Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cake

I tried a chocolate zucchini bread recipe a few weeks ago that I wasn't too impressed with. The loaf stuck to the pan (even though it was greased). A friend made this version a couple of years ago, and I decided to give it a try. We still have zucchini by the way...

Here's the recipe:

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cake
1/2 C margarine
1/2 C vegetable oil
1 3/4 C sugar
2 eggs
1/2 C buttermilk
2 1/2 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
4 Tbsp cocoa
2 C shredded zucchini
1 C chocolate chips
1 C nuts (I used English walnuts)

Cream margarine, oil, and sugar.

Mix in eggs, buttermilk, flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and cocoa. Mix in zucchini. Pour into greased and floured 9 X 13 pan.

Bake at 325-350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Sprinkle with 1 C chocolate chips and 1 C nuts while still warm.

I thought it was better the day after I baked it. It's so moist and delicious! I've been eating it for breakfast (it does have vegetables in it, after all!). I still think Kristy and Lou make this recipe better than I do, maybe they have a secret ingredient? Anyways, thanks to the West's for sharing!

Summer Lasagna from the Garden

We've been bad bloggers this week. But, we've been soooooooo busy: three softball games, house shopping, and trying to keep up with the garden. My garden and my kitchen are overflowing with zucchini and tomatoes. I love this Everyday Food recipe: No-Bake Summer Lasagna. Lasagna without the baking! Plus it uses zucchini, tomatoes, and basil: all in my garden.

I made it once last summer and we had it a few weeks ago. I think it's a little hard to cut and eat. So, tonight I decided to make it with linguine noodles.

It was delicious and easier to eat. I should have quartered the tomatoes, though. I actually ate them tonight, too. I've never liked tomatoes, but these were pretty decent (maybe it was the olive oil, ricotta, and parm on top!).

Zucchini Everywhere

We have TONS of zucchini. See?

I gave some to my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law and Kyle even took some to work. I made chocolate zucchini bread (I'm looking for a better recipe before I share). It's almost getting out of control.

I want to use it all (since it's free) and I love this recipe from Everyday Foods: Zucchini Pasta with Ricotta. It's so easy and delicious. I thinly sliced one zucchini and put on a foil covered baking sheet like this:

I baked it for 20 minutes on 450. I just tossed with olive oil, linguine, lemon zest, salt, and pepper and topped with ricotta. Kyle isn't a big fan of ricotta, so he put parmesan on his. Here's what dinner looked like:

Look for more zucchini ideas in the coming days!

What's for Dinner

The parsley in our garden has gotten out of control lately, see?

So, I decided to make this pesto out of it. The original recipe can be found here: http://www.marthastewart.com/338166/fettuccine-with-parsley-pesto-and-walnut. I like this recipe because I usually have all the ingredients on hand. I just put all the ingredients (parlsey, parm cheese, walnuts, lemon juice, water, and garlic) in my little food processor...

and let the machine do all the work...

then I boiled some fettuccine noodles and mixed in the pesto...

And there's dinner, topped with just a little real parm (not the shaky Kraft cheese kind). It couldn't be easier, it's economical, and it's meatless. We aren't vegetarians, but we do try to limit meat, so meals like this are always a good choice. I also like that it used something we grow in our garden, because I hate letting food go to waste.

Note: I didn't use spinach that the recipe calls for, just because I didn't have any. I'm sure it would be great in this meal. And I limited the amount of olive oil by a smidge. That's how I usually cook- use the recipe as a guide, but change to meet our tastes/what I actually have on hand.