Zucchini Bread

3 c. flour (sifted)

1 T. cinnamon

1 t. salt

1 t. baking soda

1/4 t. baking powder

Mix together in separate bowl.

3 eggs, beaten

1 c. sugar

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. oil

1 T. vanilla

Mix in large bowl.

Stir in sifted ingredients.

2 c. zucchini, grated

1/2 c. nuts

Blend in.  (Can mix w/electric mixer.)

Pour into 2 greased and lightly floured 4 1/2 x 8 1/2 loaf tins.

Bake at 325 60-70 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

Turn out on cooling rack.

For what it's worth, someone tried this with chocolate chips and her grandkids told her not to do it again.

Ukrainian Borscht

My college roommate Jana served her mission in the Ukraine and loved to cook for us. This is one of the recipes I loved. Her hands always ended up purple from cutting the beets, but she didn't mind. I remember learning why Ukrainian food is so good...they love sour cream on everything! :D  Following is Jana's recipe as shared with my by her sister.


Most on-line recipes call for dill and some meat, but this is what she learned in Ukraine from a lady named Vera. It turned out pretty well when I made it. I didn't have quite enough beets, but other than that it was really good.

Ingredients
Equal amounts of carrots and potatoes. Slightly more beets and cabbage.
• 12 cups beef broth
• 2 med onions, peeled, quartered 
• 6 large beets, peeled, chopped 
• 6 carrots, peeled, chopped 
• 4 large russet potato, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 
• 3 cups thinly sliced cabbage 
• 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar 
• 1 cup sour cream 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Garlic 
• Bay leaf
• Dill opt

Big pot of water
Can sauté veggies first. It gets the process done faster. (Gets a bit of oil in it too-which is traditional). You can also brown and boil a hunk of meat for it like you would for beef vegetable soup (which also adds fat). 
Start heating your water. 
To save your cutting board from staining cut beets, first and set aside. Then do carrots, onion and end with potatoes to soak up color and onion flavor. Put carrots and onions into water. Once it’s hot add potatoes bay leaf, bouillon and garlic. Then add beets. After they’ve cooked a while if you’ve cut them similarly you should not be able to tell carrots from potatoes etc. Add cabbage toward end otherwise it will disintegrate, but make sure it is soft before serving. Add Tomato sauce. Salt and Pepper. White Vinegar. ½ --1 tbs—(will get stronger when leftover so err on the side of less)



Notes:
I'd use a little 8 oz can of plain sauce (be careful they've starting adding all sorts of stuff to those little cans of tomato sauce and I always accidentally get one with basil or something). If you taste it and it seems to be lacking tomato then add some more. (I bet that's helpful--sorry I can't be more precise)
I's say 12 cups of liquid either water and beef boulioun or beef broth.

Consider this a rough draft of a recipe. I meant to update it after I made it but I didn't. Soup is forgiving though.

And of course the sour cream is put in each bowl when it's served not mixed into the pot. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

(From Betty Crocker Kids Cook!)

Ingredients:
1 egg
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I like it with dark brown sugar...it's more caramel tasting)
1/2 cup butter, softened  
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (only use a pinch when using salted butter)
1 cup chocolate chips (or add toffee bits or white chips and cranberries, or mini M&Ms...)

Directions:

Heat oven to 375.  Mix egg, sugars, and butter.  Add the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Stir in the chocolate chips. Scoop onto parchment paper or ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10 - 12 minutes until starting to get very light brown in spots.  Makes 18-24 cookies.

Can pre scoop and freeze. Just bake an extra minute or so.

I think my favorite time I did half salted and half unsalted butter and did 1/4 tsp coarse salt. Gave a nice salty kick. Next time I might instead use flake salt on top. Kyle thinks these are, dare I say, better than Panera's Kitchen Sink cookies. First time he tried them he said they were "heaven in my mouth."  Super easy and super yummy ;)  ENJOY!

Our Favorite Cookies

When we got married, we received quite a few cookbooks. Of all of those recipes in all of those books, this is by far the recipe that we use the most. It is Nestle Good for you Choc Oat Chip Cookies. We have made a few slight variations to make them even healthier...and yummier.


1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour (or substitute whole wheat flour--half white/half wheat seems perfect and not whole wheat tasting)
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1 1/4 c. packed dark brown sugar (light works just fine)
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. (1 stick) margarine or butter
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce (try 3/4 c. applesauce and 1/4 c. butter...you won't notice the difference)
2 egg whites
1 T. vanilla extract
2 1/2 c. quick or old-fashioned oats
2 c. chocolate chips (or butterscotch chips...those are our new favorite for these cookies)
1/2 c. nuts, optional (we never do this)

Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in small bowl. Beat together brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter and applesauce in large mixer bowl. Beat in egg whites and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats, morsels and nuts.  Drop by rounded tablespoon onto greased baking sheets.

