patrice, katie, and the case of the monster zucchini

As I mentioned, I picked this from my (teeny) garden early last week.

Katie and her girls came for a visit on Friday, and we decided to tackle that big boy.

The seeds were the size of pumpkin seeds...

So Katie took to them with an ice cream scoop.

We ended up making three types of zucchini bread, saving the rest of the recipes for our zucchini yet to come.

We got 8 CUPS of shredded zucchini out of that one giant monstrosity, and we made all of this.

Katie's comment she just posted on my original post of the photo.

Oh yeah, zucchini?  You were no match for a knife, a veggie peeler, an ice cream scoop and a vitamix.  No, I don't want to hear that it was four against one.  You lost.  And you are in. my. belly.

Good times.

Here are the recipes we used:

Chocolate Zucchini Bread (from Kim aka bakingmommy)

3 eggs, 1/2 cup canola oil, 1 1/2 cups white sugar, 3/4 cup buttermilk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 cups raw shredded zucchini, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 cup cocoa, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 2 cups flour, optional is 1/2 cup raisins. Combine wet and then add dry. Bake in greased bundt pan or 2 loaf pans at 350 for 50-60 minutes.

Zucchini Bread (from Kim aka bakingmommy)

2 eggs, 1 cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons white sugar, 2/3 cup canola oil, 1 3/4 cup shredded zucchini, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/8 teaspoon cloves, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 cups flour. Combine wet and then add dry. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes in greased loaf pan.

Zucchini Bread (from my friend, Gaye)

3 eggs

2 c. sugar

1 c. vegetable oil

1 Tbsp. vanilla

2 c. zucchini (peeled and grated)

2 c. flour

1 tsp. grated lemon rind

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 c. finely chopped nuts

Beat eggs until light and frothy.  Add sugar, oil, and vanilla, mixing until thick.  Add zucchini and stir thoroughly.

Sift flour, cinnamon, baking powder, soda, and salt.

Add to egg mixture, stirring until smooth.  

Stir in chopped nuts and lemon rind.

Bake in 2 greased and floured loaf pans about 1 hour at 350 degrees.    

Anyway, if you're like me and want something besides fried, baked, or sauteed zucchini, I hope you like these. I'll share more as I try them.

Matt and I went to our first class today, and it was very good. I'm exhausted though and we're going to try to make it to church, so I'm going to head to bed early. Hope you are having a good weekend. Happy Baking!

this and that... again.

Just checking in to say we're still alive and doing well.


The yard sale went well. We made almost $600. We had a lot of baby clothes left over, so I saved the brand new stuff to consign and we donated the rest (which was still PLENTY of nice stuff). I was a little sad at the very beginning when people were carting off huge piles of my babies' clothes, but now that they are all gone, I feel good. The garage is much cleaner, I can park in it again, and Muffy is going to consign the rest of the clothes for me, so I never have to look at them again. All good things. And we have a little money to go toward all the new furniture we've bought in preparation for our boys (read: baby girl and a pet goat), so overall, I consider it a success.


Last night we went over to some friends' house for hot dogs, sauteed zucchini and squash, pasta salad, chips, and dessert. It was nice to get out. For the most part it was a cook-in, because it was so hot. Shannon, Muffy, and I did walk down to the pond for a little bit, and it was definitely nice to get out. There was a point where I went close to the water to investigate what I thought to be a snake (they say it was a fish) and it like jumped in the air kind of and out deeper into the water. I screamed. They laughed. I did a good job of not peeing my pants.


Tonight I went for a run, which is the first time I've gone since early last week. I'm repeating Week 2 of Couch to 5K because I've been so inconsistent I don't feel ready for Week 3. I go while Matt is putting Jonah to bed, so it's as the sun is setting. It was so muggy tonight, I was dripping sweat. I got three bugs in my eye and one in my mouth, which I swallowed before I knew what was happening. Before I went running tonight, I wanted to create an upbeat Christian music station on Pandora, so I made a "Funky Jesus Music" (apparently a TobyMac song) station. Well, the songs certainly had good running beats, but to say some were cheesy would be an understatement. "Lord, I jus' wanna make eye contact wichyou" was probably my favorite.


In other news, I picked this from my garden yesterday.

The photo doesn't do it justice. It's about one a half times the girth of my lower leg. Crazy zucchini.

