Chocolate Zucchini Cake

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1-3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sour milk (how do I get this)
2-1/2 cups flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Cream margarine, oil and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat well.
In a separate bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, alternating with sour milk. Stir in zucchini, spoon into greased and floured pan 9″x 12″ Sprinkle chocolate chips, Back at 325 F degrees for 40 to 45 minutes .

thank my mom for this one. mmmmmm

Tags: chocolate zucchini cake, zucchini cake

Well hot summer with a dash of rain means garden is bursting with zucchini so here are a few recipes to use it all up

Serves/Makes: 8 half pints

Ingredients

• 6 cups (1425 ml) (5-6medium) peeled and grated zucchini
• 6 cups (1425 ml) white sugar
• 3/4 cup (175 ml) crushed pineapple with juice
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) lemon juice, fresh or bottled
• 2 pkgs. of 3 oz (84 grm). peach jello powder(or what every flavour you choose)

Preparation

• Stir zucchini and sugar together in large pot.
• Heat, uncovered on medium stirring a few times until it comes to a boil.
• Boil gently for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add pineapple with juice and lemon juice; stir.
• Return to a boil.
• Boil, uncovered for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in gelatin until it dissolves; skim off foam.
• Pour into hot sterilized jars to within 1/4 inch of top.
• Seal.

Tags: grated zucchini, zucchini jam, zucchini peach jam

Boneless pork shoulder butt roast    3 lbs.    1.4 kg
Can of tomato sauce    14 oz.    398 mL
Brown sugar, packed    1/2 cup    125 mL
Ketchup    1/2 cup    125 mL
Medium onion, chopped    1    1
Apple cider vinegar    1/3 cup    75 mL
Garlic cloves, minced     4   (or 1 tsp., 5 mL, powder)
Worcestershire sauce    1 tbsp.    15 mL
Chili powder    2 tsp.    10 mL
Dry mustard    2 tsp.    10 mL
Salt    1 tsp.    5 mL
Pepper    1/2 tsp.    2 mL
Dried crushed chilies    1/2 tsp.    2 mL

Crusty rolls, split (toasted, optional)    12    12

Place roast in 3 1/2 to 4 quart (3.5 to 4 L) slow cooker.

Combine next 12 ingredients in medium bowl. Pour over roast. Cook, covered, on Low for 10 to 12 hours or on High for 5 to 6 hours. Transfer roast to cutting board. Cool slightly. Shred roast with 2 forks. Skim and discard fat from surface of liquid in slow cooker. Pour remaining liquid into large frying pan. Bring to a boil on medium. Boil gently, uncovered, for 12 to 15 minutes until thickened to a pasta sauce consistency. Add pork. Stir.

Serve pork mixture in rolls. Makes 12 sandwiches.

Tags: pork sandwiches, slower cooker pork

If you are ever short one small item in a recipe this is my solution…one ingredient for another. I will add more to this list at a later date. Here is a start

Tags: changing recipe ingredients, One ingredient for another, substituting recipe ingredients

Best Ever Carrot Cake and cream cheese icing

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

Mix all dry ingredients.

Separately, blend sugar, eggs, oil, carrots and add flower to carrot mix. Blend well add nuts. Bake in 9x 13 pan ( greased and floured) at 350 ove for 40-50 minutes.

Cream Cheese Icing

• 2 pkgs (3 oz each) cream cheese
• 1/2 cup (minus 2 tbsp) butter or margarine (softened)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

Mix all ingredients together except icing sugar add icing sugar at last beat until smooth*. Spread on top of cooled cake and refrigerate!!

* To thicken add more icing sugar until thick and cream

Tags: carrot cake, Cream Cheese icing, quick carrot cake

saving money and time are two very important things today…and here we help you simplfy

As the world economy turns and causes turmoil. For my family I’m always seeking ways make things easier and simpler in my life. Here are a few cooking and money saving tips.