Bake in preheated 375 F oven for 9 to 10 minutes for a chewy cookie or 12 to 13 minutes for a crispy cookie. Let stand for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 4 dozen cookies. About 120 calories and 5 grams of fat per cookie.

Onionless Santa Fe Salsa

You see, I have this friend who kinds spends a lot of time at my house. In fact, we eat together quite a bit. Problem is, she can't eat onions. So I have been on a quest for finding yummy ways to make foods without onions.  I made salsa yesterday that actually tasted an awful lot like it had onions in it, but it didn't. And I have to say it was about the tastiest salsa I have had in a long time. If I do say so myself.  I happened to use kumatoes, but I don't feel like that is integral to the flavor of the salsa. I didn't measure amounts, I made the salsa to our liking and tasted it a lot along the way.


Tomatoes, diced (I always keep all the seeds and juice, personal preference for ease and we don't mind the liquid)
Canned corn, drained
Black beans, drained
Green chile (medium or hot)
Fresh cilantro
Lime juice, quite a bit to give it that tang
Cilantro cubes (remember there is salt in these, so be generous but don't ruin it with salt)
Garlic (cubes, salt, powder, fresh, whatever floats your boat)


Mix. Let it chill. And enjoy immensly.


Side note:

I don't think we can ever move away from New Mexico, where we regularly go through a 28 oz. container of green chile.  Those little 4 oz. containers of canned green chile just would never cut it. We have occasionally gone for the bags of roasted green chiles (what are they...12 lbs., 20 lbs?) found in parking lots all over the state in the fall, but the frozen tubs are much more user friendly.

Side note #2:

If you have never tried this, you are missing out. It looks like a bouillon cube, but you use it like salt and just crumble it over your food. An amazing little seasoning we are never without.

The Best 100% Whole Wheat Bread

That is what the recipe is called, and I believe it. This recipe has given me my best results yet for whole wheat breat. It isn't heavy and it rose amazingly well. And it is easy, so it's a win win! I got the recipe from my Worldwide Ward Cookbook: Mom's Best Recipes (pg. 38-9).

4 1/2 tsp. yeast (2 packets)
3/4 c. warm water
7-9 c. whole wheat flour from hard white wheat, divided
2 1/2 c. warm water
1/2 c. wheat gluten
1/3 c. honey
1 1/2 Tbsp. salt
2 1/2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Combine yeast with 3/4 c. warm water; add 1 C. flour. Mix vigorously. Let sit for 45 minutes or until it starts to settle back down. Add 2 1/2  C. warm water  and 2 C. flour. Stir very well. Add wheat gluten, honey, salt, and oil. Mix well. Slowly add 4-6 C. flour until good bread consistency (dough pulls away from walls well). Knead 10-15 minutes (by hand or in Bosch on level 1).  Cut in half and form in two loaves (see note below). Place in greased pans, cover with a towel and let rise 45 minutes to 1 hour. Bake at 325 for 30-35 minutes. It should be very light brown and super yummy!

Note: I added 1/4 c. ground flaxseed and an extra bit of water. Just for an extra healthy kick. Sometime I'll have to try following the instructions on the ground flaxseed for using it to replace oil.

High Altitude note:
I don't know if this is from high altitude or not, but I'm pretending it is. I make 3 full size loafs out of this. The recipe says two, but when I do two the loaves are super duper tall. 3 loaves is just right for what you see here.

Veggie Pizza

This is one of those foods I love so much I hardly ever make it. When I do make it, I don't want to share. :) Here's my recipe:

2 pkgs. crescent rolls
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese (lite is fine)
1 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix (or dill, or taco seasoning, or nothing, or...)

3/4 c. mayonaise or sour cream (just to make the cream cheese easier to spread; I don't always add this)

assorted fresh veggies, chopped

Press out rolls onto cookie sheet or pizza pan for crust, smooshing together the seams. Prick crust so it doesn't bubble up. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.  You don't want to make it crispy, so watch it.  Let the crust cool. Mix cream cheese and some of the ranch powder to taste. (I think a whole packet is too much.) Spread over crust. Generously sprinkle on the veggies: broccoli, carrots, celery, green or red or yellow peppers, cauliflower, green onions, tomatoes... whatever you have that looks good! You can also sprinkle on some shredded cheese.

Oh, and you might want to double the recipe: one for you and one to share. :D