Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Earlier this week I posted about a new recipe I tried for Avocado Egg Salad, which was delicious. I also mentioned that I forgot two things at the store; mayo, which lead to my new recipe for egg salad, and baking soda. Both of which woud have come in handy this week.

I never make recipes from scratch, especially when I'm baking because I think it takes too long. But this past Wednesday a co-worker conveniently brought in a zucchini so I could make Zucchini bread for the office since I'm always baking treats. Zucchini bread is one thing I have never attempted to make. In fact I only had it during the summer growing up, when my next door neighbors made it with fresh zucchini from their garden.  The recipe below is my neighbor's recipe.

What you need:

2 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 sour milk, I used regular milk with a tsp. of vinegar
4 tsp. cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup oil
2 cups grated zucchini
2 1/2 cups flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. While it's heating cut a washed zucchini (with the skin still on) in half and use a cheese grater to grate the zucchini.  I had a rather large zucchini which made 4 cups when grated.

Mix all ingredients except the zucchini, after they are fully mixed add the zucchini.

Place batter in cupcakes papers or grease a 13 x 9 inch pan to make a cake. I made 24 cupcakes with my batter.  Place in oven for 20-30 minutes for cupcakes and 10- 15 minutes for cake.

Overall they turned out very well, but I couldn't taste the chocolate at all.

No-Mayo Avacado Egg Salad

Earlier this week I made a mistake. I went to the grocery store without my list. I wasn't planning on going but on my way home from church I passed the store, and it's just stupid to backtrack after I get my list from home. I did pretty well with remembering everything, except mayo and baking soda. Which is fine. I hate mayo and only use it sparingly and I can't tell you the number of times I've needed baking soda. Ok I can; and they can be counted on one hand.

So I got home from the store and after unpacking the bags I was looking for something for lunch when I saw them. Two hard boiled eggs waiting to be eaten in an egg salad sandwich. (This is by far one of my favorite things to eat. I've already made a post (here) about another no-mayo egg salad recipe with plain greek yogurt.)

I was so excited with the prospect of a good lunch when I realized I didn't have any mayo, or plain yogurt. (I also had to go later in the week to buy baking soda to make Zucchini Bread.)

So I starting looking through Pinterest for another version and decided to try one from Bizzy Bakes.  Since it was just me I cut her recipe amounts in half.

What You Need:
2 eggs
1/2 avocado peeled and diced
2 tablespoons prepared Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder



Directions: 

Mash all ingredients in a bowl. Add dill or other herbs if desired.

My only criticism is just more of a personal taste. I do not care for Dijon mustard, but at least I gave it a try.  Next time I may try adding sour cream instead.

Cake Batter Cookies

This past Sunday I was having one of those days... an amazing day when I had absolutley nothing I needed to do.  The non-profit I work for, Wish of a Lifetime, had it's annual gala the night before and I was so excited to have Sunday off after working the event.

Even though I wanted something sweet I didn't want to go to the store, so I was so excited to find this recipe for Cake Batter Cookies from Six Sisters' Stuff.  I always have at least one box of cake mix in the pantry so it was the perfect thing to test out for my blog.


What You Need:
1 box of any flavor cake mix
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup choclate chips (or peanut butter chips)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and mix the cake mix and baking powder. Then mix in the eggs and the vegetable oil.

The batter was very thick and hard to stir but not clumpy.  I put aluminum foil on my cookie sheets so I dont have to clean them afterwards, but if you don't grease them, and drop the batter on with a spoon.

The original recipe said to bake them for 10 minutes but mine needed almost 20 minutes. I think it was the high altitude of living in Colorado that made it take longer.  They also spread out a lot more than I thought they would.

The cookies tasted just like cake, were better when they were warm and they kind of reminded me of muffin tops.  I think it would be fun to experiement with Red Velvet and funfettie cake mix.

Quinoa Mac & Cheese

Since my sister is a vegetarian I have been trying to make more healthy vegetarian food for her. This Quinoa Mac & Cheese is a good recipe for her and something meat-eaters will like too. The orginal pin is from a really great blog Iowa Girl Eats.

I had never made quinoa before so I was surprised at the number of steps the recipe required but it was failry easy. I altered the recipe a little to make a little simpler for my irst time with the recipe. Visit the original recipe for a more flavorful version.

What you need:

2 tsp. Olive Oil
1/2 cup diced green pepper, red pepper or tomato
1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed and drained (I unknowingly bought a pre-washed kind which was very convenient)
1 clove garlic
3 cups water
2 large eggs
1 cup milk of choice
1 1/2 cups of grated cheddar cheese ( I will use more next time, it wasn't as cheesy as I thought it would be)


Directions:

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan on medium heat. Add vegetables (mine were green peppers). Cover and cook 5 minutes.  Stir in quinoa and garlic, continue cooking uncoverd for 3-4 minutes until the grains turn opaque.

Add 3 cups of water  and cover and reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 15-20 minutes or until most of the liquid has absorbed. Remove from heat and let it stand for 5 minutes.

Now preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Then coat a casserole dish with cooking spray.  Whisk the eggs and milk in a large bowl and fod in the quinoa and cheese. Stir very well and let some of the cheese melt. It looks soupy but it will soak up.  Bake for 25- 35 minutes.

I made so much quinoa I needed to mix it up with the leftovers and I really liked it with salsa. I think adding some more veggies would also be really good.