Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cake

I don't make dessert very often at my house for just my family because what ends up happening is there is a ton leftover and I can't handle the temptation and eat it all myself.  We went to a party recently and I offered to bring dessert.  There were going to be 6 families there and I had found a couple of recipes I wanted to try out so I thought it was the perfect time to bake.  They were so good, but now I'm in trouble because no one could resist temptation and kept eating my desserts. :)  I've been told I'm banned from bringing desserts, but I'm not listening (plug my ears, lah, lah, lah).

I made a Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cake (I found in my latest Penzey's spice catalog) that was sooo good and samoa bark that I didn't photograph, but will link to below.  IT'S TO DIE FOR, super easy AND no bake!!!!  I'm definitely using it at Christmas as part of my cookie plates.

I do not get paid anything from Penzey's to endorse them FYI, but love, love love, LOVE this spice company.  I have mentioned it here before, but my cooking is 1000% better since converting to their spices in 2006.  Almost all of my spices are exclusively from there.  They don't cost much more than spices from regular stores and are so much better.  Penzey's source all of their own spices and make their own spice blends so they are cutting out the middle man to bring you superior spices.  If you have a Penzey's near you, please GO!  If you need me to go with you and are local to me I WILL GO WITH YOU!!! :)  I promise you, you won't regret it.  If you order online through them (because you can't get to a store), they always throw in a free little spice bottle so you get to try new ones for free.  Sign up for their free catalog either in the store or online.  You get coupons for free spices and it's always chock full of recipes from real people, and you can use the coupons when you order online. (Ok, I am off my soapbox and you can resume back to the recipe).  You can find them online here and they list all of their locations on their website.

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cake
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract (Penzey's is by far the BEST vanilla EVER!  Hands down THE best!!!! - and I've used a lot)
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

For layering:
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon (Penzey's also has THE BEST cinnamon ever!!!!!)
1  12 oz. bag chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

In a mixing bowl, combine the butter, 1 cup of sugar and the eggs.  Beat until light and fluffy.  BTW-if you are like me and never get the butter out in time and have a stand mixer, just throw in the butter and turn the mixer on high.  It will beat it to smithereens and it will be nice and smooth in no time.  Hold onto your mixer! :)

Add the sour cream and vanilla; blend thoroughly on low. 

In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda.  Add gradually to the beaten mixture.  It was pretty sticky and didn't seem like enough to go around, but stick (har, har) with it!

Pour half of the batter into a greased and floured 9x13 pan.  In a small bowl, combine the remaining sugar and cinnamon.  Sprinkle half of it over the batter and top with half of the chocolate chips.  Pour the remaining batter into the pan and sprinkle with the reamining cinnamon-sugar mixture and the rest of the chocolate chips.  See how flat the whole cake is?  It will seems like not enough, but look below at how much it cooks up!

I forgot to take pictures mid-way through the layering process because I got distracted by the stickiness of the batter.  Look at the yumminess of the cinnamon-sugar and chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 for 30 min.  Cool in the pan on a rack.

No close-up today of a single slice as I was off to the party and didn't get a pic, but it was sure yummy and hard to resist!  Like I said above, I'm fired from treats because mine were too irresistable, but I'm not going to listen and WILL continue to bring even yummier ones (if possible)!

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cake Printable Recipe
Samoa Bark Link

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



Avocado Salsa

I can't believe how the summer flew by!  We have had a super busy summer (my first not working outside the home full-time) and I haven't made the time to post.  School starts this next week for us Oregonians and with my son starting Kindergarten at 7:45 am (I know crazy!) we'll be on a better schedule and I'll be making more time to post.  I wanted to make sure everyone had this salsa for their BBQ's going on this weekend, so make it in if you can!  It's so good.


