Chocolate Mint Zucchini Brownies

Ingredients:
Ingredients
1/2 cup applesauce
2 small or medium bananas mashed
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 to 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
1/2 cup cocoa powder (I prefer to use Hershey's Special Dark)
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups finely shredded zucchini (you'll need 2 zucchini, about 8" length)
2 cups all purpose flour1/2 cup walnut pieces

 Cooking Info:
These brownies originally did not have peppermint extract.  The second time I made them, I grabbed the wrong bottle and poured out a tsp of peppermint extract.  I spilled a little of it, into the batter, and realized my mistake.  I estimate about 1/4 of a tsp. got into the batter.  Well, after making them, this is the way I will be making them from now on!  Holy cow.  They were good before, but they were phenomenal after the peppermint extract was added.  YUM!  This will be a regular at our house.  And you can eat two without feeling guilty LOL.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour an 9x13 inch baking pan. 
In a large bowl, mix together the applesauce, mashed bananas and sugar. 

Add vanilla, peppermint, and cocoa and mix together.

Then add baking soda, salt, and zucchini and mix together. 

Add flour and walnuts and mix together. 

Spread evenly into a prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes until brownies spring back when gently touched.

Calorie Info:  Based on 20 servings
Calories:  136
Total Carbs:  21 g
Sugar:  17 g
Fat:  2 g
Protein:  1 g
Sodium:  154 mg

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground beef or ground turkey
1 pkg. low sodium taco seasoning
4 oz. cream cheese (I use the low fat)
16 jumbo pasta shells (you could use up to 18 or 20 depending on how full you fill them)
1.5 cups salsa (I didn't have any so used additional taco sauce)
1.5 cups taco sauce
1 cup shredded cheddar
1 cup shredded monterrey jack (or other cheese you may like)

Optional Toppings:
black olives, sour cream, green onions

 Cooking Info:
Brown ground beef, drain fat, and add taco seasoning per instructions on packet

While ground beef is browning, spread salsa (or in my case taco sauce) on the bottom of a 9X13 pan.  Also, start cooking the shells according to package directions:

Once ground beef has been cooked with the taco seasoning, add the cream cheese, cover, and simmer until melted.  Mix well.  Set the mixture aside to cool.

Once the shells are cooked and drained, set them out, in a single level to cool so you can handle them more easily.

Take a cooled shell, and add about 1 to 2 Tbl of the ground beef mixture to it.  Place in the prepared 9X13 pan, open side up.  Once all are filled, top with the taco sauce.

Cover the dish with foil, and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, remove the foil, cover with the cheeses, and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted.

Top with desired toppings, and enjoy!

Pesto Chicken

It seems funny to admit this, but I received this recipe from my niece who made it in college all the time.  Its so easy I can't believe I am posting it, but I wanted to share:)

Ingredients:

Chicken Breast or Tenders - as many as you want
Pesto - I use Kroger brand Basil Pesto in a jar
Italian Blend Shredded Cheese

Cooking Info:
Cut breasts into tenders size (or just use chicken tenders) and place in sprayed baking dish:

Spread the pesto over the chicken:

Top with shredded cheese:
















Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.  Remove the foil and continue to cook for 5-10 minutes more or until chicken is cooked through:

Serve With:
I love this with Near East brand Roasted Garlic & Olive Oil Couscous, but it would be good with almost any type of rice and of course vegetables.

Baked Meatballs

As frozen meatballs become more and more made with fillers, I find I just don't like them anymore.  So, I created my own recipe for frozen meatballs.  This is not a fast recipe (it takes about 2 hours from start to freezer), but I make several batches at once and then have frozen meatballs ready for use during the week.

Ingredients:
4 lbs. lean ground beef
3 eggs
1 cup grated parmesan cheese (real shredded cheese, not the stuff in the green can)
1 cup panko bread crumbs (could substitute other bread crumbs)
3 Tbl Worcestershire Sauce
7 to 10 minced garlic cloves (I use more - about 4 Tbl minced garlic)
2 Tbl Cream Style Horseradish
Salt & pepper to taste

 Cooking Info:
Mix ground beef, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, horseradish, and salt and pepper by hand.

