Secret Recipe Club: Rutabaga Chips - Low Carb, Too!

Do you know what a rutabaga is? Do you know how to cook them?

If not, you're missing out on a great tasting root vegetable that's full of vitamins and minerals - and the best part is that its relatively low carb, too!

You can cook them and serve them as mashed potatoes, chunk them up and throw them in a crock pot with a roast or cut them up and serve them my favorite way - as fries or chips!

When I received my Secret Recipe Club blog this month, Gastronomical Sovereignty, I was hoping to find a recipe that was low carb or one that I could change to make low carb. I was thrilled when I came across Kristy's recipe for rutabaga chips!

Rutabagas are relatively low carb (approx. 8 carbs per cup), especially when comparing them to the much missed potato. I discovered them on my first journey into low carbing. I get easily bored eating the same vegetables over and over again so I often grab something that's unfamiliar to me (after reading it on a low vegetable list, of course), buy it and then hit the Internet to find out how to prepare it. This was the case years ago. Since then, I've prepared them in all of the ways that I mentioned above - I love them! Often described as having a sweet taste, I think that they have more of a slight peppery taste too them - that's why I love them.

It's a super simple recipe that wields lots of taste!

Rutabaga Chips

For one serving:

1-2 small rutabagas, sliced paper thin
2 tbsp. olive oil
sprinkle of black pepper and all natural Mediterranean spices


Toss the chips with the olive oil, pepper and any other spices of your choice. Lay the chips in a single layer on a baking sheet.

Bake for 5-6 minutes @ 450*. Turn over and bake for another 4-5 minutes, keeping an eye on them to make sure you don't burn them.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Serve with low carb ketchup or low carb ranch dressing, if desired but I find them to be delicious on their own!

 **Tip** Eat the chips as soon as they are cool enough to handle because they will go soggy - and while they are still tastey, they're more like fried potatoes than chips.

Kristy's blog has so many delicious recipe to pick from. Definitely take some time to flip through her blog. The pictures are mouthwatering, too!

Thanks for another great month here at the Secret Recipe Club!

***I have to take a minute to thank my son for helping me to type up this post. I pulled the muscles in my right hand and arm from a fall on Friday evening. He came to my rescue to help me today!**

Don't forget to spread some bloggy love by taking a few minutes to visit all of the blogs in our wonderful blog hops!! 

SRC Group B - Gingerbread Cups

As many of my readers know, I'm a hostess for the Secret Recipe Club. If you don't know what the SRC is all about, take a minute to check it out to see what fun you're missing out on!

There are 4 groups to the Secret Recipe Club and when one of the groups end up with an orphaned blog - a blog who didn't have a recipe chosen from and made for the month - the group hostesses try to jump in and help out. I did just that this month. I was happy to be able to lend a hand to Tina in Group B!

The blog that I baked from is named Six Kilos of Pumpkin. It full of great recipes. I especially enjoyed looking through her dessert recipes. I found the perfect recipe for the holidays...Gingerbread Cuffins with Cream Cheese Icing - nope, Cuffins is not a typo. She describes these treats as a mixture between cupcakes and muffins. After baking them, I can totally understand what she is describing. I decided to stray away from the usual cupcake or muffin this time and instead, I baked the batter in 4 oven-safe cups, perfect single serving desserts. Instead of cream cheese frosting, I'm topping ours with whipped cream. Sorry, no pictures of the whipped cream, we will be eating them for dessert later this evening.

How jealous are you that you can't smell the wonderful scents surrounding me in my little apartment?!?

It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas! :)

Gingerbread Cups

original recipe @ Six Kilos of Pumpkin 

1 c plain flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp ground cloves

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

7 tbsp. butter, softened

1/4 cup milk

2 tbsp organic maple agave syrup

1 tsp molasses

Preheat oven to 350C. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients, up to and including the brown sugar. 

Stir in the remaining ingredients and mix for 3 minutes with a hand mixer or until the batter is light and fluffy. 

Spoon the batter into 4 large oven-safe baking cups. Bake for 20 - 23 minutes, until a toothpick stuck into the middle of one cup comes out clean.

Serve warm or bring to room temp and top with whipped cream.

Delicious!

Please take a few minutes to visit Six Kilos of Pumpkin to let her know that she is not alone in bloggy land!

Pumpkin Gingerbread Muffins

I love gingerbread and I love pumpkin muffins. Combine the two and you have a wonderfully moist, delicious treat. Great for breakfast, packing into lunch bags or for dessert topped with a little whipped cream, applesauce or ice cream!

