The Great Zucchini Bread Secret

The first summer Rocky and I were married we didn’t have a vegetable garden, but the following spring I knew I wanted to make one in the raised bed on the south side of our rental house. So we planted peas, broccoli, carrots, green beans, sweet peppers, watermelon, and zucchini. Lesson #1 for first-time gardeners: Don’t spread yourself too thin.

Lesson #2: Don’t beat yourself up when your broccoli, peppers, and watermelon don’t make it.

Lesson #3: If you plant zucchini, you will need to find friends to share it with, or many many MANY recipes.

Image from buckcooks.com

The go-to recipe for most people with an overwhelming amount of zucchini is bread. It’s easy, tastes good with or without butter, and is a good way to get your kids to eat some veggies.

The very first time I made zucchini bread, I followed my mom’s recipe, which called for “2 cups grated zucchini.” After making a huge mess with the cheese grater and finally making two cups worth, I was vowing to never make zucchini bread ever again. It turned out great though, just like I remembered when I was a kid.

Then my husband approached me with two comments. First: “Do I taste cinnamon?” Yes, of course, it’s in the recipe. “Zucchini bread doesn’t call for cinnamon.” To which I showed him my mom’s recipe, which indeed called for 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. To which he showed me his mom’s recipe, which was the EXACT same recipe – minus the cinnamon…

It was our first second married argument discussion.

His second comment: “You should just chop the zucchini in the blender.”

Really?!

I read his mom’s recipe: Put 1 cup oil in blender and fill with chunks of zucchini until 3 cups. Blend until free of chunks, but not too long.

BRILLIANT!

I never was a big fan of the stringiness of grated zucchini in my bread and muffins anyway.

So that’s the big zucchini bread secret I wanted to share with you today. Maybe it’s not such a big secret. But it sure was news to me. And I love it. You don’t even need to peel the zucchini, leaving the skin on the chunks gives nice little green specks in the bread (which might not be so great if you have picky eaters).

So tell me… is this idea news to you? Or has the rest of the world been making zucchini bread this way forever??

(oh and tell me, cinnamon or not?? :)

Dinner for a hot summer night

Goodness, it's hot out this week... highs here are in the 90-95 degree range and lows around 75... yuck! I obviously don't want to have the oven on to cook dinner, and standing outside to grill something doesn't sound appealing either. Peanut butter and jelly? Eh.

Enter one of my recent-favorite go-to recipes that can be adapted for every family member, and even Abby likes it!! Stovetop quesadillas. I always keep a supply of fajita-size soft tortilla shells in the fridge. Soften one in the microwave, put some shredded cheese on half. Top with whatever else you feel like -- salsa, lunchmeat ham, leftover hamburger, chopped onions or peppers. Another layer of cheese. Fold in half. Fry in a skillet on the stovetop, just until the outside of the tortilla is slightly browned and the cheese is melted. Let cool for a couple minutes (while cooking the next one(s)!), then I slice ours with a pizza cutter. Voila! Serve with extra salsa, sour cream, etc.

Sometimes Abby will eat a whole one herself (cut up into bite-size pieces), and sometimes mommy or daddy will finish hers... It's filling, and with the right ingredients you can get all 4 major food groups in there.

I would post a picture, but we ate all of ours very quickly tonight...

What's your go-to recipe for a hot summer night?


This post is linked to the No Ordinary Blog Hop: July.

"Why didn't I start doing this sooner?!"

In the last few months I've started getting into the habit of buying large packages of on-sale meat and separating it out into smaller chunks before freezing it. It started with ground beef, when the store I frequently shop at would have sales on "family packs" but smaller packages would be regular price. It's super easy to open the whole package, take out what I need for that evening's dinner, then put the rest in containers in one-pound chunks for the freezer.

Then I started doing it with steaks. Same thing -- family packs would be the only ones on sale. So we eat 2 steaks that night, save 2 steaks for later. Then I wanted *cheaper* steaks for fajitas or stroganoff. Well if I'm cutting up some meat into small chunks for dinner that night, why not cut up the whole family pack since my cutting board and knife are already dirty?! So now I have bags of meat in the freezer ready to thaw and use! The time-consuming part is already done!

Which brings me to today's shopping trip, and the reason I thought of writing this post. It's "Wild & Wacky Wednesday" at our local store, which features really good deals on a few items for that day. I wanted something to grill for dinner tonight, and found some boneless pork loin chops on sale for $2.49 a pound. I almost picked up a package, when I saw a featured W&WW item. Half a pork loin for $1.89 a pound. I brought it home, cut it up into chops (during which I looked at my husband and asked why didn't I start doing this sooner in our marriage?!), grilled up a few for dinner, and now have a bag of individually wrapped chops for 2-3 more meals.

Now I just need more than my little freezer above the refrigerator for when I come across more great deals like this one... :)


This post is linked to the No Ordinary Blog Hop: July.