My Life in a Menu

First quarter is coming to a close...

Ryan is home from Montana...

And I am back in menu planning mode.  This grocery is bill is getting out of hand!  

So this week is about working to use up what's in the freezer and fridge before heading back out to the store.  

Monday:  Baked Potato Bar

Tuesday:  Soup and Grilled Cheese (using this potato bread recipe)

Wednesday:  Fish and rice (Potato crusted filets for Ryan and I and fish sticks for the kids)

Thursday:  Leftovers

Friday:  Chicken Parmesan Meatballs from SkinnyMom

Stay tuned for a great make ahead breakfast option...perfect for the cray fall mornings.  

Lemon Zucchini Bread

Part of Henry and my day together on Friday included some baking.  Henry LOVES banana bread, so that was first on the list.  And then I got to what I'd been waiting to make for almost a week.

I came across a Lemon Zucchini Bread recipe over at Nancy Creative.  It was love at first sight for me.  Between that recipe and coming across this Farmers Market Flatbread from Pinch of Yum, my house was stocked with zucchini.

As you can see...Henry was quite excited to be stirring.  

This bread has a light citrus flavor with zucchini spread throughout.  So delicious!  And the lemon glaze on top makes it a perfect cake to have with coffee.

But who am I kidding...coffee goes with anything!!

Lemon Zucchini Bread with Lemon Glaze

Makes one 9×5″ loaf
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
Juice of 1 lemon (or 2 Tablespoons lemon juice)
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup grated zucchini (you don’t need to peel the zucchini before grating it)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×5″ loaf pan; set aside.

In large bowl, blend flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In medium bowl, beat 2 eggs well, then add canola oil and sugar, and blend well. Then add the buttermilk, lemon juice, and lemon zest and blend everything well. Fold in zucchini and stir until evenly distributed in mixture.

Add this mixture to the dry ingredients in the large bowl and blend everything together, but don’t overmix.Pour batter into prepared 9×5″ loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (if your oven tends to run hot, check the loaf after 40 minutes.  Cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack and cool completely. While loaf is cooling, you can make the glaze…

LEMON GLAZE
1 cup powdered sugar
Juice of 1 lemon (or 2 Tablespoons lemon juice)


In small bowl, mix powdered sugar and lemon juice until well blended. Spoon glaze over cooled loaf. Let glaze set, then serve.

original recipe by NancyCreative

Missing Menu

I know...its only week 2 of my menus...
But my fridge needs to be emptied this week.
We're moving in with my in-laws for a few months while our house gets worked on.  And I do not want to come home to a stinky fridge or messing around with loading everything up to haul to their house.

So the menu this week looks something like this:
Monday - subs
Tuesday - leftovers
Wednesday - ravioli (we didn't get to that last week)
Thursday - leftovers
Friday - pickles/olives/condiments
Saturday - milk and eggs
Sunday - yogurt and jello

I'll try to do better than that...only for my kids though.  If it were just my husband and I...that's totally what we'd be eating.

So since I don't have a real menu to share...I'll share the recipe for the chocolate zucchini bread I made last night.  It was a last ditch effort to use up the zucchini that was dying a slow death in my fridge and it turned out delicious.

Super moist, semi-healthy (yes, I consider something with whole-what to be healthy-er), a full of delicious dark chocolate.

The original recipe comes from my kitchen addiction.  I didn't get pictures, but you can click here to check out   her pictures (they're gorgeous).

Health-ier Double Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake
2 1/2 c. white whole wheat flour
1/2 c. dark cocoa powder
2 tsp. instant coffee
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 c. brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c. buttermilk
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. shredded zucchini (about 2 medium)
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, instant coffee, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugars and olive oil.  Add the buttermilk, eggs and vanilla.  Stir in the zucchini.  Add the dry ingredients, stirring until they are just incorporated and evenly moistened.  Fold in the chocolate chips.
4. Pour the batter into the bundt pan and bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs (this will help keep it moist).  Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes and then invert onto cooling rack to cool completely.  Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Enjoy!