Blackberry Almond Crumble

On Friday in the morning before it got too hot I made a blackberry almond crumble. I roughly followed this recipe in the food network magazine, but I used oats instead of cornmeal and blackberries instead of blueberries. It turned out delicious!

Blackberry Almond Crumble
Filling:
4 cups Blackberries
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp flour
Crumble:
3/4 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
7 tbsp softened butter
2 tbsp cold butter (for top of crumble)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven 375, grease your pan.
2. Load 4 cups berries into your pan. Sprinkle sugar over top of berries, and tablespoon of flour.
3. In a separate bowl mix the crumble ingredients together with your fingers until the butter is incorporated nicely.
4. Evenly spread the crumble over the top of the berries.
5. Dot the top of the crumble with 2 tbsp of butter divided. Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden and bubbling.

For the magazine recipe click here. Also linked to Making Friends Monday, Meet Me Monday, Mingle Mondays, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table.

Zucchini Bread, Pulled Pork Leftover Magic, and "Coopins"

Molly helping me cook in the kitchen, believe
it or not this is her "smile face." Cracks me up every
time!

So I am starting to get a lot of zucchini lying around the house so I decided to make a zucchini bread for the first time this season. As you may or may not know we don't have AC in this house so I find very creative ways to cook (as much outside as possible, or by using the microwave, toaster oven or this year the BREAD MAKER!) It turned out fantastic, and I see a lot of zucchini bread in our future. The only problem is I am not a huge fan. Walnuts make my mouth swell up, and I am not a fan of the spices in the bread, reminds me of pumpkin pie -which I am also not a fan of. This is why earlier in the summer I was thinking of calling all of my zucchini attempts my "Zucchini Adventure!" (read that in your mind with one of those superhero announcer voices, that's how it sounds in my head when I say it) Anyway I digress, my husband loves the bread, so he is just destined to it all. I keep trying to give my daughter pieces of it and she very politely says, "No thank you." Or, "I don't like it daddy." Which is what she told my husband last night when he tried to slip her a slice. She is very polite for a two year old I think.
Zucchini Bread

1 cup of walnuts

2 tbsp flour

3 eggs lightly beaten

1/3 cup veggie oil

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground clove

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups zucchini (drain/squeeze excess moisture out with cheesecloth or dish towel)

2 cups flour

1. In a small bowl combine walnuts with 2 tbsp flour, in another small bowl lightly beat eggs.

2. Spray bread pan, place ingredients into the pan in the following order; eggs, oil, flour, baking powder and soda, sugar, cinamon, clove, salt, zucchini, and walnuts with all flour that remains in the bowl.

3. Choose quick bread setting on breadmaker, when finished loosen with a spatula after it has cooled somewhat then carefully remove from the pan.

So I made pulled pork in the slow cooker (another way to save my house from the heat, because although it does put out some heat, it is nothing compared to heating up the oven). When I make this recipe I usually use a 3 lb roast and have a TON of meat left over. Usually the second night you will always find that we have BBQ pizza.

BBQ Pulled Pork PizzaZXZ
Bread maker Pizza dough (can make two cracker thin large crusts, or one large thick crust)
1/4 cup favorite BBQ Sauce
1/4 white onion thinly sliced
1 cup of mozzarella cheese

Pinch of Italian seasoning over the top.

1. Prebake the pizza dough before you put any ingredients on it at 350 for 6 minutes or more, so that you can ensure a crispy crust.

2. Spread BBQ sauce (we even like it on the crust even if you don't put the other toppings on it, the sauce on the crust is always good) layer all the rest of the ingredients evenly, sprinkle with seasoning and I guarantee it will look like any BBQ pizza you might order at a restaurant or buy in a store.

3. Back in the oven for 15 min or more until all cheese is melted, and crust is to your liking.

Even after the pizza I still had left over meat, it is like the meal that keeps on giving! So I pulled out some Rhodes dinner rolls and popped those into a muffin tin to allow them to thaw and rise.  Once they were ready to go I rolled them out on my counter, plopped in some of the pork, folded them over a la empanada style, crimped with a fork, popped into the oven, 350 at 20 minutes until golden brown. You can eat these right away, but I prefer to freeze them and eat as needed, for a snack, lunch, whatever. I pull them out of the freezer pop them straight into the toaster oven with a little cheddar cheese on top for five minutes. The cheese is melted, the pocket is thawed, cooked through with a crispy outer crust. They are simply fantastic! You have to try them. For those of you, like me, that are on a crazy kick to make/pack better lunches for your kids after watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution these would be a GREAT addition to a lunch.

