Pantry Living Week 6

The time is flying by this summer. Family has visited a ton and more are still to come. We love it! The beach and boardwalk are our hangouts. But we still seem to eat plenty of food at home.

Pantry after week 6

Here is the update:

• Cereal after week 5: 26
• Cereal after week 6: 24
• Allowable purchases: mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, sour cream, whipped cream, eggs, watermelon, bananas, blueberries, strawberries, lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, celery, apples
• CHEATING: lasagna noodles(for a new recipe), raspberry lemonade(on a great sale)
• Exception: Infant Car Seat. Most people have noticed my growing belly. I am due in 5ish weeks. Our last car seat expired so this baby required a new one. I found a great deal on a better than I was expecting car seat at Baby's R Us for $69.99. Let the nesting begin!
• Opened bottles/bags: vanilla extract, spaghetti sauce, Parmesan cheese, cream cheese, chips, 2 sizes of sandwich bags, granola bars, rasp granola
• Gifts of food: flour from my mama, individual bowls of rice krispies from a friend's work= 1 box of cereal.
• Discoveries: Katy (20months) will eat an entire can of mandarin oranges and still want more. She can also drink an entire Capri Sun. (They are meant for the beach and picnics only.)Food coloring in pancake batter is fun with blue, red and green. Purple is not a pretty sight. Lilia's (6yr) fav pasta is thin spaghetti. My family is getting tired of cooked zucchini. 

Baking seems to be my new hobby. I hate to waste food, so I feel a great urge to cook my fresh zucchinis and over ripe bananas. Today I baked Cream Cheese filled Banana Bread. I will post more on that soon.

Happy Summer!

Banana Bread Crumb Cake

I'm taking a short break from zucchini to use the very ripe bananas in my fruit bowl. This is the first of two recipes I'm excited about eating.

Banana Bread Crumb Cake

Pinterest was good to me again!

Banana Bread Crumb Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup milk

Crumb Filling and topping

• 1 cup cold butter, cubed
• 2 cups light brown sugar
• 2 cups flour

Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1-2 Tbsp milk

How to Make

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray, set aside
3. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
4. In a ziplock bag mash bananas until they become squished entirely.
5. In a large bowl mix bananas and butter until combined and then stir in sugar, eggs and vanilla until mixed well.
6. Stir in milk and flour mixture until combined.

Crumb Filling/Topping

7. Prepare crumb filling/topping by combining all the ingredients together cutting them together with a fork or pastry cutter until a coarse crumb forms.
8. Pour 1/2 of the batter into the prepared pan. Top with 1/3 of the crumb mixture. Cover the filling with the remaining batter and top with remaining crumb mixture.
9. Bake for 55-60 minutes until the center is set and a toothpick comes out clean. *Be sure to check the actual center. I almost pulled it out early cause the toothpick was clean close to the center but still gooey in the very middle. Another 5-10mins did the trick.
10. Cool for 10 minutes.
11. Mix powdered sugar and milk together and drizzle on top. 

 
Enjoy the deliciousness.  Happy Summer!

Zucchini Bread Recipe

Zucchini is here and ready to be eaten! I've been sauteing it with garlic and butter. I've been shredding it and baking it. I am loving it! My kids might be getting tried of it but I'm not, and my garden isn't finished producing it. Here is my oh so yummy Zucchini Bread recipe. It is simple and delish!

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour either 2 loaf pans, or 24 muffins, or 2 round cake pans(my new fav option).

MIX:

• 3 eggs beaten
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup oil
• 3 tsp vanilla

SIFT AND MIX IN 2nd BOWL:

• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tsp cinnamon

COMBINE:

• Wet and dry ingredients
• Add 2 cups shredded zucchini
• Optional 1 cup nuts

BAKE:

• For a loaf pan about 50 mins.
• For a round cake pan about 45 mins.
• For 24 muffins about 25 mins. 
• They are ready when a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. 
• Cool on wire racks and enjoy!

These are fast, easy and a huge hit! Hope you love them as much as we do. Happy Summer!

Pantry Living Week 5

We made it through another week.

