Would you like some chocolate with your zucchini?

I LOVE summer for the fresh vegetables grown in your garden. My garden is nothing to write home about, but every year we seem to be able to grow an adequate amount of zucchini and tomatoes (my two favorite garden veggies). After making stir fry, zucchini & eggs (a family favorite--try it, you will be amazed at how good it is), putting zucchini in soups and pastas, etc...I was ready for something sweet. I love the traditional zucchini bread with cinnamon, but last night wanted something chocolatey. This bread hit the spot (although I would put even more chocolate chips in it next time :)

Here is a great, moist chocolate zucchini bread recipe:

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
3 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 c. wheat flour)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil (I used 1/2 oil and 1/2 applesauce)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or more)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans.
In large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt, mix well. In separate bowl, combine sugar and eggs, beat until well blended. Add oil and vanilla; beat until combined. Stir in zucchini. Add flour mixture; stir just until moistened. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips. Spoon evenly into loaf pans.
Bake in preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove bread from pans; cool completely on wire rack.

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Running Low? The joys of shopping the sales!

Do you ever go down to your storage room and realize that you are running low on a few items? I went down to my storage room and found that I only have TWO jars of salsa left! How is this possible? I bought several cases only a short time ago--my husband and kids are salsa and chip lovers and I was shocked that it is nearly gone! (Everyone send out good karma into the universe so salsa can go on sale :)

The kids then needed paper towel for cleaning the bathrooms and AGAIN..NO paper towels. I think I have been slacking in my motherly duties lately! Sure enough, I looked through the ads and paper towel was on sale! This made my day :) The bathrooms can now be cleaned again to the children's dismay.

I then needed to restock my pantry sugar bucket and found that my sugar bin was nearly half gone--aahh!! I don't know about you, but this started to give me anxiety! haha! You can imagine my relief when last week at Albertsons they had their C&H sugar on sale so I could restock my sugar supply. We can all breathe a sigh of relief...awww. All those people who think I live on the moon will think I FOR SURE DO after looking at my sugar tower the kids and I built after our shopping trip :) I just LOVE when items go on sale right at the right time, don't you?!

P.S.--Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post. Who knew that would have sparked such conversation! I had a great time reading through everyone's comments. Thanks for your thoughts, support, and input. I am glad to know I am not the only 'crazy' one :)

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Need a good laugh?

A friend of mine sent me a link to a bulletin board discussion on Americas Test Kitchen's website where several ladies were discussing MY food storage room. I was practically rolling on the floor I thought their commentary was so funny! I never realized how strange food storage would be to someone who was not used to seeing our 'bizzare' way of life :) Isn't the internet amazing? People across the U.S. are discussing my basement--wierd!

Here is some of the highlights of this MULTIPLE page dialogue--just in case you need a laugh!

Lady 1: It's always nice to know there are crazier people out there than me! Take a look at this ladies pantry (and then it linked the readers to our blog)

Lady 2: Youch! There's some serious food down there. I could store toilet paper like that,but I don't know about food! The idea is enticing, but all that sodium makes me nervous.

Lady 3: Where do those people live, the moon! I'd rather let the grocer store it for me.

Lady 1: Yeah, that's in the GOOD GRIEF category. Yowza!

Lady 2: Whoa! It is very tidy though, but very wierd. I think this lady was toilet trained with a cattle prod. I bet she has a freezer for an end table (funny enough I did at one time!!)

Lady 3: I am all about hoarding, but when your hoarding is symmetric, there is a problem.

Lady 4: I bet it's tied to religious beliefs. I bet she's LDS. What else would you expect from a group that was persecuted and trekked across the country? You've got to plan pretty well about what to put in the wagons going at walking speed!

Lady 1: Well, that makes sense--a lot of crazy behavior can be chalked up to religion--it's nothing wierder than forgoing pork, lent, or eating fish for 40 days out of the year.

Lady 2: I do wonder about her food choices though (Stove TOp Stuffing), I'd love to see the lard of a Mormon woman who does this blog!


It goes on for even longer, but I thought that would make you laugh--it did me! Hey, I may be a 'lard of a woman' and 'come from the moon' but when times get tough, they may rethink who the 'crazy' one is :) Haha!!

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Using up those delicious garden vegetables!

This recipe has been around the block on many food blogs lately, but I had to give it a try to use up those garden tomatoes! I loved the freshness of the tomato and the savory garlic and cheese flavor...delightful! We dipped this bread in an olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and Parmesan cheese mixture. We felt like we were at Macaroni Grill. (Yes, I tripled the batch--I can't do anything in small quantities!)

