Yummy Zucchini Cake Recipes from Readers

I shared a link on the Coupon Geek Facebook Page about freezing zucchini and a few of my sweet readers offered some recipes that they use for zucchini. I thought I’d share them with all of you in case you have an over-abundance of zucchini or wanted to try something new.

This one comes from Reader Lisa R.:

BLUEBERRY WALNUT ZUCCHINI CAKE

3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 cup softened unsalted butter
2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup blueberries
3/4 cup roughly chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350
Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan

In medium bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside

In large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Add in eggs one at a time. Add in vanilla and make sure mixture is smooth and creamy. (Next, Gradually stir in dry ingredients mixture.) Fold in zucchini. Fold in blueberries.
Pour into greased baking pan. Top with chopped walnuts

Bake for 55-60 minutes until top is golden brown and toothpick in middle comes out clean.

Let cool. Dust with powdered sugar if desired. Cut serve and ENJOY!

This next one is from Reader Nikki L.:

ZUCCHINI CAKE

3 cups sugar
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 cup chopped pecans
3 cups grated Zucchini

Sift dry ingredients into LARGE bowl. Add eggs, oil, zucchini and nuts. Stir until no dry pockets remain. Pour into greased 9X13 pan. Cook @ 300 degrees for 1 1/2 hours or until toothpick (or knife) poked in center comes out clean.

Nikki shares that they eat theirs without frosting but that a cream cheese frosting might be a nice addition to it.

A very big thanks to both Lisa and Nikki for taking the time to share these with my other readers. I greatly appreciate it!

I actually made Lisa’s Zucchini Blueberry Walnut Cake tonight, since I had all the ingredients here. I took a picture of a slice. It smelt so good that I couldn’t wait for it to cool completely before I stole a slice. I meant to add the walnuts to half before I baked it and the kids distracted me and I forgot. I gave my son a slice and he said, “Yum, yum, yum!”

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Freezer Cooking: Seasoned Hamburger

Since I posted my last Freezer Cooking Session, I’ve had a quite a few people wanting to know about Freezing Seasoned Hamburger. To tell you the truth, up until then, I had no idea myself that cooked hamburger froze so well. I had made up the recipe for Mini Beef and Bean Burritos from the book Fix, Freeze, Feast: Prepare in Bulk and Enjoy by the Serving. Well, I had run out of shells and decided just to test out freezing the leftover seasoned meat and it worked like a charm!

What’s great is, the original recipe of the mixture calls for 6lbs of meat. You’ll often find that stores will discount hamburger in bulk “family packs” of 3lbs or more. So you’d just pick up two of those at a great price. But you can alter the recipe for any size – just re-figure it accordingly.

What You’ll Need
6lbs of Hamburger
1 cup of Taco Seasoning (around four packets, but measure to be sure, as packet size varies)
3 cups of water

How to Make It

1) Brown the hamburger over medium heat and cook thoroughly until there is no longer any pink–about 20 minutes.

2) Drain and discard properly, any fat. (I even rinse mine to get more fat off.)

3) Add the Taco Seasoning and then stir in the water.

4) Simmer over a medium heat, for about twenty minutes. You’ll want to check it and stir it, if needed. Cook until the liquid is almost evaporated.

5)  At this point, I drained off any extra liquid that didn’t evaporate. Cool the mixture completely. This is important or you’ll have more of a chance of freezer burned food if you add the mixture while it’s still a little warm.

6) Label and date a Ziploc Bag, add the mixture and freeze. I lay my Ziploc bags flat to save room in my freezer. (Just make sure they are sealed really good if you do that!)

If don’t want to freeze all of the hamburger mixture but want to make some burritos to freeze, try this:

Spread a 1/3 cup of refried beans and 1/4 cup ground beef onto a tortilla. Wrap the tortilla burrito style and then wrap in tin foil, place them in a labeled Ziploc Bag and freeze. To cook, take them out of the Ziploc bag and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes if frozen or at only 300 degrees for 30 minutes if thawed, prior. These can make for a simple lunch.

