Food « Life Signatures

Zucchini Brownies

June 19, 2009 at 6:53 am (Food)
Tags: cooking and food

Last week during our little girl’s night out at my house, we had an interesting conversation about healthy food and I was told that there was a show on the Lifestyle channel where two ladies would put zucchini into everything.

So today, we’re making brownies.

brownies1

Start with the biggest zucchini you can find.

brownies3

Wash and chop the zucchini into large chunks.

brownies4

Cook the zucchini in some boiling water.

brownies5

Once it’s cooked, drain the zucchini and put it in a blender.

brownies7

Put the recommended amount of oil (or applesauce if you are a true health fanatic. I’m pushing it with the zucchini) called for by your brownie recipe. In this case, I used 3/4 cup. The recipe called for a full cup but I figured the zucchini would make up for the extra moisture.

brownies6

I used a blender because I don’t have a food processor and I don’t want any suspicious chunks – you know what I mean.

brownies8

I then put four eggs in. Normally it calls for two, but I was doing a double batch. I’m okay with that. Eggs = protein for little growing ones.

brownies9

Here’s my super secret brownie recipe. Any box will do. Don’t tell anyone.

brownies91

I put the egg/oil/zucchini mixture into the brownie mix. The girl saw this picture and said, “Why is it green? Mom, what did you put in the brownies?” Hmmmm….

brownies92

This is before she knew that it was going to be good for you.

brownies93

She just wanted to lick the bowl. She’s really enjoying it.

brownies94

The boy decided to get into the act too. They do the most fighting over who is going to lick the bowl after I’ve baked something.

brownies95

When her own hair tastes good, she can’t complain about the zucchini when she finds out can she? I’m so evil!

brownies2

They were delicious. Delicious! So moist, so chocolaty. I brought some over to Neighbor Chris. The girl saw the photos before I posted them and she said, “Mom, what did you put in the brownies?!!”

One day, they’ll get to torture their kids. In the meantime, I’m loving every minute of it. Because if I never sneak zucchini in into the brownies and eggs into the macaroni and cheese, they would never get any nutrition. They love it, and they don’t even know it.

Good for me.

Please visit fabulous Foodie Friday over at Designs by Gollum. There’s a gal who know how to enjoy life. And it’s not a sin.

21 Comments

21 Salute Dressing & Spicey Shrimp

June 12, 2009 at 3:56 am (Food)
Tags: Cooking, Food, Recipes

girlsrecipe1

The pretty Miss Shannon is also a fantastic cook. I gave her a little Iron Chef challenge and put some jumbo shrimp in front of her.

girlsrecipe3

She looked up a recipe on the internet called Spicy Grilled Shrimp.

Here are the ingredients.

1 large clove garlic
1 tablespoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
8 wedges lemon, for garnish

I didn’t have coarse salt or the paprika but I think she found everything else.

girlsrecipe6

Press the garlic and marinate the shrimp in all the ingredients for a few minutes. Then grill. But I didn’t know how to start my grill so we broiled it instead. It was awesome!

girlsrecipe2

And now the recipe from the talented and technically gifted virtual assistant Miss Karen. The cat would not leave her alone. He followed her every where and stayed at her feet all night. She apparently charms kitties too.

girlsrecipe4

I’m going to call her special dressing “The Virtually Delectible Tamari Dressing with a Special Secret Herb Blend.” Catchy I know. She just made up the recipe so perhaps she’ll have a better name.

The ingredients:

4 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
4 tbsp tamari sauce
2 tsp of 21 Seasoning Salute
Generous squirt of Dijon mustard

Add together and mix well. It was really good and since Miss Karen was on a low calorie, low gluten diet for a while, it’s also good for you. We baked some salmon which we put over some Asian greens (in a bag not out of the garden) and an orange pepper. Delicioso.

girlsrecipe5

Here is the seasoning that Miss Karen bought from Trader Joe’s. Apparently it’s the only place that sells it…I’m going to experiment with the jar she left me. Maybe I can bake a cake with it.

