Recipe for Strawberry Chocolate Oat Smoothie

It is widely accepted that oats help lower cholesterol. High cholesterol runs in my family and mine has been up over acceptable levels in the past so I usually have oats as part of my breakfast several times a week.  I love overnight oatmeal but sometimes I want something different.  Could I incorporate oats into a smoothie? Why yes, yes I can!  And you can too.

Recipe for Raspberry Lemon Bars

Here’s a "special treat" recipe I developed for a contest (sponsored by Earth Balance but I wasn't paid or given product to participate or blog about it).  It was a bake off and we had to bake some type of brownie or bar.  I thought about submitting my Double Chocolate Zucchini Brownies but wanted to try something new.  The recipe didn't win the contest (but my pie won in the pie section!)

Recipe for Toasted Oats and Zucchini Mini Muffins

Some of you may be thinking “why is she giving us a recipe for zucchini muffins?  The season is over and we’ve moved on to winter squash.”  Well, maybe where you are but here on Maui and at other warm weather locations we are still getting an abundance of zucchini!   Right now I have over 5 pounds of beautiful green squash to use.  You could substitute grated pumpkin or carrots if you aren’t fortunate enough to have zucchini on hand!

My kids were on their way to visit from Georgia so I wanted to have some quick snacks or breakfasts already made so we could grab and go.  I also wanted them to be relatively healthy.   As you know, I’m a big believer in oats, enjoying my overnight oatmeal many mornings.  I thought some zucchini and oat muffins would be great to have and would help me use up some of the zucchini.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread

I’ve been making my own bread for about 3 years now (in a bread machine). While I’ve been on phase 2 of the South Beach diet, I’ve cut down on bread products and when I do have bread, it is either whole wheat sandwich thins or whole wheat bagel thins. For the hubby, though, I make this bread which, after faithfully, uncomplainingly trying many versions, is his favorite. This one seems just right: good for you, good texture, good taste, easy to slice.