7 Layer Bean Dip

I'll be honest I never thought I was a fan of 7 layer dips. I'm actually a very picky eater and don't like things that most people put in it. So when my husband suggested that we bring a 7 layer bean dip to a super bowl party I looked at it as a challenge. I looked up several recipes, took some recommendations from my husband, and voila this 7 layer bean dip was created. I didn't take a picture of it that day, mostly because I didn't know if I was going to like it. With my first bite I knew that it was love. I honestly don't know if anyone else at the party was able to eat it. My husband and I stayed by that dip and chowed down. I tried to eat other foods, but kept finding myself right back at the bean dip. I was kicking myself all night that I didn't take a picture of it before I started devouring it. I knew this dip was totally blog worthy.

Since that time I haven't really had a reason to make this dip. Today I decided that I was making a reason to make this dip. If you really need to know, we may or may not have just had chips and this dip for dinner. I'm not confessing anything, but I am saying its possible. Regardless of when, where, why, and how much of this dip we ate, the conclusion was that we still love it. The best part is most of the ingredients I have in my house most of the time. I hope you enjoy this dip as much as we do.

 Look at all these delicious layers!

 You better believe that we ate that bite!

7 Layer Bean Dip

1 (16 oz) can re-fried beans

1 (1 oz) package taco seasoning

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese

16 oz sour cream

16 oz salsa

1 large tomato chopped

1 avocado sliced thinly

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese

1 can sliced olives

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, blend the taco seasoning mix and refried beans. Spread the mixture onto a large serving platter.
2. Mix the sour cream and cream cheese in a medium bowl. Spread over the refried beans.
3. Top the layers with salsa. Place a layer of tomato, avocado, and top with Cheddar cheese. Garnish with black olives. 
4. Enjoy with your favorite chips (my favorite is Fritos or other corn tortilla chip but any chip will work) 

 

Recipe Source: Adapted from Allrecipes 

Naan - Indian Flatbread

I have been wanting to make this recipe for a long long time. It seems that every time I remember that I want to make it I just don't seem to have the time. The dough itself doesn't take long to make, but it does have to rise and rest for a while. Finally today I decided I just was going to do it.  I honestly didn't have any kind of Indian dish planned, but I decided that I love naan and therefore other Indian food is not required for me to make it. I am so glad that I finally made this. I may or may not have eaten just naan for dinner. Don't tell anyone!

Naan - Indian Flatbread

 *Makes about 12 pieces of naan

INGREDIENTS:
3-4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon active dry or instant yeast
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon sugar
3-4 tablespoons, melted butter

DIRECTIONS:
Pour the milk into a liquid measure and heat in the microwave until warm to the touch (about 110 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer). If using active dry yeast, mix the sugar and yeast into the milk and let it sit for 4-5 minutes until the mixture is foamy and the yeast has activated. Once the yeast/milk mixture is foamy, pour the mixture into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and add the salt and 2 1/2 cups of the flour (proceed with the second paragraph of the recipe). If using instant yeast, pour the warm milk into a large bowl or the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Add the sugar, instant yeast, salt and 2 1/2 cups of the flour. Proceed as directed below.

Mix well to combine. Continue adding flour gradually in small amounts, until a soft dough is formed that cleans the sides of the bowl. Knead the dough by mixer or hand until it is smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes in the mixer or 10 minutes by hand.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and let it rest at room temperature, covered lightly with greased plastic wrap, for about 2 hours.

After the dough has rested, turn it onto a lightly floured surface (I like to use my roul’pat for this) and divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, rounding each into a ball shape. Cover the pieces with a towel and let them rest for 30 minutes. While the dough rests, preheat your oven to 500 degrees F and place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven. (If you don’t have a pizza stone, try grilling the dough on a lightly oiled outdoor grill or use a hot griddle to bake the naan – you’ll have to experiment with cooking times but I’ve seen either of those methods used with cooking naan also.)

Once the dough has rested for 30 minutes, one by one, roll each piece into a circle about 6-8 inches wide, depending on how thin or thick you want your naan. Lay the circle of dough on the hot pizza stone and spritz lightly with water. Close the oven and bake the naan for 2-4 minutes, until it is lightly puffed (some pieces will puff more than others) and brown spots begin to appear on the top. Remove the naan from the baking stone and place on a cooling rack. Brush lightly with melted butter. I also sprinkled a tiny amount of cracked sea salt on top. If you want to make garlic naan you can use a garlic butter , and sprinkle a small amount of fresh chopped cilantro on top. Stack the hot naan on top of each other as it comes out of the oven. Cover with a towel and let the naan cool completely or serve warm.

