Chicken Zucchini Quiche

This came about while I was trying to think of a way to use up some leftover chicken and pie crust. Quiche! Maybe I should pay more attention to the amounts of the ingredients I use, so it would be easier to post a recipe. Well, that's not my style. Mine is a little more like....hmmm what do I have and what can I do with it. A bit of a sloppy style for a perfectionist. I am a strange perfectionist, that must be it. Ok, back to my quiche.

• 1 cup chopped cooked chicken
• 1 cup shredded cheddar/jack cheese blend
• 3/4 cup shredded zucchini
• 3 beaten eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 unbaked ready made pie crust

Place chicken, cheese and zucchini into pie crust. Beat eggs with milk adding salt and pepper to your liking. Pour over rest of ingredients in pie crust. It will be full, so place on cookie sheet to catch any run over. Bake in 375* oven uncovered for about 30 minutes or until done in center.

The family really liked this. I think if I make it again I will experiment with some seasonings though. But somehow I am always in a rush to get something on the table.

Pizza Burgers

I apologize for not having a picture of these, but I made these for an on the go meal at the baseball field. I made them, wrapped them up and we ran out the door, so no picture of the actual finished product. The good news is they were good and I'll make these again. They are different than what comes to mind when you think, pizza burger. Give them a try and tell me what you think. I got the original recipe from Simple & Delicious, but I made a few changes to it for the sake of time. I was in a big hurry! I will post it as I made it.

• 1 egg, lightly beaten


• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese


• 1 tsp. minced onion


• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning


• salt and pepper to taste


• 1 lb. ground beef


• 4 slices Provolone cheese


• 4 toasted hamburger buns


• 1/2 cup pizza sauce

In a large bowl, combine first six ingredients. Shape into 4 patties and grill until done. Meanwhile, toast buns.

Top burgers with Provolone cheese, and spread pizza sauce on toasted buns. Assemble and enjoy.

Note: I doubled this recipe to make 6 burgers and then ended up with about a half a pound of hamburger mixture leftover. I think I'll make spaghetti and meatballs with it. :)

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

I set out to recreate a really yummy dish my sister ate at Rainforest Cafe when we were in Minneapolis. I know lettuce wraps are a very popular food item these days. I found quite a few recipes for it online. I came up with my own version using ingredients I thought the family would eat and it was a success. All except for the lettuce part. I couldn't find the right kind of lettuce and ended up with Romaine and it just wasn't good for this, well at least I didn't like it with this dish. Everyone at my table really liked the chicken mixture with the rice minus the lettuce part. I think I will definitelly make this again and just serve it with rice. Yummy! Or at least try to find a Bibb or Butter lettuce which I couldn't find today.

I find it hard to give an exact recipe for this, since I really was just playing with ingredients and not keeping track of amounts. I saute'd chopped chicken with carrots, green onion, garlic, ginger, golden raisins, and chopped peanuts. The sauce was more definite:

• 4 Tbs. Teriyaki Sauce
• 2 Tbs. Rice Vinegar
• 2 Tbs. Honey

If you like a more vinegary taste add more of the rice vinegar. I know I cut back on the amount of vinegar just because I thought it was a bit too much, but maybe you'll like it that way.

And, FYI, my kids really did like it. Believe it or not!

Kolaches

After a long absence, I am officially back in the cooking groove, so I thought I better start posting again. This summer has been a mess of activities and busyness and I have had no time to try new recipes or even think about my cooking blog. But for the Fourth of July holiday, I had the pleasure of baking some kolaches for a family reunion on my husband's side of the family. Yeah!! What could be more exciting than a cooking challenge of this magnitude? Let me explain....

My mother-in-law's heritage is Czech and whenever they gather for a reunion, kolaches are a menu staple. I have attended many of these reunions over the years, and have admired the beautiful kolaches baked by skilled Czech bakers. Baked goods are not my forte', so these women and their baking were out of my league completely. Their reunions are held every other year, and each family takes a turn organizing the event. This one fell on our family to take the lead. One afternoon back in the spring as we sat around discussing ideas and putting plans in place, I took a deep breath and asked my mother-in-law if I could make the kolaches for the reunion. Would she agree to it? Would I be an acceptable substitute for the old school bakers who had done it for years? I mean, if the kolaches arent' right......well....let's not even go there. :) In the end, she agreed. Dave's aunt and I would each make 4 dozen. The pressure was on.....

I am happy to report my kolaches turned out great after much trial and error. They were certainly worth the effort. I am anxious to make them again for fun. I used a recipe from Allrecipes called Kolaches from the Bread Machine. Look it up if you're in need of a good kolache recipe. The only change I made was to add a streusel topping to them. It just made them look prettier.

Double Chocolate Cherry Brownie Cupcakes

This is something I came up with this weekend, and it was a success. These are incredibly fudgy! Easy to make since it starts with a boxed brownie mix.

1 family sized brownie mix

1/2 C. applesauce

4 tsp. cherry extract

1/2 C. mini chocolate chips

1 container chocolate frosting

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions substituting 1/2 cup applesauce for the oil, and adding cherry extract. Stir in mini chocolate chips. Line cupcake pan with paper liners and fill 2/3 full of batter. Bake at 325* for about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely. Frost with chocolate frosting.

Ice Cream Torte

I read an idea for something similar to this in one of my magazines, and changed it quite a bit to come up with this result. This totally and completely busted my diet this week. I formed an instant love/hate relationship with it.

I started with a layer of brownies in a spring form pan, then alternated scoops of chocolate ice cream and cookies and cream ice cream. Then I sprinkled about a cup of mini chocolate chips and a cup of butter brickle chips. Next, I alternated scoops of the ice creams again, finishing up with the chocolate and butter brickle chips. Freeze overnight. Remove from freezer about 10 minutes before serving. Remove from spring form pan, slice and serve with chocolate syrup and whipped cream.

One hint if you try it, make sure to wrap the bottom of your spring form pan in foil to capture the ice cream that melts a bit while assembling it.

Orange Poppy Seed Bread

I made these little loaves for the secretaries at the school I work at for Secretaries Day. I thought they turned out beautifully. I put them in a little brown bag with a cute springy bow. Very cute!

1 C. sour cream

3/4 C. sugar

1/2 C. butter

2 eggs

1Tbs. poppy seed

1 Tbs. orange zest

2Tbs. orange juice

2 C. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Beat first four ingredients together. Add poppy seed, orange zest,orange juice, beat well. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. Gradually add to batter,mixing just until combined. Bake in greased 9x5 bread pan at 325* for 50 minutes or until done in middle. Let set overnight.

When I made this I used a mini loaf pan and then added a glaze made of powdered sugar and orange juice to the finished product.