Zucchini Mini Pizzas/ Cheese Rounds

I have 2 ways I love zucchini. For the kids, I love to make them mini zucchini pizzas. It's just like the Ritz mini pizzas we had growing up, except I substitute zucchini for the crackers. Just slice the zucchini, put some pizza sauce on top, and then put grated cheese on top of that. Put under broiler for about 5-7 minutes - until cheese melts and zucchini is tender.

However, MY favorite way to eat the zucchini is this way: Slice the zucchini in mini rounds. Spray a large rectangular baking sheet with non-stick spray. Place zucchini on the tray. Sprinkle Lawry's garlic salt on top. Then sprinkle on finely grated mozzarella cheese or parmesan cheese. Put under broiler for about 5-7 minutes - until cheese melts and zucchini is tender.

Healthy Bran Muffins to Feed the Flock

(adapted from Deseret News)
I love these because they are a healthy, low fat, low calorie alternative to muffins. They are LOADED with fiber! And I love it because you can add whatever you want to the mix for variety. You can grate apples, carrots or zucchini. I've added applesauce and blueberries and they were yummy. This makes a huge amount of muffins, so what I did was add some extra flour to about half of the batter to make a cookie dough. Added some chocolate chips, and they made chocolate cake-like cookies. They've been a huge hit with the boys!

2 cups boiling water
2 cups oatmeal
3 cups whole wheat flour
4 cups unprocessed bran (or bran flakes)
1/2 cup flaxseed meal
5 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ginger
3/4 teaspoons allspice or cloves
3/4 teaspoons nutmeg
1 cup raisins
1 egg
3 egg whites
2/3 cup honey
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
4 cups milk
4 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. Combine the boiling water and the oatmeal in a bowl and set aside.
2. Combine the milk and bran and set aside.
3. Combine the whole wheat flour, flaxseed meal, baking soda, spices, raisins and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat the egg and egg whites; beat in the honey, brown sugar, canola oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat the bran flakes and oatmeal into the egg mixture. Beat with a hand mixer if necessary to break up the oatmela. Beat until no large lumps of oatmeal remain.
4. Add the flour mixture, and combine with a few swift strokes. Do not overbeat.

This can be kept for 6 weeks tightly covered in the refrigerator, baking as needed.

5. Bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes

Makes 72 muffins

Note - to make the cookies I added enough flour to make a gooey cookie dough. Then I baked them for 10 minutes at 350.

Beans

We use a lot of beans at our house. They make great finger food for the little ones, are great for lots of different salads, and of course are great with chili, tacos, and other homemade dishes.

I prefer using dried beans to canned because I feel like they are healthier and definitely much cheaper. The only problem is, it always takes so much time to soak and cook the beans and I don't always plan the meal that far in advance. Plus, when the recipe calls for several different types of beans, I don't have time to soak and cook them all separately.

So, this is what I've been doing lately and it works great.

I soak and cook a huge batch of one particular bean (this past week I did red beans one day and white beans another day). Then, I put 1-2 cups of the beans in individual ziploc bags and put them in the freezer. Now, whenever I'm making a dish that requires beans, I can just take out the ones I need to defrost and use. Sweet!

Anyway, just a random tip that has saved me time.

West African Chicken and Peanut Stew

I start this post by saying you'll probably either love this or hate it. I personally love it, as does my sister-in-law. Mark, however, does not like it. So there you go. But, for some reason the ginger and peanut flavors taste soo good together to me!!

You can find the recipe here

Again, I usually make this when I have leftover chicken or pork. I do have one variation. I felt like the stew was too thick, so I add 1 can of diced tomatoes with liquid to make it go a little further. Be sure to use fresh ginger. It's what really gives it the flavor!!

So yummy, filling, and healthy!

Easy yellow rice, beans, and chicken

So this isn't 100% whole grain - it does use yellow rice rather than brown, but I love it because it is still relatively healthy, is only 3 ingredients, cheap, easy, fast! I usually make this when we have some leftover chicken.

1 bag yellow rice (buy at Walmart)
1 can of black beans with liquid
cut up, cooked chicken (I just put in leftovers - probably about 1/2 - 1 cup) as much as you'd like

Cook the rice according to the directions on the package. Then add the black beans with liquid and cooked chicken. Heat through for a few minutes and your done!!

Yogurt in a crockpot

I tried this again yesterday. I followed her directions exactly and the yogurt came out great! So cool. No thermometer needed. The first time I tried to double the recipe by using a gallon of milk. It came out too runny. She designed the timing for half a gallon as the recipe says. So I suggest go with that.

Here's the link