Anyway, I gotta run. We're putting together the night stand tonight, which is the last piece of furniture we have to assemble! HOORAY! Hope you're all having a great week.

last weekend

Last weekend, Matt's parents came and Granny watched Jonah so Grandaddy, Matt, and I could work out in the yard. We've lived here for three years and have planted a couple dogwoods but I've been wanting to plant shade trees for a long time. So we finally did it... now all I have to do is keep them alive. Ahem.

We planted two inside our fence. A maple...

And a peach tree. Matt hates peaches. His wife loves them. Guess who picked out the trees?

Here's our backyard from our deck steps. That's Gabe's garden in the back.

We planted two in the side yard (we live on a corner lot). Another maple...

And a flowering plum.

And two in the front. A Flowering Cherry...

And a cute little River Birch. 

Our cute little house. We put the fence up in the spring. Southern Living, you are KILLING me.

The left side (used to be just grass).

The right side.

Our steps decorated for Fall.

Oh yeah, we have these wildflower seeds from Gabe's funeral that I never planted. So Gerry did this little raised bed just for them. We put some Mums in it just so it wouldn't look so bare...

but hopefully in the Spring, we'll have pretty wildflowers. We'll see.

We also planted lots of bulbs. I'll be excited to see how it turns out. (Or I'll go into a spinning depression if they don't come up... Just kidding... sort of.)

____________________________________

I'd like to ask for prayers for one of my best friends, Katie. I've blogged about her some. We're super close and were college roommates. Anyway, her dad suddenly and unexpectedly died early Friday morning. He was 53. Matt, Jonah, and I will be heading to Elizabeth City Tuesday afternoon so that we can be there for the visitation Tuesday night and for the service Wednesday morning. I just need to be there, ya know? Anyway, it's kind of a whirlwind trip so I'm in packing/planning mode, but I'm happy to have something I can DO. I can't wait to hug her. So if you could be in prayer for her, her mom (Blanche), and her brother (Jimmy), it would mean so much. Thank you.

squash muffins

I am about to be your new best friend. I thought this was Matt's sister's recipe, but she says she got it from Matt's Aunt Katherine. Katherine, you are my hero.

I don't know about you, but I can only take so much fried squash, baked squash, and sauteed squash... enter Squash Muffins.

Yellow Squash Muffins

2 lbs. yellow squash (about 8 medium or 5 large)
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp and 2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375. Wash squash, trim off ends, cut into slices. Cook in boiling water 15-20 minutes or until tender. Drain WELL and mash.

Measure out 2 cups of squash and mix with eggs and butter, set aside.

Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl, add remaining squash and the squash mixture, stir just until evenly moistened.

Spoon into greased muffin cups, filling 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on edges (not whole muffin).

This recipe makes 18-24 muffins.

I used Country Crock Lite instead of butter, and they still tasted great. Next time, I think I will try replacing at least some of the sugar with apple sauce and see how that goes. I had to bake them for 25 to 27 minutes, which is a little longer than the recipe says. But it's definitely true about just baking them until the edges are brown, not the whole muffin. They were PERFECT!

I didn't have enough yellow squash from my garden, so I combined yellow squash and zucchini. Matt was a little concerned about how that would taste, but I told him, "If a recipe calls for a cup of butter and a cup of sugar, it's going to taste like butter and sugar."

And he was pleased, as you can see.

It really is a great way to use some of your garden (or Farmer's Market) squash if you are tired of the same old thing. And they freeze well too. Kim says she always makes a double batch, freezes them and then just thaws them and heats them in foil in the oven. Tasty, even the second time around. Let me know if you try them!

the good and the bad

Good (in no particular order):

1. The first produce from my and Kathryn's (is that grammatically correct???) backyard garden. Why yes, yes I did plant a garden. (Thanks to my dad for his excellent tilling skills and to Matt's dad for rigging up the tomatoes and peppers and mostly to God for giving us some veggies so I don't feel like a total failure. Amen.)

2. By the look of the flowering squash vines, we are going to have TONS of squash. Kathryn and I have plans to get together and make Matt's sister's Squash Muffins. Yep, I'm planning ahead.(Yes, I'll post the recipe and YOU will be thanking me and Kim and God. Amen.)

3. I joined a gym that's about two minutes from my house. I've worked out twice this week, and my mood and energy show it. I feel so much better when I'm exercising, and it's been about... um... two years since I have.

