Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Zucchini Bread: Your kids will never know it's "good" for them!

This is a re-post, but worth repeating. Do you have too many zucchini from your garden? Do you neglect to pick them before they grow too large and bitter like me? Then use them for zucchini bread. This recipe came from my mother-in-law and it very delicious.....seriously good. The best I've ever tried. You can't taste the zucchini which is why my kids and I love it! And with the added glaze it's like you're eating cake!

3 eggs, beaten
1 C white sugar
1 C brown sugar
3 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp baking powder
3 C flour
1 C canola oil
2 C zucchini

Glaze: Make a thin powdered sugar glaze and add some cinnamon.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 3 regular sized loaf pans or 1 large and 4 mini pans. Set aside.

First add oil plus chopped (doesn't have to be peeled. It's extra fiber. And it's pureed so it doesn't affect the texture but you can be if you prefer) zucchini into blender. Blend until smooth. Make sure it equals 3 cups. Add more zucchini until it is so.
Next, beat eggs, sugars and vanilla together. Add zucchini/oil mixture to egg mixture. Mix. Add remaining ingredients. Pour evenly into pans.

Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan. Cool on wire rack.

VARIATIONS:
Lemon Zucchini Bread

1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
1 C chopped nuts

Omit cinnamon and nutmeg and add lemon rind and nuts.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread (pictured)

3 Tbsp cocoa
1 C chocolate chips

Omit cinnamon and nutmeg and add cocoa and chips.

Chocolate glaze:
In a double boiler melt 1/2 C chocolate chips with 1 Tbsp butter plus 5 Tbsp water. Stir until melted.

Off heat add:
1/2 C powdered sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Wait until loaves are slightly cooled before glazing.


TO FREEZE:
You can freeze the oil/zucchini blended mixture in a quart sized freezer ziploc bag. Freeze flat. Thaw completely and prepare as normal.

OR you may freeze cooled cooked loaves with glazes. Wrap in saran wrap and then foil.

Enjoy!

Summer Fun Party

Again, I am going back in time. I hosted this party in July 2011 and am sharing it in January 2012 when there is snow on the ground. It's fun to think of summer in the winter, right?

I invited a bunch of my friends and their children to come over for an outdoor summer party. Any excuse to throw a party! The kids had a blast getting each other wet with homemade sponges likes these from OCP and the adults got to sit around and talk....until they got wet. :) 

My little Cecily. Love those chubby legs.

This treat is what I call seashell crunch. 

One of my favorite childhood snacks--Bugles, (because they look kind of like shells), goldfish crackers, and pink jello popcorn. 

 Fresh watermelon on a stick. I tried putting a cupcake liner underneath like I had seen on Real Simple, but the liner just got soggy and defeated the purpose. so I stopped lining them. 

Blue Jello cups with swedish fish. It was so hot they began to melt and the kids drank them. 

Marshmallow starfish. I saw these on Pinterest and thought they were so adorable! But instead of making the marshmallows from scratch I cut them out of those newer flat rectangle marshmallows with a star cookie cutter (a fondant cutter would work too). So as a result they were really small and took a long time. I did not have any candy eyes so I used white chocolate chips and dotted them with tube frosting. They are coated in melted chocolate then dipped in crushed graham crackers. Laying on a bed of sand (brown sugar).

I had seen this idea on Pinterest too. Fresh pureed fruit frozen in a cup. They just tore off the cup and ate the popsicle before it melted. This is the recipe I used from Sunflower Market. I can't find the recipe now but it was basically pureed strawberries, pineapple juice and perhaps watermelon? 

 I made this jello with suspending swedish fish. The tutorial can be found here.  I think I ended up just making blue jello which is why it is so dark. So the effect ins't quite the same and the fish are swimming sideways. But the kids loved it.

 Pretzel crabs. These are simple large pretzels covered in orange (with a touch of red) candy coating (Wilton's). The eyes are like the starfish, white chocolate chips with dots of black frosting. 

