Watermelon Lime Popsicles

These are tasty and clean eating friendly!

They're also a great way to using up the rest of the watermelon before it goes bad!

Cubed Seedless Watermelon (I use 1/2 of a watermelon)

1-2 limes squeezed (or a generous squeeze of the bottled kind)

Honey to taste (I use about 1 TBS)

Mix in the blender and freeze in popsicle molds!  Any leftovers makes a delicious chilled drink!

Hummus

This recipe is from the show Zoom.  About 3 years ago, Brynlee used to watch this show on PBS.  She saw the children making this recipe wanted to make it too.  I printed it out, put it in my folder and didn't make it until last month.  Why did I wait so long?!!  It's a weekly staple in my house now as a great and healthy dip for vegetables or pita chips!

Here's what you will need to make it:

• 1 can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained and rinsed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons tahini (a.k.a. sesame seed butter/paste)
• pita bread, cut veggies, or chips
• blender
• garlic press
• spatula
• bowl

Here's what you have to do:

1. People in Middle Eastern countries, like Lebanon, have been making hummus for thousands of years. There are lots of ways to make hummus, but chickpeas are always the main ingredient. (Hummus is the Arabic word for chickpea.)

2. Ask a grown-up for help before you begin. You will be using a blender for this recipe.

3. Wash your hands.

4. Drain and rinse a can of chickpeas, then dump them into the blender.

5. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

6. Peel 1 clove of garlic and crush it in a garlic press. (If you don't have a garlic press, chop it finely with a knife.)

7. Add the crushed garlic to the blender.

8. Add 1/4 cup of lemon juice, 1/4 cup of olive oil, and 2 tablespoons of tahini. Tahini is ground sesame seeds (kind of like peanut butter) and can be found near the peanut butter in some grocery stores. Other stores may have it in the international section.

9. Put the lid on the blender and puree at low speed for 5-10 seconds until smooth.

10. Wait for the blender to stop completely. Then mix the hummus with a rubber spatula so that all the ingredients get blended.

11. Put the lid back on and puree for another 10 seconds.

12. Wait for the blender to stop completely. Then pour the hummus into a bowl.

13. You can serve hummus with vegetables, pita bread, tortilla chips or whatever tastes good.

14. Sahtayn! In Arabic it means "Two healths" - your health and my health.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

I got this recipe from my friend Evelyn. I knew they were a keeper when I couldn't stop eating these mini delights! I love the Costco jumbo sized muffins and these are an easy, healthy (from the pumpkin), mini replica.

It also makes a great food storage dessert recipe too since all 3 ingredients can be easily found in your pantry. And don't worry, they don't taste anything like pumpkin after they've been baked. Just chocolate goodness!

-1 box Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix (Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe) believe me, it has to be this cake mix, the other chocolate cake mixes don't produce the same rich taste to really pull this recipe off.

-1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips, regular size or mini (I usually use a little less than a bag. It can't be milk chocolate, won't taste right)

-1 can (14.5oz) canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie)

Using an electric mixer combine cake mix and pumpkin together in a large bowl until creamy. Do NOT add any ingredients for making a cake as found on the box. Then stir in chocolate chips.

Using cookie scoop, add the batter to the greased mini muffin pan. The secret to a nice looking muffin is the cookie scoop as this batter tends to stay in the same shape/form when baked as the original dough.

Bake for 15-18 minutes at 350 F degrees, or until done when tested with a toothpick.

Yield: 48 mini muffins

Zucchini Banana Bread

I got this yummy recipe from my friend Lisa! Thanks so much Lisa for sharing your recipe! This bread is so moist and you can't even tell that there's banana inside...or whole wheat flour. It is definitely going to be the only recipe I'll use for zucchini bread from now on. But don't take my word for it...

Zucchini Banana Bread
(taken from Lisa's blog with pictures by me)

Mix until creamy:
3 eggs
1/4 C. olive oil
1/2 C. apple sauce (trust me)
1/2 C. sour cream (trust me, this is the trick)
2t. vanilla
1 2/3 C. brown sugar

Add:
2 C. grated zucchini
2 smashed bananas

Mix and then add:
2 C. white wheat flour
1 1/2 C. white flour
1 T. cinnamon
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt

Makes 2 loaves. Spray pans and bake at 325 degrees for 60-70 minutes.

