Chocolate-zucchini cakes w/ nuts

So I can't remember now which magazine I pulled this recipe out of but I am very glad I did!! I think it was either Reader's Digest or Guidepost, but it is possible it is from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food, anyways I made these tonight and they are excellent so thought I would share. Plus, they are a great way to sneak some veggies into unsuspecting kids and hubbys :)

~1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
~1 C sugar
~1/2 tsp salt
~1 lg egg
~1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
~1 cup finely grated zucchini
~3 tbsp sour cream
~1 C all purpose flour
~1/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
~1/2 C bittersweet chocolate, chopped or chocolate chips
~24 walnut halves

*Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, stir together butter, sugar, salt, and egg until combined. Add vanilla, zucchini, and sour cream and stir until incorporated. Sift flour and cocoa into bowl and stir until combined. Stir into wet mixture.
*Spray two mini muffin pans w/ cooking spray. Fill each cup w/ 2 tbsp batter and top w/ a walnut. bake 15-17 min. Cool on wire racks.

*I used pecans because it is what I had and prefer. Also, I got 34 cakes not 24...Hope you enjoy if you try it!

Super low sodium scampi

So, I tend to have swelling issues when I even slightly increase my salt intake, so I have found a great combo flavor wise that isn't pre-made so I can totally control the salt.



1/2 stick unsalted butter
3tbs chopped garlic
lemon juice
sm onion, chopped
lime juice
cracked black pepper
white wine
1 bag jumbo raw shrimp, thawed and peeled
1 bundle asparagus, washed and chopped into lg bite sized pieces

*In med/lg frying pan combine butter, 2 tbs garlic, and onion, let simmer covered til onions are translucent. Meanwhile toss shrimp w/ remaining garlic, pepper, and a few squeezes of lime juice and let rest. Once onions are translucent, add a few turns of the pan worth of wine and the asparagus and cover continue to simmer til asparagus turns bright green and slightly tender. Add marinated shrimp for pan and cook through. Serve w/ your choice of side. I have found that I really like it over jasmine rice for something different, however Robert likes pasta. I also had a farm fresh tomato tonight so I chopped it up to top the scampi tonight.

Tonight for dinner I used the left over scampi to make lettuce wraps and it was great like that too :)

Day Zero

So, a friend of mine is doing this project and I thought it would be fun to do myself. It is basically a "bucket list" for the next 1001 days. The goal is to set 101 things to do in 1001 days. It took me 3 days to finish my list but now that it is done it is time to start working on finishing it.
http://dayzeroproject.com/user/hway
I can't figure out how to get the link to post so you can just click on it to view my list the the project but if interested hopefully coping and pasting the above address will work. Like I said it is just a cool thing I came across :)