Southern Women – Perfectly at ease ‘doing lunch’ at the country club with the girls or hangin’ with the boys shooting shit and drinkin’ a Bud 🙂
**side note- no school. AGAIN.
Month: August 2011
I’m still here…
Hey y’all! If you follow me on you know that we survived hurricane Irene with minimal damage, however, internet has been out since. Finally got it back yesterday evening for all of 5 minutes, when another terrible storm came through (spawning tornados no less!) and lost it again. Obviously it’s back…but who knows for how long! This weather is C-R-A-Z-Y. First we experienced an earthquake, which is virtually unheard of in these parts, then the hurricane (which thankfully made landfall at a Category I instead of III like they originally predicted), and then stupid tornados. What. Is. Up?! I feel the need to get to church Sunday, and I am not even kidding.
My kids have been out of school all week too, due to all the downed trees and power lines around here, which would keep me from blogging even if I had internet. They went to school for 2 days, now out for 2 days…and we haven’t heard about tomorrow yet. Anyway, I hope everyone else is doing well and I will be back to my regular nonsense blogging ASAP. I haven’t even been able to cook that much b/c all the recipes I want to try are on , which I couldn’t access! I need an app for that. (Apparently my smart phone isn’t that smart.) I did make Fiber One Crunchy Fudge Cookies last night. I know you all can’t wait for that post 😉 I think I’ll title that post…cookies that move you. hahaha
Random thoughts for Friday
What is Kim of Mo’Betta thinking this Friday…..
Hurricane IRENE. Bitch. Not looking forward to the weekend and worried. My parents, brother and other family all live in eastern NC.
. Love. All I want to do is eat and decorate.
Kids. They started school yesterday. My oldest has a really good class, my middle child has a…. less than ideal class. I’m getting quite the repuation at their school I’m afraid. Good thing I don’t care.
And finally (‘cuz my thoughts are limited these days)…
Hope everyone has a SAFE weekend!!
Lemon Basil Zucchini Bread
Yep, zucchini has not disappeared from your life just yet! I had a hankerin’ to bake something with lemon. Plenty of zucchini was laying around, so I thought, hmmm, lemon zucchini bread? lemon blueberry zucchini bread? And then I saw . Gotta love Pinterest! I didn’t want to use rosemary when I have all this fresh basil, so I decided on Lemon Basil Zucchini Bread. After a little searching, I saw , but it was a little more savory than what I had in mind. So, when I finally got off Pinterest, I went and made this yummy bread!
I also discovered that my new cute little dish doesn’t cook all that evenly, but that’s a different story.
Lemon Basil Zucchini Bread adapted from
Ingredients
3 cups flour (I used 1/2 white and 1/2 whole wheat)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 Tbsp minced basil
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoons salt (omit if using salted butter)
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp lemon zest
3 cups grated zucchini (from about 1 pound of zucchini)
1 tsp lemon extract
Method
1 Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare two 4×9-inch loaf pans, either coating with butter or spraying with baking spray.
2 In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and basil.
3 Beat the eggs in a mixer (or by hand) until frothy. Beat in the sugar. Beat in the melted butter and olive oil. Stir in the lemon zest, lemon extract and grated zucchini.
4 Add the dry ingredients to the wet, a third at a time, stirring after each incorporation.
5 Divide batter/dough into two loaf pans. Bake in a 350°F oven for 45 to 50 minutes. Test after 40 minutes. If you gently press down on the surface of the loaf, it should bounce back, and a bamboo skewer inserted into the center should come out clean.
6 Remove from the oven. Let cool for a few minutes and then remove the loaves from their pans to cool on a rack.
Notes – This would have made one regular size loaf. I made 2 small ones. I also had to decrease my baking time, but I’m figuring out that my oven cooks hot! I’m going to have to start decreasing the temp on all my baked items. The flavor…very good! I loved the lemon and would have loved more basil. You get just a hint of it in this.
It has nice flecks of green, which my children thought was awful! Needless to say, I was on my own with this one. I took some to my parents, otherwise I would have eaten IT ALL. No self control.
I’m kinda sad that my zucchini plants are dead. But a little relieved at the same time. I worked hard to use all that zucchini!
I’m linking this recipe up at
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Fresh Tomato and Basil Sauce
This recipe is fabulous for several reasons…1. No cooking required 2. Fresh ingredients (tomatoes and basil straight from my garden!) 3. It’s delicious. 4. It’s healthy 5. No cooking required. Oh yeah, I said that already. However, as hot as it’s been, it is worth repeating!
This is another great recipe from ! She has some great step-by-step photos. This recipe is super simple…all you have to do is chop up your ingredients, let it sit, give it a stir and …. DONE.
Fresh Tomato and Basil Sauce
10 garden tomatoes various sizes
1 garlic clove
large handful of basil
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil
Dice tomatoes and garlic, add to a large bowl, julienne basil, salt and pepper to taste, mix well. Then drizzle olive oil on top until it covers all the tomatoes about 1/4 inch, cover and let sit in room temperature 2-3 hours before serving (or longer…mine sat for 4 hours or more the first time I made it). Cook pasta al dente, mix the fresh sauce and add on top of pasta (or whatever you like – spaghetti squash, zucchini, etc)
YUM.MO.
