It's that time of year again... the time where I look at the mountain of zucchini on my table and wonder... "Why do I do this to myself every year??"

Oh well. Time to suck it up and deal with it.  If you are in the same predicament here are a few ways I'm using them up this year...

1. Zucchini Bread ~ the ol' stand by!
 I do some with chocolate chips and some without.

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
3 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ginger
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
3 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup walnuts (optional) OR
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Grease and flour two 8x4 inch loaf pans.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Mix flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
Beat eggs, oil vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl.  Add flour mixture to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in zucchini, nuts, and chocolate (whichever you plan to use). Pour batter into pans. Bake 45-60 min or until a tester comes out clean from the center of the loaf. Cool in pans on rack for 20 min. Remove from pan and cool.  (For the record... the loaf on the left I tried to get out of the pan while it was WAY too hot still... cooling it is actually important.)

I usually double the recipe to do 4 loaves and give some away.


2. Zucchini Stuffing with Cheddar ~

4 slices of bread cubed
1/4 cup melted butter
2 cups cubed zucchini
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup corn (I use frozen)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs beaten
salt and pepper
1/4 cup milk
2 cups shredded Cheddar

Toss the bread in a greased 9x13 dish, toss with the melted butter. Add the zucchini, onion, garlic and corn. Toss lightly. Mix the eggs, salt, pepper, and milk together and pour over the bread mixture.  Top with the cheese.  Bake covered at 350 for 30 min. Uncover for 10 more min.

It's pretty much like a stuffing with zucchini... I loved it.


Some other ideas that look AMAZING...

http://www.closetcooking.com/2013/07/25-zucchini-recipes.html

Easy Black Bean Burgers
15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tbsp. ketchup
1 tbsp. yellow mustard
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/3 cup instant oats

Mash the beans up to a paste, add ketchup, mustard and spices.  Stir in oats.
Make 4 patties.

Option 1:
Bake in a 400 degree oven on parchment paper.  7 min. per side.

Option 2:
Fry in a non-stick pan on both sides until browned.

welcome to my brain . net: Black Bean Burger Tacos


OK So you have to give these a try!  I was reading Welcome to my Brain and when I saw how easy these were I had to see if they could possibly be good.


For the record I added some fresh garlic and I ate it with some hot red pepper jelly on top. I'm drooling just remembering it. I also had some organic instant oatmeal kicking around that nobody would eat so as a bonus I found a use for that too! Finally, I did NOT use my oven.  Anyone who lives in Ontario knows why... it's called a heat wave and I was not going to rev up the heat box for dinner. I fried mine in a cast-iron pan and they turned out perfect.

This is my current favorite soup.  I like that my kids can make it for me with a bit of instruction and I can do as little as necessary.

Potato Leek Soup

1 Leek
2 Onions
bit o' butter

1 box Vegetable Broth

Salt & Pepper
1/2 tsp Thyme

1 cup buttermilk  (make this using one cup milk with 1 tbsp. white vinegar.)
Instant mashed potatoes or dehydrated potato flakes.

Slice the leeks and onions, saute in a pan with butter till soft.  Pour in your vegetable broth, some salt and pepper, and the thyme. Shove in that buttermilk too. Enter the stick blender if you have one, whhizzz until everything is creamed.  If you don't have one, no worries, you have a chunky soup. 
Now add a few sprinkles of the potatoes.  Keep adding until it's a consistency you like.... if you go overboard add a bit of milk or water. 

Yummo, soup in 15 min.

Now in case you think I'm the only one cheating like this... check this out...
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/potato-leek-soup

Well I decided I better post something from the recipe book I felt so guilty about buying…(see here)  just to prove I actually use it! 
This was amazing!  It's a side dish but I could have had just this and been supremely happy.

Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Maple Pecan Topping

6 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (approx. 3 lbs.)
2 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed (approx. 1 lb.)
3 eggs
2 tbsp. maple syrup
2 tsp lemon juice
3/4 tsp. salt
Pinch nutmeg
Pinch pepper
1 1/4 cups chopped pecans
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted

In a large saucepan of boiling salted water, cook potatoes and sweet potatoes, covered, until tender, about 12 min.  Drain; return to pot.  Mash until smooth.

Beat together eggs, maple syrup, lemon juice, salt, nutmeg, and pepper;  beat into potatoes.  Scrape into greased 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish.   ( To prepare ahead of time, cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours; add 10 min to baking time.)

Stir pecans with brown sugar; sprinkle over potatoes.  Drizzle with butter.  Bake at 350 degrees F until set and bubbly, about 45 min.

So ya have some leftover dough from your buns (see HERE) and you want to eat something yummy. Well prepare yourself for something great….
Roll out your dough into a 1/4 inch thick rectangle.
Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with garlic powder, and any herbs you like.  (I used basil and oregano).
Now shred cheese on one half of the rectangle.
(I also added a drizzle of my favourite sweet BBQ sauce.)
Fold your dough over to seal everything in.  Roll with your rolling pin just to flatten out slightly.
Let rise for 30 min.
Bake at 400 degrees for 15 min.
Cut into strips.

An AMAZING dip for these is a roasted red pepper and sun dried tomato puree….
This actually came from a Vegetarian Times recipe for pita pizza.  This was the sauce they used instead of a tomato pizza sauce:

1 cup jarred roasted red peppers, rinsed and drained.
6 oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained, plus 1 tbsp. oil.
1 clove garlic, pressed or chopped super fine. (I used 2)
(I also found it a bit acidic so I added a tbsp. of honey to cut the acid and add some sweet, taste it and see if you think it needs it for yourself)
Put everything into the food processor and spin the crap out of it.
NOW DIP!!  AAAHHHHH.

I bought a new cookbook.  I have quite a NUMBER of cookbooks.  Justifying the need for another one is not easy, but somehow I did it. To be fair ~ I took it out of the library originally and  by the time I wrote down all the page numbers of things I wanted to try/copy down I had half the book listed.  So here it is…
Canadian Living ~ The Vegetarian Collection.

Well, let's catch up on some reading again...
For May I read "The Kind Diet" by Alicia Silverstone.  Normally I'm not into anything written by a celebrity but this one got such good reviews I decided to check it out anyway.  I actually think she did a great job.  She had lots of good info, lots of Dr.'s backing her up, and I was inspired.  Nice.  She has a website that's really good in case you can't get your mitts on her book: The Kind Life Website 

While I'm not a vegan I would say after reading her book I might qualify as a quasi-vegan.  I'd say I'm now vegan about 90% of the time.  But lets face it.... cheese is from cows, and that's a hard drug to drop.  I also love my cream in my coffee in the morning.  Other than that I have cut out pretty much all my other animal products.  I feel pretty darn sweet.  If I could just break the cheese addiction....

1 1/2 cups quinoa flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
2 tbsp. veg oil

Measure and mix all dry stuff in a big bowl.
Whisk together wet stuff!
Add to flour mixture and stir just until blended.
use 1/4 cup per pancake in a nice hot greased pan.
Serve with maple syrup, pecans, and whipped cream.
YUM.

Happy World Vegetarian Day! Don't believe me? Check it out HERE!! So when you're planning out your meals today... skip the beef, free the chicken, and feed the fish!