This recipe was posted at FamilyCorner.com by a friend of mine who goes by "cat lover" on the forums. She turned her recipe into a cake. I made muffins from the batter. The only thing that I changed was to add a little more spices to the batter. Either way, it's great!

Pumpkin Gingerbread Muffins

1 - 16 oz can pumpkin
4 eggs
3 1/2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup light molasses
1/3 cup water
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Beat at low speed for 30 seconds, stopping to scrape the bowl often. Beat at medium speed 3 minutes, again stopping to scrape the bowl.

Line muffin tins with paper liners. Spoon into paper liners and fill to the top of the cup - I used a large ice cream scoop to fill the cups. Do not level off evenly. The muffins will round out when they are baking.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a toothpick stuck into the middle of a muffin comes out clean - check often so that you do not overbake.

For an extra sweet treat, top with whipped cream, warm apple sauce or ice cream.

Makes 30 muffins.

Linking up to:

Jane Deere Fusion Fridays

A Bowl Full of Lemons

SRC - Sausage Pizza Rolls

I'm so excited to be hosting a group for the Secret Recipe Club!

I'm the hostess for Group D, the newest group of the club and today is our reveal day!!
I want to thank Amanda @ Amanda's Cookin for this wonderful opportunity to become
a hostess for this great club!

Even before I was assigned the wonderful blog, The Fantastical Sharing of Recipes, I knew that I would be searching for "snacking" foods instead of a main dish or dessert recipe because my whole family has been down with the flu this month. Yes, unfortunately, we share everything.

The recipe I chose to make was sausage pizza rolls. They were delicious and fit our needs for something hearty enough to fill us up but not weigh us down like a heavy meal. I apologize for the plain Jane pictures but I could barely see straight when we tried this recipe, let alone fancy things up for the picture. Don't judge by the pictures...whip up a batch that contains your favorite pizza toppings! Then you'll see what I'm taking about! YUM! Perfect for eating while lounging on the couch, covered in blankets, while watching Steelers football! (side note: Did ya happen to see that game yesterday?!?)

Ok, back to the sausage pizza rolls.....   This is one of those recipes where I thought "Why didn't I think of that?" Very easy to put together and great for using up bits and pieces of leftovers that's stuck in the frig. Sarah's family prefers pepperoni in their rolls but my family prefers sausage, peppers and onions with the sauce and cheese, so that's what I ran with. Definitely a keeper! Just think of the many pizza combos out there that you could stuff into an egg roll wrapper. :)

Sausage Pizza Rolls

3/4 lb loose hot sausage - if using sause that's
in the casing, remove casings before frying and
crumble into small pieces
1 green pepper, diced into very small pieces
1/3 c. onion, diced into very small pieces
1/3 mushrooms, diced small
mozzarella cheese, finely shredded
pizza or spaghetti sauce
1 pkg. egg roll wrappers
oil for frying
1/4 c. water for wetting egg roll wrappers

Fry sausage until brown and cooked completely through. Drain on paper towel.

Saute green peppers, onions and mushrooms until soft. Drain on paper towel, if necessary.

Into one bowl, stir together the hot sausage, peppers, onions, mushrooms and 1 - 2 cups of sauce - enough to make the mixture wet but not sloppy and soggy.

To assemble:

Lay one egg roll wrapper onto the table. To the middle of each wrapper add approx. 1 tbsp. cheese, then top with 1 - 1 1/2 tbsp sausage and veggie mixture.

If you're not sure how to wrap the egg rolls for frying, there are directions inside the egg roll wrapper package.

Fry in hot oil until browned all over. Drain on paper towels.

Here's another version of egg rolls that I've made...my chicken egg rolls.  This one includes step by step pictures.

I've had another wonderful month of cooking and blogging with the Secret Recipe Club! If you would like to learn how you join in on the fun, click here for more info.!

Secret Recipe Club: Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza Rolls

This might not be a million dollar photo of pizza rolls but I wanted to show you what it looks like to accomplish a project that I have had a fear of trying for a long time - making homemade dough for breads and pizzas. I did it. Here they are in the raw without any pretty plates or fancy tablescapes.

Delicious! (and I made the dough!)

