Bread Overload

Had to share my August picture for today.  I stayed up last night and did a bit of baking.  I had some poor planning and made some committments without knowing the dates and a few things all hit at the same time.  Luckily, you can get 4 mini loaves to each regular loaf recipe, and I have 2 Pampered Chef stoneware pans that make 4 mini loaves each.  (I love those pans!)

I love the fact that you can take one recipe and still make a variety of types of bread.  I made:

• Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Zucchini
• Chocolate Chip Zucchini
• Lemon Poppyseed Zucchini
• Banana Bread (with and without nuts)

Lemon Poppyseed Zucchini Bread

Ingredients
4 cups flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 3.4oz package instant lemon pudding mix
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1-1/4 cups milk
1 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon extract
3 cups shredded zucchini
1/4 cup poppy seeds
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease two greased 9x5 inch loaf pans.

Combine the flour, sugar, pudding mix, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, oil, lemon juice and extract.

Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the zucchini, poppy seeds and lemon peel.

Pour into the prepared pans and bake on lowest rack in oven for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool for 15 minutes and then transfer to racks.

Cool completely before slicing.  ENJOY!

Vegan, Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Zucchini Brownies

I work with a lot of people who are a lot more health conscious than I am.  It's good for me, as I experiment with healthy versions of favorites. Plus, I love to find ways to use up all of the zucchini from my garden that I shred and freeze.  It is so great to bake with it all winter long!

I made these for a team meeting once, and it was a huge hit.  You wouldn't know they were 'healthy' unless someone told you.  They make a very fudgy, yummy brownie and even my kids adored them! 

For those of you have been asking, sorry it took me long!

Ingredients
2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour
1 cup Splenda blend for baking
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups frozen, shredded zucchini – thawed, with its water.*
1 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.

Add zucchini with its water, applesauce and vanilla; mix until well blended. Mix in chocolate chips.

Spread evenly in a 9x13 inch baking pan or in a bar pan (I use my Pampered Chef one, it is PERFECT).

Bake for 25-30 minutes and let cool completely before cutting. They are very fudgy and yummy!

*If you haven’t stored any zucchini, or don’t want to use it in the recipe, then substitute 1 cup of water.

Makes 16 servings at apx 187 calories a serving.

Mock Stuffed Pasta Shell Caserole

My family loves stuffed pasta shells, but it's definitely not the quickest or easiest things to make.  So, I came up with a substitute and used up some more zucchini from the garden!

1 box medium pasta shells
1 small container ricotta cheese
1 cup cottage cheese
2 cups shredded mozerella cheese
1 medium zucchini
Spaghetti sauce (I use the canned Heinz,  1 1/2 - 2 cans)

Pre-heat oven to 375. Boil water and cook pasta al dente, it's better for a casserole if it's a little under done than if you were to just eat it.

While that is cooking, place cheeses in a large bowl and add diced zucchini.  Add spaghetti sauce and mix.  Once pasta is done strain and mix in bowl with sauce mixture. 

Place in casserole dish and sprinkle with mozzerella cheese.  Bake for about 1 hour.

My kids devoured it, it was a lot easier to make than the stuffed shells, and it tastes just as good.  I've also been known to dice up imitation crab and put it in the mixture. I really want to try this with some pepper jack cheese tossed in with the mix!

Chocolate Rabbit Zucchini Chili

No, this is not your typical homemade chili with a leftover chocolate Easter bunny tossed in for extra flavor. This is a good, old-fashioned chili with home raised rabbit meat. We have been raising rabbits in our little suburban farm. Rabbit is a very tender white meat that can be used in place of chicken in any recipe.

For this chili, if you don’t want to use rabbit, feel free to replace it with ground turkey, chicken, ground beef or leave out any meat for a vegetarian version.

Ingredients
1lb bag of black beans
3T olive oil
2lbs rabbit (or meat of choice)
1 large onion, diced
2 zucchinis, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
6T cocoa powder
2T chili powder
1T ground cumin
1t Oregano
½t Salt
½t Pepper
3 (28oz) cans diced tomatoes with liquid

Directions

1) Place bag of beans in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, drain and rinse. Place back into pan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer for about an hour until beans are tender.
2) While beans are simmering, slow boil meat so it’s slightly cooked and you can debone the rabbit (or chicken).
3) Heat oil in large skillet, add diced onions, zucchini and garlic. Cook over medium heat until onions are clear.
4) Drain beans and rinse, place in crock pot. Debone meat, shred/dice and place over beans.
5) Add seasonings, cocoa powder and 1 can of tomatoes. Stir and simmer about 2 minutes.
6) Dump contents of skillet into crock pot, add other two cans of tomatoes. Mix everything together.
7) Cook on high for 1 hour. Simmer on low for 6-8 hours.

This produces a lot, so you will need a good sized crock pot! You can also simmer on the stove for about 2 hours if you’d prefer.

I took this to work one day and was surprised that the entire thing was gone! I hope you enjoy it as much as they all did.

When Life Gives You...

Zucchini

When you plant more than one zucchini plant, you need to be prepared to have more zucchini than you can eat. So, what can you do when you have so much zucchini that you can't even give it all away?

Today I'm going to try to find out how many different ways I can utilize zucchini, and I will be posting successful recipes in the coming week.

Here are some of my ideas for utilizing that abundance of zucchini.

• Shred up the zucchini as if you were going to put it into a bread recipe. Then pre-measure it into 2 or 3 cup servings and place in quart-sized ziploc bags and freeze to bake with all winter long.
• Play ding-dong ditch with zuchinni for a variety of neighbors. If you'd like, put a bow on them. Now it's not your worry anymore!
• Scour the internet for unusual zucchini recipes
• Bake lots of zucchini bread. Make mini loaves or mini muffins, then freeze those. Great for snacks when school starts for the kids!

What are some of your most creative uses for zucchini??