Some people call this cowboy caviar but my sister calls it avocado salsa and that's where I got the recipe.  If you've never had it before and you love corn, black beans and avocados then THIS is for you!  Oh my it is DELICIOUS!  I think it's the best one I've ever had.  It has the perfect balance of ingredients and seasonings.  So good!  It's a hit everywhere I take it and it is the perfect salsa for a BBQ.  I only made HALF of this recipe and it was still a HUGE amount of salsa.  I made it for 4 adults, 2 teenagers and 3 kids and we didn't even make a dent.  Make the full batch for a large crowd and half of it for a smaller gathering.


Ingredients:

5-6 avocados (diced)

4-5 Roma tomatoes (only use roma) (diced)

2 pkgs frozen corn (16oz bags)

2 cans black beans (rinsed and drained)

1 bunch of cilantro (cut up finely)

1 bunch of green onions (chopped)

1/2-3/4 bottle Kraft zesty Italian dressing (light works great too!)

2 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp seasoning salt

First you are going to dump the corn into a bowl.

Add your nicely diced tomatoes.  You don't want them too

large because you want them to fit on a chip.  Why Roma? 

They are firmer and have less seeds.  Perfect for this salsa. 

IF you have to use regular tomatoes, then make sure you

deseed them really well or your salsa is going to end up

super soupy.

Add your diced avocados.  I probably should have diced

them smaller, but I LOVE avocados so I didn't!  And they

ARE the star of the show so do whatever you like.

Add your black beans.  I was making this on a Sunday

morning and thought we had black beans on hand which

we didn't (SMALL SCREAM INSIDE!).  Luckily I thought

of using my pressure cooker and cooked myself some up

in 45 min.  If you use ones you've cooked yourself then

add 1 1/2 cups (drained).  They worked perfectly!

BTW-love the pressure cooker!  I'm using it for some pinto

beans this weekend for Sunday dinner - yum-o!  Pinto beans

in 45 min. 

Also, it's way cheaper to cook up a bunch of beans in a

pressure cooker or the crock pot, use what you need and

then I freeze 1 1/2 cups in individual baggies that you can

pull out of the freezer and use in your recipe and they work

just as well as canned ones, but saves you money.

Next add your cilantro, green onions, garlic salt, garlic

powder and seasoning salt.  Mix together very gently.

Next add your Italian dressing.  I would start with 1/2 bottle

for a full batch and 1/3 bottle for a half batch and mix

together before using more.  You don't want the dressing

to overpower everything else.

Use the light dressing, you can't even tell the difference

AND you are cutting out a LOT of calories.

Mix everything together and let it sit in the fridge for a few

hours. The Italian dressing helps keep the avocados

looking good and we even ate some leftovers the next

day, but by the third day it was salvageable, but on it's

last legs.

Add some chips and DIG IN!!!!  Yum...

Avocado Salsa printable recipe here

Tater tot Casserole

I can't believe it's already been a month since I last posted.  With the end of school and Matthew's birthday, time has gotten away from me. 

I grew up with this recipe and even though it might look a little weird, there's something about meat with tater tots that is just so good....and really what kid doesn't love eating tots for dinner?  My kids love this meal.

Today's Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound ground beef
1 can string beans, drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup
Milk
1/2-2/3 package tater tots

To lighten it up:
Use ground turkey for beef
Skim Milk
Light Cream of Mushroom Soup
Cubed hashbrowns instead of tatertots

Cook beef, onion, and garlic until the onion is translucent and soft

and the beef is cooked through.  Season with salt and pepper.

Once the beef is cooked through, drain off excess fat if needed.

Add the cream of mushroom soup, green beans and 1/3-1/2

can of milk.  I would add less milk at first and then add more if

needed. 

Mix it all together.  I know it looks gross, but the end result is good!

Put in a 8x8 pan or something smaller than a 9x13 pan.  I've even

cooked it in a round baking dish before and that works too.

Add 1/2-2/3 bag of tater tots on top of the casserole.  Mine was a

smaller bag so I almost used all of it.

Bake at 350 for 30 min. or until the tater tots are browned.



So delish!

