Today's Brilliant Idea...

So, if you've been following my blog at all, you know I am now waist-deep in zucchini (cucumbers and tomatoes too, but that's another post)! Today, as I was about to shred, bag and freeze four more giant zucchini squash, I thought, "why not prep them for specific recipes"? Some zucchini recipes use slices, some use "sticks", some shredded, etc. So, I cut a bunch of zucchini into shapes for each recipe and labelled them as such. Such a great idea...I'm going to do it this way from now on!

While we are on the subject of zucchini, I made zucchini bars (see 9/17/11 post for recipe) but had no cream cheese for the decadent frosting. I did, however, have some sour cream. So, I did an Internet search and found this very tasty recipe at www.allrecipes.com! It is seriously just as good as the cream cheese frosting! And, it was LOWFAT sour cream - high five!

Sour Cream Frosting

4 Tbl. butter, softened

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. lemon juice

2 3/4 cups powdered sugar

In a medium bowl, mix butter, sour cream, vanilla and lemon juice. Blend till smooth.  Stir in powdered sugar. Ta da!

I may have used a little too much sour cream; the frosting was fairly runny after 3 cups of powdered sugar, but who cares!

"Got Zukes?" continued...

Yes, yet ANOTHER zucchini recipe: I've got a million of them (recipes and zucchinis)! I'm almost afraid to walk out to my garden, I'm becoming overwhelmed by all the veggies! The tomatoes have just begun to ripen, so prepare yourself for lots of tomato-based recipes!

This recipe is an old favorite that I make a lot during the summer. It uses both zucchini and summer squash (and lots of cheese) - delish!

Summer Squash Bake (taken from www.kraftrecipes.com)

2 small zucchini, thinly sliced (I used a large zucchini and cut the slices in half)

1 medium yellow summer squash, thinly sliced

3 eggs

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 cup finely shredded Italian cheese blend

1 small onion, diced

1/2 of a medium green pepper, diced

salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat on medium heat.  Add zucchini, squash and onion; cook and stir 5 minutes, or until the zucchini is crisp-tender. Beat eggs and mayo in large bowl with wire whisk until well-blended.  Stir in cheese, green pepper and zucchini mixture.  Season with salt and pepper.  Spoon into  greased baking dish.  Bake 35 to 40 minutes until center is set and edges are lightly browned.

Zucchini Parmesan Crisps

Yes, yet ANOTHER zucchini recipe: and it won't be the last! My garden is exploding, so bear with me...just wait until my tomatoes are ripe! Anywho, I tried something different with zucchini last night for supper and it was super tasty! And talk about easy: there are only a few ingredients!  I think these chip-like slices of zucchini would make a great appetizer too.

Zucchini Parmesan Crisps 

 http://bakehouse.squarespace.com/home/2011/7/20/zucchini-parmesan-crisps.html

1 lb. zucchini or squash (about 2 medium-sized)
1/4 cup shredded parmesan (heaping)
1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs (heaping)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with foil and spray lightly with vegetable spray. Slice zucchini or squash into 1/4 inch-thick rounds. Toss rounds with oil, coating well. In a wide bowl or plate, combine breadcrumbs, parmesan, salt and pepper.  Place rounds in parmesan-breadcrumb mixture, coating both sides of each round, pressing to adhere. The mixture will not completely cover each round, but provides a light coating on each side.  Place rounds in a single layer on baking sheets. Sprinkle any remaining breadcrumb mixture over the rounds.  Bake for about 22 to 27 minutes, until golden brown. (There is no need to flip them during baking -- they crisp up on both sides as is.)

My three-year-old said they were "nummy"...I think she was spot on!

Deluxe Green Beans

In my family, you know it's summer if all you have for supper is green beans, well, DELUXE green beans. My paternal grandmother made this every summer when I was growing up. She let hers simmer on the stove for hours until the green beans started to fall apart - delish! My small green bean crop (three bean "teepees") yields just enough to make this dish a few times, and freeze a few bags for later. There's no recipe per se, but here's how I make green beans:

Pour some olive oil in a stock pot or dutch oven, throw in some chopped up bacon (I use turkey bacon, so the olive oil is primarily to keep it from sticking - if you use REAL bacon, you don't really need the olive oil). Cook the bacon till crispy, then add some diced onion and cook on low until soft. Add a few cups of water and toss in freshly snapped green beans and quartered red potatoes or those really trendy fingerling potatoes). Simmer until the potatoes are soft. Season with salt and pepper. Yum!