1. A leaf of lettuce dropped into the pot absorbs the grease from the top of soup. Remove the lettuce and compost
2. Prick the end of an egg before boiling, the egg will nto creak when boiled.
3. If a cracked dish is bolied for 45 minutes in sweet milk, the cack will be so welded together that it will hardly be visible, and will be so strong it will stand the same usage as before.
4. Chill cheese to great it more easily.
5. Cut drinking straws into short lenghts and insert through slits in pie crusts to prevent juice from running over in the oven, permits steam to escape.
6. To remove burned frood from oven, place a cloth saturated with ammonia in over over-night, and food can be easily wiped up.
7. To remove baked on, sticky food from pots and pans. Cover and place in the fridge overnight. Make cleaning half the time.
8. A tablespoon of vinegar added to the water when poaching eggs will help se the whites so they will not spread.
9. Sweet potatoes will not turn dark if put in salted water (5 teaspoons to 1 quart of water) immediatley after peeling.
10. Bread crumbs added to scrambled eggs will improve the flavour and make larger helping possible.
11. Brake up all stale bread/buns and dry it a bowl in the cupboard, then a blender/small chopper to grind up the pieces. Storage in glass jar.
12. Try poaching eggs in maple syrup.
13. Try warming a lemon before use to give double the juice.
14. To keep coffee or coffee beans fresh, store in glass jars upside down in a cool, dark place. If you freeze the coffee, it requires time to return to room temperature before use or the coffee is much bitter as the oil needs to release from the grounds.
15. Add pieces of apples in your spaghetti sauce. This will remove the acid from the tomato.
16. To make fish firm and white add a little lemon to water while boiling.
17. To keep salmon and other fragile food from breaking while being boiling, place food on a plate, tie in a square of cheesecloth and lower all into water.
18. To keep lemons fresh place in glass jar, fill with water and cover tightly.
19. To extract juice from lemone with a small amount is needed puncture the skin with a fork and gently squeeze out the amount required.
20. To remove pits from cherries easily, insert a new pen point into a penholder, pointed and in, and take out pits with the rounded end, or with the hump of unused hairpin.
21. To avoid wrinkled skin on baked apples, slit in a few places before backing.
22. To cut fresh bread easily cut with a hot knife.
23. Grease potato skins before baking to keep them soft and tender.
24. To give doughnuts added flavour place a few whole cloves or stick of cinnamon in oil while frying.
25. Add a generous pinch of soda to the egg whites before they are beaten. They’ll stand up better when beaten for a meringue
26. To remove any yolk which gets into the white when you are breaking an egg, take a piece of shell and lightly touch the yolk with it. The yolk will adhere and can be easily removed.
27. If you add a little milk to water in which cauliflower is cooking, the cauliflower will remain attractively white.
28. To preserve left-over egg yolks for futur use, place them into a small bowl and add two tablespoons of salad oil. Then put into refrigerator. The egg yolks will remain soft and fresh, and egg yolks kept in this way ca be used in many ways.
29. When cooking cabbage, place a small tin cup or can half full of vinegar on the stove near the cabbage, and it will absorb all odor from it.
30. To keep egg youls from crumbling when slicing hard-cooke eggs, wet the knife before each cut.
31. To prevent splashing when frying meat, sprinkle a little salt into the pan before putting the fat in.
32. A potaot peeler makes paring a lemon easy.
33. Add lemon juice to water in which rice is to be boiled. The whiteness will be increased and the grains will remain whole.
34. Before handling berries put lemon juice on your hands and let it dry. The hands will not stain as much.
35. Pastry crumbles caused by over mixing flout and fat.
36. To keep crisp cookies crips, and soft cookies soft, place only one kind in a cookie jar.
37. To keep scalding milk from scorching rinse pan with hot water before using.
38. Milk can be freeze up to two months and defrozed and remains fresh after de-frosting, so buying more than one bag when it is on sale and store the rest.
39. Processed sliced cheese stores will in the freezer and remains fresh after de-frosting (buy more on sale day and save the rest).
40. Storing leftovers in large labeled mason jars. They don’t take up as much room in the fridge. Spagetti sauce and tomatoe based food will not stain the jar. And excellent for reheating food in the microwave.

Tags: cooking tips, food basics, kitchen aids, kitchen time saving tips, kitchen tips

While driving on my way home from work I have come up with a few ways to save money the costly gas in your vehicle.

1. Travelling just 5 kms over the speed limit will save you one extra day in drive before you have to gas up. Use your cruise control when ever possible, help keep you at the 5 km over the speed limit
2. Unheavy foot - Take your foot off the gas at least 300 feet before you get a stop sign. It will not only save you gas. You will save your brake shoes on your vehicle. Gravity will come into play and the vehicle will slow down.
3. Slow down - save gas and lessen the chances of getting a ticket from our friendly neighbourhood police man.
4. Coast - just like when you were a kid on your bike. Foot off the gas on the down side of the hill. And, you have gravity on your side adding momentum to the vehicle. I once coasted for an amazing 4.7km…my kids thought is was great and now we always take that way home to see if we can beat our record.
5. Not off to the races - If you slowly excelerate away from a stop the gas is slowly fired into the fuel injectors and you burn less fuel at take off…
6. Lighten the load - Removing any extra ’stuff’ from your vehicle can save a lot. The vehicle is now lighter and requires less gas to get going and getting you there. I always take all the extra seats out of my van… which is almost an extra 100 lbs!

Tags: driving to save money, fuel saving tips, getting the most out of gasoline in your car

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My life has taken a total change from one year ago. Am now separated after being married for 15 years. Guess I had a mid-life up change… so to speak. I wouldn’t go as far as to say crisis as my life was in a  bad state before when I was still married…I was so unhappy before.

Now I’m alive with life and happiness!!! Changed jobs, changed male partners and have slowed my life down…. taking time to enjoy it. As we all know it is just to short to waste! And learned more about myself in the past 9 months than in a life time and very grateful about it all.

So I plan to keep up with this blog… even if know one ever reads it LOL

Tags: Springing to life

5 lbs pumpkin or zucchini
2 lbs fresh or can tomatoes
1 lb onions
6 to 8 cloves of garlic
3 lbs (3 c) light brown sugar
1 c seedless white raisins
1/4 c salt
1 tbsp peppercorns
1 tbsp allspice
1 tbsp ground ginger
2 1/2 pints vinegar

Skin and zucchini slice thickly cut lengthwise into strips than dice into big chunks
Roughly chop tomatoes (if fresh)
Slice onions and chop garlic
Mix all the ingredients into pot and bring to a boil slowly. Cook slowly for 2 hours or until tender. Place in hot sterilized jars.

Tags: chuteny, Home Canning, making perserves