sunny morning muffins

• 1 cup strawberries, chopped
• 1 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 cup unbleached flour, and 1/2 c. whole wheat)
  
• Pinch ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 ripe banana, mashed
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 lemon, zested
• 1/2 pint blueberries
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Special equipment: muffin tin and muffin liners

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, mix together strawberries and 2 tablespoons sugar. Let sit 15 minutes until strawberries give off juices.

In a small bowl, mix together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, eggs, oil, 1 cup sugar, strawberries, and lemon zest.

Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. Do not over mix. Fold in blueberries and walnuts.

Scoop batter evenly into muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out with a few crumbs but not wet, about 30 minutes. Cool on a rack to room temperature.

choclolate chocolate chip zucchini cake

Cream together:
1/2 c. Soft butter
1/2 c. coconut oil
1 c. sugar (the real recipe calls for 1 3/4 cup which is too sweet for us)

Then add:
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. sour milk. You can use buttermilk which we like, or you can put 1 1/2 tsp. of lemon juice in with some regular milk to make it sour.  

Then Add:
2 1/2 cups flour
4 T. cocoa powder (or organic cacao powder which is healthier)
1 t. soda
1/2 t. salt
a shake of cinnamon

Once all mixed, add 2 c. grated zucchini, and 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

Pour into a 9x13 pan and bake at 325 for 45 min.

*VEGAN version:  substitute the butter with coconut oil; substitute the eggs with 1 whole mashed banana, and substitute the milk with unsweetened plain almond milk, however, DO NOT add lemon juice to almond milk.

Caramel Apple Pork Chops

This recipe came in handy when I had nothing in the house for dinner and I had no time to cook. It was quick, tasty and simple.

"Warm, spicy, and sweet, this wonderful Fall recipe is a guaranteed favorite for kids, and is great with smashed potatoes and buttered green beans."

RECIPE RATING:

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PREP TIME	20 Min
COOK TIME	25 Min
READY IN	45 Min

SERVINGS

(Help)

Servings

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

• 4 (3/4 inch) thick pork chops
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tart apples - peeled, cored and sliced
• 3 tablespoons pecans (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees F (80 degrees C). Place a medium dish in the oven to warm.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brush chops lightly with oil and place in hot pan. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, turning occasionally, or until done. Transfer to the warm dish, and keep warm in the preheated oven.
3. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, salt and pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add butter to skillet, and stir in brown sugar mixture and apples. Cover and cook until apples are just tender. Remove apples with a slotted spoon and arrange on top of chops. Keep warm in the preheated oven.
4. Continue cooking sauce uncovered in skillet, until thickened slightly. Spoon sauce over apples and chops. Sprinkle with pecans.

honey bbq chicken

Honey Barbecue Chicken Wings

S 2 -3 , 18 wings (change servings and units)

Ingredients

• 18 chicken wings
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• cooking spray

SAUCE

• 1 cup barbecue sauce, preferably Hickory Smoke Flavor
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons hot sauce
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

1. 1

   Wash, dry, and season the wings with the salt, garlic, pepper, cayenne, sugar, and paprika. Preheat the oven to 375.

2. 2

   Spray a cookie sheet with a generous spray of cooking spray.

3. 3

   Place the wings in a single layer on the cookie sheet, and place in the oven.

4. 4

   Cook for 35-40 minutes, depending on the size of the wings, turning once.

5. 5

   While they are baking, make the sauce by slowly simmering the sauce ingredients over the lowest heat.

6. 6

   When the wings are done baking, carefully dip them in the sauce, and place them back in the oven for another 5 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling.

7. 7

   ENJOY!And remember to save some for everyone else!

Almond & Orange Spinach Salad

I got this recipe from my new favorite website/blog called the spunkycoconut.com. It is really cool you should check it out. But this salad is SO yummy I loved it. It is more of a sweet salad dressing and salad so when you are in the mood for sweet and something fresh this is perfect.

-SALAD-

Spinach

Freshly Chopped Almonds

Oranges(I like a lot of both the oranges and the onions so however may you want)

Carmelized onions (depending on how much you want 1/2 to one onion should be good)

-DRESSING-

Add to blender:

1/4 cup almond butter

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup agave

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp gluten-free tamari sauce

1/4 tsp celtic salt

*I didnt have tamari sauce so I looked it up online to even see what it was and it is a mixture of a few things mostly ginger and rice wine vinegar. so I just did about a tsp of the vinegar and just a little bit of the ginger. I also just used Real salt instead of celtic salt.

"Whatever you have in the fridge" Stuffed Zucchini

So I am going to put everything that I used but like all of britt's recipes add,take away or substitute for whatever. I did not know what to make the other night. I remembered as I was looking through my fridge that I had seen a recipe online for stuffed zucchini. I had a HUGE zucchini from the farmers market that was still good but really needed to use. Although the recipe was a vegetarian. Dont get me wrong, I absoluteley love vegetarian meals but i wanted something a little more. So I kind of made up my own thing but took a bunch of ideas from a few different stuffed zucchini recipes. It turned out really yummy so i thought i would post it. Let me know if you have any ideas to make it better.

1 large zucchini

Clean zucchini. Trim ends slightly so you have a level end to stand the zucchini upright and cut of f the top lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds. Lay it cut side up in a lightly greased baking dish. I sezsoned mine with whatever my little heart desired at the moment....

Italian Seasoning

Basil

plenty of Rosemary

Salt

Pepper

Dash of Red Pepper Flakes

a LITTLE bit of crushed garlic smeared on the inside edges

Drizzle a little bit more than a tsp of EVOO (sorry i wanted to feel like Rachel Ray for just a second there)

cover and bake by itself at 425 for 20 minutes.

FILLING

Saute:

1 medium sized onion, chopped

4 stalks of celery, chopped

1 cup chopped carrots

(any veggies would be great!)

When tender season (again with whatever you want) I used alot of the same spices i used on the zucchini

Set Veggies aside in bowl

In same pan cook ground turkey(or chicken,beef...or bread crumbs for vegetarian.) Now be careful you dont over cook it. If you do it becomes dry. I know this from experience.

season when mostly cooked(italian seasoning, salt, pepper, basil, oregano, ...just a few shakes of everything.)

Then add veggies to pan and mix together.

After the 20 mins of baking the zucchini Turn the oven down to 350.

Fill your zucchini with the stuffing, piling it high.

Cover and bake for 20 minutes.

*Now as I did this, one recipe said to uncover after the 20 mins and bake for 10-20. I did this and it made it pretty dry. So to fix my problem I opened up a can of diced tomatoes and seasoned them up and nuked them in the microwave. We poured it on top and it was yummy. Although I took it to have for lunch today and I added the tomato mixture on top before I heated it up and it was so so yummy. It made it more moist and gave the seasonings a chance to "settle in." I dont really know what Im talking about but I liked it a lot better today than I did last night. So I think next time I make it I will make the tomato mixture and bake it with it. Let me know if you have any ideas. Sorry this is more like a blog post than just a recipe... But we had this with this REALLY yummy spinach salad called Almond & Orange Spinach salad. I will post that recipe too.

roasted salsa

20 roma tomatoes
2-3 tomatillos
1- 1 1/2 bunch cilantro

Roast or grill:
2 green bell peppers
1-2 banana peppers
2 jalapeno peppers
3-4 cloves garlic

*pulse all ingredients in a food processor and dump in bowl

Then add to taste:
cumin
juice of 2 limes
salt
pepper

*spice note: for those with the "brittney pallet" only do 1/2 - 1 jalepeno and 1 banana pepper.