Gran Gran's Brownie Bites

These are really good and really easy, and always a crowd pleaser! This is my grandmother's recipe.

Brownie Bites:

4 squares unsweetened chocolate

2 sticks of butter

1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 cup flour

4 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

In a double broiler {or saucepan- I use a double broiler because I feel like it's less likely to burn} melt the chocolate and butter. After they are melted, stir in the pecans. {I'm not a fan of nuts in my dessert so I always leave them out.}

In a bowl, sift the flour and stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla until well blended. Add the chocolate mixture. 

Pour into a {very liberally} greased mini muffin tin {I put the batter in a big measuring cup and pour from that because it's very thin and liquid-y and can be quite messy}. Cook at 325 degrees for 20 min or until a toothpick comes out clean. Makes approx 48.

Zucchini Bread

This is one of the first things I made for Curran when she started eating table food, and she has always loved it {and you'll see why when you see the sugar content}. But it is also a way to sneak in a few healthy ingredients, too.

Zucchini Bread:

3 1/4 cups flour

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp nutmeg

1/4 cup ground flax seed

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs, beaten

2 cups grated zucchini

{I also sometimes add in grated carrots}

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. In another bowl, combine all wet ingredients. Mix wet ingredients into dry. Coat pans well with nonstick cooking spray. Can bake in two standard loaf pans, or sometimes I split batter between one loaf pan and one 12 cup muffin tin. Bake loafs for about one hour, or muffins for 16-20 minutes.

You can really alter this recipe any way you want. I decided to split the sugar content between white and brown, but you could do all one or the other. I also added the flax seed and carrots to the original recipe I found. I have also seen recipes add chocolate chips and orange zest.

Chicken Spaghetti

This is a recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman's version. It is really easy and makes a lot. It is by no means healthy, which is just fine by me.

Chicken Spaghetti:
3-4 chicken breasts
3 cups spaghetti noodles, broken into small pieces
1 cup chicken broth
1 can Rotel
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 tsp Lawry's seasoning salt
salt and pepper to taste

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded {save to go on top of casserole}

Cook noodles and cook chicken {I boil my chicken for this recipe}. Cut chicken into small pieces after cooked. Mix all ingredients together and pour into a 9 x 13" baking dish. Sprinkle 1 cup cheddar cheese on top of casserole and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Can't get much easier, and it leaves plenty of leftovers!