Zucchini-Spice muffins

350 degrees     18-20 mins


With a new gardening season before us, here is a great and tasty way to use up zucchini that you might have in the freezer.

3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tsp fresh lemon zest
1 cup oil (vegetable) coconut if you like but it will change the taste a bit.
2 large eggs
3 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped nuts if desired
2 cups lightly packed brown sugar or 1 cup honey

In a large bowl whisk together flour,spices,sugar,baking powder,soda
In a separate bowl whisk together oil,eggs,vanilla, zest Add to dry ingredients

mix together,  add the cupcake liners 3/4 full

bake and enjoy

A new adventure means trying out new recipes

Arugula,Fennel,& Mandarin Salad

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts. If you have walnuts or pecans they would be great too
8 cups of arugula or any baby greens you happen to like
1/2 a fennel bulb thinly sliced
8 slices of prosciutto or you could use some chicken breast (slice strips in half)
2 cans of mandarin segments  drain off syrup
1/4 cup of dried cranberries or cherries
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
pinch salt and pepper

Toast pine nuts in a dry skillet 2-3 mins  watch they don't get too dark.
Use a large platter for family style or 6-8 small plates. We do a lot of family style at our house.

Lay out your greens,fennel (I toss together first) on the platter, arrange the prosciutto,mandarins around the greens, sprinkle on the pine nuts and cranberries.
in a small vessel mix together your olive oil,honey,red wine vinegar,salt and pepper.
drizzle on salad just before serving,

So good,so easy

Bow tie pasta with pesto and cherry tomatoes, feta cheese

So with summer right around the corner and sports are taking up all my free time here is a salad I can keep in th fridge for a day or 2. Add a nice sub sandwich to it and supper or lunch is complete.


I make my own pesto and you can find my recipe on the blog. If you don't have time to do that it's okay! There are a lot of store made pesto that is great.

1 box of bow tie pasta cooked and drained. Don't over cool the pasta!
8-12 cherry tomatoes cut in half
1/2  cup crumbled feta
1/2 cup of pesto
2 leaves of basil chopped fine
Pinch of salt and pepper

In a large bowl toss warm pasta with pesto, salt and pepper
Add tomatoes, feta and basil gently toss
You can serve this warm or place in fridge

This lasts about 3 days in the fridge but at our house I am lucky if it makes it to supper time.
Great to send in the kids lunch too

Angry shrimp with spinach salad/citrus dreasing

An easy recipe when you are in a hurry to get something healthy and amazing on the table.


4 servings

1 bag or frozen 16-20 shrimp.  Leave the tail on

1 blood orange
1 pink grapefruit
1 tangelo
1 mandarin (segments)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 fresh jalapeño sliced thin. Seeds removed
5 basil leaves thin sliced
1 tbsp orange zest
4 cups or 1 large bag fresh spinach
1/2 cup toasted pecans or walnuts

Flour mixture for shrimp

1 cup flour
1 tsp cayenne pepper or you can use your favourite ground chile pepper
1 tbsp sal
1 tsp fresh ground pepper

Mix together well in a bowl

Salad

1/4 of each citrus fruit into segments remove the thin skin. Cut large segments in 1/2
Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper
With other half of citrus juice into a bowl, add olive oil, jalapeño, basil a pinch of salt and pepper

Dredge shrimp in flour mixture

Fry in skillet with 1tbsp butter, 1 tbsp olive oil!
Don't over cool.

Dress spinach just before serving, add citrus segments and arrange shrimp.


This takes about 20 minutes total prep and cooking time.
Enjoy on the deck with a nice glass of wine.

Spicy pumpkin muffins

These are a hit in my house to the point I have to make a double batch now. 375 degrees 20-25 mins

3 eggs 

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup oil

1 small can pure pumpkin

2 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp clove

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp salt

In a mixing bowl cream together eggs,sugar,oil once combined add pumpkin

cream together

add spices mix then add baking powder and flour slowly.

You should end up with a wonderful fluffy mixture.

I use the tall parchment liners and add a little crunchy granola to the top of the batter.

So darn good!

Chickpea and quinoa salad

My daughter Madi has become a vegetarian so I have been trying out alot of new things for her lately and this was a home run.

1 small onion or shallot minced
5 mushrooms diced
1/2 orange or red pepper chopped
1 tomato chopped
1 can of chickpeas drained
1/4 cup of quinoa
2/3 cup of stock
1 tbsp olive oil


In a skillet add oil,onions and mushrooms cook about 5 minutes
add peppers,tomatoes and chick peas cook 5 minutes
add stock and bring to a boil add quinoa lower heat to low/med and cover for 8 minutes
At the end of 5 minutes give a good stir, turn heat off and leave covered for 15 minutes.

She has been eating it hot and cold
When she took it for lunch today she added chopped up tomato,cucumber and feta cheese and added a splash of her favorite roasted red pepper salad dressing.

Another great summer salad

Another chickpea salad

1 can chickpeas rinsed and drained
1/2 chopped red onion
12 grape tomatoes slices in half
4 leaves basil finely chopped
1 jalapeño seeds removed diced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
A pinch of coarse sea salt and cracked pepper
Toss all together
Let sit 2 hours serve chilled