Fluffy Peanut Butter Frosting

It's birthday time for my niece again! She's the big 11 this year - how time flies!

Made some King Arthur GF Chocolate Cupcakes, then filled and topped them with this Fluffy Peanut Butter frosting recipe that I found on AllRecipes.com

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 cups confectioners sugar

3 tablespoons milk, as needed

Place the butter and peanut butter into a medium bowl, and beat with an electric mixer. Gradually mix in the sugar, and when it starts to get thick, incorporate milk one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick and spreadable. Beat for at least 3 minutes for it to get good and fluffy.
Note: I doubled the recipe and used about 3.5 cups of sugar, and no milk.

Honey Mustard Chicken

Honey-Mustard Chicken

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

1/4 cup honey

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

3 chicken breast halves (boneless, skinless or bone-in, skin-on)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Arrange chicken breast halves in a baking dish.

Mix together melted butter, honey, mustard, salt, and curry powder. Pour sauce over chicken, coating thoroughly.

Bake at 350F for about 40 minutes, or until internal temp reaches 165-175F, basting during baking time if desired

Zucchini Donuts

Yep.... you read that right. Zucchini.....donuts...

If you've got a garden at home, then you know what it's like to have a million zucchini around this time of year and not know what to do with them all. I'm always got an eye out for new recipes using the green veggie. And that's how I came across these gems.

I found them via a Google search. I saw some other recipes for donuts on Pinterest and thought "Hmmm.... I wonder if anyone's ever been crazy enough to make a zucchini donut". Ashley at Simply Designing was just that crazy!

Both Little Ladies liked them a lot, as did I! Farmer Bob will be home in a while, so I'll get his verdict then.

I've got a Sunbeam Donut Maker and I really love it. I got it on clearance at Target a while back. I've made donuts in it twice, and needed no extra fat (butter, spray, etc) to get the donuts out. They really just come right out, nice and easy. If you don't have a donut maker, you could probably make these in a donut pan in the oven. You'll just need to follow the instructions that come with the pan, and play with your time until you find what works for you.

Ingredients

• 3/4 c whole wheat flour
• 1/2 c white flour
• 1/4 c flaxseed (ground)
• 1/3 c brown sugar (packed)
• 1 t orange zest
• 3/4 t ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t salt
• 2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1 1/3 c zucchini and/or yellow squash, grated (this is approximately 1 1/2 average sized zucchinis)
• 1/2 c plain, vanilla or greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 2 T honey

Ingredients for Glaze:

• 1/2 T milk
• 4 T powdered sugar

Directions

1. Mix all dry ingredients together
2. Puree the zucchini
3. In a separate bowl, combine all wet ingredients including the zucchini and mix until fully incorporated
4. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and combine until moist
5. Place a large ziploc bag into a tall glass, fill with batter, cut off tip and fill the preheated Donut Maker donut crevices with batter
6. Bake 3-5 minutes or until golden browned and fully cooked
7. Let fully cook on a rack
8. Mix glaze and dip tops of cooled donuts into glaze if desired

Cheesy Baked Tomatoes

Saw this on Facebook, and finally got around to making them. They're really quite tasty and pretty healthy as well. I changed the recipe up a little to fit what we had at home.

4 tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 oz Asiago cheese, shredded
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 450° F.
Place tomatoes cut-side up on a baking sheet.
Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl, and top tomatoes with mixture.
Mist lightly with non-fat cooking spray and bake until the tomatoes are tender, about 15-20 minutes.

Basic Beer Bread

My friend Jan gave me this recipe. She said it's really easy to make,and very tasty!

3 cups flour, sifted (or spoon it into the measuring cup)

3 teaspoons baking powder (omit if using self-rising flour)

1 teaspoon flour (omit if using self-rising flour)

1/4 cup sugar

1 (12) bottle of beer

1/2 cup melted butter (1/4 is fine)

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix together dry ingredients and beer.

Pour into greased loaf pan. For crispy crust, pour the melted butter over the top. For softer crust, pour the butter into the batter.

Bake 1 hour; remove from pan and let cool for at least 15 minutes.

Taco Bake

Taco Bake

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef

1 packet taco seasoning
* water as called for on back of seasoning packet
3 large flour tortillas (8-inch size)
1/2 cup Salsa Con Queso
1 1/2-2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend

Directions:
Brown and crumble ground beef. Drain excess grease.
Add in taco seasoning and water (following directions on back of seasoning packet).
Once the taco meat is ready, turn off heat and add in 1/2 cup salsa con queso.
Give it a good stir until thoroughly combined.
Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Spray an 8-inch round baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Layer the bottom of the pan with a flour tortilla.
Now add about 1/3 of the ground beef taco filling on the the first layer.
Then add 1/3 of the shredded cheese.
Continue until you are done with all the layers: another tortilla, more taco mixture, more cheese.
Bake at 350F degrees for about 15-20 minutes.
Until cheese is melted and edges are slightly golden brown.
Allow to cool for a couple of minutes.
Then slice and serve.
Top with sour cream and diced tomatoes.

Crisp Cucumber Salsa

2 cups finely chopped seeded peeled cucumber
1/2 cup finely chopped seeded tomato
1/4 cup chopped red onion
2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
1 jalepeno pepper, seeded and chopped
4-1/2 tsp minced fresh cilantro
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
1/4 c reduced-fat sour cream
1-1/2 tsp lemon juice
1-1/2 tsp lime juice
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp seasoned salt
Tortilla chips

In a small bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. In another bowl, combine the sour cream, lemon juice, lime juice, cumin and seasoned salt. Pour over cucumber mixture and toss gently to coat. Serve immediately.

Recipe from My Fridge Food.