Homemade "Hot Pockets"

1 1/2 cup BBQ pulled pork

12 Rhodes dinner rolls (or biscuits in a can, or pizza dough from previous recipe or your local store)

Flour

Rolling pin

1. roll out rolls to about 4 inch diameter circle

2. Fill with pork

3. Fold over, crimp with fork to seal

4. 350 degrees for 20 minutes, serve and eat or pop in the freezer for a go to snack, lunch or meal.

So last night I went to a coupon class, I like to say "coopins" in my head like I am from Northern Minnesota, just a little something I do -can't be explained. The woman that ran the class was super informative, and very funny. If you live in the Pacific Northwest she is a great resource if you want to start, or are into "coopins" (say it with me!) Click here for her site Frugal Living NW Anywho, I am wondering at this point how far down the rabbit hole I want to go. What are your thoughts?

Gooey Chocolate Mug Cake

So I saw this post on my feed on both my dashboard and on Facebook, and I immediately was intrigued. I then shared it on my wall and asked if any of my friends were with me on trying it tonight. I mean come on it has literally three ingredients, all of which are pretty much home staples. I got a pretty big response, but wouldn't  you know it I had a bowl of ice cream and then only remembered mid way through that I was supposed to try this gooey chocolate mug cake thing. The next day one of my relatives by marriage in England asked how it went, she was convinced we were all going to have major heartburn so she had an invested interest to see how it all turned out. This of course made me feel bad that I didn't follow through, so I thought, why not. It was the middle of the day I hadn't had any lunch yet, I was pseudo-hungry and instead of a blistering hot summer day it was overcast and cloudy. A warm mug of chocolate cake sounded pretty darn good. The original recipe was on babble, and it called for:

Gooey Chocolate Mug Cake

1 egg

1/4 cup confectioner sugar

1-2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 standard coffee mug

1. Mix together in mug, pop in the microwave for 50-60 seconds and then top with chocolate chips, whipped cream, ice cream (whatever tickles your fancy).

Now, I love chocolate so I did two tablespoons of cocoa powder. And I have an easy 30 second button on my microwave so I hit it twice and voila, it was cooked. I mention these two steps because these were the downfall, to what was almost but not quite the best thing EVER! It reminds me of those warm delights that came out a few years ago, same kind of consistency but obviously not processed and loaded with preservatives. So I am thinking to make this the best thing ever, 1 tbsp cocoa -it was too rich. 45-50 seconds in the microwave - mine wasn't gooey at all, it was surprisingly spongey cake like even though it had no flour. Chocolate chips at the end is a must -they melt and add to the gooey. Maybe even caramel sauce - this would make it even more like those warm delights treats. And you definitely need cool whip/redi-whip or something of that ilk. I mean I am assuming this is a spur of the moment kind of thing and not everyone has whipping cream in their fridge at all times to whip up some homemade whipping cream. If by chance you are an amazing person and literally make things like that on the fly all the time, all the better. I will be sure to try this again, to see if my musings are correct on how to make this better, for me. Until then, have you tried it? What is your take?

**For the original story click here.

Grilled Asian Chicken with Bistro Home Fries

So tonight I made a great quick marinade for skinless boneless chicken breast. Now I don't know about you but the chicken that you get at the store, at least for my family, is always too big and too thick. So I have taken to using only two of the gigantic chicken breasts, and butterflying them to create four nicely portioned (in fact might still be on the bigger side as far as a nutritionist is concerned) pieces. I put these in my marinade for maybe 10 minutes while I shucked my corn and prepared my home fries. Now the original idea was to have green beans with this meal, however being camping for the last five days didn't prepare me for the mess that was my green bean stash so I had to switch to something else. Notice too that I call them home fries and not just fries. I could do fries with my mandolin but sometimes just chopping them up into home fries takes less time and energy. My husband does all the BBQ so I can't take credit most of the time during the summer for our meals but I prep it all and then out to the backyard it goes. He uses a Le Creuset grill pan on our grill for anything that might fall through the grate so these potatoes pick up a lot of great BBQ flavor even if it is a gas BBQ.

As you can see above & below I use liberal amounts of pepper and herbs. This particular recipe had salt and pepper, olive oil, garlic powder (fresh garlic tends to burn on the grill) and parsley. Use whatever herbs you like, sometimes I like thyme, or rosemary but not too much to overpower everything else. If you don't have a grill pan, use an old cookie sheet, or even make a "cookie sheetesque" thing of tin foil (easy clean up). Throw it on the grill close the lid, maybe flip once after 10-15 minutes but overall just leave 'em the heck alone for 20-30 minutes (depends on how thick you cut them) but give them a taste as you go, remember they are hot, but you will know when they are ready. My husband likes to think I don't know he does this but honestly I swear they come back significantly lesser in volume than they went out the back door, and not just because of the cooking process, has more to do with the cooker!