It’s really quite simple to make this hamburger mixture. I love doing these big batches and freezing them so I can quickly pull out a bag of it and make some quick tacos or nachos, etc. You just take it out of the Ziploc bag and defrost in the microwave. Or you can defrost it in the fridge the night before and then warm it in the microwave the next day (after you take it out of the Ziploc bag!)

Freezer cooking is a great way to cut down on your time in the kitchen on busy days. I find that making meals ahead and freezing them often helps me avoid carry-out food or the quick processed foods.

If you make this recipe, please use all proper food safety guidelines. I hope that you find this little make-ahead recipe will help you save some time in the future!

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Pizza On a Stick Recipe

My son and I have been watching a lot of Emeril together on the Food Network lately. He’s always saying, “He’s silly, Mommy!” It’s a way for us to spend time together and I’m hoping it’s increasing his love for cooking and baking.

The other day, we saw an episode where they made “Pizza On A Stick.” I was intrigued and Nathan thought it looked like fun. So last night, we all have a blast creating our own Pizzas on a stick. This recipe comes from the Emeril show but I’ll post it in case they ever take it off their site:

What You’ll Need:

* 1 cup sliced pepperoni
* 1 cup sliced Italian sausage
* 1/2 French bread loaf, toasted and cubed
* 1/2 green pepper, cut into bite-sized pieces (but large enough to not fall off skewers)
* 1/2 cup halved fresh mushrooms
* 1/2 cup zucchini slices (or any other veggie of your choice)
* 1/4 cup Italian dressing
* 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
* 1 cup spaghetti sauce, warmed
* You’ll also need a baking/cookie sheet, cooking brush and skewers.

Here’s how you make them:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2) The first step is to cut your French Bread Loaf into pieces and toast them. (Just warm them in the oven until they are nice and toasted. Mine took about 5 minutes but our oven heats fast.)

3) Next chop up all your ingredients. I put all of mine in separate bowls so everyone could access them easier. I also microwaved my Italian Sausage so it would cook faster in the oven.

4) Take all of your ingredients and thread them on the skewers, rotating the ingredients. You can do this however you want. We’d pile on meats and veggies and then put a bread layer in between the next layer.

5) As each skewer is finished, lay them on a baking/cookie sheet in a single layer. After all of them are completed, brush each skewer of ingredients with Italian Dressing.

6) Next  sprinkle cheese on each skewer of ingredients.

7) Then they go into the oven and bake for about 20 minutes. You’ll want to watch them, though. Our oven cooks very fast and they were done a lot sooner. You’ll want your meats cooked thoroughly, your veggies heated throughout and your cheese melted but not burnt. I recommend watching them close, at least the first time you make them to judge how long is needed.

Allow them to cool for a bit afterwards and then serve. What I did was grabbed a new (cooled) cookie sheet and served them right on that. You’ll use your warmed sauce to dip them in if you want.

While these can be a fun activity with the kids, please make sure you use your best judgment and always be extra safe when making them. The ends of the skewers tend to be very pointy. My hubby helped my son make his but I didn’t allow my daughter to use them. She had fun just stealing ingredients from the bowls, though. I also took hers off the skewers when I served them to her and she didn’t mind one bit. She was too busy dipping everything.

What I loved about this recipe is that I kind of just used whatever ingredients we had on hand. Though, I’ll think twice before using cherry tomatoes with the kids next time as they get pretty hot and squirty when bitten into.

I found our skewers at Jewel in their kitchen area. But I’ve also seen them sold at CVS in the summer in their summer section for around $1.99. (Possibly a good “filler item” for your next trip!)

I hope that you have as much fun making these as we did if you try to make them!

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Christmas In The Kitchen Series: Annual Baking Fest & Recipes

This is a series my fellow blogger friends and I were doing for two weeks. (This is the second and final week.) We are sharing recipes and also doing giveaways. Here are their blogs–I’ll update with their giveaway links and their recipes/traditions when they are posted today:

(Please note: You must put the giveaway entries for these on their blogs to be counted.)

Moms By Heart- Cookie Cutters Giveaway HERE
Coupon Gal – A Christmas Story DVD Giveaway HERE (I love that movie!)
A Thrifty Mom – 20 Coupon Inserts Giveaway to Help w/ Baking Costs HERE
Give Me Neither -Matching Set of Aprons Giveaway HERE
Couponing For 4 – Non-stick Cake-scicle Pan Giveaway HERE (looks so cool!)

