Zucchini Brownies

This recipe is from Kaye Whiting. It's yummy!

2 C. flour                        1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt                    1/4 C. cocoa powder
1 3/4 C. sugar                  1/2 C. oil  (can substitute applesauce)
2 tsp. vanilla                    2 C. grated zucchini
                 1 C. nuts (optional)
**Mix together dry ingredients, add oil and vanilla, then mix in zucchini & nuts.  (mixture will be quite dry)
Spread on greased and floured 9 x 13" pan and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. 

Candied Pecans/Almonds

This recipe is from a friend of mine from Switzerland:

200 grams nuts
less than 100 grams sugar
100 ml water
little vanilla

For U.S. cooking, this is the closest I can come to the weight measurements:

1 1/2 cup nuts
1/2 cup of sugar
less that 1/2 cup water but more than 1/3 cup. Go figure....Ha!
little vanilla

Pour nuts, sugar, and water into a heavy pan. Cook on medium/high heat until you see the liquid turn into a dry, sugary powder. Keep cooking just until you see the powder starting to turn into liquid again. You will hear the almonds starting to pop at this stage. Remove it from the heat so it doesn't burn. Pour into a buttered glass dish. Wait for them to cool and eat! Yumm!

You can also add cinnamon or any other flavor to your nuts. Enjoy!

Quinoa/Quinoa Salad

Quinoa (pronounced Keen-Wa) is an incredible grain that we love. It is a complete protein packed with iron, copper, zinc, magnesium, folate, lysine, and other essential amino acids. Along with zero saturated fat and fiber, it is a grain you want to stock up on.
There are a few basic steps in cooking quinoa that are left off of package directions.
- First of all, rinse your quinoa by covering it with cold water rinsing it thoroughly. 
- Then drain it through a fine mesh strainer. Allow it to drain and dry for about 20 minutes to remove  all the water. Skipping this step will lead to mushy grains.
- Once the quinoa has dried, toast it in a dry pan until you smell the nutty flavor....about 5 minutes. This removes any water that may have been left behind by the rinse.
- Remove the quinoa from the pan, set aside.
- Cook 1 part quinoa to 1.5 parts water, broth, vegetable juice, or any taste yo may want. 
- Bring the water/broth to a rapid boil in a sauce pan.
- Add toasted quinoa and cover. Put the lid at an angle allowing the steam to escape.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low to maintain a strong simmer.
- Cook for 16 minutes or until all of the water is gone. 
- Remove from heat and remove the lid.
- Allow to cool and rest for ten minutes and then fluff with a fork.
- It is ready to make a delicious quinoa salad!

Quinoa Salad:

Cooked quinoa
Finely chopped broccoli
Finely chopped cauliflower
Finely chopped cucumber
Quartered sweet cherry tomatoes
Finely chopped artichoke hearts
Feta cheese
Slivered almonds
Sunflower seeds
Italian dressing

Mix all ingredients together and eat. Yummy! You can add anything to this salad. Other ideas are:
Red onion
Green onion
Asparagus
Avacodo
Parmesan cheese
Goat cheese
Olives
Craisins
Any kind of meat chunks
Fresh herbs
Any favorite dressing

Copy cat Kent Cakes!

So dad, I think I did it!!! I figured out the method. Well, close enough anyway. My girls had a serious conversation trying to decide which were better, yours or mine....yours won. :) It made my heart happy. I will never be able to replace it, but while your oceans away at least we can remember you through knock off kent cakes!

*this makes a lot! A whole blender full. So half it if you don't want leftover cakes or batter.
4 eggs
3 cups milk
2 cups flour
3 T - 1/4 c sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla

Blend up in blender and fry up! Yummy when you use coconut oil on the griddle and on the pancake after it's cooked instead of butter. My girls like powdered sugar and cinnamon on them!

Cottage cheese blender pancakes

3 eggs
3/4 c. Cottage cheese
1/4 c flour
1/4 t. Salt
3 tablespoon sugar
1t vanilla
1/8 t baking soda
1/4 t cinnamon

Blend together and fry up! They are thin!

Panko Breaded Tilapia with Lemon & Garlic Mayo

We just had this for dinner tonight and is absolutely delicious.  We all loved it! Carson almost had 2 whole pieces!! Which is absolutely amazing.  He also helped me make it so it was really fun for him to eat what he helped make...I found the recipe through pinterest from a blog called Once Upon a Chef. Awesome blog... I made a few minor changes but nothing huge...

Candied Japanese Sweet Potatoes

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Yield: Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 11 oz. (300g) Japanese sweet potato
• 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 5 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp. rice vinegar or lemon juice
• 1 tsp. roasted black sesame seeds

Instructions:

1. We don’t peel the skin of sweet potato so wash carefully.

2. Cut diagonally while rotating the sweet potato a quarter between cuts. This Japanese cutting technique is called “Rangiri”.

3. Soak in water for 15 minutes to remove starch. Change the water a few times.

4. Wrap the frying pan’s lid with kitchen cloth. This is to prevent condensation on the lid dripping into sweet potatoes while cooking.

5. Do not heat the frying pan yet. Add sugar, oil, soy sauce and rice vinegar in the pan and combine all together.

6. Dry the sweet potatoes completely with paper towel and place in the pan.

7. Cover with the lid and turn on the heat to medium.

8. When you hear bubbling sound from the pan, turn the heat to low to medium-low, and set timer for 2 minutes. Open the lid and flip the sweet potatoes every 2-3 minute so that all sides will have nice golden brown color and get flavored.

9. Depends on the size of sweet potatoes, the cooking time varies, cook for 8-10 minutes or until an inserted skewer goes through smoothly (I personally prefer it a bit tougher than completely soft texture). Now transfer to the serving plate/bowl and sprinkle black sesame seeds.

Notes

* Vinegar or lemon juice helps the sugar from hardening when it cools down.