Recipe Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Deviled Eggs

I know that this is a very basic recipe, but I'll be honest until now I never had a recipe I always used. I would go to the internet, cookbook, whatever to find a recipe. After making this recipe I no longer need to search for a recipe. This recipe is simple, basic,  and easy just how I like it! I have tried many recipes that are very salty. I don't need a ton of salt in my deviled eggs. If you are looking for a good basic deviled egg recipe this is it! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Deviled Eggs

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Servings 2-4

Ingredients
6 hard-cooked eggs
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 - 1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt (salt to taste)
Paprika


Directions
Slice eggs in half lengthwise; remove yolks and set whites aside. In a small bowl, mash yolks with a fork. Add the mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar, mustard and salt; mix well.  I recommend adding less salt at first, trying a small amount and then adding more if needed. I also recommend doing this with the vinegar until you get the right amount of tang that you like. Stuff or pipe egg yolk mixture into egg whites. Sprinkle with paprika. Refrigerate until serving.

Note: If you find your yolk mixture to be dry add some extra mayonnaise 1 tsp at a time until you get the consistency you like.

Recipe Source: Adapted from Allrecipes

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

I love easy dinner meals. I do not enjoy spending hours on a meal unless I have the time and really want to (trust me these days are very few and far between). That means most nights I am wanting to make something quick and easy. If you want to know my deep dark little secret (really its no secret to those that know me) we eat Mac and Cheese at least on a weekly basis (I have a deep love in my heart for mac and cheese). For me there are many nights each week at approximately seven o'clock where I am left asking myself what we should eat for dinner. Since I ran into this recipe it has made a few of my nights much easier. I absolutely love these tasty bite sized little dinner snacks, and they take hardly any time at all to make! I knew after the first time that I made them that the recipe was a keeper for sure. I have made them with regular pepperoni and turkey pepperoni. Both taste great, the regular pepperoni is just more greasy and leaves the puffs being a little bit more greasy as well. I don't have kids yet but I know these things would be very kid friendly.

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 cup whole milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)
4 oz turkey pepperoni, (about 1/2 cup) cut into  smaller pieces
4 oz low-fat sausage, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup pizza sauce

Pre-heat the oven to 375°. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, garlic powder and baking powder; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.

Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, microwave the pizza sauce until warmed through. Serve the puffs with the pizza sauce for dipping. My husband is all about the pizza sauce but personally I prefer to dip them in ranch.

Enjoy!

Recipe Source: Adapted slightly from: Make Ahead Meals

Chick Fil-A Sauce

I am not a huge fast food person. Even as a kid I have very few fast food places that I actually would eat at. My husband and I still rarely go out to a fast food place to eat. Chick Fil-A is one of those places that we actually go to. We always get the same thing every time we go. I always get their chicken nuggets with their Chick Fil-A sauce and he always gets their chicken sandwich on wheat (yes you can get a wheat bun) with fries and their Chick Fil-A sauce. The first time I tried the sauce I was quite skeptical. It is a mix between a barbecue sauce and a honey mustard sauce. I actually really don't like mustard, but I decided to try it anyways and boy am I glad I did. I haven't gotten another sauce from them since! Well in all my foodie ways of course I have been dying to try and figure out how to make it. Well the other night I did and I think we got pretty close!

Chick Fil-A Sauce

1/2 cup Mayo
2 tsp prepared mustard
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tbs honey
1 tbs smokey BBQ sauce

Directions
Whisk all ingredients together. Serve as a sauce for chicken nuggets, fries, chicken sandwiches, hamburgers, or anything else you might want it on. I also think it could be quite yummy as a salad dressing, but I will have to try that one out later.

Povitica

The Daring Baker’s October 2011 challenge was Povitica, hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk. Povitica is a traditional Eastern European Dessert Bread that is as lovely to look at as it is to eat! I really had never heard of a povitica. Povitica (pronounced po-va-teet-sa) is traditional Eastern European dessert bread that is traditionally served during the holiday season. It is also known as Nutroll, Potica, Kalachi, Strudia, just to name a few. Family recipes, and the secrets on how to roll the bread so thin, was passed down through generations of families. I was really excited to try this recipe. The bread looks so pretty. I also loved how she uses a sheet (or tablecloth) to roll out the dough. I have never thought of this and it worked like a charm! One of the hard things about being a food blogger is trying to restrain myself from eating all of this bread before I took a picture of it. Luckily there was more than one loaf! A traditional Povitca is made with walnuts. I unfortunately am not a fan of walnuts, so I used almonds instead. Feel free to use whatever nut you wish!