Close up!

These home fries are one my families favorite things about summer, and grill action. OK now for the quick Asian marinade!

Grilled Asian Chicken Marinade

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup olive oil

pinch of red pepper flakes

2 tsp sesame oil ( I love this flavoring but some might find it too bold, use as you like)

1. Mix all together in a Ziploc, throw in your chicken breast squeeze it all around to quickly coat, leave on the counter for 10-15 minutes and then straight to the grill.

**Taken from Relish! My favorite go to meal planning site.

QUICK AND EASY! And  as my daughter says, "Yummy in my tummy, mommy. This is good, my favorite." (She is in her favorite stage, everything is her absolute favorite).

This post is linked up with Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table.

Zucchini Recipe

So I am still attempting a zucchini adventure this summer with my attempt at liking this ubiquitous summer veggie. I bought a couple of magazines in a moment of weakness at Target, thinking they would be great while camping, which they were. I find that I really like Every Day with Rachel Ray Magazine, not that fond of her show on TV but I really like the magazine. They had a no cook section where they show cased a zucchini lasagna sort of thing. I tried my own version at home, but I found I am not a huge fan of ricotta so I think next time I make it I will try farmers cheese, I am intrigued with it and would like to use it more often. Here is the first attempt, I will post again soon as I try it again with a better cheese.
Zucchini Lasagna
1 zucchini (sliced thin on a mandolin)

1/2 cup Ricotta (soon to try Farmer's cheese)

1/4 cup Pecorino Remano

2 tbsp roasted red pepper

Olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste.

Getting the ingredients together.

Put ingredients into a small bowl, and mix well.

Slicing the zucchini with my mandolin slicer.

Layer two slices of zucchini with the ricotta mixture like a lasagna, and repeat. End result, makes a tasty side dish.

New Bento Stuff has Arrived!

I went a little crazy on J-list and bought some fun stuff that I have been wanting for awhile. It came much quicker than I thought it would, I mean honestly it came from Japan on a boat! But it seemed to get here in less than two weeks. I got all sorts of fun picks, a sandwich crimper/sealer (you put your stuff inside and then it seals it shut, I am thinking this would be great for Molly because she doesn't fully understand how to keep a sandwich together), and some silicone cups. Bonus was the fun Japanese newspaper that it was all wrapped up in! There are a few things that I know I bought but haven't arrived yet. So hopefully those are coming soon. But I can't wait to do a lunch for Molly while she is taking a nap. Nor can I wait for school to start back up so I can send her off to daycare on Friday's with a super fun lunch!

The sandwich sealer did a PB&J and you can see two new fun picks.
The flower steams were used with cherry tomatoes (she had 3 refills)
and the giraffe and monkey picks have blueberries. I used a new little
silicone cup for some pretzel balls, and there is a slice of turkey
deli meat for good measure. The only thing left on her plate
was a half of the PB&J and some of the pretzel balls. She ate
everything else, include three helpings on the fun new picks.

I have found that if I put these things on her plate sans pick she
might eat a few, but with the picks they are the first things off the plate.

Menu Plan Monday

Holy sunburn! Just got back from a good camping trip with the family. Not sure how I feel about dry camping, especially in super dusty conditions, and a sick child, but overall everyone seemed to have a great time. If I hadn't gotten burnt on our last day there I am sure I would be singing more praises but I don't do sunburns very well! If I can keep my super pale daughter from the sun even touching her you would think I could do the same for myself, and I swear that I kept spraying myself over and over with sun block! This usually happens every few years, where I learn my lesson and am super vigilant until I slip up, like I did this weekend. Live and learn for the next couple years I guess.

Monday: Grilled Asian Chicken Breasts with Sesame Green Beans

Tuesday: BBQ Pulled Pork (slow cooker) sandwiches with nectarine coleslaw and chips

Wednesday: No zoo concert tonight, I am taking a couponing class! So I will probably make some Turkey subs for Brian and Molly to eat while I am gone!

Thursday: Grilled Flank Steak with Bistro home fries

Friday: Grilled Mushroom Skewers over couscous with zucchini no cook lasagna (saw this in a magazine the other day and I am dying to try my own spin on it.

Saturday: Burgers with bistro home fries (we are getting new potatoes in our CSA bag so these are going to be showing up a lot! Which is fine with my family because they are so darn tasty)

Sunday: Stir Fried Chicken with Chinese Cabbage

For more menu plan ideas click here!