Zucchini Parmesan Crisps

It's Secret Recipe Club reveal day!  I love this day.  I love looking through all the amazing pictures and trying to guess who had my blog for the month.  I also love trying out new recipes to share with you all.  (Okay, to share with me, but I didn't want to sound selfish.)  

This month my assignment was The Ginger Snap Girl.  Gloria is the author of this wonderful foodie blog and I loved looking through all her recipes.  Gloria and I have a lot in common.  Well, not the big things, like her being married and having 3 cats.  I don't have either of those.  And the fact that she lives in sunny California.  Not me.  But the more important things, like, we both LOVE donuts, we love our DVRs (how did I live without it), love to take road trips and we both love to love on our nieces and nephews.  Oh yeah, and bake cookies!  

I had every intention of making a delicious dessert recipe from Gloria's blog.  I kind of have a thing with desserts.  I love them.  But then I saw her Zucchini Parmesan Crisps and I knew it was love at first site.  I LOVE zucchini! 

Zucchini Parmesan Crisps

Source: The Ginger Snap Girl

1 pound of zucchini (about 2 medium)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs

1/4 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup ranch dressing (optional)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.  I used Non Stick Parchment Paper because I love the stuff. 

Prepare bread crumb mixture.  Place Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, salt and pepper in a medium bowl and mix.

Slice the zucchini into 1/4 inch rounds and place in a medium size bowl.  I used my Crinkle Cut Knife because I was told wavy veggies hold more dip =o)  So I thought maybe that meant breading too.

Drizzle zucchini with olive oil and toss to evenly coat all the slices.  Coat each slice generously with the bread crumb mixture.  Pat crumbs into the slices to get a good even coating.  I couldn't get the coating to stay on very well so I dipped my slices in a beaten egg.
 

Place each slice on the prepared baking sheet leaving a little bit of room in between each slice.  Bake 25 - 30 minutes until zucchini is tender and breadcrumbs are golden brown and crisp.  Of course you can also fry these bad boys in oil.  That's always my first choice =o) but I was having company over for dinner and I wanted to appear be somewhat healthy.  =o)

 

Serve while still warm with ranch dressing or Garlic Aioli Sauce. 

 

Did you miss my other Secret Recipe Club posts?  Here they are, just in case =o)

 

Caramel Bars
Killer Frosted Brownies

Chocolate Peppermint Snowball Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bars

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Double Chocolate Snowball Cookies

 Double Layer Oreo Cake Bars

Bannock: Skillet Fried Native American Bread

Beautiful Beet Bundt Cake  

French Butter Cookies  

Puff Pastry Mini Apple Bites  

Egg Shaped Brownies  

Pecan Pie Bars  

Cinnamon Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars  

Double Chocolate Caramel Mousse Cookies  

Chai Tea Bread  

Cinnabun Cheesecake  

Marble Cake with White Chocolate Glaze  

Mt. Bachelor Bars  

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

 Ummm, can you say sweet tooth?  =o)

 

Mashed Potato & Cauliflower Casserole

I'm a huge mashed potato fan.  Add lots of great things to them like bacon or cheese, and I'm one happy camper.  Awhile back a friend of mine told me she added mashed cauliflower to her mashed potatoes to add some more vitamins.  I figured why not, I'd give it a try.

They were delicious!  I think I could have easily added more cauliflower because there wasn't a lot of "cauliflower" taste to them.  But you could definitely tell they were more than just mashed potatoes.  Totally tasty!

You will need:

* 8 potatoes, peeled

* 1/2 head raw cauliflower

* 1 cup grated cheddar cheese + more for the top

* 4 ounces cream cheese

* 5 strips of bacon, cooked

* 1/4 cup ranch dressing

Cut your potatoes into large chunks and boil until tender.  Drain.

Steam the cauliflower until soft.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and ranch dressing.  You can add more or less depending on your taste and how thick you would like your mashed potatoes.  Add the potatoes and cauliflower and beat until smooth (unless you like chunky mashed potatoes.)

Stir in crumbled bacon and cheese.

Preheat over to 350 degrees. 

Spoon potato/cauliflower mixture into a baking dish.  Bake for 30 minutes.

Add more shredded cheese to the top and bake until melted.

This was so good.  I kind of forgot to take pictures of it (oops.  I was too eager to eat it.)

It's a great change to regular mashed potatoes and you can add as little or as much cauliflower as you would like.  And if your kids aren't big cauliflower eaters, they will never know =o)

Here are some other delicious mashed potato dishes (I told you I loved mashed potatoes.) =o)

Bacon, Broccoli, Cheddar Mashed Potato Bites

Mashed Potato Pie

Enjoy!

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Deep Fried Green Beans with Garlic Aioli {Secret Recipe Club}

After taking December off from The Secret Recipe Club, it's nice to get back into a routine.  This month my assigned blog was Kate's Kitchen.   Her blog is wonderful with all kinds of amazing recipes.

