Greek Barley Salad

This is an easy grain salad that goes well with any chicken or fish, or add chick peas to make it veggie.

Greek Barley Salad

1 cup pearl barley
1/2 cucumber diced
2 roma tomatoes diced
1/4 cup diced fennel
1/2 cup chopped dill
1/2 cup crumbled feta
1/2 lemon juiced
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper

Boil one quart of water and add barley. Cover and reduce heat to low, cook until barley is soft 20- 25 min. Drain and set aside in a medium bowl. Add cucumbers, tomatoes, fennel, dill, feta, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss and refrigerate until you are ready to eat.

Zucchini Bran Muffins

When you run out of ideas.....Great recipe to use up some of that huge crop of zucchini from your garden this summer.

 Zucchini Bran Muffins

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup oats
1/3 cup flax bran (or wheat germ, or miller's bran)
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 stick butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup almond milk (you can use reg milk if you want)
2/3 cup rasins
2 cups grated zucchini


Preheat oven to 375. In a bowl whisk the flours, bran and oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. In a large bowl with an electric mixer cream butter with sugar until it is light and fluffy, add eggs one at a time, then beat in the vanilla. Beat the dry ingredients into the wet, beat in the milk and stir in the raisins and zucchini. Divide the batter among 12 well buttered or paper lined muffin tins. *(I found that I had to fill the tins pretty full. the batter does not rise as much as cupcakes or regular muffins, and i had more batter than i needed, it made 3 more)* Bake muffins for 25 - 30 minutes until tester comes out clean. Turn muffins out onto a rack and let them cool.