Tex Mex Coleslaw

This stuff makes me happy. I might never make normal coleslaw again. I paired it with skillet bread, used cabbage I chopped, and kept the dressing, tomatoes and onions separate so that the kids could put whatever dressing they wanted on it. I love the dressing as written.

Quinoa Bites

I've been in such a food funk lately. Karin used to call me the queen of casseroles. Well, I'm out of that phase in my life. Mr. Brady doesn't abide many casseroles, and they've fallen out of favor with me too. I've been in the kid-friendly phase for the last few years--meaning that I'm making all the stuff that maybe even Cohen won't turn his nose up at. I just try to make things a little healthier and more homemade. But I'm tired of the spaghetti, tacos (or "baraccos" as we call them because we usually add refried beans and use flour tortillas), cabbage salad, chicken noodle soup, pizza, fried rice, mac & cheese, grilled chicken, tortilla soup, Hawaiian Haystacks, etc. that we've been having over and over. Then when we don't have kids with us we get a little creative with different curries and even an eggplant lasagna (meh). If anyone actually read this blog I'd ask what you, my readers, are feeding your families that you think I should feed mine.

So, today I made something a little different and it was fun. I got to use some of my quinoa! Luke loved them. If Luke likes something, I consider it a true success. He's not my harshest food critic, but the harshest one is too hard to please. Try these Broccoli & Ham Quinoa Bites. They kind of taste like cheesy fried rice--and they're cute! They'd be perfect for a brunch or baby/bridal shower.

Then you can try the Southwest version--I haven't yet.

Chocolate Cinnamon Zucchini Bread

Gave  this  a try. Big hit especially with Luke. I like this other zucchini chocolate bread better.

Homemade Nutter Butters

I shouldn't have seen this recipe. Now I really need to make them. My new plan of attack for eating healthier is to plan one day a week that I'm going to eat a scrumptious dessert. I will make sure I have the time and ingredients to make it that day (usually on Sunday for after our FHE lesson). All week I'm going to dream of that dessert I'm going to make, and I'm going to deny myself all lesser junk food in anticipation of the big, awesome dessert to come. We'll see how it goes!

Pork Chops

These are called baked pork chops, which I think is a little misleading, because you also have to bread them and pan fry them before baking them. So there are some steps involved. But when pork chops go on sale and you're going all for flavor in a meal, this recipe is a winner. I just put more milk than it called for and skipped the white wine. Mr. Brady grew up having pork chops--and his kids have them at their mom's--but I'd never cooked them before. Mr. Brady and I loved this dish, half the kids weren't sure about this kind of meat, and one kid didn't say what he thought of what I'd made and instead told me how his mom cooks pork chops (with Baby Ray's sauce in the crock pot). I still consider last night's meal a success--mashed potatoes, too, with a sweet potato snuck in there, and green beans. I'm going to have leftovers for lunch right now. Only downside: so many dishes to do.

After all that work and no praise from the kids, we're having rice and beans for dinner tonight.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Brownies

Very chocolatey--this is our favorite homemade brownie recipe. Mr. Brady hid the leftovers of these before anyone could go back for seconds because he liked them so much. Don't worry: the whole wheat flour and zucchini don't make them taste healthy. I've decided brownies should never be "healthified" (the original recipe already called for whole wheat flour so that's how I first made them).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13x9 pan (or line with foil if you want)

2 1/3 cups whole wheat flour (or 2 cups for sea level)

2/3 cup baking cocoa

2 ½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp coarse salt

1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled slightly

½ cup oil

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

3 cups grated zucchini (if using frozen shredded zucchini, pour off some of the liquid after it’s thawed???)

Spread the batter in the pan.

½ cup chocolate chips, sprinkled on top

Bake for 40 min. or until knife inserted in center comes out slightly sticky (knife an inch from edge comes out clean). Eat warm and gooey like cake or more fudge-like after a day in the fridge.

Chocolate Zucchini Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies

These peanut blossoms really are delicious. I didn't roll them in sugar at the end, and I used dark chocolate kisses. I know I should be concerned that they call for shortening instead of butter, but oh well. Mr. Brady and I sneak peanut butter desserts when the kids are gone--we have a couple kids with peanut aversions.

I had the brilliant idea today to make peanut butter cookies and put chocolate chips in them--why hadn't I ever thought of that before? I tried a recipe that I wasn't happy with. Next time I'll make the peanut blossoms and do chocolate chips rather than kisses (well, kisses are awesome, but I don't always have them around).