I was very fortunate to receive Babara Bakes for my SRC blog this month. Barbara has a beautiful blog. The pictures jump right out at you, almost demanding you to try each and every recipe. Her step-by-step instructions are easy to follow - which made my challenge of trying something new so much easier. I can handle the bread machine method, but I'm overcome with panic at the thought of trying to make homemade bread by hand. When I found Barbara's recipe for Whole Wheat Pizza Dough & Homemade Pizza Sauce, I bookmarked it and hid it for a few days before making it my final choice. I read through the instructions again and again, making sure I had everything that I needed to make this dough turn out right. The day came to make the pizza dough.... I followed her instructions step by step. Guess what? It wasn't that hard after all. The dough was easy to work with and baked tasted great.

I decided to make pizza rolls from this recipe instead of regular pizza. I added ground sausage, pepperoni, peppers & onion to her homemade pizza sauce. The sauce was fantastic. My whole family overwhelmingly loved the pizza rolls. This recipe is definitely a keeper! These will go over big for Sunday football games and school lunches!

Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza Rolls
adapted from tamiskitchentabletalk: pizza roll ups

1 recipe for whole wheat pizza dough (below)
1 recipe for homemade pizza sauce (below)
3 c. shredded mixed mozzarella and cheddar cheese -
divided into (2) 1 1/2 c. servings
1 cup finely chopped turkey pepperoni - divided into (2) 1/2 c. servings

**Any changes that I've made to the original recipes below from Barbara Bakes, will appear in bold lettering.**

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
from Barbara Bakes

1 cup warm water (between 95º and 115º)
2 Tablespoons honey
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cup bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 1/4 teaspoons (1 US package) instant yeast
2 teaspoons vital wheat gluten
1/2 teaspoon salt

Whisk together the honey, warm water, and oil in a small bowl. The water should be about 95 to 115°. It should feel very warm, but not hot.

Mix 1 cup bread flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour, yeast, wheat gluten, and salt in mixing bowl, using the paddle attachment, mix on low for about 30 seconds.

With the motor running on low, pour in the liquids. Continue mixing until a shaggy dough begins to form. Clean off paddle and switch to dough hook. Mix in the remaining cup of bread flour a little at a time, to make a moderately stiff dough. Adding more or less flour as needed.

Knead for eight minutes. The dough should completely clear the sides. If it is too sticky, add additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing in thoroughly before determining if more flour is needed. If the dough seems too dry, spritz with water from a spray bottle a couple of times, mixing in thoroughly before determining if more water is needed. You’ll find the dough wraps itself around the hook, so every 2 minutes, stop the machine, scrape the dough off the hook, and then continue kneading.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it a few times by hand to be sure it’s tight and elastic. Form the dough into a tight ball.

Wash and dry your mixing bowl then mist it with oil. Place the dough, seam-side down, in the bowl and lightly mist top of dough with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled in size — 45 minutes to an hour.

Heat the oven to 375*. 

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into two equal portions. Set one aside and cover with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out.

Lightly flour the table. Using a rolling pin, roll the other portion of dough into a large, thin rectangle. Cover the entire area with sauce (recipe below), leaving a 1/4 in. border all the way around the edges. 

Top with 1/2 c. of turkey pepperoni and sprinkle on 1 1/2 c. of the cheeses. 

Roll up tightly, jelly roll style, starting with one of the short ends. Slice into 12 equal portions.

Lightly spray non-stick cooking spray on a baking sheet. Lay the 12 pizza rolls onto the baking pan in 4 rows of 3 rolls. 

Bake for 20 minutes. Immediately remove the rolls from the baking sheet once they have finished baking to prevent them from sticking to the sheet. 

Repeat with the remaining dough and leftover ingredients

Leftovers can be frozen.

Homemade Pizza Sauce
adapted from Barbara Bakes 

1/2 c. onion, diced very small
1/2 c. green pepper, diced very small
1 c. cooked, crumbled Italian sausage
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 (28 ounce) can crused tomatoes in rich puree
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

In a small saucepan, sauté onion and green pepper until tender. Add garlic and continue cooking until the garlic is tender. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until sauce reaches desired thickness. Sauce may be refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Honey Bun Cake

I love recipes that can pull double duty as a sweet treat for breakfast or as a simple dessert. This recipe for honey bun cake does just that. It's a simple recipe that kids can help prepare. I found it posted at FamilyCorner.com by dyllpickle00. (Her username makes me smile!).

