Zucchini History and Recipe

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 Zucchini is staple at my house right now. We have Zucchini at least 5 days a week. The Zucchini we know and love is from Italy. And as little as 30 years ago was hardly known here in the States. Columbus was one of the first people to bring the summer squash to Africa and the Mediterrian areas to start the slow world domination of the delicious and versatile veggie. (Another little known fact, Columbus was an Italian. We sometimes assume he was Spanish)

Zucchini plants have a tendency to grow very large and the large leaves spread out where there is room. Many people tend to give it away because they get more produce than they know what to do with. I just shred or chop it all and freeze it. It freezes wonderfully. And here and there I give some to people that do not grow it because who does not love Zucchini Bread? If you do grow it, it is better to keep the fruit not too large, because it tends to get too firm to be enjoyable. 

So what do you do with this yummy green goodness?
Breads, desserts, soups, grill it, they roast great, through in the crock pot, bake, freeze for later and the list goes on! Something we are starting to see is people dipping the flowers of the plant (that later turn into the fruit) in batter and frying them. I want to try this just a lot...

Some of the nutrional elements of Zucchini:

The zucchini vegetable is low in calories (approximately 15 food calories per 100 g fresh zucchini) and contains useful amounts of folate (24 mcg/100 g), potassium (280 mg/100 g) and vitamin A (384 IU [115 mcg]/100 g. 1/2 cup of zucchini also contains 19% of the recommended amount of manganese. (Source)

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And, as promised I am attaching my beloved Zucchini Muffin Recipe! This is the Link! If you want them to be chocolate, just add 3/4 a cup of baking cocoa. I have added Pears before to the batter and they stay really moist and almost uncooked in a way but still tasted amazing. My next stop is to put in some apple and turn it into a cupcake... wish me luck and have fun with your Zucchini!

Breakfast for Dinner? Yes Ma'am!

There is something taking over my backyard right now... it is Zucchini and Pumpkins. I have more Zucchini then I ever imagined I would. But I could not be happier. I have an amazing recipe I found online last year (I will be posting it on Monday) for Zucchini Bread Muffins. I have used it in pasta sauce, brownies and a few other things. We have it 5 days a week!

Above you see my dinner from the other night. Zucchini Applesauce pancakes with strawberry jam and syrup. And some eggs on the side. If you don't go crazy with the condiments, this was a SUPER healthy dinner! I know your mouths are watering right now. And so is mine... I have some in the freezer that might need to be eaten. Right. Now.

Happy Weekend!

Yum Yum, Brussel Sprouts!

Oh YES I did!

Has anyone actually tried Brussel Sprouts? They are mini cabbages and when prepared correctly, they totally rock. (This may in small part have to do with my mom being half Irish and cabbage was here and there regular in the diet)

All you need is to put down some foil on a cookie sheet or some kind of pan. Then drizzle them with olive oil, salt and pepper. For more flavor you could add some Parmesan cheese. Put them in a 350 degree oven until slightly crispy on the outside, roughly 20-30 minutes depending on size. Cut off hard bottom and enjoy!

So easy and great for summer. Weekly we do a Bountiful Basket to make our food budget more cost friendly. Bountiful Baskets is a food co-op that runs mostly in the Western half of U.S. and on Mondays you order your basket online. Then you pick it up Saturday afternoon. It is ALWAYS at least $50 worth of fresh fruits and vegetables (50/50) for $15 plus a $1.50 handling fee. (Your very first time there is a $3 fee for the actual baskets to hold your produce)

And there is never a guarantee of what is going to be in it. There has been items I have to look up on the internet what it is! But I have NEVER been disappointed. They also offer for extra bread at $2 a loaf and so good (5 loaf packs), cases of fruit or veggies of one kind, 7 dozen tortillas in a variety back for $12,  a Mexi-lovers pack with everything to make fresh guacamole and so on. I encourage you to check out the site. My children eat fruit like crazy and this way does not hurt your wallet. A lot of women wait to make their weekly meal plan until they get their basket then go to the grocery store to buy the rest of what they need.

