I found this wonderful Zucchini bread recipe. It's delicious and healthy!!

 3 eggs
 ½ cup of unsweetened applesauce
 2 tsp vanilla
 3 cups whole wheat flour
 ½ cup  walnuts – ground
 2 tsp baking soda
 1 tsp salt
 ½ tsp baking powder
 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
 ¾ tsp nutmeg
 1 medium zucchini shredded (1 cup about )
1 20oz can crushed pineapple drained Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

 Open the can of pineapple and place in a metal strainer in the sink to remove some of the juice while preparing the rest of the ingredients. In large bowl, beat the eggs until frothy. Add the applesauce,vanilla and beat until foamy and then beat some more. Ground the walnuts in a blender or food processor. Don’t over process the oil in them will start to stick. In another bowl, mix the ground walnuts, flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir the shredded zucchini and drained pineapple into the egg mixture. Add the dry ingredient to the wet and stir until just blended. The batter makes 2 large loafs or 6 mini loaves. You can even make 1 large and 3 small or 24 muffins (note: haven’t tried the muffins YET!) What ever you decide be sure to spray with non-stick cooking spray and dust with a bit of flour. Bake the large loaves for about an hour, small loaves for around 40 minutes. Muffins probably half that. A toothpick inserted should come out clean when it’s done.

Spiced Butternut Squash Muffins

My garden produced an abundance of butternut squash so I have been trying some new recipes to use all the delicious squash. These muffins were a big hit with the whole family, they are easy, delicious and very moist. They definitely did not last long. I found the recipe at allrecipes.com, this is a great site with some awesome recipes.



Ingredients
1/2 pound peeled, seeded and cubed butternut squash
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
3/4 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a 12 cup muffin pan.
2. In a medium saucepan with enough water to cover, boil squash 20 minutes, or until tender. Remove from heat, drain, and puree in a food processor.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, white sugar, salt and pumpkin pie spice.
4. In a medium bowl, thoroughly mix together milk, egg and butter. Stir in squash. Fold the squash mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened.
5. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling cups about 1/2 full. Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from muffin pan and cool on a wire rack.

I did one thing a little different from the recipe, I cut the squash in half and baked it for 1 hour at 400. Then scooped the squash out, this is much easier then trying to cut it up into chunks to boil.

Cucumber Tomato Salad

Cucumber Tomato Salad

Here is a great salad for all of you that have an abundance of tomatoes and cucumbers this year. Did you also know that cucumbers add vitamin C and minerals, and feta cheese adds protein and calcium.

2 cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup red onion thinly sliced
2 large tomatoes, cut into small wedges
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/3 cup red wine vinegar or raspberry vinaigrette
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp chopped fresh oregano
salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl combine the cucumber, onion, tomato, and feta cheese. In a small bowl whisk together the garlic, vinegar, oil, oregano, salt, and pepper. Add this to the cucumbers and tomatoes and toss. Cover and refrigerate until you're ready to serve.

This is about 4 servings and each serving is 126 calories. It is 2g of fiber and 3g of protein.

Quiche

I fixed brunch Sunday for my friend Kathy and my daughter Hillary. I fixed this quiche along with a side of mixed fruit. The quiche was a big hit an by the end of the day after my husband and son had lunch there was none left.

Crustless Feta and Cheddar Quiche

4 beaten eggs
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 heaping tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp Italian seasoning mix (oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, basil)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1-1/2 cups cottage cheese
1 (10oz pkg) chopped frozen spinach - Thawed and drained
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray

In a medium bowl combine all ingredients. Spoon into the pie plate

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes before serving

If you use low fat/reduced fat cheeses one serving is 188 calories. I found this recipe in the Sonoma Diet Cookbook. Everyone said it was delicious.

Cornbread Casserole

This cornbread casserole is a standard for our Thanksgiving Dinner. My daughter and her boyfriend had Thanksgiving Dinner with his family on Thursday, but she missed the old favorites that I serve so on Friday night we had another dinner with them including this casserole that they both love.

Ingredients:

1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained and 1/2 liquid reserved
1 (14.75 ounce) can cream-style corn
2 eggs 1 (8 ounce) package dry corn bread mix
1 cup sour cream
8 ounces Cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking pan. In a large mixing bowl, combine corn, reserved liquid, eggs, corn bread mix and sour cream; stir until blended. Pour batter into prepared pan; sprinkle with cheese.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, until golden brown.

This will make approximately 12 servings. It is so easy and so delicious, hope you try it and let me know how you like it.