German Pancakes

This yummy hot breakfast has lots of names.  German pancakes, hootenannys, or, as my husband grew up calling it, "stuff in the oven."  Whatever you want to call it, it is delicious.  It is one of our favorite sweet breakfasts.  And it's quick and easy.

Here it is all puffed up and ready to be taken out of the oven.  Mmmm.

Ingredients:

9 eggs

1 1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 t. vanilla

1/2 t. salt

4 T. butter

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Melt the butter and pour it into a 9x13 baking dish.  (I usually put it in the 9x13 in oven and let it melt while the oven heats.  Just keep an eye on it).  Mix together all the other ingredients until well blended.  Then pour the batter over the melted butter and bake for 20 minutes.  We serve ours with maple syrup.

Spinach Artichoke Pasta

I love when a new found recipe is delicious.  I found it on pinterest but the blog is found here.  The pin claimed that the pasta dish tasted like hot spinach artichoke dip, which I love.  I made it and we LOVE it.  We've already eaten it several times.  It's a quick weeknight meal and it's meatless.  

Creamy goodness.

Ingredients:

12 ounces of pasta

1 t. butter

2 cloves garlic, minced (I used three, we love garlic)

8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream

1/2 a lemon, juiced

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. red pepper flakes

14 ounce can artichoke hearts, packed in water, chopped

10 ounce box of chopped, frozen spinach, with excess water removed

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Cook the pasta according to the package directions.

Meanwhile, in a large pan melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the garlic to the butter and cook until fragrant.  Then add in the cream cheese and stir it until it's completely melted.  Next, slowly stir in the milk.  Then add the sour cream, lemon juice, salt and red pepper flakes.  Add in the artichoke hearts, spinach and parmesan cheese.  Cook until everything is heated through, stirring occasionally.  

Drain the pasta and add it to the spinach and artichoke mix and mix well.  You can season with additional salt or lemon juice if you want, I didn't think it needed it.

Zucchini Cookies

Adapted fom the Taste of Home recipe for Frosted Zucchini Cookies


Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 C. butter, softened
1 C. sugar
1 egg
2 C. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4-1/2 tsp. ground cloves, optional
1 C. shredded zucchini
1 C. raisins, chocolate chips, or nuts


Frosting: (optional)
1/4 C. butter, softened
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
2 C. powdered sugar

In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar until light anf fluffy. Add in the egg. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Add to the creamed mixture alternately with the shredded zucchini, beating well after each addition. Stir in raisins, or chocolate chips, or nuts. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight.

Drop by rounded Tbsp. onto lightly greased baking sheet or a silpat lined sheet. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Move to wire rack to cool completely.

For frosting: Combine the butter and cream cheese and mix until fluffy. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Frost cooled cookies.

Zucchini Casserole #2

Zucchini Casserole #2

2 1/2 lbs. zucchini, sliced, cooked for 3 minutes in salted water, reserve water
1 1/2 lbs ground beef, or ground sausage (we love it with sausage!)
1 lg. onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 Tbsp. garlic salt
1 Tbsp. oregano
1 1/4 C. uncooked minute rice
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 C. milk 1/2 -3/4 C. zucchini liquid (reserved water)
1 C. cheddar cheese, shredded

Brown the beef or sausage, add the onion, green pepper, garlic salt and oregano. Cook for about 5 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Add rice and reserved zucchini liquid.

In another bowl combine the soup and milk together and mix well.

In a 9 x 13 dish layer the following: The hamburger/rice mixture, then arrange the zucchini slices on top of the hamburger. Then pour the soup/milk mixture evenly over the top of the zucchini. Top with the shredded cheese and then bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Zucchini Casserole #1

I have zucchini coming out of my ears and so we are eating a lot of it at our house. Here are a few of our favorite recipes that include zucchini

Zucchini Casserole #1
6 C. zucchini, 5 C. shredded, 1 C. sliced
1 lb. Hamburger
1 box stove top stuffing mix
1/2 C. melted butter
1 can cream of celery soup
1 C. sour cream
1 C. grated cheese
1/2 large onion, chopped
1/2 - 1 C. carrots, shredded

In a sauce pan brown the hamburger; add the onion and cook until the onions are translucent. Add the shredded zucchin and carrots and cook for a few minutes.

In another bowl combine the stuffing mix, melted butter, sour cream, cream of celery soup, and shredded cheese. Add the hamburger/veggie mix and stir to combine. Pour into a greased casserole dish. 9 x 13.

With the remaining zucchin slices, saute in a litle bit of olive oil until slightly browned and tender. Arrange slices on top of casserole. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes, or until hot through and bubbly.

Homemade Slurpees

 A few days ago was 7/11/12.  The average person probably thinks of it was the 11th of July, no biggie.  But to a person with a previous slurpee addiction it could have been the day I enjoyed wonderful summer treat for free.  However, there are NO 7-11 stores anywhere near where I live.  Oh the humanity.  So to console myself I found a recipe on pinterest for homemade slurpees and to my delight, they were pretty good.  I found the recipe here.  They weren't overly sweet so they were more refreshing than I had anticipated.  We made ours with Strawberry Lemonade Kool-aid and we can't wait to try other flavors.

Homemade Slurpees

Ingredients:

1 packet of Kool-aid

2 cups of club soda, divided

1/2 cup sugar

2 1/2 cups crushed ice

Blend together the contents of the Kool-aid packet, 1 cup of club soda, and 1/2 cup of sugar in the blender.  Blend it until all of the sugar is dissolved.  Next add in the ice and blend it until it's smooth.  Then add in the remaining 1 cup of club soda and blend until combined.  Pour the mixture into glasses and put them in the freezer for 30 minutes.  When they come out they are a great slurpable consistency. Frozen, yet drinkable.  This made three large slurpees for us.  The kids loved them!

Peanut Butter Crumb Cake

I know it's shocking that I would post a peanut butter recipe, but we really liked this cake.  It is a little different in that it has a peanut butter crumb topping and chocolate chips on top.  I think next time I may even put some of the chocolate chips in the batter.  

• 2 & 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups light brown sugar
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 1 and 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350° and spray a 9″x 13″ baking pan with cooking spray.

Combine flour, brown sugar, peanut butter, and butter.  I used my kitchen aid but a handheld mixer would work too.  Remove 1 cup of the peanut butter mixture.  This will be your crumb topping.

Add the baking powder and baking soda to the peanut butter mixture. Next mix in the milk and vanilla. Add the eggs individually and mix well after each addition.

Pour the batter into the prepared 9"x 13" pan. Sprinkle the top with the reserved peanut butter mixture and chocolate chips. I alternated half the mixture and then half the chocolate chips.  Then the rest of the mixture and the chips on top.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.