that coordinated with what I already had. I chose not to go the super traditional route and incorporated some fun color and patterned ribbon. This year while on Pinterest, I started seeing that "Merry Christmas" banners and thought it would look really cute with the light and ribbon garland I had. I decided to challenge myself and only make it with things that I had on hand. I started out with a gift tag template and traced it onto construction paper. Each tag was a letter and since I had different colored ribbon on the garland, I used all the colors. This is a great way to use up any leftover supplies since the tags are pretty small and each one is different. After I did one for each letter, I used mini clothes pins to hang them on a string in the light and ribbon garland. The best part about this is that you can make it your own and make it as simple or ornate as you want. I kept mine on the simple side because my garland was so colorful. I know it may seem overwhelming to start from scratch, but there are tons of ideas on Pinterest and once your creative juices get flowing, it will be a breeze!

Turtle Cheesecake

I am usually fairly good at taking baking risks, but for some reason I have always been a bit intimidated by the cheesecake. Maybe it's because I have had many a pieces of cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory and didn't want to disappoint myself, but when I saw this recipe on Pinterest for turtle cheesecake I couldn't pass it up. So I set off to find a spring form pan to make my cheesecake. Looking at the recipe, I found that there weren't any crazy ingredients and the process seemed fairly straightforward. Feeling a bit more confident, I started. This was a chocolate swirl cheesecake on a graham cracker crust. It called for chocolate graham cracker crumbs, but I could only find the plain ones and didn't feel like making my own. 

To make the crust, combine the butter and graham cracker crumbs. Then press it into the pan and part way up the side. To make the filling, start by mixing the sweetened condensed milk and cream cheese together. Add in sugar, lime, eggs, and vanilla. Then start the process of melting the chocolate chips in the microwave. This is a slow process because you don't want to burn the chocolate and if you microwave it too much it starts to harden. Once the chocolate is melted, you scoop out about half of the cheesecake mixture and mix it in the chocolate. Alternate between the plain and chocolate filling, starting and ending with the plain filling. Take the spatula and even out the filling before baking at 300. The trickiest part of making the cheesecake is the baking time. You don't want it to be underdone, but you don't want it to be over done it.

The recipe calls for a bake time of 1 hour and 15 minutes, but mine ended up being in for almost about 1 hour and 45 minutes. I found it hard to determine when the center moved just slightly, so I probably baked my for longer than was necessary. Allow it to cool completely, before drizzling on the caramel and chocolate and then topping with pecans and chocolate chips. In the end, I was fairly pleased with my cheesecake. I was very proud of myself for taking on the challenge and managing to produce something that was pretty decent. Don't be afraid to try something new! Chances are it isn't as hard as you think it is and you very well may surprise yourself. If something goes wrong, just realize you learned what not to do. Knowing that my first attempt wasn't a complete disaster has made me excited to make another one.

Soft Pumpkin Spice Iced Cookies

I know it's been a while since I have posted about pumpkin (and I am sure some of you are really excited about that), but I figured that I better get back to the pumpkin before it's too late. The shopping centers have already put up the Christmas decorations and the countdown to the holidays has begun. I found this great recipe on Pinterest from The Baker Chick for soft frosted pumpkin spice cookies. The recipe looked pretty easy and the cinnamon cream cheese frosting sounded amazing. You can find the original recipe here or on Pinterest. I have never made a pumpkin cookie and figured that this would be a great one to try. They came together very quickly and made enough to share.

You should have most of the ingredients on hand, expect for maybe the pumpkin and some of the spices. Mix together all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar, then add in the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla. Add in the dry ingredients and then drop onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 15 minutes.While the cookies bake and cool, make the icing.

The interesting thing about this icing is that there is no liquid. It is only butter, cream cheese (I used non fat), powdered sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla.  Cream together butter and cream cheese. Then add in powdered sugar until thick and creamy. Finish by adding in the cinnamon and vanilla. However, mine got a bit too thin, so I ended up frosting my cookies twice (maybe it was because I used the non fat cream cheese, though I am not sure). I let the first layer harden and then added a second layer of icing. Even though, my icing turned out more like a glaze, the cookies still turned out very well. They weren't overly sweet, had a great pumpkin flavor that was highlighted with fall spices, and everything came together with the icing.

