• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 3 tsp. vanilla

• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3 tsp. cinnamon
• pinch of salt

• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 325F.

Combine the first 5 ingredients (wet) in a mixing bowl.  Sift together the next 5 (dry) into another bowl, and combine being sure to mix well.

If you are adding nuts, fold them in at this time.

Pour the batter into three greased loaf pans and bake for 1 hour.

**Substitutions**
I don’t use vegetable oil for anything.  I substituted applesauce for the oil and they taste great.

I also used a bit of sucanat in place of some of the sugar – it gives it a richer, more molasses-y taste.  It’s like brown sugar, but a little stronger.  It’s made in a different way.

One other thing – I don’t recommend using paper cups if you choose to make muffins.  These are pretty sticky and it’s hard to peel the paper off.  I did this time since I knew I had more than one batch of muffins to make and needed the pan again soon.

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I’m not sure where we got this recipe, but it’s been travelling around with us for a few years and the whole family loves it!  Fortunately it makes more than one loaf, since the first loaf is usuallt gone within the first 2 hours or so of being baked.  It also makes great muffins to toss into a lunch box.

If you aren’t Norwegian – or know someone who is – you may have never heard of lefse, but if you have, you know that this is a tasty treat that goes with both sweet and savory.

Lefse can best be described as a Norwegian flat bread, not unlike tortillas. It is often made with potatoes, but not always.

There are only two warnings… it takes all day long to make it, and it usually disappears quickly (especially if there are any Norwegians hanging around) but if you hide it in time it does freeze well.

Without further ado… a small collection of lefse recipes for you to choose from.

Potato-Free Lefse

• 1.5 quarts sour cream (3 lbs.) (4 cups =1 qt)
• 2 quarts buttermilk
• 1 lb. butter
• 4 tsp. baking soda
• 2.5 cups sugar
• 6 whole eggs
• 6 egg yolks
• 3 tsp. salt
• 15 lbs flour – 10 lbs for dough, 5 lbs for rolling

Melt butter while mixing wet ingredients except eggs. Mix some flour with the butter to keep it from curdling.

Combine the salt, soda and sugar and beat into the eggs.

Mix everything together.

Take a piece of dough and roll it out on a floured surface into a large circle that will fit onto your griddle, rolling it as thin as possible. Bake on a griddle over medium heat until light brown, turning frequently to prevent scorching. Stack them between clean cloths to keep them from drying out.

*Courtesy of Lee Oswald

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Potato Lefse

• 5 large potatoes
• 1/2 cup sweet cream
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• flour to roll thin

Boil potatoes and mash very fine (a ricer works well) and add cream, butter and salt. Beat until light and let cool. Add flour. Take a piece of dough and roll out into a circle like pie crust, making sure to roll it as thinly as possible. Bake on a griddle until light brown, turning frequently to prevent scorching. When baked, place between clean cloths to keep them from drying out.

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Krina Lefse

Step one:

• 3 large sifters of flour (about 5 cups in each sifter)
• 1 cup melted shortening
• 4 cups fine graham flour

Combine the above ingredients with lukewarm water, adding just enough so dough can be rolled out farily thin. Roll out as for other lefse, but bake on one side only until a very light brown. This makes a large quantity – about 36 large round lefse.

Step two:

When lefse are all baked, prepare the following mixture.

• 1 cup dark syrup
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 Tbsp. melted butter
• 2 egg whites
• flour to make a fairly thick batter

Beat eggs & combine with the other ingredients. Spread over each lefse with a spatula. Spread lefse one at a time and bake in a hot oven for a few minutes, just enough to brown slightly around the edges. Bake on one side only.

Pile lefse with coated sides together, and put a weight on top of them until they are cold. Then remove the weight and sprinkle a little water over lefse to keep them from breaking.

Put them away – keeping coated sides apart to prevent sticking.

These lefse will keep indefinitely if kept in a dry place.

When ready to use, hold each lefse under cold water, letting water fun over both sides, then place between clean cloths until soft enough to use. They may have to be soaked twice. When soft, spread with butter, sugar and cinnamon. Put 2 lefse together and cut wedge shaped like a pie.