I decided to make her Fried Green Beans.  We all know how I feel about fried food.  We're a pair =o)

Deep Fried Green Beans 

Source: Kate's Kitchen

• fresh green beans
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2/3 cup beer
• 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
• salt and pepper to taste

Mix the flour, cornstarch, salt and pepper and beer.  Let sit for about 10 minutes.

Wash the green beans and towel dry.

Heat your oil until you put a drop of batter in it and it immediately bubbles back to the surface.

Working in batches, dip the beans in the batter and carefully place into the hot oil.  Turn them once during cooking until they are golden brown.

Remove from the pan and place on a plate lined with a paper towel.

Serve warm with aioli.  I am in love with garlic aioli so that's what I made.  Kate made a delicious aioli sauce as well but I needed a little more garlic =o).  

I loved these!  I've had Fried Green Beans a few times and just love them.  Seriously!  Whoever came up with the concept of deep frying vegetables should win a medal!

Did you miss my other Secret Recipe Club posts?  Here they are, just in case =o)

Chocolate Peppermint Snowball Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bars

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Double Chocolate Snowball Cookies

 Double Layer Oreo Cake Bars

Bannock: Skillet Fried Native American Bread

Beautiful Beet Bundt Cake  

French Butter Cookies  

Puff Pastry Mini Apple Bites  

Egg Shaped Brownies  

Pecan Pie Bars  

Cinnamon Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars  

Double Chocolate Caramel Mousse Cookies  

Chai Tea Bread  

Cinnabun Cheesecake  

Marble Cake with White Chocolate Glaze  

Mt. Bachelor Bars  

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

 Ummm, can you say sweet tooth?  =o)

Crock Pot Baked Potatoes

Did you know that you can cook baked potatoes in your crock pot?  Am I the only one that didn't know this???  When I saw this over on Skip to My Lou, I thumped my forehead and seriously said (out loud) "GENIUS!"  I love baked potatoes!  But I don't like turning on my oven for an hour and I don't think baked potatoes taste as delicious when they are cooked in the microwave.  Plus, when you have to cook a lot of them they take forever in the microwave!

This is so simple and so cool!  Simple wash and scrub your potatoes.  Cover them with aluminum foil.  (You can rub them down with a little olive oil or garlic infused olive oil (which we did.)  Yum!

Place all the potatoes in your crock pot and turn it on low.  Let them cook for at least 6-8 hours.

Voila!  Crock Pot Baked Potatoes!

 

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The Best Homemade Salsa Recipe

I'm not a huge salsa eater. I am when I'm in Mexico but I'm not a fan of super chunky salsa.  The big chunks of raw onions?  No thanks.

Then a friend told me that she made salsa and let me try it.  It was delicious!  My first thought?  "I want some!"  So she gave me a ton of Roma tomatoes from her garden and off I went to make salsa.  

Homemade Salsa Recipe
Source: Hub Pages

* 6-8 large Roma tomatoes (32 lbs.) or 1-28 ounce can whole tomatoes, drained

* 2 small onions, diced (I used Walla Walla Sweet onions)

* 3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

* 2-3 hot peppers, seeded and halved

* 1/2 to 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves (to taste)

* 1 1/2 tsp. salt

* ground pepper, to taste

* 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

* 1/2 tsp. ground cumin

* juice of 1 lime

I just love Romas tomatoes!  (Especially when they are fresh from the garden.)

If using fresh tomatoes (Romas really are the best), add about 1/4 inch water to a large skillet.  Core and cut tomatoes in half and add to skillet, cooking over medium heat.

While you dice the onions, simmer tomatoes until the water has evaporated and the tomatoes start to soften.  Peel and discard the tomato skins.

Put tomatoes, hot peppers and cilantro into a blender and blend until smooth.

Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a skillet over medium high heat.  Saute onions and garlic in hot oil for about 10 seconds, just a flash in the pan.

Add blended tomato mixture to the skillet with the onions and garlic and give it a stir.

Season with salt and ground pepper to taste.  Add cumin.  Simmer on medium-low heat for about 10 minutes or until salsa is thick and reduced.  You may need to increase your cooking time if your tomatoes are juicy.  

You can add fresh lime juice at this point but remember it will temper the spiciness.

(If using canned tomatoes, skip steps 1 and 2)

Here are my notes:  

• Hot peppers:  Serano peppers are hotter than snot!  I added 2 in the first batch and it was so stinkin' hot.  
• I used jalapenos as well and they were better and not as hot.  
• I added a little bit of sugar while it was simmering to add a very slight sweet taste.  It was really good!
• I also added twice as much cilantro as the recipe called for because I love cilantro.
• And the number one important thing to note - wear gloves when cutting the peppers.  I thought the skin on my hand was going to split it hurt so bad.  (I'm a dork.)

