Chocolate Zucchini Cake drizzled with Cream Cheese Maple Frosting....

I got a little excited before I took the picture - Half Eaten Chicken Salad

After baking a quick chicken for some amazing chicken ceaser salad (yup, obsessed), I wanted something light and tasty for dessert. Ollie's Mom gave us the most gigantic zucchini, which she said would be perfect for any type of zucchini pastry. Mmmm zucchini pastries. I found a chocolate zucchini cake recipe online, with over 400 positive reviews, so I figured I might as well give it a try. My cakes haven't been turning out fantastic, so I was a little nervous with all these failures. 

Finally, SUCCESS! My new Bunt Pan might have been the culprit, or it was this awesome recipe, whichever, I'm pretending it was me. This was the most perfectly moist cake, with such a good flavor. I omitted the walnuts, as the recipe called for - because my walnuts have been too overpowering lately. This was my first "light" cake. Fluffy! It almost tasted like cake brownies. But not dense! Crazy, I know, but it is unbelievably delicious. The recipe had powdered sugar sprinkled on top, but I had leftover cream cheese maple frosting to drizzle on it. Uh, yum. 

 

Snacky Snack

I really can't believe I titled my blog that, but whatever. 

In my quest to eat better, I have been snacking on some delicious ... rice cakes. Seriously. They are so good, I almost thought I was eating cheetos. But then I realized I couldn't eat the whole bag, and I was disappointed. Oh well - on to the next best thing: Snackwell's Creme Sandwich Cookies. Mmmm. Paired with an afternoon Taro Slushy (Bubble Tea), and SmartOne's pizza mini's, I am feeling pertty low-fat and happy.

But now I am hungry and craving crab puffs. What are crab puffs you ask? They are simply the most amazing thing on earth. Cream cheese, imitation crab, and wonton wrappers all deep fried and oozey... yeah... delicious.

Pretty sure tonight's menu will not include my beloved crab puff's, but will include a delicious Baked Chicken Ceaser Salad. Be jealous. Be so jealous. Pictures later. 

Turkey Burger Heaven

Who knew?! Turkey burgers are actually delicious!! I am completely shocked, and ecstatic.

I had purchased some plain Jennie-O Turkey Burgers for my Mom when she had gallbladder surgery. I figured it was something low enough in fat, and easy enough to cook (a quick pan fry and they are golden) that she could enjoy without a lot of effort. At the same time I grabbed a box of the same Turkey Burgers, with the exception that mine have peppers and spices in them. As you all know, I am a food hoarder and have to have my fridge, freezer and cupboards stocked full at all times, so I figured these would sit in the freezer forever without any attention. I was so wrong! My Poppa told me they were wonderful, so tonight, after my 30 minute work-out (yes!) I threw these in a pan and had a fast, delicious dinner.

I added guacamole, fresh tomatoes, and melted cheese to Ollie's, and we enjoyed them with some awesome Oreida French Fries! Oh-so-healthy.

Perfect Hamburger Substitute

 

Whoopie Pies... Whatever those are?

Courtesy, once again, from Brown Eyed Baker, I tried out one of her Top 10 Pumpkin recipes called, Whoopie Pies. Now I know you're asking, what the heck are Whoopie Pies!? Apparently they are the most delicious cookies smooshed together like Oreos with some sort of filling inside. 

The Whoopie Pies I tried were Pumpkin Cookies with a Maple Cream Cheese frosting. Just the sound of the name made me salivate. The pictures alone had me running to the store to buy some all natural real maple, just to ensure the filling would be as good as it sounds. 

I made the cookies first, because there were a ton to make. I used a Tablespoon to drop them onto the parchment paper (which did not burn them! YAY!), and anxiously baked them for the necessary 11 long minutes. 

Fresh From the Oven

After I cooked what seemed like 100 cookies, I finally started on the frosting, which I was so proud of successfully making! It's such a surprise that I am too impatient to usually cream my confectioners sugar until it's all the way combined with the ingredients... so as I licked the beater, I complimented myself on some damn good frosting. 

Finally, the assembled product! 

All I can say is: Dangerous. These taste less like Pumpkin Whoopie Pies than they do spice cake cookies with filling. I happen to be a gigantic fan of anything pumpkin, or spice cake-ish, so I was pretty pleased with these. I am trying my hardest to not devour all of them, as I am starting back on the "eat better"...blah blah blah... so you may be seeing more "good for you" recipes coming your way! 

P.S. - If you have "Good for You" recipes to share - Please email me at CookiesforBkfst@Gmail.com!                                                                                     

Don't Tell Mom!!!

All throughout my childhood, through my teenage years and even to this day, my Mom will not let us have her unbelievably delicious "Jet" Potatoes and Meatballs unless it is Christmas. These are not made together (same pot/pan), but must be eaten together. You can't have one without the other! ... So as it may happen, Ollie begs and begs for me to make them every once in a while, and ... ugh... every once in a while... I give in. Such pressure!

SHHHH! Please don't tell Mom!

These ungodly delicious potatoes consist of a giant tub of sour cream, sharp cheddar, miscellaneous soups, and hash brown potatoes all globbed together and baked for two long hours. There is simply nothing like baked cheese, potatoes and sour cream! Yum!!!

Can you feel your arteries clogging? I sure did last night... They were delicious, except for the fact that I burned them. Woopsie!! It didn't seem to bother my brother and Ollie much. They were able to consume 3/4 of the pan before I even got to it. Thanks boys! 







As necessary, I also made delicious meatballs... or meat chunks as I called them. They fell apart in my crock pot! I am pretty sure I should set the crock pot to low, but an anxious person doesn't put anything on low.

Mmmmeatballs