Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

I found a link to this page on Pinterest the other day about replacing packaged snacks for school lunches.  I saw this recipe about Pizza puffs (really muffins) that I thought I would try for the kids for dinner last night.  The blog it was posted on originally got the recipe from Rachael Ray and then added a few things.  I took it and revised for my own family.

Now my kids can't handle anything spicy so instead of pepperoni I substituted Canadian Bacon and really I think you could do without all the cheese.  If you have picky children and know that when you try new food it's always a throw up if they are going to like it and when they do it's the best feeling.  I make my own pizza sauce and it's a tich spicy so I was worried that my son (super picky) wasn't going to like it.  Oh my, that kid LOVED dinner last night.  He ate 6 pizza puffs and then this morning had 3 more for breakfast.  I'm going to make a double batch and put them in the freezer to pull out for quick lunches/dinners.

They would be perfect for school lunches, lunches or dinners on the go and they are really good and way better for your kids than those pizza rolls you can buy.  I even made mine with whole wheat pastry flour (works like white, but is made from whole wheat flour).  You can make with pepperoni, Canadian Bacon, turkey pepperoni, and really add any pizza ingredients you want.  Next time I might add some sauteed small pieces of red and green peppers or some cooked up mushrooms.

You know they are good when you're pickiest kid can't stop raving about them at dinner, thanks you in bed during bedtime and wants them for breakfast the next day.  Super easy to make and they ARE good!

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs
3/4 cup flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 T. Italian seasoning
pinch of salt
3/4 cup whole milk (I used 2%, but skim would work too)
1 egg, lightly beaten (I dumped mine in my mixer without beating)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I'm going to try 1/2 cup next time)
1 cup cubed pepperoni (substitute Canadian Bacon or turkey pepperoni to make it lighter)
Pizza sauce (I make mine using Penzey's pizza sauce spice and tomato sauce - divine!)

Preheat the oven to 375.  Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and Italian seasoning.

Whisk in the milk and egg.  Stir in the mozzarella, and pepperoni.  Let stand for 10 min.

Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin pans. 

Bake until puffed and golden, 20-25 min.  (20 min. was plenty for mine and they were golden).  Heat the sauce and serve with the mini-muffins.

Don't these seriously look delicious?

Here is the link to pinterest that had a lot of good school lunch ideas.

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs printable recipe

Zucchini two ways

If you have zucchini plants I'm sure you have zucchini growing out of your ears.  If you are lucky you might find a neighbor wanting to unload some on you.  Take them up on their offer and use it!  I had a neighbor that recently sent an email around asking if anyone wanted some of their zucchini.  I jumped on that as quick as I could and was rewarded with 2 big green zucchini and 1 big yellow zucchini (or summer squash).  I fried up half of one of the green zucchini's for lunch with a friend, grated the rest for zucchini bread and cut up the yellow one to grill with.  I'm going to be sharing the bread and grilled recipes with you today.


First up: Marinated Zucchini and Summer Squash
My sister-in-law made these this summer while I was in town.  Delicious, easy and I'll admit I'm not a HUGE fan of cooked zucchini (read boiled-blech!) but this grilled stuff was soooo good and GOOD for you!


Ingredients:
Zucchini
Summer Squash
Italian dressing (can be light)
Season salt
A hard cheese like Romano or Parmigana

First slice your zucchini's into rounds and add to a bowl.



Do the same with a yellow zucchini or summer squash if you
are using.  I did a smaller green zucchini I had already
purchased from the store, a two yellow summer
squash/yellow zucchini's.



Add some Italian dressing and let the zucchini sit for about
1/2 hour.  You don't want it to over marinade or it will
overpower the zucchini.

Grill on both sides.  I brushed the first side with some more
dressing and sprinkled some season salt before flipping
over.  After flipping over I brushed with additional dressing
and some more season salt.

Be careful of over seasoning.  The first time we made these
they were way over seasoned for me so I scaled back the
next  time and they were perfect.  You can always add more
seasoning later if it's underseasoned, but it's hard to take
the saltiness away.






After they are done, grate a little romano or parmigiana
cheese.  It adds the right finishing touch.

Second Up: Chocolate Zucchini Bread

One of my neighbors last summer had a bountiful supply of
zucchini's (thanks Briana!) and was so nice to share with me. 
I made at least 4 batches of this bread and tweaked this
recipe several times until now it is JUST perfect!  I can only
make this once a year as I can't stop myself from eating it,
but it helps that Jordan and the kids love it too so we're all
sharing in the goodness!

Ingredients:

3 eggs

2 cups white sugar

½ cup vegetable oil

½ cup applesauce

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 pkg mini semi-sweet chocolate chips or 2 cups

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup pecans, toasted then chopped (optional)

2 cups grated zucchini

Preheat your oven to 350.  Grease TWO-2 loaf pans.

Sift together flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder and soda.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until lemon colored; beat in sugar,

oil, and applesauce.

I actually made a batch of zucchini bread before this one
and grated all the zucchini at once in my food processor. 
This kept in my fridge covered for at least 5 days.  I usually
cut my zucchini in half lengthwise before shredding and if
the seeds are really big, I'll cut those out too, as sometimes
I've gotten a big seed in my bread and it isn't good.

Add the vanilla and zucchini to the sugar mixture.

Mix dry ingredients into zucchini mixture.  Stir in chopped
pecans and mini chocolate chips.

Pour into prepared pans.  I use the grease and flour spray
so the loaves come out super easy.  You can pick it up at
the store or at Williams and Sonoma (that's where mine
came from).  I also picked up the pan on the left there and
it was a splurge, but all my loaves come out perfectly
browned from that pan.  Bake for 1 hour.  I would

check it at 55 min. as some ovens need a little less and
some need a little more.

Doesn't this look so yum-o?  I asked my son who is 5 if he
wanted zucchini bread and he said "Eww...No", and wrinkled
his nose.  I told him I had another loaf of chocolate chip
bread and did he want to try that?  He said he did, but that he
thought I was just trying to trick him (of course I was).  I told
him I wasn't and gave him a slice and he thought it was so
good, but said that he still thought I was tricking him.  I didn't
respond to that comment and gave him some more.  
Yesterday when the new loaves were cool he wanted a piece
and came back for 3 more slices so I guess we'll be referring
to it in our household for awhile as chocolate chip bread.

btw-my 2 year old daughter told me she loves "zoocheenee"
bread.  She's definitely not as picky as my son.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread Printable Recipe