Zucchini Bread

My hometown is a small town in North Carolina on the Pamlico River.  We spent our weekends on the boat skiing and tubing and hydra sliding.  One of my favorite snacks when we were out on the boat was zucchini bread.  My mom would bake it and wrap it with plastic wrap and chill it in the refrigerator until it was time to head out.  Then she'd pack it in the cooler with some drinks and off we'd go!  After working up an appetite, there was just nothing better than that cool, dense, moist treat!

This time of year, we seem to have tons of zucchini around and the other night I thought about this bread. I called my mom to get the recipe and she whipped it right off the top of her head.  I want to share it with you all while zucchini is in season and so inexpensive.  It's a very simple recipe and so worth your time!

You start out by beating 3 eggs with vegetable oil. 

Once they are well combined, add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.  Then you can add grated zucchini -- look at how yummy this is!

Mix the zucchini into the mixture.

Once the zucchini is mixed in, add the flour and cinnamon and beat until just combined.

Pour the batter into your loaf pans evenly -- I used the Pampered Chef mini loaf stoneware.

After an hour in the oven, each loaf comes out a lovely golden brown.

The zucchini makes this so ooey and gooey and yummy!  Even kiddos will love it and who doesn't love an easy way to get more veggies in their bellies.



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Zucchini Bread

3 eggs

3/4 c vegetable oil

2 c sugar

2 c grated zucchini

2 tsp vanilla

2 c flour

2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Beat eggs and oil together.  Add sugar, zucchini and vanilla and combine well.  Mix in flour and cinnamon. 

Pour into greased loaf pans and bake for 1 hour or until toothpick in center comes out clean.

Let cool and then refrigerate.  Okay, that part isn't official, it's just the way I prefer it!  Warm is good, too. :)

Linking up at:

Nap Time Creation's Tasty Tuesday

Funky Polkadot Giraffe's Too Cute Tuesday

Lady Behind the Curtain's Cast Party Wednesday

Sugar and Dot's What I Whipped Up Wednesday

Works for Me Wednesday

These Chicks Cooked

Daily Organized Chaos

Sausage & Zucchini Pasta Sauce

Growing up, I had a friend whose family would order junkyard pizza.  It was a pizza with every conceivable topping on it.  Now this was just not something my family ever did -- everyone had too many topping they didn't like and we could have never agreed on what to include or exclude...  I was shocked when I finally got brave enough to try a slice.  It was delicious.  Everything worked together even when they didn't work alone.

We don't order too much pizza these days, but the junkyard concept comes into play at our house still.  It's usually a last minute meal and it starts when I look in the fridge and pull something together.  It happened the other night and I thought I'd share the yummy results.
 

I opened the refrigerator and discovered that I had the following leftovers already cooked -- 2 large sausage links, 3 grilled chicken tenders and a bowl of spaghetti noodles.  Hmm... what could I do?  I grabbed a couple of large zucchinis and half an onion and a can of diced tomatoes and got started. 

I sliced the chicken tenders and sausage links on the diagonal -- just to make them look bigger and strech it a bit.  I do this often and it helps us use less meat and still feel satisfied because it looks like there's more meat there.  It works for us :).  I then sliced the onion and zucchini up very thinly.  I heated a few tablespoons of olive oil in my skillet and added the meat and onions, along with 2 cloves of freshly pressed garlic.  I stirred this around until the onions became almost clear.  I then added the zucchini.  I sprinkled on salt and freshly ground pepper and bruschetta seasoning.  I get this seasoning in its own grinder bottle from our local Italian food supplier and it's the Cannamela brand.  So delicious!!!  Once the zucchini were just softened, I added in the can of tomatoes.  I kept stirring this all together and let it simmer for a few minutes.  I tasted it a few times while simmering and adjusted the seasoning as needed.

I ran the cooked pasta under warm water from the faucet until they were warmed.  I put some noodles on each plate and topped with the sauce.  It was delicious.  Even the kids cleaned their plates.

Do you ever just throw things in a pan and see what happens?

Linked up at:  Nap Time Creation's Tasty Tuesday
Works for Me Wednesday -- say a prayer for Kristen, the hostess, as she's in the hospital this week :(
Sugar and Dots' What I Whipped Up Wednesday
Paisley Passion's Thrilling Thursday
The Frugal Girl's Chic and Crafty
Tidy Mom's I'm Lovin It
Mom's Crazy Cooking's This Week's Cravings