4. My friend Aimee and her daughter, Hannah, visited today. Hannah is 14 years old, and gave me my first Silly Bandz... a butterfly. So sweet. And also, on Facebook, Hannah changed her last name to Jonas (as in, married to one of the Jonas brothers). I thought that was HILARIOUS and it has brought me much joy.

5. I have concrete lunch plans with my Divine Friend, M, on Monday. I'm giddy.

6. The adorable twin baby girls that Kathryn nannies for are coming over (along with their sweet momma and Kathryn) tomorrow for a playdate. Jonah has a playdate!!! That is so... normal. (AND awesome!)

7. This is the funniest video I've seen in a very long time. You must watch it. North Carolina representin'. Hey Lucy, you know this guy?

Bad (in no particular order):

1. True, we accidentally broke the end of the zucchini off when we picked it. We're new at this. I ate the tomato (GLORIOUS), Kathryn took the zucchini home. (And also, I have no idea how to spell zucchini ... Ohhhh, THAT's how you spell it. Who knew?)

2. Jonah has stopped eating ANYTHING by mouth. Lips clamped, turns head, completely refuses. Nothing. Not even one bite. He dwindled off over the last week or so, and the last two days has eaten nothing. I bet he won't even eat my Squash Muffins (poor thing... has NO idea what he's missing).

3. My camera won't work. Won't turn on. Nothing. I thought the battery was dead but it wouldn't charge, so I'm hoping I just need to order a new battery. SO sad. I feel lost without my camera. (And also, further proof that I should have bought a Canon.)

4. I miss the Women Only gym I was a member of before I got pregnant with Jonah. I know the sweet owner, Helen. The classes (variety and instructors) are awesome! And it's WOMEN ONLY. But alas, it's 20 minutes away, and I just can't spend 40 minutes of my "someone else is watching Jonah" time driving. I especially missed my girly gym when I had to listen to a man making some very loud and hmm... how do I say this... inappropriate(?) grunting noises while he lifted weights. I just turned my Pandora up and tried to drown it out. It was just me and these two middle age big beefy guys in there, and I wanted my GIRLS back. Sigh. (Still happy to be part of a gym and LOVING the location.)

5. I am RIDICULOUSLY sore after doing 15 minutes on the Elliptical Machine (on level two, ahem) and a few of the weight machines. Can we say PATHETIC?

6. I have to wear a bathing suit in less than three weeks. Does anyone else want to smack Heidi Klum? Oh, just me? Alrighty then.

7. Blogger is being stupid and the spacing on this post keeps messing up. I have no patience to fix if for the third time, so we all have to deal with it. Sorry.

And on that note, I will now finish this post. The End.

big boy shirt

Today was Jonah's first day wearing a collared shirt. I found one at Target that was pretty soft and had flat locked seams on the collar, so I thought it would be a good one to try. I cut off the top two buttons so they wouldn't rest against his chin or cheeks, and the collar was loose enough that it didn't bother his neck.

And, oh my word, is he not the cutest thing in a big boy shirt???




I tried and tried to get him to smile at me... or even to LOOK at me, but he was too busy trying to pretend he could crawl away. He is so, so close. Yesterday he was pushing up on all fours, rocking back and forth, and then getting back down to the sitting position.



So anyway, we went inside to try to get a smile or even a glance in my direction...



But no dice. He did have more important things to do, after all, like watching Gabba or eating his big red cup.



Look who's all of a sudden too cool to smile for the camera. "Hey Mom, I'll grace you with a nice view of my left cheek."




And just for your viewing (and smelling, if you were here) pleasure - these are from a flower I have in a big pot out front.

I think it's some kind of Asian Lily, maybe. Anyway, it has probably ten more blooms just as big and beautiful as these on it. This one was actually so heavy it made the whole stem fall over and break. Isn't it amazing??? It's making our whole lower level smell... in a good way.

Jonah's had a good day. Nothing much to report. I've talked to his GI doctor, the nutritionist, his pediatrician, and two EB parents whose kids' feeding issues are VERY similar to Jonah's about my g-tube concerns and am feeling MUCH better today. I'll go into more detail later on. I'd really like to do the g-tube justice because I know there are probably several of you who might be having to make that decision soon yourselves. I'll hopefully have that up sometime in the next week. I haven't yet figured out how to hold Jonah's arms and legs back with one hand, hook in his tubing with the other, and take photos with my teeth. I'm working on it.