Tater tot Casserole Printable Recipe



BBQ: Cranberry Glazed Chicken

It's finally starting to look like grilling season here in Oregon. The weather is so tricky here though so you never know what you're going to get. This is the easiest sauce ever and the first time we have tried it. It was so good and I didn't have enough glaze on my chicken so I think I ate all of the extra glaze from the chicken plate too!  The recipe calls for using a whole chicken cut-up, but we just grilled up boneless chicken breasts and it worked out great.  You can also cook this in the oven and I have the directions for both grilling and baking below.

Today's Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 (8 oz.) can jellied cranberry sauce

It's the perfect balance of tanginess and sweetness mixed together. 

Heat your oil over medium-high heat.  Cook your little bit of onion

until crisp tender. 

Stir in the ketchup, brown sugar and cranberry sauce.  Cook over

low heat until cranberry sauce is melted.

I actually helped the process along by breaking up the sauce and

squishing it so it cooked faster.

See how nice and smooth it is?  It's ready for baking or grilling.

If you are going to grill, get the chicken grilling (no sauce) and once

you turn it once then baste with the glaze.  I asked Jordan to do it

this way and the glaze didn't burn as much and the chicken turned

out perfect.

For oven baking, heat the oven to 350.  Bake for 30 min.  Using a

spoon remove most of the juices; turn the chicken.  Brush frequently

with glaze and cook an additional 15 min.

I baked some spaghetti squash - cut down middle, scoop out seeds

place upside down on a pan and add a little water.  Cook on 350

for 35 min.

You could also serve with mashed potatoes, broccoli,

sweet potato cubes - peel and cube sweet potatoes and sprinkle with

Italian seasoning or other seasoning of your choice.  Bake at 350 for

30 min.

This makes such an easy meal and can pair with lots of different sides.

Taco Rice Casserole

Sorry I've been a little MIA lately.  My husband was out of town for 2 weeks for training - uhhh...I didn't cook much while he was gone.  The kids and I have been a little under the weather lately too.  I think we're getting over everything and it's so nice having the hubby back!

I grew up on this casserole. It is so easy to make and a great recipe to use up leftover rice. I don't really know why it's called a casserole since you don't put it into a 9x13 pan and bake in the oven. Maybe it should be called Taco Rice Skillet. Anyways, enjoy!

Today's Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1 can tomato soup

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 can diced tomatoes (drained)

3 cups cooked rice

1 8 oz. can corn

1 package taco seasoning mix

1/2-1 teaspoon salt




Over medium high heat saute ground beef until done.  Drain excess

fat if necessary.




Lower heat to medium and add taco seasoning, tomato soup, cheese

and tomatoes.  Heat through until cheese melts.

You can definitely add more cheese if needed to suit your family's

tastes.  Also, if you have little kids or are sensitive to heat, you might

want to scale back on the taco seasoning just a bit. I only added 3 T.

(1 pkg is 4) and Matthew and Isabelle still thought it was "hot".

Also, I hate big chunks of tomato in casseroles like this so I took
the tomatoes after draining them and chopped them a bit more.




Once the cheese is melted stir in the rice, salt, and corn.

Matthew HATES rice so last night when he saw dinner he said
"is this pasta?"  I said yes so he would try it.  He has a mental block
about some foods and I knew he wouldn't try it if he knew it was
rice.  Of course, he liked it and never even commented that it was
rice.  Just getting him to try something new is usually a pain and
causes lots of gnashing of teeth around here, but he ate it easily
AND liked it even if he thought it was hot.

The other night he was refusing to try pineapple and we almost
had to tie him down to try it.  Finally after threatening time-out
he tried it and guess what - LOVED IT!  We knew he would
and now he has "unlocked" pineapple (like you would do in
the star wars wii game).




Cook through and serve.  See...that was super easy to make right?




This is one of my husband's favorite meals and he loves eating it

with tortilla chips!

Taco Rice Casserole Printable Recipe