Enjoy the recipes and eat well this weekend! That’s what weekends are for!

I wrote about our night yesterday. Thanks for coming ladies!

Visit Designs by Gollum for other recipes. So much food, not enough time to exercise.

14 Comments

An Evening Of Cooking & Fun

June 10, 2009 at 10:29 pm (Food)
Tags: cooking & food

dressing1

One of my favorite things to do is to have friends over and eat…the husband was away so I invited my geeky friend Miss Karen (we serve on the same IT Team), Miss Shannon and Neighbor Janet. I wanted Miss Karen to show me how to make her world famous salad dressing with tamari sauce…so I made her come over and cook. The only stipulation for an invitation was that you like to experiment and eat. That’s it. And I know these three ladies did.

dressing2

I set the table with very large chargers for plates…I was planning on eating a lot of food. I also kept lots of space open between settings for the meal, after all, that was the point. We had every single protein that evening, fish, chicken and beef. I pulled out whatever I had in the refrigerator because we were in the mood for experimentation.

I wish I had a wider angle lens, I would have captured Neighbor Janet and Miss Karen in this shot. I guess I could have gotten out of my chair but I’d rather have an uber wide angle outrageously expensive lens.

dressing3

Neighbor Janet chopped the chicken breast for Pad Thai. She also did most of my dishes bless her heart.

dressing4

Miss Shannon skinned the salmon for the salad. She kept saying, “Am I doing this right?” and I kept saying, “That’s fine.” not really knowing if it was fine or not.

dressing6

And now the salad dressings. Miss Karen said that this spice from Trader Joe’s was the secret ingredient.

dressing5

Miss Karen gave me the recipe yesterday. After all that, I forgot to get it last week and I forgot to take a photo of the cast of characters. I think I see dijon mustard, olive oil, the spice, and is that a pineapple? Anyway, she left me a jar of the spice, what a darling!

dressing7

I bought this orange pepper for the salad because I thought it would look pretty with the greens. I’m not just into looks. The colorful veggies are also high in vitamins and minerals.

dressing8

I had some shrimp in the refrigerator that I bought from the Stevenville Crab Shack a few days before. I didn’t want it to go bad so Miss Shannon looked up a recipe on the internet and whipped up some kind of lemon shrimp that was delicious! It was amazing. She just sent me the recipe! That too will be for Foodie Friday. It was divine.

dressing91

Miss Shannon made this beautiful trifle for dessert,

dressing9

which is when the boys decided to make a showing.

dressing93

They didn’t come when the Pad Thai, the grilled shrimp, the bulgogi, the tom yum soup, the salmon salad with tamari dressing, and the olive bread was out. But when there’s dessert, they miraculously make their presence known.

Wow, that’s a pretty eclectic menu…I don’t think it’s going to win any awards but boy was it good!

dressing92

They are cute though.

Photos edited with “Colorize” by TRA. Update: Ooops…it’s really “Luxe (hard)” not “Colorized.” I tried several…
Posted on Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch. They set beautiful tables over there. I’m going to have to get out my china…

I’m also pleased to post this on What Works For Us.

32 Comments

Fried Pickles?

June 5, 2009 at 4:50 am (Cooking, Food)
Tags: Cooking, Food, Recipes

friedpickles1

I found this great site called Designs by Gollum where every Friday, Gollum (what a great name) hosts a food fest/orgy. I’m not kidding, it’s a total smorgasbord. I cannot click over there when I’m hungry.

friedpickles5

Today I’m adding to the temptation with these friend pickles the husband and I found while over on the other side of the bay last Monday.

friedpickles7

The place is called the Stevensville Crab Shack and we have stopped there before to get soft shelled crabs. They are the freshest that we’ve had here in the Chesapeake.

