PINspiration

Where do I get my inspiration? Pinterest of course! Here is a link to my food board. You may just get inspired yourself! Happy pinning! 

A recipe to try!

My mom and step-dad went on vacation this June for their anniversary and while they were there they had what my mom said was the best chocolate cake ever! Of course she brought back the recipe for me to make since I got the baking genes out of the two of us! I haven't tried it yet, but here it is for any of you who may be brave enough to go before me!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup margarine
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini
3/4 cup nuts, chopped
1/4 cup coco
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup cooking oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1- 6oz package of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine in sifter flour, salt, coco, soda, and set aside. Cream butter, sugar, and oil until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, add vanilla. Add dry ingredients and buttermilk alternately. Beat well. Stir in zucchini. Pour into greased 9x13x2 pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts. Bake for 55 mins at 350 degrees or until a tooth pick comes out clean.

Veggies in your cake? Hey it has chocolate in it so it can't be too bad right? Enjoy!

Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Muffins

I have a confession. I am a sucker for anything that has cranberries in it. So you can imagine how much I love fall and winter! Cranberry bread, cranberry orange scones, cranberry salad, you name it I'll try it. And I will probably love it! When I had to do a presentation over an other blog I knew I would bring a treat to class with me. I did my presentation over the Brown Eyed Baker blog. My class is a morning class, so I wanted to bring a little breakfast treat for everyone! You can read Michelle's original recipe here. I was really hesitant to use dates so I just doubled the cranberries. Enjoy!

Ingrediants

1 cup traditional rolled oats

1 cup all-purpose flour½ cup light brown sugar1 teaspoon baking powder½ teaspoon baking soda½ teaspoon salt½ teaspoon cinnamon¼ cup finely chopped pecans 1/2 cup dried cranberries ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled1 cup buttermilk1 large egg, lightly beaten½ teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl combine all of the dry ingredients.

 If you are like me, you hate buying buttermilk because you never use all of it before it goes bad. Well never fear! You can make your own buttermilk! Well, a substitute anyway! In a measuring cup add one tablespoon of lemon juice and then pour milk up to the one cup line. Let it set for 5 minutes then use as much as you need! My grandma has been doing this for years and you can't tell the difference in recipes!

 In a smaller bowl combine all your wet ingredients together until well blended.

 Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and combine until moistened with a rubber spatula, scraping the sides as you go.

 Pour into lined muffin pans about 3/4 full. Bake at 400 for about 15 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean. Now go enjoy your perfectly moist, perfectly textured muffins! Just try to let them cool down a little first, you don't want to burn the roof of your mouth like I did!

My Favorite Pecan Pie

Don't you just love old recipes you have had for what seems like forever? I do! My go to recipes I seem to use over and over again are always on sticky notes for some reason! Does this make me want to use them more? I don't know, but I do know I should really consider taking the time to convert them over to my recipe cards I have! Enjoy!