All Things Zucchini

Here is the recipe for zucchini bread that we tried yesterday. We gave one loaf to a friend and powered through the other in no time. I believe this recipe is a keeper. I think I might substitute applesauce for the oil next time, and maybe wheat flour for some of the white, to make it healthier, but the kids loved the flavor.

**Please keep scrolling for the recipe for Zucchini Bars beneath the bread recipe. It has CHOCOLATE in it. Yum.

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Zucchini Bread recipe taken from Allrecipes.com

Mom's Zucchini Bread
by: V. Monte

"Really, really good and moist---my kids eat it as quickly as I can make it. Bread will freeze well, and keep in refrigerator for weeks." V. Monte
 
Original Recipe Yields 2 loaves

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1.Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2.Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.

3.Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.

4.Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

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**And here is the recipe for Zucchini Bars taken from the The Basics and More, an Amish Cookbook I bought in Missouri when we "ran away" from Hurrican Ivan in 2004. I forgot to take a picture and the two pans we made did not last long. One went to an injured friend (the one who gave us Molly) and the other went into eager tummies. The kids definitely loved them, and I suppose they were healthier than brownies!

I still have about eight monster-sized zucchini to go, with more still growing . Any ideas?

This recipe adapted from Zucchini Bars
by Janice Weaver in the Basics and More Cookbook

preheat over to 350 degrees

Ingredients

1 cup oil (I used applesauce instead)
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
2 cups grated zucchini
2 1/2 cup white flour
1 cup wheat flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg (I was out and didn't use it and they still tasted good)
2 cups sugar (I used 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 1/2 cups regular...I just can't resist altering things...sorry!)
1 bag mini-chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts

The original recipe also suggests you can use part butterscotch and part chocolate chips. We found the sweetness of the chocolate to be adequate.

Mix everything but the chips and nuts and pour into 2 9X13 pans. Bake 5 minutes and sprinkle with chips and nuts. Continue baking at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until done.

Tater Tot Cheeseburger Casserole

Oops. I forgot to take a picture until we'd already served out our first helpings. You can see the blackberry cobbler in the background. The casserole wasn't quite done, so we had dessert first, casserole second. Was that bad of me? It sure was good!

Tater Tot Cheeseburger Casserole

Ingredients

1 1/2 to 2 lb seasoned ground beef (I like McCormick Hamburger Grill Mates) cooked and drained
1 diced onion
1 2lb bag tater tot crowns
2 cans cream of chicken and mushroom soup
1 can evaporated milk
2 cups frozen corn
2 cups shredded cheese (I use cheddar, finely shredded)

Directions:

Brown meat with the onion, drain, then put evenly in bottom of a 9X13 casserole dish.

Cover evenly with tater tots. Layer corn on top of tots.

Mix soup & milk together, and pour over top.

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Top with cheese and bake for an additional 15 minutes, until cheese is well melted.

Serves our eight nicely.

Berry Good Cobbler

Driving down a country road on the way to our house, we noticed that the blackberry bushes were ripe for picking, so we jumped out for a quick pick in the hopes of having something special for dessert. When we got home we decided cobbler sounded good, and the simplest recipe we could find online was from Cooks.com. It was quite a hit with everyone. I would have prefered it to be served with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, but all we had available was vanilla yogurt. The kids were satisfied with the substitution and can't wait to go pick some more berries this weekend to make muffins, more cobbler, some freezer jelly, and a pie (I get tired just thinking about it...and about ten pounds heavier!).

Here's the recipe:

QUICK BLACKBERRY COBBLER


Ingredients:

1/2 c. milk
2 tsp. oil or melted shortening
1/3 c. sugar
1 c. pancake mix (Bisquick)
2 c. black berries
2/3 c. sugar
1 c. water

Directions:

Mix first 4 ingredients and put into a greased 2 quart casserole. Mix berries, sugar and water. Pour over batter. Bake at 375 degrees about 45 minutes. If using canned or frozen sweetened fruit, omit sugar and use juice in place of water. The batter rises to the top, giving the cobbler its characteristic cobbled appearance.

Meet Molly

Meet Molly, our newest family member. Need I say more?

Welcome to the family, Molly.

All Cheer for All Bran Muffins!

We made All Bran Muffins this morning for breakfast. I have to say they turned out GREAT! I tweaked the original recipe a bit (I always do...I am bad that way) and halved the oil for more applesauce. The muffins were very moist. Yummmm. We only made six jumbo muffins instead of twelve regular muffins, and perhaps that helped up the moistness. I definitely need to make these once a week. Maybe a double batch next time, though. I'll post the recipe later. You will want to try this one.

Blessed to Be a Blessing

I was looking up Bible verses online today and came across this sweet song that fits the theme of our blog perfectly. It was written as the yearly theme-song for a Christian children's school and I think I will use it as our school's theme song for this year.

