Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Made this tonight--it's super good. Richer than the chocolate zucchini sheet cake that Mom gave me the recipe for. Of course it would be awesome with a chocolate frosting, but it's not needed. We loved it warm from the oven. It only took 53 minutes to bake in our oven.

Rhubarb Crumble

Made for Father's Day 2013.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.

In a large mixing bowl combine rhubarb, white sugar, 3 tablespoons flour and almond flavoring. Stir well and spread evenly into baking dish. Set aside.
4-5 cups diced rhubarb (about 4 stalks)
1 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. almond flavoring (Shannon's suggestion--I guessed on the amount and will try a little more next time)

Sprinkle 1/2 cup chopped nuts over it if desired.

In a large mixing bowl combine brown sugar, oats, and 1 1/2 cups flour. Stir well then cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle mixture over rhubarb layer. (Shannon suggests cinnamon in the topping but I didn't add it.)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold butter (if you let it soften it won't make a crumbly topping but will still taste great!)

Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. It was a big hit!

Frog Eye Salad

I made frog eye salad for the first time yesterday. This recipe says it makes 8-12 servings. I doubled it. It made so much that the 16 of us did not eat even half of it. One batch makes enough to fill up my big pink bowl.

I think I would like it without the coconut, and if you were eating it right away, I'd like some banana slices and not so much pineapple. I would definitely add more marshmallows--it's dessert anyway--and they are the kids' favorite part.

This is the one big bowl size (serves 16?)

Put water in a pot and heat to a boil on the stove. Add:
1 TB vegetable oil
2 tsp. salt
16 oz. acini di pepe pasta
Cook until al dente. Drain and rinse.

In a saucepan combine and then cook (stirring) over medium heat until thickened:
1 cup white sugar
2 TB flour
½ tsp salt
1 ¾ cup pineapple juice (use the juice from the cans below)
2 eggs, beaten

Remove from heat and add:
1 TB lemon juice
Cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl, combine the pasta with the sauce. Add:
3 (11 oz.) cans mandarin oranges, drained
2 (20 oz.) cans pineapple tidbits, drained
1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 (8 oz.) container of Cool Whip

Mix well and refrigerate until chilled. Before serving add:
2 cups mini marshmallows (original recipe only has 1 cup)
1 cup shredded coconut (optional--we usually leave it out)

Breakfast Cake

I love breakfast foods and feel bad when my kids eat cold cereal, but my usual rotation of warm yumminess was seeming old to me. So I made a zucchini bread and a pumpkin bread a little healthier (whole wheat flour and less sugar) and baked them in 13x9 pans for breakfast cake. Easier than doing muffins, I figure, though you do have to get up early enough to get it in the oven so it can come out nice and warm at the right time. This isn't health food by any stretch of the imagination (there is still plenty of sugar and oil) but it can't be much different than syrup on pancakes and waffles.


Zucchini Breakfast Cake
We grated the zucchini from our garden and froze it in 3 cup portions for this recipe, and then used 5 cup containers to make individual mixes of the dry ingredients.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 13x9 glass pan.

3 1/3 cups whole wheat flour (or half wheat/half white)
1 1/3 cups sugar (lately I've been doing only 1 cup sugar)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 TB ground cinnamon
1 TB vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup oil (or half oil, half applesauce)
3 cups grated zucchini

Mix well, combining dry ingredients together first. Put in greased pan. Bake for 45-50 min. (until knife inserted comes out clean).



Pumpkin Breakfast Cake
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray 13x9 glass pan.

3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour  (or half wheat/half white)
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp each of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves
4 eggs
1 cup oil (or half oil, half applesauce)
2 cups pumpkin

Mix well, combining dry ingredients together first. Put in greased pan. Bake for 45-50 min. (until knife inserted comes out clean).

Whole Wheat No-fuss Bread

I discovered the Pullman/Pain-de-mie pan size about a year ago and have enjoyed using it for making this all-around basic whole wheat bread (there's also an awesome white bread recipe here). I have 2 Pullman pans and 2 bread containers so I don't have to use bags after baking. I highly suggest both of these purchases. Pullman pans are the size of a store-bought sandwich loaf, and they have a lid that keeps the bread in a nice square shape (the lid is also nice for rising time).

And these Lock & Lock bread containers keep the bread fresh for days:

This bread recipe is easy and good for sandwiches, toast, French toast, grilled cheese sandwiches, etc.



2 Pullman Pan Loaves of Whole Wheat Bread
Combine and let sit until frothy:
3 3/8 cup warm water
2 TB yeast
1/2 cup sugar

Add the following except all the flour; mix, and start kneading. Add flour until the dough doesn't stick to the sides of the mixer anymore. Knead for about 5-6 minutes:
1/4 cup dry milk powder
1/4 cup oil
4 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup gluten (optional; can also add dough enhancer--about 2 TB)
about 9 cups whole white wheat flour

Let dough rise in mixer (about double). Divide into two sections and form loaves and put in pans (no need to even grease the Pullman pans I have) with the lids on. Let rise again until dough is almost touching the lid. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes with the lids on. Remove lids and bake for 5-10 minutes more.

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My mom uses this recipe for her bread machine bread. For a loaf in the bread machine use these portions:
1 cup + 2 TB water
1 1/2 TB oil
3 TB sugar
1 1/2 TB dry milk powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 cups whole wheat flour (1/4 cup of it can be gluten)
2 tsp yeast

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

We sampled some of Dad's Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie last night that he'd made for Thanksgiving. Mmmmmm.

Maree's Rolls

This is from Cox's Hon*yland recipes. The yummiest rolls always seem to have potato flakes and scalded milk in them. Since I've been afraid of scalding milk, I've never tried to make them--but after watching Maree do it at Thanksgiving I'm ready to make these melt-in-your-mouth rolls for special occasions.

2 TB yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 tsp sugar

2 cups milk, scalded
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 heaping tsp salt
1/4 cup potato flakes
1/2 cup honey
5-6 cups flour
3 eggs

Dissolve yeast in warm water and sugar. To scalded milk add butter, salt, potato flakes, honey and 4 cups flour. Add eggs one at a time and then add remaining flour to dough until it holds together in bowl but not stiff. If you put in too much flour you will have a tough roll. Let rise until double. Punch down and roll out (oil counter for rolling out). For dinner rolls, cut with circle cutter, dip in melted butter, fold in half, put in pan and let rise. Bake at 350 for 15 min or until light brown.