Zucchini Pancakes

I made these for the first time last week after a good friend gave me some of her old cookbooks- They are super yummy and they would also be a fun item to make to go with dinner on St Patrick's day because they are very green.


Zucchini Pancakes-

2 eggs

2 cups finely shredded zucchini

1/4  cup finely chopped onion

1/4 Parmesan cheese (I am think you could leave this out)

1/2 cup flour

1/4 t oregano

1/2 t salt

1/4 t white pepper

2 T olive oil

lightly beat the eggs in a medium bowl.  Stir in the zucchini, onions, and Parmesan

In a small bowl, stir together the flour, oregano, salt, and pepper.  Stir into the zucchini mixture

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Drop in heaping tablespoonfuls of the pancake mixture and flatten them with the back of a spoon.  Cook until lightly browned on both sides and done all the way through, about 3 minutes per side

As the pancakes are done, transfer them to a foil-covered plate

Chili Soup

This is a very easy recipe that is great to make and enjoy on a chilly night.

Chili Soup also known as 4x4


1 lb of ground beef or turkey
2 can Campbell's minestrone soup
2 cans Rotel
1-2 cans kidney beans (we are not huge bean lovers so I just do one can but the recipe calls for 2)

Brown your ground meat in a 4 quart saucepan and then drain.  Put the meat back in the pot and add the rest of the ingredients and one soup can of water.  Bring to a boil and and then reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes and ENJOY!

When we have this we top it with a dollop of fat free sour cream and some shredded cheddar cheese and some tortilla chips on the side.

I do not have the exact calorie count for this dish but at one point we figured up the calories in a whole pot made with ground turkey and I think it was about 1500-  my family of four gets 2 meals out of this and then some so not too bad less than 200 a serving and it is a good size serving

Mushroom- Stuffed Chicken

This is a yummy recipe and goes great with a very basic pasta and some steamed broccoli and the next time I make this I will be sure to get a picture of it to include her because it is a pretty dish it would be a good one for entertaining

Mushroom Stuffed Chicken

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 stuffed breast half)

Ingredients

• 2  (1-ounce) slices white bread, torn
• Cooking spray
• 1/4  cup  chopped green onions
• 8  ounces  presliced mushrooms- I used baby bellas they are one of our new favorites
• 1/2  teaspoon  dried thyme
• 1  garlic clove, minced
• 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 3/4  teaspoon  salt, divided
• 1/2  teaspoon  black pepper, divided
• 4  (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/4  cup  all-purpose flour
• 2  large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1  tablespoon  olive oil
• 
  

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Pulse bread in a food processor to form fine crumbs. Place in a dish.

3. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onions and mushrooms; sauté 10 minutes. Stir in thyme and garlic. Cool mixture 10 minutes; stir in cheese, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

4. Cut a slit through thickest portion of each breast half to form a pocket. Stuff each with 1/4 cup mushroom mixture. Sprinkle chicken with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place flour in a shallow dish. Place eggs in a shallow dish. Dredge chicken in flour. Dip in eggs; dredge in breadcrumbs.

5. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Place pan in oven. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165°.

I found this recipe on the Cooking Light website and they listed serving it with 3 cups of cooked egg noodles tossed with 2 T butter and sliced green onions so I am not sure if the following info includes that or not

Nutritional Information

Calories:

376

Fat:

13.4g (sat 4.3g,mono 5.7g,poly 1.9g)

Protein:

44.9g

Carbohydrate:

17.4g

Fiber:

1.4g

Cholesterol:

207mg

Iron:

3mg

Sodium:

717mg

Calcium:

170mg

Scrumptious Sides

These are 2 of my favorite side dishes.  They both go great wish almost anything my favorite thing to have them with are items off the grill like burgers or chicken.

Hot Crash Potatoes  (this recipe comes from the pioneer woman)

12 whole New Potatoes (or Other Small Round Potatoes)
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Kosher Salt To Taste
Black Pepper To Taste
Rosemary (or Other Herbs Of Choice) To Taste

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until they are fork-tender.

On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.

With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.

Sprinkle potatoes with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary (or chives or thyme or whatever herb you have available.)

Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Oven fried Zucchini

makes 6 servings and a serving is 81 calories

1 T vegetable oil or cooking spray

3 medium zucchini

3 T 1% milk

1 egg white

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

1/2 t kosher salt

1/4 t fresh ground pepper

2 T grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

1. Place oven rack in the top 1/3 of the oven and preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Coat your pan with the oil or cooking spray

2. Thinly slice your zucchini so you have circle shaped pieces

3. Whisk together the egg white and Milk then toss your zucchini slices in this mixture and stir around until they are all coated

4. Combine the bread crumbs with the remaining 3 ingredients.  Dip the zucchini pies in this a few at a time until they are coated- lay them out on your baking sheet so that none are touching otherwise they will not crisp up

5. Place in the oven and bake for 7 minutes then carefully flip them over and continue to bake until golden brown about another 6-10 minutes serve immediately

Oatmeal Toffee Cookies

These are one of my favorite cookies- I made them this year for a cookie swap that I had.

Oatmeal Toffee Cookies-

3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups brown sugar

1/4 cup butter softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

1/3 cup almond toffee bits (heath bar bits - the ones with out chocolate)

cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; stir with whisk. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add vanilla and egg; beat well. Add flour mixture; beat just until combined. Stir in the toffee bits by hand

3. Drop dough by Tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart on to baking sheets coated with cooking spray- bake at 350 for 11 minutes ( I usually start with 8 and then check- every oven is a little different) cool on pans one minute. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks

1 cookie = 90 calories

note- this recipe only makes 2 dozen cookies so I usually double it.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

This is one of the best soups I have ever made and it only has about 280 calories per serving and it is a big serving (1 1/4 cups). It is also an easy fairly quick dinner and reheats great later in the week for lunch or another dinner.

1 cup uncooked quick cooking wild rice

cooking spray

1 cup chopped onion

2-4 cloves garlic depending on their size minced or put through garlic press)

3 cups fat free chicken broth

1 1/2 cups peeled baking potato

3 cups 2% milk

1/3 cup all purpose flour

10 ounces light processed cheese (i use the Velveeta made with 2% milk)

2 cups chopped roasted chicken ( I get rotisserie chicken from Sams and just pull it apart into pieces- I also usually just end up using the whole thing)

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

cook rice according to the pkg (omit salt and fat)

heat large pot or dutch oven over medium high heat- coat with cooking spray. Add onion and garlic; saute 3-5 minutes. Add broth and potato; bring to a boil over medium high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5-8 minutes - you want the potato tender (I have found it takes about 8 minutes)

Combine Milk and flour in a separate bowl-while the potatoes are cooking- mix well with a whisk. Once the potatoes are done add the milk mixture to the large pot (whisk it once more before you add it)- cook 8 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. remove from heat; add cheese, stirring until it melts. Stir in rice, chicken and pepper.

back to blogging

Alright I know right now I have no followers so it does not really matter that I have completely abandoned my blog, but I decided this morning that I am going to get back to it. My new years resolution this year is to keep up with my blogs and maybe even start a new one- we will see about that. So my plan for this cooking blog is to post at least one recipe a week that should not be too hard that is only 52 recipes this year and a good excuse to be looking for some good ones and trying them out to see if they are worthy of posting. Check soon for this weeks recipe I have already found a good one.