Chocolate Cherry Clusters

I found this recipe in a magazine and have been planning to try it for a while now. This is supposed to be a good, heart-healthy snack, and I thought it would be nice for Jeffrey to have as a snack because he loves cherries so much. I finally made them today.

Chocolate Cherry Clusters

Image via Wikipedia

• 2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1-1/2 cups Cheerios cereal
• 1 cup dried cherries
• 1/2 cup walnut pieces

In medium bowl, microwave chocolate on high 1 minute. Stir. Microwave 1 more minute, until nearly melted. Stir until smooth. Quickly stir in cereal, cherries and nuts until well coated. Using a tablespoon, drop clusters on a baking sheet. Refrigerate 2 hours, until no longer sticky. Makes 24 clusters.
Per cluster: 137 calories, 2g protein, 15g carbohydrates, 10g fat (4g saturated), 0mg cholesterol, 2g fiber, 13mg sodium

I didn't have any bittersweet chocolate chips, but I do have some Hershey's extra dark baking bars. I figured those would work just fine, since the chocolate must be melted. However, I did not know how many squares I would need, so I looked it up and found this handy list of chocolate substitutions. For each cup of chocolate chips, I need 6 squares of chocolate - so that's 1-1/2 of those baking bars.

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Zucchini Casserole

I've got the zucchini coming out of the garden pretty steadily now, so for dinner I decided it had to be something with zucchini. This recipe sounded good, so I sort of followed it. Basically, I just layered zucchini, onion, peppers, tomato slices, and seasonings - and I added some chicken for the meat eaters in the family, hoping it would make them happy. The recipe did not say anything about covering the dish while baking, so I didn't. I really should have because, even though I baked it for an entire hour, it was not as done as I would have liked. Also, I think it needs salt and pepper sprinkled throughout the layers instead of just on top.

So, next time I'm doing it like this:

Zucchini Casserole

Ingredients:

• Sliced zucchini - 2 small, 1 medium, whatever you have
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 green pepper, sliced - more or less
• 1 or 2 tomatoes, sliced
• salt and pepper, to taste
• garlic powder, to taste
• basil and oregano, about 1/4 tsp. each - I used several leaves of fresh basil
• Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup or so shredded Cheddar

Directions:
Grease a 2-quart casserole. Arrange zucchini slices in casserole. Top with onion slices and green pepper slices; sprinkle with salt & pepper. Top with tomato slices, then sprinkle with herbs and Parmesan cheese. Cover and bake in a 350° oven for 45 minutes; uncover, sprinkle with cheddar cheese, and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and vegetables are tender. Serves 6.

Optional: Season a boneless, skinless chicken breast or two with garlic powder and oregano. Grill or broil until done - I used the George Foreman grill for 3 minutes on each side. When chicken is cooked, slice and add to casserole between the green peppers and the tomato slices.

Because this wasn't cooked as much as it should have been, it wasn't as good as I believe it will be - when I do it my way. I still enjoyed it, and my leftovers for lunch tomorrow will be better, because they'll be cooked a little more when I reheat them.

Roasted Zucchini

I must try this! As seen on The View:

Roasted Zucchini

• 4 medium-large zucchini
• extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Begin by slicing the zucchini into medium-thick discs. Lay out on a roasting sheet tray and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 12-15 minutes until slightly caramelized and just tender

Time: 25 minutes; Yield: serves 2-3.

He threw some onions on, too on the show. I'm definitely going with the onions.

Pineapple Zucchini Cake

When I was growing up, there were two zucchini cakes we had, Chocolate Zucchini Cake, and this one - Pineapple Zucchini Cake. I was going to say there were two zucchini cakes my mom made, but I made them a lot, too. I consider them my mom's recipes, though I don't know where she got them. They are both so good I can't decide which one is my favorite.

Pineapple Zucchini Cake
Ingredients:
3 eggs 2 c. sugar 1 tsp. vanilla 1 cup vegetable oil 2 c. zucchini, grated	3 c. flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt 1 c. crushed pineapple, drained
Directions: Beat eggs, sugar, vanilla and oil until fluffy. Add zucchini. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; add to batter and mix well. Stir in pineapple. Pour batter into greased and floured 9"x13" pan. Bake at 325° for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean and dry.

I made the chocolate cake Friday. As soon as it's eaten, I think I'll be making this.

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Zucchini Bread

I have tried other zucchini bread recipes, but this is by far the best one. The recipe was given to me when I got married. Our moms handed out recipe cards to the ladies at church and asked them to submit their favorite recipes. This one was from a wonderful lady named Betty Brooks.

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:
3 eggs, beaten 1 c. oil 2 c. sugar 2 c. grated zucchini 2 t. vanilla	3 c. flour (part whole wheat) 1 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 cup chopped nuts
Directions: Add oil and sugar to beaten eggs, then zucchini and vanilla. Cream together. Mix flour, soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add to creamed mixture. Mix until thoroughly blended. Add nuts. Pour into 2 greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 325° for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes before removing from pan. Cool on wire rack.

Thanks to my sister in law Cindy who requested a good zucchini bread recipe, I think I'm going to be making this soon. I do have zucchini from my garden!

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Get Your Printers Ready

I posted a new recipe tonight - well actually it's a recipe I made a while back and just finally got around to posting, but never mind. The point is I created the printable version with Google Docs and linked it in my post - like I'm supposed to or at least want to for every recipe. I remembered that I had skipped that step in the last few recipes I posted, so I decided to create all the printable versions I had put off. I thought maybe I had put two or three off, but there were six! Six? How did that happen?

It's really not that difficult to do, so I don't really know why I put it off. But if any of you have wanted to print any of those six recipes, they're all ready and linked up now, and for your convenience, I'm even listing them all here.

• One-Pan Tomato Basil Chicken
  
• Whole Wheat Caramel Rolls
• Chicken Macaroni and Cheese w/ Broccoli
• Mini Meat Loaves
• Rhubarb Crunch
• Chicken Stir Fry

Cranberry Pecan Tassies

I found this recipe in the Sunday paper. I love cranberries, so anything with cranberries in it catches my eye.

Cranberry Pecan Tassies

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup flour
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 T. butter, melted
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh cranberries (I used frozen)
• 2/3 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

1. In medium bowl, using pastry blender (or fork) combine cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter and flour. Form into dough ball. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.
2. In mixing bowl, prepare filling; Beat egg, brown sugar, melted butter, vanilla and salt on medium speed until creamy.
3. In separate bowl, combine chopped cranberries and pecans.
4. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and press into bottom and up sides of ungreased cups of miniature muffin tin.
5. Fill tarts half full with cranberry-pecan mixture, then pour filling over the top.
6. Bake in preheated 325° oven until lightly browned, 25 to 35 minutes. Cool completely in pan.

They took a little longer to make than I thought they would, mainly pressing the dough into the mini muffin tin. Overall, I think it was definitely worth it because these are really good. It's also the first time I ever used my mini muffin tin!

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