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

Bacon and Swiss Quiche

Found these recently and tried it out. It was great! I really love quiche, so this was a nice version that was a bit healthier.

I didn't ahve any phyllo that would have thawed in time, so I used a pre-made pie crust instead. It was a bit more calories, but not too bad. The original recipe can be seen on WeightWatchers.com.

Ingredients
2 sheet(s) phyllo dough, cut into three strips each  
3 large eggs
1/4 cup regular egg substitute
1 cup(s) fat free half and half
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
1/4 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup(s) (shredded) low-fat hard cheese, Swiss, grated
4 oz cooked crisp turkey bacon, diced 


Directions
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray.

Lay phyllo dough in pie plate, one piece at a time, coating each layer with cooking spray — dough should cover bottom and sides of dish. Fold in any overhanging corners.

Whisk together eggs, egg substitute, milk, flour, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Sprinkle cheese and bacon over phyllo dough. Pour in egg mixture and place quiche on a baking sheet. Bake until firm, about 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool at least 5 minutes before cutting into 8 wedges.

Healthier Banana Bread

While I LOVE my Mom's banana bread, it's not exactly healthy. And since I'm trying to drop some poundage, I need to find a healthier, but still tasty, version of one of my favorite foods!

Mom came across this one and it's pretty yummy! One eighth of the recipe is 6 PointsPlus for Weight Watchers.

Very dense and moist, this bread is fragrant and scrumptious. For an even lighter treat, you can cut the sugar in half or use some Splenda sugar substitute.

Weight Watchers Healthy Banana Bread recipe

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose white flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

2 eggs

3/4 cup granulated sugar

4-5 very ripe bananas, mashed

3/4 cup sugar free spiced unsweetened applesauce

2 eggs

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray, set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients, whisking to combine. Add the chocolate chips and nuts if using.

4. Beat the eggs with the sugar together at medium-high speed until creamy.

5. Beat in the applesauce and bananas.

6. Fold in the dry ingredients.

7. Pour into the prepared pan and place it in the oven. Once the oven door is closed, reduce the heat so it’s between 325-350 degrees F.

8. Bake for about 35-40 minutes (the cake is done as soon as a tester comes out clean).

9. Cool on a wire rack for about 5 minutes.

10. Invert on the rack, remove the pan, cool and store in an airtight container.

Nutritional information for 1/16 of the recipe (not including chips or nuts):

Calories: 121

Calories from fat: 8

Total fat: 0.9g

Cholesterol: 26mg

Total carbs: 26.6g

Dietary fiber: 1.9g

Protein: 2.9g

Easy Breakfast Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour

1/2 cup Grape Nuts cereal

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup butter, room temperature

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup golden raisins

1 1/2 cups pecans or walnuts, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Whisk together oats, whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, cereal, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Stir in egg and vanilla. Stir egg mixture into oat/flour mixture until just combined, and then stir in raisins and nuts.
3. Drop cookies by the rounded tablespoon onto a Silpat (or parchment paper) lined baking sheet about 2" apart. Bake until cookies are golden, about 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Makes 4-dozen 2" cookies.

Blueberry Sour Cream Coffeecake

Original recipe found at Duncan Hines.

Ingredients

Coffeecake:

1 pkg Duncan Hines® 100% Whole Grain Wild Maine Blueberry Muffin Mix

1/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup blueberry preserves

Glaze:
Duncan Hines® Amazing Glazes Vanilla (I just used confectioner's sugar and milk)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease 8- or 9-inch round cake or pie pan.
2. Rinse blueberries from mix with cold water and drain.For coffee cake combine muffin mix, sour cream, milk, and egg in medium bowl. Stir until servings are moistened. Spread half the batter in pan.
3. Combine blueberries and preserves in small bowl. Spread half the blueberry mixture on top of the batter. Spread remaining batter over blueberry mixture. Spread remaining blueberry mixture on top, avoiding edges.
4. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes for 8-inch pan (25 to 30 minutes for 9-inch pan) or until golden.
5. For topping, follow heating instructions on the Duncan Hines® Amazing Glazes Vanilla package. Drizzle over hot coffee cake. Serve warm or room temperature.