Povitca

Preparation time:
To make Dough: 40 minutes
Rising: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Rolling and Assembly: 20 minutes per loaf, a generous total of 1 hour
Baking: 1 hour
Cooling: 30 minutes
To Make the Filling: 15 minutes, including the grinding of the nuts

Dough Ingredients (Makes two loaves each 1.25 lbs/565 grams)
To activate the Yeast:
1 Teaspoon (5 ml/4 ½ gm) Sugar
½ Teaspoon (2½ ml/1½ gm) All-Purpose (Plain) Flour
¼ Cup (60 ml) Warm Water
1 Tablespoon (15 ml/7 gm/¼ oz/1 sachet) Dry Yeast

Dough:
1 Cup (240 ml) Whole Milk
6 Tablespoons (90 ml/85 gm/3 oz) Sugar
1½ Teaspoons (7½ ml/9 gm/1/3 oz) Table Salt
2 Large Eggs
¼ Cup (60 ml/60 gm/½ stick/2 oz) Unsalted Butter, melted
4 cups (960 ml/560 gm/19¾ oz/1¼ lb) All-Purpose Flour, measure first then sift, divided

Topping:
1 Tablespoon (15 ml/14 gm/½ oz) Granulated Sugar (Optional)
Melted Butter

Filling Ingredients (enough filling for the two loaves(
3½ Cups (840 ml/560 gm/1¼ lb/20 oz) Ground almonds (I just stuck my in a food processor)
½ Cup (120 ml) Whole Milk
½ Cup (120 ml/115 gm/1 stick/4 oz) Unsalted Butter
1 Whole Egg, Beaten
½ Teaspoon (2½ ml) Pure Vanilla Extract
1 Cup (240 ml/225 gm/8 oz) Sugar
1 Teaspoon (5 ml/4 gm) Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 Teaspoon (5 ml/3 gm) Cinnamon

Directions:
To Activate Yeast:
1. In a small bowl, stir 1 teaspoons sugar, 1/2 teaspoon flour, and the yeast into 1/4 cup warm water and  cover with plastic wrap.
2. Allow to stand for 5 minutes

To Make the Dough:
3. In a medium saucepan, heat the milk up to just below  boiling (about 180°F/82°C), stirring constantly so that a  film does not form on the top of the milk. You want it hot  enough to scald you, but not boiling. Allow to cool slightly, until it is about 110°F/43°C.
4. In a large bowl, mix the scalded milk, 6 tbs (90 ml/85 gm/3 oz) sugar, and the salt until combined.
5. Add the beaten eggs, yeast mixture, melted butter, and 2 cups (480 ml/280 gm/10 oz) of flour.
6. Blend thoroughly and slowly add remaining flour, mixing well until the dough starts to clean the bowl.
7. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead, gradually adding flour a little at a time, until
smooth and does not stick.
8. Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces (they will each weight about 1.25 pounds/565 grams)
9. Place dough in 2 lightly oiled bowls, cover loosely with a layer of plastic wrap and then a kitchen towel and let rise an hour and a half in a warm place, until doubled in size.


To Make the Filling
10. In a large bowl mix together the ground almonds, sugar, cinnamon and cocoa.
11. Heat the milk and butter to boiling.
12. Pour the liquid over the nut/sugar mixture.
13. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly.
14. Allow to stand at room temperature until ready to be spread on the dough.
15. If the mixture thickens, add a small amount of warm milk.

