I love Zucchini Bread and always found mine to be a little dry. Until a few years ago when I got fed up and googled, "best moist zucchini bread recipe" and came up with this gem. Sorry I can't credit whoever posted it, but whoever you are, THANK YOU!
.
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
2 cups grated, unpeeled zucchini
1 T. vanilla extract
3 cups sifted all purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1.5 t. cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts or chocolate chips
.
Beat eggs, sugar and oil in a large bowl. Stir in the grated zucchini and vanilla. Finally, gradually incorporate the rest of the (dry) ingredients to the creamy mixture, a little at a time, blending well. Slowly stir in the chopped nuts or chocolate chips.
.
Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack 10-15 minutes before slicing. This bread freezes well!
.
Yields: 2 loaves.
After Ryan asked me for some rope this afternoon, I started wondering what the kids were doing in the backyard. (all of the blinds and curtains were closed because the back of our house faces west and the sun is brutal that time of day) He settled for using his Spiderman costume for "rope." When I looked outside to see what was going on, this is what I saw. And what I heard was, "On Donner, On Dancer, On Prancer and Vixen, On Comet, On Cupid, On Donner and Blitzen!" I got a little of it on video, including Ryan showing me how reindeer fly...
I'm not a huge fan of medicine, but I'm also not a huge fan of hearing my kids hack up a lung all night only to wake up exhausted the next day. . I found a cough suppressant recipe online a few months ago that used things I had in the house at the time and tweaked it a tiny bit. My kids cringe when they take a spoonful (then Ryan acts over dramatic and runs around the house, gagging and laughing) but I am amazed at how well it works. I keep this home remedy in my smallest Tupperware container in the fridge. My mom thought it was salad dressing when she babysat once and called me to verify that Ryan was correct in begging for some before bedtime. . 1/4 t. red pepper flakes 1 T. apple cider vinegar 1 T. honey 2 T. water . 1 teaspoon reduces coughing for quite a while. (I usually give this for a cough and Mucinex to break up the phlegm to attack the root of the problem) I hope it works for your family, too!
Rachael gave me an new award! I haven't acknowledged any awards in a while, since none of my friends seem to join in when I tag them. (*sigh* - woe is me...) But this one is fun and new and I'm in the mood to play along. I'm supposed to write about 5 things that I love, but have decided to make my list a Christmas edition. So here are 5 things that I love about the Christmas, outside of the completely obvious reason of the birth of Christ. He is "the reason for the season," as they say, but here my top 5 non-religious reasons for loving this time of year: . 1. Baking - I love baking! Especially when it's cold outside or raining or even overcast. Christmas is a season for baking and I whip up some mean banana bread, zucchini bread, cookies and bars galore. . 2. Wrapping gifts - I have considered applying for a job at one of those gift-wrapping stations at the mall a dozen times in my life. I LOVE wrapping presents. There's something structured and orderly about it that fills my OCD spirit with joy. . 3. Christmas lights - I used to be a Christmas light snob. I thought white lights with colored lights was tacky. I hated the look of the big huge bulbs with the itty bitty bulbs on the same home. And lawn decor? Oh please. But in my adult years, I have come to appreciate all sorts of outdoor decorating styles. And nowadays, the gaudier, the better. I watch Christmas Vacation and think, "What's the problem? It's not THAT bad..." Here is the memorable Christmas light scene, for your viewing pleasure.
4. The anticipation - I loved it as a kid and I love watching it in my kids now. When I was growing up, I was never tempted to peek at my gifts. The anticipation of Christmas morning was like a natural high. As an adult, I've realized that December 26th can be a bit of a let down, so I made it a habit to take that day off work and now encourage Mike to do the same. It extends the holiday spirit a little longer and allows everyone to relax a bit more on Christmas evening. . 5. Spending time with family and friends - Cheesy? Probably. But truly...I love all of the get-togethers around Christmas. Parties, pot lucks, work gatherings, game nights, whatever. And this year I have enjoyed doing something Christmas-y every day in December. It's given the kids something to look forward to and the month hasn't seemed to zip by quite as quickly as it has in years past. I plan to do the 25 Days of Christmas Activity Calendar every year - I'm glad I thought of it! . I hereby pass along the Circle of Friends award to...only real life friends this time, not blogging friends. I'll get some of you ladies next round: 1. My BFF J Dubb 2. Queen April at April's Reign 3. Becky, The Maid 4. Sweet Lisa 5. And my oldest friend (since middle school!) - Dutch Mac . You can do a "Top 5 Things" list of either things you love in general or copy my idea and do things you love about Christmas. Or you can be creative and come up with your own category. (April, that was a challenge...I see a sarcastic "Top 5 Things I Love About Working with the Public" edition in your future.)