This recipe makes quite a bit of sauce, so you can scale it down if needed. I’ve made it twice so far, once for 3 adults (and had plenty left over) and once just for me!
Simple, fresh, delicious!!
I’m linking this recipe up with , , A, , , , , , , ,, , , , , ,, , , , , , , , and (Ingredient Spotlight – Fresh Herbs), ; ,
Orange you glad I didn’t post zucchini?
I have at least one more zucchini recipe to post, and then that should be about it for me. My garden is kaput. Of course, I have reserves in the freezer!
However, today, I wanted to post these –
The perfect thing for a Saturday morning. Or Sunday. Or Tuesday for that matter.
These are the fluffiest pancakes ever. Definitely the fluffiest I’ve ever made. It’s a slight variation from my no milk, no eggs, no problem pancakes.
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1-1/2 cups orange juice
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2 cups all-purpose flour *I usually do 1 cup all-purpose and 1 cup whole wheat
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3 tablespoons white sugar
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2 teaspoons baking powder
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1 teaspoon baking soda
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1 teaspoon salt
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1 T. vinegar, 1 T. orange juice and 1 t. baking powder (OR ONE EGG)*see note
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1 t. cinnamon
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1/2 t. ginger (powdered)
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1 t. orange zest
Glaze – Mix 1 cup confectioner’s sugar with enough orange juice to get the consistency you want.
Directions
1. Mix orange juice and eggs or egg substitute in small bowl. *NOTE-Since I doubled this recipe from the original, it should actually be 2 eggs instead of one…but I didn’t double my egg substitute.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon/ginger and orange zest in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add wet ingredients to dry. Let sit for 10 minutes. (I’m convinced this is the key to fluffy pancakes!)
4. Heat a large skillet (or electric griddle) over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.
Verdict? Dee-wishes, in the words of my 3 year old! I’m still amazed at how high these rose. I would have liked a little more orange flavor in the pancake, so more zest is certainly an option.
Have a great weekend!
it’s my birfday
Well, actually, my birthday was a couple of weeks ago, but being the slacker busy mother that I am, I haven’t had the chance to share. However, my parents gave me something that’s been on my wish list….
a mini ! (Photo from .com)
Thanks Mom & Dad!
I looove it…makes the best coffee!
My hubs gave me a couple of child-free days here…
heaven on earth baby!
I went with my sister and a friend, and just reeelaxed.
and since it was my birthday 😉 cookies, Pretzel M&M;’s, brewsky
and some girly fun.
I had a pic, but you could tell I had maybe drank a few brewskies before painting my toenails..wasn’t the best lookin’ paint job! oops.
Or maybe these were responsible…
Mojitos are the bomb.
And my sister, who knows my love for kitchen toys, gave me
It’s very similar to this, I was too lazy to take an actual picture and upload it – but it makes little hand held pies! Can’t wait to play with this!
My children, who know their mama oh so well –
Straight from the factory in Hershey, PA! They had their own little vacation with my in-laws, and got to see the Hershey factory, and how the Amish live.
It was a pretty nice bday, and this weekend, we’ll be celebrating my dad’s 60th birthday!
Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu
Let me first apologize for the less than delicious looking picture…
It’s hard to get a hunk of meat to look pretty to begin with, secondly, I didn’t try. I was hungry.
This was so simple that I almost didn’t post it, but my family really liked it, so I thought I would share- just in case you haven’t tried it before. Cuz, you know it’s a rare occasion around here when everyone agrees that a dish is good. Unless it’s chocolate cake. Without zucchini or some other hidden vegetable 😉
Chicken breast are extremely versatile and the main meat in the Mo’Betta house. (Much to my husband’s dismay I’m sure) I’m not knockin’ beef or pork, but chicken is easy and relatively inexpensive. However, sometimes I’m looking at these chicken boobs (totally fault for that mental image) and thinkin’…chicken again?! What will I do with it this time?
I had bought boneless, skinless chicken breasts from Sam’s Club. I don’t know what kind of chickens these bad boys came from…but they had to be tripleD’s. They were HUGE. I tried pounding them a little and it was futile, so I decided to stuff them. Kinda like my bra when I was younger. Just kidding (maybe), wanted to see if you were paying attention.
So, when you have monster chicken breasts, swiss, and ham in the fridge…you make . (a quick and easy version, not a fancy French version)
I butterflied my chicken breasts, stuffed a slice of ham and swiss inside, secured with a toothpick (which my husband later ate) and then topped with another slice of ham and swiss, and fresh ground pepper. Because fresh ground pepper makes everything better.
Bake until done…I can’t tell you how long this is, b/c it depends on the size of your…uhm, breasts. Wow, that sounds weird. Wonder what kind of spam this post will generate. Anyway, size does matter. But we women already knew that.
Before this post digresses any further…you can also use up your leftovers in a yummy risotto
Risotto, chopped chicken cordon bleu and spinach. It was delicious!
I’m linking up today with for Share a Spoon! Today’s theme is…you guessed it…chicken boobs!