Zapplesauce

After receiving some giant zucchini from Nana's garden last summer, I found this recipe to turn zucchini into apple.  It isn't magic, but it feels like it!  Cook the sliced zucchini in a bit of lemon juice, add some sugar and cinnamon and you have yourself what tastes like apple!  I used it in an "apple crisp" and completely fooled my husband, who hates zucchini.  We called it "deceitful crisp."

So this year, after another crop of zucchini, I had a grand idea - if I can use zucchini in pies and crisps like apples, why not sauce?  It works!  Use the same cooking method, and then blend it smooth.  Done and delicious.  It uses up a lot of zucchini all at once, and the zucchini-haters have no idea.

And in case you are wondering, I am on track for finishing my 100 recipes in the year!  77 recipes as of today, so only two each week for the rest of the year to get it done.

things to do with zucchini

I've always liked zucchini, but my mother-in-law had a garden this year so I got a LOT of it.  I've shredded some for the freezer, I've pureed some and added it to spaghetti sauce.  Here's a few other things I've done with zucchini this month.

Zucchini Boats - great to make with small zucchini.  Can be used for a whole meal or as a side.  Easy enough to change up the ingredients to suit your needs - add ground beef, mushrooms, etc.

Zucchini Chips - I've made these as chips (using small zucchini) and fries (with big to jumbo zucchini), dredging them in either milk or eggs.  Both work, both are tasty.

Zucchini Cobbler - I prepared the zucchini according to this recipe, but added my usual crisp blend for the top.  My husband loves apple crisp and gave a big thumbs up when he tried this.  And THEN I told him it was zucchini.  He was stunned.  This is now known as deceitful crisp at my house.  And this is awesome for large/jumbo zucchini because it uses so much up at once.

Zucchini Pizza - Yum Yum YUM!  Fabulous use for large zucchini (not too huge, or you get the soft spot in the middle with all the large seeds).  Tastes like regular pizza, but you don't feel so guilty eating a lot of it because there's no crust, just zucchini!  Definitely a favorite.

Zucchini Carrot Muffins - when given a lot of zucchini everyone's first thought is to make bread or muffins.  This was actually the last thing I tried (and they just came out of the oven).  I halved the sugar, and replaced the oil with more applesauce.  Very similar to the spiced carrot muffins I made last month, but with added pecans and raisins.  I'd make them again.  There are many other muffin recipes I'd like to try, so it's a good thing I've got a stash of shredded zucchini in the freezer.

June Cooking

After creating a dinner database (a big list of everything I like/would like to cook for dinner) planning meals has been less stressful.  And if I have a plan, dinner actually gets made.  The month of June has been quite successful.  Tried out some new recipes, some that will end up in the regular rotation.

Pizza Rolls - based off a cinnamon roll recipe, but instead of cinnamon and sugar in the middle, it's pizza sauce and meat, with cheese melted on top.  I had zero experience making cinnamon rolls, so they got a bit messy, but I'll get better when I make them again.

Zucchini Lasagna - Aaron doesn't like zucchini or lasagna, so I made this recipe while he was out of town.  A bit more time consuming than I'd usually like to spend on dinner, but it was delicious.  I didn't miss the lasagna noodles at all!  Next time I'd love to add spinach to the sauce.

Smashed Potatoes - Nice change from our usual potato wedges.  Good as a side.

Orange Muffins - Yummy! Yummy!  Made them one week and loved them so much that I made a double batch the next.  They freeze well.  Not at all healthy, since there is a full cup of melted butter in there, but light and fluffy and delicious.  I used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and one cup of (freshly squeezed) orange juice instead of a half, so I cut the milk down to half cup.  And lots of zest.

Banana Peanut Butter Muffins - had to use the rest of the Greek yogurt before we leave town, so tried these.  Much heavier and rich than the orange ones, but still pretty good.  Not something I'd make super often, but they also freeze well.

Baked Broccoli - someone posted it on Facebook.  I'm not usually a fan of cooked broccoli, but I've made this multiple times throughout the month.  *Do not rinse the broccoli immediately before preparing.  Chop your broccoli and toss with minced garlic, olive oil, and a little salt and pepper.  Spread on a baking sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes at 375 degrees.  Easy and delicious!

And right now my husband is making a cherry cola BBQ sauce to go on some ribs for dinner tomorrow.  Should be interesting!

chocolate zucchini bread

We had the missionaries over for dinner for Thanksgiving, and they came over the day before to help with some of the prep work. Elder Davies had apparently never cooked anything at all before (how is he surviving out here?), so we made him make the chocolate zucchini bread. With heavy supervision ... he almost added a tablespoon of salt instead of teaspoon. Eeww!

He used this recipe. He forgot the chocolate chips, which made the bread REALLY dark tasting. It wasn't too good straight out of the oven, but it was much better after it sat for a day. Then it reminded me of the Hershey's special dark chocolate bars - if you like those, this recipe would be good for you.

Zucchini Medly and Fritters

Two successful zucchini dishes for dinner tonight. I liked that they were similar enough that I could prep and cook both at the same time without too much of a hassle, but the final dishes tasted different enough that it wasn't boring. Hooray for eating vegetables!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Corn-and-Zucchini-Melody/Detail.aspx
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/The-Best-Zucchini-Fritters-Ever/Detail.aspx

Zucchini Bread

I had a few pieces of zucchini and I didn't feel like cooking them the "boring" way, so I found this recipe that I used to love when I was little and growing up with Baptist picnics on the grounds, but which I haven't had since.

Jeff walked in as I was making it and asked what it was. I answered that it was zucchini bread, but then made him promise to try it before he wrinkled his nose. He said it was awesome...and Maddie loves it too. Very sweet and cinnamon-y!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 egg, beaten

1 C sugar

1 C freshly shredded zicchini, with skin (about 1/2 a zucchini, but I doubled the recipe and used a whole one, since a single recipe only makes one loaf)

1/4 C cooking oil

1/2 C chopped walnuts or pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Grease the bottom and sides of a loaf pan.

3. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg. Make a well in the center of the mixture; set aside.

4. In another medium bowl, combine egg, sugar, zucchini, and oil.

5. Add zucchini mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. Batter will be lumpy. Fold in nuts.

6. Spoon into loaf pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.