YUMMY PASTA and rolls!

Ok so i made this AWESOME dinner the other night and i just had to share it. My mom made this baked pasta dish with cheese and red sauce andd i just wasnt feeling it so i had her put some of the plain penne pasta to the side for me and i made a masterpiece. Earlier that day i made some whole wheat rolls which turned out awesome. I will share the recipe!
     As for the pasta, i started with 1 1/2 cup in a small mixing bowl. i added about 2 tbs of light balsamic vinnagairette. Added about a 1/4 cup of craisins, some sliced almonds, some sea salt, and since we have a never ending supply of zucchini, i steamed some up and added it in! Then i steamed some edemame on the side and some sea salt to dip in. with a fresh wheat roll and a diet coke.. HEAVEN. Please try this dinner.. its healthy and you wont regret it!

Easy Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls 

Makes 12 rolls

Homemade bread, especially dinner rolls, brings that special, home cooked feeling to just about any meal. These "no need to knead" rolls are simple to prepare and have a delightful, rustic flavor. If desired, brush a bit of beaten egg over the dough before baking for a rich, golden brown color.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour 
2 tablespoons sugar 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast 
1 cup warm (105 to 115°F) milk 
3 tablespoons butter, melted 
1 large egg, lightly beaten 
1 cup all-purpose flour

Method

To get started, make sure that all ingredients are at room temperature. Put whole wheat flour, sugar, salt and yeast into a large bowl and stir well. Add milk, butter and egg and beat with a spoon until smooth. Add all-purpose flour and mix until fully incorporated and batter is smooth. Cover bowl and set aside in a warm spot to let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. 

Meanwhile, lightly grease a 12-muffin tin with olive oil and set aside. 

Stir the batter gently to deflate it. Spoon even amounts of the dough into each cup of the prepared muffin tin and set aside in a warm spot until the dough has risen just over the top of the muffin tins, about 1 hour more. 

Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake rolls until golden brown and cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.

Nutrition

Per serving (1 each/56g-wt.): 140 calories (35 from fat), 4g total fat, 2g saturated fat, 25mg cholesterol, 110mg sodium, 22g total carbohydrate (2g dietary fiber, 3g sugar), 5g protein

Banana Bread

I also made some poppyseed bread (middle)

My obsession with bread lives on. BANANA BREAD. This recipe is light, delicious, and so moist!! I reccomend it. Its a perfect breakfast, and a great way to use overripe bananas! I kinda got impatient and used bananas that werent overripe but just ripe. The bread is still perfect! However I did find a way to hurry up the process.
Place your bananas in a paper bag with an unpeeled, uncut apple or tomato. The apple or tomato will emit Ethylene gas, that once trapped, will help ripen the bananas. Leave the paper bag in a warm, dry area.
Observe the bag each day to check the progress. If the bananas ripened, remove them from the bag. If not, leave them for another day.
Enjoy your tasty, sweet bananas!


Now for the recipe,, ENJOY! 


Classic Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
• 1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Cooking spray

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
• Place sugar and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Spoon batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Lemon Cookies

One of the many great summer flavors is lemon. My parents are big fans of all things lemon. You might be surprised of how many recipes have subtle lemon flavors. Its goes with just about anything.. well maybe not chocolate.. bleh. I dont think i would like that. I recently tried a recipe for lemon cookies. From what i hear, They are amazing. My mom came home from a dinner last night, stuffed.. and ate five of my cookies. five! she said they couldnt be healthy because they were so delicious.. wellll shes right.. but who cares! Its so worth it.

BTW this recipe is AWARD WINNING. just so you know.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Makes 2-3 dozen

Ingredients:
½ cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoons baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non-stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.

Zucchini

Zucchini cupcakes! Before you say "Ew, Zucchini in a cupcake??" hear me out. Its just like carrot cake.. its sweet and has a great cinnamon taste to it. There really nothing vegetable-y about it. I guess they're just there for texure and a good source of fiber! We recently got a TON of zucchini from my grandparents garden. They live in Shannon MS and have this great huge garden with tons of veggies. My mom wanted me to come up with some recipes to use the zucchini we have, and i was totally up for the challenge. Now the cupcakes only take one zucchini, but i have something else in mind for the rest.
    For the frosting, i used a basic butter cream, and added some pecans just because i love them. And be sure to check if you are using a Zucchini because we also got some cucumbers from pappaws garden.. and let me just say they look very similar!

