Peanut Butter Quinoa Cookies

This is the first recipe from my Food board on Pinterest to come into fruition.  And it is interesting, for sure.  First I had a hard time deciding which recipe to try, the one that everyone was pinning or the blog post that provided the inspiration.  I finally decided to try the adaptation.  It really isn't a healthy cookie.  It looks like it with the peanut butter and Quinoa but that is all these cookies have going for them.  The batter is way stiff so I had a hard time incorporating the Quinoa and chocolate chips.  The end product is fluffy, peanut buttery, and light.  It's a pretty good recipe after all, if only for taste!

1/3 cup butter, room temperature
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup brown sugar
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
[1/4 tsp salt]
1-1/2 cups Quinoa (cooked and cooled to room temperature)
1 cup chocolate chips {preferably dark}

 Cream together butter, peanut butter, eggs, vanilla, and brown sugar until very smooth

 Combine together flour, coconut, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (especially if your peanut butter is salt-free)

Combine the flour mixture with the butter mixture

 Stir in the cooled Quinoa and chocolate chips

 Spoon onto a greased baking sheet.
Bake at 375 degrees for 9 to 11 minutes.

 Cool on a wire rack.

 Makes at least two dozen cookies.  I made 25, but they weren't uniform and kept getting bigger and bigger.

Watch them get gobbled up!  Hopefully, anyway!

 Source: "Quinoa Coconut Cookies".  Food and Whine. 1. Apr. 2010.

Idaho Sunrise Potatoes

This is a fun idea, to combine twice-baked potatoes and omelets.  When I saw it, I knew it was completely doable to make for dinner and tonight I finally got around to trying it.  I baked the potatoes in the oven, thinly cut the top off lengthwise, scooped out most of the potato, sprinkled in fillings and cracked an egg on top.  We had a filling dinner and now we have leftover mashed potatoes in the fridge for later.  This would also be a great holiday (like Easter!) breakfast, using the mashed potatoes for dinner. 

For baking potatoes:
Russet potatoes
olive oil (or oil of choice)
kosher salt
Scrub potatoes, poke about six holes, rub oil and sprinkle salt around them.  Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour.

Directions:
After the baked potatoes cool, thinly cut (lengthwise) the top of the potatoes.  Scoop out the potatoes, leaving some potato coating the skins. 

Fill in the potato three-fourths full with cheese, bacon, green onions, olives, etc., and crack one egg on top.  Grind black pepper, salt (if wanted), more grated cheese, herbs, etc.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  The egg white should be firm but the yolk runny. Pretty delicious!

Source:  Wells, Sara.  "An Idaho Sunrise: Egg-Stuffed Baked Potatoes".  15. Feb. 2012.  Our Best Bites.

Grean bean rice casserole

I grew up on this casserole.  I have just added more stuff-- I even hesitated naming it "Kitchen sink casserole."  It's a good stand by if I don't know what to make or have chicken leftovers.

1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 cups Minute Rice {I originally used 1 cup, but I think a little extra rice is better}
1 cup water (approximate)
diced cooked chicken (this could be 1 to 2 cups.  I've used leftover rotisserie and even canned at times.)
1 can green beans {or fresh, of course!}
1 can corn
shredded cheese (optional)
Seasonings like:
dried onion
garlic powder
onion powder
Italian seasoning
dried Parsley
paprika
black pepper
salt

Add ingredients in a 9x13 baking dish and mix in the seasonings and water to incorporate.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  Top with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

T's Homemade Hot Chocolate

Thomas has been perfecting his perfect cup of hot cocoa all winter long.  He's been happy with this recipe, so I decided to write it down so we'll remember it for next year.  It has a smooth, chocolaty taste. 

3 T sugar
1 T dark cocoa
3 T cocoa
dash salt
1/3-1/2 cup hot water
3 cups milk

Stir sugar, dark cocoa, cocoa, salt and water constantly in a saucepan over medium high heat (5).  Make sure all the cocoa balls dissolve.  When it begins to boil, turn down the heat to medium low (3).  Continue to stir for two minutes.  Add three cups of milk, constantly stirring until heated (but don't boil!) to your desire.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

This is actually the third time I've made this cake-- the second time since the genesis of this blog.  The first time Julia was just three weeks old. I don't remember what kind of frosting I made for it. My uncle and mom suggested that it needed salt in the recipe (the original recipe didn't include it on the ingredient list.)  The second time was for Julia's 1st birthday, and I made cream cheese frosting sprinkled with colored sprinkles and shaped it into a flower, by cutting a 9-in. round cake into thirds and using cupcakes as the pedals. I'm kicking myself for not taking pictures of the party and food (Hawaiian Haystacks and this cake.)  I did record it though.  This time, for Thomas' birthday, I royally messed up the chocolate frosting... I didn't even read the directions!  Instead I just dusted powder sugar on top, next time I'll sift the powder sugar on each individual piece.  Nonetheless, he still loves it.  We keep going back for seconds!

Recipe:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1-3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
[1/2 tsp salt]
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups shredded zucchini (I like to simply grate it)

In a stand mixer or large bowl, cream together butter, oil and sugar.  Once smooth, add eggs-- one at a time-- beating well after each.  Beat in vanilla.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and cloves.  Add the flour mixture into the creamed mixture alternately with the buttermilk.  Once incorporated, fold in the grated zucchini.  Pour into a greased 9-x13-x2-inch baking pan, bake at 325 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until done.  Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

If you'd like to try this frosting, I never have... but here it is!
1 cup flaked coconut
6 Tablespoons butter, softened
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup milk
{The recipe suggest to broil the frosted cake for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool before serving.}

Recipe from: Holben, Lois.  "Chocolate Zucchini Cake".  Taste of Home Annual Recipes: 2007.  Ed. Michelle Bretl.  Greendale, WI: Reiman Media Group, Inc (Taste of Home Books), 2006.  131.