Dried "Pineapple" Zucchini

This post can now be found on The Free Range Life. Here is the recipe for making Dried Pineapple Zucchini.

32 Years

 Today is my 32nd birthday.  It was a good day. Well, something bad happened, but I am not going to focus on that. I am going to focus on the happy and good things that happened today.

Like my older boys bringing this inside for me this morning. They've been keeping it hidden for 2 weeks. Strategically placing grass and arranging leaves so I didn't see it...and keeping me away from the plant in general. And here I thought that Cale was just being extra helpful this week- feeding and letting the chickens out first thing in the morning.

This monster is almost 4 lbs. Yesterday we picked what I considered a monster zucchini...here is is next to the huge one and a normal one. You can see Annika off to the side. This thing is almost as big as she is!

Paul brought me home beautiful flowers.  

Rylan made me an amazing cake. It's a copy cat recipe of the Olive Garden's Black Tie Mousse Cake. It looked great and tasted wonderful.  If you've never heard of or tasted the Black Tie Mousse Cake, here is the inside:

It's 4 layers....chocolate cake on the bottom, then chocolate cheese cake, then Italian Mousse and topped with chocolate ganache. I helped him with the folding in the mousse layer and spreading the ganache on the sides, but the rest was him. Cale and Cohen worked together to make pesto rolls for dinner tonight. It was a good day.

Growth

Lots of growing going on around here....I have a ready supply of calendula. There is a quart of olive oil being infused by calendula sitting on my windowsill right now.

I will never understand the growth habits of zucchini. They have the ability to go from too small to pick to huge in a couple of hours. And they also have the ability to camouflage themselves. I mean, really, we go through the garden every morning and every night. How in the world do we miss those monster sized zucchini?

We topped the basil a few days ago since it was trying to flower. Picked a whole basket full, which we turned into a bowl full of leaves and turned that into a quart of pesto. Pesto rolls are on the menu tomorrow!

This dog is growing too. What I mean is that her expertise in escaping a fence is growing. This barricade was #4 I think. I think we finally got her though. It looked like thunder yesterday and she couldn't scale the fence! I am sure it's only a matter of days before she finds a new way....

This girl....she's growing too. Probably faster than anyone here. Her feet can almost fit in her favorite shoes. She has a box of hand-me down shoes....these ruby reds come out often.

 And her hair....it grows straight down into her eyes. And tiny little rubber bands and a mirror to see her pigtails in were just the ticket to get it out of her face without her pulling them right back out. She's stealing my headphones in that picture. She's a Taylor Swift fan.

Her vocabulary is going up. She's nearly potty trained. She's trying to give up her nap- though I am resisting that one.  She's got a tiny turtle in her hands....which she laid down in the grass with until she finally allowed it to crawl away.

And these boys. They are growing too. Just over a week until 3 of them turn one year older....and I will have an 11 yr old. And a 9 yr old. And a 7 yr old....

Seems like these kids are growing almost as fast as those zucchini!

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Home is Where the Heart Is

Zucchini

Zucchini 1:


Made into Zucchini Garlic Herb Bread, one of my very favorite zucchini recipes


Zucchini 2:


Sauteed with garlic and onions and wrapped in homemade tortillas for lunch

Poorman's Crab Cakes

Our big zucchini plant wilted on Saturday. We have 2 smaller ones, and 2 tiny ones that were planted a month or so after the bigger one, we'll see if they make it.

So here's my last zucchini post, I promise....

I've mentioned before about my love of crabcakes, how it is basically the only meat I eat, and even about my childhood memories of crabbing....so when I came across this idea earlier this year I knew I'd have to give it a try when zucchini season came about....

Poorman's Crab Cakes
(aka a cheaper, vegetarian version)

2 cups grated zucchini
2 cups seasoned bread crumbs
1-2 cloves garlic- minced
1 large egg
1 T Old Bay Seasoning
butter/olive oil for frying

Mix it all together and fry in butter/oil a couple minutes on each side until golden brown. Serve plain, with ketchup, tarter sauce, as a sandwich, etc....

*Notes*

Most recipes have 1 T of Mayo in them, I don't eat Mayo, don't want to eat it, so I skipped it. Feel free to add it back in

If you are avoiding high fructose corn syrup like we are I'll let you know that most commercial bread crumbs have it. (why????) So I made my own....about 3-4 slices bread, toasted to dry it a little. Add dried seasoning- thyme, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder... pulse in a food processor.


How'd they taste? Pretty good. They aren't Maryland or lump crabcakes, but they tasted pretty close, and I'll make them again.

Zucchini Pancakes

Zucchini Pancakes

1 medium zucchini grated (about 2 cups)
6-8 T Flour
1/4 cup onion
1 clove garlic- minced
2 eggs- slightly beaten
salt and pepper
butter for frying

Place the zucchini in a bowl and mix in the eggs. Add onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix in 6 T of flour, if it still very wet add the additional flour.

Preheat a skillet on medium, place a small amout of butter in the pan (or olive oil) and spoon about 1/4 cup of batter in the pan. Cook 2 min on each side- or until browned. Makes about 6 large pancakes.


