{ Zucchini Bread Sandwich Cookies }

Good morning friends!  It's been a while...  Sorry for the laps in blogging.  Did you plant a garden this summer?  We did, but ours didn't do so great.  One crop that seems to always survive, though, is the zucchini.  We have tried a few different new recipes this summer with the zucchini and this one turned out great.  I actually found this recipe in an old issue of "Martha Stewart Living" magazine.  It's kind of a variation on a "Little Debbie" cookie.  I hope you enjoy!  My kids all loved and I think my husband liked too.

Zucchini Bread Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Coarse salt

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup finely grated zucchini

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts (We didn't add these due to nut allergy)

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature (I used reduced fat)

1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted (I'm lazy and don't sift)

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350*.  Sift flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt into a bowl.  Beat 1 stick butter and the sugars until pale and fluffy.  Beat in egg and vanilla.

2.  Beat flour mixture into butter mixture.  Mix in zucchini, oats, and walnuts.  Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

3.  Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop (about 2 tablespoons), drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart.  Bake until edges are golden, about 17 minutes.  Let cool on a wire rack.

4.  Beat together remaining 1/2 stick butter, the cream cheese, and confectioners' sugar until smooth.  Spread 1 heaping tablespoon filling onto the flat side of 1 cookie, and sandwich with another cookie.  Repeat with remaining filling and cookies. 

Have a great day!

{ Bread }

Oh how I loooooove bread!  And butter.  REAL butter!  For years I never made homemade yeast breads because the thought of kneading dough scarred me.  Over kneading, under kneading, adding too much flour, not enough flour!  All of those reasons have deterred me over the years.  Thankfully not long ago, 2 people put their scientific and culinary skills together and wrote an amazing cookbook.  A few years after that, they added another cookbook that revised their original recipe into a healthier version.  The original book is "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes Per Day".  I LOVE THIS COOKBOOK!  This book has revolutionized the art of bread baking.  It is so unbelievably easy!!  Another bonus in baking your own bread is the cost.  At less than 50 cents per loaf, it will definitely save you some "dough"!  Also, isn't it nice to be able to actually pronounce the ingredient list in the food you are eating?  I am going to give you a link to their youtube video because the first batch I made was easy, but had I seen this video 1st would have been even easier!  Plus the authors are the ones in the video and they help you realize how easy this recipe is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFJZPm-_2-M

Now that you've seen the video and realize just how easy it is, here is a link to both cookbooks.  I love them both and have made several recipes from each.  I even made the pita bread in the first book and it was so easy and so tasty! 



Both books found on amazon.com

Big Ol' Mess!

Do you like it hot and spicy?  If so, this is a recipe for you!  This is a recipe my husband found in a Marlboro (yes, the smokes) cookbook at the fire station.  It really has a kick so be prepared.  We love jalapenos here on the "Miller Ranch" so it has become one of our new favorites.  Speaking of jalapenos, I will be so excited when our jalapenos are ready for harvesting out of the garden.  We canned "jalapeno salsa" a few years ago that was soooo good and I can't wait to share the recipe with you this summer.  Anyways, on to the recipe at hand~

{ Big Ol' Mess }

Ingredients:

12 ounce jar of sweet & sour sauce

1 green bell pepper, chopped & seeded

3 jalapenos, chopped & seeded

1/4 cup Tobasco sauce

1 pound smoked sausage, diced

1 small onion diced

6 cups prepared white rice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*.  Combine all ingredients, except white rice, in bowl and stir until combined.  Pour into a greased 9 x 13 baking dish and cover.  Bake for 45 minutes.

While "Mess" baking, make rice per package directions.  Serve "Mess" over prepared rice.  Enjoy!