Monday, Monday

Happy Mother's Day, friends. I hope you had a day of pampering and thoughtfulness yesterday. :)

The craziness of May continues and I am up and at 'em this morning. I got the kids off to school, after much scurrying. Josiah has a year-end field trip and Elizabeth is undergoing standardized testing. Mondays are our busiest days and tonight will be full of baseball, track, gymnastics and homework.

In addition to our family schedule, my heart and mind are with the Trinity Christian College students who are beginning their finals today. What a stressful time for all of them! Since we still have connections to the college, I am bringing some snacks to a floor of resident students this morning. My Kitchen-Aide mixer has had a work out already today! As I baked and mixed for this floor of women, I also made extra for us. I would like to share some recipes with you that your family might enjoy, as well!

Last fall, our garden was bursting with zucchini! At the end of the season, I pulled in whatever was left and shredded it. I packed this shredded zuke in the deep freezer in 4 cup increments to be used in recipes throughout the year. This was very handy to me today! In addition to this, we froze bags and bags of freshly picked blueberries last August. All of this got pulled out of my deep freeze this morning. I made 7 loaves of zucchini bread and 7 loaves of blueberry zucchini bread. I also mixed a double batch of Puppy Chow that will be a welcome snack to the students and a tasty treat for our family, too.

Below you will find all these recipes and I hope you enjoy them today. I am off now to deliver these homemade spoils and then pick up meds for the puppy and drop off stuff for school... and then... Even after a day "off", a momma's work is never done!

Blessings on your day!


My Favorite Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:

4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
2 cups grated zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Directions:

1.Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2.In a large bowl, mix oil, eggs, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Blend in pineapple and zucchini. Stir flour mixture into zucchini mixture. Pour batter into two greased and floured 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.
3.Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour. Cool on wire racks.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:

3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups white sugar
2 cups shredded zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 pint fresh blueberries

Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans.
2.In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared mini-loaf pans.
3.Bake 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Puppy Chow

Ingredients:

9 cups crispy rice cereal squares (We use Crispix.)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions:

1.In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate; add peanut butter and mix until smooth.
2.Remove from heat, add cereal and stir until coated.
3.Pour powdered sugar into large plastic bag, add coated cereal and shake until well coated. Store in airtight container.