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Swedish Flat Bread

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup sweet milk
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1.5 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 4 cups flour
• 3/4 cup flour for rolling

Cream the butter and sugar together. Combine dry ingredients, making sure to break up any chunks in the baking powder and soda. Beat the eggs into the milk. Combine everything together to form a dough ball.

Roll small pieces of dough very thinly into circles. Bake quickly on a griddle over medium-high heat.

*our friend John’s Grandma’s recipe

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As you can see, there are many variations to the basic recipe, but they are all wonderful. Our favorite ways to eat them around here are with butter, cinnamon and sugar, or with lingonberry jam. They also pair well with savory dishes as a bread to sop up juices.

I haven’t tried to make a healthier version yet, but I would think that you could use coconut oil in place of the shortening or butter in these – if you got the version that tastes like coconut it would be unexpected, but very good. You should also be able to replace the cream or buttermilk with coconut cream or kefir. If you use a recipe that doesn’t use eggs, it would be very easy to make it vegan.

Each recipe makes a goodly sized batch, so wrap some of it in plastic wrap and freeze it. Just take it out and set it on the counter to thaw. You can also refrigerate it to keep it longer. I find though that if I don’t freeze some right away, it tends to get put away into bellies rather quickly.

Enjoy!

Today is a snow day… no school and 6+ inches of snow, with more falling every second.  So, we have been hunkered down with no way to go anywhere we wanted to today (I did plan to go buy some snow boots today!  I guess I’m a day late!)

Lunchtime rolled around and Mo decided to make lunch.  Did I mention that she is in 2nd grade?  This can occasionally be a frightening idea!  Today, however, it was a very good thing!

May I present for your lunch or snack-time enjoyment… Fruity Sandwiches!

• 2 slices of bread for each person
• cream cheese
• banana slices
• cinnamon (optional)

Spread a nice thick layer of cream cheese on each slice of bread.  Spread out the banana slices to cover one slice of bread.  If you are feeling especially frisky, lightly sprinkle cinnamon on one slice.  Put the 2 slices together, cream cheese sides together.  Enjoy!

Not to be outdone, her little sister came up with her own sandwich.  This time featuring peanut butter and apple slices.

• 2 slices bread for each person
• creamy peanut butter
• thinly sliced apples (I find that an apple corer-peeler-slicer works well for these)
• dash of cinnamon

Spread a layer of peanut butter on the bread.  Lay the apple slices on one slice, and sprinkle with cinnamon.  Put slices together and enjoy!

While I realize that these are not “new” ideas by any streatch, I was thrilled that they came up with them.  I know that they get tired of the same old sandwich in their lunch boxes each day – ham or turkey and cream cheese on fresh bread – and I’m not sure I would have thought of these as alternatives.

These would be great for an after-school snack, as the fruit would be fresh (I would be afraid of the reaction to them in a sandwich that sat for hours in a lunch box).

I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

The end of Summer is here, and if you planted it in your garden – and the slugs didn’t eat it all – you may just have a plethora of zucchini lying around waiting to go bad.  What to do?

Make muffins.

Well, you can make bread if you want to, but the muffins seem to last longer around here… something about counting just how many you have eaten already causes us to show some restraint!

These are *healthy* to some extent, but they don’t taste it!  Don’t tell your kids – or hubby – how good they are for you, just how good they are!  The sugary crust that forms towards the top will make sure that they don’t believe they are healthy anyway.

I have no idea where the original recipe came from, but I have tweaked it – as usual – to suit my tastes.  The girls like it this way better too – double bonus!

And did I mention that these make a tasty breakfast?  Yum…

Down to business…

Ingredients:
wet

• 2 cups evaporated cane sugar
• 1/2 cup turbinato sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 3 eggs (or egg replacer*)
• 2-1/2 cups grated zucchini
• 3 tsp. vanilla extract

dry

• 2 cups unbleached white flour**
• 2 cup whole wheat pastry flour**
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3 tsp. cinnamon
• pinch of salt

• 1 cup chopped nuts, dried fruit, etc – optional

Preheat the oven to 325F.

In a large mixing bowl combine the wet ingredients, making sure to mix the eggs thoroughly.  Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  This will be a wet dough.

If you are adding nuts or dried fruit, gently fold them in now.

Lightly grease your muffin tins, or use paper.  Fill each muffin cup just over 1/2 full.  We use a regular sized pan, and a mini muffin pan – the perfect size for the girls to take to school.  Either way, you should get at least 2 pans worth of muffins.  I usually get 15 regular muffins, and 24 mini muffins.

