Balsamic Vinegar Dressing

Makes 1 cup
Hands-on time: 6 minutes

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1-1/2 tablespoons honey (warmed)
• 1-1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1-1/2 - 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 3/4 cup olive oil

Blend all ingredients. Refrigerate and store in glass container.

Raspberry Bars

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 (10 ounce) jar raspberry jam

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch pan.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Combine the oats, flour, salt and baking powder; stir into the creamed mixture. Press half of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the preserves over the crust. Crumble the remaining crust mixture over the raspberry layer.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until light brown. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

***Try this with peach or any other types of fruit preserves/jam***

Banana Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 & 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 tbp brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup milk

1/2 medium size banana

2 tbp melted butter

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder & salt. Stir in milk, banana & melted butter.

Melt 1/2 pat of butter in skillet over medium heat, and pour in 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Makes 8-10 pancakes.

Southwest Spice Mix

Stir the following together in a small bowl

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp coarse salt

1/4 tsp ground coriander

Use to spice up (2 lbs of) skillet potatoes....Mmmmmm.....

Pineapple Floats

Ingredients:

1 pineapple - top trimmed

1 cup granulated sugar

1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise

3 tbp packed dark-brown sugar

1 quart best-quality vanilla ice cream

1 liter club soda

Preheat oven to 425F. Peel pineapple, reserving peels. Cut flesh lengthwise into quarters. Cut out and reserve core.

Transfer peels and core pieces to large pot; reserve flesh. Add 5 cups water, bring to boil. Add granulated sugar and vanilla bean. Cook, mashing peels occasionally with the back of a spoon to extract juice for about 30 min.

Cut pineapple into 1/2 inch cubes and transfer to rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Cook until golden, about 20 min. Transfer to bowl and let cool completely. Cover and refrigerate up to 2 days.

Pour pineapple-peel mixture from pot through a sieve into a large bowl, discard solids. Return liquid to pot and bring to boil.

Divide pineapple evenly among 8 serving glasses. Top with 2 tsp syrup and 2 scoops ice cream. Fill with club soda and drizzle with remaining syrup.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 & 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 tbp brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp nutmeg

pinch of ground cloves

1 cup milk

6 tbp canned pumpkin puree

2 tbp melted butter

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg & cloves. Stir in milk, pumpkin puree & melted butter.

Melt 1/2 pat of butter in skillet over medium heat, and pour in 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Makes 8-10 pancakes.

Granola

Ingredients

3 cups rolled oats

3/4 cup slivered almonds

3/4 cup sweet coconut flakes

1/4 cup & 2 tbp honey

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup & 2 tbp brown sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1 cup raisins or craisins

Preheat the oven to 250F. Mix honey, oil, sugar & salt together. Then add rolled oats, almonds & coconut flakes.

Pour into 2 baking sheets and put in oven for 1 hr & 15 min. Stir every 15 min to facilitate even toasting!

Once done, mix in raisins and store in air tight containers or ziplocks :) Enjoy!

Zucchini Bread

Makes (1) 9" loaf

Ingredients:

2 zucchini (1 lb), ends trimmed

1 1/2 cups sugar

6 tbp butter, melted 7 uncooled (can be salted or unsalted)

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup vanilla yogurt

1 tbp lemon juice (I used limes)

1 cup white flour

1 cup wheat flour (you can use all white or wheat flour, your preference)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 pecans or walnuts, toasted & chopped coarse (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 F, and coat a 9x5 loaf pan with vegetable oil spray

Shred the zucchini, and squeeze between several layers of paper towels to absorb excess moisture.

Whisk sugar, melted butter, eggs, yogurt, and lemon juice together in a large bowl

Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, & salt in a separate large bowl

Gently fold the zucchini and the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined. Do not overmix. Fold in the nuts

Scrape batter into loaf pan and smooth the surface. Bake until golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs attached, about 55-60 minutes.

Let loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes before unmolding onto a wire rack to cool for 1 hour.

Yum!

*The wheat flour is very absorbent, so it will "drink" up more of the zucchini juices better than regular white flour.

Oreo Cookies

Ingredients:

1 - 18.25 oz package devil's food cake mix

1/2 cup shortening

2 large eggs

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix with heavy load mixer or by hand with a large spoon. Mix until all white specks from cake mix are blended in. Roll 1 tsp dough into a ball and place on ungreased cookie sheet or parchment paper.

Bake 5-8 mins at 375. Let cool on pan. Frost with following recipe.....

Frosting Ingredients:

4 oz cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar

little bit of cream or milk

Place cream cheese and sugar in a bowl and whip. Add milk to desired consistency. Spread frosting on flat side of cookie. Top with another cookie.

Arrange cookies on plate and put in fridge to cool and set frosting. Tasty.....

White Bean Dip

I love this type of recipe - just put all ingredients in blender and turn it on!

Ingredients:

15oz can of Great Northern Beans

2 cloves garlic

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/3 cup olive oil

2 tbsp dried parsley

Place everything in blender and pulse until coarsely chopped. Place in small bowl, add salt & pepper to taste. Serve with veggies and/or crackers!

Chicken Parmesan Strips with Marinara Sauce

These are as fun to make as they are to eat! The nice thing is that they really do only take half an hour to make with very minimal prep work. It's a lot less stressful to eat dinner when you don't need to worry about taking a long time to do it. A word to the wise: make sure you use regular Olive Oil. Since extra virgin olive oil has a low smoking point, it burns REALLY quickly. And if the oil gets too many burnt pieces, change it. It's not very tasty to eat chicken strips with burnt fingers.

This technique is perfect for regular fried chicken or fish strips, just omit the Parmesan for a more simple dish. YUM!!

Chicken Parmesan Strips & Marinara Sauce (from 30-minute suppers, America's Test Kitchen)

Sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can 14.5oz Petit cut diced tomatoes, without seasoning
fresh basil, torn or very roughly chopped (not too chopped, the leaves bruise easily)
salt and pepper

1. Heat olive oil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. When oil is shimmering, add garlic, and stir until fragrant (about 1 minute). Add tomatoes and allow to simmer 3 minutes, until thickened slightly. Add basil and stir one more minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat, cover and keep warm.

Chicken Strips:

4 chicken breast cutlets, sliced in 1/4 inch pieces
salt and pepper
1 cup flour
2 large eggs, beaten well
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup olive oil

1. Make 3 stations with medium bowls: first station, flour; second station, eggs; and third station, panko tossed with parmesan cheese. Pat chicken strips dry and season with salt and pepper.

2. In batches, coat chicken in flour shaking off excess, dip in egg draining off excess, and dredge in panko mixture. Heat oil on medium high, and pan fry chicken in batches about 1 1/2 minutes. Place on plate with paper towels, and let rest for 5 minutes. Serve with marinara sauce and steamed veggies.