Revisited

One of the drawbacks of having posted over 100 recipes is that I've shared with you most of the stuff I make on a regular basis. Last week I made nothing new. Not one thing. So I thought I would share what I made and maybe you will find a recipe you never read about before or one that you forgot about. I remembered to take new pictures of some of them.

Every two weeks I make my granola bars. They are healthy, delicious, and great treats in my kids' (and hubby's) lunch sacks. Sometimes the girls will even have a second one as an after school snack. I love that I know every ingredient that does into these bars.




One of my all-time favorite dinners is Lemon Chicken. I love it so much that we ate it all before I could take a picture. If you haven't tried it yet, give it a shot!

For dinner one night we had Meatloaf and Roasted Green Beans. Both sooooo good. Sometimes I like to change it up and use orange, yellow, or red peppers instead of green in the meatloaf. I didn't put any of it into muffin cups this time, though.



Friday night I made Whole Wheat Pizza. Except this time I used all white whole wheat and I think it's even better than my original recipe! We decorated the pizzas with pepperoni, red peppers, and lots of mozzarella. Bubba added banana peppers to his. The posted recipe makes four individual pizza crusts. Try it this weekend!

I also made my Healthier Banana Bread and Zucchini Muffins. Again I used all white whole wheat. I almost never use even the smallest amount of white flour anymore. The girls have state-wide standardized testing this week. Banana bread and zucchini muffins made with whole wheat, low fat, healthy ingredients are the perfect breakfast food to keep them full until lunch. Have you ever tried to take a test while your stomach is rumbling? It's so hard to concentrate! I load them up with bread and a glass of sugar-free Carnation Instant Breakfast for the protein.



March is strawberry season in Florida and last Saturday we made our annual trek to the Plant City Strawberry Festival.





From 11am to 5pm on Sunday Tink and I washed, hulled, sliced, and mashed three full flats of strawberries!



Yep, three of those. We made enough low-sugar jam to last until next year.




We also put away in the freezer a few containers of strawberries ready for shortcake. And we ate A LOT of strawberries. Tink was such a huge help!! But the best thing about making jam with her was the talking. She talked about school, politics, religion, boys *shudder*, her friends, you name it we talked about it. It was, in every sense of the word, awesome.

Of course for dessert that night we had to have Strawberry Shortcake with real whipped cream. No chemical whip will ever sully my shortcake! It was also awesome. :) (Oh, and I used all white whole wheat in the shortcakes.)



But first, for dinner Sunday we had Sunday Roast.

Give one of these recipes a try!

Enjoy!!

Zucchini Muffins

I don't make these very often, but when I do they don't last a day--which leaves me to wonder why I don't make them more often. If you make these and have leftovers, they freeze beautifully for up to a month. Just take one out of the freezer on your way out the door in the morning and by the time you get to work it will be thawed. Paired with a cup of coffee, you have the perfect breakfast full of whole grains.

You will need:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup applesauce (all-natural, no sugar added)
1T oil
1/4 cup milk (skim is fine)
1T lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup shredded zucchini (1 medium zucchini)
1/3 cup chocolate chips (optional)



First, prepare your zucchini. I put two zucchinis in the picture, but only ended up needing the larger of the two. I used my food processor to shred the zucchini...



but then used the blade to chop it up even finer. You can omit this step, unless you are trying to sneak the zucchini by kids. :)



In your mixer bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.



Combine thoroughly.



Then add your egg, applesauce, oil, milk, lemon juice, and vanilla. (*note: if you use whole milk or cream you can omit the oil altogether. Whenever I replace oil with applesauce I like to add one tablespoon of oil to keep my baked goods moist. They need at least a little bit of fat.)



Mix well.



Now add the zucchini and mix until just combined.



And if your kids have been particularly well-behaved, or done something super cute, or you just want to treat yourself, add the chocolate chips. But these muffins are great without the chocolate, too.



Find some cute muffin papers and line 12 muffin cups.



Fill the cups about 2/3 of the way full. You will get 12 muffins this way.



Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Check them after 18 minutes.



The zucchini keeps the muffins so moist. With only one tablespoon of oil and natural applesauce you don't have to feel guilty when you wolf down two muffins!



They don't really need butter, but...mmmmmmm.



Enjoy!