Chocolate Zucchini Bread

OK, it's possible that I'm over the top with 3 posts in one weekend. But my chocolate zucchini bread turned out so well that I have to share the recipe. And it's healthy too coming once again from Cooking Light! The old zucchini bread recipes had 1 cup of oil and the new ones have applesauce instead of all that oil. Plus this one has chocolate, so what's not to love!
Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil (I use Canola oil)
2 large eggs
1 cup applesauce
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups finely shredded zucchini (about 1 medium)
1/2 cup semisweet choclate chips
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350.
Place first 3 ingredients in a large bowl, beat with a mixer at low speed until well-blended. Stir in applesauce.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, level with a knife. Combine flour and the next 4 ingredients (through salt), stirring with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture, beating just until moist. Stir in the zucchini and chocolate chips. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5 loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack and remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. Enjoy!

Crazy Tim's Hot Salsa

Our guest contributor is none other than Salsa King, Tim Barnes. I'm still coughing after trying his latest batch of HOT Salsa...it's good but it will knock your socks off! Greg won't even taste it. So here's the recipe but you can decide how many of those hot little red peppers (if any) you want to include. Here goes...

2 cups tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1/2 cup finely chopped green pepper
7 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced (USE GLOVES!)
3 little red peppers (or not!)
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp salt
1/2 tsp cilantro
1/2 tsp oregano
2 Tbsp oil
1- 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp minced garlic (or 1 fresh clove minced)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp Vinegar
1- 8 oz tomato sauce

Mix together and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with favorite tortilla chips.

I'm back with Lemon-Splashed Shrimp Salad!

Well, my daughter rather snarkily suggested that it's been awhile since I've blogged. Alas, it is true, my beloved Shell of the Sea. So here's what I made for supper tonight, straight from the September issue of Cooking Light...Lemon Splashed Shrimp Salad. Greg thinks it's a bit tart but I think it's marvelous! I was going to include a picture but until Tim gets home, I don't know how to do it!

8 cups water
2/3 cup uncooked rotini
1.5 pounds peeled and deveined large shrimp (I only had .75 pounds and it was fine)
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
3/4 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup chopped avocado
1/2 cup chopped seeded poblano pepper
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
2 tsp grated lemon rind
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (1 lemon should do it)
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 tsp kosher salt

Bring 8 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add pasta to pan; cook 5 minutes or until almost tender (mine took 7 minutes). If shrimp are uncooked, add them to the pasta and cook 3 minutes or until done. Drain. Rinse with cold water; drain well. Combine pasta mixture, tomatoes, and remaining ingredients; toss well. Makes 4 servings (serving size is 1 3/4 cups. Only 250 calories per serving!

Tortilla Soup

Ok, it's been awhile since I've posted. I forgot my password and thought for a bit that my blogging days were over. But I persisted and here I am with a fabulous recipe for Tortilla Soup. This is a recipe from a cookbook that a family from our church put together.

1 boiled chicken - deboned and torn into small pieces
1 medium onion chopped
1 jalapeno chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1-14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
1 can tomato soup
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp lemon pepper
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
salt & pepper to tasted
corn tortillas
Optional: avocado slices, grated cheese and lime slices

Cook all ingredients over low heat about 1/2 hour or until onion and pepper is done.
Slice the tortillas in thin small pieces and fry in oil, drain & add in each bowl of soup. Add optional items if desired. Ole!

Molasses cookies ala Mary Foote

I have been having problems with making cookies. They have been spreading out too much and getting paper thin. So I consulted ace baker Mary Foote and requested her recipe for Molasses cookies. After discussing my problem, Mary's theory was that my air-bake cookie sheets are the problem. So we decided to try a scientific experiment with old-school cookie sheets and air-bakes and see if one does a better job. The results are pictured below and it made no difference which cookie sheet I used. So I'm going to ask Mary Foote for more cookie recipes. Because clearly her recipes are superior to mine. So here's the recipe for Molasses cookies....
Mix 1 cup sugar with 3/4 cup shortening (I used butter flavored Crisco sticks)
Add 1/4 cup Molasses (Brer Rabbitt recommended brand)
Add 1 egg and beat well.

Mix together the following ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt.
Add the flour mixture to the sugar/shortening/etc mixture.
Form in 1 inch balls, roll in sugar.
Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes (spray cookie sheet with Pam)

My thanks to technical assistant Greg Barnes for figuring out the picture of the cookies.
Happy Baking!