My Freezer is My Friend

Every summer and fall I love to freeze vegetables and fruit as they become ripe. Apples, strawberries, zucchini, rhubarb, corn, the list could go on forever! I usually freeze them in 1 and 2 cup amounts so a recipe is easily followed or doubled. Make sure to mark on the outside of the freezer bag how much you've put in there! Then when we have a record-breaking Minnesota blizzard I can pull something out, like zucchini, and make some warm zucchini bread and it's like it's August all over again(if only for a minute). My favorite zucchini bread recipe is as follows:

WARM ZUCCHINI BREAD

Ingredients


1/4 cup butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup light brown sugar

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 cup finely shredded unpeeled zucchini

1/2 cup toasted walnut pieces

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest, finely chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Grease an 8 by 4 by 2-inch loaf pan with 1 teaspoon of the butter.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, oil, and sugar. Cream the mixture until smooth. Sift the flour, spices, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside. Add the egg to the creamed mixture and mix until incorporated. Add the sifted flour mixture, about 1/2 cup at a time until all is incorporated, and the batter is smooth.
Squeeze and drain the shredded zucchini. Fold zucchini, walnuts, and lemon zest into batter.

Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55 to 60 minutes until golden brown or when skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving. Serve the bread, warm, with butter.


ENJOY!!

Qucik Fix!

Hope every ones holiday was a great one! After a much needed rest and recuperation we settled in for supper last night at home. The kids of course wanted breakfast for supper, they would eat breakfast 3 times a day of I cooked it for them! They LOVE anything with syrup on it! I decided to try the new waffle maker I received from my grandparents for Christmas and and as I was making the batter when I realized I was short a 1/2 a cup of milk. The only thing i had in the fridge that even came close was french vanilla coffee creamer. I decided that it couldn't hurt the batter and poured it in. I have to say it was the BEST waffles I have ever made. I will definitely be picking up an extra bottle of French Vanilla creamer just for the purpose of waffles next time I'm grocery shopping. This of course makes my mind spin with the possibilities of what other "creamers" I could add and switch up the flavor, and of course what toppings could go along with it. The possibilities are endless! I hope you give this one a try and please share any other flavors you discover!

Left Over Holiday Ham??

This is the easiest and what I think is the best scalloped ppotatoes and ham recipe I've tried!





Scalloped Potatoes and Ham


6-8 large potatoes sliced thinly

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cheddar cheese soup

1 can milk

1 Tbs Dijon mustard

½ tsp chopped garlic

2 cups cooked ham, diced

1 cup shredded Cheddar of Monterrey Jack cheese

½ tsp salt and pepper.

Lay potatoes in a 9x 13 pan, In a sauce pan mix rest of ingredients and stir together over medium heat until smooth. Pour over potatoes. Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through. Uncover and bake 10-15 more minutes. (place pan on a cookie sheet to prevent boil-over’s)

I Don't Like Peanut Brittle!!

BUT I LOVE Popcorn Brittle!!! It's a recipe that I just tried this year and gave it away as gifts. My family really enjoys it. It's a little different but a lot good!

1 bag (3.3 oz each) Microwave Popcorn 1 cup M&M’S® Brand Milk Chocolate Candies 1½ cups firmly packed brown sugar ½ cup unsalted butter (½ cup = 1 stick) ½ cup light corn syrup ½ teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup lightly salted peanuts ½ teaspoon baking soda 1. Prepare popcorn according to package directions. Remove all unpopped kernels. Spread popped corn evenly in 15x10-inch nonstick shallow baking pan. Sprinkle evenly with M&M’S® Brand Milk Chocolate Candies; set aside.


2. Place sugar, butter, corn syrup and vanilla in medium heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly with wooden spoon. Add peanuts. Cook an additional 2 minutes or to the hard-crack stage, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add baking soda and mix well.

3. Immediately pour caramel mixture evenly over popped corn and candy until coated. Do not stir. Let stand 30 minutes or until caramel has cooled and hardened.

4. Break into pieces. Store in tightly sealed container.

Tip: Hard-crack stage, 300 to 310°F on a candy thermometer, is when a small amount of boiling sugar syrup, dropped into very cold water, separates into hard brittle threads.

ENJOY!! and Merry Christmas to you all!