To Roll and Assemble the Dough:
16. Spread a clean sheet or cloth over your entire table so that it is covered.
17. Sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons to a handful of flour (use flour sparingly)
18. Place the dough on the sheet and roll the dough out with a rolling pin, starting in the middle and working your way out, until it measures roughly 10-12 inches (25½ cm by 30½ cm) in diameter.
19. Spoon 1 to 1.5 teaspoons (5ml to 7 ½ ml/4 gm to 7 gm) of melted butter on top.
20. Using the tops of your hands, stretch dough out from the center until the dough is thin and uniformly opaque. You can also use your rolling pin, if you prefer.
21. As you work, continually pick up the dough from the table, not only to help in stretching it
out, but also to make sure that it isn’t sticking.
22. When you think it the dough is thin enough, try to get it a little thinner. It should be so thin that you can see the color and perhaps the pattern of the sheet underneath.
23. Spoon filling (see above for recipe) evenly over dough until covered.
24. Lift the edge of the cloth and gently roll the dough like a jelly roll.
25. Once the dough is rolled up into a rope, gently lift it up and place it into a greased loaf pan in the shape of a “U”, with the ends meeting in the middle. You want to coil the dough around itself, as this will give the dough its characteristic look when sliced.
26. Repeat with remaining loaf, coiling each rope of dough in its own loaf pan.
27. Brush the top of each loaf with melted butter and 2 tablespoons (30ml/28 gm/1 oz) of sugar. If you prefer, you can also use egg whites in place of this.
28. Cover pans lightly will plastic wrap and allow to rest for approximately 15 minutes.
29. Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4.
30. Remove plastic wrap from dough and place into the preheated oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes.
31. Turn down the oven temperature to slow 300°F/150°C/gas mark 2 and bake for an additional 45 minutes, or until done.
32. Check the bread every 30 minutes to ensure that the bread is not getting too brown. You may cover the loaves with a sheet of aluminum foil if you need to.
33. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes.
34. It is recommended that the best way to cut Povitica loaves into slices is by turning the loaf upside down and slicing with a serrated knife.

Browned Butter and Sour Cream Cornbread

Those of you that know me, or who read my blog frequently might know that I have an affinity toward browned butter. I have used it in several recipes, and have always loved the results. It adds such a richness to the flavor of things. Well today when I was at work I saw this recipe and knew I had to try it! This corn bread is not too sweet. It is a perfect sweetness for spreading some honey butter or just honey on top.

Browned Butter and Sour Cream Cornbread

Ingredients

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups stone-ground cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream

Instructions

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling often until lightly browned and nutty, about 4 minutes. Pour into a medium bowl, and set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rub an 8-inch cast-iron skillet with the oil; place in oven to heat.

In a large bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Add eggs and sour cream to cooled butter, whisking well. Pour into dry ingredients, and stir just to combine, taking care not to overmix. Pour batter into skillet. Bake until golden and a toothpickinserted in the center comes out almost clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in skillet 5 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack.

Recipe Source: Relish

Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce

Oh how I love food! There are a few restaurants at which I always seem to get the same thing over and over again. Olive Garden is one of those places for me. I have tried to figure out how they make such good Alfredo sauce. I have tried several different recipes, all of which have turned out good, but not quite the same. The other day I was talking with some of my wonderful co-workers discussing food (of course). Olive Garden, their bread sticks, and their Alfredo sauce came up. We were all stuck on the idea and practically salivating just thinking of it. I called my sweet husband and had him go pick us some up. It was wonderful! While we were on their website we realized that they had recipes. They actually have their Alfredo sauce recipe on their site. I of course had to try it just so I could share with all of you my results. I'm not really sure that it is 100% the same, but the taste is pretty much amazing. This is the best Alfredo sauce I have ever made. I will continue to try and tweak it to see if I can't get it to taste just like the real stuff.

Alfredo Sauce

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time:10 minutes
Serving Size:4
Ingredients

1 1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup imported Parmesan cheese, grated

1/2 cup imported Romano cheese, grated

6 egg yolks from fresh jumbo eggs

Salt and black pepper to taste


Procedures

HEAT milk and cream in a heavy bottom saucepan until it begins to simmer. Turn off heat. Slowly whip in cheese, then remove from heat.

PLACE egg yolks in a separate bowl and slowly whip in a portion of the hot milk and cream mixture. Slowly add egg yolk mixture back into remaining cream mixture. Place back on very low heat and continually stir until simmering. Take sauce off heat so it thickens. (This will increase temperature of egg yolks, known as tempering).

SEASON to taste with salt and black pepper. Serve over your favorite pasta.

Recipe Source: Olive Garden

Quinoa and Black Bean Salad

I want you all to know that I don't eat horribly all the time (unless I'm on a cruise). I actually really enjoy eating healthy. My one requirement for eating healthy is that it still has to taste good. I love adding whole grains to things to make them healthier. The greatest thing about this salad that it's not only healthy but it tastes great too! Even if you have never had quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah in case you were wondering) this recipe is quick, easy, and bound to be a crowd pleaser.