Bake at 325F for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a middle muffin comes out clean.

If you are using a loaf pan, bake for 1 hour, or until the toothpick is clean.  It should fill 3 greased loaf pans.

Enjoy!

*if you use egg replacer to make these vegan, add it with the dry ingredients.  Add the water or apple juice with the wet though.

**you can use 3-1/2 cups white flour instead if you would rather, but the whole wheat adds a delicious flavor!  And helps them be just a tad more healthy.

I received an email feed from Smitten Kitchen the other day with something utterly delectable… a photo of food that instantaneously caused your mouth to salivate in anticipation of taking a bite of something that is on the other side of the country. Cruelty, plain and simple.

What was this photograph? Bourbon Peach Hand Pies. Oh. Yes.

Here is my take on the hunger inducing recipe…

For the pastry:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks, 8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup cream top vanilla yogurt – mixed
1/3 cup ice water

For the filling:
4 cups blackberries
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. sugar

The rest of this recipe is basically taken from the Smitten Kitchen blog… and I hate stealing someone else’s words!

The 2 differences I made are as follows:

I was a little short on the sour cream, so I substituted some yogurt and cut back on the water. It still worked out to be very tasty!

I was short on peaches… but the blackberry thicket on the hill is full – FULL – of sweet, ripe berries. So, we used those instead. And since they were berries, I cooked them down a bit before putting together the pies.

Other than that, it’s pretty much the same deal. Oh, except for one little thing..

…the glaze

For the glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup milk

Whisk powdered sugar and tablespoons milk to blend. Make this up to 3 hours ahead.

Set up the cooling racks on top of some aluminum foil to catch the drips. Yes, there will be yummy drips.

When the pies come out of the oven, move them to the cooling racks and drizzle the glaze over them immediately. Cover them well.

Once they have had about 20 minutes to cool, you can enjoy them! Yes, you do need to wait a few minutes so you don’t burn your mouth!

Another great thing – if you just can’t wait – is to eat them with a scoop of ice cream… after all, it is pie!

Enjoy!

There are many schools of thought about how many snacks are OK to eat and how often to eat them. Snacking has long been thought to be a bad thing. If, like me, you disagree and feel that snacking is the best way to avoid overeating keep reading.  Whether you are trying to maintain their current weight, trying to lose weight, or eat healthier overall here are some tips and suggestions for snacking the healthy way.

When most think of snacking, things like French fries, candy bars, ice cream cones, or potato chips, come to mind. It’s no wonder the majority of people associate snacking with something negative. All of these “bad snacks” can add just as many, if not more, calories than a regular meal. Don’t despair, however. It is possible to snack without adding all the fat and calories.

Think of the examples named above. Instead of giving up their favorites, snack lovers need only change their snack choices to a better for you substitute. For instance, a bag of fast food fries can easily become a baked sweet or russet potato fries with fresh herbs or cinnamon sprinkled on top. Now, that sounds like a tasty snack and it’s healthier.

An alternative substitution for fries or chips is veggie sticks.  Toss a few into a bag in the morning – carrots, celery, zucchini and cucumber are all great!  If you must, use a little bit of ranch or italian dressing as a dip.  Or chop up some cucumbers and put them into a bowl with some rice vinegar, a dash of soy sauce and some chili sauce for a tasty asian treat.

As for that candy bar, it’s really the chocolate most are after when they grab their favorite one.  The nougat, peanut butter and caramel are good but don’t be fooled, it’s the chocolate craving that gets candy bar lovers. In place of those pound adding candy bars, make some granola bars. Use rolled oats, bran, crunchy clusters, and chocolate chips. Dark chocolate is supposed to be better for us, so try some dark chocolate pieces inside or drizzle a bit of dark chocolate on top. Anytime you need a snack, grab a granola bar instead of a candy bar.  Or have a small bag of almonds and chocolate chips open on your desk to nibble on throughout the day.  Note that I said a SMALL bag!

Another great snack option is a smoothie.  In a blender, combine frozen fruit, yogurt, fruit juice (I use odwalla, naked or kagome juices as they are more nutritious), and kefir or milk.  Add a dash of cinnamon and vanilla extract along with some golden flax seed meal for a nutritional and flavor boost.  You can even make a double batch in the morning and put half of it in a thermos for later.