If there is not one where you live, you can email the people in charge to try and start up your own pick up site. It is all volunteer based, no one is paid to be there. Some people have even had their homes as a site so their area can have a location. Usually it is at a place of business. 

You just have to take something to put your food in and take it home. Ours last about a week. We are now ordering weekly. Before Lilly was on solid food we only ordered twice a month. 

So go grab some Brussel Sprouts and shake up your summer cuisine!

Bethany

Summer Time Yummm!

So the wonderful mid-60's we have been having here in South East Idaho make one thing happen above all else in my home...

Bar-B-Que

My husband decided when he was single and bought his first home (that I moved into following our nuptials a year later) he needed to get himself a house warming gift. A $650 grill. Any one else have this happen? All I could think about is how he did not have any curtains up...

But he is pretty handy with it and he truly feels like a Man's Man when he uses it. I even got him a apron and towel to clip to the grill in the theme of his favorite team: the Cleveland Browns. (It was for Christmas and at first he hated the apron because it was "girly")

He is the King of Marinades. And I informed him last week sometime that I had thawed out T-Bone steaks. (A luxury yes, but we split a half of beef with a friend last year and it was a part of it... a half of beef is a half of a cow we bought)

His basic marinade start like this:

Olive Oil

White Distilled Vinegar

A few drops of Soy Sauce

Tablespoon of Worchester

Chopped Garlic Cloves

And then a variety of spices per your taste buds. We like Smoked Apple-wood Sea Salt (Found Here), Pepper, a Costco BBQ mix and so on.

Look at those grill marks!

There are no specific measurements. He eye balls it until he feels there is enough to coat the steaks and then sit in it. Not submerge, the vinegar makes the flavor soak into meat. Just enough to come up the sides a bit of the meat. Make sure to rub it in allover before letting it sit for an hour or two.

This can be used for pork, chicken and in a rare occasion per taste, fish.

Happy BBQ-ing this summer and I hope this very simple and basic recipe helps you. Combine with some roasted veggies, cous-ous, lemonade and a table on the back porch. Enjoy!

Bethany

My New Babies...

Steve and I have decided to do a vegetable garden this year since we have the space. Why? Several reasons:

We have not had a yard for 2 years, we must use it

We have 2 kids in diapers (even at Costco this is about $100 a month --with coupons--)

We know where our food will be coming from

And it will taste better, so fresh

For now though, the babies plants must live indoors because Idaho is known to have snow in May. Seriously. So they need to wait until there will not be another frost. 

My husband reminded me I was suppose to put them in Dixie cups, but I was so excited I forgot. This is what the corner of the office looks like:

Which brings me to another point, those of you without a yard, you can still have a veggie garden. You just do the above. It is called a Container Garden. Just put in a few seeds to each pot and grow. They will need to stay inside for a few more weeks, but then put them by your front door or back porch and even a window sill. I do not recommend inside, my office now smells of dirt!

Bethany

Lemon Bar Cake

You here loves lemon bars?!?!?!?!? Yeah, me too. A friend of mine recently showed me this amazing and oh so easy recipe for a cake that tastes like lemon bars (to me anyway) and I thought I should share this goodness to the masses. 

All you need is a box of Lemon Cake Mix, the ingredients that go with that (3 eggs, water and oil) and a can of Lemon Pie Filling. 

Just put the pie filling in with the cake mixture and mix until well combined.

Then, just bake as the box says. I got these super cute silicone cupcake wraps at the dollar store for Valentine's. Love them!

When they cool off, sprinkle with powdered sugar and ENJOY!

(Like my Valentine's tulips from Steve? He thought they were planted so we could keep the bulbs but the package fooled him. I thought it was hilarious!)

I have been known to eat too many, but they taste so good! I sent Steve with a cake to a Super Bowl party and it was gone in minutes. Some of the people that had it called for the recipe because they absolutely had to have it the next day. 

And for someone that can't cook that good on a regular basis, that felt pretty good!

