Food for Friday

Greetings! It's a gorgeous day here in the Midwest and more of the same is forecast for the weekend. ☺ Looking forward to that! We're having our nieces and nephews over tomorrow to watch (not so) spooky movies, decorate pumpkins & eat fun foods. Tom and I are like big kids ourselves so we can't wait! What are your plans for this weekend??

I'm sharing two recipes today. The first is Chocolate Zucchini Bread. Not a fan of zucchini? We aren't either, but I'm telling you...this is one of the best breads...ever! The outside gets a wonderful crust and the inside is moist and absolutely delicious...it tastes nothing like zucchini. This is my friend Pam's recipe. She and I have worked together for many years and she's an amazing cook!

Next, since fall is a perfect season for soup, I'm sharing a delicious recipe for Hearty Chicken-Vegetable Soup that I just made for the first time this week. It's wonderful! I literally put it together late one evening in about 20 minutes (start to finish). The next day, it easily went from fridge to crock pot. With our first taste, it became an instant favorite. I found it in a Weight Watcher's cookbook called "Best Eats." Besides being packed with great flavor (broth is like minestrone), it's very healthy and LOW IN FAT! Enjoy!

Chocolate Zucchini Bread 2 cups grated zucchini
1 ½ cups oil
4 eggs
3 cups sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 oz. chocolate (unsweetened) melted
3 cups flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
1 ½ tsp. baking powder

Beat eggs and sugar in large bowl. Add oil and vanilla, mix well. Add to this the grated zucchini and melted chocolate, mix well. Combine dry ingredients and add to zucchini mixture. Grease and flour two loaf pans; fill with batter. Bake at 350 for 50-65 minutes.

Hearty Chicken Vegetable Soup
3 (14 ounce) reduced sodium chicken broth
1 (14 ½ ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
2 carrots, sliced
2 onions, chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 zucchini, diced (I omitted this)
¾ cup elbow macaroni (I used no yolk egg noodles)
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ pound skinless boneless chicken breasts
¼ cup chopped parsley
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper

Bring broth and tomatoes to boil in large saucepan. Add the carrots, onions, celery, zucchini, macaroni and garlic, return to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Increase the heat to medium-high; add the chicken, parsley, salt and pepper. Return to a boil; reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. (If you're on WW, this is only 2 points per 1 1/4 cup serving!)

Have a great weekend!