A couple of years ago, my sister, BIL and I were supposed to go downtown Chicago to the Christkindlmarket. They had already scheduled the day off but as it got closer, they were predicting cold and rainy weather. We decided that instead, we’d bake cookies. Lots of them! My kitchen was filled with ingredients and plans of so many different recipes. About halfway through I realized…I had been way too ambition!

We were all exhausted and there was so much left to do. Each year, I learn a little bit more about how much is too much! Unfortunately this year, I had to do most of the baking myself. But, partway through, my almost 3 year old son decided to join me. We had so much fun together, despite how much work was involved. Here he is after enjoying the spoon from the brownie batter: (and being a goof when I said, “Smile Big!”)

What do I do with everything when I’m done? My hubby works for a smaller company so I make each of his co-workers their own little “goodie bag” of treats. They are all so sweet in that they’ll take it home to share with their spouses and family. I also try to reserve a plate to take over to our librarians. But they are projecting very cold temperatures today so I’m thinking it might not happen.

Every year I look forward to the annual baking fest. I’ll have to plan better next year so I can make sure my family can join me again. But it was fun having one-on-one time with my son. Here’s what we ended up with:

Brownies, Rice Krispies Treats, Sugar Cookies, Oatmeal/Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Covered Pretzels, “People Puppy Chow” and Cupcakes. I had planned on making Peanut Butter Blossoms but ran out of energy. So those will go in tomorrow or Friday. Here’s the recipe for those:

Peanut Butter Blossoms

1/2 Cup of Shortening
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
1/2 cup firmly packed Brown Sugar
1/2 cup granulated Sugar
1 large egg
2 Tbsp. Milk
1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
Sugar (to roll them in)
48 Hershey’s Kisses, unwrapped

Cream together shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar and 1/2 cup of sugar. Add egg milk and vanilla. Beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Beat on low speed until stiff dough forms. Shape into 1-inch balls. Roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bakes 10-12 minutes (or until brown) in an oven at 375 degrees. Top each cookie immediately with an unwrapped chocolate piece, pressing down firmly so that cookie cracks around the edge. Remove cookies from cookie sheets to cool.

This recipe came from an insert in the December 2009 Food TV Magazine. But it’s been around for years.

People Puppy Chow

Melt together 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 stick of butter in a medium saucepan. You’ll have to stir frequently or it will burn on you quick. I’d recommend keeping it on a low to medium heat. Once melted, pour over Crispix cereal. (1-12oz. box) Stir the cereal mixture (gently or you’ll break them) until all the cereal is covered. Immediately put it into a brown paper bag that’s been filled with 1/2 bag (1lb.) of powdered sugar. Close up the bag and shake it until the sugar covers the cereal.

This recipe was given to me years ago by a co-worker but it’s been around for years.

White Chocolate Covered Pretzels

I usually use the Baker’s white chocolate squares. Follow melting directions on bag. You simply just add the pretzels to the chocolate and cover them. But I wanted to share a tip my BIL taught me. Use two forks to hold onto the ends of them after the pretzels are covered. This allows the chocolate to drain from the holes in the pretzels.

I have to add that the Rice Krispies Treats that I made—I used the caramel & vanilla marshmallows that just came out. They gave them just a touch of caramel flavor and were actually pretty good. There should be instructions for how to make these on most marshmallow bags or on the back of cereal box.

Everything else, I took the shortcut route this year and used pre-made mixes. It’s the only way I could get everything done by myself. But next year, I might see if my friends want to do a cookie exchange and each make a few dozen cookies to swap. I’ve always wanted to do that.

Here’s hoping you are able to get in some baking time this year, too!

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Frugal Birthday Cakes

I happened to see an ad when I was on Tablespoon.com and I’m glad that I clicked through. It brought me to the Betty Crocker Cake Pages. And they are sooo cute! The first one that caught my eye was the Fire Engine Cake, as my son is big into trucks right now. There’s a how-to video on how to make it HERE.

I’m not that great with the hands-on stuff but this one looked like one that I might be able to handle! And the reviews for it were 5 stars.