Bethany

First Guest Post: Chocolate Covered Graham Crackers

I would like to introduce you all to a long time friend of mine that remembers me so well in one word, as you will see! Good times! And she has the cutest kids!

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Hey everyone! I'd like to give a big thanks to my old friend Bethany for inviting me to do a guest post on her blog! We grew up together in the dainty little town of Gervais, Oregon. You might know her as a professional, a mom, and a grown woman, but to me she'll always be the sweet little high school girl who would yell 'Schnikes!' when things went awry. ;)

Now, on to business!

I had seen homemade graham crackers a few times on Pinterest, but I wanted to take it a step further by dipping them in chocolate! I searched around a bit for a recipe I thought I would like, and Smitten Kitchen never fails me, so I went with her recipe. You can use whatever chocolate you want to dip them in. Chocolate isn't any good to me unless it's at least 60% cacao, and that was the highest they had in chocolate chips, so that's what I went with. 

If you don't have a food processor you can use a Kitchen Aid or even just a hand mixer. I got this baby after serving for five years at Bentley's Grill...I quit a month later. 

You can't go wrong with something that has milk and honey in it!

Make sure you hire top sous chefs in your area to help!

Well on our way to deliciousness!

Bringing out the big guns

Almost there....

Yes! Complete success! I hope you enjoy making these as much as I did. I do have a couple of tips for you before you begin. First, when working with the dough, it gets very sticky VERY fast, so I would NOT recommend having a baby on your hip and a toddler tugging at your pants while your making these, not that I know or anything....Second, keep a very close eye on these while in the oven. Things can go south really fast once they are finished baking and I can tell you from experience, dark brown grahams are not tasty, however, if they are a little underdone, no worries! They are like a cookie. Mark said his favorite part was the different consistencies that there were, lol, wasn't my objective, but it all works out in the end I suppose.

Now go and show Starbucks and their wimpy little overpriced chocolate grahams who's boss and make these tonight!

Chocolate Covered Graham Crackers adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Makes 10 4 x 4.5-inch graham crackers or 48 2-inch squares

2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen
1/3 cup honey
5 tablespoons milk, full-fat is best
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

Topping (optional)
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 bag of chocolate chips, any kind

Make the dough: Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade or in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Pulse or mix on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off on and off, or mix on low, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal.

[Alternately, if you don't have a food processor or electric mixer, you can cut the ingredients together with a pastry blender. Just make sure they're very well incorporated.]

In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, milk, and vanilla extract. Add to the flour mixture and pulse on and off a few times or mix on low until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky. Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap and dust it lightly with flour, then turn the dough out onto it and pat it into a rectangle about 1-inch thick. Wrap it, then chill it until firm, about 2 hours or overnight. Meanwhile, prepare the topping, if using, by combining the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and setting aside.

Roll out the grahams: Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be sticky, so flour as necessary. Trim the edges of the rectangle to 4 inches wide. Working with the shorter side of the rectangle parallel to the work surface, cut the strip every 4 1/2 inches to make 4 crackers. I used a pizza cutter.

Place the crackers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets and sprinkle with the topping. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes in the fridge or 15 to 20 minutes in the freezer. Repeat with the second batch of dough. Finally, gather any scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and re-roll.

Adjust the oven rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat the oven to 350°F.

Decorate the crackers: Mark a vertical line down the middle of each cracker, being careful not to cut through the dough (this is for the traditional cracker shape). Using a toothpick or skewer (I like to use the blunt end of a wooden skewer for more dramatic dots), prick the dough to form two dotted rows about 1/2 inch for each side of the dividing line.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating the sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. 

Melt the chocolate: In a small sauce pan, melt chocolate chips on low until almost melted, then remove from heat. Take cooled grahams and, tipping the sauce pan towards you, dip half of the graham in the chocolate, letting the excess drip back into the pan. Set on parchment paper and let cool for a few hours or overnight to ensure chocolate hardens.

Kailee Adams is a bartender turned stay at home mom working on starting her own at home bakery. You can visit her blog by clicking here. She is also on Facebook and Twitter.

