Joy in the Kitchen!

At the beginning of zucchini season we love, love, LOVE, zucchini fried in butter or olive oil.  We could eat it every day with dinner!  However, by the middle of zucchini season we're pretty ready to let our zucchini taste buds branch out with new zucchini recipes! Here are 5 of our favorite ways to use zucchini fresh off of the plant!  (or frozen if it's winter and you've wisely planned ahead!) 1.  By far our favorite.... Ooey-Gooey Zucchini Brownies !  I could easily eat 5 servings of vegetables THIS way! 2.  A healthy snack of .....   Zucchini Bread !   I like nuts in this but my kids don't so one of these days when they've all left home I'm making this and adding EXTRA nuts.  In the meantime I see no reason to waste a good thing on someone who can't appreciate it. :) 3.   Zucchini Frittata can make a simple dinner, delicious lunch, or even a savory breakfast!   I love freshly picked tomatoes diced on the top and sprinkled with a

My kids have been watching Cupcake Wars on Netflix this summer.  We don't watch a lot of TV so the kids have only been able to watch while they fold clothes, shell peas, or snap green beans.  This gets some work done for me and they get an opportunity to watch TV.  Happy arrangement for all of us. (Though sometimes I suspect the clothes are taking longer to fold than usual towards the end of an episode!) Last year our zucchini didn't grow as well as we wanted so this year we planted extra and it is ALL growing well!   The combination of Cupcake Wars and our prolific zucchini plants brought about these beautiful and tasty cupcakes!   The cupcake is light, very moist, and the perfect carrier for a delicious Cream Cheese Frosting. (I find some people frown on just eating the frosting with a spoon.)  This is high on my list of ways to fix fruits and vegetables! Zucchini Cupcakes 1 C. oil 1 3/4 C. sugar 2 large eggs 2 tsp. vanilla 3 C. flour 1/2 tsp. salt 3

Our garden is on full swing right now.  We love having so many fresh vegetables to use!  As usual we have an abundance of zucchini.  It grows so quickly.  One day I check the plant and the squash are a little bit too small and the next day I have zucchini the size of my forearm!   Those forearm sized zucchini are excellent for using in baked goods - like Zucchini Bread!  One can NEVER have too many zucchini recipes during this season!   As long as you use a fine grate there's hardly a sign of green zucchini in this and I rarely take time to peel them first.  If you have a food processor you can quickly grate a bunch of zucchini at once.  If I'm only making one batch, I usually just use my hand grater.... you only need 2 cups.... it's pretty quick and then I have one small item to wash.  Lazy, lazy me! You'll want to grease your bread pans.  My Mom always used a paper towel and some shortening BUT I love to use a cooking spray!  So much quicker and cleaner