Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

I was talking to my mom not that long ago and we were discussing recipes.  Nothing major really, just want some of our favorites were or what we have not tried in a while, you know, things like that.  That got me to thinking of this recipe.  It is one that my mom use to make when I was a kid, but we only ever had it for special occasions, or if company was coming.  It is probably one of the easiest recipes, and if you are a peanut butter lover, it is an AWESOME recipe.

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Mini Lemon Zucchini Bread with Lemon Glaze

A very dear friend of mine, who knows how much I love to cook and bake, gave me this recipe to try.  She was so cute about it too, telling me that since it had zucchini in it, it had to be good for you.  I was so excited to try it.  I love it when friends and/or family think of me when they see a recipe that I might like.  I quickly scanned the recipe to see what if all I needed and then made me list.  When I got to the store I was disappointed to find that they were out of Buttermilk, a key ingredient in this recipe.  At first I was upset, thinking "now what am I going to do?".  I thought about going to another store, but with my kids with me, I quickly decided against that.  That was when I decided that I would just go back home, and make my own buttermilk.  I knew that I did not need a lot, so it shouldn't be that hard.

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Mandarin Orange Crush Cake

Family picnics are one of my favorite times of the year.  I love to get together with everyone and just enjoy being together, although good food never hurts.  So when my husband's uncle and soon to be aunt invited us to a Luau, I was super excited.  Not only do I love to hang out with them, but I knew that we were going to have some pretty amazing food.  My husbands uncle is a GREAT cook.  When I asked my aunt what she wanted me to bring, she asked if I could make some sort of dessert.  Of course I said yes!  Let the hunt begin!

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Tortilla Roll-Ups

The kids are getting ready to go back to school and I am getting ready to go back to work.  It seems weird in so many ways.  I have been a stay at home mom for over two years now, so going back to work is going to be hard.  Not only that, but my baby is starting Kindergarten this year.  I cannot believe that he is 5 already.  This is going to be a big change for all of us.  We started to get things ready, such as backpacks, lunch boxes, notebooks, etc.; and it got me thinking that I need to think about snacks.  This is not only for my kids, but for me as well.  I take my lunch to work and so I need snacks too.   

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Zucchini and Veggie Pancakes

I know that this is not a "sweet" recipe, but I just had to share these with you.  These were a really good find that I hope you will enjoy.

So as I was preparing to make my zucchini cookies, I realized that I was going to have quite a bit of left over shredded zucchini.  This could not happen.  I needed to find something to do with the remaining zucchini and I needed to find it fast.  I was originally thinking about making zucchini bread, but was not sure, needless to say when I told my husband this he said that he loves zucchini bread; so I will be making some, but that it for another post.

I went searching the web to see what was out there to make with shredded zucchini and came across this recipe.  It looked interesting enough, but seemed to be sort of bland on spice and flavor, so I do what I almost always do, I improvised! 

This is by far one of my favorite things to do when it comes to cooking.  I love to take a recipe and sort of make it my own, by either adding or taking away things.  This recipe is one of those where I added, and added a lot.  Remember if you are going to change a recipe, you need to mark down what you did so you remember for the next time.

These pancakes are a great way to not only use up left over zucchini, but also any left over veggies that you might have laying around.  My kids even liked them drizzled with a little bit of honey to make them sweet. 

So let's get started.

Here is what you need:
2 cups shredded zucchini
2 eggs, beaten
1 small chopped onion
1 chopped bell pepper (any color, I used a Red one)
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup flour
1/2 grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Remember any veggies will work in the recipe, these are the ones that I just happened to have in my fridge at the time.

In a medium bowl, mix all of the above ingredients together.  Stir well to combine everything and evenly distribute all the ingredients.  The batter will be a bit liquidy, but that is okay.

Heat a small amount of oil (I used extra virgin olive oil) in a pan over medium-high heat.  Drop the zucchini mixture by heaping tablespoonfuls and cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side.  Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels to remove any excess oil.

These pancakes were absolutely amazing.  I totally loved the crunch and flavor from all the veggies.  I served these as a side dish at dinner and everyone loved them. 

Happy Cooking and ENJOY!!