For many die hard snack addicts, ice cream is a big one to overcome. If this sounds like you, have confidence in yourself and try something just as cool and sweet, but even better for you.  Whip up some smoothie mix and freeze it in a container for at least twenty-four hours. When that ice cream craving hits, scoop some smoothie into a bowl and top it with nuts and a dab of whipped cream.  Before you know it, you’ll be craving yummy fruit or veggie smoothies instead of that fattening ice cream.

Next, let’s talk about how often to snack.  The more times you eat, the more revved up your metabolism will be. However, it’s necessary to eat the right foods in order for this not to backfire.  Unfortunately, this is where many people go wrong. If you keep only the freshest and healthiest foods in your home, all of your choices will be good. So, as hard as it may be, curb that urge to load up on sweet, junk food on your next trip to the grocery store.

Ideally you should have 3 snacks a day; one during the middle of the morning, another mid-afternoon, and lastly, one after dinner. That’s three snacks to complement three meals. Also, remember that quantity matters when it comes to snacks, just like it does meal portions.  Snacks are not meant to be entire meals but they are supposed to be delicious or you won’t eat them. By not snacking at all you actually make yourself too hungry.  This leads to overeating at meal times.  Beyond that, you will opt for dining out more often if you feel starved because you haven’t munched on a few healthy snacks throughout the day.

Contrary to popular belief, snacking is good for you, but only if you make your treat choices healthy ones.  Keeping good for you snacks on hand will make snacking healthy even easier. So, snack away, but make them good snacks in order to reap the most benefits.

After buying a bushel of apples, I needed to find things to do with them. So, I turned to the trusty internet to find a proper recipe for applesauce… After not really finding ANY that didn’t require using a food mill (which I don’t have) I decided to try it and see if it was really necessary. This is my recipe.

5-6 medium Honey Crisp apples (or your favorite variety)
1 nectarine
3 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
dash of apple pie spice

water to cover the bottom of the pan

optional:
2 Tbsp. sugar

Pour enough water into a large heavy bottomed pan to put around 1″ in the bottom. Add the cloves and cinnamon. Set the heat to medium.

Partly peel the apples – leaving some of the skin or all, to your taste. I had some windfall apples, so I peeled those. Cut the core out & discard. Chop the apples into 1″ chunks. Put the apple chunks in the pot.

Peel the nectarine and chop into small chunks. Add this to the apples.

Sprinkle the apple pie spice (or pumpkin pie spice) over the fruit and let it cook down so that all of the fruit is mushy. Stir occasionally.

When the apples are soft, remove the cloves and cinnamon stick. Using the spatula or a potato masher, mash the apples. If it is too tart for you, add a little bit of sugar. If you start with sweet apples you shouldn’t need any.

Remember that it will be less sweet when it is cold.

This serves around 4 people. You can also separate it into snack cups for lunch boxes. Refrigerate until ready to eat.

Since buying a bushel of apples, I have made a batch every day – my family loves it! It is good hot or cold, and would make a very good dessert – just add some graham crackers & whipped cream for an inexpensive treat.

Are you looking for a way to get yogurt into your kids diet? This is a fun and tasty way to get them to try it!

Ingredients:

2 almond biscotti
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup frozen fruit of your choosing, thawed
4 teaspoons orange blossom honey
4 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted

Using your blender puree the fruit with the yogurt. Be sure your puree mixture is completely mixed together. Puree will thicken. Break biscotti into small pieces into bowls. Place the fruit mixture on top of the biscotti. Add honey and almonds. Enjoy

Are you looking for a tasty treat to bless your family with? Try this one on for size! It’s quick, easy, and your family will feel the love.

Ingredients;

2 (8.5 ounce) packages corn bread mix
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
9 hot dogs cut in half
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 F. Place brown sugar in a bowl. Add in both packages of corn bread mix. Whisk eggs and milk together. Add egg mixture to corn bread and brown sugar. Add the cheese and stir until all ingredients are moistened.

Fill lightly greased muffin tins until 2/3 full. Place half a hot dog down in the middle of the muffin mix.

Bake approximately 15 minutes until lightly browned.