Pretty healthy and the kids will love it!

Watermelon & Peach Salsa with Cayenne Chips

What?!! Watermelon and peaches in salsa? Oh believe me, it's really good! Serve with regular tortilla chips, or go the extra mile and make these homemade cayenne chips! The cayenne chips are what make this recipe so good. These chips and salsa are just the perfect pair! This recipe is from The Pampered Chef.

Chips

1 lime

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp salt

8 (6 inch) flour tortillas

Salsa

1 jalepeno pepper (or to desired amount of spiceyness)

1/3 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

2-3 cups cubed watermelon

2 peaches

1 lime

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400 F for the chips. Juice lime into a small bowl. In another small bowl, combine cayenne pepper and salt. Brush one side of each tortilla with lime juice (don't soak it though). Sprinkle cayenne mixture lightly over the top.

Cut each tortilla into 8 wedges using a pizza cutter. Arrange the tortillas onto a large baking sheet (or stone) in a single layer.

Bake 8-12 minutes, until edges are slightly browned and crisp. Repeat until all the tortillas are baked.

For the salsa, cut jalepeno in half and remove the white stem and seeds. Dice jalepeno and cilantro and place into a large bowl (holds 8 cups). Cut watermelon into small pieces and add to large bowl. Cut the peaches into small pieces, discarding the pits. Add peaches to the bowl. Juice the remaining lime into salsa. Add the salt. Mix well.

Serve with chips and ENJOY!

Yield: 16 servings (or consumed in 1 day for our household)

Pizza in 30 minutes!

I got this quick and easy pizza dough recipe from my friend Evelyn. We now make this recipe on a weekly basis. The girls love to help put the toppings on and to roll the dough.

Who doesn't love pizza?

Oh yeah, Raelyn doesn't...or at least she didn't until we started making our own. Now she gobbles up 3 pieces!

1 1/3 c. warm water

1 T yeast

1 tsp. salt

2 T oil

3 c. flour

1 can 15 oz. pizza sauce (I use Contadina brand, found by the tomato sauce)

16 oz. grated mozzarella cheese

Toppings of your choice

Preheat your oven to 425 F.

Mix all the ingredients together and knead for 5-7 minutes. (I usually just mix it in my bread mixer, then take it out after 7 minutes of kneading.)

Divide the dough in half. Roll out one of the dough halves onto a floured surface and shape onto a pizza pan to fit or in my case, pizza stone. We have a round one and a large cookie sheet size one.

Cook pizza crust in oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and spread half of the pizza sauce over the crust. Spread evenly. Sprinkle cheese and then the toppings on top.

Return to oven to cook for another 11 minutes and it's done!!

Repeat the process for the 2nd pizza, using the remaining dough.

This is the adult favorite.

Pepperoni with green bell peppers and pineapple.

The kids' favorite.

Just cheese with Italian seasoning sprinkled on top.

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

I LOVE these. They are pretty much my favorite cookie. Why didn't I ever make them from scratch before?!! I used the same dough from the chocolate chip recipe here, adding the white chocolate chips and the macademia nuts instead. Delicious!

2 1/2 sticks butter
1 1/4 c. brown sugar
1 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 2/3 c. white wheat flour (actually, remove about 2 tbsp from the 2 cups, because wheat flour absorbs more and you need to lessen the amount so the batter won't be too dry)
2 c. white flour
2 T. corn starch
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt

White chocolate chips, I used Trader Joe's brand

Macademia nuts (unsalted) got mine at Trader Joe's

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

In a small bowl, add dry ingredients and combine. Slowly add dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture. Hand stir in chocolate chips and nuts. The dough is kinda stiff, so I actually just used my hands to mix them in. Cover with plastic wrap and chill the dough before baking. You can do this while oven is preheating or refrigerate longer for an even better taste.

Using a 1.5" scoop, or a spoon, place cookie balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes or until dough looks cooked, but in between the cracks of dough, it still looks a little gooey. That's good for making the cookie chewy when completely cooled.

Yield: A ton. Enough to eat and give away to 2 more families as well. At least, that's what I do!