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Thank you Kailee, for ruining my diet with pictures! :) Thank you for the Guest Post and hopefully everyone likes it enough for you to come back! (hint hint). I am thinking we should meet for a play/eating baked goodies date the next time I am back home... Just a thought!

Happy Grahams Y'all!

Bethany

Spice Up your Valentine's Day with this Dinner!

If I actually cook something that is worthwhile it is scarce and random. But I recently made this dinner and I feel from the color that it is great for Valentine's! 

**Italian Sausage Stuffed Red Peppers**

And it hardly took any effort! This is what you need:

-Package of Mild Italian Sausage

-3/4 of a medium Onion (Like my measurement?)

-Half a can of Small Black Olives sliced small (or you could buy the already sliced ones but I feel it's dumb when I can do it myself)

-Half a can of Italian Seasoned Stewed Tomatoes, chopped

-3/4 a can of Tomato Sauce 

-1 Clove of Garlic chopped

Mix altogether in a bowl. Cut the Red Peppers in half, core and lay in a pan. Fill with the sausage mixture into the pepper halves. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375 degrees for 1 hour. (If there is any sausage mixture leftover put it in a bread pan and have it as meatloaf!)

We had asparagus with it. I thought it would be fun for Valentines and all! (They almost look like hearts)

Enjoy! And Happy Valentine's Day! 

Bethany

Full Crock Pot Cilantro Citrus Chicken

So, I have very little time sometimes to cook a meal later in the day when my children are up. As I am sure many of you do too as well. Or if you are in college, work a lot or just have a lot to do in one day. 

My solution to this necessity in life is called: the Super Crock Pot! Yes, the Super Crock Pot does all the cooking/seasoning/making your home smell good for you in just a few wondrous minutes. Please use this secret weapon daily if you wish!

Below I have for you one of the easiest ways to cook a full chicken. (Insides excluded of course). 

 Spray the entire inside of your crock pot with cooking spray. Put in about 3 cups of chicken broth and 1 cup of water. You could do 4 cups of broth, but in my family just all broth is too salty.

 Then, season the bird with your favorite basic seasonings. Cover with Cilantro and put in extra in the broth. I also used a Smoked Wood Sea Salt that is to die for! I got it from this Etsy Shop-Salt Farm. We use it a lot!

Then layer with lemons and oranges. I cooked it for about 6 or so hours on high. It just fell off the bone! We enjoyed it with some cous cous and broccoli. 

(Sorry, no after pictures, could not help ourselves from just eating!)

Hope it is as amazing for you!

Bethany

Zucchini Muffin Overload!

So as of late I have become proud to say I am becoming a good, pretty decent, cook. (Hold the are you kiddings, I am serious). I recently found an amazing recipe for Zucchini Bread Muffins and fell in love!

So when I ran out of it, I asked my parents for some. My father was admitted to EIRMC this last Monday, but he said that he had picked a pile for me and left it in his garden. So I went to get it and there was about 20 POUNDS! I figured I could make a ton of muffins from this and was a wee bit excited.

I started with the largest Zucchini and when I was done sending this giant beast through the food processor I realized that there was a good problem. This one Zucchini made my recipe by 4 times! I had to pull out the punch bowl to mix it all because I did it in two batches but confused a few of the measurements. To make sure it turned out right I had to mix it all together. 12 cups of grated Zucchini later, I have muffins! I took about 20 to my parents house, some plain with white chocolate chips, some with craisins, and a loaf of raisen and nut for my father.

I had to put some in a ziplock and store in the fridge to finishing cooking later because my brother Joe and sister Kim came over from Washington to visiit with my father being in the hospital.

They discovered he has horribly high blood pressure but really that was it. They took him off of a ton of medication and he feels the best he has in months. It did scare me a lot though, and as Steve put it, "It feels like Superman is dying to you". And that is exactly what it was like. But I am grateful he feels so much better now and has energy to do more.

Especially since Isaiah loves him so much because they love to play!