Greek Chicken Skewers

This is a great lowfat easy meal. I served it with quinoa and rice for my kids. It was very lemony and good. Marinate the chicken up to 3 hours. I did for about 1 hour and it was fine.

(dont you love the elegance that the dixie plate imparts..haha!)

Greek Chicken Skewers


1 (8 ounce) container fat-free plain yogurt

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon crushed dried dill (optional)

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch pieces

1 large red onion, cut into wedges

1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

2 medium zucchini, cut into 2" thick circles

1 cup cherry tomatoes


1.In a large shallow baking dish, mix the yogurt,lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, salt, pepper, and dill if using. Place the chicken in the dish, and turn to coat. Cover, and marinate 3 hours in the refrigerator.

2.Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat.

3.Thread the chicken, onion wedges, zucchini, cherry tomatoes and red bell pepper pieces alternately onto skewers. Discard remaining yogurt mixture.

4.Grill skewers, turning as browned, on the prepared grill until the chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear, about 25-40 minutes depending on the heat of the grill.

The red pepper and yellow tomatoes is from my garden...wish I had zucchini growing our of my garden too!

I served this with an arugula, sundried tomato, and feta salad. I make a dressing out of lemon juice, olive oil and salt. You can also serve these over rice or any other grain.

Zucchini Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

These were made on a weekend morning because I wanted something simple, delicious, and did not want to go out to get ingredients. I had zucchini, a butter-pecan cake mix I got at Big Lots the day before, and some cream cheese. They turned out very well! Next time I might add raisins to the batter...maybe even some pecans or walnuts would be good too.

Zucchini Cupcakes

1 box cake mix ( used Butter Pecan, but I am sure yellow or spice cake would be awesome), mixed according to package directions, except for the water- use 1/4 cup LESS liquid
1 cup grated zucchini (about 1 medium zucchini) squeezed of excess liqiud
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1.4 cup raisons (opt)
1/2 cup walnuts or pecan (opt)

Mix all ingredients together till well incorporated) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners. Fill cupcakes about 3/4 full of batter. Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes or until just golden.

Frosting
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature for easy blending
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup confectioner's sugar
2 tsp grated lemon zest

Meanwhile, beat all the frosting ingredients with an electric mixer until completely smooth.

Wait till cupcakes are cool (if you can) and frost with a dollop of frosting. Add a tiny pinch of nutmeg to the top of each one. Enjoy!

Baking on a Rainy Day

Raining again in SoCal! Great excuse to bake.

I had 5 zuchinnis sitting on my kitchen counter. I bought a whole bagful at the flea market last week for a buck. I had already made 2 dishes with them this week, so I had to think of something different. Viola! Zucchini Bread! (I tried to hide the fact it had zucchini in it from the kids, but they figured it out. They gobbled it up anyway.) There is definitely something soothing about eating a half loaf of cake and being able to justify it by saying: it had 2 servings of vegetables in it!

Ann’s Zucchini Bread
¾ cup oil (I used light olive oil)
2 cups shredded zucchini
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp each: baking soda, powder
½ tsp tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
3 cups sifted flour
1tsp each vanilla and almond extract
½ cup chocolate chips, raisins, craisins, or any combo thereof

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour 2 loaf pans. Beat eggs with sugar, extracts, oil, spices, then add zucchini and mix. In separate bowl, mix together: flour, baking powder and soda, salt. Now combine them. Add the fruit and/or chocolate chips and mix. Pour into the 2 pans and bake 30-40 minutes until tops are lightly browned and a toothpick come out with a few crumbs: Do not overbake. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a platter-or a rack if using glaze.

Cream cheese glaze
4 oz softened cream cheese (10 seconds in a microwave will soften it)
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk or cream
Whisk together, then add 1 cup sifted powdered sugar. Whisk to remove any lumps. Pour over warm cake to glaze.

I'll be linking up to Funky Junk's Saturday Night Special...check that out for tons of great ideas!