Huney Bun Cake
posted at FamilyCorner.com by dyllpickle00

For cake:

1 box yellow cake mix
3/4 c. oil
1 c. sour cream

In a lg. bowl, stir together dry cake mix, oil and sour cream. Batter will be thick.

Spread the batter into the bottom of a 9 x 13 cake pan.

Prepare brown sugar topping recipe (below) and swirl over cake batter.

Bake @ 350* for 40 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Prepare glaze recipe (below) and pour on top of cake while hot.

Serve warm.

For brown sugar topping:

1/2 c. brown sugar
4 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
4 1/2 tsp. evaporated milk

Stir together and swirl over cake.

For glaze:

Stir together 1 c. powdered sugar,  4 tbsp. evaporated milk and 1 tsp. vanilla.

Optional: melt 1/2 -1 cup chocolate chips and swirl over the top of the cake while it is still hot.

Linking up to:


Goose Berry Patch Cookout Favorites

The Ultimate Fudge Brownie Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookie Bars

Is that title a mouthful or what?

This cookie certainly stands up to all of the hype that it's receiving all over the Internet. I first saw pictures of this decadent dessert at Betcha Can't Eat Just One. Katie was able to kick it up another notch by adding dulce de leche to her bars. The original recipe comes from Amanda@ Kevin and Amanda. I bow to their creativity. :)

At first I couldn't imagine even biting into something like this but then, I couldn't stop thinking about it. That's me, when something makes you say "Why would you do that?!?" to food, I just have to try it. It's a lot like the time I just had to try a Krispy Kreme hamburger when we took our kids to a baseball game here in town. haha!

This was a family-involved dessert. I mixed up the cookie batter, my son made the brownies and my daughter lined up the Oreos. We had a lot of fun assembling this dessert but even more fun eating it. :) I added the hot fudge into the brownie mix (from Amanda's recipe) plus the caramel (from Katie's recipe). The results were terrific. Even my husband liked this one.

I'm planning on freezing the leftovers to use in a trifle for another time.

The Ultimate Fudge Brownie Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookie Bars
adapted from Betch Can't Eat Just One & Kevin & Amanda

1 c. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 lg. eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 c. semi sweet chocolate chips
1 pkg. Oreos - I used store brand
1/2 c. caramel sauce - I used ice cream topping
1 lg. pkg. brownie mix + ingredients on the box
1/4 c. hot fudge

Preheat oven to 350*.

Line a 9 x 13 dish with waxed paper. Spray with non-stick cooking spray and then set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well. Mix in vanilla.

In another bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Mix into the wet mixture until just combined.

Spread the cookie dough into the bottom of the 9 x 13 dish that you've lined with waxed paper.

Layer Oreos over the cookie dough.

Pour the caramel sauce over the Oreos.

Mix together brownies according to the directions on the box. Stir in 1/4 c. hot fudge and mix well.

Pour the brownie mixture over the Oreos. Bake for 45 - 55 minutes.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove the cookie bars to a cooling rack and remove the waxed paper from around the edges of the bars.

Allow to finish cooling for at least another 15 minutes. Cut into small pieces for serving.

Store leftovers in a container with a tight-fitting lid. These bars can also be frozen. Thaw on counter.

March '11 Cookie Carnival: Chocolate Brownie Oatmeal Cookies

Last night I decided to make one of the March Cookie Carnival's cookies, Chocolate Brownie Oatmeal Cookies from Quaker Oats. I'm happy that I did. These cookies are soft and chewy and down right delicious. My kids raved about them.

Halfway through the recipe I realized that I was out of eggs. I decided to hit the Internet to see if I could find a reasonable substitute for the 2 eggs that the recipe called for. There are several dry substitutes out there but I wanted to add a wet ingredient for at least one of the eggs. Applesauce is a common substitute but I was also out of it. One recommendation was 3 tbsp. mayo. I knew that I had some in the frig. so that took care of one egg. I used 2 tbsp. cornstarch to substitute the other egg. I also read that no matter what you use as a sub., you should always add in two extra teaspoons of baking powder. I continued on with the rest of the recipe.

The recipe called for nuts but since my husband is not fond of nuts in cookies - but is really fond of raisins - it was a no-brainer to add raisins. Delicious! Like eating chocolate covered raisins in cookie form. :)

Here's my recipe including the substitutions I made:

Chocolate Brownie Oatmeal Cookies
original recipe

One  8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
8  tablespoons (1 stick) margarine or butter, softened
1  cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2  cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons mayo
2 tablespoons corn starch
1/2  teaspoon vanilla
2  cups (12 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
1-1/2  cups all-purpose flour
3-1/2  teaspoons baking soda
3  cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1  cup raisins
 
In large bowl, beat cream cheese, margarine and sugars until creamy. Add mayo, corn starch and vanilla; beat well. Add melted chocolate; mix well.