Pantry after week 5

Here is the update:

• Cereal after week 4: 31
• Cereal after week 5: 26
• Allowable purchases made: bread, gas
• Cash purchases made: cinnamon, note cards
• Cheating purchases: shoes for Lilia, Buzz Lightyear hoodie for Max, christmas gift for hubby, door mat. These are cheating because I used my credit card instead of cash. 
• New jars/bags opened: sugar, flour, cocoa powder, butter cooking spray, veg oil, brown sugar, granola, granola bars, apple sauce, cheese crackers and chocolate chips. It was a big baking week for me.
• Our garden gave us 3 zucchinis this week and a handful of cherry tomatoes. I've baked zucchini bread, chocolate zucchini cake, and banana muffins.
• I'm on my last bag of flour which may be trouble if I keep baking this way. 
• I moved a few things around in my pantry due to empty space. My pasta is easier to access now.

Happy Summer!

Decadent Chocolate Zucchini Cake

The Pintrest fairies found this recipe for me and thought I should try it out.

Ingredients

• 2 -3 cups shredded zucchini
• 2 Tbsp butter, softened
• 3 eggs
• 2 c sugar
• 1 1/2 c applesauce
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 c all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 7 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 c semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

Chocolate Glaze

• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt pan
2. Grate the zucchinis. I would say between 2-3 cups is perfect.
3. Combine butter, eggs, sugar, applesauce, zucchini, and vanilla in a large bowl.
4. Combine the chocolate chips with a couple tablespoons of the flour to keep them from sinking to the bottom while the cake is baking.(This was in the original instructions. Mine still sunk to the bottom and stuck.)
5. Stir in the flour, baking soda, salt,  cocoa powder, cinnamon, and chocolate chips.
6. Stir until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.
7. Pour the batter into a well-greased bundt pan. Bake the cake for 60 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake cool for ten minutes before inverting onto a plate. 

Chocolate Glaze: 

• Combine butter, chocolate chips, corn syrup and vanilla in a microwaveable dish. I use my Pyrex glass measuring cup because it makes it easy to drizzle the glaze over the cake. Heat in the microwave in 30 seconds intervals at 50% power, stirring in between, until nicely melted. Pour over cake and enjoy!

 I shared this cake with my hubby, kids, my mom and a few nieces and nephews. They all scored it a 10 out of 10 except for one who gave it a 9.5. When asked why 9.5 their response was "Because my piece wasn't big enough!"

Hope you enjoy this too! Happy Summer!

*note: I only had cinnamon applesauce so I did not add additional cinnamon to my batter.
 

Pantry Living Week 4

Another day, another bowl of cereal.

Pantry after week 4

We have made it through 4 weeks of no grocery shopping and minimal necessity purchases. Here's the weekly update:

• Cereal boxes after week 3: 35
• Cereal boxes after week 4: 31
• Opened: a new pack of bottled water, new bottles of Italian and Ranch dressing, a jar of spaghetti sauce, a bag of chocolate chips
• Bought: 4 loaves of bread
• Cash purchases: Vic's subs (I had just been released from the ER and was finally able to eat for the first time in days), fabric and random bag of sewing things at a yard sale
• Baked a double batch of zucchini bread, with the home grown zucchini, which was fabulous! Also baked banana chocolate chip bread with some too ripe bananas. 
• A few sweet angels have dropped milk off to us that was extra from a program they work. We are beyond blessed with this gift!
• My brother and his family were in town this week. I fed them all one evening and he donated a new bag of carrots for the salad.

Happy Summer!

*note: I was sick for several days and ended up in the ER due to dehydration. They gave me some awesome meds, along with 3 bags of fluids, and I'm now fit as a fiddle. 

Killer Crab Cakes

I got this recipe for "Basil Crab Cakes" from a cooking magazine Simple and Delicious.

Ingredients:

•          1 egg white
•          1/4 cup mayo
•          2 tsp dried basil (or 2 tbsp fresh minced basil)
•          2 tsp dijon mustard
•          2 tsp worcestershire sauce
•          1/4 tsp salt
•          1/4 tsp pepper
•          2 drops hot sauce
•          1/2 lb. lump crab meat (I use imitation crab)
•          6 crackers, finely crushed
•          1 tbsp oil (I usually use a bit more)

Directions:

1. Combine first eight ingredients in a small bowl. 
2. Stir in crab and cracker crumbs. I prefer to break up large hunks of crab so it all sticks together a bit better.
3. Refrigerate for at least 30 mins.
4. Shape mixture into round flat patties.     Tip: to make the cakes uniform use a 1/3 cup dry measuring cup.
5. Heat oil in large skillet. 
6. Cook crab cakes in skillet for 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
7. Enjoy!

 This recipe is so easy and full of delicious crab flavor without all the breading. I usually double the recipe cause no one complains about left over crab cakes. Happy Seafood Summer!