Grilled Zucchini

This is another simple but delicious way to enjoy some home grown goodness. You can toss this on the grill with whatever you're cooking up! Last night we enjoyed it with grilled chicken and ripe beefsteak tomato slices. Mouth watering, I know.

Ingredients
2 small zucchini cut into spears, wedges or 1/2 inch slices.
3/4 cup Yoshidas marinade (any teriyaki marinade will do)

Cut zucchini into desired shapes. (Smaller zucchini is more tender and has less seeds, save the big ones for baking.) Marinate for 1-2 hours in a ziploc bag, flip the bag over occasionally to make sure every thing gets coated. Grill over medium heat for 4-6 minutes on each side. Watch them carefully and adjust the heat as needed so they don't burn, you want them to be tender, not dried out. Serve with your favorite grilled meat and enjoy!

Watermelon Blaster

Super Simple, Refreshing and Delicious! Thanks Martha.

Ingredients

• 3 cups cubed, seeded watermelon
• 1 1/2 cups strawberries
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 cup ice cubes
• Sugar, to taste

Put watermelon, strawberries, lime juice and ice into the pitcher of a blender, blend for 15 seconds on high speed. (Always put the top on the container before processing.) Stop machine, and stir ingredients with a long wooden spoon. Blend for 15 seconds more on high speed.

After processing the watermelon, strawberries, lime juice, and ice, taste before adding sugar; you may not need any. For the star garnish, press a cookie cutter through the rind with the back of a wooden spoon.

Top it off with a little whipped cream if you so desire!

Fresh Tomato, Mozzarella & Basil Salad

This time of year you have to enjoy what's coming out of your garden. This is a simple yet delicious way to enjoy those sun ripened tomatoes, one of my favorite parts of summer.

Ingredients

* 4 large tomatoes or 4 cups cherry tomatoes
* 2 cups fresh mozzarella cheese
* 8-10 leaves fresh basil
* 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* salt and pepper
* 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar (optional)

Directions

1. Slice tomatoes and mozzarella cheese into bite size chunks. Loosely chop the basil.
2. Gently toss tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil in serving dish.
3. Drizzle with olive oil (and balsamic vinegar if desired).
4. Salt and pepper to taste.

Girl Scout Samoas

I found this recipe on gourmet mom on the go and couldn't help but give it a try, and if I do say so myself these are better then the real girl scout cookies, so if you are a fan, give them a try, and if you aren't a fan give them a try you will not regret it!!

Ingredients
1 box shortbread cookies
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1-4 cups toasted coconut (depending on how much you want)
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions
(Optional) To make handling easier you can dip the bottoms of the cookies in melted chocolate first and let them sit to thoroughly dry.
Place each shortbread cookie in cup of a greased muffin tin.
In 2-quart saucepan over medium-low heat, combine butter, sugar and corn syrup. Heat to a full boil, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Boil 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Slowly pour in sweetened condensed milk, stirring constantly. Continue cooking over low heat until candy thermometer reaches 200-210 degrees.Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Beat until creamy. Immediately stir in toasted coconut and mix well. Spoon mixture by teaspoonfuls over shortbread cookies. Cool completely. Remove cooled cookies from muffin tin onto waxed paper.
Melt chocolate chips and drizzle thinly in stripes over cookies and let chocolate harden at room temperature. Store in airtight container

Dutch Apple Crisp

	Filling		Topping
10	cups granny smith apple slices	2	cups brown sugar
2	Tbs. lemon juice	2	cups flour
3/4	cup sugar	1	cup oatmeal
1/2	cup brown sugar	1/2	cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/3	cup flour	1	cup butter; melted
2	tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4	tsp. grated nutmeg
1/4	tsp. ground cloves
3/4	tsp. salt

Prepare Filling: In a 12" Dutch oven add apples and lemon juice; stir to coat apples. In a separate dish combine remaining filling ingredients and stir to mix. Pour dry ingredients over apples and stir until apples are well coated.

Prepare Topping: In a separate bowl combine brown sugar, flour, oatmeal, and walnuts; stir to mix. Using a fork, mix in butter. Spread topping evenly over apples.

Bake: Cover Dutch oven and bake using 12-14 briquettes bottom and 16-18 briquettes top for 60 minutes.

Serve topped with whipped cream.

Serves: 12-14

Banana Macadamia Nut Pancakes

This is another fabulous recipe my sister made for us camping. She got the recipie from her husbands aunt who lives in Hawaii. They were easy to make and a delicious variation on a family favorite.

