Mint Lemonade Slush

3 scoops of lemonade powder mix
3 cups water
8 cubes of ice
5-6 fresh mint leaves

• Put ice and water in the blender. 
• Add the lemonade powder and mint leaves. 
• Blend all ingredients until well mixed.  Serve immediately.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups white sugar
2 cups shredded zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 pint fresh blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared mini-loaf pans.
3. Bake 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Granola Bars

4 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup honey

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 cups miniature semisweet chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease one 9x13 inch pan.
• In a large mixing bowl combine the oats, flour, baking soda, vanilla, butter or margarine, honey and brown sugar. Stir in the 2 cups assorted chocolate chips, raisins, nuts etc.
• Lightly press mixture into the prepared pan. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes then cut into bars. Let bars cool completely in pan before removing or serving.

Summer Squash Casserole

This recipe is a modified version of Paula Dean's recipe on Food Network.  It's good!

6 summer squash/ zucchini

1 cup onions, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

2 Tb butter

2 slices white bread

1 medium bowl ice water

1 egg

Salt and pepper

1 cup cracker crumbs, or enough to cover casserole

Parmesan cheese

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Peel and cut squash into cubes. Boil until tender, about 5 to 7 minutes, and drain.
• Brown onion, garlic, and basil in 2 tablespoons butter seasoned with salt and pepper. Soak bread in ice water and wring out; chop fine. Add to onion and garlic mixture; cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes. Add drained squash and stir. Remove from heat. Beat egg and add, allowing it to absorb into the mixture. Season with salt and pepper, if needed.
• Place in casserole dish or baking pan. Cover top with cracker crumbs and Parmesan cheese.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crumbs brown.

Note: You can refrigerate this dish for up to 2 days before baking, but you should add the bread crumb topping right before you bake.

No-Fry French Fries

2 medium potatoes
1/4 cup Italian reduced fat Dressing
1/4 cup Parmesan grated topping

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash potatoes and pat dry. Cut potatoes into 1/4 inch thick strips.
• Transfer to a large plastic bag and pour Italian dressing and Parmesan into the bag. Toss well.
• Arrange potatoes in a single layer on 2 large baking sheets sprayed with cooking spray. Spray fries again with spray.
• Bake for 12 minutes. Turn fries with a spatula. Continue baking and turn every 10 minutes. (I ended up cooking my fries for 30 minutes.)

Cinnamon Pumpkin Rolls

I really liked these. You taste a bit of pumpkin, with a bit of wheat, with a bit of cinnamon. I put a normal frosting/glaze on it the time I made them, but I thought a cream cheese topping or filling would be really good too.





Dough:1 cup canned pumpkin or squash
2 large eggs
1/4 cup water, warm
1/4 cup soft butter
2 1/2 cups flour
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup dry milk powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3 Tb brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp instant yeast


Filling:cinnamon/sugar mixture
raisins, dried cranberries, crystallized ginger (optional)

Glaze:
1 Tb butter
1 Tb milk
1 cup powdered sugar

• Proof the yeast in the warm water. Mix and knead dough ingredients into a soft, smooth dough. Allow it to rise until double in size - 1.5-2 hours. Turn it out onto a lightly greased surface and roll it into a 14"x 22" rectangle.
• Spread melted butter onto the dough and sprinkle with your cinnamon/sugar mixture. Sprinkle with raisins, cranberries, or ginger if desired. Roll the dough into a log.
• Cut the log into sections. (8 worked well for a 9x13 pan.) Place in pan and let rise, covered for 1 hour or until puffy.
• Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Drizzle with the glaze.

Neiman Marcus Cookies

This is the recipe from the email that everyone gets. The one about a lady who has to buy a 250 dollar recipe when she thinks it is a 2.50 recipe. The story is totally false by the way. The cookies however are fabulous.








2 cups butter
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 cups sugar
5 cups oatmeal, blended
24 oz chocolate chips
2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 8 oz Hershey Bar (grated)
4 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups chopped nuts

• Measure oatmeal and blend in a blender to a fine powder.
• Cream butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl add flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, soda. Mix dry ingredients with the sugar mixture.
• Add chocolate chips, Hershey bar and nuts. Roll into balls and place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. 
• Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Makes 112 cookies.