Sweet Zucchini Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts
• 1 zucchini (10 ounces), coarsely grated (1 1/2 cups)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Icing

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks or 1/2 pound), softened (but not melted!) Ideal texture should be like ice cream.
• 3-4 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• up to 4 tablespoons milk 
• Add pecans if desired! about 1/3 cup chopped finely

Instructions

• Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cups of a standard (12-cup) muffin tin with paper or foil liners. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Mix in nuts.
3. In another bowl, combine zucchini, oil, eggs, and vanilla; add to flour mixture, and mix just until combined (do not overmix).
4. Divide batter evenly among cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes.
5. Cool in tin on a wire rack for 10 minutes; turn cupcakes out, right side up, and cool completely.
   Frosting: combine all ingredients except nuts, and using mixer, mix until all ingredients are combined and consistency is thick.  stir in nuts
   
   
   
   To get rid of the rest of my zucchini, i am going to try this recipe.. Zucchini and Squash Boats. Looks easy and yummy! We are having a big family dinner tonight and this is my contribution, along with the cupcakes for dessert! 
   (Squash pictures aren't mine, thanks  http://cookingwithchopin.blogspot.com!)
   
   
   Yellow Squash Boats with Black Beans, Lime, and Corn
   Serves 6
   
   1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and well-drained
   1 15-ounce can whole-kernel sweet corn (or use fresh corn and cut kernels from cob)
   1/4 to 1/2 cup diced red onion (about 1/4 to 1/2 of a red onion)*
   Zest of 1 lime
   Juice of 1/2 a lime (about 2-3 teaspoons)
   2 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro
   1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
   1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
   3 large yellow squash, halved and hollowed out**
   3 slices Munster or Monterey-Jack cheese
   
   Mix together first eight ingredients.
   
   Scoop bean/corn mixture into hollowed-out squash halves.
   
   Top each filled "boat" with a half slice of cheese.
   
   Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until cheese is melted and beginning to brown.

LIGHT and lemony poppyseed bread

My parents have banned me from bread making because we have so much.. but i swear they eat it as fast as I make it! So i told them this would be my last batch.. for a little while. They just say that because when i make it, they always eat so much of it! 

What is it about poppy seed bread that is so yummy? In the normal recipe, i guess its all the oil and butter! But in my opinion, you don't need all the fatty stuff to make something yummy. In this recipe, its the lemon and poppy seed flavors that make it irresistible! As i said before, i am going through a bread obsession. But its not real bread, its the cake-like kind. The recipes are endless, and there are so many great recipes using summery fruits and flavors. I recommend blueberry, orr poppy seed! Ok so this recipe is so easy, and best of all, light!

Light and Lemony Poppy Seed Bread

Ingredients

• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup oat bran
• 1 tbsp poppy seeds
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 1/4 cup melted butter or vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tsp grated lemon zest

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.
• In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, oat bran, poppy seeds, baking powder and salt.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, butter, egg, lemon juice and lemon zest. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix just until dry ingredients are moistened. Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until loaf is light golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean.
• Cool loaf in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove loaf from pan and cool completely on rack. Cover with plastic wrap and store at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Yield: Makes 1 loaf, 12 slices.

Per slice: 161 calories, 5.3 g total fat (2.8 g saturated fat), 4 g protein, 27 g carbohydrate, 1.1 g fiber, 30 mg cholesterol, 197 mg sodium

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies

Can you ever go wrong with oatmeal chocolate chip cookies? I think not. My mom has always made them, and i think that i will always make them. Its the kind of recipe that you memorize, and make just whenever you feel like it. And you usually will always have the ingredients. Now, i'm no expert baker. I'm about as basic as it gets. But you don't need to be and expert to make good cookies. I am living proof of that.

I used this recipe to make my friend brooke a cookie cake! 

   This is from one of those old southern cookbooks that are packed with paperclips, stains on every other page, and no telling how old. But the recipes will always be great. you know the one thing you wont be able to find is anything "light'. 

1/2 c. oleo

1/2 c. shortening

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. white sugar

2 eggs 

2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

2 c. oatmeal

1 large pkg. choc chips

1 tsp. vanilla 

Cream oleo, shortening and sugars; add 2 eggs. Sift flour, soda, baking powder, and salt. Add to creamed mixture; add vanilla, oatmeal, and chocolate chips. Can add nuts and/ or coconut. Drop by spoonfuls on ungreased baking sheet. Bake about 10-12 minutes in 375 degree oven. 

Apple pie

If you can't tell, I'm into 'easy' recipes. Whenever i crave baking, a lot of the time i get impatient and want to quit before i have finished, so quick recipes are best for me! Now, pies are always going to take some time.. but isn't it worth it? This apple pie was so worth it. It was so easy. Peeling the apples was time consuming, but I've never been any good at peeling things and let me just tell you, i'm way better now. I used a bought pie crust for the bottom, and top. But instead of just laying it on i decided to venture out of my comfort zone and do a... LATTICE crust. Now it was not as scary as you may think. It was actually really simple, and the finishing look is awesome. ill post the video that taught me. This pie was awesome. enjoy!

before

after!

MOM'S EASY APPLE PIE
Pillsbury ready made pie crust (never work harder than necessary) 7-8 baking apples, peeled and sliced 3/4 c. sugar 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 tbsp. flour 1/4 tsp. nutmeg Mix in bowl the cinnamon, flour and nutmeg. Place crust in pan, add apples and sugar mixture. Dot with butter. Cover with top pie crust. Brush with milk and sprinkle sugar on top. Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes or until done.