Ingredients
2 Cups Krusteaz buttermilk or whole wheat pancake mix
(You can substitute your favorite pancake recipie)
2 Bananas diced
1/2 Cup macadamia nuts finely chopped
Maple Syrup
Butter

Directions

Start with your favorite pancake recipie or mix. I like Krusteaz buttermilk and their whole wheat variety. Follow the package directions and mix 2 cups of batter. Dice 2 bananas into tiny chunks. Chop 1/2 cup nuts into small pieces. Mix well with Pancake batter. Cook on medium to medium high griddle until browned on both sides. Butter and serve with warm maple syrup. You can garnish with additional bananas and nuts if desired.

Grilled Salmon

Fresh Alaskan Salmon was on sale this week so I bought half of a large Salmon and decided to try something new. I've never braved fish on the grill before, but have heard it's great. We gave it a try, and it turned out fabulous. I'll be making this one again for sure.
Layer two sheets of aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. Place 2-3 lb Salmon on aluminum foil. Open up fish and sprinkle with lemon pepper. Slice one whole lemon in thin slices and place inside the salmon. Wrap the foil up around the fish and place on medium heated grill. Cook 10 minutes on one side, flip and cook another 10 minutes on the other side. Check fish to make sure it is flaky and serve. It was quite simple, healthy and delicious.

Dutch Oven Carmel Apple Crisp

This was to DIE for! Seriously it was sinful. Again I was too busy licking my lips to stop and snap an after picture, but you get the idea with the shot below, a little more dressed up than the paper plates we devoured it on. This is a must try when you are out enjoying the great outdoors, beats smores any day.

	Filling		Topping
8-10	large granny smith apples; peeled, cored and sliced	2	cups brown sugar
2	Tbs. lemon juice	2	cups flour
2/3	cup sugar	1	cup instant oatmeal
1/3	cup flour	1/2	cup chopped walnuts
2	tsp. ground cinnamon	1	cup butter; melted
3/4	tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4	tsp. ground cloves
3/4	tsp. salt
1	(12 oz.) jar caramel sauce

In a buttered 12" Dutch oven add apples and lemon juice; stir to coat apples. In a separate dish combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt; stir to mix. Pour dry ingredients over apples and stir until apples are well coated. Spread out apples and pour carmel sauce over the top.

In a medium bowl combine brown sugar, flour, oatmeal, and walnuts; stir to mix. Using a fork mix in melted butter to form coarse crumbs. Spread topping evenly over apples.

Cover Dutch oven and bake using 10-12 briquettes bottom and 16-18 briquettes top for 60 minutes.

Serves 16.

Dutch Oven Chicken And Potato Delight

My sister (Cheryl) made this recipe for us while camping a couple weeks ago. It was fabulous, so good I forgot to take the after picture, because I wanted to dig in. The picture above is it cooking and I HIGHLY recommend it.

8-10	boneless, skinless chicken breasts	1	cup sour cream
1/2	lb. bacon	3	cups grated cheddar cheese
2	medium yellow onions; diced	1 1/2	tsp. seasoning salt
1 1/2	cup fresh mushrooms; sliced	1 1/2	tsp. poultry seasoning
12-14	medium potatoes; peeled & sliced	1/2	tsp. garlic salt
(1)	10 ½ oz. can cream of chicken soup		salt and pepper to taste
(1)	10 ½ oz. can cream of mushroom soup

Heat a 12" deep Dutch oven using 18-20 briquettes bottom until hot. Cut bacon into 1 inch slices. Add to hot oven and fry until brown. Cut chicken breasts into bite size pieces. Add chicken, onions, mushrooms, and ½ tsp. of the seasoning salt to the bacon. Stir, then cover and cook until onions are translucent and chicken is tender. Add potatoes. Stir in soups, sour cream, and the remaining seasonings. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook for 45-60 minutes using 8-10 coals bottom, and 14-16 coals top heat. Stir every 10-15 minutes. When done, cover top with cheese and replace lid. Let stand until cheese is melted.

Serves 8-10

I got this recipe from one of my favorite blogs to read Real Mom Kitchen. So thanks to Laura for this easy and fun summer dessert recipe. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to add this to my list of recipe's. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Ice Cream Sandwich Dessert

19 ice cream sandwiches
1 carton (12 ounces) frozen whipped topping i.e. cool whip, thawed
1 jar (11-3/4 ounces) hot fudge ice cream topping
1 cup salted peanuts chopped

Cut one ice cream sandwich in half. Place one whole and one half sandwich along a short side of an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. pan. Arrange eight sandwiches in opposite direction in the pan. Spread with half of the whipped topping. Spoon fudge topping by teaspoonfuls onto whipped topping. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup peanuts. Repeat layers with remaining ice cream sandwiches, whipped topping and peanuts (pan will be full).
Cover and freeze for up to 2 months. Remove from the freezer 20 minutes before serving. Cut into squares. Yield: 15 servings.