Add combined flour and baking soda; mix well. Add oats and nuts; mix well.

Heat oven to 350°F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies are almost set. (Centers should still be moist. Do not overbake.) Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely.

*Recipe Notes*

To melt chocolate chips, place in 1-quart glass measuring cup or microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 1 to 2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring every 30 seconds. Or, place in top part of double boiler over hot, not boiling, water; stir occasionally until smooth.

*My Notes*

The recipe calls for chilling the cookie dough beforehand. I skipped this step and just scooped and baked right after mixing it up. I couldn't tell the difference.

Store the cookies in sealed container or plastic bag. Best if eaten within 2 days.




Do you enjoy baking cookies? Join us today at the Cookie Carnival! Here's what you need to do.  I hope to bake with you soon!


Linking to:

Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays
What's On Your Plate?

Banana Cream Cheese Nut Muffins

I like to bake muffins for a quick grab-n-go breakfast in the morning. It's hard to get my kids to eat anything before school - I guess they take after me in that respect. I never ate breakfast when I was in school. Yet, I've read all of the studies that say breakfast is "brain fuel" and that it has been proven that kids do better in school when they eat breakfast. I've found that if I mix it up and don't allow the foods to become a routine, they will grab something and eat it. Case in point, these banana cream cheese nut muffins.

You can't bribe my daughter into eating a banana right out of the peel. Once in a great while my son will eat one. I love bananas and since I've been craving some banana bread, I decided to try a banana bread recipe that I've had for a while, making muffins instead of bread. The recipe is from a Southern Living mag from 2005.

One of Alexis' favorite things to do is stick her finger in the batter of whatever I am making. She has to taste it. When she realized that I was making banana muffins, you should've seen her face. She thought that I had ruined the whole experience for her. Her curiosity got the better of her, though, so she had to taste the batter. It was SO good! The combination of cream cheese, bananas, sugar and ground pecans worked for her! I was shocked that she was raving over the batter. Even better, she ate a whole muffin right out of the oven. My son also loved them. He had two as soon as I took them out of the oven.

Here's the original recipe with only one slight change in bold.

Banana Cream Cheese Nut Muffins

3/4 c. butter, softened
1 - 8 oz- cream cheese, softened
2 c. sugar
2 large eggs
3 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas - about
4 medium
1 c. chopped pecans, toasted - I used 1 c. ground pecans
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions


Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in bananas, pecans, and vanilla. Spoon batter evenly into 24 paper-lined muffin cups.

Bake at 350* for 25 minutes. (*Note* - my muffins only baked for 20 minutes.)

Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

Makes 24 large muffins.

Pizza Bites

I was doing a search a couple of weeks ago for an easy recipe for something to nibble on during our Steelers game. I found a super easy recipe from Our Best Bites called Stuffed Pizza Bites. One word to describes these little bits.... delicious!!

Whenever possible, I like to bring my kids into the kitchen to help out. My daughter decided that she would help me. This recipe is great for kids to help make.

We decided to make one batch of plain cheese pizza bites and one batch of hot sausage and cheese pizza bites. Instead of using shredded cheese, I decided to use Mozerella cheese sticks cut into fourths. My daughter was able to cut the cheese sticks, help fill the dough squares and roll the dough into balls.

Pizza Bites

1 roll refrigerated thin crust pizza dough
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp Italian seasoning
mozzarella cheese sticks (at least 10)
Pizza toppings of your choice - I cooked hot sausage and crumbled it
pizza sauce for dipping

Directions

Preheat oven to 400*

Unroll your pizza dough. Stretch the dough until it's about 12" x 12". Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 24 squares. I didn't bother to measure it, I just eyeballed it.

For plain pizza bites:

Cut mozzarella sticks into fourths. Place one piece of the cut cheese on each square. Pick up each square and wrap the dough around the toppings, forming a ball. Pinch all edges to make sure each ball is sealed. Place the balls in a pie pan that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray.

