All About Food Storage » gardening

BEST Zucchini Bread Recipe

Kim — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:22:38 +0000

Lemon zest and allspice set this recipe apart!

It’s zucchini harvest time, and if you’re tired of your standard zucchini bread recipe, this is the recipe to pull you from your rut. I love zucchini bread and I have tried recipes that include everything from bananas to chocolate, but this zucchini bread recipe (from my friend, Tammy) is my definitive favorite. Even with the addition of healthier whole wheat flour, this bread stays moist and the flavor from the lemon zest and spices is unbeatable! I’m including the original recipe, and then my notes to make it even healthier.

BEST ZUCCHINI BREAD

1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour

1 1/4 c. all-purpose (white) flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. allspice

1/4 tsp. clove

2 1/2 c. zucchini, shredded (about 3 medium zucchini)

1 c. pecans, chopped

4 eggs (or 1/4 c. powdered eggs + 1/2 c. water)

1 1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 c. oil

1 tsp. lemon zest

Measure and sift together the first eight dry ingredients and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, add eggs, sugars and oil. Blend thoroughly. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture while stirring. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and fold in zucchini, pecans and lemon zest. Pour batter into two greased 8 or 9 inch loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

NOTES: To make this recipe healthier (but just as tasty!), I cut the oil measurement in half with applesauce (1/2 c. oil + 1/2 c. applesauce), leave out 1/2 cup of the white sugar, and use 1 cup liquid eggs (like Eggbeaters). To save time, sometimes I substitute 1 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice in place of the ginger, allspice and clove. If your garden produced more yellow squash than zucchini, you can subsitute part or all of the zucchini with shredded yellow squash (I cut the squash in fourths, length-wise, and remove the seeds before shredding.) with virtually no difference in taste. I like to use my food processor to shred the zucchini because it keeps the zucchini from getting soggy the way it does when grated by hand.

Fresh Produce Storage Guidelines

Kim — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:45:14 +0000

I just joined a co-op for fresh produce, and I can’t wait to get my first batch! I thought I would share a great resource from the co-op site, a chart to help us store and prolong the life of fresh produce. The site also has instructions for making fruit leather. I’ll have to try that next!

http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/freshproducestorage.aspx

It Works!

Kim — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:28:02 +0000

Here are my “trash can potatoes!” I just wanted to follow up and show that the method is apparently working so far. I am so excited! Now that the vines have reached the tops of the cans, it’s time to trellis them. As our Southern Utah heat turns up, my challenge is keeping the soil moist in the cans. Hopefully, this little endeavor will yield lots of yummy red potatoes in a few months.

Garden Update

Kim — Thu, 14 May 2009 13:07:56 +0000

There is something very fulfilling about planting a seed and seeing it slowly erupt from the seemingly lifeless soil. My humble garden is starting to take off and I am simply giddy. We built our home about 3 years ago and have never completed the backyard landscaping, so this year I decided to plant our garden all around the edges of the yard. I am already enjoying the increased greenery from my little plants. It is exciting to see how a yard can come to life with plants that are not just beautiful, but life-sustaining. I think I will continue to plant my garden this way in seasons to come. I want to add herbs now. I just found that this practice is dubbed “edible landscaping.” The link is from Brandy at The Prudent Homemaker, who shows me that I still have room to grow (*wink*) with this venture, but I am enjoying the experience. Brandy is a great role model for this and many other self-reliant skills. If you are in the Las Vegas area, you can take in one of her classes on edible landscaping or food storage. Here is a link to her online class schedule: http://theprudenthomemaker.com/speakingengagements.aspx

Grow a Garden

Kim — Sun, 03 May 2009 04:39:37 +0000

I’ve been endeavoring to plant a garden this year, so I was thrilled to find this great information on providentliving.org on gardening. Lots of great info here:

http://www.providentliving.org/channel/0,11677,6637-1,00.html

Grow Potatoes in a Garbage Can

Kim — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 05:07:21 +0000

Keep an “eye” on this one! This clever idea from mikesworld.org works like a charm. Mike has created this step-by-step printable that shows how to grow any variety of potato in a clean garbage can. This is a savvy way to grow potatoes if you have limited space for a garden, or poor red-dirt soil like I do. My potatoes are starting to take off. It is amazing how fast they grow once the vines emerge. They are different every day, which makes this a really fun activity for kids. I used red seed potatoes and ”Filthy Rich Potting Soil,” both available from Star Nursery in St. George, Utah. It took me about 15 minutes to prepare and plant two garbage cans. The vines broke through the surface about 10-14 days later. Here is Mike’s instruction sheet: trash_can_potatoes1

I have also posted Mike’s instructions under my Food Storage Printables tab.

“Bounce” Your Squash Bugs

Kim — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:34:33 +0000

I love to reap the benefits of planting a home garden. All of the sweaty time in the dirt is worth it when the first tomato is ripe…until the squash bugs arrive. I hate those critters, and until now had not found a successful deterrent. Every year I would lose about a third of my harvest to the voracious little beasts. Yesterday, my coworker mentioned that the key is to place Bounce laundry sheets on the ground around your plants. She says it works great and will keep other bugs off your plants as well. I can’t wait to try it next year!