Herbed Tomato Focaccia
1 ¼ c. warm water
1 T. yeast
2 T. honey
1 t. salt
3 ½ c. flour
¼ c. olive oil
2 T. fresh or dried rosemary—chopped
2 large tomatoes—sliced thin
½ c. asiago or Parmesan cheese--shredded
Kosher salt (opt.)
Olive oil to brush the top of bread

Combine water, yeast, salt, oil and honey in a large bowl and let sit until foamy. Add the flour and knead well. Place in an oiled bowl and let rise to double. Punch down and roll out to 1/4” thickness. Place on an oiled pan and lightly brush the top of the bread with olive oil. Sprinkle with cheese and rosemary and top with tomato slices. Let rise to double again. Bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for about 25 minutes.


QUICK GARDEN VEGETABLE SIDE DISH
One of my other favorite ways to use the vegetables from my garden (or ones you buy at the store) is this quick and healthy vegetable side dish. There isn't a fancy name for this recipe, it's just something I throw together for a quick side dish and a way to get my kids to eat their vegetables. I just coarsely chop up any vegetables I have on hand in the fridge (zucchinis (there's always tons of those going around!), onions, mushrooms, bell peppers, etc.) and toss them in a drizzle of olive oil (or you can use butter for more flavor). I sprinkle the veggies with Montreal Steak Seasoning (my ALL time favorite seasoning!) and Johnny's Garlic Spread (my second favorite seasoning--both you can get at Costco in BULK!!) and put it in the oven on a cooking stone. I broil this at 450 degrees until the vegetables are slightly soft and have a few crispy edges (like they were grilled on the barbie). Put your pan down on the lowest rack to prevent burning. You can also just bake these vegetables, but I like the crispiness of the veggies verses the soggy-overcooked flavor baking gives. This is just a quick option to skewered vegetables without all of the skewering! I served these tonight with the Teriyaki Pork from this weeks menu planner and it was AWESOME!!

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We have expanded!

WE ARE EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THAT IDAHO IS UP AND RUNNING, AND ARIZONA WILL BE READY NEXT WEEK!!

If you would like to recieve this weeks DEALS and MEAL PLANNER for Idaho, email me at Idaho@dealstomeals.com and I will email them to you. Next week you will be able to download the deals and meals off of our website for Idaho and Arizona.

If you live in this area and would like to try our service for a week FREE, email us at Idaho@dealstomeals.com or Arizona@dealstomeals.com

We would love it if you could help us spread the word to your friends and family in Idaho, Arizona, California, and Nevada. We are excited to be able to get more people excited about food storage and save them money on their groceries!

Thank you everyone--you are awesome!!

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The BEST crescent recipe around!

My sister made these for a family dinner last week and we haven't been able to think about anything else! Our family has made several batches of them this week and they are AWESOME! Eat them with homemade strawberry jam and you will be in heaven!

Crescent Rolls – (The Food Nanny – Liz Edmunds)
(makes 2 cookie sheets, 48 rolls, 24 on each pan)

4 T. yeast
½ c. + 2 T. warm Water

Mix together and allow sitting for 10 minutes.

Mix together very well in separate bowl:

6 eggs
1 c. oil
1 c. sugar

Warm milk in the microwave only until warm NOT scalding.
2 c. warm milk

Add egg mixture and warm milk to the yeast mixture. Mix all together until combined.

10-11 c. flour
2 T. salt

Add 1 cup of flour at a time until combined together. Continue to mix/knead for 5 minutes on med-high speed. Allow to raise 2-3 hours.

Separate dough into 6 even balls. Roll out each ball until the size of a dinner plate on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 8 pizza wedge slices. With each wedge, roll down ward wrapping bottom skinny bottom piece down and around to make pretty crescent shape. Place 3 rolls across and 8 down, 24 on each cookie sheet.

Allow to double in size while covered with clean dish towel (about 15 minutes). While raising on top of oven, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake one sheet at a time. Bake 6 minutes on bottom rack and then 5 minutes on middle shelf until light golden brown. (Before you take them out, double check the bottom to make sure they are golden brown, not too light they could be doughy). Once they are perfectly golden brown, brush tops with melted butter once removed.

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Happy 4th of July!

We want to say "Happy 4th of July" by allowing anyone who would like to try our service for FREE for the next week, to try it!

You can login RIGHT NOW on our webste www.dealstomeals.com with the following login information:

Email:
free@dealstomeals.com
Password:
freetrial

Happy Saving!

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So..I had a taste-off contest of strawberry jam. After having my freezer strawberry jam not set up quite as thick as I would have liked, I took everyone's advice and tried making the cooked strawberry jam. It turned out PERFECT and didn't take much longer than the freezer jam. I am now converted to cooked strawberry jam!

(Yes, my mom's 30 year old canner is not the prettiest thing, but it does the trick:)

*Sorry, I can't post the recipe because I threw away my MCP Liquid Pectin box. I have used both liquid and powder and they seem to work the same--liquid was just on sale. I followed the recipe on the box exactly and it worked great!

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