For sausage and cheese bites:

Place a small amount of hot sausage onto each pizza square. Cut mozzarella sticks into fourths. Top the sausage with a piece of the cut cheese. If the piece of cheese seems to be too big, I sliced those pieces into two or three and stuck them around the sausage. Pick up each square and wrap the dough around the toppings, forming a ball. Pinch all edges to make sure each ball is sealed. Place the balls in a pie pan that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray.

To bake:

Brush the tops of the dough balls with melted butter and sprinkle with the garlic powder, Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until the tops are browned. Ours baked 20 minutes. 

Serve immediately with warmed pizza sauce.

These are perfect little snacks for the football games! If you are having people over for a party, you can make several different kinds and store in the frig until ready to bake.

I guarantee that these won't last long!! 

Go Steelers!!!! 

Pita Pizza

We have a new favorite in our house...pita pizzas. I know that lots of families already eat these but they're new to us. Everyone enjoyed personalizing their own pizza with their favorite toppings.

With just a few ingredients for the pizzas and a quick side salad, dinner hit the table in no time at all. YAY!

Pita Pizza

1 pita bread per each pizza
Pizza sauce - I made 8 pizzas
using 1 1/2 cups of sauce
Mozzarella cheese
Fav toppings - I used sliced mushrooms,
black olives, turkey pepperoni & fresh parm
cheese.

Preheat oven to 450*

Lay pita breads on cookie sheets. Top with sauce and mozzarella cheese. Allow everyone to top their pizza with their favorite toppings.

I had to use 2 cookie sheets at one time in the oven so I baked our pizzas for 8 minutes, and then switched positions with the trays in the oven and baked for another 2 minutes.

I'm planning on making a bunch of these and freezing them to have on hand for lunches or snacks.

Toppings that we've thought of:

Red sauce pizza
Buffalo chicken and cheese
Ham and cheese
taco
veggie and cheese

This is also a great meal for kids to make (with help, of course, with the oven).

August Cookie Carnival - Zucchini Pineapple Bars

The trees are starting to turn colors but someone forgot to tell Mr. & Mrs. Heat and Humidity that they are supposed to go on vacation for a while. It's still 90* + here!  At least the bright orange, yellow and red leaves can put me in a fall state of mind. I hope that everyone reading this has a relaxing Labor Day. We sort of hung out here at home today but we did run shortly to pick up some groceries. We don't have much planned for tomorrow, either.
   
This was the perfect time to bake the Zucchini Carrot Bars that was chosen for the Cookie Carnival.  I decided to switch the carrots out for some crushed pineapple that I had leftover from adding to the 2nd Cookie Carnival choice, Coconut Cherry Bars. (You can read about that debacle at the end of this post.)

If you look closely, you can see the flecks of pineapple and the raisins poking out.

We loved these zucchini bars. They were moist and delicious. Because they are really hearty I cut them into even smaller bars than suggested. My kids even took them in their lunches.

Here's my recipe, including all of the changes that I made:


Zucchini Pineapple Bars

For Bars:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine
3 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup shredded zucchini
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained well
1 1/2 cups honey nuts flakes
1/2 cup All Bran flakes
1 cup raisins

Lemon Glaze

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
4 tablespoons lemon juice

Combine flour, soda, salt and spices. Set aside.

In large mixing bowl, beat together brown sugar, butter, egg whites and vanilla until smooth.
Stir in zucchini, pineapple & cereals. Add dry ingredients; mix thoroughly. Spread evenly into
13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 350° F for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes.

To make Lemon Glaze:

Combine butter, powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Spread evenly over warm bars. I will
leave the butter out of this glaze recipe the next time that I make them. I used real butter but I didn't like the taste of it with the lemon and powdered sugar.

Cool completely before serving. Cut into bars. Cover and store in refrigerator.

The original recipe for Zucchini Carrot Bars can be seen here.

Like I mentioned before, I did try the Coconut Cherry Bars, too, after seeing all of the great pictures sent in by everyone who baked them this month. I have no idea what went wrong with my bars but they were nothing like the original picture or any of the bloggers pictures. First of all, I added some crushed pineapple but I don't think that hurt anything. I think that the downfall started with the crust. It just didn't look right ...too puffy. I chopped the cherries in the food processor so that turned the top mixture dark pink - very pretty - but something happened when it baked. The crust broke away from the cherry topping and this mixture baked solid, not soft like in the pictures. I was so disappointed in how they turned out that I dumped them before taking a picture of them. They weren't good...even though my hubby did eat a couple of pieces of them. I think that he was trying to make me feel better. aaawwwww!!!  These bars look delicious. If I can muster up the courage, I might try them again....following the directions with no added ingredients.

