YES, we planted too much Zucchini!

It's a good thing we like it so much!!

Well, we are still learning all of the ins and outs of gardening and last year we expanded our garden and made it bigger. We weren't sure if the soil was amended enough and I wanted to make sure we had some zucchini to enjoy, so what did I do...I planted 4 zucchini plants and they ALL grew!!

However, aside from the fact of sharing some with family and friends we enjoyed it in the fall and have been enjoying it all winter. I have made up 4 different batches of zucchini bread just this winter/spring alone and I am sad (and my kids are sad as well) because we are down to the last 2 packages of shredded zucchini that I had in the freezer.

Just this past week I made up Zucchini Bread and Zucchini Quiche and I was able to do this because we had frozen some in the fall when we had such an abundance of it and so I thought I would share these 2 recipes AND also some helpful tips that help me with enjoying zucchini all through the winter!

We are able to enjoy
the YUMMY smell that comes from baking zucchini bread all through the winter because of these little bags in the freezer!

By slicing zucchini and also "chunking" zucchini
and then freezing it you can pull these bags out of the freezer and make a quiche, casserole, OR, I pull them out and put them in Minestrone soup as well!

The secret to a MOIST bread...applesauce!
I am always trying to find ways to "cut the calories" in our meals and so by having these nifty little applesauce containers on hand I just dump one of these in the mixing bowl and then fill it up with oil and I have 1 cup of oil (and I've only had to actually use 1/2 cup of oil) AND it makes the bread SO moist!

Tracy said at work last Fall lots of people were bringing in zucchini bread for his department to enjoy and when they tried what Tracy brought they kept commenting on how moist the bread was. I attribute it to the secret ingredient 1/2 applesauce/1/2 oil mixture...
"Secret's in the sauce"!
(can you guess what movie that's from)
Anyways, I digress.

THE RECIPES!

Zucchini Bread
3 eggs, well beaten
1 cup oil (I use ½ cup oil and ½ cup applesauce instead of 1 full cup of oil)
1 ¾ cup sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
3 tsp. Vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp baking powder
1 tsp soda
¾ tsp nutmeg
3 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Mix first 5 ingredients.
Sift and add the rest.
Grease 2 loaf pans and bake at 325* for 1 hour (OR until toothpick inserted in comes out clean.

***********************
(as easy as 1, 2, 3
and you can whip up a delicious quiche for dinner)

Zucchini Quiche
5 cups zucchini sliced thin
1 onion chopped
2 Tbsp. butter
½ to 1 cup cooked ham chopped (optional)
Cook in skillet for about 15 minutes. (may need to add a little bit of water)

Mix together:
2 Tbsp. Parsley flakes
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp basil
¼ tsp oregano
Combine vegetable mixture and spices together

Blend together
8 oz grated Swiss cheese
4 eggs

Make piecrust and press in un-greased 10” pie plate and
bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes (or until lightly browned).
Pour vegetable/spice mixture evenly over crust.
Pour cheese and eggs over the top.
Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

************************

Pie Crust

½ cup REAL butter
2/3 cup shortening
1 Tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
1-teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon dry milk
3 cups flour
½ cup cold water
Mix butter and shortening together.
Add half the flour and all of the dry ingredients.
Mix.
Add the rest of flour and water. (Makes 2 double crusts)
Roll out very thin with plenty of flour.
Carefully put in pie plates and prick with fork all over.
Bake 400 degrees for 8 minutes, or until lightly browned.

*****(OR you can use ALL butter instead of butter and shortening)