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Around my house, we eat, sleep and breathe baseball. All…summer…long. Hey, we’re Cardinals Nation. Personally, I like watching the kiddos play baseball in the yard much more than watching baseball on TV. The only problem is knowing which team to cheer for. And now, for a game of catch.
Abraham found his own fun while the others played catch.
I saw something oval and brown on the ground in Scott’s hops garden this morning. I was watering the garden when I spotted it so I stooped over to pick it up. It turned out to be a turtle! I called the kids over to check him out. Of course, Caitlyn was the only kid willing to hold it.
He was brown and had some algae on him, and I don’t really know my turtles, so I’m guessing he was a box turtle. We put him back where we found him and he disappeared into the woods within minutes.
I had a couple of zucchinis left over after making my zucchini quiche, so this morning I whipped up some zucchini muffins with dark chocolate chips. Zucchini because it’s healthy, dark chocolate chips because then I’ll eat them and muffins because, like quiche, they’re a great way to hide veggies.
Here’s the basic recipe I use from my Betty Crocker Cookbook. I use this for most all of my muffin recipes. Sometimes I use blueberries, other times, I use bananas or cranberries or zucchini. Sometimes I follow it exactly, other times (like this morning) I use healthier alternatives. Here’s my recipe for (healthier) Zucchini Muffins with Dark Chocolate Chips:
Ingredients:
1 cup skim milk
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tbsp whole ground flax seed meal mixed with 3 Tbsp water
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar (you could use brown rice syrup or Agave nectar for a healthier alternative. I didn’t have any this morning)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 small zucchini, grated
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
Directions:
Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease bottoms of muffin tins or use paper baking cups.
Beat milk, applesauce, vanilla and flax seed mix. Stir in flour, sugar, baking powder and salt all at once just until flour is moistened. I’ve learned this is important. Over-stirring muffin batter will result in dense, chewy muffins. The less you stir, the lighter and fluffier your muffins will be.
Fold in zucchini and dark chocolate chips.
Divide batter evenly among muffin tins.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool 5 – 10 minutes before serving.
It’s up to you if you want to tell your kiddos that these have zucchini in them. I tell them so they’ll think, “Hey, zucchini isn’t too bad!” Then the next time I fix something with zucchini in it and they scrunch up their faces, I can say, “Remember how much you liked those zucchini muffins I made?” Clever, huh?
I love quiche! Once you know a basic quiche recipe, you can add whatever ingredients you want. It’s really the perfect meal for a gal who doesn’t like to eat her veggies. My basic quiche recipe calls for a refrigerated or frozen 9 inch deep dish pie crust, 4 eggs, 1 cup milk or half and half and 8 to 10 oz of whatever cheese you like. Here’s how I make my Zucchini quiche.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
2 – 3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 to 1 small onion, chopped
2 small zucchinis, peeled or grated
2 – 3 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 (9 inch) deep dish pie crust
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
8 oz Italian blend shredded cheese
2 – 3 Roma tomatoes, sliced
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Saute garlic and onion in butter until lightly browned. Stir in zucchini. Season with basil, salt and pepper. Spoon mixture into pie crust.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and milk. Stir in cheese. Pour into the pastry shell, allowing egg mixture to thoroughly combine with zucchini mixture.
Place sliced tomatoes on top of quiche.
Bake in a preheated oven for 45 – 50 minutes, until set in center. Allow to stand 10 minutes before serving.
See that gigantic plant in bottom right corner of the picture? That’s my spaghetti squash. I’m starting to think spaghetti squash and square foot gardens do not go well together.
It’s starting to encroach upon pepper plant territory. Oh, what to do!? Looks like solving this problem will be my afternoon project. Any suggestions?
What do you get when you mix orange colorant…
…with green Olive Oil?
Beige. Yep, it was supposed to be orange and white, you know, like a Creamsicle. But no. It’s beige and white, Creamsicle Soap.
So, if you like to eat Creamsicles, smell Creamsicles or bathe in Creamsicles, then this is the soap for you. What it lost in color, it makes up for in smell! They’ll be ready by summer.
