Zucchini Recipes

Elise had the great idea of posting a recipe on her blog when she got the recipe chain e-mail (its hard to follow through on those and I hardly ever get any recipes from them). I thought it was a great idea and said I would post these recipes yesterday, but I didn't. So here they are. For those who don't already know, a friend gave me a HUGE zucchini from her garden, so we've been trying some new recipes this week. Sorry I don't have any pictures or anything.

Mom's Zucchini Bread (a recipe from Allrecipes.com, I used suggestions made by a reviewer)
makes two loaves

3 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
3 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1/2 c. oil
1/2 c. applesauce
1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
3 tsp. vanilla
3-4 c. zucchini

1) Grease & flour two 8"x4" loaf pans (I used the foil ones from the grocery store). Preheat oven to 325 F.

2) Beat eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla, sugars. Add the dry ingredients, mix well (you're supposed to have already mixed the dry igredients together, but I never do that). Stir in zucchini.

3) Bake 50-60 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan 20 minutes, then remove and cool completely.

Zucchini Meat Loaf (from Amanda, who gave me the zucchini; all the suggestions at the end are hers. we all loved it, even the kids!)

2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups shredded zucchini (1 large or 2 small)
1/2 cup bread crumbs*
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef

TOPPING (its yummy!- make twice as much and mix half into the meatloaf)
1 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 tsp. yellow mustard

1. Heat oven to 350 F. In large bowl, mix all meat loaf ingredients until well blended**. Press mixture into ungreased 9 1/2 inch deep-dish glass pie plate***. Bake 35 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix all topping ingredients. (See comments by TOPPING ingredients)

3. Remove meat loaf from oven; pour off drippings. Spread topping over loaf. Return to oven; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until thoroughly cooked in center (meat thermometer reads 160 F). Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

* I have found a quick way to get bread crumbs if you don't have them on hand. Take one or two slices of bread and toast them in the toaster. Then place in the refrigerator for a few minutes to cool. Then place in blender to make crumbs.
** I use my kitchenaid mixer to mix my meatloaf. That way I don't have to get my hands all gooey or get raw hamburger under my fingernails. Eeewwww!
*** The Pillsbury cookbook recommends baking the meat loaf in a shallow pie plate because it takes less time than baking it in a loaf shape. Dinner can be on the table more quickly.

All the comments on the meatloaf are Amanda's. Also, she told me to double the topping and add some to the meat loaf before I cooked it, but I forgot. So I still made double and just put it all on top, it is really yummy topping! For the zucchini bread, you can look it up on Allrecipes. com. I just used the substitutions and stuff recommended by MommyFromSeattle, the "altered" recipe is the one I posted.

Making both of these recipes once only used up about half of the shredded zucchini I got from that monster. Amanda told me to shred it and freeze what I didn't need, which I did, before making the meat loaf. So, since I had to thaw it to make the meatloaf, and it was all in one big ziploc, I'll be making more zucchini bread (I hear you can freeze that too).
Note to self: freeze shredded zucchini in smaller, more manageable portions.

Eden is 5! and Hermit Crabs

We weren't going to do a big party for Eden, especially since we had just got back from our big road trip, and her birthday fell on a Sunday this year. But, her friend Aurora (who turned 4 just a few days before Eden turned 5) invited her to do a double birthday, with just our two families. It worked out great, Eden felt like she had a "party" and it didn't really take any work. She got an inexpensive 35mm camera for her birthday, and went through the first roll the same day!

The kids have been wanting a pet for quite a while, so after numerous trips thru the pet store, I relented and said they could have hermit crabs when we got back from our big trip. I had read through the information at the pet store and decided that they couldn't be any more work than the goldfish we had in Hawaii (whether this turns out to be true remains to be seen). So, now we are the proud owners of two very special crabs. The white one is Eden's and the darker one is Andrew's, but they don't have names yet.

I did use math again!

I actually liked most of my math (algebra, geometry, trigonometry, etc) classes growing up, but didn't really think I'd use anything besides basic math outside of school. I was so happy that this arrangement turned out the way I wanted, I took a picture. Usually I just eyeball it when I hang pictures, but this time I layed out the pictures on the floor first and measured the distances and then measured the top of the bookcase so I could center the whole thing above it. Then used a laserlevel tool and a pencil to make sure my X's on the wall all squared up. Yay me!!!

Eden and Andrew enjoyed playing in the mud at the playground on our first day back, this was also Eden's first day of preschool (just try to imagine the same shot without all the mud).

Eden and Andrew loved jumping on the trampoline at Grandma and Grandpa's house, especially if Michelle joined them.

The other uncles now have another competitor. Logan is the latest and greatest as far as Eden and Andrew are concerned.

We also made it to Temple Square, the kids actually really enjoyed this (I thought it might be boring for them).

Of course we couldn't visit Grandma & Grandpa Finley without seeing Grandpa's firehouse. Andrew was so excited to be able to get inside a couple of the BIG trucks.

We got to go to BYU and meet up with Erin & Ryan who took this picture of us on campus.

We stopped at a few pioneer sites on our way through Wyoming. This is a picture at Independence Rock. The kids were good little travelers, but by the end of our trip we were all glad to be home.