A couple years ago, I coordinated a Kids Craft Day at our church for moms with pre-schoolers. One of the crafts that we did was an imprint of each child's hand print in Crayola's "Model Magic" Modeling Clay. (PS - the clay comes in many colors, not just white) This is a fast craft to do with your own kids and can easily be made into a Christmas tree ornament. . One single package of modeling clay made three ornaments for me: one for each grandmother and one for my family to keep. I separated the clay into 3 lumps then rolled it flat onto a paper plate with a soda can. (smaller than a rolling pin and it worked better!) Stamp the child's hand or foot into washable ink (it doesn't have to be washable, but it will take a few days to come off of the skin if it's not) and press into the clay. I held my kids' hand there for a second, pressing each finger firmly into the clay to make sure it imprinted. . Lay the clay mound back onto the paper plate to dry. If you want to hang it on the tree, push a pencil through the top (about 1/2 inch from the edge - while the clay is still soft) to make a hole. Allow to dry for a day or two, then write the child's name and the year on the back with a marker. String a ribbon through the hole and tie with a bow and hang on the tree. If crafts aren't your thing, an even easier personalized gift is a photo frame ornament. I unintentionally started this tradition when Ryan was born and LOVE that there are pictures of my sweet kids hidden throughout my Christmas tree. And this is totally something you can go back and do for past years, if you want. Last year, Mike was unemployed, so I was on financial lockdown and couldn't spend any money. I ended up finding some $3.99 ornaments for $.39 each in January at Target and bought two. (their 90% off Christmas sale was too good to miss!) Now all I need to do is print a favorite picture of each child from 2008 to add to the frames and hang them on the tree. (Ryan, 2006) (Kaylin, 2007...obviously) (Jason, 2009)
I didn't think I'd pull this off, but I am so excited about my teacher gifts this year! A set of handmade notecards, a vase with flower pens and a little candle, all packaged up beautifully! This is how I want all of my gifts to be presented, but it never turns out that way. And I have to say that I hardly purchased a thing to put this gift together. The idea started when I got 2 packages of free pens from CVS during school supply season. What am I going to do with 20 free pens? I found some flower stems at a craft store with 6 flowers per stem for under $1 each, so I bought some floral tape and decided to make some flower pens. This turned into a gift idea when I saw mini vases on sale at Target. . I made the pens one afternoon while Ryan did his homework; they hardly took any time at all. (How-to instructions are here if you're interested. I didn't bother with the hot glue gun, I just wrapped the tape around the flower stem.) I had some gems laying around, filled the vase with those to look like water, and that part of the gift was done.
The cards were assembled today while Kaylin painted. I used some of the abundance of paper and scrapbook supplies that I have, including a huge sheet of "K" stickers that someone gave me. (Ryan's teacher's first name begins with a K.) I tied ribbons around everything, piled it all into one of the big nesting boxes I bought from Costco years ago, and tied that with a pretty ribbon too. Voila! I seriously feel like Martha Stewart right now. But what I want to know is: does Martha's house look like this when she's finished making TWO Christmas gifts???
First of all, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for all of your comments and emails regarding my last post. It amazes me how many people come out of hiding to show their support and encouragement! I love hearing from all of you. . After publishing that post the other day, I sat down and wrote everything down that was floating around in my head. The list had 26 items on it, mostly dumb little things, but they needed to be done regardless. To see it on paper was - you guessed it - overwhelming! Most of the tasks wouldn't take long (clip Jason's fingernails, put away laundry, call American Express about getting a new card) but when I have time during the day, I often can't think of all of the little things I need to do, so I sit down at the computer and waste time. . As soon as Ryan was on the bus yesterday morning, I started right in on the list. Within an hour, I had 1/3 of the items crossed off - even some of the bigger items that I'd been procrastinating, like cleaning my bathroom and putting away Kaylin's short sleeved shirts. (so I don't have to battle her wardrobe choices every day when it's 45 degrees outside) It felt great to get so much done so quickly. I periodically finished other items on the list throughout the day and plan to complete the remainder sometime over the next week. . Then last night, my mom offered to watch the kids while Mike and I went Christmas shopping. We went to 5 stores in 3 hours and got almost ALL of the shopping done! I still want to get my mom and Mike's mom another small something each, but other than a few stocking stuffers for the kids, I'm DONE!!! I've never waited this long to start my Christmas shopping...I'm usually way done by now. . I had planned to get the rest of the stocking stuffers while Kaylin was in school this morning, but instead I spent that time at the doctor's office. I arrived on time for my 9:15 appointment and didn't leave until 11:45 - long after Kaylin's pick up time. Thankfully her school has a (paid) program that they brought her to and I'll only have to pay $2.50 for keeping her there after school. . So I talked to my doctor about my hormonal issues and his big analysis is that I'm overtired. "Over-exhausted" was his word choice. He did give me a prescription for Zoloft if I want it, but when I asked about a more natural option, he suggested St. John's Wart. Remember the hype about that a decade ago? How it was the cure-all for a down mood? Apparently, it's still around and I'm hoping it will get me out of my funk. That and some sleep. I've gotten out of the habit of napping daily and I need to start taking that time for myself again. I think because Jason has only been waking up once at night, I decided I didn't need a nap that badly. Plus, Mike and I are going to talk about him taking over the nighttime feeding on Wednesdays to help me refuel mid-week. I'm hoping that will help, too. I'm normally not a drug person.. (Well, except Mucinex. I think that stuff was sent directly from heaven. I digress...) I'd much rather take a natural approach to most types of healing, but if that doesn't work, I'm ready and willing to march down to the pharmacy and fill this prescription and give it a shot. . Doctor's orders are more sleep and daily exercise, even if it's only 20 minutes. I'm also taking everyone's advice to lower my expectations of myself and to chill out. I need to ease back into my version of normal...because right now, multi-tasking seems impossible. . That's it for now. I'm feeling hopeful and a little bit better as a result. I would love to get back to feeling like myself after some sleep and exercise. If that doesn't help, enter St. John's Wart. If I'm still out of sorts, bring on the Zoloft. I never thought I'd hear myself say that! . Again, thanks for all of the notes and encouragement!!!
I'm a Christian wife and a homeschooling mom to a 12 year old, an 10 year old and a very busy 7 year old. I am passionate about being a good "Household Manager" and love to encourage women and parents in the areas of cooking, organizing, homeschooling and frugal living.
Posts
