Zucchini Bread and another trip to the Farmer's Market

Well, I talked my parents into taking another trip to the Farmer's Market. It wasn't that hard :)

I think we bought even more this time than we did last time! And I plan to use ALL of it! Seriously, on the way home I had recipes flashing through my brain. I've already gone through a couple cookbooks and flagged some recipes I can use all my new fresh produce in!

Oranges, sweet onions, strawberries, mangoes, and homemade salsa

 

 

Zucchini and squash, anjou pears, green beans, okra, lemons and new potatoes

 Spinach, blueberries, corn, cantaloupe, watermelon and the zucchini, squash and new potatoes again

I was giddy laying it all out on the counter to put away. It's safe to say Mom, Daddy and I will get our fruit and veggie servings this week!

 

Here's our big bowl of fruit...filled with lemons, oranges, pears and mangoes. Yum! Oh, and just a few pictures of the fam :)

 

Here's what I'll be making this week:

Paula Deen's Green Beans & New Potatoes (Made these last night and they were awesome!)

Southern Plate's Sweet & Sour Green Beans (Made these last time we got green beans...SO good and so easy.)

Southern Plate's Squash Casserole 

Blueberry Pancakes (Stay tuned for the recipe!)

Fresh Spinach Salad

and I'll probably just eat the watermelon, cantaloupe, and oranges just how they are :)

I almost forgot to mention that I got a mint plant!! It's planted in a pot in my backyard and I'm looking forward to using it all spring and summer. I'm going to make a mint simple syrup for my tea and I'll be sippin' on mojitos all summer. Meet me at the pool!

 

I HIGHLY recommend you make a trip to the Farmer's Market. It is such a fun experience and you will come home with some yummy goodies. If you go and find something that looks good, just get it! You can go home and just google what you got and a million recipes will come up. The internet is incredibly resourceful.

 

On to the Zucchini Bread! I used my fresh zucchini from the farmer's market and I used my girl Christy Jordan's Zucchini Bread recipe from her amazing cookbook. (Her cookbook was the first one I looked in when I got home with all my fresh produce!)

 

This bread is DE-LICIOUS. If you've never had zucchini bread before then you're probably turning your nose up. Vegetables? In a bread? Well have you ever had carrot cake? That has carrots in it, yet it's sweet and delicious. That's exactly how this is. It's sweet and spicy from the cinnamon and nutmeg, so moist, and so yummy. You'll love it. I promise. You'll never look at zucchini bread the same way again.

 

P.S. I am strugglin' with the pictures. I don't know what is wrong with me but I failed to take as many pictures as I usually do. This recipe is a no-brainer though. You can't mess it up!

Zucchini Bread

Recipe adapted from Southern Plate 

3 eggs

3/4 c. vegetable oil

2 c. sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 c. shredded zucchini

one 8 oz. can of crushed pineapple, drained

3 c. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg, optional

1 c. chopped nuts (I used walnuts, but pecans would be good too!)

1 c. raisins, optional (I left these out.)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour two loaf pans. You can use two 4"x8" loaf pans or two 3"x9". Christy says you can also use four to six mini loaf pans. Whatever strikes your fancy!

 

Y'all remember how to do this, right? Get our your tub of butter or margarine and swipe a paper towel in it. Grease both pans with it, then sprinkle some flour in both pans. Shake it around until it coats everything and shake out the excess.

Go ahead and grate your zucchini. You can use a box grater, the grating attachment thing on a food processor, or a hand grater. My mom actually just got this vegetable hand grater at TJ Maxx this past weekend. Good timing!

 I used two zucchinis to get 2 cups!

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, oil, sugar, vanilla, zucchini, and pineapple (drained). Mix that all together (I used a hand mixer, but you could probably just used a whisk or spoon.) and set it aside. You want everything to be totally incorporated.

All incorporated!

In a even bigger bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg (if using).

 Just sift it into that big bowl.

Now dump the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until everything is well incorporated. Add the nuts and raisins, if using, and stir those bad boys in. Now your batter is ready!

