Money Saving Parmesan Zucchini Fries

What? How does zucchini save money?


It doesn't.


However, the way you bake it can!!


This Indian Summer is wonderful. I am loving the 75 - 80 degree weather daily (and 50-60 degree weather nightly!!). But this makes cooking and keeping the house cool a difficult task.

Our family is deep in the adventure of cutting our budget...significantly. One way we've done this is to utilize our toaster oven. It uses far less energy than our large oven and doesn't put off nearly the amount of heat. We even put the toaster oven in the basement, where it's already cooler than the rest of the house.

This endeavor certainly is an adventure...I'm trying a recipe for zucchini fries that are meant for a conventional oven. I also (with the budget cuts) put a twist on the fries with some on-hand ingredients of my own -- the breadcrumbs today are homemade!

Don't freak out...homemade bread crumbs are almost effortless.

If you, like us, are looking for frugal, healthy meals, this recipe is for you.

Happy adventurous baking!


Money Saving Parmesan Zucchini Fries

Ingredients:

1 medium-small zucchini, sliced into small-ish "fry" size :)
4 slices of whole wheat toast
1 egg
1 package of "Lipton Recipe Secrets Savory Herb" mixes
1 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Toast the four slices of bread in the toaster oven according to toaster directions.

While waiting for toast, whisk an egg into a large bowl. Then combine the herb mix with the cheese in another large bowl.

When the toast is done, crumble each piece of toast into smaller pieces to be chopped with a hand chopper. This makes nice fine bread crumbs. Don't worry too much about larger pieces that didn't get chopped well enough. They'll add extra crunch later!

Add all the breadcrumbs to the herb and cheese mixture. Mix with hands until well-combined.

Dip each "fry" into the egg, then into the breadcrumb mixture. Place on the toaster oven tray.  Bake for 20 minutes.

I made two batches of these....look what happened to the first!!

Enjoy!

Baked Turkey and Cheddar Zucchini Boats

I've seen these zucchini boat recipes all over the internet lately! If you have read this blog at any point this summer, you've probably noticed that every other recipe is related to zucchini. So if you're not a zucchini lover, I do apologize...because here's another one!


Baked Turkey and Cheddar Zucchini Boats

Ingredients:

2 medium/small zucchini
1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
8 slices of deli/sandwich style turkey
4 Tbsp. plain Greek yogurt
1 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Slice both zucchinis lengthwise, splitting them in two. Cut the tops off. You should have four potential zucchini boats now!

Using a large metal spoon, scrape out about an inch of the insides of the zucchini, leaving about a 1/2 inch of zucchini on the inside. Place zucchini boats on a greased baking tray.

Spread one Tablespoon of the Greek yogurt on each zucchini boat. Fold the turkey slices in thirds and lay across the boats as pictured. There should be two slices per boat. :)

This is my favorite brand of Greek yogurt. It's perfect for baking and cooking, and it's cheap! I do believe I bought it at Walmart. :)

Greek Yogurt Spread

Turkey added.

Sprinkle the boats with the Italian seasoning and finish each boat off with about 1/8 c. (or a small handful in my measurements...) of shredded cheddar cheese.

Ready to go!

Place tray in the oven and bake for fifteen minutes.

After fifteen minutes, remove and cover the tray with tin foil. This prevents the cheese from burning and the turkey from over-browning. Place tray back in the oven and bake for another fifteen minutes.

After fifteen minutes, they may look done, but make sure to check with a fork! They should need at least fifteen more minutes. :)

Remove tray from oven and stick a fork in the zucchini part of the boats to ensure they are soft and cooked through. Depending on the size of your zucchini, they may need some extra time!

You can serve immediately if you like! I kept mine warming in the oven while we wait for my hubby to come home. :) Can't WAIT to eat these!!

Enjoy with life!

Savory Cheddar Zucchini Bread

Guess what?? It's another zucchini post!

I still can't believe how much of it we have in our house when I haven't grown a shred of it! (Thank you, church friends and coworkers!!) 

So I have been dying to use this gorgeous bread loaf pan for the past few weeks, but haven't had time or inspiration yet.

Bundle is taking an extra long nap on this lovely rainy afternoon, so there couldn't have been a more perfect time. Rain and coffee always spur creativity in our home, so I concocted this today in hopes of using up some more of that amazing summer zucchini.

Scrawling the measurements and ingredients on scratch paper as I bake is the only way I could hope to post stuff. Don't judge the handwriting--yikes!

Savory Cheddar Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups baking mix (like Bisquick or Jiffy)

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. garlic salt or powder

1 finely chopped scallion

1 tsp. finely chopped fresh (dried works too) basil

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 c. softened margarine

1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt

1 c. shredded zucchini

Instructions:

Stir all ingredients together in a large bowl. Really well. I used a large serving spoon.

In most professional baking worlds (and blogs) there are well-loved culinary terms like "fold in" and "incorporate" and "dust". I am totally guilty of using those terms on this blog. A lot. But not today. Today is a day for enjoying the sweet summer rain, open windows, and extra long nap time. Here's to simple instructions and delicious bread!

Pour the semi-lumpy batter into a regular, greased loaf pan. Bake for 50-ish minutes. (I took mine out at 53 minutes.)

I plan on serving this with a simple veggie soup tonight. I can't wait!!!

I love picking my herbs fresh. The rain today made picking it seem even more fresh!

Peaceful rain on the prairie.

Enjoy with life.

<3

Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Summer breakfast, perfected.

I've had an abnormally large abundance of zucchini in my fridge this year. Guess how much of it I grew myself? Zero. We have lots of friends and coworkers who have been extremely successful in their zucchini gardening endeavors this year, and we've reaped the benefits!

This GIANT came from one of Hubby's coworkers. We've been whittling it down for a week now!

My hubby makes literally THE best grilled onions and zucchini, as well as some awesome zucchini crust pizza, but after a week, we needed some more zucchini inspiration. 

I found a few recipes I knew I'd want to try immediately. Here is one of them. It's simple, chocolaty, and family (including toddler) approved, but I wanted to make a few changes--namely, to omit the oil and add Greek yogurt. I also tweaked the measurements of the vanilla, salt and chocolate chips to suit my taste.

Enjoy with life!

Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

(Makes 21 muffins)

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt

1/2 c. white sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. cocoa

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. shredded zucchini

4 oz. mini chocolate chips

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare 21 muffin cups. (Flour, grease, use paper cups, whatever your preference!)

Beat the eggs, yogurt and sugars together until creamy. Add vanilla and all the dry ingredients. Beat on medium-high speed until well-incorporated. Fold in the zucchini and chocolate chips last. 

The blurred action shot of Bundle helping me stir! :) I LOVE when my kiddo helps me bake!

Spoon prepared muffin cups 3/4 full. Reduce heat to 325 degrees F and bake for 25 minutes.

 

Dust with powdered sugar if you want!

Mmmm!

We ate these for breakfast and snack time several days in a row, and I ate them as a pre-workout snack too! Although the sugar and flour isn't great for you, there is no butter, and the cocoa and chocolate chips have those precious, delicious antioxidants us mommies always need! ;)

Happy Zucchini Season!

<3