This paper fish is a vintage kite from Japan. My grandfather caught it when he visited there many many years ago. My mom had it in her stash and it was perfect for this party. It is now hanging in my son's bedroom. I drew on this old shed wall with pink chalk. It came right off with some hose water.

Tuesdays Tip

Is your kitchen like mine? Full of gadgets or containers, most that only collect dust due to under-use? If so, then you'll agree that although sometimes a cake holder or plastic cupcake holder would be handy to have when transporting cake or cupcakes to another location. But is the space it takes up more valuable?

Or does your family eat as much cold cereal as mine? We go through 1-2 small boxes a week and I hate to throw them out.


Well, why not save some? I have a few purposes that I use them for and here is one. A cupcake holder with lid. A recycled transporter that can be dropped off and no need to be returned. I've volunteered to make cupcakes for families that have funerals at my Church lately. I don't want to drop them off on one of my plates or cookie sheets that'll just need to be returned so I put them in a cereal box and let them take care of the trash. No worries.

Remove the bag. Simply tape the end closed, where you normally open to pour the cereal. Then cut one of the sides on 3 sides, to create a flap. Fill with 24 mini-cupcakes or 12 regular. I usually frost them once they're in the box, just to make it easier and less messy getting them in. Then, if you need, just add a little piece of tap to close it and deliver!

What have you used to transport cupcakes in a less messy or inexpensive way? I've seen the use of a disposable clothing box from department stores. You can cut an "x" to create a little tight slot or hole on top of the box to place the cupcake in.  But it won't have a lid. The same concept can be used with a cereal box.

Smoot Poots

I love country style breakfast. Don't you? This is a recipe from the mid-western states, I believe, hence the unique name. It comes from my husbands side of the family who hail from Wisconsin and Indiana. I have grown to LOVE this recipe over the years. I have modified it to make a little healthier by substituting the sugar with honey and oil with applesauce, and you cannot tell the difference! These are easy, hearty and healthy and delicious!

Smoot Poots
Yield: 6 large pancakes

2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups oatmeal, slow cook kind
2 Tbsp honey
1/3 cup applesauce
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder

In a large bowl combine oats and milk. Let soak for 5 minutes. Then add remaining ingredients and mix. Fry up on a griddle or frying pan. Top with applesauce and syrup. Enjoy!

Mammoth

Summer Fun Idea #00 (not listed)

Earlier this summer when the kids and I hung out in Mt P we visited the Fairview Museum of History and Art. A few years back they discovered a wooly mammoth fossil in their little town. It's really the only reason worth going to this little museum, other than the really cheap gift shop. Sadly, this is not the original fossil. Payson stole it. So this is a replica but still really cool. When we took the kids a few years ago they were too scared to stand by it. haha. It is really huge. In addition to this guy there are a bunch of other artifacts, some art, a gift shop and some old and broken pioneer wagons and such.

My little brother with the kiddos in front of the wooly mammoth.

Snow Cones

Summer Fun List #39

Snow Cones at the Park

We were able to visit one of the many snow cone shacks/huts around town. This is one is right across the street from my alma mater and makes me smile every time I pass by this colorful little booth. I'm glad I was finally able to try it out.The kids loved my watermelon cone the best. My son did not like it when his rainbow cone melted and the colors were mixed together. Now we know not to try that mix again! Sadly by the time we got to the park it was over 90 degrees out and way too hot to be safely playing outside before becoming sunburnt and dehydrated so we went home early. Fun memories were created!

 

 Look, how sweet, they're sharing. They loved the special straws with spoons at the end :)

Chalk Art

I've been sooo busy this last month. Want to hear my excuses? First, I was on a committee to plan a carnival themed party at my Church which kept me very busy. Then, the very next day my family reunion started, which I was also essentially responsible for. That took us to the 4th and then I took a little breather and took my children to visit their grandparents and my sister in Denver. Phew! So needless to say, this blog has been a bit neglected. But in the meantime, I did help my cousin in redesigning my blog a bit. I'm still working on it, but what do you think so far?

The kids and I have been busy with our Summer Fun list. 

This week one of our activities was:

Summer Fun Idea #37

Chalk Fun