There’s also one for a Panda Bear Cake that got good reviews. I did watch that one and it looked fairly simple, too. (You can always make it into a Teddy Bear Cake w/ Brown & Tan frosting colors.)

I’m always astounded by how expensive these “cutesy” type of cakes are in the stores. These two recipes that I watched looked like some basic ingredients that if you watch for sales ahead of time, you could probably make these fairly cheap. (Such as cake mix, frosting, candy items and using a Ziploc bag for “piping” the frosting.)

There were more cakes HERE.

These aren’t affiliate/sponsor links but just something I ran across and thought I’d share. I’m really debating making the Fire Truck one now!!

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Simple Recipe: Doritos Taco Salad

Is your Doritos bag down to the broken crumbled chips? Don’t throw them out! They’ll be perfect for this recipe!

You’ll need:
Doritos, broken up in pieces
Chopped Lettuce
Chopped Tomatoes (Cut grape tomatoes work great!)
Sliced Olives
Ranch Salad Dressing

Now this recipe really doesn’t have “set amounts.” You just basically add equal parts of everything. For the Ranch Salad Dressing, gradually add it little by little until everything is nicely covered. It’s mostly a personal preference recipe. You can always add hamburger or onions or whatever you like to it.

I prefer this dish after it’s set/chilled just for a little bit, so everything is blended and settled. I whipped up a batch this weekend, as I had just a little bit of all the ingredients left. It was a perfect combo to our pasta! It’s a great dish to make if you’ve had Tacos and have just a little bit of everything left. Also, I used Bacon Ranch Dressing and it tasted just as good!

Enjoy!

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Simple Recipe: Betty Crocker Piggy Pancakes

I found this through a Betty Crocker e-newsletter and thought they were too cute to not share! Here is the direct link to the site and here’s their recipe:

2 cups Original Bisquick® mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs
Fresh blueberries, chocolate chips or raisins

1. Heat griddle or skillet over medium-high heat or to 375°F. In medium bowl, stir Bisquick mix, milk and eggs until blended.
2. Lightly oil griddle. For each pig face, pour slightly less than 1/4 cup batter onto hot oiled griddle. Pour scant tablespoonful batter onto griddle for snout and another scant tablespoonful for ears.
3. Cook pancakes until edges are dry. Turn; cook until golden.
4. To serve, place large pancakes on individual serving plates. Place 1 small pancake in center of each face for snout; poke 2 holes for nostrils with end of handle of wooden spoon. Cut second small pancake in half for ears; place at top of face. Use blueberries for eyes.

I can see these being especially popular with the toddler-aged kids. Nathan is getting to that picky-eater phase and I bet these would make him love pancakes all the more!

Enjoy!

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Family Fun: Blackboard Cupcakes

I was emailed this recipe from Family Fun magazine and thought it was too cute not to share. I also thought it might be useful for those of you with school kids who wanted to bring in treats to share.

The recipe is quite simple, including these ingredients:
Yellow, green, and white frosting
Cupcakes
Red Skittles or M&M’s
Small plastic bag
Rubber band or twist tie
Chocolate-covered graham crackers
White Good & Plenty candies

For the recipe, click here. If you want to get their newsletter in your email inbox, click here to register. It’s FREE and they have such great kid ideas/craft/recipes. (They also send discounts/coupons from time-to-time.)

Happy Crafting!

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Simple Recipe: Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

This recipe is as easy as ordering take-out. You only have to do it 5 hours sooner!

4 boneless-skinless chicken breasts
1 16oz. jar of your favorite salsa
2 cups shredded cheese (optional)
rice (optional)

Add chicken breasts to the slowcooker. Pour salsa over the top. Cook on low for 5-8hrs, until tender, but not dry. Top with shredded cheese, upon serving. Serve on a bed of rice. (I say these are optional because I didn’t use either and it still tasted great!)

When I made this, I served it with a side of Fiesta Sides:Mexican Rice. It was a REALLY good combo. The nice thing about this recipe is if you haven’t thought about supper until lunchtime, you can still make it. I only had to cook mine for the 5hr timeframe.

