Zucchini Gone Wild!

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 It's that time of year, we've got zucchini and squash coming out our ears. My family is starting to regret asking the question, "What's for dinner?", because the answer usually involves zucchini in some form or another. However, in my attempt to change things up a little from the sauted zucchini or zucchini bread, I always try a few new recipes each year, some are better than others. Here are a couple that have made the cut this year so far.
The first one is Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread. I found this one last year and never got around to trying it. It is SOOOO good! It makes two loaves and I only put the glaze on the first one thinking I'd freeze the other one for later.  Well, they didn't last that long (didn't even have time to get a picture of them), so we ate the second loaf without the glaze. Still very good, just not quite as sweet, which Bill liked better anyway.

Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread (5 stars)

From: Get Together Ideas

Ingredients:

• 4 Cups Flour
• 1 1/2 Cups Sugar
• 1 Package (3.4 oz.) Instant Lemon Pudding
• 1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 4 Eggs
• 1 1/4 Cups Milk
• 1 Cup Oil
• 3 Tbsp Lemon Juice (fresh squeezed is best)
• 1 Tsp Lemon Extract
• 2 Cups Shredded Zucchini
• 1/4 Cup Poppy Seeds
• 2 Tsp Fresh Grated Lemon Zest

Directions:

Place eggs, milk, oil, lemon juice, and lemon extract in mixer and mix until blended. Add flour, sugar, pudding mix, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and mix just until moistened. Fold in the zucchini, poppy seeds and lemon zest. Pour batter into 2 prepared bread pans. Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Makes 2 loaves.

Optional Glaze:

• 4T Fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 Cup powdered sugar

       Mix well and pour over bread while warm

The second recipe got mixed review from the dinner crew. Cheyenne wouldn't hardly touch it - it had zucchini and squash in it; Natalie, Billy, Chloe, Maddie and I all thought it was good; Jon said it was one of the best dinners ever (because it had sausage); and Bill got home later and I don't think even touched it because it was a casserole (casserole snob!)

EASY ZUCCHINI SAUSAGE BAKE (3 stars)

From COOKS.COM 

1/2 lb. Italian sausage
1/2 c. chopped onion
3 zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 (15 oz.) can Hunt's tomato herb sauce
3 c. hot cooked rice
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1/2 c. shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Remove sausage from casing; cook with onion in 10-inch skillet until sausage loses redness. Remove and drain on paper towel. Saute zucchini in skillet drippings until transparent. Cover; cook 5 minutes or until almost done; reserve.Combine half of Hunt's sauce with rice and sausage mixture in 7 1/2 x 12 x 1 inch baking dish. Add salt; mix well. Arrange slices of zucchini over top. Sprinkle with Mozzarella and Parmesan; spoon remaining Hunt's sauce over all. Bake covered at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Makes 4 to 6 servings.
I doubled everything but the rice, added squash with the zucchini and put it all in a 9x13 pan. Oh, and I used ground sausage instead of links.  Pretty easy, pretty quick, my kind of meal.

So as you can see, my plants are still going a little crazy. Don't know why they are so tall this year.  But if you want any squash and zucchini, come and get 'em (beans, too!)  Just ignore my weeds. :)


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