You can visit True Vine Music's site for a free download of both the lyrics and the music, or to just listen to the song online. The tune is simple and charming. I think you are going to like this one.


Blessed to Be a Blessing
by Michael A. Schmid

Chorus

Blessed to be a blessing
Blessed to live your love
Blessed to share with others every blessing from above
Blessed to walk in mercy
Blessed to light the way
Oh, Blessed to be a blessing every day

Verse 1

Oh my Jesus, you have blessed me
You died for me to take my sin away
Now you live your life in me
And the love received is love I give away

Chorus

Blessed to be a blessing
Blessed to live your love
Blessed to share with others every blessing from above
Blessed to walk in mercy
Blessed to light the way
Oh, Blessed to be a blessing every day

Verse 2

Oh my Jesus, make me a blessing
In my work and play, in everything I do
Oh let your blessing flow through me
That in seeing me, may others see you

Chorus


Blessed to be a blessing
Blessed to live your love
Blessed to share with others every blessing from above
Blessed to walk in mercy
Blessed to light the way
Oh, Blessed to be a blessing every day


Music and lyrics by Michael A. Schmid and the worship team of St. John's Lutheran Church in Napa, California. 

Thank you for sharing this lovely song with us, Michael.

Menu Plan Monday---July 12th-18th

Breakfast--Well, it's confession time. I never did make those All-Bran Muffins last week that the kids love, so I will have to fit that in sometime this week. Maybe on Thursday, so we can share some with our friends who are coming over for the Bookmobile. Maybe if I tell them I am making the muffins, I will be more motivated to do it. It's not that the recipe is hard, it's just that cereal is so easy...

In any case, cereal being the norm here, we do plan to pick lots of berries tomorrow, so we can use them as a healthy and fresh cereal topping all week. We also got some cinnamon-raisin swirl bread on special, so we will have that on at least one day (the baby inhales that stuff!). For a change on another day I plan to fit in yummy yogurt parfaits. Probably Saturday, instead of pancakes. It's supposed to be hot all week and I am trying to minimize hot meals. I might like a break from the whole pancakes, bacon, and eggs thing for a week...though I might change my mind later since it involves bacon. I do love bacon. ;-)

Lunch--The usual PBJ will keep my crew happy this week, though since I have leftover torillas to use up, I think we will do ham and cheese wraps on  Monday. Tomatoes are still plentiful, and I have lettuce and carrots, so they can have small "salads" on the side or an apple with some yogurt to dip the fruit in.

Dinner--

Monday: BLTs. Simple. Delicious. Fresh. We use turkey bacon. Very good stuff. Serve with pasta salad and a small apple.

Tuesday: Last week we never did make the Tater Tot Casserole. Since we have the stuff already, I will go ahead and make it Tuesday. I will serve it will fruit cocktail. Nothing more is needed since they absolutely chow down and fill up on the casserole. My oldest son thinks ketsup is a vegetable anyway, so I will run with that one!

Wednesday: I have a doctor's appointment, so I am thinking of having another casserole ready ahead of time. My kids love my Tuna Noodle Casserole. It uses Lipton's Alfredo Noodles, creamy chicken and mushroom soup, tuna, and peas. Very simple. I'll post the recipe later once I do exact measurements (I usually eyeball it). Even if your crew doesn't normally like tuna, try this one (with the good tuna, not the cheapest stuff) and they may change their minds. We usually serve this with applesauce and rolls.

Thursday: It is Bookmobile day and we have friends who come join us for this and stay for dinner. We usually make spaghetti and have breadsticks and fresh salad on the side. My new favorite spaghetti sauce is Ragu Robusto Parmesean and Romano. Yum!! We will make a double serving because of the company (she has five kids). I need to remember to buy grated parmesean cheese because spaghetti just isn't spaghetti without parmesean on top.

Friday: Homemade pizza night and a movie from Netflix!

Saturday: Daddy is the grill master. He can grill burgers and a side of a bag of chips and a popsicle will make the little ones happy. When you were a kid, didn't you love getting those tiny bags of chips and mini-boxes of cereal? We rarely buy these sorts of things, so it will be a treat for our wee ones.

**FYI: Last week I made the Triple Decker Tortilla Pizza and it turned out great. I will post the recipe later so folks can try it, even if they don't have the cookbook it is from. Would you believe it that our one year old liked it, too, even with the salsa, onions, and peppers in it? Hubby made pico de gallo to serve with chips on the side, and Boo ate that as well (peppers, onions, tomatoes, cilantro)...with a smile on his face!! What a baby! He's going to have a stomach of steel, just like his dad and Tex.

Blessings to you for a healthy and happy week. Thanks for stopping by!!

Blog Walking---Week Five

Here are this week's list of ten blogs for our walk. Don't forget to drink lots of water when you are out there walking...it's HOT! See you 'round the block. Don't forget to wave when you pass by...