Divide the batter evenly between the two loaf pans and smooth the top.  Bake for 1 hour, but start checking it at 50 minutes. If you stick a knife in and it comes out clean then go ahead and take it out. Everyone's ovens are different! If you used the mini loaf pans, they only bake for about 30 minutes.

Now take the bread out and try your very hardest to let it cool before you cut a slice for yourself. It's harder than you think!

I already cut a piece out :)

 I love that you can see the bits of zucchini, pineapple and the nuts! How can you resist?!

Enjoy, y'all! If you make it, let me know what you think!

Best Banana Nut Bread EVER.

I swear, nothing makes the house smell better than banana nut bread baking in the oven. Yes, you have your chocolate chip cookies and other baked goods, but there's something about that warm banana smell. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Well, lucky you... I happen to have the BEST banana nut bread recipe EVER. Seriously, this is the best I've ever had. It is so moist and has the perfect amount of spices, bananas and nuts. The first time I made this banana bread it vanished by the end of the day. Only the little end of it was left. I only had one piece! It's so good and addicting. Now I've learned my lesson and I always double the recipe to make two loaves. I've sent some to work with Mom before and one of her coworkers paid me to make her four loaves of it... that's how good it is. I'm not messin' around here, people!

I'm sure everyone has had banana nut bread before (if you haven't, you are totally missing out), but promise me you'll try this recipe. I've had my share of banana bread and I had when it's so dry that you're looking around for a bottle of water to help you get it down. This recipe has never dried out on me.  Have I persuaded you to try this yet?

 As you can see, my recipe is all wrinkly and has spill stains on it. That's how much I've made it.

This recipe is from The Neely's and it's called "Momma Callie's Banana Nut Bread". Let me give you a little tip on how to spot a good recipe. If the recipe ever starts with someone's name, like "Momma Callie's" or "Aunt Sue's" or "Grandma's" you KNOW it's going to be GOOD. This means the recipe got so many rave reviews that this person became famous for making it. I know that in my family, my Grandma's mashed potatoes are the first thing everyone heads for at Thanksgiving.

Break out those brown bananas and mash'em on up! It's time to make some banana bread!

Momma Callie's Banana Nut Bread

1 stick of butter, room temperature
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3 large, very ripe bananas (We're talkin' brown spots all over)
1 c. sugar
2 large eggs
1/2. sour cream (Light works just as well as regular. In fact, I've always used light.)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
dash of ground clove  (I add more spices to mine because that's how I like it, but only add cinnamon if you want, in the amounts that you want!)
3/4 c. chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

This will make one loaf, but I always double it to make two!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a loaf pan. (I use 9"x 5".) Okay, DO NOT SKIP THIS. Take the time to butter and flour it. You don't want to just spray it with non-stick spray and risk your loaf falling apart or parts getting stuck in the pan when you try and take it out, because when this happens you will cry. You really will. Trust me, I know from experience. So just butter and flour it, it's not hard :) Wipe your pan down with butter (I use a paper towel swabbed with some margarine) and then sprinkle some flour around. Then shake the pan until the flour has coated everything and then shake the excess flour out. I always set my loaf pans on a baking sheet lined with foil too, just in case there are any spills. Cleaning your oven is never fun.

It should look like this! Lightly dusted.

 

Then, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices together in a large bowl. It's important to combine this well so your whole loaf rises and is seasoned evenly. Then mash your bananas. (I had some in the freezer that I had put in there when they were almost too far gone. If you use frozen bananas, just set them on a plate and let them defrost for a little bit.)

 

 Use a fork to mash! It's kinda fun :)

Next, cream together your butter and sugar together in an electric mixer until its well combined. Then add your eggs one at time, combining well after each. Add your vanilla and sour cream and mix well.

 All the wet ingredients... 

Now add your bananas (low speed) and once those are combined slowly add your dry ingredients that you set aside. I usually turn the mixer speed to low and use a small measuring cup to slowly scoop some dry ingredients in.

 Like this!

Once all your dry ingredients are in, add the pecans mix a little more. The batter should be pretty thick, but still wet.

Like this :)

 

Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.

SO STINKIN' GOOD.

I hope you try this recipe next time you have some brown bananas hangin' around your house!