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.