These were so delicious! They really were soft and fluffy on the inside, but they didn't get soggy. Since they made so many, I decided to share most of them and got rave reviews. I would say that this cookie is definitely going to be making another appearance and may even become the cookie that I always have on hand. These are a super quick and easy cookie that you can go to whenever you need to whip up a quick dessert. Make sure you try these because you won't be disappointed. Enjoy these pumpkin delights!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownie Bars

It's obviously the onset of fall with all these pumpkin recipes that I have been posting about recently, but I can't seem to get enough of them. I would suggest keeping a can of pumpkin on hand at all times during this season...you never know when you will need it. Besides then you will avoid the rush of everyone wanting pumpkin closer to Thanksgiving and then finding out it is all gone when you get to the store. This recipe came from Pennies on a Platter via another one of my Pinterest sessions. I love the good old chocolate chip cookie, but throw in some pumpkin and what's not to love about that. I also have to say that this recipe literally takes no more than an hour from start to finish, including washing dishes. I know you are skeptical because there are lots of recipes that say that they only take 30 minutes, but what they really mean is 30 minutes of preparation time. I promise you these are beyond super simple and you probably have most of the ingredients on hand. The unique thing about these is that they have a subtle spice flavor because of the nutmeg and allspice. It works really well with the pumpkin and the chocolate adds the chocolate flavor that few can resist.

There are five steps to this process. Preheat oven and prepare pan. Mix wet ingredients. Mix dry ingredients. Mix the two together and add chocolate chips. Pour into the pan to bake. The wet ingredients are 1/2 cup of pumpkin, 1 egg, 2 egg whites, and 1 tbsp canola oil. The dry ingredients are 1 cup flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp cocoa, 2/3 cups packed brown sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and 1/2 tsp allspice. Once all the ingredients are mixed together, add in the chocolate chips. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup, however, I don't think you can go wrong with too many, so I added more along the lines of 1 cup. The batter will be pretty easy to get into the parchment lined pan. The only issue I ran into was that I didn't have an 11 x 7 pan, so I used a 13 x 9 pan. This made them a little thinner then normal. I also made them in a 9 x 9 pan and found the 9 x 9 pan make thicker, cakier brownies. I guess it really just depends on what you want. Bake for 10-15 minutes and let them cool. Then slice and enjoy. Once you bite into them, you get the notes of spice and pumpkin and then the chocolate flavor. These are a great twist on a traditional chocolate chip cookie. Though mine didn't end up looking like the picture in the original recipe, they were very yummy. Since Halloween is just around the corner and these are pretty festive, I decided that I will be using these in my goodies bags this year. It will be something different from the usual store bought candy. So whip yourself up a batch of these and cozy up with your favorite book!

Pasta Turned Up a Notch

I kid you not this is the most heavenly and easy pasta recipe that you will ever encounter. It is tasty enough to serve to company and you will probably never go back to eating plain pasta again. I have to admit that the simple pasta dishes, those that use only a few ingredients, are usually my favorites. Not that there is anything wrong with the fancier ones, but they are usually less healthy and make me feel pretty guilty after eating them. I found this recipe on Pinterest (of course) via Yumsugar. This is a traditional Italian dish and I am pretty sure it will become a staple recipe for me. I can almost guarantee that you will have all the ingredients on hand... there are only 6. You will need pasta, olive oil, garlic, red chili pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.  From my experiences in Italy, I found they have a very unique perspective on food. It isn't about taking the ingredients and smothering the flavors, it is about celebrating each one and using it in a way that combines well with other ingredients, but still keeping each individual flavor in tact. This dish does exactly that.

All you have to do is cook the pasta until it is al dente (which is a lot shorter than I usually cook mine) and then top with the rest of the ingredients. I guess that means I overcook mine, but to be honest I put it on the stove and don't use a timer (maybe something I should consider using). I used a spinach and chive linguine from Trader Joes, which had a great aroma when you pulled it out of the package. After the pasta is done, drain it and mix in with one clove of minced garlic, red chili pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and olive oil to taste. I made the whole package so I could have leftover pasta, but I was only making one serving so the spices were all to taste. First of all the aroma was intoxicating and just made you feel good inside. But the flavor was even better! There was heat from the red chili pepper flakes and a spiciness from the garlic, but it wasn't so much that it killed your taste buds. The pasta was yummy as well and the subtle chive flavor added an onion flavor to the dish. It was so yummy and I urge everyone to try it because this is one of the simple things in life that you need to take a moment to enjoy. Besides it take all of 10 minutes to make, so there's really no reason not to try it.