Zucchini Bread Made with Coconut Oil

Be sure to enjoy with coffee! 

My mom recently gave me a zucchini the size of a canoe.  Well, the size of a Barbie canoe.  I decided to make some zucchini bread, then realized I didn't have any vegetable oil.  I don't believe in running to the store, when I could possibly have something that would "make it work."  I thought of my little jar of coconut oil and got to work.  I adapted a recipe from some old recipe book I have laying around here. 

I love taking free ingredients and seeing what I can do with them!
 

ingredients:

3 1/4 cup of all purpose flour (I used bread flour because it's what I had)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
3 cups sugar
1 cup of melted coconut oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup water
2 cups grated zucchini
1 tsp lemon juice (I was out so I used grapefruit)
Optional: 1 cup Chopped nuts & 1/2 cup Brown Sugar

directions:

1. shred zucchini (I put mine in my ninja)
2. preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 2 standard loaf pans
3. in a large bowl combine flour, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking soda, and sugar
4. in a medium bowl, add eggs, oil, water, zucchini & lemon juice.  Stir together
5. Mix wet bowl into dry bowl.  Add nuts & fold in. 
6. Bake for one hour or until toothpick comes out clean. 

I put my zucchini bread in the ninja instead of shredding it by hand. 

Find the biggest bowl you have, then find a bigger one. 

Because this makes A LOT of batter!




Instead of folding my nuts into the batter, I put them in the bottom of the pan to create a crust.  I added a few dollops of coconut oil and then dumped my batter in.
 

I've been making breakfast for my husband and his coworker he ride-shares with, and I thought they'd enjoy some of this zucchini bread with the other people they work with. Hubs was telling me he was going to take both loaves in, I said he could only take one, because I had to taste it and photograph it...He forgot to take any at all. More for me :)

Mini Meatloaf Muffins

My dear husband once told me that he wanted to have meatloaf for dinner every night.  I laughed at him.  I also laughed at the Barefoot Contessa when she advised you buy a special mini loaf pan to create mini meatloaves.  Why not mini meatloaf muffins?  These can also be frozen easily and pulled out for lunches or single portions.  This is nice for ensuring the hubby gets a healthy, non-processed lunch and saves us quite a few dimes. 

I have included a very basic meatloaf recipe below, I seldom follow a recipe, but you may want to if you're a beginner.  I'm sure your favorite recipe will work well using this method too!

ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef
1 egg
1 small onion (chopped)
1 cup dried bread crumbs
3 dashes of Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tbsp BBQ sauce or ketchup
salt & pepper to taste

Ketchup or BBQ sauce for glaze

directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a muffin tin.
2. Mix 1st 7 ingredients together.
3. Portion into muffin size balls.  Be sure not too pack the balls too tight, or your meat muffin will be very dense.
4. Put mini meat muffins into a tin and poke a hole down the center with your finger.
5. Fill the hole with ketchup or BBQ sauce and overflow on the top for a glaze. 
6. Pop in the oven for about an hour, cool on baking rack. 

To freeze, wrap individually in plastic once cooled and store in a freezer bag. 

These didn't last long enough to freeze any! 

I served mine with fresh steamed green beans and homemade mashed potatoes. 

Peggie's Refrigerator Pickles

My mom (Peggie) has made these refrigerator pickles since as long as I can remember.  I remember walking in the house and smelling the dill and eating them while they were still warm (before they had fully refrigerated). 

I thought my hubby would like them so I got the recipe and made them for him.  He LOVES them.  He loves them so much I can't keep up and make them fast enough.  Whenever his friends come over he forces them to try some.  Needless to say, they've been a huge success.  Last week, I made a triple batch for him to take to work, and was informed last evening that they needed more.  I had some cukes in the fridge and the recipe is so easy, that I decided to go ahead and appease him.  I hope you try them and enjoy them as much as we do. 

Peggie's Refrigerator Pickles

3  tsp dry dill
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of vinegar
1/2 cup water
4 tsp salt
1 large cucumber
3 onions *

*You can use as many or as few onions as you like.  Today I didn't feel like chopping any so I didn't use any.  You can play with the ratio and figure out what you like. 

Directions:

1. Combine water, salt, vinegar, and sugar in a saucepan.  Heat on medium until sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally.

2. Meanwhile, slice cucumbers & onions into a bowl or storage container (jar, Tupperware, etc.).   I use a mandolin for my slicing and slice half the cucumber into thick crunchy cukes, and the other half into fine little slivers of cucumber.  Once you are done slicing, add your dill to the cucumbers.  (If you add your dill to your sauce pan, you are going to end up washing half of it down the drain.)    

3. Carefully pour the hot liquid mixture over the cucumbers.  Because I'm making a double batch, I always do this step in a bowl and then transfer into jars later.   I weight the top down with a plate to ensure that each cucumber is fairly submerged. Then, cover and place in refrigerator. 

4. Enjoy!  These are supposed to be able to last up to 1 month in the refrigerator.  I can't say for sure if that is the case because ours always disappear before a month is over!