Quinoa and Black Been Salad

Ingredients
2 tsp onion powder
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 can corn kernels
1 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional - I personally hate cilantro so I left it out)

Directions
Place quinoa in a bowl of water and let soak for about 10 minutes. In a rice cooker combine the rest of the ingredients add in the quinoa and let cook in rice cooker until done (approx 20-30 minutes). Serve warm or cold. Serve as a side dish or a main course.

Recipe Source: Adapted from Allrecipes

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

I must first start off by telling you all that I just got home from a fabulous Alaskan cruise! In case you didn't know the average cruiser gains 1-2 lbs per day per cruise. That is horrible! That means on my 7 day cruise I could have gained 7-14 lbs. Wow! Luckily I didn't gain that much (it is hard not to gain a few). The reason everyone gains so much is because there is so much food available at all times. Not only is there a lot of food, but it is good food. The only thing I was disappointing by was their Alfredo sauce. Sadly that didn't live up to my likings, but everything else was fantastic. I had some of the best soups I have ever eaten, and their french toast was amazing! I will say that the most amazing part of an Alaskan cruise isn't the food. Alaska truly is beautiful! It might have rained almost every day, we had to avoid the open seas because there were 60 foot swells, and we had to make some changes to our itinerary due to the bad weather, but it was still incredible! I think my favorite place was a fjord named Tracey's Arm. This was our detour since we weren't able to make it to Hubbard glacier but it was stunning. I have never seen so many waterfalls in my life. Did you know that there really is blue ice? I always though it looked blue because of the ocean or sky, no it is actually blue. It is breathtaking.  Just imagine being surrounded by green mountains, waterfalls, and blue ice floating in the ocean! If you haven't been to Alaska and have an opportunity to go, take it!

Well the reason that I bring up our cruise (beside the fact that I am still in awe by it) is that after eating your weight in amazing food it is nice to get back and eat some simple home cooked food. The reason their food tastes so good is because it is not lacking in grease of fat. I am pretty sure 99% of the food we ate wasn't very good for us. This is fine for a week but we were really excited to eat our oatmeal for breakfast when we got home. Next I had to use the bananas that had gone very brown while sitting in my fruit bowl while we were gone. What is the best thing to do with old bananas? Of course I had to make this banana bread. This recipe is a healthified version of my mom's banana bread. Yes I do like to make up my own words on occasion.  Eating foods like this is such an easy way to get in your whole grains and fruits! Yes I also like to justify my eating of anything sweet. Enjoy.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
5 ripe bananas mashed
2 tbs chia seed (optional)
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp soda

Prepare 2 bread pans by lining them with tin foil. Spray the tin foil with cooking spray. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs. Add bananas and chia seed. Add flour and soda. Pour into prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Cool before serving.

Zucchini Bread

Just when I think our zucchini plant is slowing down it goes and produces a million more zucchini! Luckily I have a few zucchini recipes up my sleeve that I haven't shared with all of you yet!

First I must tell you that my husband and I are currently on a chia seed kick! I blame my mom for this! I had never even heard of the stuff until we were over at their house. They eat it in their oatmeal almost every morning. My husband has since spent the last few weeks reading about chia seed and all its wonderful properties. Come to find out chia is quite good for you and keeps you full longer. You might have noticed that I added chia to these waffles. I also added it to this bread. Please note that the chia seed is completely optional, but it does add a little extra nutrients if you happen to have it on hand.

Zucchini Bread

3 eggs, beaten                                                                                               
1 cup oil
2 cups brown sugar
3 tsp. vanilla
2 cups zucchini, grated fine or pureed 
1/4 cup chia seed
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp soda
1/2 cup turbinado or raw sugar
 
Grease 2 loaf pans with either butter, shortening, or coconut oil. Sprinkle 1/4 cup turbinado or raw sugar in each pan. Shake sugar around the bottom and sides of pan to coat all sides (as if you were flouring the pan but with sugar).  Sprinkle chia seed in the bottom of a medium size bowl. Place a fine mesh strainer over bowl. Pour grated or pureed zucchini with all its juice in strainer and allow to drain into the chia seed. This will soften up the chia seed. Set aside and allow chia to soak up zucchini juices for at least 10 minutes. In a stand mixer beat eggs. Add oil brown sugar and vanilla. Add 2 cups drained zucchini. Using a fine mesh strainer pour soaked chia seed into strainer to drain any excess liquid. Add chia seed to mixture. Next add whole wheat flour, white flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder and soda. Mix until well combined.  Place batter in 2 loaf pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. (I doubled the batch and made 3 loaf pans and 1 bunt pan).

