I've been trying really hard to get Michael to try new foods. It's possible there's been bribery sweet incentives involved, but I think I'm OK with that. Very rarely does Michael like to try new things unless it involves the words cheese, chocolate, or fruit. Anything with meat? Forget it. He only eats tuna. Not saying there's anything wrong with that, and I'm definitely not forcing anything on him, but sometimes it gets tiring making dinner only to have him eat black beans, tuna, or a grilled cheese.

The other night we had breakfast for dinner, and I had been dying to try out this recipe. With a few alterations of my own, they were a big hit. After offering Michael a sort of "reward" for trying one bite... he ate three of them. I'd call that a success.


Ingredients:

- 1 C grated zucchini with or without skin. (About 1 large zucchini.)
- 1/4 C Parmesan or cheddar cheese (You can use any kind of cheese, including a cheese that isn't cheese ;), but thus far these are the two I've tried)

- 1/4 C breadcrumbs (I used Panko)
- 1/4 of an onion, diced (I used white, but sweet onion works really well, too!)
- 1 egg or egg substitute

Optional spices:

- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/4 tsp rosemary
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/8 to 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

- Grate your zucchini and squeeze all the extra moisture out of it by placing it in a towel (like you would with frozen spinach). Make sure you really get rid of all the extra liquid. If you don't, the tots will be moist in the middle and you don't want that!
- Preheat your oven to 400 and spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Mix together all your ingredients in a large bowl.


- Using a cookie scoop or spoon, fill each hole around 1/2 to 3/4 full. Press down with a fork to even out the tops.

- Cook for 15 to 18 minutes, checking on them after 15 and going from there. This all depends on how crispy you like them, just make sure you don't burn them! (Unless that's your taste, of course.)

Oh, and HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! Only fitting I give you a green recipe for the day, right?

I love Chex Mix. It's a tradition in my husband's family to make it this time of year, and our PaPa really makes it the best. However, I don't seem to have the knack for it. And unlike my husband, I can't eat the "something salty" nonstop.

Something salty AND sweet, on the other hand... that I can do.

Enter White Chocolate Chex Mix.

Ingredients:

- 2.5 C Rice Chex
- 2.5 C Corn Chex
- 1 C salted/unsalted mini pretzels (salted is probably better, but I used unsalted because it's all I could find)
- 1 C cashews (or peanuts, or whatever kind of nut you desire)
- 12 oz bag M&M's
- 12 oz bag white chocolate chips
- 2 Tbsp [vegetable/canola] oil

Directions:

- In a large bowl, mix your chex (both kinds), cashews, pretzels, and M&M's.
- Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a saucepan over low heat, mix your white chocolate chips and oil and melt. Mix constantly to prevent it from burning or getting too thick.
- As soon as the chocolate/oil is completely melted, pour into your prepared dry mix. Mix well with a wooden spoon or spatula until well incorporated and distributed through the mix.
- Pour the mix onto the prepared baking sheets, spreading out as thinly as possible. Let sit for an hour before checking to see if it's dry. Give it as much time as needed. I let mine sit for at least two hours to make sure it wasn't sticky.
- Break apart the mix and return to bowl/sealed container.

Give away, devour, it's your choice.

I made this for a movie night with friends


and for our ornament exchange at Bible Study.


It was a HUGE hit! Perfect for holiday get togethers.

Recipe altered from My Recipe Magic.

I've been so anxious to share this recipe with you! I adapted this from Dana Made it to make them vegan! Well... almost. I did put regular yogurt in them, but I know there are yogurt substitutes. You can also leave out some of the applesauce and use eggs if you like. That's included in the ingredients!

These were to get Michael to have more veggies in his system. Lately he really won't eat them. I think it's important to make sure he gets something green, and nothing seems to be cutting it. So... pureed broccoli, anyone? These may sound gross, but I tried one and I promise they're actually tasty. Just a different kind of banana muffin, really!

Ingredients:

- 1/4 C apple or prune juice
- 1.5 to 2 C whole broccoli pieces, frozen or fresh

- 3 mashed bananas
- 1/2 grated carrots (I used julienne cut carrots because I had them and, well, sometimes I'm lazy)
- 1/4 C yogurt (I used plain non fat, but if you're going vegan you can use a substitute-- you can also use a flavor if you like!)
- 1 tsp vanilla

- 1/4 C to 1/2 C sugar (optional-- if you use a flavored yogurt or sweetened applesauce, I really don't think you need the sugar at all)
- 1/4 C butter (or Earth Balance)
- 2 eggs or 1/2 C unsweetened applesauce (if the batter gets too thick feel free to add a little more applesauce or another type of oil)

- 2 C whole wheat flour
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

- Preheat your oven to 350 and prepare your muffin pan(s). I made one batch of minis plus a batch of regular sized, so I imagine this makes around 24 regular muffins.
- Use a food processor and puree your broccoli and apple juice together. It should come out looking something like this:

- Mix together your sugar, butter and applesauce in a large bowl. Next add your broccoli to it.
- Add your bananas, carrots, yogurt, and vanilla.
- Last, pre-mix your dry ingredients and then add them to your overall mixture.
- Fill your prepared muffin pan(s).

- Bake between 25 and 30 minutes. Check on them every so often, because the minis finished for me before the regular, so if you're making minis perhaps set your timer for about 18 minutes and then go from there.

Enjoy! I took about half of ours and put them in the freezer (after removing the wrappers, of course). If you do this, probably use them within a few weeks as it is. Stick them in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds and they feel like they're fresh out of the oven!

Michael certainly approved (he was watching Monsters Inc, the new favorite in our house)... and our dog was more than happy to try and sample some as well.

Oh, it's that time of year again. The time when it starts getting cooler, the leaves start to change, and everything just feels so perfect.

Needless to say, this is my favorite time of year.

(Please don't pull a Clark and tell me that every season is my favorite season. I may always want the next season... in spring I want summer, in summer I want fall, in fall I want fall....)

I wanted something that was appropriate for Autumn, but not something that made me feel like I was diving into Thanksgiving. But what could I make...

The great thing about Pinterest is it always seems to have something for me to be interested in. The bad thing about Pinterest is I now longer have to get super creative anymore, I just get on there and I can find ANYTHING. Of course, the internet is like this, anyway, but somehow Pinterest makes it worse.

So, I found these on Pinterest.

Ingredients:

- Apples (I used three Gala Apples)
- Cinnamon

Directions:

- Preheat your oven to 275. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
*Aluminum foil also works, just make sure to spray it!*
- Take the cores out of your apples. I don't have a tool that makes this easy, but it wasn't that bad doing without!
- Slice your apples as thin as you would like. *I couldn't quite get the right thickness with these. Sadly a few turned out burned, and others weren't crispy enough. Please share any tips you have if you've made these before or something you find while making them yourself!*

- Sprinkle your apples with cinnamon on both sides.
- Cook for two hours, flipping them at the one hour mark.
*Do check on them once you flip them. They seem to cook quicker on the second side, so I'd say set your time for 30 minutes and go from there!*

Enjoy them! And beware: while they're cooking your whole house smells of apples. I was positively drooling waiting on them!