If you would like to join us in baking cookies from month to month, join the Cookie Carnival today!

 

Trail Mix Brownie Bites

What do you do with those healthy trail mix bars that your kids (or at least my kids) won't eat? Do you shove them in the back of the pantry hoping that one day one of the kids will be starving and only find those to eat? I've come up with a better way to use them. Make these delicious, chewy brownie bites. They were a huge hit with my kids.

If you have your own homemade brownie mix and/or trail mix bars, you can certainly use them in this recipe but since I'm left with very little cooking time at home this week, I opted for a boxed brownie mix and boxed trail mix bars.

Trail Mix Brownie Bites

1 boxed brownie mix + ingredients from the box to prepare the brownies
2 chewy fruit and nut granola bars, broken into small pieces
1 C. mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 325*

Lightly spray a mini cupcake pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

Mix together brownies following the recipe on the box.

Add in granola and marshmallows. Stir well, until the granola and marshmallows are completely covered in the brownie batter.

Drop batter into mini cupcake cups, filling each cup 3/4 full.

Bake for 15 - 18 minutes. The batter in the middle will be slightly soft but will continue to bake after you remove them from the oven. Be careful not to over bake the brownie bites or you will end up with little stones on your hands. (Ask me how I know about that one.)

Once you remove the brownies from the oven, allow them to cool for 5 minutes. Carefully slide a knife around the outer edge of each brownie bite, loosening them from the cups. Allow to cool another 5 minutes and then remove them to a cooling tray.

Store in a sealed container or Ziploc bag to keep them soft and fresh.

I'm participating in Tasty Tuesday!

Brown Sugar Apple Topped Cinnamon Cupcakes

My husband loves apples in any form. I'm always searching for quick and easy apple recipes that I can whip up after dinner so that he can enjoy a sweet treat before leaving for work. (Yep, we're one of those non-traditional 3rd shift families.)

When I found a recipe for cooked apples, I knew right away that he would like it. It didn't disappoint, either.

Quite simple, too..... apples, butter and brown sugar. Comfort food at its best.

Cooked Brown Sugar Apples
by ewriggs

3 medium apples, peeled & sliced into 8 sections
3/4 C. brown sugar
1/2 stick butter or margarine

Melt butter in a non-stick pan. Set aside.

Peel apples. Slice each apple into 8 sections and then slice each section into thin strips. Cut all apple strips in half and drop into a bowl. Stir in 3/4 C. brown sugar. Mix apples and brown sugar until the apples are well coated.

Warm butter again. Stir in apples and brown sugar. Cook over medium heat until the apples are soft and the sugar and butter start to get thick. Remove from heat and spoon into dishes. Serve immediately.

**My notes**  My apples were really juicy and ended up making the butter and brown sugar mixture a little too thin. I stirred in an extra 1/4 brown sugar while the apples were still cooking. That was all that was needed to thicken the syrup perfectly.

I served this apple topping over cinnamon cupcakes, which are simply a boxed white cupcake mix prepared accordingly with 3 TBSP of cinnamon + 1 tsp nutmeg added to the batter.

Delicious!

Cinnamon Streusel Zucchini Muffins

Trying to find a way to get your kids (or husband) to eat more veggies? These muffins are an excellent way to sneak in some zucchini without anyone ever knowing about it.

Trust me, I did it. {smirk}

Starting with a box mix, this recipe takes literally 5 minutes to whip up.

Cinnamon Streusel Zucchini Muffins

1 box of Duncan Heinz Cinnamon Streusel Muffin Mix
+ ingredients listed on the box to make the muffins
1 C. peeled, finely shredded zucchini
3/4 C. raisins
cinnamon

Preheat oven as noted on muffin mix. Grease or use paper liners in muffin pans. This recipe made 22 muffins. 

Open the muffin mix. Add the dry muffin mix to a bowl; laying the streusel mix to the side for later use.

Stir the extra ingredients listed on the box into the dry muffin mix. Mix as directed.

Stir in zucchini and raisins.

Fill each muffin cup 3/4 full. Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over all muffins. Lightly sprinkle cinnamon on top of the streusel topping.

My muffins baked for 17 minutes. Keep an eye on them and do not over bake.

Serve immediately. Store extra muffins in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

Very tasty for breakfast or dessert!