I found this recipe in the book: Fix it And Forget it: 5 Ingredient Favorites. I’ve only got as far as making about 5 recipes from it but so far, I like it! The great thing is, with only 5 ingredients or less, each recipe is usually grocery-budget-friendly! But like with all recipe books, I recommend that you browse through them at the library or bookstore before buying to make sure it’s your style.

Happy Cooking!

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Dash & Dine: Pizza Pockets

Since there are only the three of us (Nathan eating as much as 1/2 a person), we always seem to have spaghetti sauce left over. Sure, we try to have pasta a few times for each jar but you get to the point where you can only eat so much of it! We also seem to have black olives and cheese left over from tacos. If I am not paying attention to what’s in the fridge, I’ll sadly have to throw these out!

Since I’ve become a big fan of my sandwich maker machine, I thought I’d try to make some pizza pockets for Nathan and I with these leftovers. (We would usually try to make “mini-pizzas” on English Muffins but we don’t seem to eat enough of them to make it worth the extra cost.) I wasn’t sure if the spaghetti sauce would make the bread too soggy but it worked, and tasted great!

Bread
Shredded Cheese
Spaghetti Sauce
Black Olives
Pepperoni Slices (if you have them-they keep in the fridge for quite awhile!)

Simply stack the ingredients on your bread and top with an extra layer of cheese. The sandwiches are great, as the sides seal and the toppings don’t fall out as much.

So if you have some leftovers, try to think of a creative way to make a new sandwich pocket! If you come up with a good one, make sure to leave it in the comments for us!

Enjoy!

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Dash and Dine: Chicken Bacon Ranch Sandwiches

Dash and Dine are quick little recipes. I make these with my little sandwich maker machine. I bought mine on clearance at JCPenney but Amazon has a similar one here I also have the three plates but have never tried the griddle pieces.

Here’s the recipe:
Bread
Shredded Cheese
Chicken Chunks
Bacon Ranch Salad Dressing

I add a little butter to my sandwich plates and place the bread on. I toss on some shredded cheese, the chicken chunks, salad dressing and more shredded cheese and top with the second piece of bread. Great sandwiches in minutes. The best part is, toddlers can pick them up so easy! (after cooling!)

For a healthier version, be sure to use Whole Wheat bread and low/no fat cheese and salad dressing.

For the chicken chunks: Whenever I buy boneless/skinless chicken breasts, I cook some up right away. I spray a cookie sheet, set the oven to 350 and cook the chicken for 1 hour, flipping halfway through. I allow them to cool and then cut them up in either chunks or strips and store them in Ziploc freezer bags. They are great to quickly add to pastas, salads and sandwiches. Either defrost in the fridge in the morning or use your microwave to defrost.

Enjoy!

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Cutting Costs: Freezing Corn

One thing we look forward to each summer is corn-on-the-cob from our local farmer’s market. I always wished I could have this flavor of corn all year round. While searching for farmer’s markets in our area, I found this fabulous article on how to freeze corn. I thought to myself, why not?

I picked up 4 dozen ears of corn and started off on the adventure. Nathan had a good time “helping” me husk some of the ears. (I turned my back for a second and he had started munching on some, though!) All in all, the process wasn’t too bad. I wasn’t able to get a FoodSaver machine (We’re on a budget!) so I invested in a Handi-Vac by Reynolds. They run about $9 or less and the bags are around $2 each. How simple are they to use? I let Nathan use it to suction out the last bag. I was very impressed with it. I’ll have to see how well it keeps things from getting freezer burnt. I plan on using this for everything I freeze now! The bags cost around the same price as regular freezer storage bags.

How much of a savings? Well, it was hard to put an exact dollar on this. I lost some from Nathan stealing it and feeding it to the dogs but overall, I ended up with about 24-12oz bags of frozen corn. I did leave some ears for lunch/supper. So in the end, I think I saved about $15 with just this one batch. (I figured low, getting the 12oz bags on sale for $1 in the store.) If I would have done this without Nathan, I probably could have gotten a few more bags but we had so much fun that I didn’t care about our “losses.”

But overall, can you really put a price on farm-tasting corn year-round? I am looking forward to adding some of this to our Taco Chili recipe that we make on the first kick-off game of the Bears!

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