Add grated parmesan and panko bread crumbs and mix by hand until well mixed.

Form meatballs by hand.  It's messy and takes a while, but you must really squish the meat.  So much so that it squeezes out of your hands.  Do this a couple of times and then form the meatballs.  If you don't do this, the meatball will fall apart during baking.  I form fairly small meatballs (similar to most frozen meatballs) but you can make them whatever size you'd like.  Once formed, place them in multiple 9X13 pans.  The pans must have sides on them.  I learned that less on the hard way - do NOT use baking sheets or you'll have a huge mess on your hands.

Bake meatballs at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Remove meatballs from the oven.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper and place meatballs on the parchment.  Then place the baking sheets in a freezer until the meatballs are individually frozen.  In our deep freeze, this takes at most 2 hours.

Once the meatballs are frozen, remove from the freezer, place in bags, and vacuum seal.  This recipe makes 3 batches of meatballs for my family (and we'll have leftovers for the kids for lunch the next day).  This makes approximately 108 to 110 meatballs.

We usually make these in the crock pot with either BBQ sauce and grape jelly, or cream of mushroom soup.  We server over rice.

Chicken Parmesan Casserole

Ingredients:
2T olive oil
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
red pepper flakes
Chicken breasts - as many as you need
1 jar pasta sauce of your choice
Italian seasoning
Parmesan cheese
Shredded mozzarella cheese
1 package of croutons

Cooking Info:
No exact measurements required for this recipe!

In a casserole dish, drizzle some olive oil in the bottom. Spread the minced garlic & red pepper flakes over oil.

Layer chicken breasts over oil.

Top with the jar of pasta sauce.

Sprinkle Italian seasoning on top of sauce.

Sprinkle half of your parmesan over the sauce and top with half of your shredded mozzarella.

Cover with croutons. Make sure all croutons are laying in some sauce. (Sorry, forgot to get any more pics.)

Bake 350 for 30 minutes or so, depending on the thickness of your chicken breasts. In the last 5-10 minutes, sprinkle remaining cheese on top of croutons and allow to melt.

 Serve With: Spaghetti and a green salad

Cream Cheese Chicken

Ingredients: 

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used about 1 lb of thin cutlets)
4 ounces softened cream cheese (I had extra left over)

1 tablespoon of chopped parsley

1 tablespoon of onion, minced

2 teaspoons of lemon juice
1/4 cup flour

1/2 teapoon garlic salt (I used 1/2 tsp of minced garlic)

1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup corn flake crumbs (I used just under 1 cup before crushing)

Pre-heat oven to 350. Place chicken breasts between sheets of wax paper. Use a rolling pin, flatten to around 1/4 inch thick (or just be lazy and buy thin cutlets like I did.  Worked great)

In a bowl, beat cream cheese, parsley, onion, garlic salt and pepper and lemon juice until blended. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture on each piece of chicken (You would have enough for probably 5 to 6 rolls - I only had 4 and had leftover). Roll chicken. 

Coat rolls with flour, dip in egg mixture, then roll in corn flakes. Drizzle some olive oil in a large skillet. Cook over medium heat. Make sure to brown on all sides. I did this, but questioned if it was necessary.  I think it probably gives the final result a better crunch than if you skipped it.

After browning:

Place chicken rolls in a baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes or until chicken is fork tender and juices run clear.  I baked for 30 minutes, but think I'll cut that back by 5 minutes next time.  I think you would only need 30 minutes if you didn't pre-brown it.

Final result...delicious!  Calorie count with the 1/3 fat cream cheese (taking into account leftovers) was 210 calories for each roll (I had 4 rolls).  Kids loved it.  I served it with cheese tortellini, but I would probably make with sweet potato fries next time.