My kids and I loved this salsa.  We made a bunch of it and canned it.  We had so many fresh tomatoes from my friend's yard we just couldn't pass up the opportunity.  And I had such good helpers!

What do you think?  Are you a salsa fan?

Enjoy!  And try not to eat it all in one sitting!

 

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Baked Zucchini Tots

I just love zucchini!  This past month my Dad and a good friend have been giving me tons of them.  Holy smokes.  When it rains, it pours.  So we made a freezer full of zucchini bread and chocolate zucchini bread (yum!)  We grilled enough to feed a small country =o) and I really, really wanted to make these Baked Zucchini Tots that I saw over on Christy's blog a little while back.  They looked so good!

I'm trying to lose a couple of pounds so I baked these, like Christy did.  It took everything in me not to deep fry them.  Because I love, love, love deep fried food.  But maybe that's why I need to lose a few pounds?  That's a discussion for later, I think.

These were pretty tasty, even baked =o)

I doubled the recipe because I figured I needed more than just 12 of them.

Baked Zucchini Tots

Source:From Glitter to Gumdrops

* 1 cup shredded zucchini

* 1 egg

* 1/4 cup diced sweet onion (or you can use yellow onion)

* 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese, shredded

* 1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs

Mix all of the ingredients together.  I didn't have shredded Parmesan cheese so I used 1/2 grated Parmesan cheese and 1/2 shredded mozzarella cheese.

Scoop mixture into a greased mini muffin pan.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown and set on the top.

Don't they look wonderful?

Enjoy! 

 

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Chocolate Zucchini Bread

I just couldn't stop at "regular" zucchini bread.  I wanted to try a chocolate zucchini bread recipe.  At first I wasn't quite sure what I would think about it.  I'm not a real big, add veggies or fruit to my desserts kind of person.  But I figured since we had about a million zucchinis, why not.

I was so happy I did.  This recipe is amazing!  It's moist and chocolaty and absolutely delicious!

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Source: Six Sisters' Stuff

* 1 1/2 cups sugar

* 1 cup canola oil (or 1 cup unsweetened applesauce)

* 3 eggs

* 3 tsp. vanilla

* 2 1/2 cups flour

* 1/2 cup baking cocoa

* 1 tsp. salt

* 1 tsp. baking soda

* 1/4 tsp. baking powder

* 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

* 2 cups shredded zucchini

* 1 cup chocolate chips

Mix together the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla.  Add the other ingredients and mix until well blended.

Pour into two medium, greased loaf pans.  Awhile ago I found these great muffin pan liners.  Don't you love them?  They add so much to a loaf of bread!

No greasing necessary!

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50 minutes.

Easy, right?  I made a couple of loaves with white chocolate chips in them too and they were wonderful!  And I liked how the white chips looked in all the chocolaty goodness =o)

Enjoy!

 

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The Best Zucchini Bread Recipe EVER

Is there anything better than zucchini bread?  I just love it!  Every summer at this time I make a TON of it and freeze it and my kids and I eat it all winter long.  It's the perfect bread to have in the freezer.  It freezes great!  It's delicious and almost tastes like it's a dessert but without all the crazy sugary frosting cakes that my kids love.

I've tried a lot of zucchini bread recipes over the years.  People have told me I needed to make a healthier zucchini bread without the oil.  Well, yuck!  I tried the zucchini bread recipes with only a small amount of oil in it and although the taste is okay, it's dry and more like a bread than a moist, delicious treat.  No thank you.

So this is the recipe I always come back to.  My Mom got this recipe years ago (like 40 or more!) from our neighbor at the time, Virginia Pelot.  It's funny how you can remember a neighbor from so many years ago.  Well, she made the best zucchini bread ever!  And I'm so glad she shared her recipe with my mom!  I guarantee (yep, strong words, right?) that you will love this recipe too.

And seriously - who doesn't have a ton of zucchini laying around right now?!  Holy smokes!  We now have 12 loaves in the freezer =o)  And when you are given zucchinis this huge - baking with it is perfect.  Look at the size of this bad boy!

Zucchini Bread

Source: Our neighbor from years ago, Virginia Pelot

* 3 eggs

* 1 cup oil

* 3 Tbsp. vanilla

* 2 cups sugar

* 3 tsp.cinnamon

* 2 cups grated zucchini

* 3 cups flour

* 1 tsp. salt

* 1 tsp. baking soda

* 1/4 tsp. baking powder

* 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Here's the really hard part.  Ready?  Mix all of the ingredients together.

Pour into two medium sized greased and floured loaf pans.  (I used my mini muffin stone from Pampered Chef and it made 4 loaves.)

Bake in a 325 degree oven for 1 hour.

Cool completely and enjoy!

Delicious!

  

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