1. Buckaroo Days

2. Our Homeschool Reviews---one of my favorite Bible verses is on her sidebar.

3. Reed, Party of 6--Nice photography. I also liked the blogs she follows...a good selection.

4. Training Hearts at Home--I like what she says about child training in her sidebar. I LOVE her quilt squares idea.

5. Along The Way--Do remember the ads for Sea Monkeys you used to see? I remember them being on the backs of old comic books my grandmother kept in her basement for us to read in the summer. I always wondered what it would be like to grow some. My mom never ordered them for me...but apparently these guys did! Stop by and see how the little critters turned out. Can you really train a Sea Monkey?

6. I Love Science!

7. Through the Calm and Through the Storm

8. Created for Home

9. Tractors and Tire Swings--Cute header, even cuter name.

10. Guiding Light Homeschool

Whew. I'm plum tuckered out. I'll see you next week with my walking shoes on. Until then, I'm the one sitting under the shady tree taking a break with an icy glass of seet tea.

Sermon Sunday--Spiritual Gifts

Does your pastor ever ask for more volunteers at your church, while you squirm in your seat, thinking uncomfortably about the last time you answered a call for help and were completely our of your element (and not particularly useful)? Did you know that God gave each of us special gifts to use to help the body of Christ function at its maximum efficiency for achieving the good things He would have us do to further His kingdom? Did you know that if YOU are aware of what you are good at and others know what they are good at, then things work better than if you simply volunteer for everything? Well, if you aren't sure what your spiritual gifts are, then check out this free spiritual gifts analysis from Team Ministry.

Team Ministry Spiritual Gifts Analysis

"The Team Ministry Spiritual Gifts Inventory is a discovery tool that provides you with a personalized analysis. Not a test, but a simple questionnaire giving you a profile of your God given spiritual gifts." (from their website)

I took this test this morning to see how it would come out and I was somewhat surprised by the results. I was much stronger in some areas than I used to be, so I guess that means I am growing!! The quiz is about 100 questions long and is very straightforward. I think I will have each of my older sons complete it this week so we can talk about it. It will also be interesting to see what hubby turns out to have as his strengths. I have a pretty good idea, but what I thought would be my strongest trait was not (though it was high), so who knows if I will be right about his results.

Here's a link to the sermon notes from a Baptist church that includes a written version of the Spiritual Gifts test and some discussion questions you might use as a Bible study, just in case you prefer not to take an online quiz.

I think it will help us as a family to not only know what our personality types are, but also where our gifts lie. As a teacher, it will help me to help them develop what is stong and build up what is not as strong.

Just in case you are curious, my highest score was for Mercy (that's a good one!). My next highest score is the one I was surprised by. I thought it would be Teaching (which was high, but not in the highest two), but it was Exhortation instead. I don't see myself as an Exhorter, but I guess this fits with being a Mom and having to teach little ones about living out God's Word, and helping them shape and mold their character.

My lowest score was Evangelism, which is logical since I can never see myself being like Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort on Way of the Master...talk about uncomfortable for me! I prefer reaching people by helping and comforting them (Mercy). I already knew I could use a bit of work on the Evangelism front, which is why I chose to read Kirk Cameron's book this month to see what I can get out of his story. So far it is very interesting. Did you know he was named for his father's favorite TV character? You got it, Captain Kirk! His mother let that one slide by because she knew "kirk" also means "of the church" and she liked that. It turns out that even though he was an atheist, he turned back to God as a young man, and now is part of that amazing evangelical ministry. He has six kids, just like me!

In any case, I believe we should never stop growing, so why not use a quiz like this to find out where we might want to focus our growth next? Plus, it can help you put your best talents to good use in the meantime.

Here is a link to a sermon series on Unwrapping Your Spiritual Gifts that you can use to study this topic this week, if it interests you. This is a written series, though there are hyperlinks to scriptures and more information scattered throughout the lecture. I only read the first half so far, so if you see something you disagreee with, let me know.

Here's an audio sermon for this week about this topic from Mountain Springs Church in Colorado. I listened to it this morning since I was feeling very poorly and couldn't make it to church. There is an outline you can scroll through on the sermon page if you are a visual learner and want to follow along. You might check out some of their other sermons, if you have time. It seems like they have quite a few available for listening.

Let me know if you know of any good free ones on Spiritual Gifts I can add here, or if you find any you think are particularly good from MSC. I enjoyed this one. I hope you do, too.

I wish for you a blessed Sunday with your families.

Cow Appreciation Day

I never appreciate cows more than on Chick fil A's yearly

Cow Appreciation Day.

If you dress ears to tail like a cow, you get a free meal.

All of us ate for FREE.

You can't beat that kind of deal.

Thanks Chick fil A.