Tonight, along with the "deluxe green beans"  I had an open-faced cheese and tomato "sandwich": slice of bread topped with slice of tomato topped with sliced co-jack cheese. Broil in toaster oven till cheese is melted. Enjoy!

It's Blueberry Time!

Today, Regan, my Mom and I went to the Beech Road Blueberry Farm (in Wakarusa) to pick blueberries. Because of the drought and horrid heat we've had the past month, the berries were not as large as last year, but still pretty plentiful! What to do with pounds and pounds of blueberries, you say?

First, you wash them and spread them out on baking sheets to dry,

freeze said berries for 1-2 hours,

then bag them up in freezer bags for future use!

 I set aside quite a few fresh berries for making blueberry muffins (and eating) - yum!  I know I've posted at least two blueberry muffin recipes in the past, but not this one:

It's a combination of several recipes I've tried over the years. I think I made the recipe card (with cutesy lettering) about 20 years ago. Don't you just love the name of the recipe?

Christie's Excellent Blueberry Muffins (makes 24)

3 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 beaten eggs
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I use safflower)
1 1/2 cups blueberries

Topping:

3 Tbl. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix all ingredients 28 strokes by hand, until blended (I added the blueberries last, just folding in briefly). Line muffin tin with cupcake papers and fill 3/4 full.  Sprinkle cinnamon/sugar topping on each muffin.  Bake for 20-25 minutes. (I use dark, non-stick muffin tins and have found that turning down the heat a little prevents browning on the bottoms).

These muffins are really moist and have a hint of orange flavor. My favorite part, besides the fresh blueberries, is the crunchy topping!

Got Zukes?

Ah yes, the zucchini plants are in full-force now! I swear, there are two new ripe ones every day in my garden! And new ones starting every day, too! So, what do I do with all that squash? Here are two options:

shred 'em (I remove the seeds but leave the peel),



bag 'em and freeze

(I freeze two cups per bag for zucchini bread/muffin recipes),

make zucchini bread!

I think I found this recipe online (big surprise) last year, but had not tried it until this week. It's SUPER moist and has a yummy twist: Nutella! Regan, of course, loves it! Enjoy!

Nutella Zucchini Swirl Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

3 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (this is NOT a typo; I only used 1 tsp. though)

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 cups freshly grated zucchini

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/3 cup Nutella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease one 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.  Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon into a bowl.  In a separate bowl, stir together eggs, oil, sugar, zucchini and vanilla.  Make sure it is fully combined.  Pour flour mixture into egg mixture, stirring until completely combined.  Pour entire mixture into loaf pan.  Dollop the Nutella on top and swirl it into the batter with a dull knife.  Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and the top is set.  You will know the bread is done when the center springs back when lightly touched.

The Nutella kind of sunk to the bottom of my bread. I think I "swirled" it a little too much, but it still tasted great when biting into a big glob of chocolate! Yum!

Berry Crisp!

Today is Independence Day, so I made a festive red and blue dessert to take to my Mom's for our cookout; Berry Crisp (with blueberries and red raspberries). This is a variation of the late 1970's Apple Crisp recipe from Girl Scouts that I've made millions of times (okay, not MILLIONS, but too many times to count!). This recipe works with any kind of fruit, from apples and peaches to rhubarb and berries (one of my personal favorites is peach/blueberry). Enjoy!

Berry Crisp

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup (one stick) butter, softened

4 cups berries

Blend oats, flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon.  Cut in butter using a pastry blender (I used my stand mixer).  Pour berries into a buttered baking dish.  Top with oatmeal mixture.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

I'm looking forward to eating this with a big glob of vanilla ice cream - oh yeah!