I loved that he had crab art from his neighbor’s kids. How cute.

friedpickles3

It’s a small place, really small.

friedpickles6

They have crabs don’t cha know.

friedpickles2

I saw that there were fried pickles on the menu and was immediately curious, as I am about every single new gastronomic delight I stumble upon. I wanted to try it. I’d never seen nothin’ like that before. I speak in slang when I’m excited.

friedpickles5

And oh was it good. Was it realllllly good! The proprietor says to:

1) cut the pickle up into spears
2) rolls the pickle spears into bread crumbs
3) freeze the pickle spears
4) take them out when you want to cook them and drop them into hot oil, frozen and all
5) after about 4 minutes, take them out and sprinkle Old Bay seasoning on them. That will make them “Chesapeake”.

I haven’t tried them yet, but tonight, I’m having an improptu gourmet dinner with three other girl friends. We just decided yesterday to get together and cook. We’re going to have some great food…maybe I’ll fry a pickle or two.

17 Comments

Boiled Eggs ~ Another Fantasmic Internet Tip

May 30, 2009 at 5:02 am (Food)

Yesterday I showed you my astounding creativity and told you how to freeze grapes. I claimed the idea as my own since I’m sure that no one has ever thought of doing that before. So here’s another tip – boil your eggs.

eggs1

I boil about a dozen and keep them in the refrigerator and eat them throughout the week. I do this because 1) I can be lazy 2) they are a great source of protein and 3) they are fast in the fast fast world of suburbia where we work, get kids to their activities and have no time for dinner.

eggs2

One of my favorite all time meals is boiled eggs, rice, and fish sauce. I literally ate it throughout my childhood and still do. For those of you on the South Beach Diet, you should leave out the rice. That’s a double yolk. Hmmm…twins?

Now I’m going over to Shutter Sisters to see what the grown-ups are doing and see whether or not I can play along. Oh, and I have a yard sale starting in about an hour yikes…

4 Comments

Frozen Grapes ~ The Best Internet Tip

May 29, 2009 at 6:27 am (Food)

Okay, the lemon wedge didn’t tickle the fancy for some of you. I thought it was pretty but yes, it borders on fussy. But this…this is the best tip you will ever get on the internet. How’s that for a statement?

frozengrapes1

In the on-going battle to get healthy food into my kids, I am forced to constantly be creative. One day I watched the grapes I had bought slowly shrivel away from lack of consumption. In order to save the grapes from slow and wasteful destruction, I plucked them from the shriveling vine and threw them in the freezer. After a couple of days, I tried one and immediately thought that I was a genius. If I do say so myself. They literally taste like ice cream. The husband and the boy ate them all in about 5 minutes. It was truly a food epiphany.

frozengrapes2

I know I have very few original ideas and this is probably not one but it’s original in my house and I will from now on, keep frozen grapes in the freezer, especially in the summer months.

frozengrapes3

So to the twelve of you who read this blog, go freeze some grapes. It’s a great way to get fruit into your kids.

p.s. I’m having a yard sale tomorrow. I’ve been historically disorganized for this annual event but this year, I actually have two things labeled. And of course, I’m going to take pictures.

p.s.s And I almost forgot it’s Foodie Friday over at Designs by Gollum. I am not awake this morning. Please eat before you go over there. You may get hungry and regret binging.

22 Comments

Waterfall Beef ~ The Beef

May 28, 2009 at 7:34 pm (Cooking, Food, Thai Food)
Tags: Cooking, Recipes, Thai food

Vegetarians are not going to find this appetizing. But me? I’m a protein girl. I can go for a little while on vegetables but then I have to have a good piece of meat.

waterfallbeef1

I use a London Broil cut for my Waterfall Beef. If you want to splurge, you can use a tenderloin, that would be delicious. But this cut is good for your wallet.

waterfallbeef2

There’s no marinating or anything fancy. Just throw it into the broiler. Broil it until it gets a nice crust on each side, about 4-5 minutes. I like it medium rare but it’s up to your taste of course.

Later on, we’re going to chop everything up…

Here is the beef at the Lemongrass Restaurant.
Here are the fresh ingredients.

Sorry about the dirty oven, but it’s well used and well loved.

3 Comments