Oh My Zucchini ( Yogurt Multigrain Zucchini Muffins)

What do most people have on their counter tops this time of summer?

An over abundance of zucchinis of course!

I myself never plant any in the garden.

I have enough friends and neighbors that share!

This morning knew I had to start the task of grating and freezing.

A pile for me

some scraps for the chickens.

It didn't take long to grate a pan full.

The grandson was here so I thought lets make some muffins.

Do you know how hard it is to find a good zucchini recipe that doesn't call for a LOT of sugar?

I finally found one that sounded good.

Plus I had all of the ingredients on hand.

Zucchini Yogurt Mulitgrain Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup oat flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans(optional)
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease 24 muffin cups.
2. In a bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, oat flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, vegetable oil, applesauce, yogurt, sugar, honey, and vanilla. Mix the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Fold in the zucchini, carrots, pecans, and raisins. Scoop into the prepared muffin cups.
3. Bake 18 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool.

I omitted the pecans and raisins.

Little man really likes to help!

They make the kitchen smell divine!

I like how much they plump up.

But the biggest test is if the grandson likes them.

I think they passed the taste test!

I froze the rest of my grated zucchini for baking this winter.

Thats one zucchini down and a few more to go.

These guys showed up at the door shortly after taking the 

muffins out.

How did they know I had a treat waiting for them?

Enjoy your zucchinies!

Liz

Farm field Skies

One great thing about living in Northern Illinois

surrounded by nothing but fields,

is the spectacular view.

Let me tell you I could sit and spend hours looking at 

Gods great handiwork.

He sure puts on one heck of a display!

LIZ

One of those summers

    Yep it has been one of those summers.

                           A summer I am ready to be done with.  

A summer where nothing has gone as planned.

My first OH NO, happened with the bees.

My bees didn't survive the winter.

                                     

We had ordered another swarm in December with hopes of starting another hive this spring.

The new swarm went into the old hive.

But the queen was dead when I went to release her after a few days.

I spent a whole day scrambling to find another queen.

She arrived a few days later in all of her glory.

Thats her in the little cage

It wasn't long after her introduction into the hive I knew something wasn't right.

The bees didn't like their new queen.

The bees left.

I got my garden planted probably the earliest I ever have.

Things were growing good!

Then the rains came.

My poor little garden was flooded out at least 3 times.

What did grow the deer decided to munch on.

Then the weeds took over again!

I mowed most of it over yesterday.

Just a few tomato plants and peppers remain.

The pipeliner is still working out of town.

I spend a lot of time driving between home and the camper.

On one of my stays at the camper I forgot to put my new sour dough starter in the fridge.

Sadly when I returned home it had become a big jar of green mold!

YUCK!

Of course there has been a lot of fun summer time too!

The grandson loves camper time.

We go to the beach almost everyday he is here.

That other furry thing in the picture is our new addition to the family.

We brought Red home June 14th.

He is a fox red labrador.

Oh what was I thinking with a 2 year old trying to potty train 

plus a dog!

Thankfully he likes to travel.

He will make a great pipeline puppy!

And he is growing fast!

He has already found his favorite spot to sit

Between rains storms,

I even managed to get some strawberries and cherries picked for jam.

Hoping thats enough to get us through the winter.

Even though this wasn't the summer I had imagined 

last winter,

a bountiful garden, garden canned veggies lining the shelves, 

and an endless supply of honey to slather on fresh baked bread.

It could always be a whole lot worse, right?

That is why I have made this my motto for the rest of my summer,

There is always so much to be thankful for!

Liz

so

Getting caught up

I really haven't meant to be gone this long, really.

It just seems sometimes the more you do the further

you get behind!

So many projects on the get it done list!

All the wonderful rain continues to make my garden grow

and also the weeds!

UGH, I can hardly keep up!

Between the mowing and weeding

it has become the never ending job!

The Little Man loves all of the rain!

He has spent hours throwing rocks into his own little pond.

And of course what little boy doesn't love to run their 

trucks through all of the puddles?

Can you believe I may have finally gotten caught up?

The garden is weeded, the yard is mowed, and the

flower beds look in pretty good shape.

Just in time too!

The pipeliner informed me we would be heading out for 

the rest of the summer.

So much for the weeded garden and mowed yard!

Maybe next year.

Liz

Starting the Starter Again!

While scrolling through my pinterest pages a few weeks ago,

I came to my sour dough starter pins.

I thought why don't I start another starter.

The pipeliners schedule will keep us home most of the summer.

If we have to go out of town it will be in the camper and the starter can come along too!

(airport security really frown upon bringing sourdough starter on the plane)

I had researched starters when I first got interested in the idea.

I know I even posted something on my blog.

I selected and ordered a starter from Carls Friends

It came alive fast.

I baked fresh bread, rolls, cupcakes and scones from the various

recipes I found online.

Mmmmm they were so good!

Then we moved and I let it die!

The other day my new batch of sour dough starter arrived in the mail.

I was so excited to get my new batch going!

It was very active the next day!

Today I switched it over to a bigger jar.

It is already bubbling away!

I am so excited to start making sour dough bread again, plus all of the yummy pancakes I used to make with it.

Does anybody else keep a sour dough starter on hand?

Do you have any great sour dough recipes?

I would love for you to share!

I will post an entry of my first sour dough creation when starter

becomes ready.

Liz

Linking up with Simple Saturdays Blog Hop

Rainy Days

I am pretty sure the old wives tale goes like this, 

April showers bring May flowers.

But its not April,

its May!

And we have had day after day of showers!

 My May flowers look like this,

With all of the rain it has been a challenge trying to mow.

There are puddles everywhere!

Look at all of the mud where our new grass should be growing.

Behind the mud is the garden waiting to be planted.

There is a row of potatoes that popped through over the weekend.

I started to dig and divide hostas before the gully washer arrived.

They will have to wait a little longer to find their new homes.

My Mothers Day basket seems to love all of the raindrops!

Look at tonights sunset!

That sure looks promising!

Red sky at night, sailors delight.

When we see a red sky at night, this means that the setting sun is sending its light through a high concentration of dust particles. This usually indicates high pressure and stable air coming in from the west. Basically good weather will follow.

Lets hope this old wives tale holds true!

Liz