Lemon Blueberry Cookies

I came across a yummy sounding Lemon-zucchini cookie today on a friend's blog. It called for a cup of zucchini and while I did have one on hand, it's marked for future soup. What I did have was a bunch of blueberries that needed a good home. I threw caution to the wind and used her recipe with my one tweak.

What you need...
3/4 C Butter ~ soft (aka 1.5 sticks. Yum already)
1 C Sugar
1 Egg
1 Tsp Lemon juice
1 Tsp Lemon peel
2 C Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 C Blueberries ~ squished

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in egg then add juice and lemon peel. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Last...add the blueberries. Into a 375 degree oven for 15-20 mins. Done when the edges of the cookies are golden.

I made up a basic glaze of lemon juice and powdered sugar. Original recipe calls for 1/2 C sugar to 2 Tsp lemon juice but I made a lot more b/c we REALLY like glaze in my house.

Shannon's original recipe calls for 1 C grated zucchini. I'll add that next time instead. :) Thanks Shannon!

Hatch Chili Cornbread Waffle

Today the high was in the low 70's. Brrrrrrrr This cold weather is to blame for me breaking out the crock pot for brown rice and vegetable soup. My boys love corn bread and I was looking for something new. I found a cornbread waffle recipe and tweaked it a little bit. It was a neat twist on an old favorite.

1 3/4 C Cornmeal
3/4 C Flour
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Sugar
1 Egg
1 1/2 C Milk
1 C Cream Corn
1/2 C Roasted Hatch Chilies

In one bowl, mix all dry ingredients. In a different bowl, beat the egg and then add in the milk, cream corn and chilies. I cooked these on the darkest setting on my waffle maker.

Coconut-Lime Rice

What you need...


The rice on bed of greens and topped with Quorn.


Thank you to my my beautiful and talented friend Amba for the inspiration for Coconut-Lime Rice. I started with (of course..what else) my basic white rice and added the coconut and lime. I put the rice on top of a nice bed of organic spinach and topped it with Quorn that had also been cooked in EVOO, lime juice and coconut. The boys were just "ehh" about it but Scott and I loved it.

What you need..
1 C white rice
1/4 C orzo
1/2 stick butter
Juice and zest of 1 med lime
1 C sweetened coconut

Melt half stick of butter in 350 degree oven and coat 1/4 C Orzo. Add rice, 1 C coconut, juice and zest of one med lime and 3 C boiling water to orzo. Cook for 30 mins at 350. Add salt to taste.

I would like to add this. Quorn is a microprotein, like mushrooms. It tastes a lot like chicken. A whole lot. In fact, the first few times we had it, Scott had a hard time eating it b/c it reminded him so much of chicken. People always like to joke about vegetarians that eat "stuff" that looks and tastes like meat products. Make no mistake here...not all vegetarians are vegetarians b/c they don't like the taste of meat. The reasons someone is or becomes a vegetarian varies from having the knowledge about how animals are "processed" to the ethical, environmental or health issues that surround the consumption of animals. It may be one thing, it may be a combination. Taste is not usually high on the list of reasons most vegetarians. Just wanted to be clear.

White Chocolate-Apricot Bread

I've been on a mission to find a White Chocolate-Apricot Bread recipe. I have a nice scone recipe but it doesn't translate into a loaf. I tried this one. It's good but it's still more of a pound cake than bread. I figured I would go ahead and post it. The family enjoyed it.

What you need...
1/2 Cup snipped dried apricots
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 Cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 Tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 Cup milk
1/4 Cup cooking oil
1/2 Cup white baking pieces

Directions..
1. In a small bowl, combine dried apricots and enough boiling water to cover. Let stand for 15 minutes; drain.

2. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degree F. Line a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan. Grease foil; set aside. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, combine egg, milk, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in pecans, baking pieces, and drained apricots. Spoon batter into the prepared pan.

4. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

5. Use the foil to lift bread out of pan; remove foil. Cool bread completely on wire rack. Wrap and store overnight before slicing. Makes 16 servings.

Spanish Rice with Black Beans

What you need...


The end result...

I stocked up on rices this past weekend and now have to do something with them. So it's another rice recipe. Tonight I made Spanish rice with black beans, cheese quesadillas and guacamole. The kids are full and happy. I started with a basic white rice recipe and then churched it up a bit.

What you need...
1 C White Rice
1/4 C Orzo
1/2 C chopped bell peppers (I used yellow and orange b/c they are pretty)
A couple of tomatoes ~ chopped
1/2 C cheddar
1/2 C mozzarella
1/2 C sour cream
1 can black beans
1/4 white onion ~ chopped
1/4 C prepared salsa
3 C boiling water (I added bouillon to mine)
½ stick butter

While bringing bouillon to a boil, I melted butter in 350 degree oven with orzo and rice. Once butter was melted, I dumped everything (except water) into the dish and then poured boiling water on top. I carefully stirred it together, covered it and popped it back into oven for about an hour. Delish!

Basic White and Brown Rice

There are two basic rice dishes that I use. I cook my rice in the oven. Yes I know, the suggested way is on the stove top but seriously, my rice never turns out. So I found these two recipes and the search was over..love was right before my eyes. (Are you singing Survivor too?) Anyway...here they are in all their glory.

White Rice
1 C White Rice
1/4 C Orzo
1/2 stick butter
3 C boiling water (I use veggie broth or veggie bouillon)

While bringing broth (or water) to a boil, melt half of a stick of butter in 350 degree oven and coat orzo. The water comes to a boil about the same amount of time that it takes for the butter to melt and coat orzo. Add rice to orzo mix, pour boiling broth on top, stir in, cover and cook for 30 mins.



Brown Rice (thank you Alton Brown)
1 1/2 C Brown Rice (med or short)
2 1/2 C water
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Place the rice into an 8-inch square glass baking dish.

Bring the water, butter, and salt just to a boil in a kettle or covered saucepan. Once the water boils, pour it over the rice, stir to combine, and cover the dish tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, remove cover and fluff the rice with a fork. Serve immediately.

Roasted Tomatillo & Hatch Chili Salsa

What you need...


The beautiful result


As I was saying on my family blog, Scott and I spent hours this weekend processing a bushel (1 and 1/9 bushel to be exact) of Hatch Chilies. We did it last weekend too but after gifting some and eating some, we decided we needed more. Today I made Roasted Tomatillo & Hatch Chili Salsa as well as last weekend's Hatch chili/lime/sour cream dip. It was incredible. I'm pretty sure Scott loves me a little bit more after today's lunch. Seth thought it was "bonus-dangerous good." That's "fantastic Mom, you're amazing" in 5 year old speak. Y didn't get any but on a side note, did eat the chili/lime/sour cream dip with his hands. Just saying.

What you need...
4 tomatillos husked
1 large tomato
1 C Hatch chilies - roasted
1/2 white onion peeled
4 garlic cloves
2 serrano peppers - seeds removed
1 teaspoons cumin
1/2 cup cilantro
1 med lime
Salt

Chop tomatillos, garlic and serrano peppers (remove seeds unless you like it hotter) and roast in a 400 degree oven for 15 mins. While that is roasting, put roasted chilies, onion, cilantro, tomato, juice of one lime, salt (to taste) and cumin into the food processor and wait. ;) Remove tomatillo mix from oven and place in food processor. Blend well. Probably the best salsa I've ever had. If anyone knows about Scott's salsa, you know what a huge statement that is.