Zucchini Fries

What do you do when you have millions of zucchinis (or so it seems)? The best thing you can do is try millions of different zucchini recipes!

We had some friends over for dinner the other night. We knew we were having steaks, but that was it. I was trying to figure out what we could eat as a side dish and I remembered that we had about 6 zucchini sitting in a bowl just waiting to be used. I remembered seeing a recipe somewhere for zucchini fries. I thought this would be a perfect side dish for steaks because it combine your vegetable and your starch into one delicious side dish. The first zucchini fries I made were good, really good, but all the recipes seem to be pretty much the same. I decided to try and come up with my own. This recipe would be great for deep frying the zucchini fries, but since I try (sometimes) to be more healthy I decided to bake them in the oven. Frying would make them look a little more like a french fry, but they tasted great oven baked. You are welcome to cook them however you would prefer.

Zucchini Fries

1 medium zucchinis
1/4 cup flour
2 Tbs water
2 Tbs oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 egg
1/4 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp adobo seasoning (optional)
Olive oil or cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with tin foil, parchment paper or silpat. Drizzle some olive oil on baking sheet or spray with cooking spray. Set aside. Wash and dry zucchini. Cut off both ends off zucchini. Cut in half and cut into french fry sized slices.  Combine egg, oil and water. Whisk to combine. Add in salt, pepper, parsley, garlic, and flour. Mix until combined. Batter should be the consistency of pancake mix. Dip each slice of zucchini into batter coating evenly. You do not need a lot of batter, just enough to lightly coat zucchini. If you get too much it will all just drip off once you put it on the pan, but it won't ruin anything. Place the coated zucchini fries on the pan leaving space in between each one. Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. I personally enjoyed mine dipped in ranch.

Bread Dipping Spice

I think my meals are confused this week. I had Dutch Babies for dinner last night, and this bread with dipping spice for breakfast this morning. Oh well, they both tasted really good. This dipping spice is very similar the the bread dipping spice they have at Carrabbas. Carrabbas is one of our favorite restaurants to eat at. I am always a sucker for some good Italian food and theirs is exceptional. If you have one in your area I highly recommend going there. About a year ago my husband and I had just gotten home from yet another visit to that restaurant and we were discussing the dipping spice that they give you with their bread. It is soooo yummy. I decided that it couldn't be that hard to make. I of course went straight to the internet and started searching for recipes. I found that lots of people had this same idea. There were tons of recipes out there. This recipe is what I have come up with and what suits my tastes. I know there are lots of recipes out there that call for fresh herbs and I'm sure they are amazing, but I rarely (if ever) have all of those fresh herbs in my house at one time. So here is my version of Carrabbas dipping spice. Enjoy!

Carrabbas Dipping Spice

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tbs crushed black pepper
1 tbs dried oregano
1 tbs dried rosemary
1 tbs dried basil
1 tbs dried parsley
1 tbs minced garlic
2 tsp garlic salt

Place all ingredients in a food processor. Process for a few seconds. Place in an airtight container. Store mixture in the refrigerator until needed.

Put 1 Tbsp of mixture in a small saucer with raised edges. Pour extra-virgin olive oil over the mixture, and dip warm sourdough or French bread into the mixture. I think it fantastic with this bread.

Apple Dip

I don't know about you but I seem prefer my fruits and veggies with some sort of yummy dip or sauce all over them. Really anything that gets you to eat your fruits and veggies should be completely acceptable on all diets and be counted as 0 points or 0 calories however you want to count it. The only problem with this dip is I can eat it with or without apples. Secret confession - when I eat this dip with my apples I usually have more dip than apples but who's keeping track right? I have loved this recipe since I was a little girl. If I ever need a little extra encouragement to eat more apples this always does the trick!

Ok I know there are some of you that don't like butterscotch chips. I am actually one of those people. You are just going to have to take my word for it until you make this dip that it doesn't taste like butterscotch. Just try it, you will be glad you did.

Apple Dip

1 cup butterscotch chips
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp white vinegar
2 tsp cinnamon

In a saucepan over low heat melt the butterscotch chips and sweetened condensed milk stirring frequently to prevent burning. When all the chips are completely melted remove from heat and add the salt, vinegar, and cinnamon. Serve warm with sliced apples. Stores well in the fridge, just rewarm dip in the microwave or sauce pan prior to serving.

This recipe is courtesy of my wonderful mother.