Preheat oven to 350 F
Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
3 cups apples, peeled, diced
1 1/2 cups of granulated white sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cup applesauce
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Line muffin pans with muffin liners
2. In large bowl, combine flour, apples, sugar, salt, baking powder and cinnamon
3. Stir in oil, applesauce, eggs and vanilla
4. Fill muffin cups to top
5. Optional: Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar if you like
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes
7. Cool 5 minutes before serving. ENJOY!

Makes 16 muffins

I have been looking for a great banana bread recipe and wanted to pass this one along. It is so easy and is perfect for the morning or an afternoon snack. I can’t think of a better way to use your leftover bananas!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, smash together using a wooden spoon:
1/3 cup melted butter
3 to 4 bananas, smashed

Then mix in:
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla

Once smooth, mix in:
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips (optional, but not according to my kids!)

Batter will be very thick. Transfer to a 4×8 buttered loaf pan and bake 50-60 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack before removing from pan.

Over a large bowl, using the large side of a box grater, grate:
2 medium zucchinis (about 3/4 pound)

Once grated add:
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Stir to combine. Heat a large pan over medium heat and melt 1/2 tablespoon butter and 1/2 tablespoon olive oil. When butter is hot, but not yet smoking drop heaping spoons of batter into the pan and shape into a zucchini pancake form. Cook about 4-5 minutes on each side or until browned. Serve hot and enjoy.

Serves 2-4

This is a simple savory pasta dish that is so easy to prepare. Plus the enitre family loves it.

Preheat oven to 225 degrees. On a large jelly roll pan, place:
3 pounds plum tomatoes, cored and halved lengthwise
Sprinkle with:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
Bake for 4 hours.

With about 20 minutes left for the tomatoes to cook, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Once boiling add:
12 ounces of uncooked fettuccine
Cook for about 8 minutes or until al dente. Drain pasta and reserve 3/4 cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, over low heat, add:
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 whole peeled garlic cloves
Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove garlic and chop. Add garlic, tomatoes and cooking liquid all back to the skillet and cook for about 3-5 minutes over medium-high heat. Add cooked pasta to skillet and cook 1 more minute, tossing to combine. Remove from heat and top with:
1 cup fresh shaved Parmigiano cheese
1/4 cup torn fresh basil

Serves 6

My kids love these chocolate cupcakes.  We’ve gone through our fair share of cupcake recipes and I think we have narrowed down this as our favorite chocolate cupcake recipe.  A great thing about these chocolate cupcakes is the fact that you can make the unfrosted cupcakes ahead of time and freeze them for a month if you are short on time.

This recipe makes about 12 chocolate cupcakes.

Chocolate Cupcake Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

4 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup water

3/4 teaspon salt

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Cupcake Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line a 12 cup cupcake pan with paper cupcake liners

3. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.  Add the oil and water and mix together.

4. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

5. Add the butter mixture into the large bowl with the dry mixture.

6. Beat in the egg to the mixture.

7. Add the buttermilk and mix in.

8. Add vanilla and mix in.

9. Pour the chocolate cupcake batter into the cupcake pans.  The key is to pour about 3/4 of the chocolate cupcake batter into each cupcake pan tin. Don’t overfill!

10. Bake the chocolate cupcakes for 25 minutes.  Test for them to be done by inserting a toothpick and removing it. If it comes out clean, you’ve got yourself some great chocolate cupcakes!

11. Let the chocolate cupcakes cool, transfer out of the pan, and frost as desired.  Try the Truffle Frosting.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease cookie sheets.  In a large mixing bowl, beat together:

1 14oz can pumpkin puree

1 cup softened butter

2 cups sugar

Once mixed, add:

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

Beat until fluffy and mixed.  Once combined, add:

3 and 1/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Mix until all ingredients are combined.  Dough should be thick, but moist.  Fold in:

1 12oz. bag of white chocolate chips

Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto greased cookie sheets.  Bake about 10-12 minutes, but check after 8 minutes.  Cookies burn easily.  Cookies are done when edges are browned and leave no indentation when touched.

*Tip: Place a slice of bread in an air tight container with the cookies to prevent cookies from drying out.

Makes 4 dozen

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour to 8 or 9 inch round cake pans.  In a large mizing bowl, add:

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup very hot water

1 cup butter

Mix until butter is broken down and large lumps have melted away.  Then add:

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups sugar

Beat until mixture is smooth.  Add:

3 cups flou

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Beat again until smooth.  Pour batter into prepared cake pans.  Bake about 35-42 minutes or until tooth pick comes out of the middle of the cake clean.  Allow to cool and then frost as desired.

Serves up to 16

In a medium sauce pan, over medium high heat, add:

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/4 corn syrup

Bring mixture to a simmer and turn off heat.  Add:

12 oz semisweet chocolate chips

Allow to stand for a few minutes and then whip until mixture is smooth.  Cover and chill for about 1 1/2 hours or until desired consistency.  Beat with an electic mixture to fluff before frosting.  Frosts two 8 or 9 inch cake pans or 24c cupcakes.

In large pot, over medium high heat, add and brown:

2 pounds ground beef (80/20)

Cook beef until just no longer pink, breaking up with a large spoon.  Season with salt and pepper and reduce heat to medium.  Add:

4 minced garlic cloves

1/2 diced red onion

5 celery stalks, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 tomato, diced

Cook for about 5 minutes, or until vegetables begin to soften.  Add:

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 cup BBQ sauce (store bought or home-made)

1/4 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons of water

Bring to a boil and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Once mixture has thickened slightly, reduce heat and add:

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

! tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon molasses

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Cover and cook for about 15 minutes.  Remove cover and cook an additional 10 minutes or until mixture has thickened.  Garnish with chopped parsley or cilantro.

Serves 4-6

In a large food processor (or small food processor, working in batches), add:

3 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 oz. of shiitake mushrooms

6 oz. of assorted mushrooms (white, brown, or cremini) cleaned

3 garlic cloves

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves

Pulse vegetables until finely chopped but still a little chunky.  You do not want a puree. In a large pot, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat.  Add vegetables and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook until tender, about 8-10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low and add:

4 tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 cup red wine

1 cup vegetable broth

Stir to dissolve the tomato paste and then increase heat to medium high and bring the liquid to a boil.  Once it is reduced by half, add:

1 more cup vegetable broth

Turn to low and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally.  In another pot, bring water to boil for pasta.  Add salt once boiling and cook 1 pound of penne or rigatoni according to al dente directions.  Just before the pasta is done, to the simmering vegetable sauce add:

*1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

Stir cheese into sauce until just melted.  Drain pasta and add cooked pasta to sauce.  Toss pasta and sauce,  remove from heat and serve immediately.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese if desired.

*Mascarpone Cheese is Italian cream cheese.  It has the same texture, but it slightly sweeter and richer tasting.  You could substitute cream cheese if you can’t find mascarpone, but it gives the sauce a richer flavor so it is worth looking into.

Serves 6-8