That Time of Year

It's that time of year where Gardens are overflowing with squash and zucchini. Most people don't quite know what to do with all of the extra other than make Zucchini bread. Today I thought I'd share one of my mom's recipes that has always been a family favorite. Plus, I found a killer recipe for Chocolate chip Zucchini Bread. :) Enjoy!

Corn Zucchini Bake

1 giant zucchini, peeled, de-seeded, and steamed till tender
1 can corn, drained
1 to 2 cups grated Swiss cheese, depending on size of zucchini
4 to 6 eggs, depending on size of zucchini
1 to 2 tablespoons of minced onion OR about a quarter chopped onion, sautéed in butter
1 to 2 teaspoons salt, depending on your salt preference (but it definitely needs salt!)

Peel, de-seed a giant zucchini. Cut into big chunks. Boil or steam till tender… about 45 minutes to an hour. (I usually do this step the day before, or earlier in the day, and just let the zucchini set in the fridge.)

Drain all the water from the zucchini. Dump into a large bowl. Smash into a smooth mixture with a potato masher. Add 4 to 6 eggs (depending on size of zucchini), 1 to 2 cups of Swiss cheese (depending on size of zucchini), 1 can of corn, drained, and about 1 to 2 tablespoons of minced onion (or a quarter onion, chopped, that you already sautéed in butter if you prefer fresh onion). Add about a teaspoon of salt… or more. Be generous with the salt, but you can always add more after it is baked. Mix all ingredients together and dump into a greased 11x15 casserole dish, (or a 9x13 if the zucchini was not huge).

Topping: Mix
about 2 to 3 cups dried breadcrumbs
about a half cup of parmesan cheese
about a tablespoon of dried parsley
about a half a teaspoon of garlic salt
about a 1/3 cup melted butter.

Make more topping if you want more.

Spread topping on the zucchini mixture and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 to 60 minutes, or until the edges start to turn golden brown and a knife inserted comes out clean. Better to overbake this than underbake (eggs need to be cooked till set firm).

Remove from oven and let cool for about 15 minutes before serving.

IF IT ISN’T DELICIOUS… SPRINKLE WITH SALT!!! That always does the trick!

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread (makes 2 loaves)

Ingrediants

3c flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3 eggs
2 c sugar
1 c vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
2 c grated zuchini
1 c chocolate chips
1 c walnuts (i leave these out, but if you like them add them)
1 tbs orange zest

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. I get two 9 by 5 loaf pans and you can grease them with pam if you'd like, but a cool trick one of my friends taught me is to grease the sides of the pan with butter and then sprinkle the sides and the bottom with sugar. Sift flour, baking powder, salt, Spices, and baking soda. In a large bowl beat eggs until ligth and fluffy. Add sugar and continue beating until well-blended. Stir in oil, vanilla, zucchini, chocolate and zest. Stir in sifted ingrediants. Pour into loaf pans. Bake 50 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Chill before slicing. It yummy if you serve it with a little whipped cream.

Life is so Sweet

First of all, does anybody know how I can set my blog so that I can see who of my friends have updated their blogs without going through and having to click on them to see? I hope that makes sense.

So life is sweet because after 13 days of being without a cell phone we found it in my parents couch cushions.

It's also super sweet because I'm finally able to be home and be a mom...full-time. I'm loving it.

Life is sweet because I will be able to work a little bit from home to help bring in some extra money.

It's sweet because Boston is sleeping in his own room, not through the night, but in his own room and rolling over. Sweet.

It's sweet because we were able to bless Boston this last Sunday and have 50 of our family members over with only one minor glitch...we had no plates or cups for everybody. So we decided the ox was in the myer (did I spell that right?) and ran to Walmart.

It will be even sweeter when next week we go to California after a rough semester and get to spend time just relaxing as a family. :)

So that is why life is sweet. We're loving it!

Pioneer Day Swimming Adventure!

This is a long picture post, so I'll keep it short. For Pioneer day we hung out at a pool with Chris's family and some friends. Boston is a complete water baby and LOVED swimming...So much so that after an hour he fell asleep in the water! I was holding him, don't worry. So instead of telling you all about it, I thought I would post some fun pics form the day.



I love this one...not sure why.


Super Boston!


We thought it would be fun to put googles on Boston and get some cute pics. The following is a swequence of pictures of his reaction as they fell from the top of his head, got stuck over his eyes, and finally fell off his face. We were dying laughing!








Whew!


My Smiley Guy


Only a mom wouldn't notice that drool!


Uncles Showing off their Skills


I love the water dripping off Linley's Chin. (Chris's Youngest sister)


She wouldn't even go near the pool with out a life vest, and she wouldn't jump in without goggles.

So that was our fun day, pool, sun, BBQ, and Fireworks from the hill. Love it!