I don't know why I've never made these before...but they went over extremely well. Everyone gobbled them up- some with ketchup, some plain, some with butter. I added a bit of Old Bay Seasonings too.....I plan to make "Poor Man's Crab Cakes" in a few days and I think they'll go over well since these did.

Garden overflowing with zucchini? Try these other recipes:

zucchini quesadillas
chocolate zucchini bread
zucchini garlic bread

Lunch! Zucchini Quesadillas

I make tortillas about 4 times a week. They are quicker to make than bread, so we eat them a lot. We make burritos about just about anything- eggs, cheese, apples and cheese, peanut butter, pizza, etc....Yesterday I tried out zucchini quesadillas for lunch. They went over amazingly well. Cale who won't eat raw zucchini gobbled his up, Rylan who will eat raw ate most of his, Lakin picked at it....but he didn't eat much of anything yesterday, even things he normally likes, and Cohen ate about half...which is more than I can say about his like for plain cheese or egg burritos.


I posted my tortilla recipe once before, but I've changed it, and finally reached one I really like, and one that reheats well.

Flour Tortillas

2 cups flour
~1 tsp of paking powder
dash salt
2 T butter
3/4 cup milk
honey (maybe 1 tsp- 1 T)

Heat the milk, honey and butter together until butter melts. I do this in the microwave...you can do it on the stovetop too. Combine all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. I ues my stand mixer with the dough hook attached. Turn the mixer on low and slowly add the milk, butter and honey mixture. Allow to mix until a dough ball forms. Depending on the humidity you may have to add more liquid, I usually just add a little water at a time until the dough is formed. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes. Cut into 10-12 pieces and cover and rest for another 10 minutes.

Preheat a large skillet on medium heat. On a wooden cutting board that is lightly floured roll a tortilla until the desired size is reached....6-8 in diameter. Flip a couple times while rolling to prevent sticking. Cook on one side for about a 30-60 sec until bubbles start to form, flip and cook an additional 30 sec on the other side. While they are cooking, roll the next tortilla out. Once you get used to it you'll get a good rhythm down. I can do about a dozen in 15 minutes. Keep the cooked tortillas between towels while the rest are cooking. This recipe doubles (or triples) easily and keeps well in the freezer.

Now for the filling....

First you need a zucchini- or 2. And an onion. I used a tiny little onion from the garden, but I am sure most people would use more...you can throw corn or peppers in there too if you want. Chop them up and saute them in butter for a few minutes. Sprinkle the tortillas with cheese- 1/4 to 1/2 cup each- and top with the sauteed vegetables. My salsa loving kids requested that I put salsa in before they baked too. You can either fold the tortillas in half to cook or place one over another. You also have a choice of baking them in the oven- at about 325 for 5-10 minutes- or cooking in the same skillet you cooked the tortillas and vegetables in....flipping halfway through. Oven baking will produce a little bit crunchier tortilla, but both are good...and pan cooking keeps the dishes to a minimum.

Cut in wedges, eat and enjoy!

Plan of Attack

See that? That's what I am trying to save. Well that zucchini plant plus some cucumbers, acorn, butternut and spaghetti squash, a few pumpkins, and maybe even some cantaloupe.

My plan of attack so far is this:
A jug with soapy water (and currently about 50 dead squash bugs). After the boys go to bed, and they day is cooling off I go out and pick off any bugs and eggs I see. Never seen a squash bug? I bet you have:
A stink bug, not really, but it looks like one and smells like one. So if you see them hanging around your squash plants, get them off. If you find clusters of red/orange eggs on the backs of the leaves GET THEM OFF! Once the eggs hatch the larva can wilt the plant in one day. Squishing them doesn't smell too nice, thus the soapy water.

And here is the best part. The part that makes me feel a little less like I am fighting a losing battle. This fly:
I have been seeing them all over the place the past few weeks. Well....not all over....in the zucchini and cucumber bed. Rylan asked me what it was and I didn' t know, but I told him that there are some insects that prey on the squash bugs....we were hopeful. Today I went to actually name that fly....starting in a hopeful place....I typed in the first predator of squash bugs on the list. Bingo! Tachinid Fly, more specifically Trichopoda pennipes. It is a parasite of the squash and stink bug families!! At least I have an ally out there!

But look at his face.....it's a fight worth fighting for a smile like that...

Chocolate-Zucchini Bread

This is one of my favorite recipes. It's one of those cakes breads that you can pretend is healthy and not feel guilty about eating- after all it does have zucchini in it.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp b. soda
1/2 tsp b. powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup cocoa
Beat the eggs, add sugar, oil and vanilla. Stir in zucchini. Mix the dry ingredients and add to the wet. Beat well. Bake at 350.

The times will vary depending on the size of your pan. I usually make mini-loaves. Easier to freeze and take out for eating later. They bake about 25 min. I think the original recipe was for 2 full size loaves.
Here is how I have changes the above recipe: NO salt. I reduce the sugar- I think last year I reduced it to 1 cup and it was still very good. Usually I just don't fill my 1/3 cup scoop all the way to the top so I have no idea how much sugar I am getting. I also use applesauce instead of oil and it is still good. Sometimes I do 3/4 cup applesauce and 1/4 cup oil.